Michael R. Bloomberg

NEW YORK – A controversial publishing executive chosen by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to become the city's new schools chancellor won a final battle on Monday and will take office in January. The media executive, Cathleen P. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, needed a waiver from the state education commissioner to bypass a state law that requires New York City schools chiefs to have certain education credentials. Black has no advanced degrees and has no background or experience in education. The decision to grant the waiver was made after Bloomberg and Black agreed to name a ...

Published: 11/12/10

Tina Brown and Cathie Black Tackle the Impossible -- Again

NEW YORK – With a double-barreled launching of female power, two celebrated media giants, Tina Brown and Cathleen P. Black, commanded the attention of this blas� city and the nation this week. In separate moves, each has agreed to take on daunting challenges that many regard as either lost causes or unfixable problems. Each has proved her mettle in media wars, and each can claim first-woman-ever titles in some of the toughest arenas of publishing and management. Tina Brown, who made Vanity Fair into a magazine phenomenon, has agreed to merge her news and political web site, The Daily ...

Published: 08/20/10

Mosque Near Ground Zero: Can It Survive the Firestorm?

NEW YORK -- With the majority of Americans and an increasing number of high-powered politicians here and outside the state voicing strong opinions on plans to build an Islamic center and mosque near the site of the World Trade Center, it became less certain than ever on Friday that it would be built at all. After a week that saw a barrage of statements pro and con, starting with President Obama's guarded declaration supporting the rights of Muslims to build the center, the controversy jumped to the white-hot epicenter of national politics. Most recently, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan, the leader ...

Published: 07/31/10

Ground Zero Mosque Is Dealt a Setback in New York

NEW YORK -- In a reversal, an influential Jewish organization announced its opposition to a proposed mosque and Islamic center near Ground Zero in Lower Manhattan. The surprising decision by the Anti-Defamation League , reported by the New York Times Saturday, is likely to inflame a months-long dispute that's become a national debate on freedom of religion and the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. The turn-around by the ADL, a mainstream group that had earlier denounced attacks on the proposed mosque as bigoted, may change the course of the battle over the planned ...