The Statue of Liberty | blog

Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BK) has no plans to sell its stake in Hong Kong lender Wing Hang Bank Ltd. (0302.HK) even though it has made repaying the US$3 billion it owes the Troubled Asset Relief Program fund a priority, a senior Asia Pacific executive said.

“We are not looking to sell Bank of New York Mellon’s stake in Wing Hang Bank,” said Christopher Sturdy, Bank of New York Mellon’s Asia Pacific chairman. “The Wing Hang Bank investment has been very sound and profitable for the company – a really good investment for us over time and it continues to be so.”

Bank of New York Mellon now owns a 20.28% stake in the family run mid-sized Hong Kong lender – a legacy investment the bank has had since 1998 when it merged with Irving Trust Co.

By: onlinewsj.com     Read more >>

Taxi driver Kone Mahamadou avoids walking the streets near his Harlem home at night, convinced violence threatens to reclaim the neighborhood – even if NYPD statistics say otherwise.

“If you walk these streets, especially at night, you know crime is definitely not down,” said Mahamadou, 44, who lives near Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. and W. 131st St.

“It’s not safe. I don’t know where they get these statistics.”

Crime is still plummeting across the five boroughs – including Harlem’s 32nd Precinct, where Mahamadou lives – continuing a trend that began 15 years ago, according to the NYPD.

Yet many residents worried about the nation’s battered economy think crime is actually surging – an impression that does not surprise experts.

When New York City announced a plan to shut down parts of Times Square to traffic, New Yorkers’ reactions ranged from bemusement to mild hysteria. Despite reassurances from the Transportation Department that the changes would create a greener, more pedestrian-friendly city, some critics of the plan worried that it would sap the square of its chaotic energy. Others, apparently nostalgic for the seediness of the 1970s version of the square, denounced it as another step in New York’s transformation from the world’s greatest metropolis to a generic tourist trap.

Well, I’m happy to report that, a day after the stretch of Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets was closed to cars, the soul of Times Square remains intact. The neon still sparkles. Tourists still wander around bewildered. The whiff of last night’s junk food still hangs in the air.

By: nytimes.com        Read more >>

The Department of Homeland Security is dismantling a next-generation biological attack warning system in New York City subways because of technical problems, U.S. officials said.

Robert Hooks, a deputy assistant secretary, said the department no longer believes it is necessary to expand the pilot program, as he told Congress in July, because of resource and technology limits. Hooks said a long-planned alternative sensor system, set for initial deployment late next year, also will not be available nationwide until 2012, to allow for more testing.

By: washingtonpost.com    Read more >>

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) reported Thursday a 22% fall in first quarter profit Thursday and is examining further pricing initiatives amid continuing falls in its share of U.S. equity trading.

Bob Greifeld, chief executive of the transatlantic exchange operator, admitted he was “disappointed” with the U.S. equity performance, but pointed to potential earnings’ drivers in other areas such as clearing and derivatives.

He also pointed to some signs of life in the Initial Public Offerings market, with 98 applicants “on file”. “We are one or two ‘good news cycles’ away from having the IPO market come back in a reasonable format,” Greifeld said in an interview.

By: online.wsj.com     Read more >>

The White House plans to soon release a photo from the controversial Air Force One-style flyover of Manhattan last week, despite claiming earlier that there was no need to release any official images from the incident.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters Wednesday that an internal report will probably be completed this week.

“We’ll release its findings and release a photo,” he said.

That was after Gibbs indicated Tuesday that the White House would not release any images.

By: foxnews.com      Read more >>