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City Is Appealing Judge's Order To Release Bloomberg's Cathie Black Correspondence
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Dec 7, 2011
Modified Dec 7, 2011
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Dec 7, 2011
Modified Dec 7, 2011
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Last week, State Supreme Court Justice Alice Schlesinger ordered the city to release email correspondence between Mayor Bloomberg's office and former Schools Chancellor Cathie Black shortly before she took office, because Black and her staff were "de facto agents of the city." The city had argued that the documents weren't subject to New York's FOIL, and would be an invasion of privacy if released. Schlesinger called this logic "particularly specious," and gave the city 15 days to turn the documents over. The city has decided to appeal the ruling. Connie Pankratz, the Law Department's deputy communications director, tells us, "We believe the emails are exempt from FOIL and are filing an appeal tomorrow."
Former Village Voice reporter Sergio Hernandez requested the documents under FOIL a year ago, and was denied twice. So he sued and until now, it appeared he had won. "I couldn't tell you what is in those emails," Hernandez says. "I'd like to say there's something interesting in them. Maybe there's something in there they really don't want to get out."
Hernandez, now a reporter for ProPublica, speculates that the city is taking a hard line to deter future efforts to obtain information it considers privileged. "Maybe the city sees this as some sort of precedent, that's why they're fighting it."
Tagged
cathie black
emails
FOIL
law department
mayor bloomberg
secret groupons
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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