Tonight’s New York Times’ website reminds us that it really is the dawn of a new day in the Big Apple.
De Blasio Names City’s Top Lawyer, Appearing to Signal a Further Shift in Policy
By ANNIE CORREAL
New York Times
December 30th, 2013 (Edition)
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio on Sunday named his choice to be New York City’s chief lawyer, appointing the man who as the United States attorney in Brooklyn oversaw the Abner Louima case, in which several police officers were charged in connection with an assault on a Haitian immigrant.
In selecting Zachary W. Carter as corporation counsel, Mr. de Blasio appeared to be taking a legal posture markedly different from that of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. That difference was underscored by a pledge on Sunday to reverse course on two of his predecessor’s hardest-fought court battles: the litigation over the Police Department’s stop-and-frisk practices and the lawsuit stemming from the Central Park Five case.
“We start with our values,” Mr. de Blasio said. “We start with the positions we took and made public throughout the last year. We will drop the appeal on the stop-and-frisk case, because we think the judge was right about the reforms that we need to make. We will settle the Central Park Five case because a huge injustice was done.”
Mr. Carter, 63, will be the first African-American to serve as corporation counsel…
More on the Abner Louima prosecution…
… Alan Vinegrad, who was the chief prosecutor in the case said Mr. Carter “felt passionate about taking the case and what lay underneath it — the problem of excessive force by the Police Department.” The case ended in criminal convictions of the officers involved and a civil suit against the Police Department, which settled for $8.7 million.
Mr. Carter’s tenure had no shortage of other high-profile cases, including the prosecution of the real Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort, and those responsible for the death that set off the Crown Heights riots…
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… The Rev. Al Sharpton called the appointment “unprecedented and huge step for progress.” …
The article continues on to note that Mr. Carter will be working closely with newly-(re)appointed Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
Democrats, take note! In case you had forgotten, this is what REAL change is about!
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UPDATE (12/30/13, 12:55AM EST):
Kossack ratcityreprobate informed us of this story, in the comments below, almost an hour before it hit the pages of the NYT's website...
Veteran of City School System Is Said to Be Next Chancellor
By JAVIER C. HERNÁNDEZ
New York Times
December 30, 2013 12:01AM
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will appoint Carmen Fariña, a former top official of the New York City Education Department, as the next schools chancellor, a person with knowledge of the decision said on Sunday.
Ms. Fariña, 70, the daughter of immigrants from Spain who fled the Franco regime, is a veteran of the city’s school system, having served as a teacher, principal and superintendent of a Brooklyn school district. She retired as a deputy chancellor in 2006.
The choice reflected Mr. de Blasio’s desire to depart radically from the educational policies of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, including his emphasis on data and his policy of shuttering low-performing schools. The choice is also in keeping with Mr. de Blasio’s pattern of appointing people with deep governmental experience...
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…Ms. Fariña shares Mr. de Blasio’s skepticism of standardized testing and his focus on early education. As chancellor, she will help shape his proposal to expand access to preschool and after-school programs…
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