Brooklyn Ron

Janet Robinson, ex CEO of NY Times, Got a $24 Million Package. Nice Work.

So the scuttlebutt is that Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger handed CEO Janet Robinson $24 million to sooth the agony of being fired.

And it's not even scuttlebutt, because the New York Magazine story was reported the old-fashioned way, beaucoup de sources and confirmations.

But, listen up. Do you know how many reporters one could hire with $24 million -- dozens, with health insurance and loads of other benefits.

Makes one think that the crew running The Times has all the committment to journalism of a Goldman Sachs executive.

As a wise editor at The Daily News once said, everybody has only once basic question in America:

Where's mine?

New York Magazine article here.

Is Mike Bloomberg Going to Buy The New York Times?

At the end of his New York Magazine article about ex Times CEO Janet Robinson and her $24 million parachute, writer Joe Hagan refers to:

" . . . speculation . . . that Mayor Bloomberg, a long-fabled white knight for beleaguered Times staffers, could swoop in and save the paper from itself, a kind of best worst-case scenario for the Ochs-Sulzberger family.

"Here, after all, would be the decisive leader the paper yearned for, a ­powerful and wealthy businessman who has shown ample commitment to the city that gives its name to the greatest newspaper in the world.

"In theory, this benevolent dictator could afford to lose money for the greater good of journalism in America.

"Bloomberg LLC wouldn’t comment on whether the mayor would make a bid for the New York Times. As it stands, there are no talks happening.

"At least not yet."

The Roots of Facebook are in Brooklyn College

[Photo by Sherry Tesler: The Zuckerberg family at the Facebook offices in 2005. From left: Randi, Arielle, Mark, Karen, and Edward. Daughter Donna is not pictured.]

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's parents are Karen and Edward (she, a psychiatrist, he, a dentist). They are both graduates of Brooklyn College.

A May 6 New York Magazine article says this about pops Edward Zuckerberg:

"Zuckerberg was raised on a tree-lined street in Flatbush, the son of a mail carrier and a homemaker.

". . . In high school, he excelled in math and science, and graduated from Brooklyn College with a degree in biology in 1975."

Edward went on to the NYU School of Dentistry and the magazine adds this: "While at NYU, Ed was set up on a blind date with Karen Kempner, a willowy Brooklyn College undergraduate."

Read the whole article here.

Rental Market Surge in Brooklyn

By JULIE SATOW (NY Times)
May 30, 2012

The market for multifamily buildings in Brooklyn has been heating up over the last year. But the recent sale of 111 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg was stunning even in a hot market.

(photo: by Chester Higgins, 111 Kent Ave.)

http://bit.ly/Kc9cfd

How Goldman Sachs Screwed You, and the Rest of America, Too

Just over a year after the release of his Oscar-winning documentary “Inside Job,” Charles Ferguson returns to the topic of the 2008 financial crisis with his latest book “Predator Nation.”

In it, he points to the rise of “predatory finance” as both a symptom and the cause America’s fractured economy and political system.

Facebook Shuns Women in its Top Positions, as Do Other New Media Firms

This comes as a surprise to many, but the new age crowd turning out apps and networks grabbing millions of dollars each in start-up funding are chauvinist pigs.

So say media insiders who have been looking at this and reveal that the new guys are acting much like the old guys - and in some ways even worse. (Of course, as for Blacks and Latinos - Fugeddaboudit.

Here's the NPR conversation on it:  

How the Market (and Facebook Itself) Duped Investors

I don't believe anyone could have seen the movie "The Social Network" or read the book and have invested in Mark Zuckerberg's company.

The sadder truth is that the deception shown by Zuckerberg in the film and book is the inbred behavior also of Wall Street.

That's why it's not at all surprising that so many people -- even some professional investors! -- got duped by all the hype over the initial public offering of Facebook.

As always, NPR offered an intelligent (and light-hearted) discussion about this.

NPR's Jeff Greenfield is speaking here with Rana Foroohar of Time Magazine and Joe Nocera of The New York TImes.

Listen here:  

We Invite Your Thoughts: Is Bloomberg Dishonest, Hypocritical and Arrogant?

Given that Mayor Mike Bloomberg has been flying his helicopter on weekends, when it's clearly stated that no copter flights are allowed at the East Side port on weekends, should we declare him one of the most lying hypocrites holding public office in the city today?

To hear him say that he thought the port was open for traveling on weekends, and to see his face - with his snooty nose growing longer by the millisecond - is to witness a liar in action. Yes? No?

We solicit your thoughts. Is he a liar? A hypocrite? Arrogant?

But first make sure you've seen the tape!

Mike Bloomberg Flouts Rules, Regularly Flies Copter When Not Allowed. Rest of You Be Damned.

Hear just released audio of Trayvon Martin's girlfriend (who was speaking with him moments before he was killed).

This is an audio of the interview prosecutors did with Trayvon Martin’s girlfriend. She is not identified by name.

In her account, Trayvon puts his hoodie on because it is raining out. Then Trayvon grows concerned and he becomes out of breath because a man, later known to have been George Zimmerman, is following Trayvon.

The girlfriend urges Trayvon to run, but he appears unable to do so, because of being afraid and breathless. Next thing, Trayvon is down and on the grass.

The girlfriend speaks with a heavy rural northern Florida accent and the interviewer has to inject himself frequently to assure he understands what she is saying. The interviewer acknowledges the young lady must be quite nervous.

Listen here: