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Albany's Indecision: Obstruction or Salvation?
July 17th, 2007

The State Legislature failed to act on Mayor Michael Bloombergs congestion pricing plan and missed a deadline for the city to apply for as much as $500 million federal transportation funding.

The Daily News thinks that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver made a big mistake and should have said “yes” to the plan. “New York today does not have a smart, comprehensive plan to ease the traffic that is choking the city,” the paper writes.

However, the New York Sun thinks that in this case Albanys habit of standing in the way of progress may turn out to be a good thing. “In the case of congestion pricing, the general opposition in the Assembly appears to be a more legitimate political calculation,” the paper writes.

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on July 17, 2007, 7:05 am
In category: Albany, Environment, Transportation | No Comments »

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Banking the Big Bucks
July 16th, 2007

The City’s Campaign Finance Board released a third round of campaign contribution figures for those seeking office in 2009 today, and, so far, City Comptroller William Thompson is ahead of the pack.

According to preliminary figures from the board, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (who is widely thought to be seeking an office on the other side of City Hall) garnered more than $1 million in contributions in between January and July, totaling $1.38 million.

Thompson, also thought to be running for mayor in 2009, has garnered a total of nearly $3.17 million, according to a filing. In between January and July, the comptroller accumulated less than Quinn at $745,573, according to initial figures from the board.

The summary report is available here , and should be updated this evening. The next round of filings with the board will not be until January 2008.

By Courtney Gross on July 16, 2007, 2:32 pm
In category: Gotham City, Governing, Public Finance | No Comments »

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More on the Congestion Countdown
July 16th, 2007

Where would we be without one more congestion pricing report or survey or anecdote before the plan meets its so-called federal funding deadline today?

Over the weekend, City Council Finance Committee Chair David Weprin released a report that chastises the congestion pricing plan and claims it would increase asthma rates in areas outside the congestion zone. “From the link between asthma rates and transit ridership which is illustrated throughout this report, it can be inferred that if congestion pricing forces more commuters to drive into these neighborhoods which feature greater access to mass transit, the pollution which contributes to high rates of child asthma will only increase,” according to the report.

Congestion pricing would compel commuters to avoid Manhattan’s congestion pricing tolls, and they will subsequently scour for parking in outer-borough neighborhoods, creating more pollution and congestion there, the report argues. Whatever environmentally friendly impacts that do arise from the pricing plan, the report contends, are cancelled by shifting congestion and pollution to other neighborhoods.

As of this point, Mayor Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan does not look like its heading for the city’s streets (Assembly members are meeting in Manhattan today to discuss the plan, while their counterparts in the Senate convene a special session in Albany).

Some, like Kevin Hassett of Bloomberg News , have scolded the legislature for possibly letting the plan – and the $500 million worth of federal funding that could go along with its approval stall, shall we say, in New York’s politically-driven traffic.

Regardless of overwhelming support from the media that the plan has received, many assembly leaders are not sold on the idea, and neither are some residents and merchants here in the city. According to a survey by the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce , 45% of its members surveyed either supported or strongly supported congestion pricing, while 41% opposed it. Another 13% of respondents say they were neutral or didn’t know enough about the plan. The survey tallied reposes from about 16 percent of its membership.

By Courtney Gross on July 16, 2007, 12:24 pm
In category: Gotham City | 9 Comments »

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Congestion Jam
July 16th, 2007

As it comes down to the wire on congestion pricing or so Mayor Michael Bloomberg would have us believe — the Daily News emphasizes that the next move is up to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. With Governor Eliot Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno supporting the plan to charge drivers in Manhattan, the third man in the room and his minions in the Assembly, the editorial says, must say yes to a plan that is critical to maintaining the quality of life for decades to come.

The Post echoes the sentiment, charging that with the city facing a deadline to get $500 million in federal transportation funds, Silver and his members won’t even be in the capital because Silver couldn’t care less. About the money, the traffic, the air pollution. What he does care about is how the bill will impact him – and assemblymembers who support him.

But while Silver may indeed be the ultimate villain in the congestion pricing saga, Bloombergs erred badly in confronting the speaker with an all or nothing strategy pegged to getting $500 million from Washington, writes Jacob Gershman in the Sun. He didn’t offer a back-up plan for relieving congestion that would enable New York to pocket the federal money even if congestion pricing wasn’t approved, Gershman writes. The problem for Mr. Bloomberg was that Mr. Silver didn’t buy the story.

And as Silver fiddles, his Senator counterpart Joe Bruno is going to introduce a congestion pricing measure today. According to the Daily Politics, it basically endorses the Bloomberg plan, but whether it will pass even Brunos chamber remains in doubt.

By Gail Robinson on July 16, 2007, 10:13 am
In category: Albany, Environment, Gotham City, Transportation | 1 Comment »

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Councilman Allegedly Battles Civic Group
July 13th, 2007

An apparent inquiry by the city Department of Investigation into Councilmember Dennis Gallagher reported in The Post this morning, might point to a heated (I mean boiling hot) feud between the councilmember and a civic association in Queens. The inquiry also comes on the heels of allegations of sexual misconduct on Gallagher, who has not been charged with a crime.

Fought on blogs, at community board meetings and on the streets of Middle Village, the tussle began in early 2006 when Gallagher decided not to reappoint a civic association member to a community board, said the president of the Juniper Park Civic Association, Bob Holden, in a telephone interview earlier today.

Holden accuses Gallagher of igniting a politically driven battle to undermine and do away with the long-time running association. Holden said residents in the councilman’s Queens district have received letters on Gallagher letterhead that chastise the organization.

“He had his staff actively working against us,” said Holden. “We not only had to fight Dennis Gallagher. We had to fight his city council resources.”

The blogs hosting most of the name-calling are Juniper Park Patriots and Queens Crap .

A phone call to Gallagher’s district office inquiring on the councilmember and the group’s relationship has not yet been returned.

By Courtney Gross on July 13, 2007, 4:28 pm
In category: Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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Missing Out on Federal Funds
July 13th, 2007

The New York Times says that Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is “sneezing at $500 million” in federal transportation funding and is ready to squander something vital for the city by refusing to reconvene his committee to consider Mayor Bloombergs congestion pricing plan.

The Daily News says that the Department of Homeland Security’s decision not to give New York City additional money to respond to terrorism is “enough to make you sick.”

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on July 13, 2007, 9:53 am
In category: Crime & Safety, Public Finance, Transportation | No Comments »

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House Committee Blows Away Bloomberg's Illegal Gun Agenda
July 12th, 2007


Mayor Bloomberg was given another blow by the federal government today when the House Appropriations Committee approved an appropriations bill that restricts law enforcement’s access to gun tracing data.

As part of Bloomberg’s national campaign against illegal guns, the mayor has been lobbying Washington to open up the data, compiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, arguing the information could help law enforcement identify where illegal guns were coming from across the country. City officials contend most guns used in crimes in New York are illegal and come from out of state (See related Gotham Gazette story ).

The information had been accessible to law enforcement up until fiscal year 2003, when Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) first introduced the measure. Now known as the Tiahrt Amendment, it has been in place ever since.

A Senate committee approved a much stricter amendment last month, which would mandate prison time for law enforcement officials who use the data for anything but a specific trace.

Bloomberg issued the following statement regarding the house vote: “Todays vote by the House Appropriations Committee is a profound disappointment. It shows that Congress is out of step with the bi-partisan coalition of Mayors, Police Chiefs, and other Americans from all over the country that united behind a common sense issue. As happens too often in Washington, common sense didn’t carry the day special interests did.”

Bloomberg also pledged to continue the fight against the amendment.

By Courtney Gross on July 12, 2007, 4:47 pm
In category: Gotham City | 12 Comments »

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Brush With the Law
July 12th, 2007

It seems several council members are, or are indirectly, having uncomfortable brushes with the police lately, including, obviously, Republican Dennis Gallagher and Maria del Carmen Arroyo.

Under investigation for sexual assault, Gallagher reportedly submitted to a DNA test yesterday in hopes of clearing his name. The Queens councilman was reportedly at a bar near his home on Sunday, met a woman and subsequently took her back to his district office. Hours later, reports state, the woman claimed the councilman had raped her.

Gallagher’s lawyer has said the councilman denies the incident and compares it to the Duke rape case. He has not been charged with anything.

Council colleagues, including Speaker Christine Quinn, have stayed relatively quiet on the subject. In the Times today, fellow-Republican Councilman James Oddo spoke out regarding Gallagher’s reputation: Ive known this man for 15 years,” said Oddo of Staten Island. I know him to be a council member who is involved in the minutiae of every issue in his district. Very active, very engaged, very responsive. And I think thats the reputation he has in the district.

Gallagher, who is married with two children, is allegedly not staying at his Middle Village home, where the media has the residence surrounded.

In another police-related incident in the Bronx, Arroyo’s father, Hector Ramirez, allegedly pulled a knife and reportedly threatened his wife, Bronx Assemblywoman Carmen Arroyo, after she returned home with the councilmember on Tuesday. Ramirez was allegedly intoxicated, and the case has been forwarded to the Domestic Violence division of the Bronx Criminal Court.

By Courtney Gross on July 12, 2007, 1:32 pm
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Praising Police and Protesting Plummer
July 12th, 2007

The News reminds us of a day when walking into a subway station, no matter where its destination, was like “taking your life in your hands.” Now that descent is conducted daily by millions without a second thought or a moment’s hesitation. Who’s to congratulate? For the News, its the New York City Police Department that deserves the credit.

And it is also the police department that has become strangled by legislation in front of a house committee today, which the News is urging be rejected. A critical piece of Bloomberg’s anti-illegal gun agenda, the Tiahrt Amendment prohibits law enforcement from accessing gun trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (See related Gotham Gazette story here ). Referring to the officer clinging to life support after being shot earlier this week, the News states: “Some good must come from the destruction inflicted on 23-year-old Officer Russel Timoshenko. Let this be it.”

In other police related opinions, the Post calls the tentative agreement between the sergeant’s union and the Bloomberg administration “very good news for all New Yorkers” and hopes the development will lead to a settlement between the mayor and the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

Elsewhere, the Post fires back at Councilmember Charles Barron and his partner in crime, Viola Plummer, after the two pulled another episode of so-called “racial theater” earlier this week. Plummer, who has been fired by Council Speaker Christine Quinn for threatening another councilmember and allegedly acting disruptive in the City Council chambers, showed up for work with Barron anyway, apparently as a volunteer. Nonetheless, the Post argues “both the speaker’s clout and dignity remain intact in this ugly episode.”

By Courtney Gross on July 12, 2007, 11:31 am
In category: Crime & Safety, Gotham City, Transportation | No Comments »

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Parking Perks
July 11th, 2007

Assemblymember Richard Brodsky of Westchester has billed himself as the person looking out for the public interest in his fight against the mayors congestion pricing plan. Maybe but then again.

Streetsblog reports that the legislator has accepted at least $16,700 in campaign contributions from parking garage interests, according to the New York State Board of Elections. The money, most of it from the Metropolitan Parking Association and the Mallah family, which owns several parking companies, is far more than any other state legislator has gotten. Rory Lancman, who has offered an alternative to congestion pricing that doesnt include congestion pricing got only $500.

Brodsky told City Room that he would not respond to personal attacks and that, whoever his campaign donors might be, congestion pricing is a regressive tax that could raise privacy implications.

Admittedly Brodsky is a piker compared to Councilmember David Weprin, a vocal congestion pricing foe who has gotten a reported $40,650 from parking interests since 2001. (When we reported on this recently, an aide to the councilmember called and noted that Weprin had received the contributions long before congestion pricing was even a glimmer in the mayors eye.)

The Mallah family has aided other city politicians as well, including unsuccessful mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer. While none of them has done as well as Weprin, according to Campaign Finance Board records, they include Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, who has received at least $7,700 and has reservations about congestion pricing and Councilmember Melinda Katz of Queens, now running for comptroller, who has received more than $4,000 and opposes it. On the other side of the ledger, City Comptroller William Thompson, a likely mayoral candidate, received more than $6,000 from the Mallahs but supports congestion pricing. Councilmember Eric Gioa who received about $2,750 and is thought to be mulling a bid for public advocate, has expressed support for the idea

Now, what about those middle income drivers Brodsky purports to represent. Well, they dont live in his district. According to Transportation Alternatives, Brodskys “Westchester area Manhattan-bound drive-to-work constituents earn on average $176,231 annuallythe highest of any New York county in the metropolitan area.” No wonder they can pay those parking fees.

By Gail Robinson on July 11, 2007, 11:16 am
In category: Albany, Electoral Politics, Environment, Gotham City, Transportation | 4 Comments »

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Low Marks for School Contract
July 11th, 2007

It was the sort of meeting that has become all too familiar in the years of mayoral control of schools. Education advocates parents and teachers appeared before Education Department officials to urge smaller classes and more parent input.

The occasion this time was a hearing in Brooklyn (similar meetings are taking place throughout the city this week) on the Contract for Excellence, the Department of Educations plan to spend some $228 million in state education money. In a hot auditorium with a poor sound system that could not always compete with crying children in the back, speakers urged changes in the plan, notably that more money go to cutting class size in city schools.

Although the citys plan calls for some small reduction in class size, the Department of Education continues to give relatively short shrift to this as a remedy for failing schools. The argument has been going on for years, but the critics pressed ahead Tuesday. A middle school Spanish teacher told of grappling with a class of 39 students trying to grasp an unfamiliar language. … It is not fair to them. Calling the plan a farce, one parent described schools so crowded that students do not have textbooks. We know students learn better in classes that are much [smaller] than they are now, another teacher said.

But as they criticized the plan, few held out much hope their advice would be heeded. The only reason youre having this meeting its a required part of the DOE receiving the money, one parent said. One teacher said the meeting had slipped under the summer rug. Another, dismissing the education department officials as Ivy League thoroughbreds with business and management degrees, said, This plan is once again dictated to us by the Department of Education.

Whatever the results of the meeting and the sessions in Manhattan, Queens and Staten Island today and Thursday advocates plan to press on. Some have said that if Tweed does not respond to the criticism, they will urge the state education department to reject the plan and consider suing. And at the Brooklyn meeting, State AssemblymemberJim Brennan, who said he helped write the legislation requiring the contract, said he would ask the state to consider whether the citys proposal addresses concerns about class size and improving middle schools.

An education department spokesperson, Debra Wexler, told the Sun that Tweed would listen to the public reaction and “make refinements to the proposal as appropriate. Check the final plan, due to the state Sunday, to see who, if anyone, is listening.

By Gail Robinson on July 11, 2007, 7:54 am
In category: Albany, Education, Gotham City, Public Finance | No Comments »

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That 70s Show
July 10th, 2007

This summer, there is a lot of nostalgia for big hair, crime, blackouts, and a bankrupt city government.

Tonight, ESPN launches an 8-hour mini-series called The Bronx is Burning, an adaptation of John Mahlers book about the 1977 New York Yankees and their quest to win the first pennant in 15 years. The backdrop for the drama is a city in turmoil – “‘the Summer of Sam, an unprecedented wave of looting and arson resulting from a citywide blackout, declining municipal budgets, and bitterly negative campaigns in the race for mayor which played on residents fears, according to the show’s promotional materials.(Click here for a Gotham Gazette interview with Mahler.)

The Daily News has produced a Web site by the same name, featuring photos, profiles of each of the candidates for mayor, and articles from its archives, including the story with the famous headline Ford to New York: Drop Dead.

And today, the New York Post features the article “The Brink of Bankruptcy”, the second in a five-part series marking the 30th anniversary of New York City’s summer of 1977. The first article entitled “How I Helped Put the Juice Back in the Big Apple” is written by former Mayor Ed Koch

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on July 10, 2007, 11:46 am
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Zip Bikes?
July 9th, 2007

The New York Bike Share Project rolled into 97 Kenmare Street this week, bringing with it ideas from abroad and proposals to change the face of transportation in the city.To research bike sharing in New York, the Forum for Urban Design has 20 bikes avilable to riders for free for a half hour. On Wednesday, it will put forth a recommendation for implementing a bike share program within city limits.

The concept? 40,000 bicycles for use within the city. To get one, riders would simply swipe a card or make a phone call, ride the bike to their destination, check it back in to the system, and its there for someone else to use. Cyclists would pay for the time they use

An overview of bike share programs in several European cities on display at the Storefront for Art and Architecture until July 11. There will also be public presentations on the European Programs, Tuesday at 6 and 6:30 pm and a closing reception on Wednesday.

For more, visit www.nybikeshare.org

By Brian Bonci on July 9, 2007, 5:02 pm
In category: Environment, Gotham City, Transportation | No Comments »

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Getting the Lead Out
July 9th, 2007

Skeptical News Yorkers have long questioned Rudolph Giulianis claim to be the architect of New Yorks lower crime rate, noting that the decline began under his predecessor, David Dinkins, and has continued under his successor Michael Bloomberg.

Now Giuliani is hearing doubts from a new quarter, Fairfax, Virginia economist Rick Nevin, who according to the Washington Post, has argued in a series of little-noticed papers that the New York miracle was caused by local and federal efforts decades earlier to reduce lead poisoning. According to the paper, Nevin builds on studies linking children’s exposure to lead with violent behavior later in their lives and then goes on to show a decades-long association between lead poisoning and crime rates in nine countries. As lead levels fell, largely because of restrictions of lead in gasoline, the reasoning goes, crime fell.

Giulianis former police commissioner Bill Bratton dismissed the study as absurd, and so far Giuliani has not commented on the findings. But they delight Blue Girl, Red State, who chortles, I really find it quite delicious that he is claiming the credit for a phenomenon that is actually due to those liberal social programs of the past that he and his ilk have tried mightily to undo.

Annotated Life, though, calls for some healthy skepticism: Nevin and the Post fail to acknowledge the complex societal workings that contribute to crimes or their alleviation, particularly in areas of economic distress.

By Gail Robinson on July 9, 2007, 12:50 pm
In category: Crime & Safety, Environment, Gotham City, Health | 1 Comment »

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Floating Pool
July 9th, 2007

Floating Pool Lady at the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

By Oates Ritthichai on July 9, 2007, 12:49 pm
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Tweed's Tiny Cuts
July 8th, 2007

The city schools are about the get an infusion of money from the state about $700 million, partly as a result of the Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit on school funding. But while everyone likes an extra several hundred million, controversy surrounds how to spend it.

The Daily News thinks the city is on the right track with money earmarked for salaries and benefits, special education and charter schools and $228 million for new programs to boost student achievement.

Only a small portion of the money will go to cut class size — not surprising given the Bloomberg administrations long-standing lack of enthusiasm for that particular reform. The Department of Education has said it anticipates a cut of about .3 to .8 students per class on average yes, thats one third to four fifths of a student, writes Leonie Haimson on the Public Schools Parents blog. This amount is so minimal, and the class size data that DOE reports is so error-prone that this will be difficult to even track.

At a press conference on Sunday, Robert Jackson, who originally brought the Campaign for Fiscal Equity suit and now chairs the City Councils education committee, also expressed disappointment. Instead of a fully developed five-year plan to reduce class sizes, DOE has come up with a one-year plan with very modest decreases in class size. I didnt fight for more than a decade on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity to reduce class sizes by one-third of a student! he said in a statement.

Under state law, the city has to submit a plan — called a Contract for Excellence on how it will spend the $228 million. Hearings on the plan will be held in each of the five boroughs this week. (For a hearing schedule and to read the contract, click here.)

As the News noted, the department will undoubtedly hear a lot about class size at the hearings. (It is, of course, an important thing, the paper said, but it’s not the only thing.) On the other hand, given that it is summer, when many involved in education are away, maybe the department wont hear much. Which is, of course, just the way they like it.

By Gail Robinson on July 8, 2007, 9:06 pm
In category: Albany, Education, Gotham City, Public Finance | 1 Comment »

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In Praise of Smaller Schools
July 6th, 2007

The New York Times praises the Bloomberg administration for “making impressive strides toward the goal of replacing large and often dysfunctional factory-style high schools with smaller schools where children have closer contact with faculty members.

For more on the city’s effort to reduce the size of high schools – and the challenges of implementing the policy – see these Gotham Gazette articles from the archives:
Keeping Kids in School (2006)
High School Students (2005)
The School Admissions Scramble (2005)
Making Schools Smaller (2004)

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on July 6, 2007, 7:40 am
In category: Education | 1 Comment »

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High-Flyin' Joe Vs. Low-Lyin' Shelly
July 6th, 2007

The Daily News editorial page gives its views on Albanys two top legislators today – and neitherman fares well.

On Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, the paper writes: “He wants to act like a jerk, live like a king – and not be held accountable for any of it.”

On Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, The News writes: “Silver cannot dodge responsibility for the Legislature’s failure to do much of anything before it went home for the summer.”

By Mark Berkey-Gerard on July 6, 2007, 7:22 am
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The Spiraling Plummer Saga
July 5th, 2007

Viola Plummer and City Hall officials are scheduled to duel again tomorrow morning in federal court, putting a revised letter of conduct at center stage.

On Tuesday, Judge William Pauley, who reportedly swiped at the original letter’s content for mandating courteous and restricting discourteous behavior, deemed the initial letter vague.

Plummer, the chief of staff for Councilman Charles Barron, is facing a six-week suspension ordered by Council Speaker Christine Quinn for threatening another councilman with so-called political assassination following a controversial vote on a street renaming .

In addition to the suspension, Plummer was ordered by Quinn to sign a code of conduct by Tuesday at 5 p.m. to keep her job. That deadline was extended until Friday so a new letter could be drafted and presented to the Plummer crew. The new letter was delivered to Plummer today, said a Quinn spokesperson, and the revised letter is not available to the press because it isn’t a public document.

By Courtney Gross on July 5, 2007, 3:24 pm
In category: Gotham City, Law | 1 Comment »

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Siccing State Cops on Bruno
July 5th, 2007

The Posts Fredric Dicker reports today that Gov. Eliot Spitzer singled out state Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno for a State Police investigation that led to allegations of misuse of a helicopter for political purposes. The revelation is the latest in a string of tussles between the governor and the Republican majority leader that The Times is urging the two leaders to leave behind.

With important campaign finance legislation and congestion pricing slated for discussions in a special legislative session later this month, The Times urges the governor and Mr. Bruno to give their highly public differences a rest and get down to business.”

In response to the State Police records that reveal Brunos travel patterns were investigated, The Post questions whether Eliot Spitzer, or someone acting at his direction, in fact ordered state troopers to undertake a surveillance of Joe Bruno in an effort to gain political advantage? They urge a complete investigation.

Elsewhere, The News praises the city for standing strong on the trans fat ban, which has encouraged other cities to follow suit, while they also say the next six months should be a test for the citys Department of Buildings after recently pledging greater enforcement of safety standards.

By Courtney Gross on July 5, 2007, 8:45 am
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