The New York Post  

By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

February 28, 2008 — After much backroom negotiation and wrangling, the City Council passed a watered-down version of the Bloomberg administration’s “green carts” proposal.

Administration officials had hoped to flood low-income neighborhoods with 1,500 vending carts stocked with fruits and veggies to fight obesity and diabetes.

The bill was opposed by many grocers and lawmakers but was passed by the council, 37-9.

The revised version cuts down the number of carts to 1,000 and precincts where the vendors can operate from 43 to 34.

“Does this solve every problem? No. But it’s just one of many pebbles that we have to throw in an ocean of neglect where people are not taking care of themselves in a healthy way,” said Leroy Comrie, (D-Queens) chairman of the council’s Consumer Affairs committee

The New York Post 

 By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

 February 18, 2008 — Supporters expect Barack Obama to pick up one or two delegates when primary results from New York City are recounted. The unofficial results were strikingly under-recorded in several districts around the city - in some cases leaving him with zero votes when, in fact, he had pulled in hundreds, Board of Elections officials have said.Those results gave Obama no votes in nearly 80 districts, including Harlem’s 94th and other historically black areas - but many of those initial tallies proved to be wildly off base.“Every election has problems, but in this case, all the problems seem to have been his,” said state Sen. Bill Perkins (D-Harlem). “He got all the zeroes and undercounting.“Some gross mistakes have been made. Very often, there are clerical errors. In this case, it was strictly with regards to Obama.” Perkins told The Post the issue is more than the “one or two delegates” that could be added to Obama’s tally, noting that if the results were accurately represented, there would not have been a “false momentum” for Hillary Rodham Clinton.

“It reflects the popularity and the weakness to her in her home state. It contributes to a false momentum,” he said.

A spokeswoman for the Board of Elections, Valerie Vasquez, stressed that the reported numbers are “unofficial.” Official results will be announced on Feb. 26.

THE NEW YORK POST

By  FRANKIE EDOZIEN 
February 14 2008 - Happy Valentine’s Day - here’s a condom. 

In what’s become a Valentine’s Day tradition of sorts, city health officials will be at subway stations today to hand out the city’s free condoms in sleek new packages with the slogan: “Get some.”

    “We want to give away as many condoms as people will use because we’re trying to make New York City an even safer place to have sex, and this is a powerful way to do it,” said Monica Sweeney, the Health Department’s assistant commissioner for HIV prevention.

    The new condom wrappers are all black with white lettering and a smattering of rainbow colors. They feature the slogan “Get some” over the label “NYC Condom.”

    Venues that will stock the free condoms will receive a new platinum-colored dispenser intended to draw people in to, well, get some.

    The Health Department released its first official New York City condom last year, distributing about 3 million a month. The old packaging was inspired by the city’s subway logos with brightly colored circles and letters.

    The new condom wrapper designs were a gift to the city from designer Yves Behar, of the San Francisco-based agency fuseproject.

    “We gave out more than 36 million of them last year. I hope the fresh look will help even more New Yorkers protect themselves from infection and unintended pregnancy in 2008,” Sweeney said.

    The free condom initiative is part of the city’s effort to reduce rates of sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancies. 

    The Big Apple remains the nation’s epicenter of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with nearly 100,000 of New York’s 8.2 million residents infected.

    Currently, about 900 establishments - some restaurants, bars and salons, but mostly nonprofit groups - offer the condoms, Sweeney said.     

    Condom-carrying street teams from the department will greet commuters today at subway stations, including Union Square, Penn Station and Times Square in Manhattan; Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn; and 149th Street and Grand Concourse in The Bronx.

THE NEW YORK POST  

By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

February 14, 2008 — Under threat of a mayoral veto, the City Council yesterday overwhelmingly passed a bill forcing manufacturers to collect discarded flat-screen TVs, computers, monitors and other electronic items - and recycle them at their own expense.

“We think we have to have some teeth,” said Mike McMahon (D-SI).

“We don’t want to have teeth that are too sharp, but we think what we’ve done here is very reasonable,” he said before the 47-3 vote.

By next summer, manufacturers who sell in the Big Apple would have to present a recycling plan to Department of Sanitation officials for approval.

By 2012, manufacturers would have to recycle 25 percent of what they sell.

Companies that do not meet the standards by 2012 could be hit with a $50,000 penalty for each percentage point below the standard.

Administration officials are opposed to the mandatory recycling targets.

Mayoral spokesman John Gallagher said “it penalizes the wrong people - the manufacturers who can’t control whether customers recycle or not.”

Larry Mandelker, a lawyer for the New York Metropolitan Retail Association, which represents some retailers that manufacture their own products, agreed.

“We don’t have the ability to go into people’s homes and seize their products,” he said.

Speaker Christine Quinn said, “We are hoping that we will be able to resolve any outstanding problems in the time that exists between now and when the mayor would have to take action on the bill.”

THE NEW YORK POST  

 By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

February 7, 2008 — Egypt, Kuwait and Nigeria sit atop the heap of the city’s diplomatic scofflaws, which have racked up millions of dollars in unpaid parking tickets.

Egypt, which tops the list, still owes the Big Apple $1.9 million on 17,000 tickets - despite having added only nine tickets for $1,345 since the city reached a deal with the State Department in 2002 to collect the outstanding fines.

Under the agreement, the city gave extra parking spots to missions and consulates, while the State Department agreed to withhold aid from countries with tickets that have gone unpaid for more than 100 days.

Most nations began to cough up the dough, but the city is still owed $18 million for 161,683 tickets, including $1.2 million from Kuwait and $975,000 from Nigeria.

“It is our hope that countries that have not resolved their debt will pay the city what they owe, instead of losing US foreign aid,” said Marjorie Tiven, Mayor Bloomberg’s liaison to the United Nations.

The New York Post  

By FRANKIE EDOZIEN

February 4, 2008 — Pairing experienced nurses with first-time mothers in very low income communities has been so successful in reducing infant mortality that Mayor Bloomberg has decided to pump another $22 million to expand the program.

The Nurse Family Partnership (NFP) program places seasoned nurses with new mothers in Jamaica, Harlem, the South Bronx and parts of Brooklyn. The nurses begin working with pregnant moms, helping them until their child is 2. So far, 1,000 mothers have been served.

Officials are “going to help some of our youngest residents by expanding the successful Nurse Family Partnership,” Bloomberg said yesterday on his weekly 1010 WINS radio address.

“Now, we’re taking the Nurse Family Partnership to the next level by extending its reach to all five boroughs.”

The program’s nurses visit moms either weekly or every other week, and offer them guidance on breast feeding, parenting skills, preventive health practices, and even helping the moms make economic decisions.

The new money over the next three years will allow for up to 2,600 families to be served. Expectant women can simply call 311 to enroll.