<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>The Wonkster &#187; Crime &amp; Safety</title>
	<atom:link href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/category/crime/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<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>
	<lastBuildDate>Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:30:42 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2</generator>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
			<item>
		<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>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2012/01/27/williams-criticizes-bloombergs-defense-of-browne/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Citizens Union Pushes for Redistricting Reform</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/21/citizens-union-pushes-for-redistricting-reform/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/21/citizens-union-pushes-for-redistricting-reform/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 21 Nov 2011 20:17:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[William Boyland]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10341</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Citizens Union has issued a report detailing how it sees the current redistricting process as having undermined democracy in New York state. (Gotham Gazette is published by Citizens Union&#8217;s sister organization, Citizens Unions Foundation.) The report offers evidence that the current redistricting system has provided a safety net for incumbents &#8212; 96 percent of incumbents [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Citizens Union has issued <a href="http://www.citizensunion.org/www/cu/site/hosting/Reports/CU_ReshapingNewYork_November2011.pdf">a report</a> detailing how it sees the current redistricting process as having undermined democracy in New York state. (Gotham Gazette is published by Citizens Union&#8217;s sister organization, Citizens Unions Foundation.) The report offers evidence that the current redistricting system has provided a safety net for incumbents &#8212; 96 percent of incumbents have been re-elected since 2002. The report&#8217;s <a href="http://www.citizensunion.org/www/cu/site/hosting/Reports/CU_ReshapingNewYork_ExecutiveSummary2011.pdf">executive summary</a> calls for legislators to return to Albany for a special session to enact independent redistricting, so lines would be  redrawn district lines without partisan influence.</p>
<p>&#8220;The state legislature needs to return to Albany in a special session to pass legislation which ends the political manipulation for partisan advantage of the drawing of district lines and establishes an independent redistricting commission to draw lines before the 2012 elections. The politically balanced and impartial commission would use fair and sensible criteria and be guided by clear guidelines in drawing the maps to ensure the process serves all New Yorkers and their communities rather than preserves the Albany status quo,&#8221; reads the executive summary.</p>
<p>But not all good government groups think there is time for legislative action. Common Cause split from Citizens Union and the ReShape NY campaign to <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/albany/20110928/204/3612">propose a compromise</a>. Meanwhile, it is<a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/26/not-all-advocates-panicking-over-cuomos-veto-comments/"> unclear</a> whether Gov. Andrew Cuomo actually wants to make good on a his threat to veto any lines drawn by the legislature. It seems <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2011/09/3548797/making-light-reform-cuomo-promised-end-partisan-redistricting-now-th">negotiations</a> have been taking place between Cuomo&#8217;s office, the legislature and good government groups that would avoid a veto all together. It is unclear what kind of compromises that sort of deal would hinge on.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/11/21/citizens-union-pushes-for-redistricting-reform/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tent Pressure</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/25/tent-pressure/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/25/tent-pressure/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:17:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parks]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10230</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It is getting cold out there and the protesters at Occupy Wall Street are starting to notice. So, Bill Lipton of the Working Families Party sent out an e-mail to supporters this morning asking them to put pressure on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to allow tents  in Zuccotti Park.
&#8220;It was only two weeks ago when cleaning [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>It is getting cold out there and the protesters at Occupy Wall Street are starting to notice. So, Bill Lipton of the Working Families Party sent out an e-mail to supporters this morning asking them to put pressure on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to allow tents  in Zuccotti Park.</p>
<p>&#8220;It was only two weeks ago when cleaning crews threatened to remove the  protesters from the park. We stood together, made phone calls, picked up  brooms and mops, and turned out by the thousands before dawn on a  Friday morning,&#8221; writes Lipton.  &#8220;And we won. We can do it again, if we stand together. If you can&#8217;t come  down to the park to help pitch a tent, pitch in by signing our emergency  petition to Mayor Bloomberg. Tell Mayor Bloomberg to protect free speech and allow the protesters at Zuccotti park to build tents.&#8221;</p>
<p>Here is the full appeal</p>
<p>Dear friend,</p>
<p>As winter approaches, tarps and sleeping bags won&#8217;t be enough.</p>
<p>Help make sure cold weather doesn&#8217;t end the Occupy Wall Street protest.</p>
<p>It got pretty chilly this weekend. Next week will surely be cooler.</p>
<p>The protest – which has focused the eyes of the world on corporate greed and economic inequality – is free speech in action. But without shelter, the protesters occupying Wall Street down at Zuccotti Park could be frozen out and forced to an early end.</p>
<p>Occupy protests from Boston to Philadelphia to Seattle have been allowed to put up tents to provide shelter and warmth. But down at Wall Street, tents are against the rules. Even the protest&#8217;s medical tent was nearly removed before the activists&#8217; impassioned defense saved it.</p>
<p>Tell Mayor Bloomberg: Let the protesters stay &#8212; let them set up tents.</p>
<p>After you sign, please forward this email or share on Facebook to spread the message far and wide. The world is watching.</p>
<p>The protest movement that has sprung up over the past month is giving voice to millions of Americans who feel left out or left behind. It&#8217;s focusing the political debate across the nation on the corporate greed and economic inequality we so desperately need to address.</p>
<p>The coming winter isn&#8217;t the only threat the protest is facing. New York&#8217;s real estate and developer lobbyists are pushing hard for new rules that would allow them to shut down Zuccotti Park every night and impose a curfew.</p>
<p>Mayor Bloomberg doesn&#8217;t have to love the Occupy Wall Street movement&#8217;s message. But he has a duty to protect and uphold the First Amendment rights of the protesters to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard.</p>
<p>The heart and soul of the First Amendment is protecting protest movements like Occupy Wall Street – not assuring unlimited corporate spending on elections.</p>
<p>It was only two weeks ago when cleaning crews threatened to remove the protesters from the park. We stood together, made phone calls, picked up brooms and mops, and turned out by the thousands before dawn on a Friday morning.</p>
<p>And we won. We can do it again, if we stand together. If you can&#8217;t come down to the park to help pitch a tent, pitch in by signing our emergency petition to Mayor Bloomberg.</p>
<p>Tell Mayor Bloomberg to protect free speech and allow the protesters at Zuccotti park to build tents:</p>
<p>http://action.workingfamiliesparty.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4853</p>
<p>Thanks for spreading the word,</p>
<p>Bill Lipton<br />
Deputy Director, WFP</p>
<p>PS. For information on how to donate donate winter coats, sleeping bags, or other supplies, reply to this email.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/25/tent-pressure/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Soares on Occupy Albany</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/24/soares-on-occupy-albany/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/24/soares-on-occupy-albany/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:11:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[David Soares]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jerry Jennings]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Occupy Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Occupy Wall Street]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10219</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[&#8220;For some people who aren’t familiar with Albany this may seem like some big event,&#8221; said Albany County District Attorney David Soares referring to &#8220;Occupy Albany.&#8221;
&#8220;For me, driving by the Capitol and seeing the protests&#8211;this is just a Monday&#8211; you have protests here all the time. We have people exercising their first amendment rights peacefully. [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>&#8220;For some people who aren’t familiar with Albany this may seem like some big event,&#8221; said Albany County District Attorney David Soares referring to &#8220;Occupy Albany.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;For me, driving by the Capitol and seeing the protests&#8211;this is just a Monday&#8211; you have protests here all the time. We have people exercising their first amendment rights peacefully. It has been our position not to prosecute them if they are arrested and this time we put it out there that this was our position beforehand,&#8221; Soares said responding to <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/24/is-cuomo-overreacting-to-occupy-albany/">reports</a> that his reluctance to prosecute Occupy Albany Protesters stopped the Albany Police Department from bending to pressure from Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings to arrest protesters for violating a curfew.</p>
<p>&#8220;Sure there are some people that come from out of town who want to break things or attack law enforcement as acts of civil disobedience, to get on television but these are not those people,&#8221; said Soares.</p>
<p>&#8220;The backdrop to this is that on Friday we had three kids shot and you are going to try and tell Chief Krokoff to take his officers off those cases to arrest people who are playing the guitar and eating cider donuts?&#8221;</p>
<p>Two fifteen-year-olds and a twenty year old <a href="http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Three-shot-in-Albany-s-West-Hill-2231165.php">were shot</a> in Albany&#8217;s West Hill neighborhood on Friday. Soares says that Albany County does not have the resources to arrest and prosecute people involved in peaceful protest.</p>
<p>Soares says he has had &#8220;open lines of communications&#8221; with the protest organizers and the police department since before the protests started. He says he has checked in with them about concerns he had about providing proper provisions for the children and elderly present at the protest and that he and the APD continue to monitor the situation. But he says he has not hasn&#8217;t been pressured by any official to make arrests.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/24/soares-on-occupy-albany/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/10/21/former-bloomberg-aide-found-guilty-of-larceny/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Questioning Police Power</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/30/questioning-police-power/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/30/questioning-police-power/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:52:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10181</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Following a meeting with leaders of city civil rights groups and other organizations, City Councilmember Jumaane Williams and Kirsten John Foy, an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, are still awaiting a public apology for their detention and handcuffing by police following the West Indian Day Parade earlier this month.
And Mayor Michael Bloomberg has [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Following a meeting with leaders of city civil rights groups and other organizations, City Councilmember Jumaane Williams and Kirsten John Foy, an aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, are still awaiting a public apology for their <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">detention and handcuffing</a> by police following the West Indian Day Parade earlier this month.</p>
<p>And Mayor Michael Bloomberg has apparently not responded to their proposal that he and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly meet with Williams, Foy and young black and Latino New Yorkers that have been affected by what Williams, Foy and may others see as <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/06/jumaane-williams-and-the-police/">unfair and discriminatory police tactics</a>. Instead Bloomberg, calling the police action a &#8220;misunderstanding,&#8221; had <a href=" http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/councilman-williams-passes-on-bloombergs-beer-summit">suggested</a> he and Williams sit down over a beer &#8220;and work it out.&#8221;</p>
<p>Williams and Foy have repeatedly said their arrest highlights the effects of police policies &#8212; most notably stops and frisks &#8212; widely used against young black and Latino men in the city. In their statement issued last night, the two said they plan to hold town-hall style meetings in all five boroughs where others stopped by police can tell their stories. And they want the city Department of Education to &#8220;mandate &#8216;Know Your Rights&#8217; training in middle and high schools.&#8221;</p>
<p>The statement comes as police are under scrutiny for other alleged abuses of power &#8212; police <a href=" http://www.lawofficer.com/article/news/ap-nypd-developed-detailed-mus">surveillance of Muslim New Yorkers</a>, unwarranted <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/26/a-change-on-marijuana-arrests/">marijuana arrests</a>, and the <a href=" http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-09-24/news/30219815_1_pepper-spray-protesters-unarmed-man">pepper spraying</a> of Wall Street demonstrators last weekend. Police have reportedly begun probing the latter <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204138204576599223685769818.html?mod=googlenews_wsj"> incident</a>, which has been viewed by hundreds of thousands, if not millions on YouTube.</p>
<p>All of these occurrences come after years that saw a massive expansion of police powers in the city, as Jim Dwyer <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/30/nyregion/a-harsh-view-of-police-power-in-pepper-spray-episode.html">writes</a> in today&#8217;s Times. The department, Dwyer says, &#8220;has done so in a bubble of isolation from ordinary democratic processes. It exists in a world apart. &#8221;</p>
<p>In their statement, Williams and Foy expressed hope this might be change. &#8220;We are all excited that our communities are focused and working together,&#8221; they said. &#8220;This is a fight for civil rights, and we are hopeful that civil rights will ultimately prevail.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/30/questioning-police-power/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/29/bloombergs-technology-pit/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/26/a-change-on-marijuana-arrests/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<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>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/08/beer-with-bloomberg/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Jumaane Williams and the Police</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/06/jumaane-williams-and-the-police/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/06/jumaane-williams-and-the-police/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 06 Sep 2011 17:38:26 +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[chirstine quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[civil liberties]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[John Liu]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jumaane Williams]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[letitita james]]></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>
		<category><![CDATA[yvette clarke]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10043</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Anger and dismay over the police handcuffing of a City Council member and a top political aide following yesterday&#8217;s West Indian Day parade in Brooklyn today morphed into a call for changes in police stop and frisk polices and other procedures that target young black and Latino men.
At a crowded press conference on the City [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Anger and dismay over the police <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">handcuffing</a> of a City Council member and a top political aide following yesterday&#8217;s West Indian Day parade in Brooklyn today morphed into a call for changes in police stop and frisk polices and other procedures that target young black and Latino men.</p>
<p>At a crowded press conference on the City Hall steps the council member, <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/45">Jumaane Williams</a> of East Flatbush, and the aide to Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Kristen John Foy, described their being stopped, handcuffed and briefly taken into custody as they tried to go to the Brooklyn museum yesterday afternoon.</p>
<p>By all accounts, the two men were attempting to enter a restricted – or frozen zone – after the parade. Both had identification and Williams was wearing a lapel pin indicating his membership on the City Council. They reached two checkpoints and the officers at them &#8212; probably senior, given that they were wearing white shirts –- allowed them to go through. But, Williams said, police stopped them at a third checkpoint, despite their credential.</p>
<p>&#8220;I was actually handcuffed while on then phone with the chief of police telling him what was going on,&#8221; Williams recounted. </p>
<p>Both were taken across the street to a synagogue where they were held for about 30 minutes until police established their identities and let them go. Neither man was charged with any wrongdoing.</p>
<p>Police have maintained that during the incident, someone punched a police officer, an account Williams vehemently disputed.</p>
<p>&#8220;I defy the NYPD to find one shred of evidence of any police officer being punched in the face,&#8221; he said, adding that report was &#8220;a bald-faced lie.&#8221;</p>
<p>While not criticizing overall police policies, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn echoed Williams on his conduct. &#8220;There is nothing, nothing, to indicate the Council member or Mr. Foy did anything wrong, &#8221; she said.</p>
<p>Foy said he was shoved down and cuffed because &#8220;in retreat, they [police] decided I wasn&#8217;t moving fast enough, in retreat, I wasn&#8217;t complying enough.&#8221; The reports of the punch, Foy said, showed the police &#8220;making up a story to cover themselves.&#8221;</p>
<p>The police department has said it is investigating the incident, and, according to Williams, Mayor Michael Bloomberg apologized for it.</p>
<p>Putting this incident in a larger context &#8212; after the jump<br />
<span id="more-10043"></span></p>
<p>During the press conference, an impressive array of city politicians, ministers and rabbis crowed at the top of the steps in an effort to stay dry. They condemned the arrests and praised Williams and Foy for their restrained reaction to what could easily be seen as police provocation. Few left any doubt that they believed Williams and Foy would not have been stopped and detained if they had been white,</p>
<p>&#8220;If I did not look the way I do &#8212; young, block, with locks and an earring,&#8221; Williams said, he has not doubt this would not have happened. Recently, Williams added, he was stopped by police while driving a new vehicle with temporary tags in South Brooklyn by an officer &#8220;who wanted to make sure it was my car.&#8221;</p>
<p>And most put it in the larger context of the stop and frisk and marijuana arrests that overwhelmingly affect black and Latino men. And, that Foy said, &#8220;terrorize our communities.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I commend the police commissioner [Ray Kelly] for his leadership on many issues. He has kept us safe,&#8221; Foy said, but he added, &#8220;That leadership has not trickled down to the ranks and file leadership.&#8221;</p>
<p>While saying Kelly had done a good job in many areas, Williams said, &#8220;He&#8217;s been horrendous when it come to stop and frisk. He&#8217;s been horrendous when it comes to these black and Latino issues.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;Each and every day, we&#8217;re hearing more and more about the violation of civil liberties in this town,&#8221; said U.S. Rep <a href=" http://clarke.house.gov/">Yvette Clarke</a> of Brooklyn. &#8220;We are quickly moving to an apartheid situation in the City of New York.&#8221;</p>
<p>Many speakers at the conference called for a change in the stop and frisk policies. &#8220;The has to create change in the police procedures in the City of New York,&#8221; said City Comptroller <a href=" http://www.comptroller.nyc.gov/">John  Liu</a>, &#8220;including a relaxation of stop and frisk policy.&#8221;</p>
<p>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/">statistics released last month</a>. Ninety percent of those stopped were not charged with a crime or even issued a ticket; 84 percent were black or Latino.</p>
<p>Last month a federal judge <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/AP4df248f7ac484b829bbb7a363aba5a30.html"> refused to dismiss</a> a lawsuit alleging that, among other things, the stop and frisk policy discriminates against blacks and Latinos.</p>
<p>The arrest of Williams and Foy occurred on a Labor Day weekend when some 48 people <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2011/09/05/2011-09-05_nine_people_shot_in_12_hours_in_brooklyn_on_the_heels_of_shocking_24hour_weekend.html"><br />
were shot</a> in the city. Many speakers linked the rising violence and the police stops together.</p>
<p>Discussing the spate of gun violence – some of it in her district, City Councilmember <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/35">Letitia James</a> said, &#8220;There is a crisis in the city of New York that needs to be addressed but not at the expense of our civil rights.&#8221; </p>
<p>De Blasio and others said the stopping of black and Latino men who have not committed crimes hampers efforts to end crime. &#8220;We can&#8217;t stop violence, if there is animosity between police and the community,&#8221; he said.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/06/jumaane-williams-and-the-police/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>A Precedent for the Mayor</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/02/a-precedent-for-the-mayor/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/02/a-precedent-for-the-mayor/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:52:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[domestic violence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[edwin mendez-santiago]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michale bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city department for the aging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sexual harassment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stephen goldsmith]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Susan Lerner]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10035</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As Mayor Michael Bloomberg reportedly dodges venues where he might face questions abut his handling of the resignation of former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, Bloomberg might be wondering how he might have done things differently. Well, given the mayor&#8217;s reluctance to doubt himself, maybe not. 
But if he does have second thoughts, he might want [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As Mayor Michael Bloomberg reportedly <a href=" http://bit.ly/oq0krS">dodges venues</a> where he might face questions abut his handling of the resignation of former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, Bloomberg might be wondering how he might have done things differently. Well, given the mayor&#8217;s reluctance to doubt himself, maybe not. </p>
<p>But if he does have second thoughts, he might want to consider his own handling of a previous problematic resignation.</p>
<p>In 2008, the city&#8217;s then commissioner for the aging Edwin Mendez-Santiago, abruptly <a href=:"http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/13/nyregion/13resign.htmlannounced"> resigned</a>. His departure came amid a heated debated over <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article//20080908/202/2641">plans to revamp</a> the city&#8217;s services for the elderly, and some wondered if that explained his sudden resignation. </p>
<p>But it soon emerged that, like Goldsmith, Santiago-Mendez had left under a cloud. About a week later, Mendez-Santiago&#8217;s former secretary <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/21/nyregion/21resign.html">filed suit</a> against him, charging the former commissioner with sexual harassment and discrimination. </p>
<p>While the mayor and his staff did not address this explicitly in announcing Mendez-Santiago&#8217;s departure, they also did not say anything that was out and out deceptive. Mayoral spokesman Stu Loeser told reporters only that Mendez-Santiago was leaving for personal reasons.</p>
<p>In his release, Bloomberg thanked Mendez-Santiago for his services, said he had served the city&#8217;s older resident well and gave no explanation for the departure. </p>
<p>Later he showed a bit of the <a href=" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/nyregion/bloomberg-hid-reason-for-goldsmiths-resignation-domestic-violence-arrest.html?_r=2&#038;ref=nyregion">legendary Bloomberg loyalty</a>, but still did not seem to stray from the truth: Mendez-Santiago &#8220;left for totally personal reasons, and it had nothing to do with any policy whatsoever of the Department for the Aging,&#8221; Bloomberg said days later when he announced Mendez-Santiago&#8217;s successor. “Never even came up. He did a good job. I’m sorry he chose for personal reasons to resign.”</p>
<p>Now contrast that with the comments on Goldsmith, who it now turns out <a href=" http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wife_abuse_bust_did_in_mike_aide_9IfyxauLAg8MokAaLDd5VN">resigned after he was arrested</a> in the District of Columbia on a domestic violence complaint.<br />
<span id="more-10035"></span></p>
<p>The first paragraph of the <a href=" http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&#038;catID=1194&#038;doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2011b%2Fpr284-11.html&#038;cc=unused1978&#038;rc=1194&#038;ndi=1">resignation announcement</a> said Goldsmith was &#8220;leaving to pursue private-sector opportunities in infrastructure finance.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Mendez-Santiago was not quoted in the release announcing that he was going, Goldsmith rattled on a bit in his, full of plans for the future. &#8220;The change will provide me, at age 64, with more flexibility for me and my family and a secure foundation for our future. In addition, I intend to continue my academic work and the school year is about to start,&#8221; Goldsmith said.</p>
<p>The release also regaled readers with what City Hall said were Goldsmith&#8217;s considerable accomplishments in his  scant14 months on the job. It did not mentioned the <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20110110/203/3448">December 2010 blizzard</a> that many initially thought had been the deputy mayor&#8217;s downfall.</p>
<p>Certainly, Goldsmith was a much higher profile member of the administration than Mendez-Santiago and so people might have been more reluctant to accept the  vague explanation accorded the aging commissioner&#8217;s resignation. And while Goldsmith and his wife deny any wrongdoing, the city settled the sexual harassment suit against Mendez-Santiago, paying the secretary $225,000.</p>
<p>But with even allies such as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn demanding the mayor come clean, Bloomberg may now wish he had done what he did two and a half years ago.</p>
<p>Susan Lerner of Common Cause put it this way: “I don’t think you need to necessarily say what happened,” she <a href=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/02/nyregion/bloomberg-hid-reason-for-goldsmiths-resignation-domestic-violence-arrest.html?pagewanted=2&#038;_r=2&#038;ref=nyregion>told</a> the Times. However, she added, &#8220;It&#8217;s never, to us, a good idea to misrepresent to the public, even with the motives of trying to prevent a trial by the media.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/02/a-precedent-for-the-mayor/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Goldsmith Fallout</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/01/the-goldsmith-fallout/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/01/the-goldsmith-fallout/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:16:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill de Blasio]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deputy mayor]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[dmestic violence]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[michael bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[scott stringer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[stephen goldsmith]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=10027</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s handling of the hurricane/tropical storm last week gave him a respite from the media criticism that has plagued much of his third term.
That probably came to an abrupt end this morning when the New York Post reported that Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith suddenly resigned last month not because he saw tempting opportunities [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s handling of the hurricane/tropical storm last week gave him a respite from the media criticism that has plagued much of his third term.</p>
<p>That probably came to an abrupt end this morning when the New York Post <a href=" http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/wife_abuse_bust_did_in_mike_aide_9IfyxauLAg8MokAaLDd5VN">reported</a> that Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith suddenly <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/04/goldsmith-goes/">resigned</a> last month not because he saw tempting opportunities in the private sector  and not because of his <a href=" http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20110110/203/3448">botched handling</a> of the last big storm – you remember, the blizzard – but because he spent two nights in a Washington, D.C. jail arising from a domestic violence complaint.</p>
<p>The Bloomberg administration knew the former mayor of Indianapolis, darling of the privatization crowd and high-level city official had spent time in jail. And, as the Wall Street Journal <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2011/09/01/stephen-goldsmith-arrest-former-deputy-mayor-arrested-for-domestic-violence-before-resignation/"> wrote</a> today, &#8220;Goldsmith’s arrest precipitated his sudden departure from City Hall.&#8221;  </p>
<p>Charges were dropped. In a statement released today, Goldsmith said he was innocent, and a statement by his wife seems to support that, calling the arrest &#8220;a big mistake.&#8221; (That may well be true, but it also is true that that many battered women later deny the violence ever took place.) Despite all that, Goldsmith said he  resigned so as &#8220;not to be a distraction to the mayor and his important agenda for the city.&#8221;<br />
At the press conference announcing Goldsmith&#8217;s departure, neither Bloomberg nor Goldsmith breathed a word about Goldsmith&#8217;s domestic travails. Instead Bloomberg praised his former right-hand man, saying, &#8220;As New Yorkers, we were extraordinarily lucky to have Steve Goldsmith make our city government more innovative and efficient.&#8221;  </p>
<p>The way Bloomberg handled Goldsmith&#8217;s departure is now coming under criticism. </p>
<p>Who and what they&#8217;re saying after the jump.<br />
<span id="more-10027"></span></p>
<p>Calling himself &#8220;deeply troubled&#8221; by the news, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer issued a statement saying, &#8220;The mayor and his staff should give a full accounting of what they knew and when they knew it.  &#8216;No comment&#8217; is not an acceptable response.  The deputy mayor for operations isn&#8217;t just another aide &#8212; the position is directly responsible for oversight of the NYPD and other law enforcement agencies that routinely confront the issue of domestic violence.&#8221;</p>
<p>Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, like Stringer a possible 2013 mayoral candidate, agreed. &#8220;While Deputy Mayor Goldsmith&#8217;s resignation was more than appropriate given the circumstances, New Yorkers deserve a full airing of the facts known to the administration,&#8221;  he <a href=http://origin.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/2011/09/domestic-violence-bust-not-blizzard-fail-blew-deputy-mayor-stephen-goldsmith-o>told </a>the Daily News</p>
<p>Whatever happened &#8212; and happens &#8211; the news seems likely to push Irene to the background at least among the political class and bring back talk of two bęte noires of Bloomberg&#8217;s third term: the blizzard and the rise and fall of two high-profile appointees: Goldsmith and schools Chancellor Cathleen Black</p>
<p>And what is it with domestic violence and New York pols these days?</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/09/01/the-goldsmith-fallout/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quinn and ICE</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/17/quinn-and-ice/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/17/quinn-and-ice/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 17 Aug 2011 17:12:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Demographics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Immigrants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Work and Labor]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9989</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Council Speaker Christine Quinn introduced legislation today that would prohibit New York City&#8217;s department of corrections from subsidizing the work of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Make the Road New York issued this statement supporting the move:
&#8220;The announcement by Speaker Quinn and Council Members Mark-Viverito and Daniel Dromm that the New York City Council will [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Council Speaker Christine Quinn introduced legislation today that would prohibit New York City&#8217;s department of corrections from subsidizing the work of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. Make the Road New York issued this statement supporting the move:</p>
<p>&#8220;The announcement by Speaker Quinn and Council Members Mark-Viverito and Daniel Dromm that the New York City Council will prohibit New York City&#8217;s Department of Corrections from subsidizing and supporting the deportation of thousands of non-criminal New Yorkers each year is fantastic news.</p>
<p>Every day New York City benefits from the energy, initiative and hard-work of immigrants. In a city where forty percent of all New Yorkers are immigrants, and for the City to do its job, New York City government must not burn bridges to immigrant communities. Today, New York City is taking a clear stand that it refuses to be in the business of tearing apart of immigrant families and subsidizing the deportation of non-criminal New Yorkers.&#8221;</p>
<p>Quinn&#8217;s legislation follows Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s decision to <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/albany/20110523/204/3531">pull out of the federal Secure Communities Program</a> and the US government&#8217;s insistence that New York legally must take part in the program. <span id="more-9989"></span></p>
<p>Make the Road New York released statements of support for Quinn&#8217;s legislation from a number of Democratic legislators:</p>
<p>&#8220;Speaker Quinn&#8217;s proposal will ensure that the focus is where it should be: On those the Obama administration has said it would focus on in Immigration Enforcement.&#8221; state Senator Jose R. Peralta. &#8220;I applaud Speaker Quinn and urge her City Council colleagues to pass this bill.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I applaud Speaker Quinn for her leadership on making the city of New York a safer city for immigrants who call it home. We cannot continue to have immigration officials in Riker&#8217;s and in our jails working with local law enforcement to identify and deport any and all immigrants detained there &#8212; even those who are found innocent of any crime. I applaud this effort to ensure that immigrant New Yorkers feel they are safe and that cooperating with local police is in everyone&#8217;s best interest to ensure the safety of our communities,&#8221; said State Senator Gustavo Rivera.</p>
<p>&#8220;I am happy that Speaker Quinn is taking action on this important issue &#8212; saving the City up to $50 million a year while also protecting immigrants with no prior criminal record from unfair, lengthy detention periods. This proposal is tough on crime too, making sure that cooperation does take place in other cases.&#8221; said Assemblyman Francisco Moya. &#8220;Those who are innocent will be treated fairly regardless of their immigration status, but this proposal also allows for the necessary cooperation between law enforcement agencies.&#8221;</p>
<p>Assemblywoman Grace Meng stated, &#8220;I commend Council Speaker Christine Quinn&#8217;s bill to create a detainer discretion policy. Speaker Quinn&#8217;s actions are a strong and confident indication that our great city will not stand for collaborations between agencies that target immigrant communities. In my district, one of the largest and most common issues that we have seen are families who are torn apart by immigration issues. I am fully committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in government to promote policies that actually make our communities more secure, not waste government resources in deporting immigrants. I also want to thank Make the Road NY for all its hard working in leading this campaign to withdraw ICE from Riker&#8217;s Island.&#8221;</p>
<p>&#8220;I applaud Make the Road for its dedication and tenacity in addressing this matter and congratulate them on achieving this important step in ensuring that New York residents are treated justly and fairly regardless of immigration status. I stand firmly with Make the Road and support their worthwhile mission,&#8221; said Assemblyman Matthew Titone.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/08/17/quinn-and-ice/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>3</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Indigent Defense Aid to Start Flowing to Counties</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/07/29/indigent-defense-aid-to-start-flowing-to-counties/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/07/29/indigent-defense-aid-to-start-flowing-to-counties/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:20:02 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bill Leahy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eric Schneiderman]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Lippman]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9925</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The State Office of Indigent Legal Services, which was created by the legislature last June, has taken one of the first steps to fulfill its role in overseeing and boosting the state&#8217;s indigent legal services.
The agency is charged with doling on $4.4 in aid to counties to help them bolster their public defender system. The [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The State Office of Indigent Legal Services, which was created by the legislature last June, has taken one of the first steps to fulfill its role in overseeing and boosting the state&#8217;s indigent legal services.</p>
<p>The agency is charged with doling on $4.4 in aid to counties to help them bolster their public defender system. The agency solicited proposals from counties on ways to streamline their legal aid work and the agency decided which ideas to fund. Now the ILS is set to start handing out the cash. William Leahy, director of the ILS tells me that the first 11 contracts have been sent out to counties across the state&#8211;once they are signed and returned the counties will receive their part of the $4.4 million.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Counties that should be expecting contracts soon are: Chenango, Delaware, Franklin, Herkimer, Livingston, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, Washington, Wyoming and Yates. Leahy said a steady flow of contracts to the rest of the state&#8217;s counties should begin in the next few weeks. <span id="more-9925"></span></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">The state&#8217;s indigent defense system has been under attack for quite some time for failing to provide sufficient legal services. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, Attorney General Eric Scheniderman and Gov. Andrew Cuomo have all stated they believe the system needs fixing. It is up to the Office of Indigent Legal Services and its board to come up with recommendations and solutions. The NYCLU also has a lawsuit pending against the state that charges the state failed to provide adequate legal services.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">Critics point out that the ILS has already had its budget slashed by the legislature and does not have enough funding to recommend and enact changes in a timely manner&#8211;meanwhile they say, justice is not being served.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">&#8220;If your a cynic you can look at it as a small step,&#8221; Leahy said of sending out the first contracts, &#8220;but we look at it as an important step forward.&#8221; Leahy said that when discussing indigent services with county officials he was repeatedly told, that it was the first time they had ever, &#8220;talked to anyone from the state about public defense and what they need.&#8221;</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Leahy admits that the optimal situation would be to have one state agency to govern the standards of indigent defense across the state, &#8220;so there is equal representation that doesn&#8217;t depend on an individual county&#8217;s resources.&#8221; He also admits that the economics may dictate that a system of that sort has to wait.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in">
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/07/29/indigent-defense-aid-to-start-flowing-to-counties/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cuomo Announces Prison Closings</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/30/cuomo-announces-prison-closings/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/30/cuomo-announces-prison-closings/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:40:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Andrew Cuomo prisons]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9824</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s office must want a four-day weekend as they have jumped ahead a day to dump all their potentially unpopular news into the media shark tank. First fracking&#8211;now Cuomo has released a list of prisons slated for closing across the state&#8211;including one prison in the Bronx and one on Staten Island.
Here is the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s office must want a four-day weekend as they have jumped ahead a day to dump all their potentially unpopular news into the media shark tank. First fracking&#8211;now Cuomo has released a list of prisons slated for closing across the state&#8211;including one prison in the Bronx and one on Staten Island.</p>
<p>Here is the list:</p>
<p>Buffalo Work Release (Erie   County), Camp Georgetown (Madison County), Summit Shock (Schoharie   County) and Fulton Work Release (Bronx County); and three male medium   security facilities: Arthur Kill (Richmond County), Mid-Orange (Orange   County) and Oneida (Oneida County).</p>
<p>According to the release: &#8220;<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Approximately 3,800 unneeded and   unused beds will be eliminated, saving taxpayers $72 million in 2011-12   and $112 million in 2012-13. The offenders in these facilities will be   moved to other prisons that have available space with no interruption.   No maximum security facilities will close under this plan&#8221;  <span id="more-9824"></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Here is the full release:<br />
</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><strong>GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCES CLOSURE OF SEVEN STATE PRISON FACILITIES</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><strong><em>Action fulfills Governor&#8217;s  pledge to make appropriate changes based on declining inmate population  and provides $184 million in savings to state taxpayers over next two  years</em></strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today  announced he will close seven New York state prisons, fulfilling his  pledge to consolidate the state&#8217;s correctional facilities based on a  declining inmate population and providing significant savings to New  York state taxpayers. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Communities affected by the  closures will be able to request economic development assistance from  the state, which includes money from a $50 million fund as well as  additional tax credits available to help end the reliance on prisons as a  major source of employment and economic sustainability. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The state&#8217;s closure plan includes  four male minimum security facilities: Buffalo Work Release (Erie  County), Camp Georgetown (Madison County), Summit Shock (Schoharie  County) and Fulton Work Release (Bronx County); and three male medium  security facilities: Arthur Kill (Richmond County), Mid-Orange (Orange  County) and Oneida (Oneida County). </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Approximately 3,800 unneeded and  unused beds will be eliminated, saving taxpayers $72 million in 2011-12  and $112 million in 2012-13. The offenders in these facilities will be  moved to other prisons that have available space with no interruption.  No maximum security facilities will close under this plan. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">&#8220;The state&#8217;s prison system has  been too inefficient and too costly with far more capacity than what is  needed to secure the state&#8217;s inmate population and ensure the public&#8217;s  safety,&#8221; Governor Cuomo said. &#8220;This plan is the result of very careful  and detailed analysis and deliberation. It succeeds in targeting  facilities for closure without compromising public safety and will save  taxpayers $184 million. We will work closely to ensure impacted areas  are given substantial state aid to help them create jobs and transform  their local economies. New York will continue to keep the highest  standard of public safety and maintain one of the safest correctional  systems in the country.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">&#8220;The plan for prison closures in  New York state reflects the state&#8217;s changing and declining inmate  population, while recognizing the benefit of programs that provide  alternatives to incarceration and supervised re-entry into society,&#8221;  DOCCS Commissioner Brian Fischer said. &#8220;By closing facilities, removing  excess capacity and focusing on the core programs that will continue to  rehabilitate offenders, DOCCS will provide the highest level of security  to protect the public with greater efficiency and cost effectiveness.&#8221;</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Since 1999, New York&#8217;s prison population has declined by 22 percent, from a high of 71,600 offenders</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">incarcerated 12 years ago to approximately 56,000 today. The continuing downward trend of the state&#8217;s prison population is</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">largely  attributed to the simultaneous drop in crime across the state. Over the  past ten years, the overall rate of crime in New York has declined by  25 percent and the number of major crimes (e.g., homicide; assault) has  declined by 23 percent.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">From 2001 to 2010, the number of  inmates housed at maximum security prisons declined by 2 percent (from  25,331 in 2001, to 24,822 in 2010), the number of inmates at medium  security prisons decreased by 19.5 percent (from 35,763 in 2001, to  28,795 in 2010) and the number at minimum security facilities dropped by  57.2 percent (from 6,301 in 2001, to 2,698 in 2010). </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Since the late 1980s, the State  Legislature enacted several laws that offer mostly non-violent offenders  early release as an incentive for good behavior and program  achievements, including the Shock Incarceration, Work Release,  Comprehensive Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment (CASAT), Willard  Drug Treatment Campus, Merit Time and Limited Credit Time Allowance  programs. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">The 1973 Rockefeller Drug Laws  have been reformed three times to allow many drug offenders to apply to  have their sentences reduced, to allow some to earn extra time off their</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">fixed</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">minimum  period of indeterminate sentences for good behavior and achievement of  milestones involving treatment, educational, training and work programs,  and, last year, to divert more new offenders into alternatives to  incarceration. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">These changes have already led to the early release of many</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><em> </em></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">offenders,  virtually all of them non-violent drug offenders, on average eight  months earlier than had the laws remain unchanged, resulting in the need  for fewer prison beds.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Earlier this year, Governor Cuomo  achieved the merger of the former Department of Correctional Services  and Division of Parole into the Department of Corrections and Community  Supervision (DOCCS). It is estimated that newly merged state agency will  save state taxpayers $17 million in the current 2011-12 fiscal year.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">###</span></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/30/cuomo-announces-prison-closings/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>It&#039;s  a Budget!</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/29/its-a-budget/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/29/its-a-budget/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Jun 2011 18:31:26 +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[Public Finance]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9815</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By a vote of 49 to 1, the City Council today approved a $66 billion budget for New York City for fiscal year 2012. The measure contains no teacher layoffs and does not shut any fire companies &#8212; but it does include layoffs for at least 1,000 other city workers and cutbacks in some popular [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>By a vote of 49 to 1, the City Council today approved a $66 billion budget for New York City for fiscal year 2012. The measure contains no teacher layoffs and does not shut any fire companies &#8212; but it does include layoffs for at least 1,000 other city workers and cutbacks in some popular programs, such as scholarship for student at the City University.</p>
<p>Despite that most council members clearly thought they had done a pretty good job.</p>
<p>This is, Speaker Christine Quinn said, &#8220;not a perfect budget. It would be impossible to have a perfect budget when the city and our tax revenues are still feeling the effects of the recession.&#8221;<br />
<span id="more-9815"></span><br />
But Quinn, Finance Committee chair Domenic Recchia and others applauded the council for reversing what they saw as some of the worst parts of Mayor Michael Bloomberg&#8217;s executive budget. &#8220;What we did in this budget was identify areas where the pain was too deep,&#8221; Quinn said.</p>
<p>In addition to avoiding the teacher layoffs and fire company closings, Recchia expressed satisfaction at putting back in some money for district attorneys, libraries and cultural institutions.</p>
<p>&#8220;We did all this,&#8221; he said, &#8220;without raising taxes, without going further into our trust fund and most of all we didn&#8217;t kick the can down the road.&#8221;</p>
<p>Amid the repeated thank yous and the hosannas for Quinn and Recchia, there were some dissents. Councilmember Charles Barron, who voted against the budget, said the teacher layoffs had always been a &#8220;red herring&#8221; put forth by a &#8220;bully mayor.&#8221; That strategy, he indicated paved the way for the council to accept reductions, such as such as the layoffs of workers and the cutting of the Vallone scholarship program. Urging his fellow members to vote no, Barron said, &#8220;&#8221;This budget should be a reflection of our morality and our principles.&#8221;</p>
<p>Explaining his yes vote, Jumaane Williams said he believed the council budget &#8220;is better than what we had.&#8221;,&#8221; but, he continued, &#8220;I don’t think it&#8217;s a celebratory budget.&#8221;</p>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum, several members, mostly Republicans but a Democrats or two as well, caste votes against some of the revenue measures in the package, such as increases in certain fees.</p>
<p>(Only 50 members voted on the budget because of Annabel Palma&#8217;s absence for medical reasons.)</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/29/its-a-budget/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Quinn, Recchia Offer More Budget Brainstorms</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/06/quinn-recchia-offer-more-budget-brainstorms/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/06/quinn-recchia-offer-more-budget-brainstorms/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Jun 2011 17:59:30 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Gail Robinson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[CityTime]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[closing fire companies]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[contract budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dennis Walcott]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[domenic recchia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city council]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city department of education]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[planyc2030]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Jackson]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[speaker quinn]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9629</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[The City Council leadership continues the drumbeat against the city&#8217;s burgeoning contract budget. In a release issued today, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Finance Committee Chair Domenic Recchia contend that cutting 5 percent of the contract budget in four areas &#8212; unspecific general contractual services, data process equipment and commuter consultants, legal services and other [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The City Council leadership continues the drumbeat against the city&#8217;s burgeoning contract budget. In a <a href="http://council.nyc.gov/html/releases/060611hearing.shtml">release issued today</a>, Council Speaker <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/city/district/3">Christine Quinn</a> and Finance Committee Chair <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/campaigns/whosrunning.php?searchterms=recchia&#038;submit=search">Domenic Recchia</a> contend that cutting 5 percent of the contract budget in four areas &#8212; unspecific general contractual services, data process equipment and commuter consultants, legal services and other professional services &#8212; would free up money to save all 20 fire companies <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/thousands-of-nyc-firefighters-supporters-protest-proposed-fire-company-closures/2011/06/03/AGTwUIIH_story.html">slated for the ax</a>.</p>
<p>The contract budget has surfaced as a key point of contention this year, fueled by scandals over <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/25/citytime-manager-fudges-timesheets/">CityTime</a> and various <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/13/more-scrutiny-for-education-contracts/">education department technology deals</a> &#8212; and by its sheer size. The contract budget has <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/omb/html/publications/publications.shtml">grown by more than 70 percent </a> since Mayor Michael Bloomberg took office and is slated to top $10.3 billion next fiscal year. (For more on the dispute over city contracts and consultants, see <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/searchlight/20110603/203/3537">Officials Call for Holding the Line on Contracts</a>.</p>
<p>Recchia and Quinn also target some particular programs, raising them as alternatives to some areas the mayor has called for cutting. Under the council, the city&#8217;s sustainability play &#8212; <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/04/21/a-less-controversial-planyc/">PlanNYC</a> would take a big hit &#8212; losing $4.4 million for a parks plan and$2.6 million for an air quality study. Other proposed savings of a million or more would defer or cut evaluation in the <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/finance/20110518/8/3529">Center for Economic Opportunity</a> ($2.2 million), reduce parking meter collection staff ($2.3 million), reduce the subsidy to the <a href="http://www.centralparknyc.org/">Central Park Conservancy</a> ($1 million); reduce the strategic planning group division ($1.1 million) and the research and policy unit ($1.1 million) in the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and eliminate the sanitation department&#8217;s public information budget ($2 million).<br />
<span id="more-9629"></span><br />
In their statement, the council members continue a theme often sounded during this spring&#8217;s budget negotiations: that the administration is not giving the council the information it needs to make decisions. &#8220;We do find it troubling that we have not received answers to the many questions we have posed regarding the specifics of nearly $2 billion in contract services,&#8221; Quinn and Recchia said.  &#8220;In a year in which we face the prospect of thousands of layoffs and dramatic reductions in services, we cannot allow such a large area of spending to escape the same rigorous review that we apply to all areas of city spending.&#8221;</p>
<p>At last week&#8217;s <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/finding-money-to-save-teachers/">hearing on the education budget</a>, Recchia and education committee chair <a href="http://www.centralparknyc.org/">Robert Jackson</a> made similar charges. </p>
<p>&#8220;If we cannot get the information we need to analyze information, you cannot expect us to pass a budget,&#8221; Jackson told schools chancellor Dennis Walcott at the hearing.</p>
<p>Earlier this year, the administration originally resisted releasing the names of firehouses it might close until it <a href=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576331831158507572.html?mod=googlenews_wsj>gave in to pressure</a> from City Council.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/06/quinn-recchia-offer-more-budget-brainstorms/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Morgenthau and Silver On Secure Communities</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/morgenthau-and-silver-on-secure-communities/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/morgenthau-and-silver-on-secure-communities/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jun 2011 23:46:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Civil Rights]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Immigrants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ICE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Robert Morgenthau]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secure communities]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Sheldon Silver]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9600</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has nothing but praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s  decision to suspend New York&#8217;s involvement in the Secure Communities program.
A number of law enforcement officials from across the state also have praised Cuomo for the move &#8212; along with a number of legislators and civil rights groups. The Gazette reported [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has nothing but praise for Gov. Andrew Cuomo&#8217;s  <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/cuomo-suspends-participation-in-secure-communities/">decision to suspend New York&#8217;s involvement in the Secure Communities program</a>.</p>
<p>A number of law enforcement officials from across the state also have praised Cuomo for the move &#8212; along with a number of legislators and civil rights groups. The Gazette <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/albany/20110523/204/3531">reported last week</a> that Cuomo was considering withdrawing from the program and was likely to make a decision soon.</p>
<p>&#8220;I have long been concerned about the issues that arise when local police  indiscriminately share information with federal immigration  authorities. Specifically, cooperation with federal immigration  officials creates a lack of trust in law enforcement among the public.  This makes it hard for police and prosecutors to do their jobs because  immigrants become reluctant to report crimes or cooperate with  investigations,&#8221; said Morgenthau in a detailed statement. &#8220;That is why, during the 35 years I was district attorney  in Manhattan, my policy was to never share the names of individuals  involved with the criminal justice system to immigration authorities  until after they were convicted of a serious crime. &#8221;</p>
<p>Morgenthau&#8217;s full statement and comments from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.<br />
<span id="more-9600"></span></p>
<p>Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said, &#8220;I commend Governor Cuomo for suspending New York’s participation in the federal Secure Communities Program and thank the Assembly’s Puerto Rican/Hispanic Task Force for calling attention to this issue. The stated purpose of the program was to identify and remove illegal aliens convicted of serious crimes, however the vast majority of immigrants deported under the program to date have never been convicted of any crime.  There is also a concern that the program is having a chilling effect on the relationship between law enforcement and law abiding immigrants.&#8221;</p>
<p>Here is Morgenthau&#8217;s full statement thanks to Make the Road New York:</p>
<p>&#8220;I strongly support Governor Andrew M. Cuomo&#8217;s courageous decision to suspend New York&#8217;s participation in Secure Communities pending a review of the program. I have long been concerned about the issues that arise when local police indiscriminately share information with federal immigration authorities. Specifically, cooperation with federal immigration officials creates a lack of trust in law enforcement among the public. This makes it hard for police and prosecutors to do their jobs because immigrants become reluctant to report crimes or cooperate with investigations. That is why, during the 35 years I was district attorney in Manhattan, my policy was to never share the names of individuals involved with the criminal justice system to immigration authorities until after they were convicted of a serious crime. Programs like Secure Communities, which require automatic immigration database checks for people arrested by local police upon booking, magnify the problems I tried so hard to avoid.</p>
<p>About a year ago, I drafted an editorial in the Wall Street Journal calling for a more nuanced approach to the cooperation between local authorities and federal immigration officials. I am now encouraged that the Governor and other elected officials around the country share my concerns and are taking a critical look at overbroad state and local immigration enforcement cooperation programs like Secure Communities.</p>
<p>New York state law enforcement officials have no obligation to spend time and resources, and endangertheir critical mission of keeping our communities safe, to enforce federal immigration law. The Governor&#8217;s decision to suspend New York&#8217;s participation in the Secure Communities program is an important step toward separating the roles of local police and federal immigration authorities in the eyes of the public, and also protecting New Yorkers from suffering often cruel and unfair treatment in the federal immigration system.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/morgenthau-and-silver-on-secure-communities/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Make the Road Praises Cuomo</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/make-the-road-praises-cuomo/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/make-the-road-praises-cuomo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 01 Jun 2011 20:44:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>David King</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye on Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Immigrants]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[andrew cuomo]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ICE]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Make the Road New York]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[secure communities]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9591</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Make the Road New York has released a statement congratulating Gov. Andrew Cuomo from suspending New York&#8217;s participation in the Secure Communities program:
&#8220;We applaud Governor Cuomo for his courageous leadership to protect all  New Yorkers from the consequences of a misguided immigration enforcement  strategy. Secure Communities erodes trust between local government and  [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Make the Road New York has released a statement congratulating Gov. Andrew Cuomo from suspending New York&#8217;s participation in the Secure Communities program:</p>
<p>&#8220;We applaud Governor Cuomo for his courageous leadership to protect all  New Yorkers from the consequences of a misguided immigration enforcement  strategy. Secure Communities erodes trust between local government and  immigrant communities because community members perceive that local  police are funneling immigrants into a broken immigration system.  Immigrants, then, are less likely to report crimes, to seek needed  services or to serve as witnesses,&#8221; said Javier H. Valdés, Deputy  Director of Make the Road New York. &#8220;We look forward to continuing to  work with the Governor to protect and improve the immigrant community&#8217;s  relationship with local law enforcement in order to create a stronger  and safer New York.&#8221;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/06/01/make-the-road-praises-cuomo/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Bloomberg Releases Budget, Slashes Teachers</title>
		<link>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/06/bloomberg-releases-budget-slashes-teachers/</link>
		<comments>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/06/bloomberg-releases-budget-slashes-teachers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 May 2011 18:13:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Courtney Gross</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Albany]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[City Hall]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Crime & Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Economy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electoral Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eye Opener]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Gotham City]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Governing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Housing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Law]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Measuring UP]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Parks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Public Finance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[nextNY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[budget]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[childcare cuts]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Council Speaker Christine Quinn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[deficit]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[domenic recchia]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fiscal crisis]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fiscal year 2012]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mayor Michael Bloomberg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[new york city]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steve levin]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/?p=9462</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[As expected, Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a $65.7 billion budget this morning, which slashes 6,166 teaching positions, would close 20 fire companies and shutter four swimming pools this summer. 
Bloomberg deflected all of the blame for the fiscal pain. Instead, he pointed towards Albany and Washington.
&#8220;Both places are keeping our tax dollars to close their [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>As <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/05/more-budget-cuts-more-budget-blame/">expected</a>, Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/omb/html/publications/finplan05_11.shtml">$65.7 billion budget</a> this morning, which slashes 6,166 teaching positions, would close 20 fire companies and shutter four swimming pools this summer. </p>
<p>Bloomberg <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&#038;catID=1194&#038;doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fhtml%2F2011a%2Fpr141-11.html&#038;cc=unused1978&#038;rc=1194&#038;ndi=1">deflected</a> all of the blame for the fiscal pain. Instead, he pointed towards Albany and Washington.</p>
<p>&#8220;Both places are keeping our tax dollars to close their budget deficits,&#8221; Bloomberg said. &#8220;If the state was paying 50 percent of the Department of Education, we would not be talking about laying off teachers.&#8221;</p>
<p>While Bloomberg did not hesitate to blame Albany, he also acknowledged the city was unlikely to receive any reprieve from the state or federal government. For now, the city will use the remainder of its surplus to close the budget hole. </p>
<p>The mayor&#8217;s executive plan did back away from slashing <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/138596/ny1-exclusive--ny1-marist-poll-finds-giuliani-has-most-state-republican-support--trump-trails-far-behind">16,000 child care slots</a> &#8212; the result of a loss in federal funding. The administration plans to save the positions by expanding after school programs and increasing funding for the Administration for Children&#8217;s Services. The cost of the slots was originally put at $91 million. Officials said the program could be saved with just $40 million. </p>
<p>Advocates and council members, however, questioned the mayor&#8217;s calculations. </p>
<p>&#8220;With the budget released today, the administration is continuing its assault on early childhood education by cutting $50 million from our city&#8217;s child care,&#8221; said Councilman Steve Levin. &#8220;It is an outrageous sleight of hand that this administration would present itself as the savior of child care while simultaneously destroying it for thousands of New Yorkers. It&#8217;s like someone starting a fire, just so he could take the credit for putting 40 percent of that fire out.&#8221;    </p>
<p>In a joint statement, Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Finance Chairman Domenic Recchia identified teacher layoffs, the child care cuts, a 29 percent cut to libraries and fire companies as their top priorities. </p>
<p>&#8220;Since the recent financial crisis and recession, the City Council has worked aggressively to control spending and manage the city’s budget in a fiscally responsible manner while protecting vital services,&#8221; they said. &#8220;That’s why we have grave concerns about a budget that allows for teacher layoffs, which would be immensely damaging to our education system and children&#8217;s opportunities for a quality education. Make no mistake, we will do everything in our power to prevent teacher layoffs.&#8221;<br />
<span id="more-9462"></span><br />
The council is expected to identify other areas of the budget to cut instead. Already, council officials are calling on the mayor to find savings in its outside contracting. </p>
<p>This latest proposal represents the 10th round of cuts for the Big Apple in three years. In order for the council to stave off teacher layoffs, officials would have to identify $435 million in additional savings, according to the Bloomberg administration. To prevent the fire company closures, it would have to find another $55 million. </p>
<p>The council will kick off their budget hearings next week. The mayor and the council must reach a budget agreement before July 1. </p>
<p>More analysis and reaction to come later. </p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://www.gothamgazette.com/blogs/wonkster/2011/05/06/bloomberg-releases-budget-slashes-teachers/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

