Minorities Are The New Majority In City Council

clipped from gothamist.com Minorities Are The New Majority In City Council For the first time ever, black, Latino, and Asian politicians will outnumber white politicians in the City Council. In last night’s election, minority candidates secured 28 seats while white candidates won 23, according to the Daily News. Currently in the Council, white politicians outnumber minorities 26 to 25. In historic wins last night, Margaret Chin became the first-ever Asian-American to represent Manhattan’s Chinatown, while two Queens men became the first gay candidates to win a city office outside of Manhattan. Democrats Daniel Dromm in Jackson Heights and Jimmy Van Bramer in Sunnyside both won easily, effectively doubling the size of the council’s gay and lesbian caucus.

Verizon Wireless doubles early termination fee

clipped from blogs.usatoday.com Verizon Wireless doubles early termination fee Starting Nov. 15,  Verizon plans to double its early termination fee (ETF) — to $350 — for customers who end their cellphone contracts early.  The fee, arriving just in time for the holidays, applies to customers who have a smart phone or other advanced device on a one or two year contract. The penalty will decrease by $10 for each month of service completed. If a customer completes five months of service, the penalty would be reduced to $300, for example. The fee, the highest ever imposed by a major carrier, “is insane,” says Joel Kelsey of Consumers Union, the USA’s largest consumer group. “There’s no justification” for a fee that high, he says. “It’s punitive to customers who decide to leave Verizon early.”

Carter’s wife flees from hubby on KC trip

clipped from www.nypost.com Carter’s wife flees from hubby on KC trip Flees from hubby on trip to KC By DAN MANGAN The wife of troubled NY1 anchor Dominic Carter ditched him during a weekend jaunt to Kansas City, Mo. — and triggered an extensive police search when her distraught daughter told cops her mom was under “duress,” The Post has learned. Marilyn Carter, who walked out on her allegedly abusive husband on Sunday at a downtown Marriott, left her clothes behind in the room and spent the entire night missing — only to be found the next morning at the airport about to board a flight home to New York, police said. She did not tell cops where she spent the night or why she split. James Messerschmidt DRAMA: Marilyn Carter, standing by husband and accused beater Dominic, was reported missing by their daughter, Courtney, before police found her at an airport trying to get back to New York.

In the Shadow of Yankee Stadium, an Off Year

clipped from www.nytimes.com In the Shadow of Yankee Stadium, an Off Year By PATRICK McGEEHAN By all reckoning, this should be the moment Saeed Alawy was waiting for. His shop, Pin Stripe Collectibles, sits just beyond the right field wall of the new Yankee Stadium, where Game 6 of the World Series will be played Wednesday night. For some businesses, the new stadium’s location disrupted foot traffic patterns that had been around for decades. For others, the allure of the stadium and all of its shops and food stands teamed up with the recession to siphon away too much business. Enlarge This Image Piotr Redlinski for The New York Times Business owners along River Avenue say little of the fans’ money is making it into their cash registers. Many are grateful for another World Series game in the Bronx.