February 13, 2012 · www.gothamgazette.com

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Williams Criticizes Bloomberg's Defense of Browne
January 27th, 2012

“There is no logical basis for Mayor Bloomberg’s defense of Deputy Commissioner Browne’s job performance. Based on the facts, he cannot have been both honest and competent in his handling of “The Third Jihad” and its aftermath. He lied to the public on multiple occasions and his actions deepened the divide between the NYPD and the New York City community, which harms our ability to best police and protect our city.
If this was the first error in judgment Deputy Commissioner Browne had made, it would be excusable. Sadly, it is not, and the public record shows this without dispute. In just the last six months, he has been caught in lies ranging from phantom punches and elbows to fake excuses about pepper spraying at Occupy Wall Street. There is even evidence that suggests that Deputy Commissioner Browne may have lied under oath about his involvement in a 2004 Critical Mass ride. You can have your doubts about whether any one of these incidents has been truly justified, but you cannot look at the entirety of his record and claim that the man in charge of public information hasn’t been engaged in a campaign of overt misinformation or complete incompetency. This behavior would not be accepted by any other city agency, and it certainly should not be accepted by the NYPD or the city’s taxpayers that afford him his six-figure salary.
Police accountability seems to be treated as a dirty term, if not a non-starter, for Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly, but the calls from New Yorkers get more intense every day. If they will not recognize the problems festering within the NYPD, then we need an independent oversight committee and/or the intervention of the Justice Department to do it for them. The City Council must also use whatever resources it has at its disposal to get real answers. As chair of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, I am eager to be a part of that effort which is greatly needed and long overdue.”

Councilman Jumaane Williams is blasting Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his defense of New York Police Department Commissioner Paul Browne’s job performance following revelations about the Third Jihad anti-Muslim propaganda video screened by the NYPD. Bloomberg described Browne as,  ”honest and as competent as anybody in the business of representing the city and giving out information”.

Williams strongly disagrees with that assessment. He has called for Browne’s resignation and issued this statement:

“There is no logical basis for Mayor Bloomberg’s defense of Deputy Commissioner Browne’s job performance. Based on the facts, he cannot have been both honest and competent in his handling of “The Third Jihad” and its aftermath. He lied to the public on multiple occasions and his actions deepened the divide between the NYPD and the New York City community, which harms our ability to best police and protect our city.

If this was the first error in judgment Deputy Commissioner Browne had made, it would be excusable. Sadly, it is not, and the public record shows this without dispute. In just the last six months, he has been caught in lies ranging from phantom punches and elbows to fake excuses about pepper spraying at Occupy Wall Street. There is even evidence that suggests that Deputy Commissioner Browne may have lied under oath about his involvement in a 2004 Critical Mass ride. You can have your doubts about whether any one of these incidents has been truly justified, but you cannot look at the entirety of his record and claim that the man in charge of public information hasn’t been engaged in a campaign of overt misinformation or complete incompetency. This behavior would not be accepted by any other city agency, and it certainly should not be accepted by the NYPD or the city’s taxpayers that afford him his six-figure salary. Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on January 27, 2012, 12:52 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Crime & Safety | 2 Comments »

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Cuomo: Carrots and Sticks for Schools
January 17th, 2012

Two weeks after he signaled his intention to focus on education, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today filled in some of the details and inserted himself squarely in the dispute over teacher evaluation.

In his budget address Cuomo confirmed that, as announced previously, the state would up its aid to districts by 4.1 percent or $805 million next year for a total of about $20 billion.

Unlike last budget year — when the governor cut spending across the board regardless of a district’s needs — the increase would be weighted toward higher needs areas. These parts of the state will receive 76 percent of the hike and 69 percent of all school aid, according to Cuomo’s Budget Briefing Book.This means New York City stands to gets almost $6.4 billion next year, an increase of 2.6 percent over the approximately $6.2 billion it is getting this year.

Districts also would be able to compete for some $200 million in special state grants, under a New York version of the federal Race to the Top program.

The Road to the Money

But Cuomo put a big condition on all the additional money. To get it, districts will have to come up with a new evaluation system for teachers.

Details after the jump.
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By Gail Robinson on January 17, 2012, 5:23 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Education, Eye on Albany, Public Finance, Work and Labor | No Comments »

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Bloomberg and Quinn on Cuomo's Budget
January 17th, 2012

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn have major praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2012-2013 fiscal year budget. “This is the strongest state budget that New York City has seen in a long time. With this new budget, Governor Cuomo is establishing a stronger financial basis for a more vibrant and healthy New York,” Quinn said in a statement.

“Governor Cuomo put forward a budget that demonstrates a bold commitment to tackle some of the toughest challenges facing our great state. He has my strong support,” said Bloomberg in a statement.

Bloomberg hasn’t had the smoothest relationship with Cuomo so far but the Mayor is especially pleased with Cuomo’s plans for mandate relief and pension reform.

“The Governor’s push for mandate relief and pension reform could save the City billions in the long term,” Bloomberg’s statement continues. “New York City spends more than $8 billion annually – more than 12 percent of our budget – on pension costs, more than we spend on the operating budgets for the Police, Fire and Sanitation Departments combined. Without a new pension tier, which will not diminish the retirement benefits of a single current employee, taxpayers will continue to spend more and more on pension costs, leaving less and less for public education, public safety, job creation, affordable housing and other critical services.

Here are Quinn’s and Bloomberg’s full statements: Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on January 17, 2012, 3:40 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Economy, Education, Eye on Albany, Work and Labor | 1 Comment »

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Ruben Diaz Jr. On Living Wage Deal
January 13th, 2012

Council Speaker Christine Quinn has decided to back a compromise legislation on the living wage that according to the Wall Street Journal would require,  “businesses that receive subsidies of $1 million or more will be required to pay their employees $10 an hour with benefits or $11.50 an hour without benefits. But in a compromise, the bill will no longer require the tenants who move in after these projects are completed to also abide by the higher wages.”

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz approves of the deal and he released this statement:

“I am extremely happy that we have reached a deal on the ‘Fair Wages for New Yorkers’ Act, and that this important bill will finally see a vote in the City Council. The deal we have reached today creates the strongest ‘living wage’ legislation in the nation, one that will demand that direct recipients of significant taxpayer subsidies will do better by their employees. This will guarantee that happens and marks an important shift in the economic development policy in the City of New York. This bill sends an important message to the business community.  Indeed, New York City is open for business, but not at the expense of the taxpayer. Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on January 13, 2012, 3:25 pm
In category: City Hall, Economy, Work and Labor | 1 Comment »

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State of the City
January 12th, 2012

Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered his State of the City Address today at  Morris High School in the Bronx. Here are his prepared remarks:

“Thank you. Mayors Koch and Dinkins, Speaker Quinn and Minority Leader Oddo, Public Advocate De Blasio, Comptroller Liu, Borough Presidents, District Attorneys, members of the City Council and State Legislature, my fellow New Yorkers – it’s great to be in the Bronx.

“This is the birthplace of legends like Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the workplace of legends like Mariano Rivera. And it’s also the home of future superstars like every member of The Celia Cruz High School Latin Band, the PS 32 Chorus and the Keltic Dreams Irish Dancers. Weren’t they fantastic?

“In a city that is the ‘Capital of Innovation’ – this one borough has given us some of the world’s great authors, artists and architects, not to mention the pioneers of hip-hop and salsa.

“The Bronx has always been a borough of innovators and we can see it most recently in the students here at the Academy for Collaborative Studies, who built an award-winning robot. How about the Robot Club? Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on January 12, 2012, 1:17 pm
In category: City Hall, Gotham City | 1 Comment »

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Cuomo Gives Legislature Late Heads Up on Convention Center
January 10th, 2012

Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to legislative leaders today to tell them about that um…you know…that massive convention center he mentioned he wants to build during his State of the State speech last week. Cuomo has been criticized for seemingly avoiding any of the steps mandated by state law for a project involving gaming in the state. He addresses the point in the letter stating:

“In the past selection of gaming operators, race track issues, VLT designations have raised serious ethical and legal issues for the state. To be sure, the state’s current gaming arrangements are varied and controversial. I look forward to the opportunity to bring a logic and strategy to gaming operations in the state over the next two years through development of casino legislation and regulations.

In the interim, any transaction that the state makes with Genting or any modifications to the current state agreement will be submitted to the legislature for full review and action before becoming binding. Given the past history, while I may have the legal authority to proceed unilaterally, I choose to only proceed in full public view and with support of the legislature in a spirit of cooperation.”

Dear Majority Leader Skelos and Speaker Silver: Read the rest of this entry »

By David King on January 10, 2012, 3:35 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Eye on Albany, Land Use | 2 Comments »

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Quinn on Fingerprinting for Food Stamps
January 5th, 2012

Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemingly went after the city’s policy of fingerprinting people who want access to food stamps in his State of the State Address. The Bloomberg administration has supported the measure as a way to stop fraud and Bloomberg dismissed Cuomo’s statement in a press conference following the speech. Council Speaker Christine Quinn just weighed in via press release and she is taking Cuomo’s side.

“In these tough economic times, we need to help New Yorkers get the federal services they qualify for, not put obstacles in their way. Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg and I couldn’t disagree more — fingerprinting food stamp applicants is a time consuming and unnecessary process, which stigmatizes applicants and has prevented 24,000 New Yorkers from getting the help they deserve.  The State has the authority to eliminate finger imaging in New York City, and the Mayor should not even think of challenging Governor Cuomo’s decision.”

Cuomo said in his State of the State yesterday that, “One of the things we do now and makes the stigma actually worse and creates a barrier for families coming forward to get food stamps is we require fingerprinting. I’m saying stop fingerprinting for families,” said Cuomo.

Bloomberg told reporters, ““It’s not a stigma, and it may be elsewhere in the state, and maybe that’s what he was referring to, but it’s certainly not a stigma.”

By David King on January 5, 2012, 4:51 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Eye on Albany, Gotham City, Governing, Health, Social Services | No Comments »

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State Does Not Support New Shelter Rules After All
November 10th, 2011

At yesterday’s acrimonious hearing on changes in the city’s procedures for admitting single adults to homeless shelters. Council Speaker Christine Quinn pressed Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond over whether the state had –- as Diamond contended — actually approved the change.

To some in the audience it may have seemed as though Quinn was splitting hairs. Diamond certainly seemed peeved at her approach.

Now, though, it looks as though she was correct. In a letter to Diamond dated yesterday and released this morning by Quinn’s office, Elizabeth Berlin of the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, says that any suggestion that her office approved the new eligibility procedure is “inaccurate.”

And Berlin went further:

Moreover, this office has serious concerns that DHS failed to submit this proposal to the New York Supreme Court for review. For over 30 years, such a review process has been DHS’s practice when making a policy change relating to the Callahan Consent Decree. Given DHS’s failure to share this policy with the court, OTDA finds the Nov.14 implementation date – a mere 10 days after the policy change was announced – to be completely unreasonable and is not supported by the state.

The Callahan decree, reached between the city, state and advocates in 1981 provides a right to shelter for adults who qualified for welfare or who are homeless “by reason of physical, mental or social dysfunction.”

To read more on the issue and the debate over it, go here. And more on the exchange between Quinn and Diamond after the jump.

At the hearing yesterday, Diamond told the council that the state had informed his office that the change, which seeks to compel people to find alternatives to shelters including staying with relatives or even leaving the country, is “consistent with state rules.” Quinn countered that that did not mean the state approved it. “Our understanding from the governor’s office is that they have not approved it,” she said.

Diamond responded that the department did not need approval. “We have the flexibility to implement procedure that are consistent with state laws and regulations,” Diamond said, adding he believed his office had “what is needed to allow us to go forward.”

Berlin’s letter explicitly addresses that point. “OTDA has not commented on the substantive merits of the proposed change, but instead determined that the proposal was not inconsistent with state law,” her two-paragraph letter said,

We’ll try to get some reaction and pass it along.

By Gail Robinson on November 10, 2011, 11:54 am
In category: Albany, City Hall, Housing, Social Services | No Comments »

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Mayor Vetoes Contract Bill
November 4th, 2011

As expected, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vetoed the Outsourcing Accountability Act. The measure, passed by the City Council last month, would subject city contracts to a kind of cost-benefit analysis and require agencies to publicly disclose what services they plan to contract out in the coming year.

The veto represents the latest in an escalating fight over the city’s growing contract budget between the Bloomberg administration on the one hand and City Council members and municipal employee unions on the other. As city spending on the contracts has increased, a number of scandals have erupted, particularly with technology contracts.

The mayor, however, has said contracts help cut costs and reduce government efficiency. “To put impediments to us getting the best deal for the taxpayers particularly during this economy is something we can not tolerate. We are just not going to have this bill,” Bloomberg said after it passed.

In her statement on the veto, though, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the measure would save money. “The council simply wants city agencies to consider costs and thoughtfully review decisions to outsource,” she said. “These tough economic times demand nothing less.”

Since the bill passed unanimously, the council has the votes to override the veto. Bloomberg, though, has said he thinks the measure could be unconstitutional, meaning the whole issue could end up in the courts.

By Gail Robinson on November 4, 2011, 4:16 pm
In category: City Hall, Public Finance | No Comments »

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Change for the Homeless
November 4th, 2011

Advocates for the homeless and some City Council members are reacting with alarm to reports that the city will institute a policy later this month that will make it more difficult for single adults to gain admission to city shelters.

According to WNBC, which first
reported on the move, workers will subject people applying to stay in shelters to more questions about where they have lived recently and whether they have another place to stay. This could create a problem for someone who, say, lost her apartment, doubled up with a sister for a short time and then was asked to leave.

The move – apparently an effort to save money – has been in the works for a while but needed state approval. City officials told NBC they received the OK yesterday. The city already conducts similar reviews for homeless families.

Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond told Reuters that many people applying to shelters these days may have other options. They include, he said, “a lot of people who are working or capable of work, who may have gone through a little bit of a rough time — their employer may have reduced their hours, or they may have lost their jobs.”

But advocates dispute such arguments. “The city is playing with fire by implementing this policy, particularly in the winter,” Steven Banks of the Legal Aid Society told WNBC. “It’s certainly going to result in vulnerable New Yorkers ending up on the streets.” He said the society would go to court to try and block the change.

Earlier today, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and General Welfare Committee chair Annabel Palma. Issued a statement condemning the move. “This policy is cruel, risky, unacceptable and will not reduce homelessness in the city of New York. Denying people shelter because they have found another option for some period of time is punishing people for trying to do the right thing,” they said.

The council will hold an emergency oversight hearing on the policy at 1 p.m. Wednesday.
By Gail Robinson on November 4, 2011, 3:28 pm
In category: City Hall, Gotham City, Housing, Social Services | No Comments »

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City Council Takes to the Streets
November 4th, 2011

On the same day, it tackled the issue of undocumented immigrants (for that story, go here), the City Council took on something really controversial: the battle for spaces on the city’s crowded streets.

At its stated meeting Thursday, members enacted two measures.

One reflected concerns that the Bloomberg administration, in its zeal for bike lanes, has sometimes ignored wishes of local residents. Intro 412, which passed unanimously, would require that the city Department of Transportation provide community boards with at least 90 days notification of any planned bike lanes in their area, allowing the board to hold hearings. If the board wanted, transportation officials would have to make presentations to the affected boards.

This does not mean the board could veto bike lanes, but simply that it be informed and consulted.

More on the bike law bill and residential parking permits after the jump.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on November 4, 2011, 1:20 pm
In category: City Hall, Gotham City, Transportation | No Comments »

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The Union on School Cuts
November 1st, 2011

With the city facing a multibillion dollar shortfall – and the Bloomberg administration demanding further cuts, the United Federation of Teachers went on the offense today, with a study it says shows that fiscal constraints already have taken a toll on the city’s more than 1.1 million students.

A survey of union chapter leaders (perhaps not the most objective of sources) found, the UFT reports, that 74 percent of elementary schools have seen class size increase this year. The number of students in a class rose at 61 percent of the middle schools reporting and 59 percent of the high schools.

More than half of elementary schools responding have scaled back services to help academically struggling students, and almost two thirds cited reductions in supplies. In general, the chapter leaders at high schools cited fewer effects from cuts than those in elementary schools. And despite Chancellor Dennis Walcott’s pledge to focus on improving middle schools, 63 percent saw their afterschool programs curtailed and 59 percent lost extracurricular activities.

While the administration enthusiastically supports charters schools, which often offer after school and or weekend programs, it has ramped back efforts to expand instructional time for students in its conventional public schools, according to the report. About 60 percent of schools at all levels reported cuts in afterschool programs, and about 40 said weekend programs had been reduced.

In a statement on his union’s report UFT president Michael Mulgrew said, “Based on our survey, an estimated 91 percent of our school population — nearly 1 million children — are in schools where budget cuts are having a direct and immediate effect on their education.”

By Gail Robinson on November 1, 2011, 2:09 pm
In category: City Hall, Education, Gotham City, Public Finance | No Comments »

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Former Bloomberg Aide Found Guilty of Larceny
October 21st, 2011

John Haggerty, the political consultant charged with stealing millions from Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign, was found guilty of grand larceny in the second degree and his company was found guilty of money laundering in the second degree.

Haggerty avoided the more serious charge of larceny in the first degree. Haggerty was accused of funneling $1.2 million of campaign cash through the Independence Party to strengthen ballot security but instead used $1.1 million of the money to buy a house.

Bloomberg had to testify on the stand and Haggerty’s lawyers claimed Bloomberg lied and that Haggerty was paid for the work he had completed. Haggerty could face 15 years in prison.

The case is seen as a major victory for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance whose office has suffered major public defeats this year.

By David King on October 21, 2011, 2:01 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Governing | 5 Comments »

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Quinn Ducks and Parries
October 6th, 2011

Yesterday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn presided over the passage of a bill that Mayor Michael Bloomberg adamantly opposes. Will she do it again?

This issue yesterday was the city’s increasing reliance on outside contractors. The City Council — obviously with strong backing from Quinn or else it wouldn’t have happened — unanimously passed a bill requiring a kind of cost-benefit analysis of proposed contracts.

Bloomberg later, according to WNYC’s Bob Hennelly blasted the measure. “To put impediments to us getting the best deal for the taxpayers particularly during this economy is something we can not tolerate. We are just not going to have this bill,” Bloomberg said.

The next issue could be the so-called Living Wage bill, a measure that would require businesses that get a city subsidy to pay their workers, not just the minimum wage but a living wage of $10 to $11.50 an hour, depending upon benefits.

The administration opposes that one too — usually trying to obscure the fact that it would only apply to employers getting city money. Yesterday Bloomberg somehow linked it to the Soviet Union.

Quinn wants the mayor’s business supporter and backing for her mayoral quest. She’s also probably like at least some unions on her side and a stamp of approval from the many council members who are for the living wage. And so despite repeated questioning from reporters who phrased and rephrased the question yesterday, Quinn would not be pinned down.

The verbal dueling after the jump.
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By Gail Robinson on October 6, 2011, 3:55 pm
In category: City Hall, Economy, Gotham City, Health, Work and Labor | 2 Comments »

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Education Councils: Weak by Design
October 3rd, 2011

Whatever else it has and has not done, the system of mayoral control of schools as practiced in New York City must have set some kind of record for the creation of toothless bodies.

The chief one of course is the Panel for Educational Policy, which as Patrick Sullivan, a member, wrote on New York Public School Parents, routinely rubber stamps Department of Education contracts – even ones dripping with corruption such as the agreement with Future Technology Associates.

The impotence of the PEP is hardly surprising – Bloomberg always vowed the body would not do anything. But committed parents across the five borough hoped the Community Education Councils, heirs to the former Community School Board – might function a bit better. They were, alas, wrong.

A report released by four of the five borough presidents (all but Staten Island James Molinaro), Pubic Advocate Bill de Blasio and parent leaders, tells some of the sad history of the councils under this administration, focusing to a large extent on the repeatedly botched election for members in 2011.

To remedy this and other ills, the report calls for major changes in the current two-tier voting system, where parents first cast an advisory vote and then leaders of parent organizations in the respective area make the final choice. The borough presidents et al would replace that with an actual election among parents. They would also improve training for council members, call for the councils to do more outreach and revise the council’s responsibilities. (Now the most meaningful thing they do is approve school zones within the district, influencing which neighborhood sends its children to what school.)

Perhaps most notably, the report’s writers would take the responsibility for the councils away from the Department of Education and give it to an independent nonprofit or government body.
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By Gail Robinson on October 3, 2011, 3:20 pm
In category: City Hall, Education, Electoral Politics | 1 Comment »

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Bloomberg's Technology Pit
September 29th, 2011

Another day, another disturbing revelation about the city’s handling of its technology contracts.

This time it’s the latest chapter in the scandal involving computers at the Department of Education. The company the department paid $75 million to do technical work on its purchasing, payroll and finance systems – Future Technology Associatesbilked the city out of at least $6.5 million, according to a report by Richard Condon, the city’s special commissioner of investigation.

Among other things, Future Tech set up shell companies and then vastly inflated its claims of how much those companies charged. So the Department of Education was being charged between $55 and $110 an hour for work that actually cost Future Tec $10 to $14 an hour.

Concerns about Future Technology have been circulating for some time.

According to a letter-report from the city comptroller’s Bureau of Audit, given to Gotham Gazette today (posted here), in 2005 the department submitted a request that Future Tech get a no-bid contract. (No-bid contracts at the Department of Education have raised concerns in the past.) “This request appears to have contained inaccurate and misleading statements from FTA, which, if DOE had known, should have precluded FTA from being awarded this contract,” says the report from the comptroller’s office, which went to Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Condon’s office.
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By Gail Robinson on September 29, 2011, 4:24 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Education, Gotham City, Governing, Tech | 2 Comments »

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What Happens in Bermuda Stays in Bermuda
September 28th, 2011

In case there ever was any doubt, the City Council will not require that Mayor Michael Bloomberg reveal his personal travels, the Wall Street Journal reports. And once again the mayor has City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to thank.

City Councilmember Peter Vallone has told the Journal’s Michael Howard Saul that Quinn will not allow a hearing to be held on his bill that would require travel disclosure. Vallone proposed the measure after the botched city response to the December blizzard. It later became known that, as snow pelted the city, Bloomberg was in Bermuda, then Deputy Mayor of Operation Stephen Goldsmith was in Washington, D.C. and Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris was – somewhere.

Quinn, of course, has frequently pushed bill the mayor likes and blocked ones he doesn’t — though not usually ones where he has such a personal stake. Last year, for example she essentially killed a measure that would require paid sick leave for city workers.

And last week, Vallone, who seems to have an increasingly prickly relationship with Quinn, and the speaker clashed over a bill on homeless animals. With the city facing a lawsuit for not complying with city law on services for animals, the council bill, supported by Quinn (or else, of course, it never would have passed) was seen by Vallone and others as removing those laws and so letting the city renege on its obligations.

“I don’t think you have to be smarter than Bonzo the chimp to figure out what’s going on,” Vallone said at the time.

By Gail Robinson on September 28, 2011, 6:06 pm
In category: City Hall, Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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A Change on Marijuana Arrests
September 26th, 2011

With little fanfare, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has issued an “operation order” that could dramatically reduce the number of marijuana arrests in the city. The order, which appears on WNYC’s web site, says people can be charged with criminal possession of marijuana if they display the drug of their own volition.

Going black at least to 2005, many thousands of New Yorkers have been arrested for criminal possession of marijuana only after the drug was found during a police search. Under the law, people cannot be arrested for possessing small amounts of marijuana — less than 25 grams — unless they publicly display it. Possession of such small quantities is punishable buy a fine – of no more than $100. By all accounts, many people – particularly young black and Latino men –- publicly displayed a joint or two only after police asked them to empty their pockets or otherwise searched them. They then found themselves arrested, with a criminal record, and facing punishment or a rehab program they may not need.

This order would seem to end, or at least curtail, that. “A crime will not be charged to an individual who is requested or compelled to engage in the behavior that results in the public display of marijuana,” the order states.

Although the order is written almost as a clarification, the widespread marijuana arrests have almost certainly been a matter of city policy under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his police commissioner, Ray Kelly.
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on September 26, 2011, 3:37 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Crime & Safety, Gotham City, Law | 4 Comments »

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Council and the Court
September 13th, 2011

Whatever his legal problems, Ruben Wills will remain on the City Council. Elected last year to fill the seat from the 28th district in south Queens after the death of Thomas White, the law requires Wills to go back to the voters this year. By a resounding margin, they let him keep the seat.

With almost all precincts reporting, Wills had 69 percent of the vote, compared to17 percent for former Councilmember Alan Jennings, 8 percent for Michael Duvalle and 6 percent for Clifton Stanley Diaz.

Since his election last year, the press unearthed some legal difficulties for Wills, including an unresolved misdemeanor case dating back to 1996 and open warrants for failing to pay more than $25,000 in child support payments.

That, though, may well have paled in voters’ eyes when compared with Jennings’ record. Accused of sexual harassment, he was censured by the City Council when he served on it, threw a metal object at a reporter and generally engaged in some fairly bizarre behavior.

In the two court contests yesterday — both for Civil Court — Sharen Hudson, reportedly the candidate of the party organization, holds a substantial edge over Cheryl Gonzalez, who was endorsed by the Times and some insurgent Democrats. In a Manhattan Civil Court contest, Tony Cannataro appears to have defeated Sabrina Kraus.

By Gail Robinson on September 13, 2011, 11:55 pm
In category: City Hall, Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

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Beer with Bloomberg
September 8th, 2011

Maybe Mayor Michael Bloomberg should not try folksy. His offer to sit down over a brew or two with the City Council member and political aide detained by police on Monday seems to have generated as much enthusiasm as a flat, warm mug of Keystone — or as President Barack Obama’s often ridiculed beer summit with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and a Cambridge, Mass., police officer

On Wednesday, Bloomberg described the police stopping and handcuffing of the councilmember, Juamaane Williams, and Kirsten John Foy, an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, as probably “just a misunderstanding.” And he told reporters, “Hopefully every once in a while if there’s a misunderstanding, you have a beer together and work it out.”

Williams apparently does not drink beer. But the council member and Foy have more substantive problems with the mayor’s invite. While saying they appreciated the gesture, “this is bigger than the three of us over a beer,” the two men said in a statement. Instead they suggested a meeting with Bloomberg and police commissioner Ray Kelly “where young African American and Latino New Yorkers can talk openly and directly about their experiences with stop and frisk and other police interactions.”

Reactions from other City Council members after the jump.
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By Gail Robinson on September 8, 2011, 4:52 pm
In category: City Hall, Civil Rights, Crime & Safety, Gotham City | No Comments »

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