Good morning, this is your update from DNAinfo. It's chilly, in the high 50s out there now with a chance of showers, but we're expecting a little more sun later with highs in the mid 60s.
And they're off…in the first days of the general-election campaign for mayor, Democratic nominee William Thompson is going after Michael Bloomberg. Thompson wants voters to remember that the mayor changed the law to allow him to run for a third term. Meanwhile Bloomberg says he's ready for a fight and that the term-limit backlash wasn't the only reason some incumbents lost in the primaries.
Thomspon already has support from one big union. The Uniformed Firefighters’ Association representing 89-hundred firefighters endorsed him yesterday. The union's president says he holds Bloomberg's Fire Commissioner accountable for a fire at the Deutsche Bank Building two years ago in which 2 firefighters died.
Speaking of the fire department – the FDNY commissioner tells 1010Wins the department is responding to fires faster then ever before. The average time for firefighters to arrive on the scene? 4 minutes and 3 seconds – that's 13 seconds faster than last year.
Despite disapproval from Mayor Bloomberg, the MTA board approved a salary package for its Chairman Jay Walder. Walder will get $350,000 a year during his six year contract – but if he's fired early-on he'll get a half–million dollar severance.
Filmmakers Robert De Niro and Spike Lee are creating a dramatic series for Showtime about Alphabet City. The show "Alphaville," is set in the 1980's and will re-create the neighborhood's rise from gritty to gentrified.
And police have made an arrest in the Annie Le murder – this morning Connecticut cops arrested Yale lab tech Raymond Clark. He's being held on 3 million dollars bond.
Those are your headlines. Get all your local Manhattan news at DNAinfo.com
