With income inequality in New York greater than anywhere else in the country, I for one would be doing everything to dispense crumbs to the poor, just to show that even though I have my own jet fleet, I still care about the less fortunate. But that's not what's happening.

Of the 5,229 students accepted to the city's eight Specialized High Schools this year, only 618 were black or Hispanic, a decline of nearly 16 percent in one year alone.

With a new mayor to be elected this year, who will take over in 2014, the city stands poised to take a much more aggressive effort to make its CTE programs not merely adequate, but to take a role as the innovation leader in the nation.

Two weeks ago, the Community Service Society (CSS) issued a report that highlighted a new reality for New York City that may very well shape much of the city's economic, social and political climate for the next decade.

All of a sudden the feds have nothing to say about the FDNY's long-term intentional discrimination in hiring. The Obama administration appears to be retreating from a legal case out of fear of reprisal from a powerful mayor.

In my mind, this doesn't indicate we should give up on college for everyone, but it does mean we have to be very careful about what pathways we're sending young people down which don't lead to gainful employment.

Now isn't the time to inflame an already desperate condition with police practices that are likely to further embitter those who are facing a possible lifetime without hope.

Health care ombuds programs, like the one our group has employed in New York, are crucial in leveling the playing field between insurance companies, hospitals and the individual consumer.

Employers are gravitating towards workers over 65 for very good reasons. But what may be good for employers may be seriously bad for the city and nation.

The Congress was unable to pass a new extension for unemployment insurance benefits before the July 4th holiday recess. The impact on New York and other large cities is immediate and devastating.

In May, City Council hearings will begin for the second year on a bill to mandate paid sick leave for all full-time employees working for New York City businesses.

The Tea Party right wing managed to derail Van Jones' position as White House environmental adviser, but has done nothing to dampen hope for the Green Economy.

I think everyone who gets to know young kids knows the look of total disbelief you get when you offer them a quarter (or even worse a dime) and suggest they get some candy.

A bill on paid sick leave has been reintroduced in New York's City Council with 35 sponsors and seems certain to pass if it reaches the floor in May. The major opponents are businesses.

Now, in this recession, everyone has to reevaluate how this "Summertime" is going to play out, or else we all may be shocked when things don't work out.

If we can't develop a national consensus on health care, jobs, education, and race, I don't think we can compete.

Many New Yorkers are going to be flattened by a form of chronic joblessness never before seen in the United States.

Charter schools are seen as a universal panacea that involves no one giving up anything and no elected official having to ever really lead on the issue, far less take any political risk.

The Supreme Court decision suddenly makes the whole notion of campaign finance laws a joke. I don't see how a democracy can function under these conditions.

I've heard government officials and heads of foundations tell me that dealing with young African Americans and Latinos without a high school diploma and low reading and math skills was simply too difficult.

This recession hasn't been borne equally along class lines in New York City. It hasn't created the sense of urgency that propelled the New Deal, the WPA, and LaGuardia's Health and Hospital Corporation.

Otherwise sane elected officials, like Mayor Bloomberg, think that if we integrate the FDNY with African American and Latino fireman (like every other major city in America) the city can't survive.

Even as economists are reaching a consensus that the recession is ending, there seems to almost universal agreement that high rates of unemployment will persist through 2014.

A program of "in prison education" could not only help the formerly incarcerated; it would strengthen communities of color in New York home to the great majority of released prisoners.