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PUSH TO LIFT TATTOO BAN; City Council votes for body art

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

February 26, 1997

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer

New Yorkers may soon be able to get openly what they’ve been getting illegally for 35 years — tattoos.

The City Council yesterday passed a law that would lift the official though little-enforced 1962 ban on tattooing.

Councilwoman Kathryn Freed (D-Manhattan), who sponsored the law, said it was absurd for the city to continue pretending that the increasingly popular trend of body art did not exist.

“This way we actually put in regulations so that the artists are protected, and the public at large is protected,” Freed said. “People are going to do it, so you might as well regulate it to safeguard the public.”

The city enacted the ban amid fear that the needles used in tattooing could trigger a hepatitis epidemic. Despite the law, tattoo parlors have continued to operate and city health officials have looked the other way.

The City Council measure, which requires mayoral approval, would replace the ban with a new licensing system.

Before setting up shop, tattoo artists would be required to take a city Health Department course on infectious disease prevention. They would also have to pass a Health Department exam before they would qualify for a license. The license, good for two years, would cost $100.

Tattoo artists found guilty of operating illegally would face fines ranging from $300 to $1,000.

Tattoo artists at the Council meeting, where the proposed licensing system passed by a 38-to-7 vote, said they were happy to gain municipal legitimacy. But some contended that the licensing system would not safeguard the tattoo-craving public.

East Village tattoo artist Tom Murphy complained that the law will not require inspections of tattooing parlors to make sure that they use sanitary and safe body-decorating procedures.

The city Health Department, while endorsing the move to lift the ban, opposed mandatory inspections. Health officials said inspections would be too expensive and time consuming at a time when the city faces more serious health threats.

Health Department spokesman Fred Winters said agency officials would also prefer regulating the tattoo industry through the health code instead of through an amendment of city administrative laws.

Mayor Giuliani said he would consider all sides in the debate before deciding whether to sign the law.

Original Story Date: 022697

February 26, 1997
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N.J. Wins Battle In Sewage-Dump War

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

February 19, 1997
by MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer
New York retreated in the Great Sewage War yesterday after tough talk from New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman.

After a day of counter-charges, the city and state agreed to at least a year-long delay in plans to release 560 million gallons of raw sewage into the East River — a plan Whitman (below) warned would trigger environmental damage.

“We are going to agree to go through further review process to make certain that there are no questions about this, to make certain that it is perfectly safe,” Mayor Giuliani said.

Under the agreement, city, state and federal environmental officials will conduct months of study on the consequences of a massive sewage release. That means the release will be delayed until at least next winter, because the dumping is allowed only in cold weather.

The concession, announced after renewed threats of a federal lawsuit by Whitman, avoided a showdown that would have pitted her against Gov. Pataki and Giuliani — fellow Republicans.

Whitman claimed victory, saying the decision would help preserve New Jersey shellfish beds.

“It is utterly medieval when you talk about putting this kind of raw sewage into the waterways,” Whitman said.

The battle erupted last week, after New York State environmental officials approved the city’s plan for shutting down a lower East Side sewage treatment plant for repair work on two valves.

The shutdown would have released the massive quantity of untreated sewage into the East River over four days, the first release of its kind since 1987.

State and city officials initially said the release would cause few environmental problems.

Whitman, however, warned that the sewage would flow through Lower New York Harbor to the Sandy Hook and Raritan Bay area, damaging shellfish beds there.

Before the agreement, city officials accused their cross-Hudson counterparts of maintaining a sewage double-standard. They said the New Jersey communities of North Bergen, Woodcliff, New Brunswick, Perth Amboy and Rahway have dumped untreated sewage in the shared waterways for many years.

Whitman spokesman Pete McDonough said the city’s planned sewage release would have been far more massive than anything from New Jersey.

Original Story Date: 021997

February 19, 1997
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Poll: Wild About Mayor, Not Rudy

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

February 12, 1997

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN and FRANK LOMBARDI, Daily News Staff Writers

City voters soundly approve of Mayor Giuliani’s job performance and would reelect him in a walk, even though they aren’t wild about his personality, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac College Poll showed 62% of voters approved of the first-term Republican’s performance as mayor, while 32% disapproved and 6% were undecided. That’s the best showing for Giuliani since the Quinnipiac mayoral surveys began nearly two years ago.

With the help of his high job approval rating, Giuliani would rout any of five potential Democratic challengers in a head-to-head match, the survey showed. That includes former Mayor David Dinkins — who was to announce today if he would take on Giuliani for a third time.

Dinkins, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger would lose to Giuliani by at least 20 percentage points if the election were held now, the poll showed.

Giuliani would beat Dinkins 55% to 34%, the poll found. Ferrer would lose 53% to 33%, and Messinger would lose 54% to 34%, it showed. The remaining Democratic contenders, Brooklyn City Councilman Sal Albanese and the Rev. Al Sharpton, would fare even worse.

Still, the survey wasn’t all good news for Giuliani. It found voters split on his hard-charging personal style — with 43% describing him as likeable and 52% disagreeing.

“I can deal with that,” said Giuliani, noting that the poll gave him high marks for leadership and getting things done.

While cautioning that poll results fluctuate, Giuliani said “it always feels a little better [to be ahead] by 20% than to be behind by 20%.”

The survey showed Giuliani has not bridged racial and gender gaps as he tries to expand the narrow margin he won over Dinkins in 1993.

While white voters gave him 77% approval on job performance, that dropped to 52% among Hispanics and 34% among blacks.

Among male voters, 71% gave Giuliani thumbs up on job performance, compared with 55% among women.

White New Yorkers were evenly split on his personal style; 48% liked it and 47% didn’t. Hispanics were equally split, with 49% approving and 48% disagreeing. Among black voters, 29% liked his personality and 66% did not.

“New Yorkers like the way the mayor does his job,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac College Polling Institute. “But they don’t think he’s a likeable guy.”

The poll of 845 voters was conducted Feb. 3 to 9 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

Original Story Date: 021297

February 12, 1997
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Rudy Hedges Bets On Riverboat

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

February 9, 1997

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer

Mayor Giuliani yesterday said he could support riverboat gambling under some conditions but would have to study its effect on neighborhoods near where the boats dock.

The mayor also said he would need to be assured the venture is free of organized crime — and that the city pockets a large share of the profits.

Giuliani, responding to an idea by City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, (D-Queens), said the city should work out “an acceptable fee” that would help it “at least make back the amount it is going to cost us in the burdens that it creates.”

But, Giuliani cautioned, the city has yet to hear public debate on the issue and how it would affect communities.

“The assumption is that you are going to make so many dollars back that it’s worth the inconvenience,” Giuliani said. “I believe that’s probably true but . . . we should spend more time looking at it.”

Vallone said the City Council, which studied the idea about a year ago, will move ahead with the plan.

“It is going on now,” Vallone said, pointing out that gambling boats sail from Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan’s West Side. . “Why would we not want to capitalize on it?”

The City Council is set to vote this week on a bill that would set up a commission to regulate Liberty I, which docks in Sheepshead Bay.

Giuliani said he favors gambling but fears the city might get into a situation like that of Atlantic City, which sees little in casino revenues while the State of New Jersey gets about $320 million annually from taxes on gambling.

The Council’s Finance and Economic Development committees will hold hearings on the issue within months.

Original Story Date: 020997

February 9, 1997
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Normal City? Are You Nuts?

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

December 12, 1996

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN and JANE FURSE, Daily News Staff Writers

New York ain’t normal, according to a new book — whereas Orange County, Calif., is.

That’s Orange County as in Disneyland and the biggest municipal bankruptcy in history.

Whaddaya mean New York is the “most abnormal” of American cities?

Merely a statistical term, Places Rated Almanac co-author David Savageau hastened to explain yesterday.

“New York is top-notch in the arts, in higher education and in transportation, but bottom-of-the deck in crime, cost of living and jobs,” he said. “So you see, it’s either hot or cold — nothing in the middle.”

Take yer book and toss it, suggested Mayor Giuliani after he heard about this volume.

“They’re screwy,” said Giuliani, who disputed the MacMillan-published almanac’s charge that Atlanta, Detroit, Newark, St. Louis, New Orleans and Los Angeles are all safer than New York.

FBI numbers say otherwise, the mayor noted. “Big experts on crime, right, MacMillan,” Giuliani scoffed. “I will take this report and say it comes from amateurs. They don’t know what they are talking about.”

Giuliani’s opinions notwithstanding, said Savageau, Orange County really is the best of the 351 metropolitan areas surveyed by the almanac.

“The climate is good, it has a very rosy outlook for jobs and, because of the drop in housing prices, it’s more affordable,” he said. “It’s an amazing place.”

Joining Orange County on the book’s list of top 10 metropolitan areas are Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.; Houston; Washington, D.C.; Phoenix-Mesa, Ariz.; Minneapolis-St. Paul; Atlanta; Tampa-St.-Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.; San Diego, and Philadelphia.

As for life here in abnormal New York City, Long Islander Pamela Barrow was feeling just fine as she got off the train at madhouse Penn Station yesterday.

“Personally, I come here to feel normal again,” she said.

Original Story Date: 12/12/96

December 12, 1996
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Rudy Going on ‘Cos’

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

December 12, 1996
by MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer
Mayor Giuliani will dust off his acting skills today when he tapes an episode of “Cosby,” guest-starring as himself on the CBS sitcom.

Is Shakespeare in the Park next?

Giuliani laughed when asked if his latest acting foray was a sign of things to come when he leaves office.

“The old adage about being mayor was there’s no place to go from there. It ruins your career,” he quipped.

Using the TV appearance to poke fun at predecessors David Dinkins and Ed Koch, Giuliani said, “it seems to me the only future career you have as a former mayor of New York City is as radio talk-show host, giving a very hard time to whoever the incumbent mayor is.”

Giuliani is no acting novice. He appeared in Whoopi Goldberg’s movie “Eddie,” and he twice appeared onstage at Metropolitan Opera New Year’s Eve productions of “Die Fledermaus” to belt out “O Sole Mio.”

He also has been a repeat guest on “Late Show with David Letterman.”

Bill Cosby, a friend of Dinkins’, wasn’t particularly complimentary of Giuliani at a 1993 Dinkins fund-raiser. Giuliani said he agreed to appear on Cosby’s popular show because it’s good for the city.

The TV episode focuses on a visit by Giuliani to the Astoria, Queens, home of Cosby’s character, Hilton Lucas. Lucas, a laid-off airline employe, expects a high-profile dinner guest — President Clinton.

When Giuliani arrives and samples appetizers, Lucas has him take care of filling neighborhood potholes.

Original Story Date: 121296

December 12, 1996
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Rudy Hopes O’C Stays in Pulpit

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

November 11, 1996

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN and LAWRENCE GOODMAN, Daily News Staff Writers

Mayor Giuliani said yesterday he would like Cardinal O’Connor to stick around awhile longer — and refused to place bets on who would be the next to lead the Archdiocese of New York.

“I better not start rating the possible successor to Cardinal O’Connor,” Giuliani said. “Cardinal O’Connor, hopefully, will continue to be with us for a long time. Maybe there’ll be an extension again of his term.”

O’Connor, 77, handed in his retirement papers to Pope John Paul almost two years ago but was told to stay put.

Yesterday’s Daily News reported that O’Connor (left) will probably stay on the job until Easter, and four possible successors are being considered: Bishop Henry Mansell of Buffalo, Bishop Edwin O’Brien of St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick of Newark and Bishop James McHugh of Camden, N.J.

The faithful at Sunday Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral had mixed reactions to O’Connor’s leaving.

Some demanded the Vatican find a successor quickly, and many said they were looking for someone with more liberal positions than O’Connor has.

“It’s time to change,” said Dorothy Chiozzi, 72, who frequently comes in from Medford, Mass., to attend services at the cathedral. “Women should be allowed to be priests. We need someone who is a little more liberal.”

O’Connor was in Rome yesterday attending celebrations of the Pope’s 50th anniversary as a priest and was unavailable for comment.

The archdiocese’s spokesman, Joseph Zwilling, said any discussion of a successor is premature.

“Cardinal O’Connor is the archbishop of New York,” Zwilling said. “He will remain the archbishop until he dies or the Pope tells him otherwise. It’s a waste of time for all this attention to be paid to something that might not happen for several more years.”

Henry Kielkucki, president of the teachers union at the archdiocese’s schools, said O’Connor has failed to connect with Catholic youth.

“O’Connor is far too conservative,” Kielkucki said. “The Church has to appeal more to young people. The kids, especially girls, are not really in tune to religion. The Church has turned its back on women.”

But Lisa Marrero, 29, a doctor from Manhattan, said she’ll be sorry to see O’Connor leave.

“He’s never afraid to defend Catholic teaching and he’s never afraid to apologize,” she said. “Nobody will ever replace him in my heart. I’ve grown up with him.”

Original Story Date: 11/11/96

November 11, 1996
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MEGASTORES OK’D; Fight looms for planners

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

Friday, October 25, 1996

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN and PETER GRANT, Daily News Staff Writers

In one of the most sweeping zoning changes in 35 years, the city Planning Commission yesterday approved Mayor Giuliani’s plan to open up the city to massive superstores.

But the unusually close 8-to-5 vote set the stage for what promises to be a bruising City Council battle over the measure, one of the cornerstones of the mayor’s economic strategy.

Opponents vowed yesterday to push for major changes in the plan to protect small businesses and neighborhood shopping areas.

Critics say that small businesses would be devastated by an invasion of as many as 57 superstores like Kmart.

Even Planning Commission Chairman Joe Rose, who has been spearheading the proposal, acknowledged that the administration faces strong opposition. “It’s going to be a tough battle, no question about it,” he said.

In yesterday’s vote, the commissioners selected by Mayor Giuliani and Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari voted in favor of the plan. Appointees of the other borough presidents and the public advocate were opposed.

Giuliani’s plan would allow construction, without review by the public, of superstores of up to 200,000 square feet on the hundreds of acres of underused manufacturing land in the city. Such developments now require a lengthy approval process.

Supporters contend the city loses some $1.5 billion a year in retail sales to the suburbs, where superstores abound.

They predict the rezoning would mean $50 million in additional sales tax and about 13,600 jobs.

But opponents claim that the lengthy approval process should be preserved so that the stores do not destroy neighborhoods.

“Superstores can be bad neighbors,” said Commissioner Amanda Burden, who voted against the plan.

To placate critics, the Planning Commission modified the proposal yesterday. Communities were given greater ability to review superstore plans and make suggestions on how they would be designed and how traffic would be routed. The changes also exclude five streets from the manufacturing zones covered by the proposal and would block megastore development in areas saturated with the so-called big boxes.

But opponents said the changes do not give community groups or elected officials ways to block unpopular plans.

Critics also charged that the excluded streets — such as Metropolitan Ave. in Queens — were picked because those areas voted heavily for Giuliani.

City officials denied the charge and said the areas were excluded because the plan is limited to sites on wide streets and the excluded streets do not meet that definition.

The Council will vote on the proposal before the end of the year. More than 20 of its 51 members have said they will vote against it unless it is changed dramatically.

Original Story Date: 10/25/96

October 25, 1996
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