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A general post that does not fit in with any other categories on the blog

Weekly Web Wrap
March 19th, 2010

City’s Water and Sewer Rate Study
(SWIM Coalition)
Espada Doubled Staff Since Leadership Play
(Bronx News Network)
Without Transit Improvements, Growth will Stagnate
(DMI Blog)
Sustainable Waterfront Planning
(Urban Omnibus)
Transit Riders Council Report
(Second Avenue Sagas)
Paterson’s New Tax Cap Even More Porous
(NY Fiscal Watch)
New Uptown Best Buy Hires Under One-Third Locals
(DNAinfo.com via No Land Grab)
What’s the Best Way to Tax Utilities?
(PULP Blog)
Update on Greenpoint Oil Spill Remediation
(Brownstoner)
How Not to Pass a Budget
(League of Women Voters of New York State)
Planning Ground Zero from the Ground Up
(Metropolis)

By Mike Muller on March 19, 2010, 3:53 pm
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Staffer Sentenced in Slush Fund Scandal
March 19th, 2010

Asquith Reid, the former chief of staff of former Councilmember Kendall Stewart, was sentenced to three years probation today for embezzling the City Council’s discretionary funds, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office in the Southern District of New York.

Reid was the first person affiliated with the council to be charged in the growing council slush fund scandal. Reid pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and one count of witness tampering in June 2009 — charges that could have come with decades in prison.

As part of his sentence, he will have to spend nine months in a halfway house, will pay restitution and forfeit any income he made from the crime, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Stewart, Reid’s former boss, lost his seat in the council last fall. Many suspect a large part of his loss had to do with this scandal.

By Courtney Gross on March 19, 2010, 3:31 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Public Finance, nextNY | No Comments »

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Commission's First Meeting -- With Cheesecake
March 19th, 2010

They were welcomed to the City Charter review process by about 60 attendees and a power point presentation from the city’s Law Department that included old political cartoons of the days of Tammany Hall.

They were welcomed to Brooklyn with cheesecake from Junior’s — courtesy of Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Last night, 15 members of the newly minted City Charter Revision Commission sat on a crowded dais in the New York City College of Technology for its first meeting. They introduced themselves, and the chair, CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein, set out a potential timeline for their work, which could end up bringing proposals before the voters this November.

Calling the timeline “aggressive,” Goldstein promised to hold extensive hearings in all five boroughs.

“We are a group of [15] individuals,” Goldstein said. “Omniscient, no. But thoughtful, yes.”

When considering any charter change, Goldstein suggested the board consider three principles: whether the change would improve government transparency and accountability, would it make government more efficient and effective and would it make civic life more participatory.

“We ensure everyone’s input is taken into consideration,” said Goldstein. “We will be as transparent as possible.”
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By Courtney Gross on March 19, 2010, 12:30 pm
In category: City Hall, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, nextNY | No Comments »

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Charter Debate Heats Up
March 19th, 2010

Things got contentious this morning between State Sen. Bill Perkins and “Morning Joe” host, Joe Scarborough, when the subject of charter schools in Harlem came up.

Perkins has become one of the most outspoken critics of charter schools in the city.

Watch below.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

By Courtney Gross on March 19, 2010, 10:25 am
In category: Albany, City Hall, Civil Rights, Education, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing, Law, Measuring UP, Public Finance | No Comments »

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Liu Convenes Task Force on Public Benefits (update)
March 19th, 2010

In an effort to make sure the public receives benefits when the city gives out public subsides, Comptroller John Liu convened the first meeting of a task force this morning that will look into reforming the process of economic development.

Liu announced the task force in February, saying in a press release at the time: “It is simply common sense to have clear standards that ensure benefits for the public when private developers receive benefits from the public.”

Initially charged with looking at community benefit agreements, the task force has expanded its scope to all deals that receive public subsidies, according to Sharon Lee, the comptroller’s spokesperson. They will report back to the comptroller in six months with recommendations, she said.

Over the years, community benefits agreements, which are unregulated, have become standard practice for development deals. The agreements are struck between community groups and stakeholders and developers, often quelling community opposition and ensuring a development moves forward. They are outside of the land use process.

Since the City Council defeated Kingsbridge last year, some officials have questioned the use of public subsidies and are promising to scrutinize projects that receive public benefits.

UPDATE: Here are the co-chairs of the task force:

JOHN “JACK” AHERN – President of the New York City Central Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
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By Courtney Gross on March 19, 2010, 10:00 am
In category: City Hall, Community Development, Economy, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Land Use, Public Finance, Work and Labor, nextNY | No Comments »

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Let Them Eat Pop-Tarts
March 18th, 2010

IMG_0674-3

If you thought a bake sale was just a place to scarf down a brownie think again. To the parents, children and local officials protesting the Department of Education’s new bake sale policy, the selling of home-made goodies epitomizes democracy, tradition, community and, yes, health.

As has been widely noted – and ridiculed– the Department of Education
enacted
new rules last month that would sharply curtail the sale of homemade treats in cafeterias and at school events. Instead clubs and others looking for funds could peddle 27 department-approved items — including Pop-Tarts and individually sized bags of some types of Doritos.

To those at today’s protest near City Hall, this makes no sense. To drive their point home they set up two tables one with banned treats, including mini-empanadas, pumpkin bread and a vegan cake and the other with the packaged food, the Department of Education apparently prefers.

As three little girls ran around in ban junk food aprons, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio lauded the traditional bake sale as “an example of the New York we should all want to see. … This is about people living in a community, caring about their community, their neighborhood, their school as a community.”
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By Gail Robinson on March 18, 2010, 5:57 pm
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A Regional Market at South Street Seaport
March 18th, 2010

seaport

Photo (cc) 2006 David Reeves

Is the New York City Economic Development Corp. open to Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s proposal to create a regional market at the South Street Seaport?

Corporation President Seth W. Pinsky thinks so.

“We definitely agree that a regional market is a good use for the South Street Seaport,” Pinsky said this afternoon at a City Council budget hearing.

The corporation and seaport owner, General Growth Properties, had been working on a redevelopment plan for the downtown shopping area for several years. That plan included a specialty food market.

But when Properties filed for bankruptcy in April of 2009 — predominantly an effect of the real estate bust — the redevelopment proposal was abruptly put on hold.

Now that General Growth Properties appears to be emerging from bankruptcy, Pinksy expects the project to move forward. A hearing on the developer’s exit from bankruptcy will be later this spring.
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By Courtney Gross on March 18, 2010, 3:10 pm
In category: City Hall, Community Development, Economy, Gotham City, Land Use, Public Finance, Waterfront, nextNY | 2 Comments »

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Bloomberg's Film Crew
March 17th, 2010

If Mayor Michael Bloomberg decides to test the waters for a possible presidential bid in 2012 what will it cost the cash strapped city?

In an article in this week’s Village Voice, Tom Robbins looks at possible costs of the mayor’s last flirtation with the White House. Shortly after he re-election in 2005, Bloomberg began to travel widely and give speeches. “We later learned this was mostly about setting the stage for a potential run for president,” Robbins writes. “One of the interesting features of this publicity push was that — despite his own fabulous wealth — the mayor wasn’t shy about using city resources to promote his image.”

According to Robbins, “starting in February 2006, the Bloomberg administration began assigning a team of video camera operators from the city’s television station — NYC-TV — to follow and film the mayor” on trips to such places as Shanghai, Beijing, Bali, Paris, London, Mexico City, Belfast, Berlin, Jerusalem and cities across the United States. Even though, unlike their boss, the city workers flew commercial, a trip by a camera crew to say, Oklahoma, cost some $3,4000. An Asia jaunt was $16,400.

Robbins reports that he tried to get this information in a Freedom of Information request last May. The Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications did not respond until a few weeks ago — and then only after a lawyer intervened.

While the tech office has sought to portray the trip — and the filming — as business as usual, when contacted by Robbins, spokespeople for the previous three mayors seemed unfamiliar with such a practice.

By Gail Robinson on March 17, 2010, 2:27 pm
In category: City Hall, Gotham City, Tech | 1 Comment »

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9/11 Bill Advances in Congress
March 16th, 2010

A bill that would provide permanent health care for 9/11 emergency and cleanup workers has advanced a step in Congress, according to the mayor’s office. The House Health Subcommittee today approved the bill, known as the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act.

The move comes less than a week after the city and 9/11 workers reached a tentative agreement to give a total of $575 million to workers who became sickened from their time at the trade center site. Those one-time payments, though, would not provide ongoing coverage.

In a statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg hailed the passage as “an important step in our effort to secure sustained medical monitoring and treatment for the first responders and survivors of the Sept. 11 attacks,” and reiterated his oft-expressed opinion that the issue deserved a federal response. The mayor also urged passage of the bill by the full House and Senate.

For more on the legislation, see 9/11 Health Care Bill Could Get Boost in Congress.

By Gail Robinson on March 16, 2010, 3:43 pm
In category: Gotham City, Health | No Comments »

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A Call for Charter Openness
March 16th, 2010

Now, that’s preemptive.

Even before the newly minted Charter Revision Commission announced its first meeting, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu and 24 council members sent its members a letter calling for openness and webcasted meetings.

The first meeting of the commission will be at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn. There will be no public comment at the meeting, but it is (as will all the commission’s meetings) be open to the public.

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

By Courtney Gross on March 16, 2010, 12:32 pm
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NYCHA Still in the Woods
March 15th, 2010

Today’s announcement of a $400 million infusion to the New York City Housing Authority will get the authority off of critical condition.
nycha

Photo (cc) DaveTheRavingWave (Dave Sanders)


But it isn’t out of the woods yet.

Testifying at a budget hearing just hours after the announcement of a federal funding boost, New York City Housing Authority Chairman John Rhea said the authority still faces a more than $100 million deficit in the current fiscal year.

“While we have made huge strides in addressing our long-term infrastructure needs and moving the authority towards financial health, ultimately reducing our section 8 and public housing operating forecasted deficit from $137 million to $103 million, we still have work to do,” said Rhea.

To close that gap, of which a large part is from the over enrollment of Section 8, the authority has four options, Rhea said, including terminating families from section 8, reducing section 8 payments or getting more funding from either the federal or local governments.

The news soured a more jovial announcement this morning from the Bloomberg administration that 21 NYCHA housing developments, originally built by the city and state after World War II, would become eligible for federal funding. Since these developments were built by the city and state, they never received federal funding, and they gradually stopped receiving city and state subsidies in the 1990s. Through a partnership with Citibank, who will own a stake in the developments, these properties will receive about $400 million in public and private money — the majority of which will go to capital improvements.
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By Courtney Gross on March 15, 2010, 5:58 pm
In category: Albany, City Hall, Community Development, Gotham City, Housing, Public Finance, nextNY | No Comments »

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Bloomberg, Gillibrand and the Latest Challenger
March 15th, 2010

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s antipathy for Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, apparent to all who watched his unsuccessful efforts to recruit Harold Ford and Mortimer Zuckerman to challenge her — emerged into open political discourse Saturday as the Times published an article on Gillibrand’s fruitless campaign to win over the mayor.

The story portrays Gillibrand as mystified by the mayor’s attitude and offers a few none-too-convincing theories: her flip-flopping on gun laws (even though she flipped to the Bloomberg side), her alleged lack of conviction (the Times, forgetting about term limits and terror trials, said, Bloomberg (”prides himself on his willingness to stand up for principles, whatever the political cost”) and her coming from a political family.

The Albany Project, though, thinks the Times omits the likeliest explanation: ” Nowhere does the story mention Caroline Kennedy, Bloomberg’s very public candidate for the Senate appointment” that went to Gillibrand, the blog says.

Running Scared agrees. “It’s entirely possible that all of this has nothing to do with the black eye Bloomberg and Sheekey and the Times got when their efforts on behalf of Caroline Kennedy, their high-profile candidate to be appointed to Hillary Clinton’s seat, went very badly indeed and the seat, messily, went to Gillibrand,” the blog comments. “I feel certain the Times would have mentioned that.”
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on March 15, 2010, 2:30 pm
In category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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Weekly Web Wrap
March 13th, 2010

Bringing Basements to Code
(Urban Omnibus)
Bloomberg Ranks 20th Most Powerful in World
(Forbes)
Albany’s Crime Spree
(The Weekly Standard)
The State’s Sugar Campaign
(The American Prospect)
Paterson Typical of State’s Political Culture
(Newsweek)
Ground Zero Workers at Higher Risk of Heart Disorder
(Bloomberg)
Atlantic Yards: Making Dangerous Streets Worse
(Tri-State Transportation Campaign)
Albany’s Wage Theft Bill
(DMI Blog)
DiNapoli Proposes Ending ‘Backdoor Borrowing’
(NY Fiscal Watch)
Thoughts on Snow Removal
(Regional Plan Association)
The Teachers Union and the Budget
(League of Women Voters of New York State)
State Income Taxes by Place of Residence
(Room Eight)
Twenty-One Local Housing Developments to be Federalized
(IBO Web Log)
Cartoonist on Paterson Scandals
(Adam Zyglis)
How Empty Ships Led to Paved Roads
(Core77)
Lessons From Newsday’s Paywall
(paidContent.org via NYConvergence)
Removing ‘Versus’ from the Education Reform Dialogue
(The Innovative Educator)

By Mike Muller on March 13, 2010, 6:25 pm
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The City's Denial
March 12th, 2010

The city law department has responded to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission determination that the Department of Education discriminated against Debbie Almontaser (see below), the former interim principal of Khalil Gibran International Academy — and the city is not budging an inch.

The e-mailed statement by Paul Marks, deputy chief of labor and employment law, reads in full: “The EEOC’s finding is without any basis whatsoever. The DOE in no way discriminated against Ms. Almontaser and she will not be re-instated. If she continues to pursue litigation, we will vigorously defend against her groundless allegations.”

By Gail Robinson on March 12, 2010, 6:19 pm
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A Discrimination Finding Against DOE
March 12th, 2010

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has issued a determination that the Department of Education discriminated against an employee who was playing a key role in the creation of school focusing on Arab culture and language by, for all intents and purposes, succumbing to a media frenzy against her.

The case involves Debbie Almontaser, long-time education department employee who has been active in promoting racial and religious harmony, particularly after 9/11. IN 2007, Almontaser was project director and interim principal during the planning of the Khalil Gibran Academy, a small public school, and seemed a likely candidate to be the school’s principal when it opened. (The copy of the determination came Almontaser’s lawyer; the commission said it is barred from commenting on discrimination complaints – or even confirming they exist.)

All that changed as a number of blogs and the New York Post stepped up attacks on the proposed school, calling it a madrassa and trying to portray Almontaser as a jihadist who would seek to spread radical Islam in city schools. The breaking point came after the New York Post interviewed Almontaser about the meaning of the word “intifada” and some t-shirts bearing the word.

The resulting story bore the headline “City Principal is Revolting.” Writing on behalf of the commission, district director Spencer Lewis Jr. concluded, “The most inflammatory parts of the article as published were neither quotations from Ms. Almontaser nor legitimate background information; they were characterizations and opinions either from the reporter or as attributions to unnamed others.”

Despite that, the Bloomberg administration urged Almontaser to step down from her post as interim principal and rejected her application to become permanent principal. Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on March 12, 2010, 3:58 pm
In category: Civil Rights, Education, Gotham City, Law | 3 Comments »

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Peralta's Lead
March 12th, 2010

Hiram Monserrate’s efforts to cast himself as a defender of traditional values and a victim of vengeful state Senator, do not seemed to have gained much traction in the Senate district he used to represent — and wants to represent again. According to a Siena Poll conducted earlier this week, Assemblymember José Peralta leads Monserrate among likely voters in next week’s special election.

(For more on the issues and the candidates, see Gotham Gazette’s Monserrate Fights for His Old Job – and ‘Traditional Values.’)

Some 60 percent of those polled supported Peralta, the Democratic and Working Families Party candidate, with Monserrate, who is running as an independent for the specially created Yes We Can Party, bringing in 15 percent. Republican Robert Beltrani has 9 percent and 16 percent remain undecided. While 60 percent have a favorable view of Peralta, only 25 percent of those responding have a good view of Monserrate. Almost three quarters of the voter followed the issue around Monserrate’s assault trial and expulsion from the Senate closely or very closely.

The poll found voters in the district split evenly on same sex marriage, which has emerged as a big issue in the election, with Peralta in favor and Monserrate opposed. Monserrate voters are likely — by a two to one margin — to be against same sex marriage, but even many voters who agree with Monserrate’s stand on that issue said they would vote for his opponent on Tuesday.

In a statement accompanying the release of the numbers, Siena New York pollster Steven Greenberg cautioned that in special elections, which tend to have low turnouts, “anything can happen.” However, he added, “it seems unlikely that ‘former Senator’ Monserrate will be losing the first word in that title come next Tuesday.””

By Gail Robinson on March 12, 2010, 11:33 am
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With Cops Down, Kelly Promises to Keep Crime Low
March 11th, 2010

Come January 2011, the city’s police ranks will be as low as they were in the 1990s, said Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., the chair of the council’s public safety committee, this morning.

For Vallone, that is intolerable.

“1990 was before safe streets, safe city,” said Vallone. “It was a time when the City Council realized we cannot police this city with this many police officers.”

Including academy class sizes and attrition, the police department headcount is expected to be at 34,875 in July, lowering to 34,475 in January 2011, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly testified at a preliminary budget hearing today. No unit, he added, will be held harmless.

“Virtually every unit, every entity, is going to be affected,” Kelly said. “No unit is spared, certainly in a mega sense.”

At the beginning of the fiscal crisis, the police department was one of the City Council’s top priorities. Members fought tooth and nail to keep academy class after academy class.

This year, after several years of budget cuts, it may not be the same. With day care centers on the chopping block and fire companies set for slashing, police officers may not be the council’s number one priority in fiscal year 2011. Much of the noise coming from City Hall’s steps refers to social service cuts and the Fire Department, not necessarily New York’s finest.
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By Courtney Gross on March 11, 2010, 3:31 pm
In category: City Hall, Crime & Safety, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Public Finance, nextNY | 1 Comment »

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Paterson in Brooklyn
March 8th, 2010

This morning’s town meeting on the budget may have been the most fun Gov. David Paterson has had in a while. Inside the ornate room at Brooklyn Borough hall, no one mentioned David Johnson or Yankees tickets. Instead the crowd applauded Paterson and those who alluded to his other problems did so only to express support for him.

Of course, the subject at hand was none too cheery — the state’s massive budget deficit.

“We are going to make cuts that if you had told me years ago I was going to become governor and make these kinds of cuts I probably wouldn’t have believed either,” Paterson said.

The meeting allowed him to show a command of the state’s finances and indicated he was able to think about cutting spending and raising taxes while controversy swirls around him. Warning that the state could run out money in May or June, Paterson told people he needed their ideas but cautioned that, if they told him not to cut something, they had to tell him whether else the money could come from.

Even the questioning on the budget, though, was fairly easy. No representative of health care workers, teachers or public school parents stood up to denounce sweeping cuts in their areas. Instead Queen Mother Blakely asked how she could market her coffee to that state. (”I haven’t the slightest idea,” Paterson said before asking a purchasing person to speak with her.)
Read the rest of this entry »

By Gail Robinson on March 8, 2010, 6:09 pm
In category: Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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Weekly Web Wrap
March 5th, 2010

Paterson and the Future of Black Politics
(Newsweek)
Photo Essay of the State’s Adult Homes
(Mother Jones)
Spitzer’s Mission Impossible
(Time)
The Signage in Penn Station is Terrible
(Slate)
But it has Free WiFi
(NYCwireless)
Accessibility Concerns in the Building Code
(Metropolis)
Land Use and the City Charter Revision Commission
(Pratt Center)
Is Cablevision Destroying Newsday?
(Long Island Press via NYConvergence)
A Social Scientist Discusses Avenue D
(Urban Omnibus)
CBS Agrees to Run Pro-Marijuana Ad in Times Square
(Change.org)
Councilmember on Outer Borough Parking Policy After Storms
(Councilmember Vincent Gentile’s blog)
An Analysis of the City’s Tech Ecosystem
(innonate)
MTA Service Cuts Mapped
(Regional Plan Association)
Saving Student MetroCards by Trimming School Bus Costs
(Streetsblog)
Cartoonist’s Take on Tumult in the Governor’s Seat
(Matt Davies)
Minimizing Harm from School Aid Cuts
(Citizens Budget Commission)

By Mike Muller on March 5, 2010, 8:11 pm
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Charter Commission Choices
March 3rd, 2010

More than two years after he initially promised, Mayor Michael Bloomberg today named a commission to review the city’s charter, with an eye toward proposing changes in city government to put before the voters.

As he has said in the past, the mayor announced, “Every issue will be on the table.”

City University chancellor Matthew Goldstein will chair the commission, with John Banks, a former City Council chief of staff who now works for Con Ed, as vice chair. The other 15 members include Anthony Crowell, a counselor to the mayor once considered a possible chair; David Chen, executive director of the Chinese American Planning Council; Richmond County Clerk Stephen Fiala, who served on the 2004-05 charter commission; Angela Mariana Freyre of the Nielsen Co. who also serves on the city Conflicts of Interest Board; Fordham University President Joseph McShane; Carlo Scissura, the chief of staff to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz; and Mitchell Taylor, senior pastor of Hope International church.

Notably not serving is Ronald Lauder, who had made creation of the commission — with him on it — a condition of his support for Bloomberg’s overturn of term limits in 2008. But Liz Benjamin reported Monday that Lauder had declined a spot on the commission, prompting speculation that the commission might try to extend term limits or dump them all together.

By Gail Robinson on March 3, 2010, 4:07 pm
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