N.Y. Senators Join in Census Challenge - USATODAY.com

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Add New York's two Democratic senators to the list of public officials who say the U.S. Census miscounted the population in the Big Apple.

Sens. Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer agree with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg that the 2010 Census undercounted residents in Brooklyn and Queens.

Sunday, Bloomberg announced the city will officially challenge the Census, which says New York City and the state gained 2.1% from 2000 to 2010, for a record 8,175,133 people. USA TODAY's Martha T. Moore reported on the dispute here.

As Gillibrand noted on her Twitter feed today, an undercount has serious repercussions:

These are high growth areas w/large immigrant populations. It's crucial that #NYC get the federal funds & the representation it deserves.

Schumer, who lives in Brooklyn, said "it strains credulity" that New York City has grown only by 167,000 people in the past decade.

Check out USA TODAY's Census coverage here, including a rollover map that is updated as population and diversity trends are released.

To challenge the Census, the New York officials had to notify Commerce Secretary Gary Locke that they will undergo the formal appeals process known as the Count Question Resolution Program.

Joel Klein Resigning as New York City Schools Chancellor, to Be Replaced by Cathie Black, Publisher - NYTimes.com

Chancellor Joel Klein leaving the NYC Dept of Education to join News Corp (Fox News) - Replacement Cathie Black is another Corporate hack...Let's hope our elected officials don't grant her a waiver to replace him - We need an educator running the largest public school system in the country...

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Joel I. Klein, the New York City schools chancellor, is resigning and leaving city government and will be replaced by Cathleen P. Black, the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced at City Hall Tuesday afternoon.

Mr. Klein, in turn, will become an executive vice president of the News Corporation.

The mayor called Ms. Black “a superstar manager who has succeeded spectacularly in the private sector” and added, “There’s no one who knows more about the skills our children will need to succeed in the 21st century economy.” A former publisher of New York magazine, she went on to become publisher of USA Today and now heads Hearst, which publishes Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Good Housekeeping and other titles.

The mayor lauded Mr. Klein, whom he appointed in 2002 after gaining control of the city’s schools, for turning  “New York City’s long-dysfunctional public school system into one that the Obama administration has hailed as a national model.”

“He leaves a legacy of achievement that makes him one of the most important and transformational educational leaders of our time,” Mr. Bloomberg said.“Joel has implemented innovative changes that have made an enormous difference in the lives of millions of children.”

Mr. Klein, 64, said his job at News Corporation would be to develop “strategy to put them in the education marketplace.” (See related post on Mr. Klein’s move on the Times’s Media Decoder blog.)

Mr. Klein will stay on until around the end of the year to ease the transition, Mr. Bloomberg said. A former federal prosecutor in charge of the United States Attorney’s office’s antitrust division, he was the longest serving chancellor in the school system’s history, Mr. Bloomberg said.

Ms. Black, 66, said she was “very excited about this incredible opportunity to make a difference in the lives of our young people” and take over the nation’s largest public school system, with about 1.1 million children, 80,000 teachers and more than 1,400 schools.

“Joel brought incredible commitment and energy to this position,” Ms. Black said. “His shoes are very big ones to fill.”

For his part, Mr. Klein said, “There are things we could have done better and smarter,” but added, “I look back with enormous pride on the work that we did do.”

Bloomberg Names Publishing Exec To Replace Klein As Schools Chancellor - NY1.com

The good news for NYC public school parents and students is that Joel Klein is stepping down as Chancellor of the NYC Dept of Education - The bad news is that Mayor Bloomberg's selection is yet another NON-educator to run the largest public school system in the USA...I foresee an agenda of more charter schools and a corporate approach to the education of our children and students...My simple question for Mayor Bloomberg is when is he going to put an educator in charge of the school system...

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Joel Klein is stepping down as chancellor of the Department of Education, the mayor announced today.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg called Klein a 'tireless champion for the children.'

He will be replaced, Bloomberg said, by publishing executive Cathie Black. Most recently, Black served as the chairwoman of Hearst Magazines and the publisher of USA Today.

Klein has served as schools chancellor since 2002, when the New York State Legislature turned control of city schools over to the mayor.

“For more than eight years, I’ve been privileged to wake up each morning knowing that I had the opportunity to serve this city and a school system that I love so much,' said Klein.

While at the helm, Klein helped end the practice of social promotion. The number of charter schools in the city has also surged under his watch.

According to the DOE website, the schools chancellor oversees over 1,600 schools, 136,000 employees and an operating budget of more than $21 billion.

A graduate of the city's public school system, Klein came from a background of government and business.

Pols Want New Name for Mets Home: Citi/Taxpayer Field - USATODAY.com

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Two New York City Council members say that Citigroup should show its thanks for a federal bailout by sharing the naming rights to the new Mets ballpark in Queens.

The struggling bank is slated to pay $400 million over the next 20 years to name the stadium Citi Field.

The bank made the commitment years ago, when it was flush with cash. Now that Citigroup is getting billions of dollars in federal aid, Staten Island Republicans Vincent Ignizio and James Oddo say the ballpark's name should be changed to Citi/Taxpayer Field.

Citigroup and Mets chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon have been saying that they have no plan to alter the naming-rights deal for the ballpark, which hosts its regular-season opener April 13.

Wilpon and Citigroup spokesman Steve Silverman said they had no comment on the proposal.