The city moves to yank the licenses of nightclubs that it considers too tolerant of covert cigarette use. [NYT via Sullum, Reason “Hit and Run”]
Posts Tagged ‘NYC’
“Wealthy Couple Sued For Installing Ikea Kitchen”
It “did not rise to the level of a kitchen suitable for a property located at 50 Gramercy Park North,” says the realty group that rented the apartment from the owners. P.S. New York Daily News link mistakenly omitted before (h/t Bob Montgomery).
A snail’s pace in the rubber room
After announcing a big campaign to oust bad teachers, New York City has succeeded in firing only three in two years; ten others “settled their cases by resigning or retiring”. There are 55,000 tenured teachers in the city system. [Jennifer Medina, New York Times; Matt Welch, Reason “Hit and Run”] More: New York Times “Room for Debate”.
“No Brownies at Bake Sales, but Doritos May Be O.K.”
Surreal notes from the frontiers of food paternalism in the New York City school system:
“It’s unrealistic to say a young adult can’t make a decision about whether they can eat something,” said David Greenblatt, 18, a senior at the High School of American Studies at Lehman College. “Soon I’ll be in college, and I won’t have Mommy or Daddy or Chancellor Klein sitting right next to me saying, ‘Hey David, don’t eat that, its too high in calories.’”
Coming soon to a school system near you. [Sharon Otterman, NYT “City Room”] A roundup of reactions: Gail Robinson, Gotham Gazette “Wonkster”.
Update: $4.5 million for NYC cop who fell off chair, shot self
We covered this case a little more than a year ago, and now it’s slated for the city’s appeal, per an update last fall by John Hochfelder at New York Injury Cases. Jury Verdict Review has a version with some details redacted for nonsubscribers.
February 10 roundup
- Man who shot dogs sues blogger whose critical account of episode allegedly put him in false light [Christopher Comins v. Matthew Frederick VanVoorhis, Florida, Citizen Media Law; Greenfield (free speech attorney Marc Randazza assisting VanVoorhis)]
- Appeals court revives Pennsylvania couple’s trespass suit against Google over Google Street View pics of their home and pool [Legal Intelligencer, ABA Journal]
- “Rich Guy Sues to Keep $380/Month Rent on Park Ave.” [Gothamist]
- “Think Davis-Bacon on steroids” — Obamaites mull SEIU-driven “High Road” policy to push federal contractors into union practices [Daily Caller, Michael Fox via PoL]
- Federal judge’s 49-page sanctions order blasts Adorno & Yoss, two lawyers and client over bad faith conduct of trade dress suit [Fulton County Daily Report]
- “Terrorist who killed US medic wants C$10 million from Canadian taxpayers” [CanWest/Canada.com via David Frum]
- “Massachusetts Woman Sues Real Estate Broker over Second-Hand Smoke in Condo” [Somin, Volokh; case settles]
- “Our litigation process encourages radical polarization” — part II of Q&A with author Philip Howard [WSJ Law Blog, link to part I]
NYC’s unfireable “rubber room” teachers
How bad do these stories get? This bad. More: Radley Balko on a Hoboken cop; and commenter VMS criticizes the linked New York Post report.
Caesarean births up 30% in NYC since 2000
“A rapidly growing number of Big Apple moms are delivering their babies by Caesarean sections, with convenience and doctors’ fears of malpractice lawsuits fueling the dangerous trend according to a study by the nonprofit group Choices in Childbirth.” [NY Post/MyFox Boston]
November 20 roundup
- Judge finds Army Corps of Engineers negligent in Katrina levees suit [WSJ Law Blog, Krauss/PoL]
- Feds raid the Gibson guitar factory in Nashville on an exotic-woods rap [The Tennessean] Eric Scheie has a few things to say about what turns out to be a remarkably comprehensive federal regulatory scheme on trade in wood enacted with little public discussion as part of the 2008 farm bill [Classical Values]
- In the mail: Amy Bach’s new book Ordinary Injustice: How America Holds Court, very favorably reviewed by Scott Greenfield not long ago (AmLaw Daily interview with author);
- Pension tension: link roundup on CALPERS mess [Reynolds]
- Maine passes very sweeping law banning marketers from collecting or using wide array of information about minors, but state acknowledges that much of the law probably wouldn’t pass constitutional muster and won’t be enforced [Valetk/Law.com, Qualters/NLJ]
- StationStops, which provides a mobile app for NYC commuter schedules, seems to have survived its legal tussle with New York’s MTA and thanks those who helped call attention to the story, with generous words for a certain “great blog”;
- Lawsuits cost Chicago taxpayers $136 million last year [Fran Spielman, Sun-Times]
- Blawg Review #238 is from Joel Rosenberg and bears the title, “Celebrating the International Day of Tolerance … and the NRA’s Birthday” [WindyPundit]
“Spano’s Suicide: Housing Plan Doomed County Exec”
The New York Post has now picked up a slightly shortened version of my City Journal piece on the housing lawsuit that contributed to a voter revolt in Westchester (cross-posted from Point of Law).
P.S. The Weekly Standard “Scrapbook” feature discusses the piece, as do John Derbyshire and Ron Coleman. And reader Paul Rath writes: “We face the same issue at the other end of the state, near Buffalo. Unfortunately, we have the same race-baiting and over-simplified arguments in our press here as well.” For more on how towns expose themselves to litigation if they attempt to earmark sub-market-rate housing for local residents or workers, see this Oct. 23 New York Times report on Connecticut.