Tag Archives: New York

From the “You can dish it out but you sure can’t take it” files

Poor baby. After years of Texas trying to lure businesses away from other states, New York has struck back — with an ad that paints the Lone Star State as unwelcoming and discriminatory to the LGBT community. The two-minute ad … Continue reading

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The Florida-Trump U plot thickens

Oops. Florida’s attorney general personally solicited a political contribution from Donald Trump around the same time her office deliberated joining an investigation of alleged fraud at Trump University and its affiliates The new disclosure from Attorney General Pam Bondi’s spokesman … Continue reading

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Yeah, we’re still talking about the Austin rideshare referendum

The tech community was as divided as everyone else. Joshua Baer, founder of Capital Factory, the downtown technology incubator, has been a critic of the proposed regulations. He said he believes the vote sent signals that Austin is hostile to … Continue reading

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Reimagining public transportation is hard work

Noted for the record. Four years ago, Helsinki launched an innovative bus service as part of a long-term plan to make cars irrelevant. It was called Kutsuplus—Finnish for “call plus.” And it was one of the world’s first attempts to … Continue reading

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Some Latino political power trends

The Latino electorate keeps on growing. The Latino electorate is bigger and better-educated than ever before, according to a new report by Pew Research Center. It’s also young. Adults age 18-35 make up nearly half of the record 27.3 million … Continue reading

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The wedding industry is rubbing its hands with glee

Nothing like having your market dramatically expanded overnight. Within hours after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage in Texas and across the country, local wedding businesses and venues already began getting orders and bookings from same-sex couples. Those in the … Continue reading

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Ted Cruz still really dislikes gay people

Though he’s happy to take their money if they’re foolish enough to offer it to him. Nobody tell the adoring fans at U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s presidential announcement at Liberty University that he was palling around liberal New York City … Continue reading

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How does a 25 MPH speed limit for downtown Houston grab you?

Christopher Andrews makes the case in Gray Matters: Does anyone know the speed limit in downtown Houston? Probably not. Casual observation shows speeds there normally range anywhere from gridlock to Gran Prix. I don’t believe there are any speed-limit signs. … Continue reading

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Speed limits and pedestrian fatalities

Here’s a topic that won’t be the least bit controversial, I’m sure. The New York City Vision Zero goal is simple and precise: to end traffic deaths and injuries on city streets. This is not a mere sound bite in … Continue reading

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Promote equality, promote the economy

It’s a simple enough formula. When the courts finally declare Texas’ ban on same-sex marriage illegal, which most people think they will, it could mean a boost for the wedding and hospitality industry as 23,200 couples tie the knot, according … Continue reading

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Just a reminder that “more gambling” does not necessarily mean “more revenue”

If Atlantic City can go bust… The winning streak has run cold for Atlantic City, N.J. Earlier this week, the upscale Revel Casino Hotel announced it will close, bringing the total number of casinos in the city expected to close … Continue reading

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First wage theft complaints filed in Houston

I hope these workers get the justice they seek. For three years Erik Lopez and his three brothers say they each often worked 80-hour weeks, building highway ramps and trash landfills for city projects. Yet they say their employer refused … Continue reading

Posted in Legal matters | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Uber uber alles

Very interesting. Uber rolled out a new service in Manhattan [last] Tuesday that foreshadows the five-year-old company’s plans to become much more than a platform for e-hailing taxi and town car rides. Now, with UberRUSH, the company is piloting a … Continue reading

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So where are the jobs he’s been trying to poach?

There’s an obvious question to ask about this story, but I don’t see it being asked. After a couple of high profile job-poaching trips to California and Illinois, Gov. Rick Perry is planning a new raid — this time on … Continue reading

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A personal view of judicial elections

I’ve mentioned in this space before that my father Charles A. Kuffner, Jr. was a Supreme Court justice in New York. (Note: The Supreme Court in New York is basically the equivalent of a District Court in Texas. The top … Continue reading

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The case against the food trucks

Reggie Coachman, president of the Greater Houston Restaurant Association, tries to make a case against giving food trucks freer rein downtown. Currently there are more than 939 active mobile units permitted in the city of Houston, including 774 trucks and … Continue reading

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No Medicaid expansion for you!

So much for that. Texas will not expand Medicaid or establish a health insurance exchange, two major tenets of the federal health reform that the U.S. Supreme Court upheld last month, Gov. Rick Perry said in an early morning announcement. … Continue reading

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Stimulate the economy with marriage equality

​If New York can do it… New York City made quite a bit of money on gay marriage — 200,000 bucks, in fact. Cash flow into the city’s marriage bureau shot up since August, when same-sex nups got enacted, according … Continue reading

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Casinos expanding nationally

I have no idea what the political or budgetary climate will be like for the gambling industry here in Texas when the Lege next convenes in 2013, but they have been gaining a lot of ground elsewhere in the country. … Continue reading

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A step forward for online gambling

Interesting. The Justice Department has reversed its long-held opposition to many forms of Internet gambling, removing a big legal obstacle for states that want to sanction online gambling to help fix their budget deficits. The legal opinion, issued by the … Continue reading

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Bike sharing comes to New York

You’d have thought – or at least, I’d have thought – that New York City would have been a very early adopter of bike sharing. Turns out they’re just getting started now. At a press conference [last Wednesday] afternoon, the … Continue reading

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States looking at online gambling

Until the economy returns to the point where states aren’t completely strapped for revenue, I expect them to look at all possible sources of new money. It’s an idea gaining currency around the country: virtual gambling as part of the … Continue reading

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Hey, Houston! Steal this idea!

Something like this needs to happen here in Houston. The BigApps competition, in which [New York City] made its data available to developers so they could make apps out of them that would be helpful to citizens, and offered prizes … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

If we’re looking for revenue to help deal with that budget gap…

We could always follow the lead of many other states and adopt our own climate plan. Already, ten states in the Northeast have put their electric utilities under a cap-and-trade system known as RGGI. Eleven Western states and Canadian provinces … Continue reading

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Uncle Dan wins re-election

For some more pleasant election-related news, I’m happy to note that my uncle Dan Kuffner was re-elected to the Dutchess County (New York) Legislature. In District 7, Legislator Dan Kuffner, D-Hyde Park, beat Republican Yancy McArthur. […] On Nov. 3, … Continue reading

Posted in Election 2009 | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Friday random ten: It’s a helluva town

I don’t really have anything new or original to say about this anniversary of 9/11. What I published back in 2002 is as meaningful as anything I could say today. What I can do is give you some music in … Continue reading

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Good times and bad for museums

Nice to hear that a couple of local museums are thriving in these hard times. Sadly, they’re very much the exception. On the heels of the March 14 opening of a seven-gallery addition to its Hermann Park-area building, the [Children’s … Continue reading

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Houston Have Your Say 2.0

So last year I got to serve as an on-the-spot blogger for KUHF’s production of Houston Have Your Say, which was about immigration. I blogged some of it at Kuff’s World and some of it at a blog that was … Continue reading

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