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Who Can Best Manage a Big City?

Written by Tom Allon on . Posted in Dwell OTDT, News & Features West Side Spirit, News Our Town, Our Town, Our Town Downtown, West Side Spirit

Management style will play major factor in mayor’s race New York has had its share of crises in the past decade – 9/11, the Wall Street financial crisis and then, of course, Superstorm Sandy. Who leads the city during times of crisis – and relative calm – is important. And their ability and experience as
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Will Labor Pains Give Birth to A New Mayor?

Written by Tom Allon on . Posted in News & Features West Side Spirit, News Our Town, Our Town, West Side Spirit

Why average voters should care about union endorsements One of the reasons New York has had Republican mayors for the last 20 years is because the City’s public and private sector unions have fragmented in Democratic primaries. Guess what? Even though labor talked about unifying around one candidate in 2013, history is about to repeat
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Can a Mayor Influence Economic Justice?

Written by Tom Allon on . Posted in News & Features West Side Spirit, News Our Town, Our Town, West Side Spirit

Tom Allon The biggest factor in getting our economy on track is providing an even playing field for education A wise upper middle class friend recently told me that her children will not inherit anything from their parents. “Their private school and college tuitions are their inheritance.” Another friend, raised in England, has always expressed bafflement about
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No Safe Bets in Mayoral Race

Written by Tom Allon on . Posted in News & Features West Side Spirit, News OTDT, News Our Town, Our Town, Our Town Downtown, West Side Spirit

Now that the third ring of the circus is complete with the arrival of Anthony Weiner’s high-wire act to the mayoral race, perhaps we can try to take a sober look at why this election really matters for our city’s future. What is the single most important thing a mayor does? You can all put
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Edward I. Koch: ‘I Don’t Do Cinematography’

Written by Tom Allon on . Posted in News & Features West Side Spirit, News OTDT, News Our Town, Our Town, Our Town Downtown, West Side Spirit

If Martians landed on our planet and demanded I teach them what a New Yorker is, I’d go no further than show them the hours and hours of videotape of Edward I. Koch jousting at press conferences in the 1980s and defiantly marching across the Brooklyn Bridge during the 1980 transit strike and his more
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Byblos: Fine Lebanese Dining Flourishes Near Madison Square Park

Written by Tom Allon on . Posted in Dining Our Town, Our Town

The area around Madison Square Park has become a mecca for fine dining the past few years, and now you can add Byblos, a stylish Lebanese restaurant, to the area’s mix. Byblos offers old-world Middle Eastern cuisine accompanied by live music most nights and a great lunch special each day from noon-3 p.m. It is
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