NYC Buys Homeless Tickets Out of Town

Polling guru gives a post-mortem on last night's elections

(NEWSER) - The numbers are in, now it's time to make sense of them. Nate Silver breaks down last night's election results:

• Don’t blame Obama; Creigh Deeds and Jon Corzine were probably just weak candidates. In New Jersey, 57% of voters approved of Obama, but 27% of those supporters voted Republican anyway. In Virginia 20% of those who approved of Obama voted GOP.
• Democrats had turnout problems in Virginia; the voters who came out last night supported McCain 51-43 in 2008, a mirror image of that year's margin.

Chain of communication broke down on DoD photo op

(NEWSER) - New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg is livid over a Department of Defense photo op that sent two planes buzzing over lower Manhattan today, ABC News reports. Bloomberg called the flyover “ill-conceived” and expressed ire over the DoD's failure to notify him. "Poor judgment would be a nice way to put it," he said. The planes—one a 747 used as Air Force One—sent some rattled Manhattanites running into the streets. More»

Bloomberg calls for city to improve infrastructure ahead of climate disaster

(NEWSER) - Climate change will make New York City a hotter, wetter, and stormier place in coming decades and sea levels that could rise at least 4 feet may swamp the city, a panel of scientists convened by Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned yesterday. Bloomberg said the city must start preparing evacuation plans and infrastructure improvements now or face catastrophe in the future, the New York Daily News reports. More»

Mayor rolls out plans to hike taxes, cut services and ax 20,000 city jobs

(NEWSER) - All American cities are facing budget shortfalls because of the recession, but Wall Street's meltdown has decimated New York City's tax base, Michael Bloomberg said yesterday in announcing plans to slash 20,000 city jobs, cut services and raise taxes. The aim is to reduce an expected $4 billion deficit, reports the New York Post. More»

Concern over mayoral legacy might explain more frequent fits

(NEWSER) - In his 6 years in office, Michael Bloomberg has enjoyed a reputation as the cool, collected CEO of the Big Apple. But as setbacks have mounted and his presidential ambitions have been shelved, another side is showing: the temperamental, sometimes explosive antagonist. Bloomberg's mood is "the worst I've ever seen it," one top pol told the New York Times. More»