CHatter
February 11th, 2008
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner
All four remaining lawsuits against British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen are coming to a courthouse near you.
Thanks to a ruling by the State Supreme Court of Alabama, all litigation arising out of Cohen’s movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan must be heard in state court in New York City. The signed contracts Cohen received from all of the participants in his movie designated New York as the only state where he could be sued. The highest court in Alabama enforced the contract under the interstate commerce clause, a Constitutional argument Alabama courts learned all about during the 1960s.
A source with knowledge of the litigation said that New York was the preferred venue for Mr. Cohen because of the state’s media friendly laws and history protecting First Amendment rights.
Fueling the City Council
Fields of Fuel, a documentary featuring New York City Council Member James Gennaro, won the Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival held over Martin Luther King Day weekend. The film—about America’s dependency on foreign oil—is a departure from the usual Hollywood films about New York’s interaction with the environment, which generally feature the city being destroyed courtesy of special effects.
Gennaro, chair of the Council Environment and Energy Committee, is featured talking about his legislation which would mandate biodiesel and reduce sulfur in home heating oil. The film stars Julia Roberts and Woody Harrelson, and is directed by Josh Tickell in his directorial debut.
A Taxing Drive
Staten Islanders are used to fighting the other four boroughs for their piece of the city and state budget. But now Islanders are getting dragged into a budget battle in New Jersey, and they are kicking and screaming about it.
Assembly Member Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island) is leading the charge against New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine’s (D) Financial Restructuring and Debt Reduction proposal. Corzine’s revenue enhancements raise tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, the Atlantic City Expressway, and add a new 35-cent toll on Route 440, a four-mile stretch of road that connects the Outerbridge Crossing with the Turnpike.
Cusick has written a letter to Gov. Corzine—and placed two unreturned phone calls to his office—urging the Garden State governor to rethink his position. Drivers on Route 440 are predominately Staten Island residents, but the road is also used by many New York residents on their way to the Jersey Shore or Atlantic City.
“I really feel that this is a tax on New York residents and was specifically put forward for that reason,” Cusick said.
Cusick said he plans to ask New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) to talk with Corzine and hopefully change his mind. New Jersey’s $30 billion debt, however, might prove more persuasive than Spitzer.
Should neighborly behavior fail to win the day, Cusick is also looking into New York’s legal options against New Jersey for what he believes may be an unconstitutional restriction on interstate commerce, given that Route 440 is a small stretch of road already bracketed by bridge and Turnpike tolls.
Cusick hopes it will not come to that, though, as Corzine considers the economic impact of decreased tourism from New York.
“If you are going to discourage us from going,” he said, “we could stay away from New Jersey.”
Pataki Staying Put in Private Life
Former Gov. George Pataki (R) emerged from his political silence the day before Super Tuesday, delivering an enthusiastic endorsement to John McCain (R) at a hastily-convened rally for the Arizona senator in Grand Central Station. Standing next to former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani (R), whose presidential campaign Pataki noticeably skipped endorsing, Pataki praised McCain as the man most likely to be competitive in the November elections.
“As a Republican in New York, we know you win elections by brining in conservatives, but also by having enlightened leadership,” he said, in his brief remarks to the crowd.
Afterward, Pataki discussed his own departure from the political world, and brushed off speculation that he might find a position in Washington which suited him if McCain won the White House.
“I am enjoying private life,” he said, referring to his work as a counsel at Chadbourne & Parke, LLP.
And as the crowd dissipated, he reflected on his own presidential campaign which never was. The three-term governor, who in 2000 was being discussed as possible running mate for George W. Bush, said he simply realized over the waning months of his time in office that a presidential election would not work.
“I don’t know that there was ever one point,” he said. “You just kind of make decisions as time goes on.”
Parsing Presidential Talk from Bloomberg on Big Blue
Those still hoping for a Bloomberg White House run might try to read the tea leaves from the mayor’s comments about the Giants and their come-from-behind Super Bowl victory.
“They did what New Yorkers have always done,” he said, in his role as Monday morning quarterback in the Blue Room. “They said, ‘The next play is the beginning of the rest of the game.’”
He added that he made sure the set-up for the tickertape parade did not start until after the clock had run down on the Giants 17-14 win, lest this lead to some bad luck. But that, he did not expect, would make any difference for how good the celebration could be.
“It’s amazing how quickly you can put these things together,” he said. “Tickets are printed and stands are going up. And we didn’t jinx anything!”
Big Blue may not have had a perfect season, he added, but what mattered is that they won.
“They did it in the most thrilling way,” said the man believed to be plotting a history making, self-funded, independent run for the presidency. “And to do it on the road is the most impressive thing.”
The Texas primary is March 4. By then, Bloomberg will have to make a final decision on whether to try for the Hail Mary pass, or punt on Kevin Sheekey’s dreams.
A Crouching Tiger Hiding in Chelsea
The ancient Chinese art of calligraphy requires focus and concentration augmented by a deft and subtle touch. It has been practiced by elite scholars in the Han Dynasty, Chairman Mao Zedong, and for the past 11 years, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan).
Gottfried, who studied Chinese painting before high school, attends classes at the China Institute on 65th Street every Saturday.
“It certainly focuses my mind on something other than work,” he said. “I find the concentration and the challenge of it very appealing.”
But calligraphy is not the only ancient Asian activity Gottfried practices during his down time. In between battles for state health care reform, the Assembly member finds time to study the teachings of Confucius.
“I read Confucius as arguing for very progressive government and social politics,” Gottfried said.
Confucius does not need to remind Gottfried, who first got elected to the Legislature while still in law school and has remained there for 37 years, to “chose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
—by Edward-Isaac Dovere and Elie Mystal
All four remaining lawsuits against British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen are coming to a courthouse near you.
Thanks to a ruling by the State Supreme Court of Alabama, all litigation arising out of Cohen’s movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan must be heard in state court in New York City. The signed contracts Cohen received from all of the participants in his movie designated New York as the only state where he could be sued. The highest court in Alabama enforced the contract under the interstate commerce clause, a Constitutional argument Alabama courts learned all about during the 1960s.
A source with knowledge of the litigation said that New York was the preferred venue for Mr. Cohen because of the state’s media friendly laws and history protecting First Amendment rights.
Fueling the City Council
Fields of Fuel, a documentary featuring New York City Council Member James Gennaro, won the Documentary Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival held over Martin Luther King Day weekend. The film—about America’s dependency on foreign oil—is a departure from the usual Hollywood films about New York’s interaction with the environment, which generally feature the city being destroyed courtesy of special effects.
Gennaro, chair of the Council Environment and Energy Committee, is featured talking about his legislation which would mandate biodiesel and reduce sulfur in home heating oil. The film stars Julia Roberts and Woody Harrelson, and is directed by Josh Tickell in his directorial debut.
A Taxing Drive
Staten Islanders are used to fighting the other four boroughs for their piece of the city and state budget. But now Islanders are getting dragged into a budget battle in New Jersey, and they are kicking and screaming about it.
Assembly Member Michael Cusick (D-Staten Island) is leading the charge against New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine’s (D) Financial Restructuring and Debt Reduction proposal. Corzine’s revenue enhancements raise tolls on the New Jersey Turnpike, the Garden State Parkway, the Atlantic City Expressway, and add a new 35-cent toll on Route 440, a four-mile stretch of road that connects the Outerbridge Crossing with the Turnpike.
Cusick has written a letter to Gov. Corzine—and placed two unreturned phone calls to his office—urging the Garden State governor to rethink his position. Drivers on Route 440 are predominately Staten Island residents, but the road is also used by many New York residents on their way to the Jersey Shore or Atlantic City.
“I really feel that this is a tax on New York residents and was specifically put forward for that reason,” Cusick said.
Cusick said he plans to ask New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) to talk with Corzine and hopefully change his mind. New Jersey’s $30 billion debt, however, might prove more persuasive than Spitzer.
Should neighborly behavior fail to win the day, Cusick is also looking into New York’s legal options against New Jersey for what he believes may be an unconstitutional restriction on interstate commerce, given that Route 440 is a small stretch of road already bracketed by bridge and Turnpike tolls.
Cusick hopes it will not come to that, though, as Corzine considers the economic impact of decreased tourism from New York.
“If you are going to discourage us from going,” he said, “we could stay away from New Jersey.”
Pataki Staying Put in Private Life
Former Gov. George Pataki (R) emerged from his political silence the day before Super Tuesday, delivering an enthusiastic endorsement to John McCain (R) at a hastily-convened rally for the Arizona senator in Grand Central Station. Standing next to former mayor, Rudolph Giuliani (R), whose presidential campaign Pataki noticeably skipped endorsing, Pataki praised McCain as the man most likely to be competitive in the November elections.
“As a Republican in New York, we know you win elections by brining in conservatives, but also by having enlightened leadership,” he said, in his brief remarks to the crowd.
Afterward, Pataki discussed his own departure from the political world, and brushed off speculation that he might find a position in Washington which suited him if McCain won the White House.
“I am enjoying private life,” he said, referring to his work as a counsel at Chadbourne & Parke, LLP.
And as the crowd dissipated, he reflected on his own presidential campaign which never was. The three-term governor, who in 2000 was being discussed as possible running mate for George W. Bush, said he simply realized over the waning months of his time in office that a presidential election would not work.
“I don’t know that there was ever one point,” he said. “You just kind of make decisions as time goes on.”
Parsing Presidential Talk from Bloomberg on Big Blue
Those still hoping for a Bloomberg White House run might try to read the tea leaves from the mayor’s comments about the Giants and their come-from-behind Super Bowl victory.
“They did what New Yorkers have always done,” he said, in his role as Monday morning quarterback in the Blue Room. “They said, ‘The next play is the beginning of the rest of the game.’”
He added that he made sure the set-up for the tickertape parade did not start until after the clock had run down on the Giants 17-14 win, lest this lead to some bad luck. But that, he did not expect, would make any difference for how good the celebration could be.
“It’s amazing how quickly you can put these things together,” he said. “Tickets are printed and stands are going up. And we didn’t jinx anything!”
Big Blue may not have had a perfect season, he added, but what mattered is that they won.
“They did it in the most thrilling way,” said the man believed to be plotting a history making, self-funded, independent run for the presidency. “And to do it on the road is the most impressive thing.”
The Texas primary is March 4. By then, Bloomberg will have to make a final decision on whether to try for the Hail Mary pass, or punt on Kevin Sheekey’s dreams.
A Crouching Tiger Hiding in Chelsea
The ancient Chinese art of calligraphy requires focus and concentration augmented by a deft and subtle touch. It has been practiced by elite scholars in the Han Dynasty, Chairman Mao Zedong, and for the past 11 years, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan).
Gottfried, who studied Chinese painting before high school, attends classes at the China Institute on 65th Street every Saturday.
“It certainly focuses my mind on something other than work,” he said. “I find the concentration and the challenge of it very appealing.”
But calligraphy is not the only ancient Asian activity Gottfried practices during his down time. In between battles for state health care reform, the Assembly member finds time to study the teachings of Confucius.
“I read Confucius as arguing for very progressive government and social politics,” Gottfried said.
Confucius does not need to remind Gottfried, who first got elected to the Legislature while still in law school and has remained there for 37 years, to “chose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
—by Edward-Isaac Dovere and Elie Mystal
