Betsy
Bloomberg Loses Final Appeal to Keep Emails Secret
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| All legal avenues exahusted, Bloomberg must make public emails concerning the hiring of Cathie Black. |
The story stretches back to 2010, when Sergio Hernandez, then a Village Voice intern, filed a Freedom of Information Law request for emails related to Black's hiring. The city first delayed, then refused. Hernandez appealed, and the city refused again. So he sued, represented pro bono by Schlam Stone & Dolan, and he won.
But the Bloomberg administration really didn't want to let those emails see the light of day; it spent upwards of $25,000 in taxpayer funds fighting the case, appealing to succesively higher courts, consistently losing every time.
Finally, today, the state's highest court declined to hear the final appeal. The city will have to abide by the initial ruling, which called the city's arguments "particularly specious" and "wholly devoid of merit," and required it to turn over the emails to Hernandez within 15 days.
A call to the New York City Law Department was not returned by the time this was posted -- we'll update when we receive their comment.
For his part, Hernandez, who now works as senior business editor for The Week and as a freelance contributor for ProPublica, says he welcomes the court's denial of Bloomberg's appeal. "This is their last stop," he said. "It's a relief to finally have it over with. I'll be curious to see what's in the emails."
He told the Voice he intends to write about what he finds, and is talking with news outlets interested in publishing what he writes.
He told the Voice he intends to write about what he finds, and is talking with news outlets interested in publishing what he writes.
Go to Runnin' Scared for all our latest news coverage.
Mayor's Office Releases Cathie Black Emails
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office has released emails between its staffers and former schools chancellor Cathie Black.
Mayor's Office Releases Cathie Black Emails
Thursday, May 2, 2013 | Updated 10:38 PM EDT
AP
Mayor Bloomberg calls Cathie Black "phenomenally competent" a day after she resigns as chancellor of city schools.
NBC 4 New York obtainted the emails after the state Court of Appeals rejected a motion by Bloomberg's office seeking to keep the emails private.
The emails shed light in part on Black's campaign to get a waiver from the state education commission due to her lack of background in education.
Black and Bloomberg staffers discuss reaching out to politicians, businesswomen and other prominent figures in an effort to secure signatures for a letter of support. Caroline Kennedy, Carolyn Maloney, Gloria Steinem and Donna Hanover were some of the names compiled in a list of planned phone calls.
Black also emails Gayle King, a close friend of Oprah Winfrey, in an effort to secure the media mogul's support.
Read the emails here.
The emails were requested by a journalist under the Freedom of Information Law. City lawyers contended the emails were exempt from the law.
Sergio Hernandez sued the administration after officials denied his request for emails concerning Black's hiring and brief tenure in 2011.
A judge ordered the city to release the emails. The city appealed, and an Appellate Court upheld the judge's decision.
The city had sought to appeal to the Court of Appeals. The court rejected that motion Thursday.
A spokeswoman for the city Law Department said they would comply with the order.
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