“If they gave them permanent housing with a kitchen, with a bedroom, with a bathroom — it would be much less.”

-City Council member Karen Koslowitz on the latest homeless hotel story
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Manhattan DA Under Scrutiny Over Campaign Donation by Trump Associate

The New York Times

“The investigation had delved into allegations that Mr. Trump’s eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Jr., had lied to buyers of units at the Trump SoHo, a 46-story luxury condominium-hotel in Lower Manhattan, about how many apartments had been sold, painting a rosy picture of sales at the struggling project. The buyers sued the Trumps and their partners in the project, and in late 2010 the Manhattan district attorney’s office started looking into whether laws had been broken.”

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Unclear Whether Vegas Gunman’s Lethal Tool Would Be Legal Here

PoliticoNY

“Spokespeople for the New York State Police and Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said they believed bump fire stocks were illegal, citing a prohibition on any ‘firearm or weapon simulating a machine-gun and which is adaptable for such use.’ But the stocks are allowed under federal law, and politicians, law enforcement officials and advocates offered different views about whether or not they’re actually prohibited.”

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A Look at the 3-K Rollout in Brownsville

WNYC

“As of the beginning of this school year, the city has doubled the number of public preschool seats offered between Districts 7 and 23, bringing the total number of children in these programs to nearly 1,400 — a number that the city expects to increase as more families enroll their children this fall. Some of those classes are run by the Administration for Children’s Services, while others are offered through the public schools, like P.S. 323, or through community organizations. By 2019, the plan is for public preschool to come under the umbrella of the education department.”

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Deadline Nears for Councilmembers to Shed Outside Income

Gotham Gazette

“Council Members Peter Koo, Chaim Deutsch, and Paul Vallone — all still in the process of being reelected to another term — were required to submit letters to City Council Speaker Melissa Mark Viverito by March 1, 2016 indicating whether or not they intended to continue earning outside income and stating an intention to comply with the rules by the January deadline — in time for the 2018-2021 Council session. When reached by Gotham Gazette, each of the three Council members or a representative described legal and logistical complexities in divesting from or dissolving a limited liability company (LLC), resigning from a job, or recusing oneself from duties in anticipation of the deadline.”

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At Swanky Hotel Where Homeless are Housed, City’s Bills are the Swankiest

The New York Daily News

“On the top floors of the 20-story ‘retro chic’ Queens hotel/condo known as The Kewl, one-bedroom condos rent for $2,400 a month. Meanwhile, a few floors below in the same building, taxpayers pay a cool $5,250 a month to house the homeless in Comfort Inn hotel rooms. The upside-down math is part of Mayor de Blasio’s latest gambit to fix one of his most frustrating dilemmas — homelessness — by increasingly placing families in expensive hotels.”