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Ex-Cuomo Aide to Head JCOPE


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Letizia Tagliafierro has been named executive director of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics after a lengthy closed-door meeting. Tagliafierro is a former aide of Gov. Andrew Cuomo and previously worked as JCOPE's director of investigations and enforcement. The position of executive director has been vacant since May when Ellen Biben, Cuomo's former inspector general, stepped down.

Biben's resignation followed the resignation of original JCOPE chair Wetchester District Attorney Janet DiFiore. Cuomo replaced DiFiore with Daniel Horowitz, a Cuomo apointee to JCOPE. The state ethics panel has come under major criticism for being controlled by Cuomo and legislative heads. Cuomo has faced similar criticism over his handling of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.

Tagliafierro worked as a prosecutor, acted as a special counsel to the Division of Criminal Justice Services in 2007 and 2008 and spent time in the attorney general's office. She also worked as a legisaltive aide for Sen. Serphin Maltese. 

Commission Chair Daniel J. Horwitz issued this statement:

Letizia will be an outstanding executive director. Her leadership skills, integrity, commitment to public service and her diverse background in government made her a terrific choice for Executive Director. The Commission is looking forward to continuing its important role of working to restore trust in our State government. Through increased transparency, compliance training and enforcement, our public officials and those hoping to influence government decisions will be held accountable.

Moreland Stomps on State Board Of Elections


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The state Board of Elections testified in front of the Moreland Commission on Public Corruption in what will go down in one of the most lopsided contests in New York State governmental hearings.

The BOE showed up, testimony in hand, claiming they had both done a good job enforcing campaign finance laws and were underfinanced and understaffed. They came ready to play checkers. The commission, reeling from leaks and criticism from the press, came prepared with data obtained from subpoenas. They had come looking to play chess. 

Moreland co-chair and Nassau County district attorney Kathleen Rice quickly disputed the BOE's insistance that the 2008 fiscal crisis prevented them from hiring new staffers. 

Rice: "Mr. McCann is laying out this impossible Herculean effort that the BOE makes, and yet, you had 21 positions to fill and you didn't fill them."

BOE Co-Executive Director Robert Brehm responded: "We worked diligently to fill them. No one anticipated the fiscal crisis that we would be under." 

"This was before the fiscal crisis," Rice reminded Brehm. 

Things didn't get any better for the BOE as they continued to claim they had diligently enforced election law. 

"You had an investigator sitting at his computer, asking you for work — and playing solitaire and studying his Bible verses because you refused to give him work," said Warren County district attorney Kathleen Hogan. 

The commission grilled the BOE on individual investigations and openly wondered why some obvious violatioins took so long to process. In one case the BOE claimed they had misplaced a box containing information regarding an investigation. The commission also highlighted emails from BOE members that indicated they were motivated by political affiliation. 

Rice informed the audience that the BOE resisted turning over information the commission was looking for. Rice noted that the BOE's counsel was subpoenaed but retired and moved out of state and was not at the hearing. 

While Moreland's drubbing of the board certainly played well with good government groups that have been telling the commission how dysfunctional the BOE is since the commission was formed, others saw it as an easy win following a slew of reports that have cast the panel's independence into doubt. 

The BOE's written testimony can be read here

BIll Mahoney of The New York Public Interest Research Group provided this rebuttal: 

NYPIRG BOE Fact Check.pdf

Today's Lead: Superstorm Sandy's First Year Anniversary


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A year after Superstorm Sandy, much remains to be done. Only $5.2 billion of the federal $60 billion aid package has been spent. $6 billion was set aside for future disasters but has yet to be handed out to the proper recipients. Soon the city will receive $1.3 billion on top of the $1.8 billion it was given shortly after the storm. The MTA continues rebuilding and the effects of the storm will last for years. One-third of the stores on Midland Ave. in Staten Island remain shuttered. A panel agreed that Bloomberg developed a comprehensive approach to resiliency after the storm that should be built on by the next mayor. And the debate continues about how effective natural storm defenses like marshes and oysters can be for smaller events.

Other Stories We're Following

Corruption Panel Targets State Board Of Elections (Daily News)

NY Attorney General Targets Barneys Over Racial Profiling (Daily News)

Senator Wants Legislature To Control Ballot Measure Wording (Albany Times Union)

Carriage Horses May Be Sent To Slaughter (Daily News)

Lhota’s Years Working For The Dolans (NY Times)

Preservationists Challenge Real Estate Board On Landmarks (Crain's)

De Blasio Promises Taxi Policy For The People (Capital)

Hurricane Sandy Anniversary

For updates throughout the day, follow Gotham Gazette partner @AdaptNY on Twitter or go to the AdaptNY website.

Researchers with the New York City Poison Control Center documented a surge of carbon monoxide poisonings following Hurricane Sandy, reported in Clinical Toxicology.

NPR reports on uneven rebuilding in storm-battered areas.

Ellis Island reopens.

WSJ's streaming coverage of the one-year anniversary.

WSJ interactive looks at storm victims one year later.

Today's Report

Flood Maps Will Increase Insurance Costs
A recent report by the Bloomberg Administration found that the number of families required to pay for federal flood insurance will double when new FEMA flood maps are complete. It calls on Congress and FEMA to ensure that coverage is not cost prohibitive (read the full report)

Moreland Ready to Focus on State Board of Elections


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Robert Brehm, Todd Valentine and William McCann might want to invest in sheep costumes for Halloween. Representing the State Board of Elections, they will be the first group to testify in front of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's Moreland Commission this evening at the Jacob Javitz Center.

All indications are that the Moreland Commission are looking to show they still have teeth and the State Board of Elections might be just the right group for them to eviscerate. Since the start of public hearings, the commission has heard about the BOE's lax enforcement, rulings that allow legisaltors to spend campaign cash on just about anything and the loopholes they have allowed to persist that let corporations dump tons of cash into party housekeeping accounts. Good government groups who were scheduled to testify today were reportedly bumped to allow the commission more time to grill the BOE.

The BOE is putting on a happy face and throwing in a few excuses. Board spokesman John Conklin issued this statement in a press release this morning:

We are excited about the opportunity to testify. We have marshalled our evidence and our answers. We would hope that the commission will agree that our agency is understaffed and underfunded and has been for a long while. We've had flat budgets for years. Our technology is outdated. We've been given new tasks repeatedly without the necessary increase in resources that it would take to effectively carry out those new responsibilities.

 

We have some suggestions on how to improve the workings of the agency, but we are hopeful that the commission will recognize our dire needs and include in its recommendations a plea that we are allocated additional means to carry out our mission."

Bill Mahoney of the New York Public Interest Group has already been asked questions about BOE's budget in front of the commission and he pointed to an appropriation Gov. Eliot Sptizer set aside for the BOE to enhance staffing and enforcement that was not used. Eventually the money was reappropriated into the budget under Gov. David Paterson during the fiscal crisis. "Looking at their testimony, it looks like they will be making the same illogical argument they have made before. That that they have done a great job enforcing the law and that they don’t have enough funding to properly enforce the law," said Mahoney. 

Mahoney added that the BOE is "probably the most dysfunctional" peice of state government the Commission will examine. 

Commission members have already asked other groups how they might go about overruling decisions made by the board or go around it to create a better enforcement mechanism. 

Other testimony will come from members of New York City's Campaign Finance Board and City Council.

This morning Common Cause released a new installment of its "Moreland Monday" analysis, examining the influence of the pharmaceutical company on the campaign finance system and state legislators. The report finds that pharmaceutical companies paid out over $5 million to legislators since 2005. 

The hearing will start tonight at 5 p.m. and will be streamed online here

Today's Lead: Corruption Commission Looks To Rebuild Credibility


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The Moreland Commission on Public Corruption is scheduled to hold its first public hearing today since facing questions about its independence and intentions.

While today’s hearing will focus on public financing of campaigns and other matters, the larger theme will be on rebuilding the credibility of the commission.

Convened by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in response to a series of scandals that rocked the state Legislature earlier this year, the commission has been in full damage control for weeks.

Reports have shed light on the Cuomo administration’s role in influencing the decision-making of the commission and raised questions about whether it pulled back from scrutinizing real estate interests because of pressure from the executive branch. One report indicated that a subpoena to the Real Estate Board of New York had been killed.

Cuomo has denied directly ordering subpoenas be killed but danced around questions about whether his staff had any influence over the panel.

The hearing, at Javits Convention Center (1E Hall Rooms 12-13), begins at 5 p.m. Doors open at 4 p.m. Webcast here.

CONTINUE READING OUR PREVIEW OF THE HEARING.

GOTHAM GAZETTE EXCLUSIVE: City Promises 'Broad-Based Outreach' To Communities To Prepare For Future Storms — The city has decided to reconvene two community advisory task forces that weighed in on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s multi-billion dollar plan to protect the city from future extreme weather and the effects of climate change in the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the city’s resiliency director told the Gotham Gazette/AdaptNY in an exclusive interview. By Sarah Crean. READ

On Today's Agenda: The City Council's committee on economic development holds a hearing on a bill that would establish "training and transparency requirements for certain city development projects receiving city financial assistance." 10 a.m., 250 Broadway. ... Rebuild by Design, an initiative of the President's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force,unveils 10 proposals from "architecture and planning firms for strengthening the region's ability to withstand major storms and flooding."

 


Other Stories We're Following

Sources: State Legislature To Argue Cuomo Abused Power (Daily News)

Poll: De Blasio Poised To Win Mayor's Race By Historic Margin (NY Times)

AG Takes Step To Open Records Of Attica Uprising (Democrat and Chronicle)

De Blasio Takes Advantage Of Campaign Finance Loophole (NY Post)

Campaign Finance Board Reschedules Mayoral Debate (Capital)

NY Establishes Emergency Gas Reserve (Reuters)

Hurricane Sandy Anniversary

The New York Times begins its anniversary coverage with a documentary and a look at home buyouts on Staten Island.

More than 200 people displaced by the storm are living in hotels, with friends or family, the Daily News reports.

Deputy Mayor Cas Halloway writes in the Daily News about the city's response and the road ahead.

The Associated Press reports that "thousands of people still trying to fix their soaked and surf-battered homes are being stymied by bureaucracy, insurance disputes and uncertainty over whether they can even afford to rebuild."

Crain's New York looks at how food businesses survived the storm.

"The US was just the last of many stops on the hurricane's tour of destruction," writes Herald Munoz, a former Chilean ambassador and president of the UN Security Council, in Al Jazeera America.

Free MTA Rides For Residents of Areas Hardest Hit by Sandy


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Gov. Andrew Cuomo is marking the first anniversary of Hurrican Sandy by giving free subway rides to residents of the areas hardest hit by the storm. Free rides will be availble on Tuesday, Oct. 29, for riders entering stations on the A subway line between Howard Beach and the Rockaway Peninsula and stations on the R subway line between Bay Ridge-95th Street and Court Street. 

Cuomo issued the following statement: 

On the one year anniversary of Superstorm Sandy we want to thank New Yorkers who made it through the storm with both resilience and good spirits," Governor Cuomo said. "Superstorm Sandy was particularly difficult for New York City and Long Island, but the patience, the kindness, and good nature of New Yorkers helped our state in the immediate aftermath and over the past year as we have been rebuilding our communities. These free rides are a thank you to the MTA riders in the Rockaways in Queens and those who use the R train in Brooklyn for taking the hardships of the storm in stride and for their understanding in the months since.

Cuomo unveiled the "Come See the Comeback" campaign to boost tourism in the areas hardest hit by Sandy. There are newly designed MetroCards highlighting Staten Island, the Rockaways, Howard Beach, Coney Island and Long Beach. The Rockaways card is featured above. 

Today’s Lead: Court Rules in Favor of Lhota PAC


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A PAC supporting Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota can now receive donations that exceed the $150,000 limit under state law. A three-judge panel overturned a lower court’s decision preventing the New York Progress and Protection PAC from receiving contributions that exceed the state’s maximum. The political action committee can now make unlimited independent expenditures in the mayoral race. By law, PACs can’t coordinate with candidates. The ruling may improve Lhota’s efforts to close a 40-plus point gap in the polls behind Democratic rival Bill de Blasio, but it’s still a lot of ground to cover in less than two weeks. The PAC has not yet reported spending any cash to support Lhota. Lhota has said he supports the PAC's lawsuit.

THIS WEEK IN THE GOTHAM GAZETTE

SPECIAL REPORT: Are The City's Most Storm-Vulnerable Communities Being Heard? Reported in partnership with AdaptNY, a digital news platform for the debate surrounding climate change adaptation.

 


Other Stories We're Following

Kellner Uses Campaign Lit to Deny Sexual Harassment Claims (Crain's)

City Amends Fee Policy For Visit to the Met (NY Times)

Citi Bike Program Losing Money (Daily News)

Lt. Governor’s Job Interview Raises Ethical Questions (Albany Times Union)

Brooklyn DA Candidate Says He Would Do Away With Sentences For Small Amounts of Pot (Wall Street Journal)

Cuomo Likes De Blasio’s Pre-K Goal, Not the Tax (Capital)

NYSUT Head Says Senate Coalition Didn’t Work (Capital)

Health Care Execs Wrangle Over Hospital Closures (Crain's)

New Brooklyn Hospital Floated (Crain's)

Report: Key Safety Measures Missing When Boy Went Missing (Capital)

IBO: Fed Cutbacks May Mean Even More Homeless In NYC (IBO Web Blog)

Today's Agenda

"Fair distribution of garbage handling": Elected officials and environmentalists plan to rally at City Hall in support of a Council bill to cap the amount of waste handled by any one community district. The committee on sanitation and solid waste is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill at 10 a.m. in chambers.

Council Race Debate: Candidates for the 6th City Council District debate as part of series on MNN co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters. Stream it here.

Today's Report

Immigrants and Workers of Color More Likely to Be Injured on Construction Sites 
(read the full report)

Today’s Lead: Municipal ID Cards For Undocumented


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Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio said yesterday that he would move "right away" to create a municipal identification card for undocumented city residents if he is elected in November. The ID cards would help immigrants get bank accounts and sign leases. De Blasio, the city's public advocate, spoke about the ID cards at a press conference at City Hall where he and a number of immigrant rights groups called for national immigration reform. Republican candidate Joe Lhota said during the Republican primary that he supported a similar form of identification for immigrants. “So many people in New York don’t have checking accounts," Lhota said during a Sept. 8 debate.

NEW IN THE GOTHAM GAZETTE

SPECIAL REPORT: City Hall and some of its community boards show an at-times striking disconnect over ongoing preparations for the impacts of climate change, as revealed in board-by-board reporting conducted over the last two months by a team of reporters for Gotham Gazette and news partnerAdaptNY, a digital news platform for the debate around climate resilience.

Part 1: Are The City's Most Storm-Vulnerable Communities Being Heard? 

Part 2: Preparing For Climate Change: What Community Boards Say

 


Other Stories We're Following

Study Puts Price Tag on Universal Pre-K (Daily News)

Cuomo Defends De Blasio (NY 1)

More Nuanced De Blasio Emerges (NY Times)

Fracking Fight Focuses on Town’s Ban (NY Times)

Lhota Goes on Attack Against De Blasio (Daily News)

Cuomo Takes Storm Prep Ideas as Sandy Anniversary Approaches (Daily News)

Spitzer Denis He’s Running For Another Office (Politicker)

Liu’s Treasurer Appeals Conviction (Politicker)

Cuomo and De Blasio May Target Independent Democratic Senators (Capital)

Where is the Second Avenue Subway Going? (Capital)

State Forecasts Weaker Wall Street (Crain's)

Coney Island Library Reopens Nearly A Year After Sandy


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Nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy, Coney Island's residential districts haven't rebounded as fast as the attractions on the boardwalk.

But today there was one solid sign that things are improving: the Coney Island Library of Brooklyn is open for business again. 

"It was beautiful," said Sen. Diane Savino, who represents the area, of the reopening. She recalled speaking to people whose homes had been destroyed in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane. "Their homes were destroyed and they were still asking: 'When is the library going to open?' Because it is more than a repository for books — it is a a cultural center for the community."

Earlier in August, Savino took a tour of Coney Island with a number of constituents and activists to see how the neighborhood was recovering from last year's storm. Savino says things are slowly getting better for the district. 

"It doesn't happen all at once," said Savino. "Some residents are still falling behind but I think the bright spots in the recovery are being missed." 

Savino said she thinks the New York City Housing Authority is still far behind in repairs in the area and residents of the properties are in desperate need of attention.

"I can't wait for a new administration," she said.

Today's Lead: Was That A Debate Or An Argument?


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Last night's mayoral debate was full of attacks from both sides and headlines described it as "blistering", "acrid", and "heated." Democrat Bill de Blasio called the tirade on his stance on crime by Republican Joe Lhota "fear mongering" and "race-baiting". They went on to harangue each other about living on different planets. Lhota had quips about Mad Hatters and Tea Parties. De Blasio also avoided offering a substantive answer as to whether he thought Gov. Cuomo would support his plan to raise taxes on the wealthy to pay for universal pre-K. When asked about their biggest regrets, Lhota said it was referring to Port Authority police as “mall cops” and de Blasio said his was putting too much faith in mayoral control of schools. There was some agreement between them: both support Mayor Bloomberg's Battery City-like proposal for housing in the East River, they want to roll-back his green taxi plan, and they're ambivalent about pedestrian plazas in Times Square.

It Ain't Easy Being Green: The Green Party is taking advantage of their ballot status by running candidates across the city. They face the kinds of challenges they have always faced — a lack of campaign infrastructure, being ignored by the media, not being invited to debates. But much has also changed about the public’s attitudes toward them. By David Howard King. READ MORE.

City Says It Is Mostly Prepared For Next Major Storm: Nearly a year after Superstorm Sandy, a top deputy to Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that New York City is better prepared for the next major hurricane — albeit with a lot of caveats. By Chester Soria. READ MORE.

Other Stories We're Following

New York Sets Work Rules For Young Models (NY Times)

Member Of Corruption Commission Calls Legislators Corrupt (Daily News)

Changes Sought In Police Dealings With Ill (Wall Street Journal)

Federal Money For Poor Went To Luxuries (Daily News)

State's Largest Foundations Ramp Up Giving In 2012 (Crain's)

Twelve-Term Brooklyn Congressman Major Owens Dead (WNYC)

Today's Lead: Crime Remains Central To Mayoral Election


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Crime in the city is shaping up to be central to the mayoral debate again tonight. GOP candidate Joe Lhota recently released an ad calling Democrat Bill de Blasio's stance on crime a reckless one, but the numbers used in part of it were misleading. He also implicated de Blasio in failing to communicate the extent of the 1991 Crown Heights riots to then-Mayor Dinkins. De Blasio countered that he "did not participate directly" in events during the riots. A new poll found that most voters are more concerned with crime than reforming the city's stop-and-frisk policy, but a majority also said it could be done without increasing crime.

Other Stories We're Following

De Blasio Joins Coalition to Stop Phone Theft (Daily News)

Corruption Panel May Have Conflict (Albany Times Union)

Critics Wage Quiet Fight Against Ballot Measure On Adding Casinos (NY Times)

Distribution Of Sandy Aid Irks City (Wall Street Journal)

Post-Sandy Beachside Rate Increases Could Top 500 Percent (Wall Street Journal)

In Public Housing, Temporary Boilers Here To Stay (For A While) (WNYC)

New York's Online Heathcare Market Avoids Glitches (Albany Times Union)

Bloomberg Seeks Approval Of Midtown Rezoning Plan (NY Times)

Tappan Zee Progress And New York's Infrastructure 'Crisis' (Capital)

Report: Three-Quarters Houses Are Troubled But Valued (City Limits)

De Blasio Has Not Disclosed Years Of Rent Income (Crain's)

Bloomberg Shaves $415 Million From Vehicle Repair Bills (Daily News)

New York's Looming Food Disaster (The Atlantic Cities)

Help Bring City’s Past Back To Life From Your Phone (Wired)



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