It's end of E-Z streets for bigwigs: lifetime passes yanked
New York Post, May 2008

State transportation bigwigs got hit hard over their free E-ZPasses and other transit perks this week - and had to give up the freebies they've had for decades.

Origins of Israeli army recalled as state turns 60
Chelsea Now, May 2008

Israel will have to be less violent if it is to prosper into the next century, warned author Howard Blum at a Holocaust commemoration event last week.

Circa 1971 Starbucks lands in Bryant Park
AM New York, April 2008

The company that turned “large” into “venti” and the homely cup of joe into a fashion accessory made a celebrity out of its new “every day” brew that will be offered daily in stores across the country.

See also: Bronx journal: Banding together for better housing, March 2008

Twenty years later, officers remember fallen colleague
Columbia Journalist, March 2008

More than 250 police officers gathered in Jamaica, Queens to mark the 20th anniversary of Officer Edward Byrne’s assassination. But the event was more than a commemoration. It was an act of mourning that united two generations of police officers in mutual recognition of the risk they take on the job.

See also: Mayoral control of schools is working, chancellor says -- but some disagree

A Parade, a Primary, and a Giant Absence of Voter Calls
The Village Voice, February 2008

Volunteers reporting for work at a voter hotline expected to be busy, given the highly charged nature of the primary and the fact that the same hotline received nearly 3,000 calls in 15 hours during the 2004 election. Instead, six hours after the polls opened today, only 120 calls had come in – something organizers suspected had a lot to do with Giants-mania.

Will Stadium Parking Become a Ticket to Ride?
City Limits, January 2008

Community activists and elected officials fear that Mayor Bloomberg’s traffic congestion pricing plan could help turn the future Yankee Stadium parking facilities into a de facto park-and-ride for commuters, potentially leading to worse pollution and asthma problems in the surrounding South Bronx neighborhood.

Several weeks later, State Sen. José M. Serrano wrote a letter to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg about this issue.

Books on board of the "Jeanne d'Arc" (in French)
France-Amerique, January 2008

A French warship delivered 10,000 books for the three schools in New York participating in the newly launched French-English dual-language programs.

Eyes on the Moon: Muslim Community Lobbies for Holidays
Columbia Journalist, October 2007

Muslim parents in New York City have been lobbying the Department of Education to close schools for their religious holidays, but first they will have to agree when those are.