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Lieber to Leave City Hall
May 19th, 2010

Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert Lieber will leave his position at City Hall in June to join Island Capital Groups affiliated companies, Anubis Advisors and C-III Capital Partners, as a senior executive.
lieber_thumb

Lieber joins a growing number of individuals who have elected to leave City Hall post Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s third term election. Unlike former Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, who left last month and had been with Bloomberg since before he was elected mayor, Lieber only joined the adminsitration in 2007.

Although Lieber was at the reins of one of Bloomberg’s top priorities: economic development.

The full release from City Hall is after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on May 19, 2010, 11:45 am
In category: City Hall, Community Development, Economy, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, Measuring UP, Work and Labor, nextNY | 2 Comments »

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Clash of the Charter Titans
May 18th, 2010

Last night the Charter Revision Commission invited the heads of the past charter commissions to share their wisdom and expertise. It all began as one would expect with everyone expressing admiration of and gratitude to their predecessors and/or successors. But then things turned unexpectedly feisty as the former chairs clashed over issues the current commission will undoubtedly consider: nonpartisan elections and term limits.

The term limits debate pitted Lt Gov. Richard Ravitch, chair of the first commission, against Frank Macchiarola. In 2003, Macchiarola decided to put nonpartisan elections, a pet cause of the man who appointed him, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on the ballot before the commission held hearings. The measure went down to defeat by a margin of more than two to one, despite the mayor’s deep pockets. But yesterday Macchiarola made it clear he had no regrets.

Describing himself as a member of the “Green Tea Party because I’m an environmentalist,” Macchiarola expressed his disdain for many aspects of our the city’s current election system, including public financing of campaigns, which he said “has built an industry of people who help people get elected who would get elected without it. “He also derided elite newspapers and the Working Families Party, which he called the Workers Party and tarred as Bolshevik (when did you last hear that one?).

People , he said, are seething with anger over being kept out of the political process and dictated to by elites A system of nonpartisan elections, Macchiarola said, would ease that, “increase turnout and give more people the right to run.”

Ravitch conceded that “no one who is going through what I’m going through now in Albany can’t have difficulty maintaining one’s faith in the democratic process.” But, he continued, one doesn’t solve problems “in politics by taking politics out of the political process. Politics is not a pejorative word.”

The two party system, he said, serves as “a stabilizing force in American politics” and allows people to run for office “who dont necessarily have the wherewithal to get on the ballot themselves.” (And who might ne mean here?)

The term limits exhcnage after the jump.
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By Gail Robinson on May 18, 2010, 3:00 pm
In category: City Hall, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing | 2 Comments »

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Leaders Meeting Leads to Nothing
May 18th, 2010

Finger pointing, griping, political attacks and excuses were the main byproduct of the leaders meeting held this morning. The only bit of news came from a few demands made by Gov. David Paterson but it isn’t clear that he is actually going to stand by all of them.

First of all, Paterson asked Democrats if they could possibly accommodate holding conference committees to hash out the differences between the Assembly and Senate budget proposals in public. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was non-committal. Republicans have been demanding the meetings for weeks, to no avail.

Secondly, Paterson asked if any of the leaders would be willing to vote on his budget proposal. Most of them dodged the question. ”

We want conference committees, governor.” Sampson replied.

“Oh Scotty, beam me up!” Paterson declared in exasperation.

Finally, as the meeting was coming to conclusion Paterson hurriedly announced that he will be holding another leaders meeting on Tuesday and will declare special sessions to keep legislators in town next Thursday and Friday. Lawmakers are not so hot on the idea as both Democrats and Republicans are holding their nominating conventions next week.

“I’ll be here every day next week. And I will call special sessions on Thursday and Friday to make sure all of you are here next week and the week after,” Paterson said.

But afterward Paterson hedged. Paterson told reporters that he will talk to legislative leaders first before committing to holding special sessions.

All of this action comes late in the game, as Paterson has not called for leaders meetings for at least a month and has declined previously to hold special sessions saying he didn’t want to agitate legislators.

By David King on May 18, 2010, 2:46 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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Budget Talks
May 18th, 2010

Gov. David Paterson and the legislative leaders are scheduled to hold a public meeting on the budget in a few minutes. You can watch it here. Legislators are scheduled to leave town today and return Monday. The state is facing a $1 billion cash shortfall on June 1 so lawmakers have some motivation to kick negotiations into high gear. But is it enough? The budget is currently 47 days late.

By David King on May 18, 2010, 10:59 am
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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Fire Company Closures Delayed For Now
May 17th, 2010

fire

Photo (cc) 2008 dietrich.

To Councilmember Elizabeth Crowley, no news on the mayor’s decision to close fire companies is good news.

“She thinks it’s a good sign,” said Crowley spokesperson Meredith Burak. “We’ve rallied in every borough. Firefighters are the ones that are protesting these cuts.” Crowley chairs the council’s Committee on Fire and Criminal Justice Services.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said today he won’t release the list of 20 fire companies the administration proposes to close until more is known about the state budget.

The Fire Department must notify the City Council 45 days before it decides to close any company. Given this timeline, fire companies will stay open until at least July 2. According to the executive budget, closing 20 companies would save the city $5.6 million in fiscal year 2011.

Last year, the mayor proposed to shutter 16 companies to help close a budget gap. The City Council restored the Fire Department’s funding to save them.

By Courtney Gross on May 17, 2010, 4:13 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Crime & Safety, Economy, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Health, Law, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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DiNapoli on Impact of Late State Budget
May 17th, 2010

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has a released a report examining what the late budget means to cities and school districts. The gist of it? Things are going to get ugly.

Cities need to make decisions based on state aid and they have nothing to go on. Cash flow problems are likely.

I called last years budget a buy-time budget, DiNapoli said in a statement. This year its just wasted time. Local governments and school districts are putting together their budgets, and theyre doing it in the dark with no clear picture of how much state aid theyll get.

Were six weeks into the new fiscal year with no budget in sight and were facing a multi-billion deficit. All this wasted time means New York will have to pack a whole year of fiscal pain into 10 months. Its not fair to our schools, its not fair to our local governments, and its really not fair to the taxpayers. I urge the governor and legislature to take action and finally pass the state budget.

The report notes that state aid makes up 21 percent of New York City’s total income and 41 percent of the school district’s income. But New York, thank your lucky stars that you aren’t Buffalo where state aid is 40 percent of the city’s total revenue and 74 percent of the school district’s.

The report also details how delays in education aid payments could hurt the long-term credit rating of many school districts.

By David King on May 17, 2010, 1:12 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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Clock is Ticking
May 17th, 2010

The legislature is only set to be in town for two days this week. Yes, in case you’ve been under a rock for the past few weeks, the budget is now 46 days late and the state is still facing a $9 billion budget deficit and a $1 billion cash shortfall on June 1.

Counting this week, the legislature has 17 session days remaining. Session concludes on June 21. No one seems to be in any particular hurry to get a budget negotiated.

The New York Post is reporting that Attorney General Andrew Cuomo plans to weigh in soon–perhaps in an attempt to goose the process back into order but legislators seem resigned that they will be hanging out through the Summer.

The blame exchange between Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Gov. David Paterson has heated up as it has between the Senate Democrats and Republicans. The line used to be that serious legislation will be considered after the budget passes but now serious legislation is moving almost as if the budget isn’t a factor.

Both houses are expected to vote on another budget extender today.

By David King on May 17, 2010, 12:06 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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Drop the Lock Up?
May 14th, 2010

Drop the Rock, the coalition that led the fight to reform the Rockefeller Drug Laws, is leading hte charge to close prisons across the state. They say the prison population has dropped by 14,000 inmates in the last ten years and that 5,000 prison beds will remain empty. So the logical conclusion according to Drop the Rock is to close prisons and save the state money.

Prison guards and unions are not very keen to the idea. In fact, they say shutting down prisons will destroy the upstate economy and jeopardize inmate and public safety.

Drop the Rock will be holding rallies to support prison closures all over the place tomorrow — including upstate in Hudson— the place of my birth. The rallies start at 11 a.m. and go until 3 p.m.

Legislators will be making appearances: Sen. Bill Perkins will attend the Harlem an East Harlem rallies. Assemblymember Michelle Titus will attend the Jamaica rally. Assemblymember Inez Barron will attend Brownsville rally. Assemblymember Felix Ortiz will attend the Fulton Mall, Brooklyn rally. Don’t expect to see any politicos at the upstate rallies–closing prisons is not a very popular idea up that way. Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on May 14, 2010, 4:45 pm
In category: Albany, Crime & Safety, Eye on Albany | 6 Comments »

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Weekly Web Wrap
May 14th, 2010

Cataloging the City’s Community Gardens
(Edible Geography)
The Remnants of New York’s Tenement Ornamentation
(The Atlantic)
A Mentoring Program to Keep Young Talent in New York
(NY Tech Meetup)
The City’s Shortage of Entrepreneurial Tech Talent
(Business Insider via NYConvergence)
Creating a Solar Power Map of the City
(Inhabitat)
White House Denies Reports of Spy Planes Over City
(Wired)
The Bronx Food Summit
(Bronx News Network)
Privatizing the Goethals Bridge
(The Real Estate)
Examining a Small-School’s Historical Roots
(Teachers College Record)
Lawmaker Birthday Cards a Waste of Ink (and Taxpayer Money)
(Daily Gotham)
Roosevelt Island’s Pneumatic Trash System
(Urban Omnibus)
Goldsmith: Leading a Culture of Cost Savings
(Governing Magazine)
Top Green Contractors of 2010
(New York Construction)
Efficient Appliance Rebate Extended
(NYSERDA)
Peak Hour Parking Pricing Working
(Marketplace via Planetizen)

By Mike Muller on May 14, 2010, 3:50 pm
In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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End of an Era (UPDATE)
May 14th, 2010

NBC announced today that it had canceled Law and Order — the city’s longest running primetime series.
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Photo (cc) Det.Logan


Here is Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s statement on the show’s cancellation:

Over the last 20 years, Law & Order became a New York City institution. It began filming in the City at a time when few series did, and it helped pave the way for the more than 150 television shows based here today, including the Law & Order spinoff Special Victims Unit, which will continue. Law & Order not only broke the record for New York Citys longest-running primetime series, it set the record for the longest-running crime series in the nation, collecting numerous Emmy awards along the way. It also helped launch the careers of thousands of talented actors and featured many memorable performances although my cameos are not among them. Were grateful to Dick Wolf for choosing New York City as its location for all of these years, and for helping showcase the Citys depth and versatility as a setting and all of the advantages of filming here.

UPDATE: We just checked in with Julianne Cho of the Mayor’s Office of Film, Theatre and Broadcasting, who said every season of Law and Order contributed $79 million to New York City’s economy. It ran here in New York for two decades. The show employed more than 4,000 people, Cho said.

By Courtney Gross on May 14, 2010, 1:53 pm
In category: Albany, Arts, City Hall, Community Development, Economy, Gotham City, nextNY | No Comments »

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Issue Forums Scheduled
May 14th, 2010

To dig deep into the nitty-gritty of the City Charter, the Charter Revision Commission will host five issue forums on specific areas it plans to focus on.

They announced the schedule yesterday. Just a refresher, the topics are: term limits, voter participation, government structure, public integrity and land use. There will be one forum in every borough. First up, the ever-popular term limits issue, which will be at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

The full list is after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on May 14, 2010, 10:52 am
In category: Albany, City Hall, Economy, Education, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Land Use, Law, Public Finance, nextNY | No Comments »

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Budget Hearings Breakdown
May 13th, 2010

The City Council kicked off its executive budget hearings this morning, and over the next month there will be dozens more.

This schedule is subject to change, but here is how it’s laid out now.

Friday, May 14

Human Rights Commission, 10 a.m.
City University of New York, 10:30 a.m.
Education and School Construction Authority (Capital), 12 p.m.

Monday, May 17
Citywide Administrative Services, 10 a.m.
Board of Elections, 10:45 a.m.
Campaign Finance Board, 11:45 a.m.
Aging, 12:30 p.m.
Juvenile Justice, 2 p.m.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on May 13, 2010, 6:00 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Community Development, Crime & Safety, Economy, Education, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing, Health, Housing, Land Use, Law, Parks, Public Finance, Social Services, Tech, Transportation, nextNY, sustainability | 1 Comment »

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Cleaner Than We Thought
May 12th, 2010

Earlier this year, the Time’s Gail Collins set up a competition for which state had the “most awful political culture” and saw it neck and neck down in the mud between New York and Illinois. She gave the nod to Illinois because New York legislators, benighted though they might be, at least at the decency to boot Hiram Monserrate from the Senate.

Of course, this was before Attorney General Andrew Cuomo charged State Sen. Pedro Espada with looting some $14 million from his Soundview Health Clinic and before the man who once invested Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s money (and now may handle his foundation’s riches) was
accused of paying kickbacks
to win business from the state pension fund.

But still?

Now, though the Daily Beast, levels another blow at the Empire State’s blemished record. On a rating of corruption, New York comes in smack in the middle — 24th out of 52. By the website’s reckoning, both New Jersey and Connecticut — yes, Connecticut — are more corrupt than we are.

The Daily Beast’s rating includes not only public corruption but also private sector malfeasance, including racketeering and extortion and fraud. BY\y its standard, New York ranks No. 1 in racketeering and extortion, but only 20th in public corruption. And it seems we New Yorkers are not big on embezzlement.

The most corrupt state?

Here’s a wonky clue. Its former senator recently considered running for Senate here.

Maybe he was just looking for a little clean air.

By Gail Robinson on May 12, 2010, 5:27 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Eye on Albany, Gotham City, Governing | 1 Comment »

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Furloughs on Hold, For Now
May 12th, 2010

U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Kahn has issued a restraining order to prevent Gov. David Paterson’s plan to furlough state workers. The order also prevents Paterson from issuing budget extenders that withhold raises for union workers. A hearing has been scheduled for May 26. Legal experts say it is unlikely that the furloughs will survive the challenge.

The news broke over a dozen members of the assembly marched on Paterson’s office to voice their displeasure about the furloughs.

Until we go to court, the state workforce will not be making any sacrifice in our deficit reduction plan, and I think thats unfortunate, Paterson told reporters at an impromptu media scrum outside his office.

By David King on May 12, 2010, 5:20 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | 1 Comment »

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Communty Boards Get a Pass
May 12th, 2010

It’s not just cops that are getting a pass in this year’s budget.

Community boards are off the chopping block too.

Mayoral Spokesperson Marc LaVorgna just sent over the following comments made by Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his radio show last Friday:

“Well, Ive looked carefully community boards are really a voice for people, and you know, they give a lot of good input to the City, they give people a chance to say what they want to say in front of other people who come from their neighborhoods and everybody learns from each other. We believe it or not really do change what we do based on input from the community boards. Not every time and you cant agree with every community board. Theres 59 of them and a lot go one way, a lot go another so you cant do it every time. But we will, I think, not cut the funding for the community boards this year. In the very difficult budget times its hard to exempt anybody, but community boards really dont get that much money out of the 63 or 64 billion dollar budget, and I think they really do provide a lot. And its just not community boards. There are some small City agencies where, you know, if theyve got five people cutting them to four is a 20% cut in their staff and their ability to do things and it saves you a small amount of money. So I think community boards will come out of this budget cycle. You know, theyll always want more, but they wont get less and thats a positive, you know, given the environment we have.”

When the mayor was slashing at the boards last year, we reported on speculation that he was trying to do away with them altogether. At least for now, that doesn’t seem likely.

The boards will be a subject of the city’s Charter Review Commission, which has made government authority and power one of the five issues it will look at.

By Courtney Gross on May 12, 2010, 3:56 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Community Development, Electoral Politics, Eye Opener, Gotham City, Law, Public Finance, nextNY | No Comments »

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Furloughs and You (updated)
May 12th, 2010

Wondering how the furlough of 100,000 state workers could affect your life? Well, if you need help with your state taxes you won’t be able to call the New York State Department of Taxes and Finance’s help line on May 21. The department has announced that their call center will be closed for the day due to furloughs.

“While the furlough will impact some services provided to the public, the Department determined that a single furlough day would be the least disruptive to taxpayers seeking services through our call centers,” reads a release from the department. “The Department receives the lowest volume of incoming calls on Fridays and there are no major tax filing deadlines scheduled for May 21.” The release recommends using the tax department’s web site if you need assistance.

Update: You could have some serious trouble finding an open Department of Motor Vehicles location on May 21 as well.

Feels a little bit like state government is falling apart doesn’t it?

Meanwhile, Gov. David Paterson has rescinded raises given to some of his staffers after outrage grew that Paterson would hand out raises while taking one day of work a week away from 100,000 state workers. Morgan Hook, Paterson’s spokesman has defended the raises saying the employees who received them had taken on a larger work load. Hook also called on Union workers to give up their raises.

Western New York Assemblyman Sam Hoyt is furloughing his staff in solidarity with furloughed state workers.

“I wont stand idly by while the Governor engages in political gamesmanship with the lives of ordinary New Yorkers,” said Hoyt in a statement. “While I am unable to end the furlough, I will act in solidarity with my fellow public servants whose lives are being disrupted by these shortsighted decisions. I am therefore closing down my office for one day a week and instructing my staff to forgo one days pay per week until the furlough of other state workers comes to an end.”

Union’s continue the legal battle to end the furloughs.

By David King on May 12, 2010, 3:13 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany, Work and Labor | 3 Comments »

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Quinn Mum on Budget (update)
May 12th, 2010

Council Speaker Christine Quinn isn’t letting anything slip out about this year’s budget negotiations.

“We’re in the beginning of the budget negotiation process,” said Quinn. “We take the cuts that are proposed to any and all entities in government and outside of government seriously. We’ll be reviewing them and our final decision will be reflected in the budget.”

Quinn was responding to a question on whether the council would move to restore a cut to the public advocate’s office, which is slated to get $1.75 million in fiscal year 2011. The budget for the office in fiscal year 2010 is about $2.8 million, according to the mayor’s executive budget. Much of that did not go to newly minted Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, but to his predecessor Betsy Gotbaum, who failed to curb spending at her office after a 40 percent cut in the budget last year.

In March, the adminsitration infused the public advocate’s office with $850,000 so it could continue to operate.

Last year, the council did not step in to save Betsy. Asked if it would consider stepping in to help out de Blasio, Quinn wouldn’t say.

“I am not going to negotiate the budget in the press,” Quinn said.

De Blasio’s office will also have to compete against other agencies and departments for the council’s budget love. It very well could be the public advocate versus 20 fire companies threatened with closure, 16 day care centers set to shutter and thousands of classrooms without teachers.

UPDATE: de Blasio’s office sent over this comment from the public advocate.

I completely understand that the city is facing tough economic times and all branches of government should cut spending, but it is misleading to say that the Public Advocates Office is receiving the same cuts as other agencies. The Office has seen a 45 percent budget reduction in the past two years, and has lost more than half of its staff. This not the way we should fund a Charter-mandated office.

By Courtney Gross on May 12, 2010, 2:20 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Economy, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Land Use, Law, Public Finance, nextNY | No Comments »

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Council and Administration Spar Over Wages
May 11th, 2010

The administration says it’s open to sitting down with council members to discuss a bill to require prevailing wages for service employees at city subsidized developments.

But that was after a representative from the administration said the bill would squash economic development, lower property tax revenue, test the fate of senior centers (not to mention the myriad nonprofit capital projects council members hold dearly) and is, in a nutshell, against the city charter.

Needless to say, those so-called negotiations might not go very well.

For the first time, the City Council held a hearing this morning on a measure to require entities that receive more than $10,000 of city assistance annually to pay a prevailing wage for building service employees. The bill could have a huge impact on the city’s service sector, including a wealth of agencies and tenants of city contracted properties. This wide-ranging impact is at the heart of the administration’s opposition.

“It’s quite broad and it affects basically everything the city does,” said Tokumbo Shobowale, chief of staff to Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Bob Lieber. “Rather than do harm, we prefer the deliberative approach,” he added.

The administration would rather the City Council hold off on any wage requirement mandate until it conducts a living wage study, which it is scheduled to complete in 2011.

Supporters of the bill, including 32BJ, saw that preference as a way to delay the proposal.

“The issue of doing a study has been going on for five years,” said 32BJ Executive Vice President Kevin Doyle – who represents service employees and is a major supporter of the bill. “The time to do a study and use that to deter action is passed.”

Council members questioned the administration’s opposition to the bill when its own representative said the city wouldn’t truly know the impact of this type of policy until its study was completed.

“You’re not coming in any sort of spirit of cooperation,” said the bill’s sponsor, Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito. “We are not and should not be in the business of adding poverty wage jobs.” Mark-Viverito said she had approached the administration to sit down and discuss the bill earlier this year, but never received a response.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Courtney Gross on May 11, 2010, 5:02 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Community Development, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Land Use, Law, Public Finance, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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Senate Approves Budget Extender
May 10th, 2010

The senate has approved the budget extender that will keep the state functioning in the absence of a real budget. The bill includes an unpaid day off for 100,000 state workers. The vote went down along party lines. Thousands of union workers gathered at the capital to protest the furloughs earlier today.

Both Senate Majority Conference Leader John Sampson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have said they think the furloughs are illegal but said they had to pass the extender to keep the state running. The senate also passed a bill condemning the furloughs as illegal before voting for them in the extender. The assembly is still considering the extender.

By David King on May 10, 2010, 6:55 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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State Cancer Maps
May 10th, 2010

New York State has unveiled a searchable database that reveals the incidence of cancer in individual neighborhoods as well as possible polluters in the area. Just visit the map and type in your address and you will get a better idea of what cancers are being diagnosed in your area and what environmental factors could be causing them.

Officials say they don’t want to scare the public and individuals should not react rashly to the information they find about their neighborhood.

By David King on May 10, 2010, 6:09 pm
In category: Albany, Eye on Albany | No Comments »

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