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	<title>The Wonkster &#187; City Hall</title>
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	<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster</link>
	<description>A blog about the views and spews of editorialists, bloggers and other unsavory opinionated New Yorkers.</description>
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		<title>Williams Criticizes Bloomberg&#039;s Defense of Browne</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/27/williams-criticizes-bloombergs-defense-of-browne/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/27/williams-criticizes-bloombergs-defense-of-browne/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:52:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jumaane Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Paul Browne]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10498</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;There is no logical basis for Mayor Bloomberg&#8217;s defense of Deputy Commissioner Browne&#8217;s job performance. Based on the facts, he cannot have been both honest and competent in his handling of &#8220;The Third Jihad&#8221; and its aftermath. He lied to the public on multiple occasions and his actions deepened the divide between the NYPD and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">&#8220;There is no logical basis for Mayor Bloomberg&#8217;s defense of Deputy Commissioner Browne&#8217;s job performance. Based on the facts, he cannot have been both honest and competent in his handling of &#8220;The Third Jihad&#8221; 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.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">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&#8217;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&#8217;s taxpayers that afford him his six-figure salary.</div>
<div id="_mcePaste" style="position: absolute; left: -10000px; top: 0px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden;">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.&#8221;</div>
<p>Councilman Jumaane Williams is blasting Mayor Michael Bloomberg for his defense of New York Police Department Commissioner Paul Browne&#8217;s job performance following <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/nyregion/police-commissioner-kelly-helped-with-anti-islam-film-and-regrets-it.html">revelations about the Third Jihad anti-Muslim propaganda video</a> screened by the NYPD. Bloomberg described Browne as,  &#8221;honest and as competent as anybody in the business of representing the city and giving out information&#8221;.</p>
<p>Williams strongly disagrees with that assessment. He has called for Browne&#8217;s resignation and issued this statement:</p>
<p>&#8220;There is no logical basis for Mayor Bloomberg&#8217;s defense of Deputy Commissioner Browne&#8217;s job performance. Based on the facts, he cannot have been both honest and competent in his handling of &#8220;The Third Jihad&#8221; 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.</p>
<p>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&#8217;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&#8217;s taxpayers that afford him his six-figure salary.<span id="more-10498"></span></p>
<p>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.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Cuomo: Carrots and Sticks for Schools</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/cuomo-carrots-and-sticks-for-schools/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/cuomo-carrots-and-sticks-for-schools/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:23:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[board of regents]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gov. cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john king]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomerg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael mulgrew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ne york state department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york state budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york state united teachers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[state of the city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[teacher evaluatin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[united federation of teachers. race to the top]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10468</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Two weeks after he <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Education/20120117/6/3668">signaled his intention</a> to focus on education, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today filled in some of the details and inserted himself squarely in the dispute over teacher evaluation.</p>
<p>In his <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/budget-highlights-from-cuomos-office/">budget address</a> 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.</p>
<p>Unlike last budget year &#8212; when the governor cut spending across the board regardless of a district&#8217;s needs &#8212; 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&#8217;s  <a href="http://www.budget.state.ny.us/pubs/executive/eBudget1112/fy1112littlebook/BriefingBook.pdf">Budget Briefing Book</a>.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.</p>
<p>Districts also would be able to compete for some $200 million in special state grants, under a New York version of the federal <a href="http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop/index.html">Race to the Top</a> program.</p>
<p><strong>The Road to the Money</strong></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Details after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10468"></span></p>
<p>Not a single district has yet implemented a new evaluation system as required under the state&#8217;s Race to the Top grant from the federal government, Cuomo said. The dispute has <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/york-state-faces-losing-1-billion-federal-education-funds-teacher-evaluation-issue-article-1.1006256?localLinksEnabled=false"> jeopardized</a> up to $1 billion in federal funding for New York schools.</p>
<p>Cuomo said the reason to change the way the state grades its teachers goes beyond financial considerations. &#8220;If we&#8217;re serious about education, we have no choice. This is the way to improve education,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>Cuomo outlined a three-step plan to make a new evaluation system a reality.  First, he said, <a href="http://nyust.org">New York State United Teachers</a> and the state <a href="http://www.nysed.gov">Education Department</a> must end the legal wrangling over evaluations and agree to a new system incorporating observations, students achievement (test scores) and more. (The union successfully sued the state to halt such a plan last summer.)</p>
<p>If they can&#8217;t do it, Cuomo will propose a system.</p>
<p>The districts then will have until September to implement the state&#8217;s evaluation plan. Any that fail to do that will not qualify for the state&#8217;s competitive grants.</p>
<p>And finally &#8212; and this is huge &#8212; any districts that one year from today have not implemented a system will lose their chunk of the 4 percent increase in state education aid. This puts teacher evaluations smack in the middle of the state&#8217;s budget process.</p>
<p><strong>Bloomberg&#8217;s Bluster</strong></p>
<p>In pushing for his change, Cuomo picked up the mantle of the so-called reform movement that, he said, has shifted the country to a greater focus on students and their achievement (and, critics say, to an excessive reliance on test scores). He invoked both President Barack Obama and former President George W. Bush.  And he styled himself as a champion of kids. &#8220;This was not supposed to be about the adults. It was supposed to be about the children,&#8221; he said.</p>
<p>For all that, though, he did not single out teachers for criticism. In fact, he said, they &#8220;deserve the best evaluation system and help when they need it&#8221; as well as rewards and bonuses.</p>
<p>While that puts him at odds with the teachers union, it represents a very different tone from that used by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in his <a href="http://http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20120113/203/3667">State of the City speech</a> last week. Bloomberg then blamed teachers for the impasse over evaluations. In his comments on Cuomo&#8217;s speech today, he kept up that refrain.</p>
<p>&#8220;The governor has made it clear that he is determined to be a champion for our students – and that he will not allow the teachers union to drag its feet any longer on implementing new teacher evaluation systems across the state. I hope the [United Federation of Teachers] will not recklessly jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools by insisting on endless obstacles to removing ineffective teachers from our classrooms,&#8221; Bloomberg said in a <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&amp;catID=1194&amp;doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2012a%2Fpr023-12.html&amp;cc=unused1978&amp;rc=1194&amp;ndi=1">statement</a>. He seemed not to notice that Cuomo had said he would not allow &#8220;adults&#8221; and the &#8220;bureaucracy&#8221; &#8212; not just the union &#8212; to drag their feet.</p>
<p>Michael Mulgrew, the president of the city&#8217;s teachers union, though clearly thinks he has spotted a bit of sunlight between Bloomberg and Cuomo. Earlier this week, Mulgrew <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/nyregion/cuomo-and-bloomberg-on-attack-on-teacher-evaluations.html">told the Times</a> that he has &#8220;“no disagreement with the governor over the evaluations,” and welcomes his involvement. As for Bloomberg, though, Mulgrew accused him of &#8220;political grandstanding.&#8221;</p>
<p>Mulgrew even has tried to enlist Cuomo as a kind of ally, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2012/01/ny-statewide-teacher-evaluations-on-the-skids">saying</a>, according to the Daily News, that the governor&#8217;s proposal provides &#8220;all the more reason why Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Education should come back to the negotiations they walked out on and work to resolve the remaining issues.”</p>
<p>Not surprisingly, in his speech Cuomo did address Bloomberg&#8217;s plan for the city to remove up to half the teachers from struggling schools &#8212; whether the union likes it or not and even if it costs the city millions of dollars. The state education department, which is independent of the governor , gets to rule on that, not Cuomo.</p>
<p>For his part the state education commissioner, John King, struck a conciliatory note with the union today saying in his <a href="http://statepolitics.lohudblogs.com/2012/01/17/education-commissioner-welcomes-cuomos-proposals-hopes-they-will-spur-negotiations/?utm_medium=twitter&amp;utm_source=twitterfeed">statement</a> that  the department and the union should use the next &#8220;30 days to have a healthy public debate on evaluations.&#8221; The department, he said, is ready to sit down and start talking.&#8221;</p>
<p>The city &#8212; justifiably or not &#8212; broke off its negotiations with the city teachers union on Dec. 30. At least officially, those discussion have not resumed.</p>
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		<title>Bloomberg and Quinn on Cuomo&#039;s Budget</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/bloomberg-and-quinn-on-cuomos-budget/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/bloomberg-and-quinn-on-cuomos-budget/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 17 Jan 2012 20:40:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NYS Budget]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10461</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn have major praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;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,&#8221; [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Council Speaker Christine Quinn have major praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/17/budget-highlights-from-cuomos-office/">2012-2013 fiscal year budget</a>. “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,&#8221; Quinn said in a statement.</p>
<p>“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,&#8221; said Bloomberg in a statement.</p>
<p>Bloomberg hasn&#8217;t had the smoothest relationship with Cuomo so far but the Mayor is especially pleased with Cuomo&#8217;s plans for mandate relief and pension reform.</p>
<p>“The Governor’s push for mandate relief and pension reform could save  the City billions in the long term,&#8221; Bloomberg&#8217;s statement continues. &#8220;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.</p>
<p>Here are Quinn&#8217;s and Bloomberg&#8217;s full statements: <span id="more-10461"></span></p>
<p>Statement by Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn</p>
<p>“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. By appropriately reducing spending, the Governor is reforming the way state government allocates taxpayer dollars. I strongly commend Governor Cuomo for this budget. I am confident that working with the Governor and the State Legislature, we can ensure New York&#8217;s prosperous future.”</p>
<p>STATEMENT OF MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ON GOVERNOR CUOMO’S BUDGET ADDRESS</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“The Governor’s push for mandate relief and pension reform could save the City billions in the long term. 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. Further, the Governor’s budget will reduce onerous local Medicaid costs by limiting – and then eliminating – the rate of growth in the City’s Medicaid bills in the years to come.</p>
<p>“Governor Cuomo also has proposed two important justice system reforms we have been seeking: a sweeping, progressive reform of our juvenile justice system and the expansion of DNA collection. Our administrations have worked closely together to forge an agreement that will transfer responsibility for all but the most seriously delinquent youth from State to City care, enabling more young people to stay closer to their families and transition into productive lives in their communities. And expanded DNA use can help solve more crimes and prevent wrongful convictions.</p>
<p>“Most urgently, the Governor has made it clear that he is determined to be a champion for our students – and that he will not allow the teachers’ union to drag its feet any longer on implementing new teacher evaluation systems across the state. I hope the UFT will not recklessly jeopardize hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools by insisting on endless obstacles to removing ineffective teachers from our classrooms. The Governor has rightly said he will not tolerate this and will help deliver rigorous teacher evaluations for our State and City.</p>
<p>“The Governor’s priorities are the right priorities for the State and I will be working with him to move his agenda forward. We will be reviewing the details of the budget over the coming days and I look forward to testifying before the Legislature next week.”</p>
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		<title>Ruben Diaz Jr. On Living Wage Deal</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/13/ruben-diaz-jr-on-living-wage-deal/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/13/ruben-diaz-jr-on-living-wage-deal/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jan 2012 20:25:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ruben Diaz]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10454</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Council Speaker Christine Quinn has decided to back a compromise legislation on the living wage that according to the Wall Street Journal would require,  &#8220;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, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Council Speaker Christine Quinn has decided to back a compromise legislation on the living wage that <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2012/01/13/quinn-seeks-middle-ground-in-living-wage-fight/?mod=google_news_blog">according to the Wall Street Journal</a> would require,  &#8220;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.&#8221;</p>
<p>Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz approves of the deal and he released this statement:</p>
<p>“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. <span id="more-10454"></span></p>
<p>“I would like to thank Speaker Quinn for working closely with my office on this compromise. I would also like to thank City Council members G. Oliver Koppell and Annabel Palma, all of our City Council co-sponsors, and the entire Living Wage NYC coalition for their strong advocacy on this legislation.”</p>
<p>“This bill will ensure that taxpayer subsidies are spent not only to enrich developers, but to improve the quality of life of their employees. Today’s announcement is a victory for the people of this City, and I look forward to this legislation becoming law,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.</p>
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		<title>State of the City</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/12/state-of-the-city-2/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/12/state-of-the-city-2/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:17:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10445</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivered his State of the City Address today at  Morris High School in the Bronx. Here are his prepared remarks:</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“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?</p>
<p>“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.</p>
<p>“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?<span id="more-10445"></span></p>
<p>“It’s an honor to be introduced by a teacher like Ishmael Kamara, what an inspirational story, and by Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., who we’ve been glad to work with on so many projects. And it’s a pleasure to be here at Gouverneur Morris High School Campus.</p>
<p>“In case you don’t recall Senator Gouverneur Morris from American history class, he was a Founding Father from this section of the Bronx – hence ‘Morrisania’ – and he’s credited with drafting much of the U.S. Constitution, including the phrase that still defines the spirit of our great nation: We the people.</p>
<p>“That’s the spirit that has defined our work here in New York City over the past decade and allowed us to accomplish great things.</p>
<p>“For instance, in 2011, we said we’d fight to make marriage equality a reality across the state. And thanks to the leadership of Governor Cuomo and both parties of the Legislature, and the hard work of my Chief Policy Advisor John Feinblatt – we did. Today, New Yorkers are free to marry the person they love.</p>
<p>“In 2011, we said we’d work with the State to bring taxi service to all five boroughs. And again, thanks to the Governor and legislative leaders, especially Bronx Assemblyman Carl Heastie, and also David Yassky and Micah Lasher – we did.</p>
<p>“We said we’d launch a new East River ferry service, balance the budget and hold the line on taxes. And in partnership with Speaker Christine Quinn and the City Council – we did.</p>
<p>“We said we’d make New York City safer and healthier than ever and with Commissioners Kelly, Cassano, Farley and Sadik-Khan leading the way, we did. In 2011, we had the lowest traffic fatalities in history, near record lows in crime and fire fatalities and life expectancy rates that are far surpassing the nation.</p>
<p>“We said we’d place a record number of New Yorkers in jobs and with Commissioner Rob Walsh leading our Small Business Services team, we did.</p>
<p>“We said we’d launch the most comprehensive effort to connect black and Latino young men to jobs and education, and thanks to Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs and our commissioners, and the support we received from George Soros, we did.</p>
<p>“We said we’d seek to attract a world-class university to build a new science and engineering campus here – the brainchild of EDC President Seth Pinsky and Deputy Mayor Bob Steel – and we did.</p>
<p>“We said we’d open the new section of the High Line, break ground on the new Whitney Museum and complete the expansion of the Museum of the Moving Image, and because of the leadership of Commissioners Amanda Burden, Kate Levin and Katherine Oliver, we did.</p>
<p>“And we said we’d open the 9/11 Memorial in time for the 10th anniversary of the attacks, and thanks to a great American who served this country in World War II and has served our country and our city ever since – John Whitehead – we did.</p>
<p>“Thanks to all these leaders, and so many other members of the city’s outstanding workforce and all of our partners in the private sector. We accomplished big things in 2011 – but don’t worry: we have even bigger plans for 2012.</p>
<p>“The beginning of our agenda for the year ahead is actually rooted here, in the history of this school. Gouverneur Morris High was created out of the School Reform Law of 1896 – 116 years ago. When the reform law was being debated, there were protests, rallies, controversy. Sound familiar?</p>
<p>“Well, we are here today because the work of school reform – as difficult as it can be – is still far from done. And it is now more important than ever.</p>
<p>“Nine years ago this month, on Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday, I gave a speech outlining our plans to transform a badly broken school system. Back then, the graduation rate had been stuck at 50 percent or less for decades. Violent crime, social promotion, hiring based on political connections – they all plagued our schools. Parents had too few choices about where to send their children to school, and they had even less information about how a school was performing. And the worst part was many people had stopped believing that anything in our schools could get better.</p>
<p>“Well, I know you didn’t believe that. And we didn’t believe that either. Together, we took on the broken system, and by stressing accountability and innovation and ending social promotion, we’ve made real progress turning it around.</p>
<p>“Today, graduation rates are up 40 percent since 2005, versus just 8 percent in the rest of the state – the whole rest of New York State. And the biggest gains have been made by black and Hispanic students, whose graduation rates are up more than 50 percent. We’ve cut the dropout rate – and school crime – nearly in half.</p>
<p>“And we’ve given our parents far more information about their kids’ schools – and far more top-quality school choices. In fact, a recent study by the non-partisan Brookings Institution found that we now have the most effective school choice program of any large district in the country. That’s right – the most effective in the United States of America.</p>
<p>“By almost any measure, students are doing better and our school system is heading in the right direction. Of course, we still have a long way to go. No doubt about that. But today, tens of thousands of students who may have ended up on street corners or in prison if the old system had remained in place – are now in college or starting their careers.</p>
<p>“Just think about where we are today. Ten years ago, the graduation rate here at Morris High was only 27 percent. Now, two-thirds of students graduate in four years, and three-fourths graduate within six years.</p>
<p>“And I have to say, those students who persevere beyond four years – often while dealing with family obligations or language barriers – really deserve to be celebrated because their determination and drive, their hunger for a better life, makes their accomplishment even more impressive. We have some students with us today who are on track to graduate, and I’d like to ask them – and their teachers and administrators – to stand up.</p>
<p>“The success our students have achieved demonstrates the promise of education reform. But the unemployment in the neighborhood surrounding this school demonstrates the urgency of fulfilling that promise now for all students, in all schools throughout our city. Unemployment is higher in the Bronx than in any other borough. People here want to work, but jobs are hard to come by. And in too many cases where jobs do exist, they require skills and diplomas that put them out of reach for many people.</p>
<p>“For my generation, a high school diploma was often enough to get a good job and enter the middle class. Today, graduating from high school without the grades to go to college, or the skills to enter a trade, generally means, at best, a low-wage job with limited prospects.</p>
<p>“Or, for far too many, it means beginning a life of unemployment and crime. We just cannot allow that to happen. If you come from a middle class family, as I do, and if you believe that education is the ticket to the middle class, as I do, then there is no escaping the fact that we cannot accept failing schools. And we cannot accept excuses for inaction or delay.</p>
<p>“All across the city, we face that same challenge – the challenge of building a 21st century economy and building the 21st century public schools that can drive it. It is the challenge of our time, and how well we meet it will define the state of our city for generations to come. So today, I’d like to share with you the new strategies we will adopt in 2012 to meet that challenge, and they all center on making our schools, our economy and our government the most innovative in the world.</p>
<p>“Let’s start with our schools. The education reforms we’ve pioneered over the past decade – no matter what the naysayers say – have been widely adopted by school systems across the nation, but this year we’ll be putting our foot on the gas and picking up the pace.</p>
<p>“Because we have to be honest with ourselves: we have only climbed halfway up the mountain, and halfway isn’t good enough. We want all of our children to see the view from the top, to see the world of possibilities that stretch out before them.</p>
<p>“Now, getting there won’t be easy. The climb gets steeper the higher you go. But we cannot allow fear of what lies ahead to stop us, we cannot allow obstacles to slow us down, and we cannot allow those who prefer the comforts of the base camp to the exhilaration of the summit to hold us back. We have to charge ahead. Our children deserve to make it to the top of the mountain. And we owe it to them to help guide them there. Today, with Chancellor Dennis Walcott leading the way, we are setting off for the summit, a summit that no other big city in America has ever reached.  But if any city can, it’s New York City.</p>
<p>“The course we are charting involves five main steps – and let me briefly outline each.</p>
<p>“Step number one: since the single most important factor in a student’s progress is the effectiveness of the classroom teacher we are going to find new ways to attract, reward and retain great teachers.</p>
<p>“We already have thousands of great teachers – some of the best in the world. And I have enormous respect for the extraordinary personal investments they make in their students. Over the past ten years, we’ve worked hard to invest in them – by expanding professional development and raising their base salaries by 43 percent. A teacher hired in 2002 at a starting salary of $31,000 can now make $78,000, similar to what their peers in the suburbs make.</p>
<p>“This year, we’ll do more to attract great new teachers by helping them with their college loans. The burden of paying back college loans can sometimes lead top-level students to cross teaching off their list of possible careers. But we need their talents in our classrooms. Our kids need them.</p>
<p>“And so we are proposing to create an incentive to anyone who finishes college in the top tier of the class: come teach in our schools, and if you commit to stay, we’ll pay off up to $25,000 of your student loans. Our teachers deserve that, and so do our children.</p>
<p>“The marketplace keeps showing us that we have to be competitive if we’re going to attract the best and as everyone knows college loans have become a major issue for our young people. We expect the UFT will support the Department of Education in this effort. But if not, there are other ways to achieve it through the private sector. One way or another, we will attract those talented teachers.</p>
<p>“We’ll also work to retain the best teachers – by offering them a big raise. Today, we’re making an offer to all New York City teachers: If you are rated highly effective for two consecutive years we will hike your salary by $20,000 per year.</p>
<p>“Historically, teachers unions around the country have opposed rewarding great teaching through merit pay, but more and more teachers are asking why, and we’ve seen how well this can work in other cities. A recent article in the New York Times explained how cities with merit pay have found that rewarding great teachers keeps them from leaving the system. Again, our teachers deserve that. And so do our children.</p>
<p>“With an evaluation system now required by law, rewarding great teaching is an idea whose time has come. We hope the UFT will join us in this effort, because it’s the right thing to do for our schools and our teachers. Their excellence deserves to be rewarded and compensated.</p>
<p>“Now, how do we determine which teachers are highly effective?</p>
<p>“Well, that brings us to step number two in our journey to the mountaintop. And here again, we’re building on the work we’ve already done. Two years ago, we directed principals to adopt a more rigorous tenure evaluation system. It used to be that 97 percent of teachers got tenure as a matter of course. Many of them deserved it. But others did not. Tenure should be something that is earned – not automatically granted.</p>
<p>“And now, that is exactly what’s happening. Principals decide who should and should not get tenure with the school superintendent signing off.</p>
<p>“Last June, the percentage of teachers receiving tenure dropped from almost everyone receiving it – 97 percent, to about half who received it – 57 percent. That doesn’t mean the rest won’t earn it someday – we hope most will. We have a big investment in them. But we are raising the bar for teachers, just as we are for students.</p>
<p>“This year, we’ll do more to make sure every classroom has an effective teacher –</p>
<p>and to remove those who don’t make the grade.</p>
<p>“Unfortunately, for all the changes we’ve made in our schools, evaluating teachers is one area where nothing has changed. Teachers continue to be rated simply as ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory.’ It’s a pass/fail system – with a 98 percent passing rate. Our students don’t have the luxury of being graded pass/fail. Neither do people in other professions, who have to make a living to feed their families. And neither should our teachers.</p>
<p>“The debate over teacher evaluations began when the Obama Administration rightly made them part of the Race to the Top grant competition. To qualify for the money, the State passed a law requiring districts to adopt teacher evaluation systems, but gave the unions veto authority. As Governor Cuomo recently said, the law hasn’t worked. Like many other districts around the state, we are at an impasse.</p>
<p>“And let’s be clear about what the stakes are: A recent study by Harvard and Columbia economists found that students with effective teachers are less likely to become pregnant, more likely to go to college and more likely to get higher-paying jobs. Nick Kristof has a column about it in today’s Times and I encourage everyone to read it. Great teachers make an enormous difference and ineffective teachers are hurting our students’ futures – we can’t allow that.</p>
<p>“We need to be able to identify those ineffective teachers and give them the support they need to grow. And if that doesn’t work, we need to be able move them out.</p>
<p>“A real evaluation system that is based on measurable improvement in student performance and principal assessment and allows us to make real changes is the only way we can do that.</p>
<p>“We have a model that works well in deciding tenure – and this should be exactly the same process. But when we tried to get approval for such a system for just 33 struggling schools – 33 out of 1,700 – the UFT insisted on provisions that would make it even harder to remove ineffective teachers. Not easier, but harder. As a result, those 33 schools lost $58 million in School Improvement Grants from the State. And if nothing changes, it could cost students in every borough hundreds of millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top funds.</p>
<p>“Well, I can tell you this: We’re not going to accept that. We’re not going to wait around while ineffective teachers remain in those schools.</p>
<p>“Under a school turnaround program already authorized by Federal and State law and consistent with a provision of the existing union contract, the City can form school-based committees to evaluate teachers on merit and replace up to 50 percent of the faculty.</p>
<p>“Under this process, the best teachers stay; the least effective go. And now, that is exactly what will happen.</p>
<p>“We plan to move forward with this approach for the 33 schools that should’ve gotten state grants. We believe that when we take this action, we will have fulfilled the State’s requirements and the schools will be eligible for the $58 million in funding.</p>
<p>“But this is about much more than the money. The students in those 33 schools deserve effective teachers. And so does every student in every school. Our 1.1 million school children can’t afford to wait. There is too much at stake.</p>
<p>“They are counting on us – and we will not let them down.</p>
<p>“Now, step number three in our journey involves continuing to give parents even more top-quality school choices.</p>
<p>“The four new schools here at the Morris campus are among the 500 new schools we’ve created over the past decade, including 139 new charter schools. This year, we’ll phase out another 25 schools and open smaller schools in the same buildings.</p>
<p>“All told, our goal is to open 100 new schools over the next two years – including 50 new charters. And we’ll do that by asking our most successful charter school operators to expedite their expansion plans, including the KIPP Academy and Success Academy networks.</p>
<p>“We’ll also begin recruiting high-performing charter school operators who have yet to come to New York. And I’m glad to announce today that one of the most successful, Rocketship, has just committed to opening schools here.</p>
<p>“Step number four in our journey will prepare students for what awaits them at the top: college and careers.</p>
<p>“Today, far too many of our graduates are leaving without the skills they need to succeed beyond high school. Not every student wants to go to college, nor is college right for everyone. But all students should leave prepared to succeed in the next phase of their lives.</p>
<p>“Over the past year, we’ve worked with the State to re-align the Regents exams with college readiness standards, and that will happen in the years ahead. But our students cannot wait.</p>
<p>“In the weeks ahead, we will make every public school student complete new study lessons and assignments in both Math and Literacy that involve the kind of critical thinking skills that are aligned to college readiness standard and we will share the results of their work with parents at parent-teacher conferences this March.</p>
<p>“We’ll also begin doing intensive college and career readiness work with 40 additional high schools as part of our Young Men’s Initiative. And the Department of Education will continue forming partnerships that expose our students to exciting career pathways.</p>
<p>“For instance, last September, we opened an innovative new school in partnership with IBM that focuses on computer science. It’s a six-year high school – grades 9 through 14, that’s right: 14 – so students graduate with a Regents degree and an associate’s degree and they also get a place in line for a job at IBM.</p>
<p>“It’s a new way of thinking about secondary school based on today’s economic realities.</p>
<p>“And now, thanks to support from CUNY, we plan to open three more schools using this same model including one right here in the Bronx. In addition, with support from venture capitalist Fred Wilson, this September we’ll open a Software Engineering Academy, the brainchild of one of our own teachers – Mike Zamansky from Stuyvesant High School. We’re honored to have both Fred and Mike with us today.</p>
<p>“The new school will be located in Union Square – home to a growing tech community that includes companies like Yelp and General Assembly. Those are the kinds of companies we want our students to work for, or to start.</p>
<p>“And to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs in every field, we’ve launched a pilot program for 2,200 students who are developing business plans with other students around the world.</p>
<p>“Over the next two years, we’ll open at least a dozen new Career and Technical Education schools and programs aligned with trends in the global economy. Students will get out-of-school internships tailored around their coursework and interests. Now to do this, we need more private sector partners.</p>
<p>“In recent weeks, many of our city’s leading corporate citizens have joined a new mentoring program for high school students called i-Mentor. It’s part of our innovative new effort with NYC Service to reduce school truancy.</p>
<p>“And now, I am issuing a second challenge to them – and to the leaders of our hospitals, hotels, nonprofits and small businesses of every kind, including our growing tech community: join us in this new effort to connect high school students to career paths. One of the companies that has already agreed to participate, I’m proud to say, is Bloomberg LP.</p>
<p>“I can tell you from personal experience how much an internship means. When I was in high school, I was lucky enough to get a job working at an electronics company. That job is the only reason I applied to Johns Hopkins University – and without it, I’m not sure where I’d be today.</p>
<p>“The fifth and final step of our journey to the educational mountaintop is making sure that when our children are ready to continue their education or training, they can afford to do it. This year, under a new partnership with the Obama Administration, we’ll be informed about which of our students hoping to attend college failed to apply for Federal financial aid – and we’ll help make sure they get their applications in.</p>
<p>“We’ll also help lead the charge for the New York State Dream Act, so children who were brought here illegally can apply for State-sponsored college loans, grants, and scholarships. We can’t blame them for being brought here as infants or teens. And since they are here to stay, it’s in New York City’s best interest to make sure they are able to become productive members of society.</p>
<p>“I took out loans to get through college, so I know how important that money is. And I believe that all of our students should be eligible for the financial aid they need to succeed. The five steps I just outlined aren’t about politics. They’re about children.</p>
<p>“When we sit down with the UFT, there are two groups in the room: the UFT and our school children – they are who we work for and we will. We have an obligation to stand up for their lives, their futures, their hopes and dreams. Their voice is the voice we listen to and I thought all of us should hear it today.</p>
<p>“Those are the leaders of tomorrow: the doctors, the lawyers, the mayors. They will lead the economy of tomorrow, if we give them the tools to do it and if we begin building that economy right here and now.</p>
<p>“That’s the second major challenge I’d like to address: making our economy a global capital of innovation for the 21st century. Last month, we took a big step toward re-defining our economic future by forming a historic partnership with Cornell University and The Technion &#8211; Israel Institute of Technology to build a new science and engineering campus on Roosevelt Island.</p>
<p>“Building the new campus will generate up to 20,000 construction jobs and 8,000 permanent jobs, not just for PhDs, but for building staff and office workers. Cornell and Technion will also create educational programs for 10,000 New York City students and 200 teachers annually – a partnership that will begin this fall.</p>
<p>“It’s going to be a transformative project – and today, we’re glad to be joined by the Dean of Computing and Information Science at Cornell, Daniel Huttenlocher and the Director General of the Technion, Dr. Avital Stein. As we work to create the jobs of tomorrow, we’ll also plan for and create the space that the companies of tomorrow will need to grow.</p>
<p>“In Lower Manhattan, we’ll work with Pat Foye and David Samson at the Port Authority to keep progress going on the new towers at the World Trade Center. On the far West Side, we’ll work with Related to continue bringing new jobs and housing. And we’ll complete the Signature Theater’s new home on 42nd Street.</p>
<p>“In the area around Grand Central, we’ll work with the City Council on a package of regulatory changes and incentives that will attract new investment, new companies and new jobs. To expand space for film and digital media companies, we’ll open a new incubator that will help us build on last year’s record success in film and television and continue to compete with Hollywood for post-production business.</p>
<p>“And we’ll launch a new non-profit called ‘Space Works’ that will create long-term affordable rehearsal and studio space for artists citywide, including on Governors Island.</p>
<p>“As we plan for future growth, we’ll also create the jobs New Yorkers need today.</p>
<p>“Here in the Bronx, the first wave of 2,000 construction workers will break ground on New York’s next great shopping destination: Eastchester’s $270 million ‘Mall at Bay Plaza.’ In Port Morris, Smith Electric Vehicles will open its first East Coast plant and more than 100 New Yorkers will go to work assembling zero-emission trucks and vans.</p>
<p>“A new supermarket, stores, offices and a new charter school will bring 200 new jobs to a long-vacant spot at the Bronx Hub on 149th Street. We’ll begin renovation work on the Bronx River Art Center, creating a new media center, photography studio and gallery.</p>
<p>“We’ll begin re-zoning East Fordham Road to allow for more private sector investment and explore economic development possibilities on Webster Avenue. To do that, we’re working with a group of neighbors we call the Bronx Quad: the New York Botanical Garden, the Bronx Zoo, Montefiore Medical Center and of course, the emerging basketball powerhouse, Fordham University.</p>
<p>“We’re also stepping up efforts to keep some 3,600 good-paying jobs where they belong – at the Hunts Point produce market. New Jersey is making a big pitch to lure the market away, but we’re fully committed to modernizing the market and keeping those jobs here.</p>
<p>“So today, in partnership with Council Speaker Christine Quinn, we’re adding another $25 million to what will now be the City’s $87 million commitment to re-building the market. And that’s not the only big news here in the Bronx.</p>
<p>“We’re also launching a new effort to bring jobs to the most talked-about empty building in the Bronx: The Kingsbridge Armory.</p>
<p>“In collaboration with Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr., today, we are releasing a Request for Proposals for a new operator of the Armory. We’re putting aside our differences to do what’s best for the city. That’s what leadership is about. It’s not about a series of running arguments – it’s about getting things done.</p>
<p>“We’ve heard from a variety of interested parties, including those who want to develop it into recreational space. And we’re hopeful that the Kingsbridge Armory, vacant for some 15 years, will soon be transformed into a place that benefits the community and employs community members.</p>
<p>“In every borough in 2012, we’ll bring new jobs on line and make investments that will attract more visitors.</p>
<p>“In Queens, Jet Blue will open its new headquarters in Long Island City and an expansion of the Queens Museum of Art will double its size. On Staten Island, we’ll create a new blue-collar-friendly industrial business zone, we’ll redesign the zoo’s aquarium, and we’ll help break ground on a major apartment and retail development at the Homeport, creating more than 1,100 construction jobs.</p>
<p>“In Brooklyn, more good blue-collar jobs will come to the waterfront both in Sunset Park and at the Navy Yard. We’ll bring new jobs to Coney Island, with new rides and attractions. And we’ll open the new Barclays Center at Atlantic Yards – bringing big league sports back to the borough where they belong.</p>
<p>“These new attractions will also help bring even more tourists to our city – and last year we hit a record 50 million, but we can do even better.</p>
<p>“There are countless foreign tourists who seek to come to our city only to find it painfully difficult to secure a visa. That pain is not only hurting them – it is hurting us by costing us jobs. At a time when so many people are out of work, that’s just unacceptable.</p>
<p>“This year, we’ll work with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to make it easier to get tourist visas, especially for those coming from growing markets like India, China and Brazil. Millions of people from around the world want to come here and spend money in our hotels, restaurants, stores and attractions. We shouldn’t stand in their way.</p>
<p>“Now, as we create these new jobs, we’ll also do more to help New Yorkers fill them. Last year, the City’s Workforce One Career Centers made a record 35,000 job placements. This year, we’ll help even more New Yorkers find work with four new Workforce One Centers, in all three public library systems.</p>
<p>“We’ll help more immigrants who are skilled professionals obtain the licenses and certifications they need to find work here in the city. We’ll create a new incubator that will offer foreign entrepreneurs the tools and legal support they need to develop their businesses here. And we’ll increase opportunity for the City’s minority- and women-owned businesses, so that those firms compete for and win more City contracts.</p>
<p>“Most important of all, we’re going to mount a major new effort to help the New Yorkers who’ve defended our nation’s freedoms find the jobs and housing they deserve.</p>
<p>“Today, there are some 9,000 unemployed veterans in our city. There’s no excuse for that. And that’s why this year, with the help of the Robin Hood Foundation, our Workforce One Centers will offer new services to connect veterans to jobs.</p>
<p>“We’ll also work with a property manager called Urban American to attract more private landlords to the rental discount programs they run for returning veterans. Our men and women in uniform have stood up for our country. Now it’s our duty to stand up for them.</p>
<p>“The cost of housing is something many New Yorkers struggle with. Since the national recession hit in 2007, the cost of living in New York City – like nearly everywhere else – has gone up. And not just housing, but food, transit and all the key parts of a family’s budget. But there’s one thing that in all fairness hasn’t gone up: the ability of those at the bottom of the economic ladder to pay for those essential needs.</p>
<p>“In America, we want people to work – to set the alarm clock and punch the time clock. That’s why we incentivize work through programs like the Earned Income Tax Credit. You work, we help.</p>
<p>“The minimum wage is another way to help those who can only find jobs with entry-level wages by incentivize and reward work. Like the EITC, it helps those who are trying to help themselves. But setting the minimum wage is also a balancing act – setting it high enough so people can get by on it without having a negative economic impact.</p>
<p>“Right now, I believe, we are slightly out of balance. The genius of the free market is not always perfect. Two of our neighbors – Connecticut and Massachusetts – have raised their minimum wage above the Federal standard to address higher costs of living.</p>
<p>“And so while we would prefer the Federal government to act to keep us competitive, this year, we will join Speaker Shelly Silver in pushing for a responsible raise in the minimum wage.</p>
<p>“Our city just cannot afford to wait for Washington. Not when it comes to illegal guns, not when it comes to climate change, not when it comes to creating jobs and not when it comes to raising the minimum wage.</p>
<p>“Now, some economic studies have shown that raising the minimum wage can reduce youth employment. And so we’ll work to counter-act that by continuing to increase our Summer Youth Employment opportunities. And to really drive at the heart of the unemployment problem, we’ll go to the neighborhoods where the problem is worst, like here in the South Bronx, and in Central Brooklyn.</p>
<p>“We’ll launch a new effort to mobilize businesses, community groups, non-profits and City agencies to create new job opportunities in these communities. For instance, in partnership with the Young Men’s Initiative, we’ll develop opportunities for New Yorkers to ‘earn while they learn’ the skills required by the knowledge economy. We’ll also create incubators specifically to help low-income entrepreneurs get off the ground.</p>
<p>“If we can succeed in raising employment in the most distressed neighborhoods – and I believe we can – then we can not only improve people’s lives, we can not only improve the safety and stability of those neighborhoods, we can build on the work of the Center for Economic Opportunity in helping the next generation of residents break the cycle of poverty that has plagued those communities for too long.</p>
<p>“If ever there was a community that knows how powerful targeted city investments can be, it’s where we are today, the South Bronx.</p>
<p>“This area was once so burned out and abandoned that it was compared to Dresden after World War II. Today, the South Bronx is a poster child for urban revitalization, and one of the people who really deserves enormous credit for that is with us today: Mayor Ed Koch. Thank you, Ed.</p>
<p>“Mayor Koch showed that investment in affordable housing is a key element of a successful economic development agenda. Over the past decade, we’ve created or preserved 30,000 units of affordable housing here in the South Bronx alone and more than 150,000 units across the city.</p>
<p>“This year, we’ll take steps to bring more affordable housing to the Lower East Side around Delancey Street to a site that has sat largely vacant for a half-century. We’ll begin building new affordable housing and retail space on Livonia Avenue in East New York, at Hunter’s Point South in Queens, at Randolph Houses in Central Harlem and across the entire NYCHA system, we will significantly reduce the backlog of repairs that has resulted from sustained Federal budget cuts. This is a key part of our strategic plan to improve services to NYCHA’s residents and preserve public housing for generations to come.</p>
<p>“A NYCHA community will also be the site of one of our newest waterfront reclamation projects. Using land that now lies mostly vacant, we’ll begin working to create 2,300 units of housing, a waterfront park and a supermarket next door to the Astoria Houses on the East River.</p>
<p>“All across the city, we’ll continue reclaiming and revitalizing our waterfront. We’ll open Rockaway Park in Queens. We’ll complete the reconstruction of McCarren Pool in Williamsburg, and the first phase of Calvert Vaux Park in Bensonhurst and we’ll transform Pier 5 of Brooklyn Bridge Park into soccer fields and open space.</p>
<p>“Here in the South Bronx, we’ll begin construction of Soundview Park. And out in the harbor, we’ll continue transforming the island that time passed by, with 30 new acres of parkland that will make Governors Island one of the great waterfront destinations in the world.</p>
<p>“And across the city, we’ll join with AT&amp;T to bring Wi-Fi service to a dozen city parks – so even if you’re enjoying a beautiful day, you can still work or study or play ‘Words with Friends.’</p>
<p>“Reclaiming the waterfront and wiring our parks are just two of the ways we’re re-orienting our city around the needs of people today, not the needs of people 30 years ago. And that brings us to the third and final major challenge I’d like to address: making our government the most innovative of any in the world.</p>
<p>“By creating an administration that empowers team members, takes risks and leads from the front, we’re already setting the standard in so many areas.</p>
<p>“When people around the world talk about the most innovative public policies, where the most cutting-edge policies and programs are taking shape, they talk about New York City. And in the year ahead, we’ll give them plenty more to talk about.</p>
<p>“To begin, we’ll continue using technology to keep our city safe. The NYPD’s counter-terrorism program will add more than 1,000 advanced cameras to sensitive areas deploy more License Plate Readers to bridges and tunnels and expand the use of radiation detectors that are wired to the Lower Manhattan Security Coordination Center, which can respond immediately to any questionable readings.</p>
<p>“Our first responders will begin sending real-time information over the city’s wireless network from an ambulance to an emergency room, saving precious seconds and likely saving lives.</p>
<p>“We’ll strongly support the Governor’s push to expand DNA collection, which will build on the 2006 law we helped pass. And we’ll launch a data analytics team that will use the latest technology to fight crime and poverty and to assist businesses and entrepreneurs.</p>
<p>“To get more people working on construction sites, we’ll streamline the inspection process, just as we’ve done for restaurants and retail shops, in partnership with Speaker Quinn. We’ve already opened an online hub for reviewing and approving digital construction plans. Now, we’re teaming up with the industry to form the Partnership to Build NYC, and together, we’ll strengthen safety and reduce waiting times for building inspections citywide.</p>
<p>“Our goal is ten days or less – and we’re not talking about cutting corners, we’re talking about cutting red tape. And we’ll also do that by streamlining City Planning’s review of land use applications. City government will get smarter so more New Yorkers can get to work.</p>
<p>“We’ll also make our city smarter and safer by deploying Traffic Enforcement Agents to safety hot spots at key intersections, doubling the number of 20 mile-per-hour zones for schools, and continuing adding more miles of protected bike lanes.</p>
<p>“Now, I realize the debate over bike lanes has sometimes been hot and heavy. But the reality is more and more New Yorkers are biking, and the more bike lanes we put in, the fewer deaths and serious injuries we have on our streets.</p>
<p>“This year, we’ll take steps to enforce the law requiring every delivery rider to have proper safety equipment and clothing that identifies the name of the business. At the same time, we’ll launch the largest bike share program of any city in the country. Those bikes will create another option for getting around town faster and easier, and so will new Select Bus Service in Brooklyn, which we’ll launch in partnership with MTA Chairman Joe Lhota.</p>
<p>“And, of course, another options will be the new Five Borough Taxi Cab that New Yorkers have been waiting decades for.</p>
<p>“Finally, if we’re going to be the most innovative city in the world, we also have to be the greenest, because that’s how you attract the most forward-looking individuals and companies. So today, we’re announcing the next phase in three key areas of our PlaNYC environmental and infrastructure agenda: recycling, clean energy and clean air.</p>
<p>“To begin, we’ll double the amount of residential waste we divert from landfills by 2017. By taking steps like increasing recycling in schools and streets and expanding our plastics recycling program, we’ll reduce our waste disposal costs by $50 million annually and help protect the environment.</p>
<p>“We’ll also become one of the first cities in the country to turn wastewater into renewable energy and we’ll explore the possibility of cleanly converting trash into renewable energy. To attack air pollution, we’ll overhaul the city’s air quality codes, green our building and zoning codes and accelerate our work with property owners to phase-out dirty heating oils. All of this work will help move us closer to our goal of having the cleanest air of any large city in America.</p>
<p>“Now, as ambitious as our agenda is for the year ahead, we’ll achieve it by continuing to do more with less. When I first took office, city government had 312,000 employees. Today we have 292,000 – a six percent cut. Yet in nearly every category, we are getting far better results than we did ten years ago.</p>
<p>“This year we will continue to keep head count down – but we will not sacrifice public safety or public integrity. We don’t tolerate misconduct or corruption anywhere, and we have the very highest standards for those we entrust to enforce the law. Our police force is the best in the world. And Commissioner Kelly has done an outstanding job making sure that New York’s Finest are also the most upstanding.</p>
<p>“To ensure that we maintain and strengthen that track record, we will increase the attorney staffing for the Commission to Combat Police Corruption, led by its chair Michael Armstrong, former counsel to the Knapp Commission.</p>
<p>“We’ll find ways to finance all of the initiatives I’ve outlined today, some of which come with very little cost, by continuing to make government more efficient and continuing to consolidate city operations.</p>
<p>“For instance, this year we’ll put three city-owned office buildings in Lower Manhattan up for sale. We expect will bring more than $100 million next year for our capital budget, $100 million in private sector tax revenue and cost savings over the next 20 years by converting public buildings to private buildings and it will bring new jobs and housing for the downtown community.</p>
<p>“We’ll also seek budget savings by doing everything we can to support Governor Cuomo in his push for mandate relief, including what has long been one of our top priorities: pension reform.</p>
<p>“New York City’s workforce is the finest in the world, and current city workers have earned their pensions. But we cannot afford to continue offering the same benefits to future workers. Right now, more than 12 percent of our budget is dedicated to pensions. That’s more than $8 billion that we’re not using to reduce our tax burden or to spend on salaries for teachers, police officers and firefighter, or on job creation or social services. Governor Cuomo is right to make pension reform a top priority and he’ll have our full support.</p>
<p>“It won’t be easy. None of this will be easy. But everything that I’ve talked about today we can complete or make meaningful progress on this year. We’ll work collaboratively with our partners in City government and in Albany to achieve great things – and pioneer new innovations. And that’s the way it should be.</p>
<p>“Because this is a city where the line between the possible and impossible is routinely erased, and where the arc of human fate is bent by ambition, ingenuity, and hard work. That has always been true here, but it has never been truer than it is today.</p>
<p>“The sense of possibility that leads us to pursue big dreams and high ideals, that is the essential spirit of our city and we see it every day.</p>
<p>“We see it in the immigrants who continue to come here and stay here to build a better life. We see it in the artists and entrepreneurs who spend every waking hour pursuing their passions. We see it in the parents who work like mad to give their children a better life.</p>
<p>“This spirit of promise and possibility is all around us – today, and every day. It’s in people like Christopher Gallant and Damian Brown, who founded the Bronx Brewery and now employs many people.</p>
<p>“It’s in educators like Joe Negron and David Levin of KIPP Academy, one of the country’s most successful charter schools, just 10 blocks south of here.</p>
<p>“It’s in housing leaders like Jonathan Rose and Adam Weinstein who helped build one the most environmentally advanced affordable housing developments in the nation, called Via Verde, on East 156th Street.</p>
<p>“It’s in all the people all across the five boroughs who do so much to make this the greatest city in the world. You want to know the State of the City? This is the state of our city. Never more full of promise and possibility. Because, in the words of Gouverneur Morris, there is nothing we the people can’t do. There is no mountain we cannot climb, no summit we cannot reach, if we the people decide to do it.</p>
<p>“Today, let us commit to one another that we will not stand still when our children need us to step forward. We will not deny the dreams of students – no matter where they live, or where they go to school or in what country they were born.</p>
<p>“We will not deny the desire that so many have to work in jobs that will allow them to build a better life for themselves and their families. <!--more--></p>
<p>“And we will not deny the demands that every New Yorker has for safe streets free from the plague of gun violence and strong neighborhoods full of energy and life.</p>
<p>“Together, we the people will build our future, and we will not rest – not for one second – until we have fulfilled the promise and possibility of our great city for every single New Yorker. Thank you.”</p>
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		<title>Cuomo Gives Legislature Late Heads Up on Convention Center</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/10/cuomo-gives-legislature-late-heads-up-on-convention-center/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/10/cuomo-gives-legislature-late-heads-up-on-convention-center/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:35:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Land Use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Aqueduct]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Genting]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10443</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to legislative leaders today to tell them about that um&#8230;you know&#8230;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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to legislative leaders today to tell them about that um&#8230;you know&#8230;that massive convention center he mentioned he wants to build during his State of the State speech last week. Cuomo has been criticized for <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Cuomo-skips-franchise-board-in-making-Aqueduct-2444786.php">seemingly avoiding any of the steps mandated by state law</a> for a project involving gaming in the state. He addresses the point in the letter stating:</p>
<p>&#8220;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.</p>
<p>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.&#8221;</p>
<p>Dear Majority Leader Skelos and Speaker Silver:<span id="more-10443"></span></p>
<p>In my State of the State message last week, I spoke about a comprehensive program to foster economic development across the state. As the state’s resources are limited, our task will be to leverage private sector activity without significant funding from the state; no small challenge. Two projects I discussed were development of a convention center complex at the Aqueduct site in Southeastern Queens and the redevelopment of the Javits Center. As you will recall Genting New York LLC was granted in September 2010, the only franchise in New York City to operate a video lottery terminal (VLT) facility under a 30 year lease on 67 acres at Aqueduct. Genting has proceeded with the project, which from all perspectives, has gone exceedingly well.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Genting has proposed further development of the site which includes the creation of a destination location of international potential. The destination location will include gaming, hotel rooms, entertainment, exhibition and convention center facilities. The economic impact of the project would be enormous, estimated to create thousands of construction and private sector jobs. The state investment would be minimal with potentially the greatest number of jobs produced in the state in many, many years. As you know, in each of the VLT racinos across the state, the state has, through legislation, negotiated a revenue sharing agreement and such an agreement would need to be negotiated here. Importantly, the new agreement would be binding only upon the new VLT terminal revenue which would be granted to the Aqueduct facility; while the terms and conditions of our original agreement remain in place. Hence, there is only the possibility of additional revenue for the state as our current revenue stream would be untouched.</p>
<p>While the discussions are preliminary and conceptual, at this point the first phase would include construction of 1,000 hotel rooms, theater and entertainment components, approximately 3 million square feet of convention and exhibition space, expansion of VLT gaming space and a parking facility. Importantly, Genting has the exclusive lease on all the land anticipated to be used in phase one and is the only legislatively approved VLT operator in New York City.</p>
<p>The second phase would require additional land beyond the 67 acres currently under lease to Genting. The Port Authority controls an adjoining 22 acres which Genting is considering for an additional 2,000 hotel rooms and approximately a half million more square feet of convention and meeting space.</p>
<p>Genting is prepared to work with the relevant labor unions and execute a project labor agreement. They will also work with the local communities and local governments on zoning, and meet or exceed all state MWBE requirements.</p>
<p>Transportation to the site is an issue that needs to be addressed and we have been discussing the feasibility of MTA service from Manhattan to Aqueduct, with Genting paying the cost of such service.</p>
<p>There is also an issue as to how this racino expansion at Aqueduct would affect operations at the nearby Belmont race track.</p>
<p>The Aqueduct project is linked to the Javits Center redevelopment as the New York Metropolitan area needs a convention site and if we do not plan to develop one as an alternative to Javits, then Javits would need to continue to operate. As I stated in my State of the State message, the Javits Convention Center is too small to be a competitive exhibition facility, and redevelopment of the current Javits site has exciting possibilities for the West Side of Manhattan and beyond. I also believe the redevelopment of Javits will render significant economic benefit to the State of New York which is essential during these challenging fiscal times.</p>
<p>I will also ask the legislature to consider passing language authorizing a Constitutional Amendment to allow casino gaming in the State of New York. That referendum would be at best two years from now – if ever – and should be considered as a separate issue from these current proposals. We would hope that the Aqueduct project could be finalized within one year on an expedited time frame.</p>
<p>Opponents to the project point out that many conventions centers lose money. That is a true point. Most governments weigh the issue of building a convention center with public money as a “loss leader” for the net economic gain of additional tourism dollars, etc. That is a debatable proposition. However, that is not the case here. The state is not building anything. We are not spending public money on a convention center. Genting, a private entity, will take the risk of economic success. I have never been a casino or racino proponent, but we are here now and the question is how to best maximize the economics and protect our citizens.</p>
<p>As you know, we are working aggressively to attract business investment to New York State. It would be ironic to say the least if New York did not seize an opportunity of this scale when presented with it.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that this is a low risk, high reward business opportunity for the state. The Genting organization already controls the land under phase one and already is the only legislatively approved operator for VLTs in New York City. Our only “cost” is noneconomic: the issuance of additional gaming machines at a preexisting gaming facility. The reward is approximately 10,000 construction jobs, 10,000 permanent jobs and $4 billion investment in the state. This investment would be one of the largest in the state’s history at no cost to the state.</p>
<p>A new convention center also frees the Javits site for redevelopment. I think the merits are clear.</p>
<p>I would appreciate your respective staff’s attention to engage in these conversations on a joint basis to see if they can be brought to fruition.</p>
<p>I also think it would be advisable for us to meet together with Genting officials in the coming weeks to discuss the proposal in person.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Governor Andrew M. Cuomo</p>
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		<title>Quinn on Fingerprinting for Food Stamps</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/05/quinn-on-fingerprinting-for-food-stamps/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/05/quinn-on-fingerprinting-for-food-stamps/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Jan 2012 21:51:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[food stamps]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mike bloomberg]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10428</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemingly went after the city&#8217;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&#8217;s statement in a press conference following the speech. Council Speaker Christine Quinn just [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Gov. Andrew Cuomo seemingly went after the city&#8217;s policy of fingerprinting people who want access to food stamps <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Albany/20120105/204/3664">in his State of the State Address</a>. The Bloomberg administration has supported the measure as a way to stop fraud and Bloomberg dismissed Cuomo&#8217;s statement in a <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/news_beats/political_news/153641/bloomberg-snipes-at-cuomo-s-food-stamp-proposal">press conference following the speech</a>. Council Speaker Christine Quinn just weighed in via press release and she is taking Cuomo&#8217;s side.</p>
<p>“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.”</p>
<p>Cuomo said in his State of the State yesterday that, &#8220;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&#8217;m saying stop fingerprinting for families,” said Cuomo.</p>
<p>Bloomberg told reporters, &#8220;“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.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>State Does Not Support New Shelter Rules After All</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/10/state-does-not-support-new-shelter-rules-afterall/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/10/state-does-not-support-new-shelter-rules-afterall/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 10 Nov 2011 16:54:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[elizabeth berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[homeless]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[office of temporary and disability assistance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seth diamond]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10319</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At yesterday&#8217;s acrimonious hearing on changes in the city&#8217;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 &#8212; actually approved the change.
To some in the audience it may have seemed as though Quinn was [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At yesterday&#8217;s acrimonious <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Social%20Services/20111110/15/3634">hearing</a> on <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/change-for-the-homeless/">changes in the city&#8217;s procedures</a> for admitting single adults to homeless shelters. Council Speaker Christine Quinn pressed Department of Homeless Services Commissioner <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/html/dhs/html/press/pr041910.shtml">Seth Diamond</a> over whether the state had –- as Diamond contended &#8212; actually approved the change.</p>
<p>To some in the audience it may have seemed as though Quinn was splitting hairs. Diamond certainly seemed peeved at her approach.</p>
<p>Now, though, it looks as though she was correct. In a letter to Diamond dated yesterday and released this morning by Quinn&#8217;s office, Elizabeth Berlin of the <a href=" http://otda.ny.gov/">Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance</a>, says that any suggestion that her office approved the new eligibility procedure is &#8220;inaccurate.&#8221; </p>
<p>And Berlin went further: </p>
<blockquote><p>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&#8217;s practice when making a policy change relating to the <a href=" http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/pages/the-callahan-legacy-callahan-v.-carey-and-the-legal-right-to-shelter">Callahan Consent Decree</a>. 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.</p></blockquote>
<p>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 &#8220;by reason of physical, mental or social dysfunction.&#8221;</p>
<p>To read more on the issue and the debate over it, go <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/Social%20Services/20111110/15/3634">here</a>. And more on the exchange between Quinn and Diamond  after the jump.</p>
<p>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  &#8220;consistent with state rules.&#8221; Quinn countered that that did not mean the state approved it. &#8220;Our understanding from the governor&#8217;s office is that they have not approved it,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Diamond responded that the department did not need approval. &#8220;We have the flexibility to implement procedure that are consistent with state laws and regulations,&#8221; Diamond said, adding he believed his office had &#8220;what is needed to allow us to go forward.&#8221;  </p>
<p>Berlin&#8217;s letter explicitly addresses that point. &#8220;OTDA has not commented on the substantive merits of the proposed change, but instead determined that the proposal was not inconsistent with state law,&#8221; her two-paragraph letter said, </p>
<p>We&#8217;ll try to get some reaction and pass it along. </p>
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		<title>Mayor Vetoes Contract Bill</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/mayor-vetoes-contract-bill/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/mayor-vetoes-contract-bill/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 20:16:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contract budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city council]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10295</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As expected, Mayor Michael Bloomberg has vetoed the <a href=" http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=917950&#038;GUID=A68C3D66-0740-4248-AD4F-B54747BE8E10&#038;Options=ID|Text|&#038;Search=624">Outsourcing Accountability Act</a>. The measure, <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20111006/203/3615">passed by the City Council</a> 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.</p>
<p>The veto represents the latest in an escalating fight over the city&#8217;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. </p>
<p>The mayor, however, has said contracts help cut costs and reduce government efficiency. &#8220;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,&#8221; Bloomberg said after it passed.</p>
<p>In her statement on the veto, though, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said the measure would save money. &#8220;The council simply wants city agencies to consider costs and thoughtfully review decisions to outsource,&#8221; she said. &#8220;These tough economic times demand nothing less.&#8221;</p>
<p>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.</p>
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		<title>Change for the Homeless</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/change-for-the-homeless/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/change-for-the-homeless/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 19:28:57 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[annabel palma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[emergency shelters]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[homeless]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[seth diamond]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steve banks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10292</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>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.</p>
<p>According to WNBC, which first<br />
<href =http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Homeless-Shelter-Policy-Change-Temporary-Housing-Requirement-Court-133213703.html>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Department of Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond <a href=http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/04/newyorkcity-homeless-singles-idUSN1E7A30VQ20111104>told</a> Reuters that many people applying to shelters these days may have other options. They include, he said, &#8220;a lot of people who are working or capable of work, who may have gone through a little bit of a rough time &#8212; their employer may have reduced their hours, or they may have lost their jobs.&#8221;</p>
<p>But advocates dispute such arguments. &#8220;The city is playing with fire by implementing this policy, particularly in the winter,&#8221; Steven Banks of the <a href="http://www.legal-aid.org/en/home.aspx">Legal Aid Society</a> told WNBC. &#8220;It&#8217;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.</p>
<p>Earlier today, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and General Welfare Committee chair Annabel Palma. Issued a statement condemning the move. &#8220;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,&#8221; they said.</p>
<p>The council will hold an emergency oversight hearing on the policy at 1 p.m. Wednesday.<br />
</href>
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		<title>City Council Takes to the Streets</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/city-council-takes-to-the-streets/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/04/city-council-takes-to-the-streets/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 04 Nov 2011 17:20:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Atlantic Yards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[barclays arena]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bike lanes]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community biards]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gale brewer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[james vacca]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[letitia james]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lew fidler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city department of transportation]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[residential parking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speaker quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[transportation alternatives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[vincent ignizio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[yankee stadium]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10289</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>On the same day, it tackled the issue of undocumented immigrants (for that story, go <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20111104/203/3630">here</a>), the City Council took on something really controversial: the battle for spaces on the city&#8217;s crowded streets.</p>
<p>At its stated meeting Thursday, members enacted two  measures.</p>
<p>One reflected concerns that the Bloomberg administration, in its zeal for bike lanes, has sometimes <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/transportation/20110225/16/3472">ignored wishes</a> of local residents. <a href="http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=803592&#038;GUID=A9FD01B1-E217-4AA6-BC43-5127068542F3&#038;Options=ID|Text|&#038;Search=412">Intro 412</a>, which passed unanimously, would require that the city <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/home/home.shtml">Department of Transportation</a> 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. </p>
<p>This does not mean the board could veto bike lanes, but simply that it be informed and consulted.</p>
<p>More on the bike law bill and residential parking permits after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10289"></span></p>
<p>The bill&#8217;s sponsor, Councilmember <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/home/home.shtml">Lew Fidler</a>, whose district has been roiled by some <a href=" http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2010/09/fidler-bike-lanes-should-not-drop-out-of-the-sky/">bike lane disputes</a>, said it does not take a position on bike lanes themselves but is &#8220;pro community input.&#8221;</p>
<p>Some bike advocates, though, disagree. Caroline Samponaro of <a href=" http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2010/09/fidler-bike-lanes-should-not-drop-out-of-the-sky/">Transportation Alternatives</a> <a href=" http://manhattan.ny1.com/content/top_stories/150180/city-council-passes-controversial-bike-lane-legislation">told</a> NY1 the bill is simply &#8220;a way to just slow down safety improvements.&#8221; </p>
<p>&#8220;Bike lanes are loved by some neighborhoods and not so much by others,&#8221; Council Speaker <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/3">Christine Quinn</a> said, adding she hoped the bill &#8220;would calm some of the bike lane debate.&#8221;</p>
<p>One can always hope.</p>
<p>The other bill &#8212; a home rule message actually &#8212; could set in motion a plan for residential parking permits in the city. In some other parts of the country &#8212; <a href=" http://dmv.dc.gov/serv/parking/RPP.shtm">Washington, D.C.</a> &#8212; for one, residents of a particular neighborhood purchase a parking sticker that gives them priority for parking places close to their homes. The impetus for the resolution, <a href=" http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=991736&#038;GUID=A796C711-4598-4B4D-A072-35812E3EE219&#038;Options=ID|Text|&#038;Search=14">SLR14</a>, came from people living near the new <a href=" http://barclayscenter.com/">Barclay Arena</a> at Atlantic Yards, who worry they won&#8217;t be able to find parking once the Nets begin playing there next year, as well as residents of the Yankee Stadium area who already complain of difficulty parking. </p>
<p>The bill, according to transportation committee chair <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/13">James Vacca</a>, does not institute the permits but merely asks the state legislature, which has jurisdiction over this, to allow the city to look into whether the permits would make sense in some parts of the city. &#8220;We want people who live in local communities to be allowed to park somewhere near their homes,&#8221; Vacca said.</p>
<p>Councilmember <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/35">Letitia James</a>, who represents areas near Atlantic Yards, said the parking could serve as a &#8220;disincentive&#8221; for people to drive to the new arena. &#8220;Individuals who come to Barclays Arena should use mass transit,&#8221; she said.</p>
<p>The bill though, attracted considerable opposition (by the council&#8217;s standards), particularly from members who represent communities whose residents drive to other neighborhoods – neighborhoods where they do not live – and park for the day before getting on a bus or subway. Eight members <a href=" http://www.streetsblog.org/2011/11/03/city-council-signs-off-on-residential-parking-permits-next-stop-albany/">voted</a> against the resolution and one abstained.</p>
<p>One, <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/51">VIncent Ignizio</a> of Staten Island, dismissed  the notion that people who live in an area have more of a right to park on the streets there than residents of other areas. &#8220;The spot in front of my home is not mine,&#8221; he said. People from his district should be able to park near Yankee Stadium, he said, and residents of the Bronx should feel free to park in Tottenville. (Don&#8217;t all drive there at once, folks.)</p>
<p>Some raised the specter of the fee that the city might charge for the permits. &#8220;I&#8217;m just concerned we&#8217;re now going to start taxing open space and the right to park in front of our homes,&#8221; Fidler said. </p>
<p>While opponents lost yesterday&#8217;s round, the residential parking has to make it through many hoops before becoming a reality in New York. Councilmember <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/6">Gale Brewer</a>, who voted in favor, said she did not think it would pass in Albany.</p>
<p>The two Republican state senators from the city oppose the measure, making its passage in the GOP-controlled Senate unlikely, the Daily News <a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/city-council-greenlights-resident-parking-permits-albany-lawmakers-approve-article-1.972005">reported</a> today.</p>
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		<title>The Union on School Cuts</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/01/the-union-on-school-cuts/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/01/the-union-on-school-cuts/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:09:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[charter schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[class size]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dennis Walcott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael mulgrew]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[uft]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[United Federation of Teachers]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10277</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;s more than 1.1 million students. 
A survey of union chapter leaders (perhaps [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With the city facing a multibillion dollar shortfall – and the Bloomberg administration <a href=" http://www.myfoxny.com/dpp/news/bloomberg-letter-budget-cuts-layoffs-20111005">demanding further cuts</a>, the <a href=" http://www.uft.org">United Federation of Teachers</a> went on the offense today, with a <a href=" http://www.uft.org/press-releases/one-million-city-students-schools-hit-budget-cuts">study</a> it says shows that fiscal constraints already have taken a toll on the city&#8217;s more than 1.1 million students. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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&#8217;s pledge to focus on improving middle schools, 63 percent saw their afterschool programs curtailed and 59 percent lost extracurricular activities.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>In a statement on his union&#8217;s report UFT president Michael Mulgrew said, &#8220;Based on our survey, an estimated 91 percent of our school population &#8212; nearly 1 million children &#8212; are in schools where budget cuts are having a direct and immediate effect on their education.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Former Bloomberg Aide Found Guilty of Larceny</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/21/former-bloomberg-aide-found-guilty-of-larceny/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/21/former-bloomberg-aide-found-guilty-of-larceny/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 21 Oct 2011 18:01:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[independence party]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[john haggerty]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10209</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[John Haggerty, the political consultant charged with stealing millions from Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>John Haggerty, the political consultant charged with stealing millions from Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s campaign, was <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/149390/former-bloomberg-aide-found-guilty-of-stealing-campaign-funds">found guilty</a> of grand larceny in the second degree and his company was found guilty of money laundering in the second degree.</p>
<p>Haggerty <a href="http://www.capitaltonight.com/2011/10/haggerty-found-guilty-of-larceny-money-laundering/">avoided the more serious charge</a> 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.</p>
<p>Bloomberg had to testify on the stand and Haggerty&#8217;s lawyers claimed Bloomberg lied and that Haggerty was paid for the work he had completed. Haggerty could face 15 years in prison.</p>
<p>The case is seen as a major victory for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance whose office has suffered major public defeats this year.</p>
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		<title>Quinn Ducks and Parries</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/06/quinn-ducks-and-parries/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/06/quinn-ducks-and-parries/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 06 Oct 2011 19:55:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[annabel palma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[bloomberg administration]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chris quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[living wage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mike blomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Oliver Koppell]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[outside contractors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paid sick leave]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10188</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;s increasing reliance on outside contractors. The City Council &#8212; obviously with strong backing from Quinn or else it wouldn&#8217;t have happened &#8212; unanimously passed a bill [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yesterday, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn presided over the passage of a bill that Mayor Michael Bloomberg adamantly opposes. Will she do it again?</p>
<p>This issue yesterday was the city&#8217;s <a href=" http://gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20110603/203/3537">increasing reliance</a> on outside contractors. The City Council &#8212; obviously with strong backing from Quinn or else it wouldn&#8217;t have happened &#8212; unanimously <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20111006/203/3615">passed a bill</a> requiring a kind of cost-benefit analysis of proposed contracts.</p>
<p>Bloomberg later, according to WNYC&#8217;s Bob Hennelly blasted the measure. &#8220;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,&#8221; Bloomberg said. </p>
<p>The next issue could be the so-called <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/work/20100115/22/3147">Living Wage bill</a>, 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.  </p>
<p>The administration opposes that one too &#8212; 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.</p>
<p>Quinn wants the mayor&#8217;s business supporter and backing for her mayoral quest. She&#8217;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.</p>
<p>The verbal dueling after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10188"></span></p>
<p>She said she hadn&#8217;t looked at the administration&#8217;s <a href=" https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/254818-report-on-impact-of-living-wage-mandate.html">study</a> on the living wage because she was watching a baseball game. She said she didn&#8217;t know what the changes offered by sponsors <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/council11">Oliver Koppell</a> and <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/18">Annabel Palma</a> might be because they had not yet been introduced. She said she could not rely on <a href=" http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20111003/LABOR_UNIONS/111009986">press accounts</a> of those amendments. </p>
<p>Asked what she thought about the spirit of the bill, she ducked again, saying, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know that the spirit of the bill or the content of the bill hasn&#8217;t changed.&#8221;</p>
<p>Pressed again, Quinn answered, &#8220;It&#8217;s not that I have no opinion. It&#8217;s that I have nothing to give an opinion on. &#8230; I will have an opinion but I can&#8217;t give opinion on things that don&#8217;t exist or things I haven&#8217;t read.&#8221;</p>
<p>If this sounds familiar it should. For months Quinn dodged giving answers on a pieces of legislation &#8212; also backed by labor and by council progressives&#8211;  that would have require city employers to <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/20091116/212/3103">give paid sick days</a> to their workers. (In fact the maneuvering on the issue is so familiar that one reporter, Azi Paybarah of Capital, confused them when questioning Quinn yesterday.)</p>
<p>What happened then? Quinn  came out <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20101015/203/3384">against the measure</a>, and it seems to be all but dead.</p>
<p>As to the living wage bill> Quinn says it&#8217;s in &#8220;suspended animation.&#8221;</p>
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		<title>Education Councils: Weak by Design</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/03/education-councils-weak-by-design/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/03/education-councils-weak-by-design/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:20:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[community education council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city schools]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[panel for educational policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patrick sullivan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scott stringer]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10184</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>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.</p>
<p>The chief one of course is the <a href="http://schools.nyc.gov/AboutUs/leadership/PEP/default.htm">Panel for Educational Policy</a>, which as Patrick Sullivan, a member, <a href=" http://nycpublicschoolparents.blogspot.com/2011/09/bloomberg-education-record-stained-by.html">wrote</a> on New York Public School Parents, routinely rubber stamps Department of Education contracts – even ones dripping with corruption such as the <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/">agreement</a> with <a href="http://www.fta-llc.com/main/Index.aspx">Future Technology Associates</a>.  </p>
<p>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 <a href=" http://schools.nyc.gov/Offices/CEC/GPInformation/CommunityEducationCouncils/one.htm">Community Education Councils</a>, heirs to the former Community School Board – might function a bit better. They were, alas, wrong.</p>
<p>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 <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/10/elections-and-education/">repeatedly botched election</a> for members in 2011.</p>
<p>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&#8217;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.)</p>
<p>Perhaps most notably, the report&#8217;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.<br />
<span id="more-10184"></span></p>
<p>&#8220;It’s time for us to give [the councils] a role in our city&#8217;s public schools &#8212; and to unleash the full, untapped potential of our CECs,&#8221; Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer said in a statement accompanying the report.</p>
<p>That is precisely what the administration does not want. As far as the administration is concern things are pretty, pretty good just the way they are.</p>
<p>Just look back to the fight over <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/measuringup/20090427/209/2897">renewing mayoral control</a> of schools in 2009, the administration staunchly resisted governance changes. It used its substantial muscle and money no doubt to block a modest proposal to have the PEP members serve fixed terms. The mayor would still have controlled an overwhelming majority – he just couldn&#8217;t fire them on a whim. (Something, of course, that he has done.)</p>
<p>There is no reason to think the mayor is not happy with the Community Education Council as they now stand – except of course that the effort to keep them weak sometimes kicks up some negative publicity – as happened with the elections last year. When it comes to the panel and the councils, the administration has gotten what it wanted. </p>
<p>&#8220;Parents feel that their voices have been diminished, not strengthened, by the current system,&#8221; Stringer said in his statement. </p>
<p>Well, yes, that was the idea, wasn&#8217;t it?</p>
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		<title>Bloomberg&#039;s Technology Pit</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 29 Sep 2011 20:24:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10177</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Another day, another disturbing revelation about the city&#8217;s handling of its technology contracts.
This time it&#8217;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 Associates &#8212;  bilked the city [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Another day, another disturbing revelation about the city&#8217;s handling of its technology contracts.</p>
<p>This time it&#8217;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 – <a href="http://www.fta-llc.com/main/Index.aspx">Future Technology Associates</a> &#8212;  <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204138204576599404035575830.html">bilked the city</a> out of at least $6.5 million, according to a <a href="http://www.nycsci.org/reports/09-11%20FTA%20Report%20letter.pdf">report</a> by Richard Condon, the city&#8217;s special commissioner of investigation.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Concerns about Future Technology have been circulating for some time.</p>
<p>According to a letter-report from the city comptroller&#8217;s Bureau of Audit, given to Gotham Gazette today (posted <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/pdf/futuretechassociates.pdf">here</a>), in 2005 the department submitted a request that Future Tech get a no-bid contract. (No-bid contracts at the Department of Education have <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2009/05/19/a-lesson-in-school-contracts/">raised concerns</a> in the past.) &#8220;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,&#8221; says the report from the comptroller&#8217;s office, which went to  Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott and Condon&#8217;s office.<br />
<span id="more-10177"></span></p>
<p>The executive director of the department&#8217;s Division of Finance &#8220;provided an unsupportable vote of confidence for FTA, indicating that it had the ability and integrity to provide the specific services,&#8217; the letter report by Deputy Comptroller Tina Kim says. But, it continues, the department did not do proper research, which would have shown FTA was a new company with &#8220;no prior business record by which it could be judged.&#8221;</p>
<p>In addition, the reports says, the city did not follow standard business practice in letting Future Tech use Tier Technology employees who were then working as consultants at the Department of Education. And it found Future Tech did not submit time sheets as required by the agreement between the company and the city. Because of this, Kim writes, &#8220;we could not verify that time records were accurate and concluded that time records totaling $1.7 million (pertaining only to billing invoices provided) were paid in contravention of the board&#8217;s stated policy.&#8221;</p>
<p>All of this becomes less surprising than it might otherwise be when one learns, as Juan Gonzalez of the Daily News <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/09/29/2011-09-29_alleged_massive_fraud_by_future_technology_associates_was_like_taking_millions_f.html">reminded</a> readers today, that the chief of financial operations during this time was one Judith Hederman, who, investigators say, was romantically involved with Jonathan Krohe, one of the two owners of Future Tech. Investigators in Condon&#8217;s office believe that Hederman tipped off Krohe whenever the department seemed to be having doubts about the cost of the project. </p>
<p>Hederman <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2011/05/13/2011-05-13_education_dept_official_who_oversaw_43m_contract_resigns_amid_corruption_investi.html">resigned</a> in May.</p>
<p>But Hederman, Gonzalez notes, was not the only department of education official involved with Future Tech. Vincent Giordano, now retired, reportedly engineered the no-bid contract. And when Gonzalez first questioned what Future Tech was up to – noting the company had not track record or even, apparently, an office, Photeine Anagnostopoulos, who was the Department of Education&#8217;s chief of operations, defended the company&#8217;s arrangement with the city. &#8220;Their rates are better than competitive,&#8221; she told the reporter. &#8220;You don&#8217;t have to bid every plumbing job in your house because you know what [the] rates are.</p>
<p>Anagnostopoulos <a href=" http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/22/2011-01-22_2nd_school_deputy_chancellor_resigns_since_black_hire.html">resigned</a> last year, the day after Cathie Black was appointed chancellor. </p>
<p>Condon has referred his findings to prosecutors. </p>
<p>Prosecutors have already turned their attention to another city technology project, the CityTime computerized timekeeping system for city employees. Last December, federal prosecutor <a href="http://spectrum.ieee.org/riskfactor/computing/it/nyc-bigtime-citytime-fraud-charges-ripples-on">charged</a> four consultants to the city with operating a fraudulent scheme that ended up bilking the city of $80 million as CityTime&#8217;s cost soared by more than tenfold. </p>
<p>And this summer, they added to the list, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/28/nyregion/criticism-for-citytime-project-grows-as-a-manager-is-arrested.html?_r=1">charging</a> an executive with <a href=" http://www.saic.com/">Science Applications International Corp.</a>, which oversaw CityTime, with taking more than $5 million in kickbacks. </p>
<p>Only a few days before, discussing CityTime on his radio show, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said, &#8220;We actually did a pretty good job here, in retrospect.”</p>
<p>And there may be further problems on the horizon. Last week, the Times <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/nyregion/bloombergs-computer-project-for-personnel-data-leads-to-waste.html?scp=2&#038;sq=techology%20city%20bloomberg%20adninistration&#038;st=cse">reported</a> that a $66 million project to computerize city personnel information had already mushroomed to cost $363 million and, according to the Times, &#8220;the work is far from done.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;It was a runaway project,&#8221; Raj Agarwal, the city official who once tried to mange it, told the paper. </p>
<p>And in this case, too, there were warning signs about the New York City Automated Personnel System or Nycaps. In March 2003, the administration&#8217;s own contract monitors warned, &#8220;No sense of economy, efficiency or value is evident in any area of the project,”</p>
<p>On Monday, the City Council <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/27/nyregion/city-council-to-investigate-bloombergs-personnel-project.html?scp=1&#038;sq=technology%20city%20council&#038;st=cse">announced</a> it would investigate cost overruns on the project, and a number of officials expressed dismay that a major technology project had once again been over budget and underperforming. In additional to probing Nycaps, the council will reportedly consider a bill that would require the administration to tell City Council when a project is over budget – and explain why.</p>
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		<title>What Happens in Bermuda Stays in Bermuda</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/28/what-happens-in-bermuda-stays-in-bermuda/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/28/what-happens-in-bermuda-stays-in-bermuda/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Sep 2011 22:06:56 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[homeless animal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city blizzard]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[paid sick leave]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[patricia harris]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[peter vallone]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speaker quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stephen goldsmith]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10167</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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&#8217;s Michael Howard Saul that Quinn will not allow a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>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 <a href=" http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/09/28/quinn-allows-mayors-personal-travels-to-remain-private/">reports</a>. And once again the mayor has City Council Speaker Christine Quinn to thank.</p>
<p>City Councilmember <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/22">Peter Vallone</a> has told the Journal&#8217;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 <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20110110/203/3448">botched city response</a> 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.</p>
<p>Quinn, of course, has frequently pushed bill the mayor likes and blocked ones he doesn&#8217;t &#8212; though not usually ones where he has such a personal stake. Last year, for example she <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20101015/203/3384">essentially killed</a> a measure that would require paid sick leave for city workers.</p>
<p>And last week, Vallone, who seems to have an increasingly prickly relationship with Quinn, and the speaker clashed over a <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20110922/203/3609">bill on homeless animals</a>. 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. </p>
<p>&#8220;I don’t think you have to be smarter than Bonzo the chimp to figure out what&#8217;s going on,&#8221; Vallone said at the time.</p>
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		<title>A Change on Marijuana Arrests</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/26/a-change-on-marijuana-arrests/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/26/a-change-on-marijuana-arrests/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:37:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[decriminalization of marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hakeem jeffires]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jumaane Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marjuana arrests]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Melissa Mark-Viverito]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city police]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[possession of marijuana]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray kelly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[young men's initiative]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10158</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[With little fanfare, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has issued an &#8220;operation order&#8221; that could dramatically reduce the number of marijuana arrests in the city. The order, which appears on WNYC&#8217;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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>With little fanfare, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly has issued an &#8220;operation order&#8221; that could dramatically reduce the number of marijuana arrests in the city. The order, which appears on <a href="http://www.wnyc.org/articles/wnyc-news/2011/sep/23/police-commissioner-calls-nypd-stop-improper-marijuana-arrests/">WNYC&#8217;s web site</a>, says people can be charged with criminal possession of marijuana if they display the drug of their own volition.</p>
<p>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 &#8212; less than 25 grams &#8212; 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 href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/health/20110329/9/3500">a rehab program</a> they may not need.</p>
<p>This order would seem to end, or at least curtail, that. &#8220;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,&#8221; the order states.</p>
<p>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.<br />
<span id="more-10158"></span></p>
<p>According to an <a href='' http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2011/02/2010-nyc-marijuana-arrest-numbers-released-50383-new-yorkers-arrested-possessing-small-">analysis of city figures</a> by the Drug Policy Alliance, the police department arrested 50,383 people for low-level marijuana offense in 2010 – or 140 a day. This represented a 69 percent increase from 2005.</p>
<p>&#8220;Bloomberg&#8217;s police have arrested more people for marijuana than Mayors Koch, Dinkins, and Giuliani combined,&#8221; Harry Levine, an expert on marijuana arrests who teaches at Queens College, said at the time.</p>
<p>Even though most studies show that whites are more likely to use marijuana than blacks or Latinos, blacks and Latino in poor neighborhood reportedly accounted for 85 percent of marijuana arrests in the city.</p>
<p>In 2008, in a rare statement on the policy, police department spokesman Paul Browne disputed the figures and defended the arrests. &#8220;The attention to marijuana and lower level crime in general has helped drive crime down,&#8221; he <a href=" http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/a-little-stop-and-frisk-may-turn-up-a-little-pot/#more-2698">told</a> the Times. (The police department <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/civilrights/20080606/3/2550">refused</a> at around the same time to provide further details to Gotham Gazette&#8217;s Andy Humm.)</p>
<p>Criticism of the city policy has increased recently, with many charging it wastes million of money and criminalizes tens of thousands of young people for behavior that Mayor Michael Bloomberg himself has <a href=" http://www.infoimagination.org/ps/drug_war/articles/honest_politician.html">said</a> he indulged in &#8212; and enjoyed. </p>
<p>A <a href=" http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&#038;bn=A07620&#038;term=2011&#038;Summary=Y&#038;Actions=Y&#038;Votes=Y">bill</a> has been introduced in the state legislature to decriminalize the display of small amount of marijuana, and City Council members have introduced a resolution in support of that. </p>
<p>When the mayor announced his <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&#038;catID=1194&#038;doc_name=http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2011b/pr282-11.html&#038;cc=unused1978&#038;rc=1194&#038;ndi=1">Young Men&#8217;s Initiative</a> this summer, many critics noted the actions of his police department seemed at sharp variance with any efforts to help young black and Latino males. &#8220;Mayor Bloomberg declared his support for young black and Latino men to the tune of $30 million, but how supportive is he when he spends $75 million to arrest them under this policy?&#8221; City Councilmember Jumaane Williams said in a <a href=" http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2011/08/city-council-members-community-groups-call-end-nycs-racially-biased-costly-marijuana-ar">statement</a> last month.</p>
<p>This is the second policy change that could be attributed to the initiative. Last month, Bloomberg issued an executive order that bars city agencies from asking job seekers in their initial application or interview whether they have an arrest record. (For more on that, read <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/comm/20110926/212/3610">City Shuts the Box to Open Job Opportunities</a>.)</p>
<p>On Friday, Williams issued a statement in support of Kelly&#8217;s order. &#8220;Commissioner Kelly deserves praise and appreciation for directing NYPD officers to enforce the laws on the books regarding marijuana possession,&#8221; it said in part &#8220;It took leadership to break this disturbing trend of illegal arrests, and I am grateful that he has stepped up to show it.&#8221;</p>
<p>Tomorrow, Assemblymember Hakeem Jeffries, a sponsor of the state bill, along with Williams, City Councilmember Melissa Mark-Viverito and advocates plan to gather at One Police Plaza at 1:30 pm. to celebrate Kelly&#8217;s and push for changes in the law.</p>
<p>The mayor still has not addressed the overall issue of police stop and frisks.  In the first six months of this year, police conducted 362,150 stops, a 13.5 percent jump from the same period in 2010, according to <a href=" http://www.wnyc.org/blogs/wnyc-news-blog/2011/aug/31/stop-and-frisks-reach-highest-six-month-total/">numbers</a> released in August. Ninety percent of those stopped were not charged with a crime or even issued a ticket; 84 percent were black or Latino.</p>
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		<title>Council and the Court</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/13/council-and-the-court/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/13/council-and-the-court/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 14 Sep 2011 03:55:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10092</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>That, though, may well have paled in voters&#8217; eyes when compared with Jennings&#8217; 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.</p>
<p>In the two court contests yesterday &#8212; both for Civil Court &#8212; 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.</p>
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		<title>Beer with Bloomberg</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/08/beer-with-bloomberg/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/08/beer-with-bloomberg/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 08 Sep 2011 20:52:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[beer summit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[daniel dromm]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jumaane Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[kirsten john  foy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[lew fidler]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city police department]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ray kelly]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stop and frisk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[west indian day parade]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10063</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[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 &#8212; or as President Barack Obama&#8217;s often ridiculed beer summit [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>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 <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/05/2011-09-05_councilman_jumaane_williams_arrested_after_altercation_with_nypd_at_west_indian_.html">detained</a> by police on Monday seems to have generated as much enthusiasm as a flat, warm mug of Keystone &#8212; or as President Barack Obama&#8217;s often ridiculed <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/30/beer-summit-begins-obama-_n_248254.html">beer summit</a> with Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates and a Cambridge, Mass., police officer</p>
<p>On Wednesday, Bloomberg described the police stopping and handcuffing of the councilmember, <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/45">Juamaane Williams</a>, and Kirsten  John Foy, an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, as probably &#8220;just a misunderstanding.&#8221; And he <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/09/07/2011-09-07_mayor_bloomberg_suggests_nypd_councilman_jumaane_williams_can_smooth_over_arrest.html#ixzz1XOW06KS0">told</a> reporters, &#8220;Hopefully every once in a while if there&#8217;s a misunderstanding, you have a beer together and work it out.&#8221;</p>
<p>Williams apparently does not drink beer. But the council member and Foy have more substantive problems with the mayor&#8217;s invite. While saying they appreciated the gesture, &#8220;this is bigger than the three of us over a beer,&#8221; the two men said in a statement. Instead they suggested a meeting with Bloomberg and police commissioner Ray Kelly &#8220;where young African American and Latino New Yorkers can talk openly and directly about their experiences with stop and frisk and other police interactions.&#8221;</p>
<p>Reactions from other City Council members after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10063"></span></p>
<p>Since the incident following the West Indian Day Parade, Williams and Foy, both of whom are black, as well as a number of other elected officials have said the incident <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/06/jumaane-williams-and-the-police/">reflected discriminatory police policies</a> toward black and Latino young men, notably frequent stop and frisks.</p>
<p>Before the City Council meeting today, Williams said Bloomberg had not responded to his offer. At the meeting, a number of Williams&#8217; colleagues stood up to declare support for him and Foy and to question police procedures. Some even took issue with the idea of a beer.</p>
<p>&#8220;I&#8217;m particularly offended by the mayor&#8217;s words that this could be settled over a beer,&#8221; said Councilmember <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/25">Daniel Dromm</a> of Queens. &#8220;This is not something to have a beer over. We need a policy change in the police department.&#8221;</p>
<p>Calling the police conduct &#8220;disgusting,&#8221; Councilmember <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/46">Lew Fidler</a> (who it should be noted is white as well as older and heavier than either Williams or Foy) said, &#8220;If Jumaane Williams had the misfortune of looking like me &#8230; he would not have ended up on the ground being handcuffed.&#8221; He added that the mayor and Kelly needed to stick to their promise to investigate the incident and said the officers involved should face disciplinary measures.</p>
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