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A New Randall's Island Plan
April 21st, 2009

<i>From the Randall's Island Sports Foundation</i>

From the Randall's Island Sports Foundation

More than 50 residents turned out in East Harlem last night to hear the details of the Bloomberg administration’s new plan for Randall’s Island.

But already many are skeptical that the mayor’s office and the Department of Parks and Recreation’s plan will more equitably distribute the 66 fields on the island for recreational activities. The fields are part of a large scale renovation of the whole island, which started in 2007, and were also the subject of a lawsuit that the city lost last year. Several Upper Manhattan residents and parks advocates charged that the city went around the ULURP process (or the uniform land use review process), which, they argued, should have been required before the renovation took place.

The city’s first plan — which has been struck down by the courts — slated about two-thirds of the island’s fields for private school use exclusively. Those private schools had agreed to fork over $45 million for the cost of the fields construction and renovation.

Last night was the first glimpse into the city’s new proposal for many of those that filed the initial lawsuit.

The new plan includes setting aside 50 percent of the fields for certain private school use, 40 percent for public schools (which would include a possible shuttle expansion to bring more schools onto the island to play baseball, soccer or any other sport) and leaves 10 percent for community organizations or recreational leagues. This ratio would only apply during the hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m., and for only certain more sports-heavy months of the year. The summer months would be a permit free-for-all, said members of the administration, which would allow anyone, anywhere to apply for a permit.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on April 21, 2009, 4:52 pm
In category: Gotham City, Land Use, Parks, nextNY | 8 Comments »

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The Endorsement Roll
April 21st, 2009

Mayor Michael Bloomberg released another endorsement this morning from the Office and Professional Employees International Union — his second union endorsement and the 68th he has received for his re-election bid.

Those 68 include elected officials, unions, community and religious leaders and groups.

The latest video endorsement (which have become a staple of the campaign so far) from the OPEIU says that the members wanted to endorse Bloomberg for a third term because crime rates are down, he practiced fiscal responsibility and he brought private sector jobs into the five boroughs (the full video endorsement is available after the jump).

So far, the mayor’s major competitor, Comptroller William Thompson, appears to have garnered only one public endorsement from Assemblymember Peter Rivera of the Bronx. When we asked the Thompson campaign for a reaction to another Bloomberg endorsement, spokesperson Anne Fenton sent over the following:

$100+ million dollars buys a lot of campaign ads and endorsements but New Yorkers cannot afford another 4 years of Mike Bloomberg. Bill Thompson is proud of the support that he has received from working families throughout the City who want change, new leadership, real results and a mayor who understands the needs of all New Yorkers.”

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By Courtney Gross on April 21, 2009, 3:38 pm
In category: Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Turnout Light
April 21st, 2009

It isn’t the rain that is driving them away. Maybe it’s the lack of competition.

Yes, today is an election day — the second special election the city has held this year. This time it’s to replace former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, who left his post to serve in the Obama administration. Assemblymember Ruben Diaz Jr. is the odds on favorite to win. His competition, Anthony Ribustello, is a first time candidate and a Republican.

Democrats outnumber G.O.P. residents by more than 10 to one in the Bronx.

Across 976 election districts, turnout is “light to moderate,” said the city Board of Elections Deputy Executive Director George Gonzalez. So far, today’s race is business as usual, he says.

Though special elections typically have low, low turnouts, the lack of a competitive race here could be diminishing the get out the vote operations across the county. Diaz has already announced who he plans on naming as his deputy borough president, Assemblymember Aurelia Greene, and, sources say, he has been meeting with the borough president’s office to learn the ropes.

Stay tuned to Gotham Gazette for election results later tonight.

By Courtney Gross on April 21, 2009, 2:34 pm
In category: Albany, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, nextNY | No Comments »

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Bronx BP Race Tomorrow
April 20th, 2009

<i>From Diaz's campaign site.</i>

From Diaz's campaign site.

The approximately 1.4 million residents of the Bronx will get a new borough president tomorrow, but from the looks of it no one seems to notice.

A race where the results are pretty much predetermined, tomorrow’s election pits Assemblymember Ruben Diaz Jr., a Democrat, against actor Anthony Ribustello, a Republican. Technically, tomorrow’s special election — triggered by the resignation of former president Adolfo Carrion who now works for the Obama administration — is nonpartisan. Diaz is expected to win the seat handily.

For more on the intricacies of this race and Bronx politics, see “The Bronx Family Feud.”

In the 2005 general election, 158,761 people turned out to vote for the borough president race. Tomorrow’s election turnout is expected to be much, much smaller.

This race was not always lackluster. At one point, Councilmember Joel Rivera — whose father had headed the Bronx Democratic party until late last year — was expected to challenge Diaz for the seat. That race never happened. Rivera said he wanted to put “politics aside” (in effect, raising the white flag in a political dispute that had mired the Bronx for months).

Since then, Diaz has denied public financing to run the campaign, saying it was less than “competitive.” Since Rivera dropped out, Diaz has doubled the size of his campaign account, from a little over $200,000 to $405,677, according to the latest campaign finance records.
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By Courtney Gross on April 20, 2009, 2:57 pm
In category: Albany, Community Development, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, nextNY | No Comments »

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The Council's Contributors
April 20th, 2009

City Council candidates planning to run for re-election or seek higher office have raked in some $18 million in campaign contributions since 2006, according to an analysis in the Daily News.

Despite efforts to limit the power of special interest in city politics, people who have or want business with the city still account for the bulk of the contributions. Public employee unions anted up almost $1 million and real estate developers also were generous with one — Related Companies, which has a $1 billion deal to develop Hudson Yards — donating more than $100,000.

The biggest recipients of all this largesse: John Liu, now running for comptroller, who has received 3.1 million); City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who has abandoned her bid for mayor, with $3 million); Melinda Katz, another comptroller candidate with $2.2 million and Eric Gioia, running for public advocate, for $2.1 million.

Of course all of this ignores the city’s richest candidate: Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who is expected to spend up to $100 million of his personal billions on his re-election campaign this year.

By Gail Robinson on April 20, 2009, 12:03 pm
In category: Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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Weekly Web Wrap
April 17th, 2009

  • Rockefeller Reforms Need Rehab
    (The Indypendent)
  • A Skeptical Review of the Highline
    (Archpaper via Curbed)
  • Is the State’s Freeze on Charter School Funding Fair?
    (Edwize)
  • City Solicits Taxicab Tech Ideas
    (CNET News)
  • Guerrilla Gardening
    (21st Century Plowshare)
  • City Looks to Ban Cabbies’ Cell Phones
    (Information Week)
  • Policy Sprint for New York Government
    (Independence Year Foundation)
  • Bill Would Bar Considering Landlord-Provided Electricity as Additional Rent
    (PULP Blog)
  • By Mike Muller on April 17, 2009, 7:59 pm
    In category: Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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    Phthalates Create Fat?
    April 17th, 2009

    A common chemical found in childhood toys has been linked to childhood obesity, according to a new study by researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center.

    The study, first reported by City Room, showed that young girls in East Harlem and in adjacent communities that were obese had higher levels of phthalates in their urine. Phthalates can be found in childhood toys. The chemical makes plastic flexible.

    Interestingly, a proposal was floated about two years ago in the City Council to ban these types of toys. Councilmember Eric Gioia suggested banning toys that had more than .1 percent of phthalates. Then, the chemical was primary linked to carcinogens — not obesity.

    San Fransisco has already banned these types of products and so have several European countries.
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Courtney Gross on April 17, 2009, 3:37 pm
    In category: Environment, Health | No Comments »

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    Quinn Hits Emotional Note
    April 17th, 2009

    Her elated photo may have graced the front page of the Times today — below the fold — but the particularly poignant speech delivered by Council Speaker Christine Quinn yesterday went relatively unnoticed.

    Kind of surprising, at least to this reporter.

    Quinn is the first woman and openly gay speaker of the City Council, and her six-minute speech yesterday on the governor’s introduction of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage was not without highly emotive (practically tear-jerking for those who hold the same-sex marriage issue close to the heart) quotes.

    In front of dozens of flashing cameras, Quinn said: “New Yorkers don’t look at me and my partner and say, ‘They are different. They deserve less.’ New York is a state that was built and blazed on the idea that people should have equality and be treated the same,” Quinn said, her voice quivering slightly.

    She continued: “So that minority of people that have become too vocal and too listened to, look me in the eye and tell me that I deserve less. Look me in the eye and tell me that Kim and I aren’t a family, that we don’t struggle every day, that we don’t pay taxes, that we don’t work every day for this city. No one can look me or her in the eye and tell us that because it is not true.”

    By Courtney Gross on April 17, 2009, 12:20 pm
    In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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    Recycling Looking Good to Frugal Eyes
    April 16th, 2009

    “With the cost of exporting the citys regular rubbish expected to rise by $80 million over the next few years and reach $395 million in 2012,” Doug Turetsky writes on the Independent Budget Office blog, “it may be fiscally prudent to pull the citys recycling rates out of the trash bin.” (Just in time for Earth Day.)

    Although it is currently cheaper to ship our trash to landfills and incinerators, he points out that the rising costs are beginning to make recycling look like a promising alternative.

    Besides, the city has yet to even reach its current target of diverting 25 percent of recyclables from the trash, he adds. But if we were to meet that goal, it could reduce the price of recycling further, the IBO points out. That diversion goal doesn’t include forms of waste the city doesn’t accept for recycling, such as plastic take-out containers.

    Still, the economic downturn is affecting the cost paid for recyclables, which doesn’t help.

    Perhaps another way to divert waste from landfills is dealing with electronic waste, which is also often hazardous. Last year, the City Council passed legislation requiring manufacturers to set up free and accessible recycling centers for their products by 2010. In the meantime, an organization called The 4th Bin has launched a competition for the design of e-waste recycling bins.

    And the new bottle deposit bill passed by the state could also help divert recyclables. Called the “bigger better bottle bill,” it will expand the 5 cent deposit fee to non-carbonated beverages.

    By Mike Muller on April 16, 2009, 7:35 pm
    In category: Albany, Environment, Public Finance | No Comments »

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    Tolls Redux
    April 16th, 2009

    Richard Ravitch introduced a modified MTA rescue plan yesterday. Yes, it proposes tolls on East and Harlem River bridges but with commuters traveling over the bridges for health or businesses reasons being exempted. No, it doesn’t seem the major opponents of tolls feel any better about this plan than they did about the last Ravitch plan. Sens. Ruben Diaz, Sr., Carl Kruger and Pedro Espada have all laughed in the face of the new proposal. They’ve spent a lot of time laughing about the MTA situation this year. Read the rest of this entry »

    By David King on April 16, 2009, 3:41 pm
    In category: Albany, Eye on Albany, Transportation | 1 Comment »

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    Bloomberg Gets Snooty
    April 16th, 2009

    Mayor Michael Bloomberg brought the conference to introduce Gov. David Paterson’s gay marriage legislation to an abrupt halt this morning because he heard a sound he didn’t like. It wasn’t the sound of a heckler that so infuriated Bloomberg. No, it was the sound of a tape recorder accidentally switched on in the pocket of a wheelchair-bound blogger.

    Bloomberg began to make his comments about the bill only to stop and glare off in the direction of the crowd.

    “It’s a little too important for playing music. Let me start again, because this is just too important to get disruptive, and maybe we should just take everything outside,” said the mayor as he and everyone else waited.

    Council Speaker Christine Quinn covered the microphone and whispered something to Bloomberg. She might have been telling him that the source of the noise belonged to wheelchair-bound blogger Michael Harris.

    “I understand that. He can still turn it off,” Bloomberg responded.

    Harris later told reporters that his tape recorder had been bumped and accidentally turned on in his pocket. Harris said he would like Bloomberg to apologize. Bloomberg later warned reporters that he will stop any press conference if their tape recorders start playing.

    By David King on April 16, 2009, 2:47 pm
    In category: Albany, Eye on Albany, Land Use | 4 Comments »

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    Ads All Over Examiner
    April 16th, 2009

    After a schism this morning between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Michael A. Harris of the New York Government Examiner at the press conference announcing the same-sex marriage bill, guess whose ads are emblazoned across the site?

    <i>Examiner site this afternoon</i>

    Examiner site this afternoon

    By Courtney Gross on April 16, 2009, 2:16 pm
    In category: Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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    Another Sixty Second Spot
    April 16th, 2009

    Just ten days after Mayor Michael Bloomberg released his first two campaign commercials, he lets another one loose today.

    Same kind of theme: the economy and creating jobs.

    This one, called “Middle Class Squeeze,” could be treading on on-again, off-again candidate Rep. Anthony Weiner’s territory or mimic some of the motifs Comptroller William Thompson has talked about. This ad also follows several radio spots the mayor released earlier this week.

    By Courtney Gross on April 16, 2009, 1:54 pm
    In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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    More Parks, Less Parking
    April 15th, 2009

    As the Yankees set to play their first official regular season game in their new stadium, Gotham Gazette parks writer Anne Schwartz offers the following modest proposal to help the state budget. (For more on the delays in plans to replace parks in the Bronx, see her article, Yankee Stadium Is Opening, But Not the Parks.

    The state is providing a capital subsidy of $65 million for the construction of four new parking garages for the new Yankee Stadium — more than the capital funding the state budget allocates next year for the entire state park system. (The garages are also receiving tax-exempt federal and state financing of $59.6 million.)

    Three of the garages are either under construction or complete. The fourth is slated for Jerome Avenue and 161st Street, where the parks department built an interim synthetic turf baseball/soccer field and track for the community, pending the completion of replacements for the 22 acres of public athletic fields that were taken over for the new stadium.

    The first partial replacement park - a football/soccer field ringed by a 400-meter track - should be finished this month. At that point, the interim field will make way for the fourth parking garage. Baseball teams in the neighborhood will have to wait for new fields until the old stadium is razed and a park is created on its footprint, two and a half years from now.

    How necessary is all that parking for 81 days a year? (OK, plus a few more if the Yankees go into the post-season.) The stadium is served by two subway lines and a brand new Metro North station. Wouldnt taxpayer money be better spent on keeping afloat the mass transit systems essential to the functioning of the citys economy?

    Why not at least postpone the construction of the last garage and leave a nice new playing field for the neighborhood kids?

    By Gail Robinson on April 15, 2009, 8:34 pm
    In category: Albany, Parks, Public Finance, Transportation, sustainability | 1 Comment »

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    Katz on the Role of Comptroller
    April 15th, 2009

    Melinda Katz

    Melinda Katz

    Councilmember Melinda Katz says she has been losing friends.

    First, she became a mergers and acquisitions attorney (insert proper legal joke here) and became a little less popular. Then she was a member of the State Assembly. More friends lost. Next came a seven-year stint on the City Council (pariah yet?), followed by a bid for city comptroller.

    “Now, I can’t even get a date,” Katz quipped at a Citizens Union sponsored breakfast this morning.

    All jokes aside, Katz went through what she wants to do with the comptroller’s office if she wins the seat this fall, from using a portion of the city’s pension funds for distressed debt funding for New York City-based companies to creating more oversight of the Department of Education’s contracts. Katz, like other candidates have suggested, wants to track stimulus funds the city receives and how many jobs they create.
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Courtney Gross on April 15, 2009, 3:01 pm
    In category: Gotham City, Governing, Public Finance, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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    Doomsday Still on the Horizon
    April 14th, 2009

    The pressure is building on the State Senate to come up with a rescue plan for the MTA, but that hasn’t stopped Senators from failing to act on a plan over and over again this year. Following reports this morning that the MTA faces another $200 million in funding shortfalls–adding to its estimated $1.2 billion deficit–advocates have dialed up their attacks on senators whom they see as having stood in the way of progress on a rescue plan. Read the rest of this entry »

    By David King on April 14, 2009, 3:03 pm
    In category: Albany, Eye on Albany, Transportation | 1 Comment »

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    CFB Denies Thompson Limitless Spending
    April 14th, 2009

    The city’s Campaign Finance Board just gave a big blow to William Thompson’s mayoral campaign, by saying the comptroller will — no ifs, ands or buts about it — have to abide by the city’s spending limits if he wants public funding for the primary.

    Thompson had asked the board to temporarily lift the spending cap of $6.158 million for the September primary for mayoral candidates who face candidates that would spend three times as much before that election — even if they weren’t running in the same primary.

    The board, while sympathetic, said no.

    “The board understands the policy concerns raised in the campaigns letter and the challenges of running against a high-spending non-participant. However, the board is fundamentally constrained by the relevant statute, the boards application of the law, and the current fact of the primary election for which Mr. Thompson seeks to lift the expenditure limit. Granting the campaigns request would require a departure from the plain meaning of the statute. Thus, for the reasons set forth below, the board cannot grant the campaigns request.”

    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Courtney Gross on April 14, 2009, 2:10 pm
    In category: Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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    Paterson Ready to Move on Gay Marriage Legislation
    April 14th, 2009

    The New York Times reported today that Gov. David Paterson is likely to introduce a bill to legalize gay marriage on Thursday morning. Paterson has commented recently that he thinks the legislature should take up the bill to show solidarity with the cause whether or not there are enough votes to pass the bill in the Senate. Read the rest of this entry »

    By David King on April 14, 2009, 1:14 pm
    In category: Albany, Civil Rights, Eye on Albany | 1 Comment »

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    The Senate Behind Him, Gennaro to Run for Council
    April 14th, 2009

    As if this was any surprise, Councilmember James Gennaro put out an invite (in full after the jump) this morning to his re-election campaign kickoff slash birthday celebration.

    The event, which will be next month, will be hosted by Council Speaker Christine Quinn.

    This announcement follows a grueling campaign Gennaro ran against State Sen. Frank Padavan last year. The ballot recount practically lasted longer than the actual campaign (it ran about three months), clinching the title of longest contested race in state history.

    Gennaro had started his bid for State Senate when he (and the rest of us) thought that two thirds of the City Council was term limited. He voted against the term limit extension.

    Gennaro lost the senate race by 480 votes.

    He now is moving on or trying to stay put (whichever you prefer).

    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Courtney Gross on April 14, 2009, 10:15 am
    In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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    In Cuomo Versus Allegedly Racist Banks, Obama Picks Banks
    April 10th, 2009

    Data suggest that national banks charged higher mortgage interest rates to people of color in New York, and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo wants the authority to investigate whether they broke state anti-discrimination lending laws in doing so. But the Bush Administration joined a lawsuit to thwart the attorney general’s office — at the urging of the Clearing House Association, a coalition of national banks — and the case is now in federal court.

    With the Obama Administration now in charge, advocates had hoped that they would side with New York. But last week the new solicitor general, Elena Kagan, sided with the Bush Administration, arguing the federal Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has jurisdiction in the matter. The agency is the federal plaintiff in the case. “National banks are created by the government to serve federal purposes,” Kagan argued in an amicus brief, “and that oversight of the banks is therefore principally entrusted to the United States.”
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Mike Muller on April 10, 2009, 3:57 pm
    In category: Civil Rights, Housing, Law | 1 Comment »

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