City Hall - March 1, 2008

www.cityhallnews.com

Norman Siegel,right, kicks off his thirdrun for public advocate(Page 8), DomenicRechhia explainswhy he thinks his con-gressional campaign isright on pace (8)

Vol. 2, No. 10 March 2008

and MarcusCederqvist, left,discusses his new life atthe Board of Elections(Page 43).

CONTINUED ON PAGE ??

BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

hat he is really hoping for, MayorMichael Bloomberg often likes tojoke, is a subway series.

The enthusiasm, the civic pride, the taxrevenues—so much would be generatedfrom an all-New York World Series.

In baseball, this only happened once, in2000—the same year Rudolph Giulianibowed out early from his Senate campaign.

The Mets and the Yankees squared off in

the fall. Giuliani and Hillary Clinton did not. The 2008 presidential election was sup-

posed to be the second chance for the racethat was not, on a larger scale.

A year ago, six months ago, the politicalexperts were sure they knew how thingswould go. By Super Tuesday, Clinton wouldbe the Democratic nominee. Giuliani wouldbe the Republican. And just for good meas-ure, and because he saw an opening,Bloomberg would jump into the race too, as

CONTINUED ON PAGE 22

Get the facts:AN

DTRAFFICHEALTH

PRESENTED BY:

Jen Richmond-BryantAssistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, Urban Public Health Program, Hunter College, CUNY*

Patrick L. Kinney, ScDAssociate ProfessorDept of Environmental Health SciencesColumbia University Mailman School of Public Health*

George D. Thurston, ScDAssociate ProfessorNYU School of MedicineNelson Institute of Environmental Medicine *

William Rom, MD, MPHSol and Judith Bergstein Professor of Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Director of the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care MedicineNYU School of Medicine*

* Institutional information is provided for identification purposes only and does not constitute institutional endorsement

Did you know:• Children exposed to more traffic-related air pollution score lower

on IQ tests. The effect of pollution on intelligence was similar tothat seen in children whose mothers smoked 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant, or in kids who have been exposed to lead 1

• Stop-and-go traffic releases as much as three times the pollution of free-flowing traffic 2

• Children exposed to traffic pollution can have stunted lung development 3

• Traffic-related pollution has harmful reproductive effects: 4

Several studies confirm lower birth weight and other developmental problems in babies born to mothers exposed to traffic pollution.

1 S. Franco Suglia, A. Gryparis, R. O. Wright, J. Schwartz, and R. J. Wright, “Association of Black Carbon with Cognition among Children in a Prospective Birth Cohort Study” American Journal of Epidemiology, 167:280-286, February 1, 2008

2 U.S. EnvironmentalProtection Agency. “Technical Methods for Analyzing Pricing Measures to Reduce TransportationEmissions.”1998. Online resource, available at http://www.epa.gov/otaq/stateresources/policy/transp/tcms/anpricng.pdf,2-18, 2-20. Last accessed October 19, 2007.

3 Gauderman, W. James, Hita Vora, Rob McConnell, Kiros Berhane, Frank Gilliland, Duncan Thomas, Fred Lurmann, Edward Avol, Nino Kunzli, Michael Jerrett and John Peters, “Effect of exposure to traffic on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age: a cohort study,” The Lancet, Volume 368, February 2007.

4 Ritz B, Wilhelm M, Hoggatt KJ, Ghosh JK. Ambient air pollution and preterm birth in the environment and pregnancy outcomes study at the University of California, Los Angeles. Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Nov. 1;166(9):1045-52. Epub 2007 Aug 4.

TRAFFIC CONGESTION AND HEALTH: The risks, the evidence, the urgencyModerated by John M. Balbus, MD, MPH, Chief Health Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund

8:30 a.m. FRIDAY MARCH 14140 Park Place between Greenwich and West Broadway, Room 12 New York City office of DC37DC37 has no position on congestion pricing and are providing this space as a courtesy to members and their staff.

Briefing and Q&A for Decision MakersCome hear from top scientists and community leaders on traffic reduction and air quality. Here’s a chance for city and state officials to ask questions of the experts before facing important traffic & transit decisions. Stay tuned for more briefings to be announced.

Light breakfast will be served. Members and staffers welcome. Closed to the press.

Look out for additional information sent to your member’s office byEnvironmental Defense Fund including concise compilations of recent data on transit investment, traffic reduction and air quality.

TO RESERVE YOUR SEAT,OR TO GET MORE INFORMATION, please contact Mary Barber at Environmental Defense Fund(212) 616-1351or [email protected]

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Take a closer look atsome of the areas whereCUNY harnesses the powerof faculty and studentresearch to push theboundaries of knowledgeand discovery.

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4 MARCH 2008 CITY HALLwww.cityhallnews.com

BY ADAM PINCUS

ALTHOUGH THERE HAS

never been an allegation ofimproper activity, the posting of New

York Police Department officers in foreign countries tocombat terrorism poses complex questions that the CityCouncil has yet to address, according to several Councilmembers.

In the six and a half years since Sept. 11, the NYPDhas led the effort to protect the residents of the cityfrom more terrorist attacks. Department officers havehelped fill a void left by ineffective federal agencies, sev-eral local national security experts said.

To defend the city, the department created theCounterterrorism Bureau in 2002, which develops secu-rity policies and implements public actions such assurges to sensitive locations and bomb detection check-points in the subways.

At the same time, the department expanded theNYPD Intelligence Division.

In 2002, it launched the small but high-profileInternational Liaison Program, as part of theIntelligence Division. Currently, 10 officers are liaisonsto police departments and intelligence agencies aroundthe world. Their posting overseas allowed them toarrive quickly following attacks such as the Madrid andLondon subway bombings.

The City Council Public Safety Committee, which hasjurisdiction over the Police Department, has never heldoversight hearings on the foreign postings, Committeechair Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens) said.

He acknowl-edged that he does not have

the security clearance to viewclassified material, and he was

not sure the Council had thecapability to competently review

such police activities.“The City Council does not have

any real expertise in that area to con-duct meaningful oversight. Perhaps

some other system needs to be estab-lished,” he said. “We should have over-

sight. That is what our forefathers envisioned when theycame up with checks and balances. There is no way toperform an effective check if we weren’t actually awareof what is happening.”

The overseas officers are part of a vigorous effort bythe NYPD to provide a measure of its own security,despite federal agents from the FBI, CIA and other agen-cies doing similar liaison work overseas.

Jerome Skolnick, co-director of the Center ForResearch in Crime and Justice at NYU Law School,explained the reasoning.

“The federal intelligence agencies did not preventtwo major terrorist attacks in the City of New York onthe World Trade Center,” he said.

NYPD officers are stationed in London, Madrid,Paris, Tel Aviv, Santo Domingo, Toronto, Montreal,Singapore, Amman and Lyon, where Interpol is head-quartered, police officials said.

Their mission is to gather information from local lawenforcement agencies that can then be used to preventattacks here, uncover terrorists or their supporters here anddevelop information on terrorists’ tactics, officials have said.

However, they do not conduct investigations or gath-er raw intelligence, police spokesman Paul J. Brownewrote in an email.

In addition, NYPD detectives covered the March 2004train bombing in Madrid, the July 2005 subway attacks

in London and the July 2006 bombing of a train inMumbai, India. This information is then used to

help shape police tactics back in New York.“The intelligence about how and where the

Madrid bombs were assembled influenced howthe NYPD patrolled the New York City’s mass

transit system in the immediate aftermath ofthe attacks,” Browne wrote, as an exampleof how the information is used.

Council Member Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens), a member of the Public Safety

Committee and a former police officer himself,said hearings or a subcommittee should be formed, butwould have to take into consideration the confidentialnature of the police work.

“There are issues of national security or local securi-ty... some of which are sensitive,” he said. “We need tobalance the need for oversight without jeopardizingongoing [operations].”

Some law-enforcement experts and City Councilmembers said there were some complex legal issuesraised in the overseas deployments, though they wereunsure of where these would be addressed.

A spokesman for the Department of CitywideAdministrative Services said that he was unaware ofanyone outside the police department on the city pay-roll working overseas.

Joseph King, a professor at the John Jay College ForCriminal Justice, and a former Department of HomelandSecurity official, said he did not consider the question ofoversight of the liaison officers very pressing.

“I don't see it as a real issue,” he said, confident thepolice were training their officers to avoid potential prob-lems and providing internal oversight in the department.

But he asked what kind of oversight there was for theoverseas officers’ expenses, which are paid for by theprivate New York City Police Foundation. SeveralAmerican cities have such organizations to supportpolice programs the cities do not fund.

“Does the New York City Council have oversight overthose funds?” King said.

Council Member Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens), chairof the Civil Service and Labor Committee, said he toowould consider holding hearings for the good of the cityand for the good of the officers.

“I personally think the general public should under-stand how we interact with our neighbors overseas. Ifwe have NYPD officers overseas,” Addabbo said, “whatjurisdiction are we under and what protects the city per-sonnel?” C

[email protected]

Direct letters to the editor to

[email protected].

Oversight procedures onexpenses and legalissues unclear for

overseas NYPD officers

TravelingBlues


Conservatives Consider Radical Move in Staten Island RaceAs McMahon and Oddo prepare for tight race, Molinaro weighs options

BY DAN RIVOLI

GETTING THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY

endorsement is easy, said StatenIsland Borough President JamesMolinaro (C-Staten Island). The nod willgot to “who has the most goods.”

Historically, the Republicans have hadthe Conservative goods most of the time,though the Democrats have had theirmoments, too. But going into next year,Democrats in the borough are hopingthat they might be able to snatch thebacking of the 4,193-member strongStaten Island Conservative Party fromthe GOP.

Michael McMahon (D-Staten Island)received the Conservative Party endorse-ment in his two Council races. Going intohis all-but-announced bid for boroughpresident next year, McMahon said beingon the Conservative line could make thedifference in a tight race between hislikely Republican opponent, CouncilMember James Oddo.

“The Conservative Party has a verystrong tradition in supporting winningcandidates,” McMahon said. “Anyonewho runs for office in Staten Island, inparticular island-wide office, will courtthe Conservative Party for support.”

McMahon said his past endorsementsby the party put him in a good positionfor future support, though he is a

Democrat. He said the party’s endorse-ment process is based on political prag-matism instead of ideology.

“You don’t have to be ideologicallypure but you can’t be a pinko commu-nist,” he said. “I think you have to have agood working relationship with people inthe party.”

McMahon is not the only one reachingacross party lines. Oddo is courtingDemocrat consultant Hank Sheinkopf toadvise his run.

Bipartisanship comes naturally toStaten Island politics, Oddo said.

“Often, we still feel it’s Staten Islandversus the world,” he said. “We workshoulder to shoulder with each other ona daily basis, so it’s not a foreign conceptto us.”

That, together with tight racesbetween Republicans and Democrats formany offices in Staten Island, intensifiesthe power of the Conservative Party,said Richard Flanagan, an associate pro-fessor of political science at the Collegeof Staten Island.

“Things are pretty tight here betweenthe majority parties, so they still matter,”he said.

Molinaro was integral in the creationof New York’s Conservative Party.Formed in 1962, the Conservative Partywas the answer to New York’s liberalRepublicans. The party backed its own

candidates, most notably James L.Buckley, a one-term United States sena-tor from New York who won his seat onthe Conservative Party Line.

Though Republican ideology hasmoved steadily to the right since the1960s, Molinaro still sees the value inhaving a Conservative Party to help pro-vide a prod.

“There’s a lot of disappointment in theRepublican Party: too much ‘countryclub’ set,” Molinaro said. “It was the ironworker who elected Sen. Buckley.”

More often, though, the ConservativeParty power is through cross-endorsing,which Molinaro believes both deliversvotes on the party line and demonstratesto others that the candidate with theConservative endorsement might beworth attention.

“We’ve made the difference many,many times,” Molinaro said. “The reasonwhy people respond to us is that we’reselective in who we pick.”

And Molinaro has shown himself will-ing to use the Conservative Party line totry to hold sway over borough politics, ashe did in last year’s race for district attor-ney.

In Dan Donovan’s first bid for districtattorney, the Conservative Party linegave him his margin of victory. Molinarobacked his former aide.

But after Donovan recused himself fromprosecuting Molinaro’s grandson for a

parole violation stemming from assaulting apaperboy and his office prosecuted theyounger Molinaro, resulting in a five-yearsentence, Donovan earned Molinaro’swrath. The borough president, who feltDonovan should have stayed on the case,endorsed Donovan’s Democratic opponent.

The state and borough ConservativeParty, however, endorsed Donovan, whowas re-elected.

“It was a personal decision on the bor-ough president’s behalf,” said Mike Long,the state party’s chairman. “The party dis-

agreed with him. It certainly was an issueI disagreed with him on.”

Since the public schism, Molinaro hasbegun attending Democratic dinners andhe has announced his support for thecomptroller candidacy of Bronx BoroughPresident Adolfo Carrión (D).

Staten Island Democratic chair JohnGulino said that Molinaro was invited tothe dinners, as all party chairs are, out ofcustom. But he acknowledged that hav-ing the Conservatives at the Democratictable could help his party expand its baseof power.

“I’m trying to create a presence for theDemocrats in the south shore in StatenIsland,” he said. “That might mean morecandidates getting the ConservativeParty endorsement.” C

[email protected]


[email protected].

“We’ve made the difference many,many times,” said Borough

President James Molinaro of theConservative Party. “The reasonwhy people respond to us is thatwe’re selective in who we pick.”

Molinaro believes cross-endorsing delivers votes on the party line anddemonstrates to other voters that the candidate with the Conservativeendorsement might be worth attention.

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INT. 680A Local Law to amend the adminis-trative code of the City of New York,in relation to repaving streets.SPONSOR: Council Member SimchaFelder (D-Brooklyn)

Simcha Felder wants an answer. “Why should the taxpayers of this city

have to endure streets that are in terribleshape and pay to repair streets that wereripped up by utility companies and con-struction companies?” he asked.

City roads are supposed to be re-paved every five years. That is not oftenenough for Felder, whose office hasfielded numerous constituent com-plaints about broken roads. He believesutility and construction companies

should own up to damage they do tocity streets during construction.

He also wants to close a loopholeunder the current law which states thatso long as the repaired area remainsintact for 18 months, the utility compa-nies are not liable.

While Felderexpects broadsupport for hisbill, he claimsutility and con-struction com-panies have told him new costs forrepairs will be passed on to consumers.

He laughed off that logic. “Too bad, what are you talking

about?” he said. “You’re obligated to fixit right, that’s all.”

—DC

ON THEAGENDABills on the burnerfor the Council

:


BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE

THIS TIME, HE IS STARTING EARlier.This time, he is concentrating on rais-ing more money sooner than ever

before. This time, he will call on some formerclients to speak for him, whether they be theparents of children whose right to have cellu-lar phones in public schools he has defendedor the firefighters he has represented in hisSept. 11-related cases.

This will be Norman Siegel’s third race forpublic advocate. He still is not the expert onrunning, he said, but he is learning.

And the campaigns of Betsy Gotbaum (D),who beat him twice, have taught him some ofthe most valuable lessons.

The problem with running againstGotbaum was not himself or his message, hethinks. The problem was the political profes-sionals she was able to hire, the strategy theycrafted and the commercials she was able toplace. Siegel took careful notes on every-thing. But what he noted most of all was theemphasis she put on raising money, whichmade all the rest possible.

“Watching what Gotbaum did in ’05 andhow the last 10 days they were on all the sta-tions all the time, I want to make sure wehave significant funds to do what we want todo,” he said.

So, though he prepared a speech for hiscampaign kick-off event Feb. 25, he happilyturned the microphone over to an elderlywoman in the front row who interruptedhim.

Cane in one hand, waving checkbook inthe other, Marie Runyon screamed at thecrowd to write checks.

“New Yorkers for Norman Siegel!” she shouted, hold-ing up her pen and telling the crowd to put up theirmoney. “S-I-E-G-E-L!”

Siegel stepped forward again. Using two micro-phones to compensate for the spotty speaker system, hewelcomed the crowd. His loyal sup-porters were there. So were many ofhis clients, past and present, includ-ing the Grannies for Peace, the liti-gants in the Sept. 11 human remainscases, members of the black andLatino police officers groups, parentssuing the city over the cell phone ban,HIV/AIDS advocates and Rev. Billy, the per-formance artist-activist who hired Siegel as his lawyerwhen he was arrested for reciting the First Amendmentin Union Square Park.

“I love Damon Runyon characters,” he said, lookingout at the crowd. “And we got plenty of them.”

To the people in this crowd, Siegel is a hero. He hasbeen their lawyer, their representative, the man to standbeside them at rallies and lock arms with them atprotest marches. They helped power him to the run-offin 2001 and mount a strong challenge to Betsy Gotbaumin 2005. But to actually win next year, he knows, he willneed more.

“The idea this time of taking our core constituency,all the people that I’ve represented, zany characters andgroups—keeping that constituency and expanding it,”he said, “that’s the plan.”

After two campaigns, Siegel knows that some will tarhim as a perennial candidate, running just to run. On thecontrary, he said, he just wants to finally get his dreamjob. He never saw the office as a political steppingstone, and at 64, would even be satisfied with one term,supposing Mayor Michael Bloomberg successfully push-

es for a charter change that eliminates theoffice.

“What I’m hoping is that enough peoplerealize that if he’s doing it a third time, hemust really want this,” Siegel said. “Andthen when they look at some of the other

people this time, they’ll say ‘Let’s give him ashot.’”

Council Member Eric Gioia (D-Queens) andAssembly Member Adam Clayton Powell IV (D-Manhattan) are expected to make the race. ManhattanBorough President Scott Stringer (D) and CouncilMembers Robert Jackson (D-Manhattan) and HelenFoster (D-Bronx) are thought to be weighing runs aswell.

Having so many elected officials in the race couldsplinter the party establishment, which Siegel believeswould pave the way for him and his coalition of unusu-al suspects to squeak past.

But to get to that point, Siegel knows he will have toappeal not just to the Critical Mass riders, with whom hedanced an impromptu can-can on the sidewalk beforehis speech to “Norman,” an old polka tune by Big Louthe Accordion Princess. He will need to make someinroads toward the establishment through more events

like Lawyers for Siegel, being held for him atthe Harvard Club March 28.

So in between trying his cases, he has assem-bled a rag-tag group of volunteers to start gettinghis campaign apparatus in place. He has beenmaking fundraising calls—though not as many ashe should, he admits—and meeting with cam-paign consultants, both veterans and newcomers.

Advocacy he knows how to do. Politics is adifferent story. But in this campaign, he is will-ing to let others guide him more than he everhas before.

“I don’t think I’m the expert on the politicalstuff,” he said. “I’ll listen. That’s a difference.”

In this, he says, two former clients—CouncilMember Hiram Monserrate (D-Queens) and StateSen. Eric Adams (D-Brooklyn), both of whomwere hosts for the kick-off party—are particularlyvaluable.

He and Adams often discuss the campaign,with Adams advising him at every turn andappealing to fellow elected officials on Siegel’sbehalf.

“I have been speaking to them for almost ayear now,” said Adams.

Adams said he has been making someprogress, but admits that with several estab-lished politicians considering the race, gettingcommitments has been difficult. He thinks,however, that the appeals may be beginning towork, with politicians ready to let term limitsend their careers next year.

“Those who may not be running for some-thing else can vote with their conscience and

not with politics,” he said. Adams has even accompanied Siegel to cer-

tain political events. Siegel called Adams’ help priceless.

“I never had somebody who not only went throughthe process, but won, and who’s doing okay now, whocould potentially not only go with me to some of thesethings, but advise me about where some of the politicalminefields might be,” he said.

Adams has also helped beat the fundraising drum.Looking out at the crowd at the campaign kick-off, hetold them that helping Siegel was a simple matter ofprinciple. Siegel had helped all of them, Adams toldthem. Now they had to step up and help him.

“We gotta raise the money. We gotta raise the money.We gotta raise the money,” Adams told the crowd. “IfNorman loses this race because he didn’t have themoney, then everything we say we stand for, we don’tstand for.”

So far, the approach seems to be working, Siegel said.Between opening a new campaign account last summerand the January filing, he raised just over $80,000, includ-ing several maximum $4,950 donations. That does notcount the more than $40,000 generated by the almost 300people who came to the campaign kick-off event. Puttogether with the money he already has in the bank,Siegel has already raised more than a third as much as heraised during the whole of the 2005 campaign.

This kind of response, he says, makes him confidentthat he made the right decision to try one more time.

“We’re getting all this excitement and contributions,and we’re still two years away,” he said. “In the past, thatdidn’t even happen in the year of the election. So some-thing is percolating.” C

[email protected]

Before his campaign kick-off event, which raised over $40,000,Norman Siegel danced an impromptu can-can on the sidewalkwith Ellen Levin of Critical Mass.

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The Third Time, Siegel Hopes, Will Be the CharmSaying he has learned from his losses, Siegel starts campaigning and fundraising early

Council Member Lewis Fidler (D-Brooklyn) said the currentcommission should look closely at the city’s laws governing termlimits, but he doubts it will.

“When he first said it, in a moment of euphoria combined withstupidity, I thought maybe he was actually going to offer us athird term,” Fidler said. “Quite frankly, that would have been ahugely good government solution.”

In the past, the introduction of a charter commission immedi-ately sparked rumors that offices such as borough president

and public advocate, which were stripped of some of theirpower after the 1989 revision, would be eliminated.

If these are part of the proposed revisions, voterswould face a ballot next year which asked them

whether they wanted these offices to continueexisting while simultaneously voting for who

would be the new people to hold these offices. But that may be too controversial for this

commission, said Gene Russianoff, a seniorlawyer at the New York Public InterestResearch Group.

“They don’t want to put out a ballot ini-tiative that’s going to be wildly controver-

sial,” he said. “I don’t think he has anaxe to go after anybody.”

While Russianoff has been criticalof the frequency at which bothBloomberg and Giuliani have calledfor charter revisions, he said he sens-es a different spirit in the discussionsthis time.

Following the State of the City,Russianoff met with Deputy MayorKevin Sheekey and Anthony Crowell,Bloomberg’s special counsel, to dis-cuss the proposal.

The feeling Russianoff and othershave gotten is that Bloomberg willmostly focus on making permanent

some of the innovations he has brought to city govern-ment over the past six years, including 311 and the city-wide performance reporting tools.

“What they say is it’s the end of their tenure in officeand they’d like to institutionalize some of the changesthey’ve made,” he said. “I take their motives as sincere.”

Esther Fuchs, a professor of public affairs atColumbia University who chaired a 2003 charter com-mission while serving as special advisor to Bloomberg,said the possibilities for change in this latest push areenormous. Modernizing and streamlining the adminis-trative code written into the charter would be a majorand much needed step, she said.

“There are all sorts of assumptions in the charterthat are detailed and go back to particular historic peri-ods of time that don’t make sense anymore,” she said.“When I was looking at it I was saying, ‘Why the hellwould the city charter have such detail on the structureof the Sanitation Department?’”

Despite what others think, Fuchs said she stillexpects the new commission to look very closely at thepossibility of eliminating the offices of borough presi-dent and public advocate.

“In the back, you whisper about all the proposalsthat could come through. Invariably,” she said, “thoseissues come up.” C

[email protected]

BY ANDREW J. HAWKINS

IF MAYOR MICHAEL BLOOMBERG GETS HIS

way, the city will soon see its eighth charter revi-sion in nine years. The mayor’s office is decliningto say what sort of changes the mayor has in mind

or even whom he would name to the commission heproposed, leaving some wondering whether he plansrevisions as expansive as those of 1989, which radicallyrestructured city government, or whether he is simplylooking to codify his legacy as he enters the lame duckphase of his administration.

In his State of the City speech, during which heannounced this effort, Bloomberg made clear that heintends to target the appointment process of the city’sBoard of Elections. Election commissioners are appoint-ed by party bosses and approved by the City Council, aprocess viewed by some as political patronage.

“2008 is the 130th anniversary of the death of BossTweed,” Bloomberg said. “Let’s also make it the year wefinally put to rest his style of politics.”

The commission is being given 18 months to reviewthe entire charter, which Baruch College professorDoug Muzzio said is more than enough time to makewide-ranging changes.

“This would be a long one,” Muzzio said, “because hewants to do the big study and he wants it on the ballot

at the same time as the citywide elections of 2009,exactly 20 years after the last big revision.”

Potential topics that could appear on the 2009 ballotinclude nonpartisan elections—which Bloomberg failedto get voters to adopt in 2003—term limits and cam-paign finance, Muzzio said. Bloomberg is vocal in hissupport of term limits, and has recently ramped up hiscriticism of the campaign finance system.

Charter commissions have previously been wieldedby both Bloomberg and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) toblunt public referendums and censor public officials.(In 1999, then-Senate candidate Giuliani famously creat-ed a charter commission stoked with loyalists to look atmayoral succession in an attempt to prevent then-Public Advocate Mark Green from succeeding Giulianiif he was elected to the Senate.)

In a departure from previous years, Bloomberg saidthe commission’s work will dovetail with a similarreview by Citizens Union, a good government group.

Dick Dadey, the organization’s executive director,said the primary goal of any charter commission shouldbe to make city government more transparent andaccessible.

“I don’t know if this is about his legacy,” Dadey said.“I see it as more of a non-partisan exercise with an eyetoward forwarding not any one political agenda butimproving city government as a whole.”

Eliminating offices seemsunlikely, but not impossible,in Bloomberg legacy bid

Observers areunsure whether Mayor

Michael Bloombergis out to radically

restructure city gov-ernment, or whether

he is simply look-ing to codify his

legacy as he push-es for the eighth

charter revision innine years.

MagnaCharter

www.cityhallnews.com10 MARCH 2008 CITY HALL


Campaigning forChange in Cobble HillTo Squadron, early start in primary will be key to unseating Connor

BY DAN RIVOLI

DEMOCRATS AROUND THE STATE

are making a vigorous attempt forcontrol of the State Senate this year, anddoing their best to tamp down on pri-mary challenges.

Daniel Squadron is running anyway. While State Sen. Martin Connor (D-

Manhattan/Brooklyn) is legislating inAlbany, Daniel Squadron is getting a headstart on a primary challenge.

With six months until the election,Squadron, a first-time candidate, hasmade campaigning a full-time job in hisattempt to mount a serious challenge tothe 30-year incumbent.

“When you look at the change weneed, the State Senate is really the centerof it,” he said.

Though refusing donations from corpo-rations, political action committees andlobbyists, Squadron has amassed a warchest of over $200,000. Among his 350donors are family members who have givenhim $17,700. Connor, on the other hand,shows a $38,217 debt as of the January fil-ing, which he has attributed to a campaignfinance board bookkeeping error.

Connor’s chief of staff, Martin Algaze,said that Connor’s focus is on his Senatework.

“He’s got a lot to do for the state”instead of starting a re-election campaignso early in the year, Algaze said.

Algaze added that Connor will take theprimary challenge seriously and, when thetime comes, hire campaign staff and openan office. But he insisted that this was notyet the time for politicking.

“The senator will be doing all thethings he needs to do to run for re-elec-tion,” Algaze said. “We’re not going tomarch to [Squadron’s] time schedule.”

In 2006, affordable housing developerKen Diamondstone received 45 percent ofthe vote in his primary challengeto Connor. Diamondstone is reportedlymulling running against Connor again him-self, which could potentially set up a fightfor the Working Families Party nomination.Diamondstone carried that line in 2006,and Squadron is hoping to get it this year.

Squadron’s family moved into the dis-trict in 1990, and he now lives in CobbleHill. Though he may be young, he said,his roots in the district are deep.

“It’s the district where my grandfatherwas raised,” he said. “The area it covers,to me, feels like the center of the world.”

Squadron, whose neatly trimmedbeard makes his 28-year-old face look abit older, has been active in local politicsfor several years. In 2005, he was a fielddirector for the mayoral campaign of Rep.Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens)and communications director for the

Transportation Bond Act. These experiences, he said, taught

him the importance of retail politics, andhelp explain why he has planned somuch time for his campaign.

“One lesson I really learned is youhave to work hard and introduce yourselfpersonally to as many people as you can.And that’s what I plan to do,” Squadronsaid.

After the 2005 campaigns, Squadronmoved to the political consulting firmKnickerbocker SKD and co-authored lastyear’s Positively American: Winning

Back the Middle-Class Majority One

Family at a Time with another formerboss, Sen. Charles Schumer (D).

The ideas explained in the book,Squadron said, “show both a real ideal-ism for big ideas that are also obtain-able.”

He has started to craft a platform forsuch ideas on policy issues that affect thedistrict. In rebuilding Ground Zero,which is in the Lower Manhattan portionof Connor’s district, he speaks of creat-ing a construction schedule that benefitsthe city, the owner of the property andresidents who are affected by the noise.

But whether talking about this, theconstant struggle between developmentand affordable housing, or anything else,Squadron never strays far from the word“change.”

That, he believes, will be a good sell-ing point in his State Senate race, andperhaps enough to put him over the top.

“When it comes to the broken cultureof Albany,” Squadron said, “people don’tneed a lot of convincing that we need achange.” C

[email protected]


[email protected].

Whether talking about this, theconstant struggle between devel-opment and affordable housing, oranything else, Squadron neverstrays far from the word “change.”

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ON A RECENT CHILLY NIGHT ON

East 83rd Street, in the heart ofthe old Silk Stocking, a small

group of young Republicans gathered fora pep talk from State Sen. Martin Golden(R-Brooklyn).

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Golden said,his hands clasped tightly in front of him,“I am impressed by the numbers I see inthis room.”

The hundred or so in attendancesmiled and applauded.

“You would expect them in Nassauand Suffolk,” Golden said. “But youwouldn’t expect them on the East Side ofManhattan.”

Less than a decade ago, this wasstrong Republican territory. The localstate senator was a Republican, as werethe local members of the Assembly andCity Council. But in a process whichbegan with Carolyn Maloney’s toppling ofincumbent Rep. Bill Green in 1992,

Manhattan’s Republicans have fallen onharder and harder times.

And despite the turnout of eagerRepublicans sizable enough to surpriseGolden, the trend seems unlikely tochange any time soon.

Republican enrollment has remainedstagnant for over a decade at about113,000, which pales in comparison tothe over 600,000 enrolled Democrats inthe borough. In the six weeks leading upto the most recent voter registrationdeadline, 7,380 new Democrats joinedthe rolls in the borough, compared to just1,049 new Republicans.

This was just the latest bit of bad newsfor a county party which has not had asingle locally elected Republican since2002 and had its former chair, JamesOrtenzio, plead guilty to tax evasion latelast year.

That makes the task of rebuilding atough one.

“We’re under no delusions that it is adifficult task,” said Jason Weingartner,

the newly installed executivedirector of the Manhattan GOP.Weingartner succeeds MarcusCederqvist, who left to become thenew executive director of the cityBoard of Elections.

A handful of Manhattan candi-dates for the November electionwill be unveiled in the comingmonths, Weingartner said. Therewill be a host of new Republicanfaces vying for open Council seatsin 2009.

Republicans say the key to theirsuccess in Manhattan is namerecognition, something JohnChromczak, a medical technician atNew York University and a novice tothe political stage, said he will haveto work on when he attempts tounseat incumbent State Sen. MartinConnor (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan)later this year.

“Even if the majority of peoplewho live in the district areDemocrats, they’re worried aboutpublic transportation, they’re wor-ried about congestion pricing,”said the soft-spoken Chromczak.“I’m looking forward to the uphillbattle.”

Chromczak, who has yet to filehis intent to run with the stateBoard of Elections, said he wasinspired to challenge Connor bythe lack of political action follow-ing the fire at the Deutsch Bankbuilding late last year.

Current Manhattan GOP chair,Jennifer Saul Yaffa, said she alsorelishes the idea of an uphill battle.

But the crucial task of fundraising ismade all the more difficult by the lack ofRepublican elected officials to put a pub-lic face on the party, she said.

“People usually like to give money toofficials,” Yaffa said. “It’s tough.”

The party’s new county club fundrais-ing initiative, which requires members topay $1,000 annually for a year’s worth ofevents, has netted the party $30,000 sofar, she said. Last year’s annual LincolnDay dinner brought in $300,000.

Another issue that befuddles some inthe borough is the existence of two sepa-rate young Republican organizations—both called the New York YoungRepublican Club. The groups have madeattempts to overcome the split whichdates back to the Lindsay administration,but to little avail.

“We are recognized by the state andlocal GOP. They’re not,” Lynn Krogh, pres-ident of the New York Young RepublicanClub, said of the other similarly namedclub. “We’ve been working to bring themtogether. There’s still some wounds.”

Krogh said she also finds solace in theday-to-day struggle of being a Republicanin Manhattan.

“It’s like pushing a 3,000 pound car upa hill,” she said. “It’s not an easy thing todo.”

Andrew Eristoff, a former Councilmember from the East Side who massive-

ly outspent but was soundly beaten byState Sen. Liz Krueger in 2002, saidManhattan Republicans prospects havesuffered from the drop in crime he feelsthey helped make happen.

“Ironically, we arguably are victims ofour own success,” Eristoff said. “Nowthat we’re through that crisis, a lot of vot-ers have reverted to type.”

Eristoff said he was not optimisticabout Republican chances in the near-term.

“I don’t see any openings,” he said. “Iwish I did. I think we all benefit fromcompetition.”

A desire for competition, in additionto dissatisfaction with Gov. Eliot Spitzer(D), may be what swings the pendulumback in the Republicans’ favor, saidWilliam O’Reilly, a consultant who haslong worked with ManhattanRepublicans.

“We realize these are tough times,” hesaid. “We will be ready when the votersare ready to listen to us.”

But after so many elections withRepublicans unable to break past 35 per-cent in the polls, some local activists arestarting to wonder if that time will evercome.

“We show up with these guys withthese great résumés,” said RobertMorgan, president of the century-oldMetropolitan Republican Club. “Butthey’re Republicans, so there must besomething wrong with them.”

By adopting an “if at first you don’tsucceed” type strategy, Morgan saidRepublicans can win elections inManhattan if they are willing to lose afew times first.

Joel Zinberg, an Upper West Side sur-geon who in 2005 lost a Council race toJessica Lappin, and Gregory Camp, alawyer who last year lost a specialAssembly election to Micah Kellner, areboth expected to run again, according toWeingartner.

Lolita Jackson, former president ofthe Metropolitan Club and now theManhattan director of the city’sCommunity Affairs Unit, is also viewedas a rising star with crossover appeal. Arelatively young African-Americanwoman with strong Republican creden-tials, Jackson has been courted to run byseveral, but has so far refused.

“The day she says yes is the day I hitthe streets for her,” Weingartner said.

For now, though, ManhattanDemocrats remain confident. Krueger,who began her career in elected life bynearly toppling local Republican legendRoy Goodman, represents the Manhattandistrict which many see as the mostfavorable for Republicans. But she hasnot faced a serious challenger since 2002,and so far has no opponent for this fall.

She consistently encountersRepublicans in her district who say theyfeel disenfranchised by their own party.

“They say, ‘Damn it, I just voted foryou,’” Krueger said, laughing. “And it’slike, ‘Well, you had an alternative.’” C

[email protected]

Out to PastureNew life for Manhattan GOP may be yearsaway, but some hold out hope for ’08 and ’09

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Despite Backing from Bloomberg and Quinn, Ferry Plan Faces Choppy Waters$100 million annual subsidy could sink expansion, pull money from elsewhere, some worry


IN PLANYC, MAYOR MICHAEL

Bloomberg called for expandingferry service to new communities

that are springing up along the city’swaterfronts.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn(D-Manhattan) upped the ante in thisyear’s State of the City speech, promisinga “comprehensive five-borough, year-round New York City ferry system.”

But with tough financial times aheadand ferries traditionally costing muchand earning little, some of the samepoliticians and transportation advocatescheering the city’s plan are nervouslywringing their hands.

Council Member John Liu (D-Queens),who chairs the Council TransportationCommittee, praised Bloomberg and Quinnfor committing to ferry expansion at atime when the city’s roadways are buck-ling under record levels of congestion. Buthe warned that the plan will not be cheap.

“We’re talking on order of $100 milliona year to do it right as a connection to allfive boroughs,” Liu said. “Although theprice tag is high, it’s far more affordableand cost efficient than building new sub-way lines.”

For years the Council butted headswith Bloomberg over public subsidies forferries, Liu said. But now he said he is

seeing a change of heart at City Hall. The city’s Traffic Mitigation

Commission proposed using revenuesfrom congestion pricing to create a $39million “lockbox” from which money forferry expansion could be pulled. But Liuand others stressed that cash will need toflow from other sources as well.

Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) and CarolynMaloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) have inthe past earmarked millions of dollars forferry expansion. And city officials arecounting on a renewed commitmentfrom Washington as well as financial helpfrom the private sector.

Vincent Gentile (D-Brooklyn) said heeagerly awaits the day when he can say“all aboard” for ferry rides from his BayRidge community to Lower Manhattan.

“Ferries have been the only mode oftransportation that hasn’t been subsi-dized by the city or the MTA,” Gentilesaid. “That’s outrageous, because it’sprobably the most efficient, the fastest,the most direct route for many, manyNew Yorkers.”

The city could buy ferries and leasethem back to the operating companies,Gentile said, as a way to mitigate costs.

But public funding tops the list of pri-orities for many cash-strapped ferryoperators across the city. A few daysbefore Quinn unveiled her five borough

vision, the New York Water Taxi, one ofthe city’s five still viable ferry operators,shut down its service between theBrooklyn Army Terminal and Manhattan.

Company president Tom Fox said thatthe financial woes afflicting most ferryoperators underscores the need for cityofficials to identify specific and viablecash streams.

“Even with the best intentions, onehas to not only find the money, but devel-op the fiscal system to disburse it,” Foxsaid.

The city is currently leafing throughproposals for a ferry line linking theRockaways to Manhattan. Quinn’s fargrander vision, which is still in develop-ment, imagines lines connecting HuntsPoint in the Bronx to Coney Island.

Some transportation advocates areworried that with only so much money togo around, the speaker’s focus on thewaterways may come at the expense ofstreet and transit improvements.

“Ferries require a much higher operatingsubsidy than surface transit,” said PaulSteely White, executive director ofTransportation Alternatives. “I think wereally need to take a close look at beingvery strategic about which ferry trips aregoing to be subsidized and at where busesand bicycling and walking would be better.”

Frequency and connectivity are otherissues the City Council needs to take into

account, said Roland Lewis, executivedirector of the Metropolitan WaterwayAlliance.

“If you miss the 7:20, you might bewaiting until 8:20 for the next ferry,”Lewis said,“or until 7:20 the next day.”

Lewis added that he believes newferry terminals must be well-linked tobus lines and subway stations if the ferrysystem is to work.

City Transportation CommissionerJanette Sadik-Kahn said that this is notthe only issue of interconnectivity, insist-ing that the ability to move from oneform of transportation to another with asingle Metrocard would be ideal.

“You could imagine taking a series ofEast River ferries coming across theriver, getting on a bus rapid transit sys-tem, taking that across 34th Street,” shesaid. “I think it all ties together.”

Regardless, with the political will toexpand the city’s ferry system firmly inplace, New York’s waterways may soonbe teeming with dozens of new boats andthousands of new commuters.

Fox said expanding the city’s ferryservice fits neatly into New York’s tradi-tion of big ideas.

“We built the Verazzano Bridge. Webuilt the Brooklyn Bridge,” Fox said. “Wecan build anything we put our minds tobuilding.” C

[email protected]

The men and women of the port of New York and New Jersey...

“Wakefern Food Corporation/ShopRite relies on the port of New York

and New Jersey to effectively remain the largest retailer-owned

cooperative in the United States. As the region’s leading supermarket

retailer, all of us at Wakefern Food Corp./ShopRite understand the

benefits of the distribution efficiencies that the port provides. With

$9.9 billion in retail sales and nearly 50,000 associates, we know

what it takes to remain competitive.Our customers depend on us for

fresh products and low prices — we dependon the port to help us

keep that promise to our customers.”

Joseph ColalilloChairman and CEO

Wakefern Food Corporation

Our region’s businesses rely on the port.Without it there’d be no bananas for breakfast or other products we take for granted. Think of it — the port is responsible for:

• More than $150 billion in cargo each year

• 236,000 full time jobs in the metropolitan area

• Serving 35% of the entire U.S. population

The port of New York and New Jersey isthe cornerstone of the supply chainthat we depend on.

New York Shipping Association, Inc. © 2008

Would congestion pricing gut the state’s environmental laws, as some assert?The legislature’s Traffic Commission calls for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), to focus on neighborhood-level impacts andto be completed before congestion pricing starts. Traditional EIS review stops when a project is built, but the Commission went further: it requires environmental monitoring and mitigation even after congestion pricing starts. This is powerful protection for localneighborhoods. The Commission proposal is the result of detailed analysis of over 30 alternatives and modifications reviewed in 14public hearings. The best traffic models available today found clear air quality and traffic reduction benefits. The neighborhood-levelEIS the Commission calls for will supplement this review with detailed modeling of mitigation alternatives. Congestion pricing deliverstraffic decreases in every borough. For example, under the Commission’s proposal, congestion is expected to drop 39% in westernQueens, as through-traffic headed to the central business district decreases. When traffic levels on our streets go down, that’s goodfor our lungs and the climate, and the improved mobility is good for the economy.- James T. B. Tripp, General Counsel, Environmental Defense – www.edf.org

How do we make sure revenue from congestion pricing is actually spent on transit? We all know stories about money collected by state and city government that didn't go where it should have. Like Lotto proceedsintended for improving schools. We always have to be vigilant about the difference between government promises and its performance.But there is a good track record here. For 25 years, billions of tax dollars dedicated to transit have in fact gone to transit. With theright legal safeguards and with the right oversight - congestion pricing money will be spent on the right projects.- Gene Russianoff, Senior Attorney, NYPIRG/Straphangers Campaign – www.straphangers.org

Is congestion pricing regressive and unfair to lower-income and middle-class New Yorkers?No. The truth is, most low-income and middle-class New Yorkers will not pay the congestion charge, but will benefit from the policy.After a thorough survey of the existing research, The Drum Major Institute for Public Policy finds that most low-income and middle-class New Yorkers don’t drive to work in the congestion pricing zone at all: overall only 5.2% of working New Yorkers do. Of the smallpercentage of people that do drive, the overwhelming majority choose to do so despite having mass transit options. 80% currently havea transit option available that would add less than 15 minutes to their one-way commute. Moreover, if the legislature chooses, it canmodify tax policy to mitigate the impact on the very small number of lower income drivers without transit options. Meanwhile, congestionpricing revenues will be used to fund transit improvements in areas which currently have the fewest options, predominantly neighborhoods of the city’s current and aspiring middle class. - Gene Russianoff, Senior Attorney, NYPIRG/Straphangers Campaign – www.straphangers.org

Is congestion pricing going to increase traffic and health burdens in neighborhoods alreadyoverburdened with pollution and asthma?Low income communities that have served as the reluctant hosts to NYC's polluting infrastructure and highways stand to benefit themost from congestion pricing. In Sunset Park, for example, the Gowanus expressway has over 125,000 cars and over 20,000 truckspass through Sunset Park, Brooklyn on a daily basis. The majority of Lutheran Medical Center's asthma discharges live along thiscorridor. Congestion pricing will reduce the number of vehicles coming through the Gowanus and other working class communities

from Western Queens to Harlem, directly benefiting the local residents’ environment while also funding new transit options.- Elizabeth Yeampierre, Co-Chair, The New York City Environmental Justice Alliance – www.nyceja.org

Are there other alternatives that would work better than congestion pricing to reduce traffic and raise needed funds to improve transit?No alternatives can achieve both goals. Some have suggested stricter enforcement and higher traffic fines, but that will do little to reducecongestion except in some isolated locations. And if violations diminished, so would the revenue needed to improve transit. Othershave said we should raise the money for transit by increasing the number of parking meters and the rates charged. This too might raisesome money - but not enough. Let's face it. Congestion pricing is the way to do the job; charge those who can most afford it - andthen let’s dedicate the money to make transit a more attractive option. - Jeff Zupan, Senior Fellow, Transportation, Regional Plan Association – www.rpa.org

Questions about congestion pricing? Trusted experts weigh in…

www.bettertransit.org


Recchia Says Slow and Steady Will Win the RaceFossella challenger yet to meet fundraising threshold, but DCCC remains confident

BY DAN RIVOLI

COUNCIL MEMBER DOMENIC

Recchia (D-Brooklyn) is showingsigns he is serious about running forCongress against Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn). He is develop-ing a campaign staff. He has out-raisedhis likely primary opponent, Brooklynlawyer Steve Harrison. And his pres-ence is growing on Staten Island—some have even taken to calling himConey Island Dom, he said.

Unlike Harrison, however, Recchiahas yet to put up a campaign websiteor rack up Democratic club endorse-ments. Nor has he officially filed hiscandidacy with the Board of Electionsor moved into the district—though hecurrently lives only 20 feet outside theboundary.

Many people expected him to do all ofthis by now. He himself said last Octoberthat he planned to raise a threshold$500,000 by Christmas, though at year’s

end he filed donations of just $220,770with the Federal Elections Commission.

He has backed off of hard deadlines. “There’s no rush,” he said. Before making his candidacy official,

Recchia wants to have his campaignapparatus fully organized.

“You can’t just wake up and say ‘I’m

running for Congress,’” Recchia said.“When you’re prepared, you’ll win.”

Though Recchia’s opponents haveused his out-of-district address against

him, he has brushed off these com-ments. His Council district covers alarge portion of the Brooklyn sideof the Congressional district, henotes, and for years he has deliv-ered funds to Staten Island as chairof the Cultural Affairs Committee.

“No one says to me when I bringthe money in, ‘Hey CouncilmanRecchia, when are you moving intothe district?’” Recchia said.

However, he said that if he winsthe seat, he would strongly consid-er moving into the district.

Despite putting off an officialannouncement, Recchia hasalready received the backing of theDemocratic CongressionalCampaign Committee (DCCC),which has prioritized the race.Fossella has proven a strong oppo-nent in the past, but with strongDemocratic trends in New York andthe presidential election this year,they are speaking confidently aboutthis year’s election. The federalinvestigation into Fossella’s ex-campaign treasurer, Chris Ward,makes them even more hopeful.

“The Republicans have a hugeproblem now—they’re fundraisingunder a cloud,” said Rep. SteveIsrael (D-Nassau/Suffolk), head ofNortheast recruiting for the DCCC.

Fossella spokesperson Georgea Kayesaid the Ward investigation will not affectthe campaign.

With the National RepublicanCongressional Committee expected toput money into the race to protect the

seat, Israel said Democrats need a candi-date who can keep up with Fossella’sfundraising and can deliver a winningmessage.

“Nobody’s ever argued that this is aslam dunk for Democrats,” Israel said.“This is going to be hard.”

The party has all but ignored Harrison,whom DCCC chair Rep. Chris Van Hollen(D-Maryland) referred to at a Februarycampaign only as “another candidate” inthe race. By contrast, Recchia, VanHollen said, is a “candidate we think is areally good fit.”

“More importantly,” he added, “thepeople in his district think he’s a reallygood fit.”

Though Israel said that campaigningearly often helps candidates looking tooust incumbents, he is confident that thedelay will not hamper Recchia.

“In a normal political climate, waitingfor a long time could be a disadvantage,but—and this is a big but—this is not anormal political environment,” Israelsaid. “The Democrats are revved up.”

Recchia has previously said Harrisonshould have started running immediatelyafter his 2006 defeat, when he was theDemocratic nominee.

Harrison, however, insisted that run-ning too early, he said, “shows certaindisrespect to voters.”

Harrison formally announced his 2008bid last August. He has since put togeth-er a full campaign and has leases for cam-paign offices. He believes he started withmore than enough time, but that the timehas passed for a candidate to be able to

enter the race and succeed. “When it’s more than a year and aquarter out into the election, that

should be a sufficient amount oftime to put your resourcestogether,” Harrison said. “Ifyou’re just starting right now

putting your campaign stafftogether, you’re late.” Assembly Member Vito Lopez, the

Brooklyn Democratic leader who haslong been in Recchia’s corner for thepotential primary match-up, said thatwhen Recchia reaches his $500,000fundraising goal, matching funds fromthe DCCC will put Recchia’s campaign inthe million-dollar range. That will imme-diately catapult Recchia into the next

phase of his campaign.“Domenic is right on target,” Lopez

said. “He’s not waiting too long.”Lopez said Recchia is courting elect-

ed officials while building supportthroughout the district.

“He’s putting time into this andbuilding relationships,” Lopez said.

So while there may not be an officialcampaign operation in place, Lopezsaid, there is certainly a campaignunderway. “These are things that he is nursing

and developing,” he said. [email protected]


[email protected].

“In a normal political climate, waitingfor a long time could be a disadvantage,

but—and this is a big but—this is not anormal political environment,” said Rep.Steve Israel (D-Nassau/Suffolk), head of

Northeast recruiting for the DCCC.

Council Member Domenic Recchiasaid last fall that if he could raise

$500,000 by Christmas, he wouldtake the next step in his expected

run against Rep. Vito Fossella.He raised just $220,770, and has

backed off of hard deadlines for hiscandidacy, saying “there’s no rush.”S

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Compared to the average salaries for the same title in the

20 largest cities in America:

NYC Corrections Officers earn 42% more

NYC Sanitaiton Workers earn 66% more

NYC Firefighters earn 7% more

NYC Police Officers earn 30% less

That’s why pattern bargaining doesn’t work.

Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association of the City of New York

PATRICK J. LYNCHPresident


With or Without Democratic Line, Baldeo Plans Senate RematchSays he will make racial debate central to Addabbo challenge

BY ADAM PINCUS

ALBERT BALDEO DOES NOT CARE

that state and local Democraticleaders want him to stay out of the raceagainst State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens). After surprising nearly every-one with the margin of his loss to Maltesein 2006—with virtually no support, hecame within 1,000 votes over the ten-term incumbent—Baldeo is determinedto run again, and is revving up for a large-ly self-financed insurgent campaign forthe Democratic nomination.

He will be in the race no matter what,he said, and is willing to devote his ownmoney and much of his time to fightingall the way to November.

“The voters in the district wantchange,” he said. “We are here for reform.We are not beholden to special interests,lobbyists and Democratic bosses.”

Baldeo currently has more money onhand than Maltese or his expectedDemocratic rival, City Council MemberJoseph Addabbo.

The campaign for the seat, whichstretches from Maspeth and MiddleVillage through South Ozone Park toHoward Beach, could cost more than $3million between the candidates, insiderssaid, especially with the GOP’s now one-seat majority in the Senate. Like most ofQueens, the district has a large numberof immigrants. Half its population—

made up largely of Italians, Irish, SouthAsians, Guyanese and Hispanics—is esti-mated to be first or second generation.Baldeo is himself a native of Guyana.

Addabbo said he will run on his recordfrom two terms on the Council. Heexpects state and county party support,he said, but also hopes for Republicanbacking.

“Every community is different in mydistrict, and I have answered each com-munity according to their needs,” he said.

Addabbo said he expects to formallyannounce his candidacy in March orApril.

At 75, Maltese is nearly 30 years olderthan either rival, but he said he is a hard-working author of more than 200 billswho delivers for his district and stays intouch by attending a daunting scheduleof civic and religious gatherings.

“I love this job; I love what I do,” hesaid, adding, “You have to ask others ifmy mind is still sharp.”

He said he has been pledged supportby Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno(R-Rensselaer) in both help and money.

“Senator Bruno indicated if I need ithe would commit over $1 million to therace,” he said.

Maltese has raised more than Baldeoand Addabbo over the past year—$214,245—but after paying hefty cam-paign bills, was left with only $89,694 onhand as of his January campaign financefiling.

As of that same filing, Baldeo hadraised $57,820 and Addabbo had raised$74,745.

Baldeo also loaned his campaign$243,000 over the last year, giving himmore than $309,000 on hand, accordingto the records. He said the money wasearned from his work as an immigrationattorney, and through real estate andfinancial investments.

Addabbo has $77,709 on hand, includ-ing $25,000 in transfers from two Councilcampaign funds that were not registeredwith the state Board of Elections.

Democrats insist Addabbo will get suf-ficient funds from the party, notingSenate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, afellow Queens Democrat, is headlining afundraiser in April for him to do just that.

Already through Smith, Addabbo alsoreceived $28,500 in three contributionsfrom liberal philanthropist George Sorosand his family.

The close election in 2006, in whichBaldeo lost to Maltese by 894 votes,should not give Baldeo any advantagewith the party, a Democratic consultantsaid.

“The fact that Baldeo has run beforedoes not give him some kind of hold onthe nomination," said Scott Levenson, apolitical consultant close to the stateDemocratic Senate CampaignCommittee.

Addabbo, Levenson added, “is widelyrespected by voters on both sides of theaisle and that is what it is going to take towin.”

Michael Reich, executive secretary tothe Queens Democratic Party, saidAddabbo would make the stronger candi-date against Maltese.

If Baldeo were to win the nomination,Reich said, “I feel our odds of winningthe seat will be severely diminished.”

Baldeo countered that Addabbo wasout of touch with the changing communi-ty, charging that the Council membershould have supported a Guyanese fami-

ly in a dispute in largely whiteHoward Beach last year.

Addabbo said the disputewas not racially motivated, asBaldeo believes, and suggestedthat Baldeo was trying to mis-represent his position ahead oftheir upcoming primary battle.

“This situation that Albertlabeled me a racist for, I thinkwas a poor excuse for him touse this for political gain,”Addabbo said.

Baldeo plans to make cam-paign issues of that incidentand “the fact that he hasshunned minority staff,” hesaid, noting that thoughAddabbo’s Council district islargely white, “the Senate dis-trict is not reflective of the CityCouncil district. It is a totallydifferent ball game here.”

Addabbo said he had nominorities among eight full-time and several part-time staffmembers, but that he wascolor-blind when he selectedapplicants.

“It is not the fact that I looknot to hire. It is a question ofwho has applied for me andwho is willing to do the workthat I do. I demand a lot frommy staff,” he said.

Baldeo pledged to fight on, even if helost the party nomination. Even if notrunning as a Democrat, he expects thou-sands of the Democrats who voted forhim in 2006 would vote for him in a 2008general election.

And he intends to give them thatopportunity, no matter how the primarygoes.

“My game plan,” he said, “is to seek asmany third-party lines and form my ownthird-party line.” C

[email protected]


[email protected].

Albert Baldeo raised $57,820, and loanedhis campaign $243,000 for a repeat bid tounseat State Sen. Serphin Maltese.

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INT. 682A Local Law to amend the

administrative code of the City ofNew York, in relation to providinglegal counsel for certain personssubject to eviction or foreclosureproceedings.

SPONSOR: Council MemberAlan Gerson (D-Manhattan)

While criminal defendants areguaranteed legal representation attrial, tenants facing evictions are not.

This does not make sense toGerson.

“If you give me a choice, would Iprefer to spend a

month in jailand receive afine or lose myhome forever?I’m not sure. I

might opt for themonth in jail,” he said.

In addition to putting evictiondefendants at a disadvantage, thecurrent system makes trials movemore slowly and inefficiently, Gersonbelieves. Judges are forced to eitherassist defendants or ignore prob-lems, he said, making cases drag onwhile the defendants struggle tounderstand legal technicalities.

More ACCESS

More NEWS

More


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a self-financed independent.All the campaign headquarters were going to be with-

in walking distance of subway stops. All the town’s political consultants were going to be

flush with business. All the local reporters were going to go national. Oh, the drama.Oh, the opportunities. Oh, the frequent flier miles out of JFK, the stump

speeches in Central Park, the Statue of Liberty cam-paign commercial backdrops, the knishes on the cam-paign trail, the Big Apple pride.

Oh, the three-way presidential subway series thatwill not be.

hen came Florida. Just like John Lindsay, thelast New York City mayor to run for presi-dent, Giuliani ended his flailing campaign inthe Sunshine State with a whimper. America

rejected America’s mayor. A month later came Bloomberg’s New York Times op-

ed. He would not be a candidate, he wrote, using muchthe same language as he had over two and a half years ofpress conferences denials. But this time everyoneaccepted his finality. The secret strategy sessions wereover. The campaign that could not be would not be.

Though battered in the weeks leading up to March 4,with her primary showings in Texas and Ohio, Clinton isstill very much in the running. But even if she wins the

nomination, she will not face Giuliani and Bloomberg. Clinton may win the nomination, but the great fanta-

sy of the New York presidential showdown is over. Watching Clinton face Arizona Sen. John McCain will

have its allure. Watching McCain battle Illinois Sen.Barack Obama for the White House will be engagingtoo. But for New Yorkers, it just will not be the same.

There has not been a two-way New Yorker race sincePresident Franklin Roosevelt trounced Thomas Deweyon the way to a fourth term in 1944. There has not beena three-way New Yorker race ever. With New Yorkers inrecent years relegated to vice-presidential slots on also-ran tickets—Rep. Geraldine Ferraro in 1984 and formerRep. Jack Kemp in 1996—the possibility of a clash of thehometown titans this year was almost too exciting formost people to comprehend. For New York political

junkies, the Clinton-Giuliani-Bloomberg racewould have been like mainlining AlexanderHamilton’s secret stash with an Empire StateBuilding-sized needle.

“Now you got nothing,” said Jimmy Breslin,the New York author and columnist. “That does-n’t make me happy.”

The presidential candidates should be talkingabout national issues, Breslin said, like the econ-omy and the Iraq war. But thinking back to thesports pages of a half century ago, when therewere three baseball teams to cover and loads ofgood copy, Breslin said a three-way New Yorkerrace would simply have been more exciting andentertaining.

“The newspapers, look at the old newspapers,” hesaid. “It was great.”

And he is not the only one. Other iconic NewYorkers also looked back wistfully.

“It would have been wonderful, but it was neverintended to happen,” said former Mayor Ed Koch.“New York would have been the subject of so muchattention.”

To Koch, this is a relief. Though he has never madea secret of his distaste for Giuliani, he is a huge fan ofboth Clinton and Bloomberg. And though he proudlybacked Clinton in the Democratic primary, he saidrepeatedly going into this year that he would keep hisoptions open for the general election, just in caseBloomberg decided to run.

With Bloomberg out of the race, he is no longer torn. “Thank god I never had to make a decision,” he said. To Donald Trump—who years ago flirted with

becoming a new york presidential candidate himself—a choice between Clinton, Giuliani and Bloombergwould have been good news for everyone, because thatwould have made for an election with no bad choicescome November.

“All three are great New Yorkers, and greatAmericans, so it would have been a win no matterwhat,” he explained.

Plus, Trump noted, hailing from New York might bean asset in the White House. Experience with life in thecity could help when meeting with foreign leaders.

New York is known for its international air, and that,along with the world’s image of people from the BigApple, could make negotiations easier.

“New Yorkers are known to be strong and coura-geous, which represents the U.S. image very well,”Trump insisted.

But though Trump is a big promoter of New York anda fan of the three politicians, he did not see the lack ofa three-way race as a problem for the city.

“I’d say that New York and New Yorkers get enoughattention already,” Trump explained. “What matters isthe entire country, and we should focus on getting thenation back together, whether it’s a New Yorker or notwho starts to do that.”

Gay Talese, the author and consummate East-Sider,said he feels the lack of the Big Apple showdown acute-

ly—though only, he said, because Bloomberg will not bein the race.

Talese, who has known every mayor over his last 50years living in New York, is an enormous supporter ofnearly everything Bloomberg has done over the last sixyears. Had there been a Bloomberg for President cam-paign, he said, he would have immediately offered hisservices as a speechwriter.

“I’m depressed that Giuliani didn’t do well, butBloomberg was the guy I really believed was our gift tothe nation,” he said.

To Talese, Clinton is not a New Yorker in the same sensethat Giuliani and Bloomberg are. So even though the juniorsenator remains in the race, as far as Talese is concerned,

“I think if a person’s depressed about it, he must have an empty lifeand nothing to live for, and a man like that is probably so slow

mentally that I don’t think it pays to worry about anybody that stupid.”


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the last hope that a New Yorker would be in the presiden-tial race ended when Bloomberg published his op-ed.

“I was sorry to see that we don’t have any NewYorker in the race, but it’s not like I need to see the cityrepresented. But in this case, I think the city had a giftto give,” he said. “Of course the city’s going to survivewithout a presidential candidate, but the nation is at aloss.”

Public relations impresario, Howard Rubenstein,agreed that the nation was at a loss, but the city is too, hesaid. There would have been no better way to promoteNew York than a Clinton-Giuliani-Bloomberg race, he said.

“The focus on the assets of New York, and how allthree people contributed to building New York—which

in fact helped build the nation—would have been aserious aspect of it,” he said. “They would have eachone of them say what they did in managing and build-ing New York.”

Though there could also have been a downside. Athree-way race would have been a great commercialfor New York, he said, but not necessarily for NewYorkers.

“A lot of people don’t like New Yorkers or they thinkthat we’re too pushy,” Rubenstein said. “If the onlythree candidates were Rudy Giuliani, Clinton andBloomberg, it would look like New York shanghaiedthe process.”

But life will go on, he said—especially in New York. The rest of the country may have a harder time,

Rubenstein said, given the consequences. Laughing, herattled off a possible few.

“Federal support for congestion pricing will be rede-fined as subsidies for nasal spray, lost in the nationaldebate will be the crucial discussion of meat versusdairy, the Second Avenue Subway tunnel could be leftunfinished with Washington converting it into anethanol holding tank,New York accents maybe designated a secondlanguage, the Yankeesmay be confused as any-one living north of theMason-Dixon line,” hesaid, “and mayonnaisecould become the feder-ally mandated condi-ment of choice for pastrami.”

Oh well, said famed New York comedian JackieMason. Though a proud New Yorker, Mason has neverput much stock in having hometown candidates. Sonow that the great New Yorker showdown will neverbe, Mason said, he is doing just fine.

For those that are feeling dejected, Mason had someadvice: get over it.

“I think if a person’s depressed about it, he musthave an empty life and nothing to live for, and a manlike that is probably so slow mentally that I don’t thinkit pays to worry about anybody that stupid,” he said. “Ifsomething that has absolutely no consequence of anyweight depresses him, then I would take this guy to asanitarium.”

till, perhaps the showdown might be saved.A good enough run in Pennsylvania and theother primaries could give Clinton the nomi-nation. A few renegade Draft Bloomberg

supporters have yet to accept the mayor’s declaration.Giuliani is doing well on Internet betting sites, as peo-ple try to guess who will be McCain’s choice for vicepresident.

But most New Yorkers, it seems, have come toterms with not having our local sandbox fight project-ed coast to coast. The parlor games, the speculation,the dinner conversations over the possible Clinton-

Giuliani-Bloomberg electoral math—who would havewon? who would have carried New York?—are fadinginto history.

That could mean less business for New Yorkers whoearn their living on politics. But with more than 300 can-didates expected for next year’s races for citywideoffice, borough presidents and City Council, said veter-an political consultant Hank Sheinkopf, there shouldsoon be enough paychecks to go around.

“For political consultants who are New York-based, itwould have been much more interesting if it had beenClinton-Bloomberg-Giuliani in the race,” Sheinkopf said.“Now everyone—at least the New York-based people—are going to have to wait for the 2009 sweepstakes.”

And though a three-way race would undoubtedly

have been a year-long extravaganza for every newspa-per and television station in town, the local politicalnews business does not seem headed for its own reces-sion, either—so long as Clinton’s campaign continues tostay alive, said Bob Hardt, NY1 executive producer andpolitical director.

“Obviously, the three of them would have been thedream team situation for the New York media, but hon-estly, I think New York politicos would be thrilled to haveany New Yorker still in the presidential race,” he said.

With the Ohio and Texas results in Clinton’s favor,Hardt said, “the tabloids are breathing a sigh of relief.”

The same is true for his station, he said. “There is the local angle that we can really exploit as

a local news station,” he said. “It makes it more interest-ing for us.”

And if Clinton wins the nomination and the presiden-cy, that will create a new spate of New York politicalnews to report, with all the speculation about whomight be appointed to her Senate seat and who might bebrought into her administration. New York media out-lets may open bureaus in Washington, at least for her

first year, Hardt said.But even if Clinton ultimately falls short and leaves the

race with no New York-based candidate, Hardt said theBig Apple’s deep and abiding interest in all things politi-cal will likely keep the airwaves full of political news.

Perhaps, said Rubenstein. But without a fightbetween local candidates to watch, the New YorkNielsens for political coverage will not be quite as highfor quite as long each night.

“I know New Yorkers will be turning off their televi-sions a little earlier,” Rubenstein said.

From a non-political public relations perspective,that is good news for anyone looking to get attentionfor any other story in New York over the next eightmonths, Rubenstein said. Without the coverage oflocal candidates sucking up all the available air time,he no longer has to worry about finding ways to getthe many people and companies he counts as clientsin the spotlight.

“If it were the two guys and the doll running, youwouldn’t have had a moment of open news coveragespace on television or magazines,” he said. “I probablywould have had to go on a six-month vacation.”

And having a race between three New Yorker presi-dential candidates worrying about appearing too partialto their home turf could have had a negative impact ongetting New York-friendly policies in discussion, saidKathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnershipfor New York City.

“If anything, my sense is that there would have beenoverkill to avoid giving any special benefit to NewYork,” she said.

What there certainly will not be, she said, is a prob-lem for New Yorkers getting access to the presidentialcandidates, whether or not any of them are from NewYork. With so much of the national news media and bigpolitical donors based here, presidential candidatesnever have any choice.

“All the presidential candidates make the proverbialtrip to New York,” she said. “At least for the purposes offundraising, they are all honorary New Yorkers.” C

[email protected]

“All three are great New Yorkers, and great Americans,so it would have been a win no matter what.”

CITY HALL MARCH 2008 23www.cityhallnews.com

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BY DANIEL MACHT

LAST MONTH, YVONNE GRAHAM

made a decision that cost her$17,500. After six years as Marty

Markowitz’s deputy, the 56-year-olddecided to step down from the job. Shedid not go far, though: now a specialassistant to the borough president, shehelps in planning events and confer-ences.

And if she gets her way, she will notbe going far for years to come: Grahamtook the pay cut and new position toallow her to start raising money to runfor borough president herself next year,when Markowitz will be term-limitedout of office.

Graham said her boss was behind herin this decision.

“We have a wonderful relationship,”Graham said. “Marty supports me inwhatever endeavor I want to pursue.”

Asked if Markowitz had endorsed herfor the job, Graham demurred. But shedid say that the two of them had“worked hand-in-hand as partners.”

According to Graham, Markowitzshares this view.

“That’s what he said: ‘You have mysupport,’” Graham said.

The daughter of Jamaican activists,Graham moved to New York in the 1970s“like everyone who has come before me,to realize the American dream, to geteducational opportunities, to own ahome and support my family.”

As an emergency room nurse atBrookdale Hospital, Graham said shesaw many with preventable ailments.She began to pool resources with col-leagues and later founded the CaribbeanWomen’s Health Association.

For 25 years, Graham said she hastried to help marginalized communitieslearn how government could work forthem, and in her years as deputy bor-ough president, she worked on persuad-ing the city’s Department of Health tolessen bureaucratic delays for othernon-profit organizations.

She also helped form a partnershipwith SUNY Downstate Medical Centerand the Arthur Ashe Institute for UrbanHealth to create a Brooklyn-basedhealth center focused on reducing car-diovascular disease, HIV/AIDS, asthmaand diabetes.

In her new, reduced role, Grahamsaid she hopes to come up with a recom-mendation that suits Brooklyn and NewYork City after meeting with experts at ahealth care conference she has plannedfor April 4.

With next year’s elections approach-ing, four of the five borough presidentsterm-limited out of office, and the fifth,Manhattan Borough President ScottStringer, rumored to be considering acitywide run instead of seeking re-elec-tion, the deputy borough presidents arebeginning to consider life after 2009.

Graham is not the only one with avaried résumé or an eye to the future.City Hall caught up with all five deputyborough presidents, who reflected onhow they got their jobs, what they havebeen focusing on, and what might benext.

Rosemonde Pierre-Louis Manhattan

Rosemonde Pierre-Louis nevercared too much about exercise. Thenher boss, Scott Stringer, made her thepoint person of his “Go Green EastHarlem” initiative, which looks to pro-mote health, nutrition and environmen-tal conservation in Upper Manhattan.

Pierre-Louis felt she had to lead by

example. Since January, four days a week, she

has woken up at 4:30 a.m. for bootcamp. The 43-year old Harlem residentheads off to a local fitness center,where she sticks to a tight regimenwhich includes running and kickbox-ing.

That leads her into long days thatoften run into nights and weekendswith the rest of her official duties onthe job.

“I don’t have that much free time,”said Pierre-Louis, who lives alone withher dog Kelly, a pit bull-German shep-herd mix.

Before joining Stringer’s administra-tion, Pierre-Louis spent 18 years as a

legal advocate for victims of domesticviolence. Even when dealing with hor-rible cases of abuse, Pierre-Louis saidthe work helped keep her spirits high.

“It never gets depressing when youare able to assist victims that havedecided to extricate themselves fromtheir relationships,” Pierre-Louis said.

That advocacy work was whatbrought her to Stinger’s attention.Even though the borough president didnot know Pierre-Louis personally, histeam asked her to apply for the deputyposition. She became the city’s firstHaitian-American deputy boroughpresident.

Pierre-Louis attends communitymeetings most nights after work, andhas spent the past few weekends meet-ing with potential community boardappointees. She said she is helpingStringer depoliticize the process.

“No other borough has an independ-ent screening panel for communityboard applicants,” she said. “If the per-son does not pass the process, theydon’t get through.”

But she is not blind to politics.Stringer is thought to be eyeing a runfor public advocate next year, butPierre-Louis said she thinks he wouldmake a good mayor.

“I think he has potential,” she said. Pierre-Louis sidestepped a question

about her own political ambitions. Butshe did not rule out a run for electedoffice.

“I do want to continue in govern-ment service,” she said. “This has beenan incredible experience.”

Karen KoslowitzQueens

“I am lucky for who I am working for,”Karen Koslowitz said of Queens BoroughPresident Helen Marshall. “The onlything I can’t do is legislation.”

Back when she was on the Council,she saw one theatergoer carry a disabledperson up the stairs to his seat and wor-ried what would happen in a fire. Shesponsored a bill to expand handicapaccessibility.

After a nude club moved into herForest Hills neighborhood, Koslowitzsponsored legislation to bar such clubsthroughout the city.

Eager to get back to legislating, the 65-year-old Queens deputy borough presidentplans to step down in the spring to run forthe Council seat she was term-limited outof, now held by term-limited Melinda Katz.

With term limits bearing down on her in2001, she briefly ran for the borough pres-idency, but she was denied public financ-ing for filing late paperwork, and with-drew. She campaigned for Marshall. Thathelped earn her the job as Marshall’sdeputy.

By the time they came into office in2002, budget cuts had whittled down 100Queens Borough Hall staff positions to 57.To fill in the gaps, Koslowitz added theresponsibilities of community board direc-tor and parks director to her portfolio.

DeputiesTHE

Yvonne Graham

Karen Koslowitz

Earl Brown

Ed Burke

Rosemonde Pierre-Louis

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CITY HALL MARCH 2008 25www.cityhallnews.comKoslowitz said days at the office gener-

ally start at 8:30 a.m. and go for 12 hoursstraight.

“When you love what you do, there isno clock,” she said.

One major recent project has beenrebuilding Community Board 13 in EasternQueens. Tensions among the board’s lead-ers eventually led to the district managerresigning by a letter which told the chairand others, “You can take this job andshove it!!!”

Koslowitz said she will supervise theboard’s next few meetings, and is meetingindividually with members at her office totry to resolve the problems.

Whether as a deputy borough presidentor on the Council, Koslowitz said she putsa premium on being accessible to con-stituents.

“I love helping people, putting a smileon their face,” she said.

Earl BrownBronx

Earl Brown lives in Brooklyn. A formerstudent at Brooklyn College, Brown, 53, ispresident of his co-op board in ProspectHeights.

And for the past six years, Brown hascommuted to his job nearly seven days aweek as deputy borough president of theBronx.

“You can liken it to adoptive parents,”he said. “I chose you. I chose the Bronx. Ithink it is one of the most fantastic placeson the face of the Earth.”

Brown got his start in politics in the ‘70s

as the community board’s liaison for then-Manhattan Borough President AndrewStein. He later went to work for BrooklynPresident Howard Golden.

After serving as press secretary and ulti-mately a senior director for the SchoolConstruction Authority, Brown became anassociate vice president of the New YorkBotanical Gardens in the Bronx. That jobput him in contact with then-CouncilMember Adolfo Carrión Jr., who laterappointed Brown deputy in 2002.

Though Brown enjoys his current job,he said he misses the days of the Board ofEstimate, when borough presidents wield-ed more power.

“It is really difficult to have a centralgovernment relate on an intimate basiswith the needs of individuals,” Brown said.“The BP tends to have a much more bird’s-eye view of the needs of people who livewithin their boroughs.”

Still, Brown points to his office’s role inhelping bring 20,000 construction jobsrelated to the Yankees’ new stadium, 30percent of which went to Bronx residents.

Brown also touts his borough’s loweredunemployment rate and 40,000 new hous-ing units. The credit, Brown says, should goto Carrión.

“He is the person who should get all thepress,” Brown said of his boss. “Any work Ido is on his behalf.”

While not ruling out a run for electedoffice himself, Brown said he would likelytry to find another job in government onceCarrión is term-limited out in 2009.

“The sky is the limit,” Brown said. “I am

interested in public service and the abilityto have a substantial positive impact.”

Ed BurkeStaten Island

A couple of years ago, representativesfrom the Staten Island Museum came toDeputy Borough President Ed Burke’soffice with a request for increased fund-ing. He told them that he would help ifthey secured a new exhibit for the muse-um.

“That’s fine,” Burke recalled tellingthem. “But first I have to see a pre-historicanimal skeleton.”

The museum soon had a mastodon’sskull. A skeleton would soon follow, therepresentatives told Burke.

Burke claimed victory. “I call the mastodon project a mam-

moth undertaking,” he said. After 23 years in government, Burke

said he is proud also of his role in morecomplex undertakings: slowing develop-ment, widening roads and helping hisboss, James Molinaro, in a mission to revi-talize the South Beach Boardwalk.

Still, Burke’s favorite role is as facilita-tor and cheerleader for the rebirth ofStaten Island’s cultural attractions and9,800 acres of parks.

“We’ve changed our image as the bor-ough with the largest landfill to the bor-ough of parks,” he said, noting how instru-mental the borough president was in shut-ting down the Fresh Kills landfill.

Burke grew up in Brooklyn, where hisgrandfather used to take him to zoos and

museums. Now 49 and a resident of StatenIsland, Burke said those experiences stillinspire him, and led him to join the boardof the Staten Island Zoo and volunteer toimprove a local animal shelter.

Before being appointed deputy bor-ough president, he worked as communica-tions director and executive assistant toMolinaro’s predecessor, Guy Molinari, andearlier as Molinari’s congressional presssecretary.

While working for Molinari, Burke dis-covered a new talent. Molinari was thentrying to bring the Yankees’ minor leagueteam to Staten Island, and Burke helpedproduce a video for the beginning of his1999 State of the Borough which had thethen-borough president acting out a scenefrom Field of Dreams.

Burke has continued the video tradi-tion under Molinaro.

“I’m the first to admit that thesespeeches can be boring unless you makean effort to make serious subjects enter-taining,” he said.

Despite his years working for electedofficials, Burke rules out running for elect-ed office himself. He does not know yetwhat he will do after Molinaro is termedout of office at the end of next year—some days he wants to stay in govern-ment, others he considers moving to theprivate sector.

“Being an elected official requires apassion for that job,” Burke said. “I likebeing behind-the-scenes to make that offi-cial successful.” C

[email protected]

“They thought we would just believe all their Congestion Pricing promises. Not us.We learned a long time ago that promises are not guarantees. We got the facts.Their scheme doesn’t work.And that’s a fact.”

“They thought we would just believe all their Congestion Pricing promises. Not us.We learned a long time ago that promises are not guarantees. We got the facts.Their scheme doesn’t work.And that’s a fact.”

Keep NYC Congestion Tax Free

GET THE FACTS ON THE CONGESTION PRICING SCHEME ATwww.keepnycfree.com

GET THE FACTS ON THE CONGESTION PRICING SCHEME ATwww.keepnycfree.com


With just weeks to go before the con-gestion pricing deadline, cityTransportation Commissioner Janette

Sadik-Khan was the guest at the Feb. 27 On/Offthe Record Breakfast held at the CommerceBank flagship location on 42nd Street andMadison Avenue.

From the changes made to Mayor MichaelBloomberg’s plan by the Traffic MitigationCommission to what is being done to court theLegislature, congestion pricing was the maintopic of discussion. But also on the agendawere considerations of ferries, bicycles andpedestrian malls as Sadik-Khan spoke on thetopic of “Congestion Pricing and the Future ofCity Transportation.”

Q: What is your assessment of where thingsstand with congestion pricing at this point?A: Well, I’m cautiously optimistic that it’s going topass.

Q: What do you think is necessary to get theLegislature to do that? A: Well, I think we need to get out of the businessof defending and prolonging our congestion cri-sis. There have been many studies done, mostnotably by the New York City Partnership, show-ing that congestion costs this city $13 billion ayear. I think if you take a look at what the costsof congestion are, it’s really a safety issue. We’retalking about the safety of our streets, the safetyof our environment, the safety of our civic lifeand I think that people are starting to understandthat it’s just not working, we are really stuck in grid-lock. And I think that the more people understandthat, the better. It’s almost like the Barack Obama oftransportation initiatives: the more people learn aboutit, the more people seem to like it.

Q: The Traffic Mitigation Commission came backwith a modified version of the mayor’s plan. What isyour take on the changes that were made?A: The commission plan made the mayor’s plan better. Itreflected the meetings we had across the region, in thecity. We listened to what the public had to say about it,what elected officials and community organizers had tosay about it, and as a result I think the plan is strongerthan the original plan that was proposed.

Q: Do you think we’re likely to see more changes tothe plan?A: I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t really know whatAlbany’s going to do with the plan. I think there hasbeen a lot of good movement. You know, we’re at anunusual turning point for transportation in New YorkCity, and we have the opportunity, I think it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, to do something really pos-itive for New York and deal with the traffic conges-tion we have and bring congestion relief to the city.Those conversations are going on; a way to fundingthat program, that’s part of the terms of the debatethat’s going on. And Governor Spitzer created a newaccount in the state budget for those congestion pric-ing revenues. I believe that we’re making headway upthere and there will be a lot of conversationsbetween now and March 31, when the vote is takenon the plan.

Q: Are there any more changes you would make tothe plan at this point?A: I was very impressed with the Congestion MitigationCommission plan that was adopted and voted on and itwas really an incredible experience to go throughbecause you had people from all different walks of lifeand from all different political backgrounds whoworked and wrestled collaboratively with it, who wentto all the public hearings and feel very strongly that theplan is the best possible plan to reduce vehicle milestraveled by 6.8 percent, and get the equivalent environ-mental improvements associated with that and come upwith money for the MTA’s capital program. I think it’s areal win-win for New York.

Q: If the Legislature votes to approve the congestionpricing on March 31, do you think it is realistic thatwe will actually see the cameras and the borders inplace by March 31, 2009?A: Well, there are several members of my staff in thisroom with circles under their eyes, actually that’s prob-ably everybody on my staff, but in some ways it’s like analternative universe because we are running as if we’removing forward with the legislative approval on March31, and we need to do that in order to have the programin place and ready to go in a straightforward way.

Q: Ferries are part of PlaNYC, and Christine Quinnhas come out strongly in favor of a system. Do youthink that ferries would be integrated into the sys-tem so that it could be one Metrocard swipe?A: Well, that would be an ideal goal. When you go to dif-ferent parts of the world, you see they have a single faremedia that lets you go on subways, busses, ferries.

Virtually everything in Hong Kong you use them,even to pay for school lunches. We’re not quitethere, but I think there is a lot of opportunity andthe technology is there, so the mayor’s put a bigpremium on technology and bringing new technol-ogy to New York City and bringing them to thestreets of New York is certainly a high priority.

Q: You are a bicycle fan. Bicycle lanes arebeing expanded in the city. How do you seebicycles being further integrated into the citytransportation system?A: Well you know, we’ve got a great opportunityhere. A lot of the things that haven’t been talkedabout in terms of congestion pricing are the factthat we will have more space to play with on thestreets of New York. With the reduction of 110,000less cars we are able to build out our public spacesand public plazas and that’s one area we’re spend-ing a lot of time on and so too we’re spending a lotof time thinking what we can do to promote low-impact, very cost effective ways of getting around.56 percent of the trips in New York City are threemiles or less, 21 percent are a mile or less and we’rea flat, compact city, so it’s a very natural mode oftransportation. I think it’s been difficult because Ithink in a sense that bikes have been the poorstepchild in our transport network and have notbeen seen as an equal player.

Q: You have traveled to several places aroundthe world on the job. What are some things youhave seen other cities doing when it comes totransportation which you think should be

brought to New York?A: Congestion pricing. Cities around the globe under-stand they have to look at their transportation systemsdifferently. As a transportation commissioner it is aboutgetting from Point A to Point B, but it is much more thanthat. If you take a look at the fact that DOT has jurisdic-tion over 6,000 miles of streets, so when you look at itfrom that perspective there’s a lot that we can do in thatregard and that’s what cities around the world are start-ing to do and are starting to say, “Look, let’s look at thisa little differently.” And so they’re starting to addressthat automobiles have taken over a lot of the cities andthey need to perhaps throttle that back and make invest-ments that make sense going forward. So, we’re takinga look at our streetscapes differently, kind of in line withwhat you’re seeing in Copenhagen and Paris and Sydneyand Hong Kong, all over the planet because they’re tak-ing a look, and they’re calming down their streets, build-ing out the pedestrian plazas in areas and they’re mak-ing it attractive for people to walk around. And so thatreclaiming of the street space and sort of redefining thepublic realm. What is it like to be on the streets of NewYork? Do you feel like you’re in your living room? Sowe’re moving in that regard. We’re making those kindsof investments, making more areas for parks and pedes-trians, putting additional street footage out there, attrac-tive amenities, that’s the kind of thing we’re in theprocess of doing right now because I think that definesquality cities and to a large degree improves the eco-nomic development opportunities, because companieswant to move to places where it’s easy to get around,where it’s attractive to get around. So we should makethose spaces where people gather in as attractive asthey can be. C

Getting Clear on Congestion PricingON/OFFTHE RECORD BREAKFAST

AN

DR

EW

SC

HW

AR

TZ

5 FACTS ABOUT YELLOW MEDALLION TAXICABS:

1. Yellow Taxis Move 240 Million Passengers a Year on City Streets – Second Only to MTA Buses

Which Operate in All 5 Boroughs And Move 741 Million People a Year.

2. One Double-Shifted Yellow Taxi Transports an Average 84 Passengers a Day - the Entire Taxi Fleet

Moves 658,000 Passengers a Day.

3. Taxis Discourage Driving: Only 22% of Manhattan Residents Own a Car – The Lowest Rate in the

United States.

4. One Quarter of All Yellow Taxicab Passengers Earn Less Than $25,000 a Year.

5. The Yellow Taxi Industry Contributes in Excess of $75 Million a Year in City and State Taxes.

WHAT CAN LEGISLATORS DO?

• PASS CONGESTION PRICING – BUT WITHOUT

THE $1 TAXI SURCHARGE WHICH PUNISHES TAXI

RIDERS WHO DON’T DRIVE AND EASE PRESSURE

ON OVERCROWDED SUBWAYS AND BUSES

• ADVOCATE FOR THE SAFEST AND MOST

COMFORTABLE TAXICABS AVAILABLE

“Together, taxi services and mass transit make it possible to enjoy a lifestyle unthinkable in most American cities: residents

and visitors can access the myriad activities offered by the city without a private automobile, contributing to New York’s

position as one of the world’s most environmentally efficient major cities.”

- Taxi 07: Roads Forward published by the DesignTrust for Public Space

MTBOT, a 55-year-old trade association, represents 28 yellow medallion taxi fleets located in Queens,

Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx and represents more than 25% of the industry with over 14,000

drivers. Our mission is to advocate for fleet operators who ensure 24/7 taxi service; advocate for the

safety and comfort of our passengers and drivers; and provide opportunities and full-service work

environments for taxi drivers as well as assistance at every level from expedited licensing to operating

as knowledgeable, courteous professionals.

WHAT CAN NEW YORKERS DO ABOUT CONGESTION?TAKE YELLOW TAXIS!

YELLOW MEDALLION TAXICABS ARE VITAL to New York City’s mass transportation network

and part of the solution to traffic congestion.

IMAGINE IF ALL 658,000 DAILY TAXI PASSENGERS suddenly drove to work or took already

overcrowded subways and buses.

Ron Sherman, President

Jean Barrett, Executive Director

Joeseph Giannetto, Director of Business Developement


POWERGRIDTHE Bang for the Buck

Amt. Spent on fundraisingconsultants/campaign

workers last cycleAmt. Raisedlast cycle

Who is getting the most for their moneyin the race for 2009 campaign cash?

The candidates have limits on what they can raise, but also on whatthey can spend, so finding fundraisers who can rake in the most for thelowest fee is important. Based on their totals for the last filing periodand the amounts they reported spending paying fundraisers, here’show the city’s top money magnets compare.

$92,662

$1,059,537

WilliamThompson

$48,000

$1,591,073 AnthonyWeiner

$22,263

$1,092,805

$33,007

$593,681

John Liu

$97,388

$561,146

Melinda Katz

$14,784

$381,741

Adolfo Carrion Jr.

$26,000

$643,665

Eric Gioia

$26,000

$297,760

David Weprin

$3,340

$446,778

SimchaFelder

$27,693

$152,750

Marty Markowitz

ChristineQuinn


BY REP. GARY ACKERMAN

TWO WEEKS BEFORE OUR NATION

rang-in 2008, the United StatesCongress, under leadership I was proudto provide, passed legislation to renew avital terrorism-insurance program criticalto the rebuilding of Ground Zero andessential to the future of large-scale devel-opment in New York. This bill, whichPresident Bush signed into law, extendsfor seven years the Terrorism RiskInsurance Act (TRIA), a measure thatestablished a federal terrorism-insuranceprogram in the wake of September 11.

After the 9/11 attacks, which resultedin $30 billion of insured losses, manyinsurance companies excluded terrorisminsurance from their policies, judging thepotential losses from a major terroristattack to be too great to insure against. Inresponse, Congress passed TRIA, whichcreated an insurance backstop from thefederal government to protect againstcatastrophic terrorism-related losses.The measure was extended for two yearsin 2005, but it expired on Dec. 31, 2007.

Failure to have extended TRIA wouldhave been a disaster for metropolitanareas across the nation. However, itwould have had a disproportionatelyadverse affect on New York, since ourcity is the economic engine of the coun-try. It would have resulted in the destabi-lization of the economy and would havenegatively impacted every type of large-size enterprise.

Without TRIA, all major real-estatedevelopment projects that create jobs,spur business and contribute to the eco-nomic prosperity of the New York areawould not have proceeded. These includenot only the critical rebuilding of the for-mer World Trade Center site, but suchvital undertakings as the building of thenew stadiums for the Mets and Yankees,the construction of a new MadisonSquare Garden, the development of ourwaterfront and ports, the Nassau Countyhub on Long Island and any major hotelor office building in New York City or theNew York metropolitan area.

Without terrorism insurance, bankswould not lend money and developerswould not be able to build. The dominoeffect would have been both alarmingand profound.

Fortunately, the long-term renewal ofTRIA provides a green light for all majorprojects and future development to moveahead. The seven-year extension of this

vital program also expands coverage toinclude domestic terrorist attacks (inaddition to the existing foreign attackcoverage) and maintains the same trigger-level of $100 million before TRIA kicks-in.

During last year’s debate on TRIA, Iconsistently argued that a so-called“reset” provision be included in the legis-lation. This “reset” measure would havelowered deductibles for an insurer thatpays out losses related to a catastrophicattack (an attack with insured lossesover $1 billion) and reduced trigger lev-els (the point at which the backstoptakes effect) for insurers across thecountry for any future attack. The “reset”mechanism is a critical item for TRIAsince the provision would allow GroundZero or any other site attacked by terror-ists for a second time to be able to obtainterrorism insurance. Unfortunately,President Bush irresponsibly threatenedto veto the legislation if it contained a“reset” provision, which forced Congress’hand in passing legislation without thismeasure. To address this shortcoming ofthe legislation we passed, I have intro-duced the Terrorism Risk InsuranceImprovement Act, which would add the“reset mechanism” to the TRIA program.

Almost one year ago, I chaired aCongressional field hearing at City Hallthat examined the critical need for TRIAto continue. All of the witnesses who tes-tified before our Financial ServicesSubcommittee on Capital Markets,Insurance and Government Sponsored

Enterprises—a distinguished group whichincluded Mayor Bloomberg, SenatorSchumer and a panel of leading develop-ers, insurers, reinsurers and real estateinvestors—strongly advocated for TRIA’srenewal since the private market for ter-rorism insurance had not grown enoughsince 9/11 to sufficiently meet demand inmany of our nation’s high-risk areas.

The recent passage of TRIA’s renewalwas the result of many months andcountless hours of hard work. I amextremely pleased and proud to havechampioned this issue both in theFinancial Services Committee and in thefull House of Representatives. Therenewal of TRIA is a victory over the des-picable terrorists who attacked us onSeptember 11. It ensures that we will notentrust our local and national economy,and the future of major development, tothe terrorist roulette wheel.

Congress has no greater domesticobligation than to ensure the safety of theAmerican people, and this obligationextends to both acts of terrorism and toforeseeable and preventable economicturmoil.

I look forward to our city and ournation reaping the important benefitsthat TRIA will continue to provide formany years to come. C

Gary Ackerman, a Democrat repre-

senting parts of Queens and Nassau, is

a senior member of the House Financial

Services Committee.

ISSUE FORUM:Terrorism Insurance Bill Critical to New York Development

BY SUPERINTENDENT ERIC DINALLO

BUSINESSES OWNED BY WOMEN AND

other minorities will have a strongerchance to compete for contracts on bothcommercial and public projects as aresult of a new pilot program announcedrecently by Lt. Gov. David Paterson andthe Insurance Department.

For too long, women and minoritybusiness owners have been held backfrom participating in state projects andother large undertakings because they haddifficulty getting the necessary suretybonds. The New York State BondingInitiative will open up new opportunitiesand give these business owners thechance to tackle more and larger projects.

The new program will help small busi-nesses obtain the surety bonds they needto qualify for government and private con-struction projects. The new program sub-stantially expands a previous plan byincreasing the number of businesses thatcan be served. It also expands the programto include not only New York City, butBuffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Albany.Continuing oversight will be put in place to

ensure the program’s effectiveness.The announcement of the plan fol-

lowed an Insurance Department inquiryinto current market conditions affectingaccess to adequate contract bonding forsmall businesses. This inquiry lookedinto how access to bonding affectswomen- and minority-owned businessparticipation in the state’s procurementprocess. Department representatives metwith all stakeholders in this issue, andconducted fact-finding meetings andcomprehensive research into the natureand history of this unique niche of theinsurance market.

The inquiry found that women- andminority-owned businesses are oftenunable to compete for public and privateprojects because they have less experi-ence and access to the capital they needto obtain bonding.

The goal of the new program is tomake sure these businesses have a fairopportunity to compete for business withthe state. The program—which is open toas many small businesses as apply—fea-tures the following elements:

• An educational workshop series

designed to provide information to con-tractors to improve their operations andmake it easier to be bonded or toincrease their bonding capacity.

• One-one-one interactions with bond-ing professionals who will work with thebusiness owner to assess bond readiness,identify and remedy deficiencies andassemble bond applications.

• Increased participation of the USSmall Business Administration’s (SBA)Surety Bond Guaranty Program in guar-anteeing bonds on New York projects,including New York City projects.

• A new Capital Access Programdeveloped by the Division of Minorityand Women’s Business Development(DMWBD) and the New York BusinessDevelopment Corporation.

Efforts to identify contractors whorun solid construction businesses, buthave not had bonds in the past.

• A commitment by the surety indus-try and companies with programsdesigned specifically for small andemerging contractors so that every con-tractor who successfully completes theProgram can obtain a bond or bond line.

• Establishment of an AdvisoryOversight Committee made up of repre-sentatives of the DMWBD and theDepartment of Insurance to monitor theprogress and success of the program on aquarterly basis.

Making sure that women- and minori-ty-owned construction businesses havean opportunity to participate in publicand private projects will benefit all NewYorkers. In doing so, we will give theseentrepreneurs an opportunity to growtheir businesses, create new jobs andpromote economic opportunity through-out the Empire State. C

Eric Dinallo is the superintendent of

the New York State Insurance

Department.

Bond Access Program For Minority- AndWomen-Owned Businesses Strengthened

INSURANCE

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sales executive.Due to our tremendous growth over the past 12

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No phone calls or faxes please.

cityhallnews.comnycapitolnews.com


BY JOSEPH D. MORELLE

FOR MILLIONS OF NEW YORKERS,insurance may seem an arcane sub-

ject, best left to actuarial experts andpolicy wonks, and one we are remindedof only when monthly or annual premi-ums arrive in the mail.

In reality, insuranceconcerns are at the heartof New York’s many eco-nomic and social chal-lenges. The way in whichit is provided, paid forand regulated has greatimplications for business-es and individuals alike.As the largest industryregulated entirely by thevarious states, and givenNew York’s position as anindustry leader, our decisions have nation-al and international implications.

It is hard to think of another sector thataffects our private lives as broadly asinsurance, and yet it is perhaps only in itsabsence that we realize this fact. Imaginefacing catastrophic illness without ahealth care plan, or dealing with the after-math of a car accident or house fire withno policy to provide financial protection.

Indeed, long before I was namedchairman of the New York StateAssembly’s standing Committee onInsurance in June 2007, I recognized thecritical link between insurance and thehealth of our economy and well-being ofour citizens.

I was an early advocate for a much-needed overhaul of the workers’ com-pensation system, for instance, whichhad become enormously costly foremployers even though it provided inad-equate benefits to employees sidelinedby work-related injuries.

Prior to the historic reform signed intolaw last year, workers’ compensationranked very near the top of the list of forceskilling jobs and opportunity in New York.

Restoring those opportunities hasbeen the central theme of my effortssince joining the Assembly in 1991, and itwill continue to serve as a guiding princi-ple as I move forward as chairman of theCommittee on Insurance.

To that end, my goals for 2008 andbeyond include:

• Regulatory reforms that will liftunnecessary bureaucratic and fiscalrestraints upon the insurance industry,which will ultimately benefit consumersby reducing the upward pressure on pre-miums. This includes allowing insurancecarriers the option to invest premium div-idends and reserve holdings in overseasmarkets. Under current restrictions, theNew York-based insurance industry islosing literally tens of millions of dollars

in investment opportunities each year.• Working in tandem with Governor

Spitzer’s Commission to ModernizeFinancial Services to transform our regu-latory framework from an outdatedrules-based system to one governed byan approved set of principles. This willallow continued, necessary government

oversight while allowingNew York’s crucial finan-cial sector to pursue moreinnovative practices andcompete more effectively,particularly in overseasmarkets.

• Responding to con-cerns about instability inthe bond markets, partic-ularly in relation to recentdowngrades in the creditratings of major bond

insurers. A hearing in New York City onMarch 14 will review the many implica-tions of these downgrades and begin thediscussion about the role state govern-ment can play in mitigating the impact onthe economy and individual investors.

• Continuing efforts to achieve univer-sal health care in New York, a goal set byGovernor Spitzer, shared by New York’sSuperintendent of Insurance, EricDinallo, and by many of my colleagues inthe State Legislature. While there arelegitimate concerns about how toachieve this in a manner consistent withfinancial responsibility, the cost of NOTproviding health insurance to NewYorkers is far more prohibitive on multi-ple levels, fiscal and otherwise.

• Resolution of what many call a crisiswith regard to medical malpractice. Underthe aegis of the governor andSuperintendent Dinallo, a taskforce is cur-rently reviewing the reasons for New York’shigh med mal expenses, and is chargedwith recommending short- and long-termreform options for controlling these costs.Ultimately, we must derive a system thatprotects patients and physicians equally.The outcome is critical, one directly linkedto providing cost-effective universal healthcoverage and to Governor Spitzer’s effortsto increase the number of medical profes-sionals serving our state’s rural areas.

As 2008 progresses, these are only afew of the matters that the Committee onInsurance will consider. As stated before,the overriding priority in all these deliber-ations will be a determination to providethe necessary insurance protections forNew Yorkers while encouraging the eco-nomic prosperity that ultimately providesthe foundation for all we hope to accom-plish. C

Joseph Morelle, a Democrat repre-

senting Monroe County, is chair of the

Assembly Insurance Committee.

Insurance is Key to New York’sEconomy and New Yorkers’ Well-Being

ISSUE FORUM: INSURANCE

Coming Next Month:

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INCREASING COMPETITION EQUALS

GREATER CONSUMER CHOICE

David J. SloaneChairman, President & Chief Executive Officer

Genworth Life Insurance Company of New YorkChairman, LICONY Board of Directors

Thomas E.WorkmanPresident & CEO

Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc.

BENEFITS TO NEW YORK POLICYHOLDERS • In 2006, New Yorkers received approximately $30 billion from life insurersin the form of death benefits, matured endowments, policy dividends, surren-der values, and annuity payments, the second highest amount of any state inthe nation.

INVESTMENTS IN THE COMMUNITY• As responsible corporate citizens, life insurers have proactively invested in

low and moderate-income housing in underserved areas and activities thatprovide benefit to our local communities. A number of our companies havededicated community investment programs that undertake significant invest-ments in affordable housing, supporting community development entities andengaging in direct charitable giving to initiatives throughout New York andthe U.S.

LIFE INSURANCE IN THE NATION• With $4.3 trillion invested in the U. S. economy, life insurers are one of the

largest sources of investment capital in the nation:• Life insurers provide benefit payments in excess of $300 billion each year

in the United States, helping families guarantee long-term financial securi-ty—now and in retirement.

• The life insurance industry’s retirement security and financial protectionproducts cover over 65% of American families.

• Life insurers are the largest source of bond financing for corporate America.

LIFE INSURANCE COMPANIES IN NEW YORK• Currently, there are 177 life insurers licensed to do business in New

York State. Of that, 79 are companies with their home office in NewYork and 98 are foreign companies that are licensed to do businesshere.

• There were approximately 22,100 New York residents who were employeddirectly by life insurance companies in 2006. Approximately 73,000New York residents are licensed to sell life insurance in New York.

• The life insurance industry generates thousands of additional jobs by thegoods and services it purchases or leases from other businesses in thestate, such as law, accounting, actuarial and consulting firms, computersand business machines, furniture and equipment, printing and deliveryservices, office supplies, cleaning, maintenance, repair, security servicesand other needs.

LIFE INSURER INVESTMENTS IN THE NEW YORK ECONOMY• In 2006, life insurance companies invested approximately $350 billion of

their assets in New York’s economy.• Of that, the largest proportion, $300 billion, was invested in stocks and

bonds that helped finance state and municipal infrastructure, utilities,public and private construction, generating thousands of jobs and innu-merable services in New York.

• Life insurers provided $20 billion in mortgage loans on farm, residentialand commercial properties and owned $2 billion in real property inNew York.

NEW YORK STATE RESIDENTS COVERED• New York residents owned 9 million individual life insurance policies in

2006, with coverage averaging $130,000 per policyholder.• Individual life insurance coverage purchased in 2006 totaled $140 bil-

lion.• In 2006, New York residents had $2 trillion in death benefit coverage.• Group life insurance coverage amounted to $720 billion in New York

State in 2006.

LIFE INSURER CONTRIBUTIONSTO NEW YORK AND THE NATIONThe Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc. (LICONY) is the principal voice speaking on behalf of the life insurance companies in New York.

Here are just some of the facts and figures that detail the contributions the industry has made to the economy of New York and the nation:

How much does the life insuranceindustry contribute to the economy

of New York and the nation?

We are proud to say it’s a lot.

Life Insurance Council of New York, Inc.

551 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10176


BY STATE SEN. JAMES SEWARD

ANUMBER OF IMPORTANT INSUR-ance issues are pending thisyear at the state capital and as

chairman of the New York State SenateInsurance Committee, I will be workingto address them in a way that makesinsurance of all kinds available andaffordable for New York businesses andconsumers.

One way to promote the availabilityand affordability of insurance is to workfor a healthy and competitive market forinsurance products. Regulatory modern-ization is key to a healthy competitivemarket because insurers are more likelyto enter markets in states where they arenot hampered in their operations by anti-quated and cumbersome regulations andprocedures. Along these lines, I am serv-ing on the New York State Commission toModernize the Regulation of FinancialServices. The commission’s mandate is toreview the state’s statutes and rules sothat we have the most effective and effi-cient regulation of financial services andto advance New York as a leader in thefinancial services industry.

In the life insurance area, my top pri-ority is passing a law to regulate life set-

tlements. Life settlements involve thesale of a life insurance policy to a thirdparty for more than the cash value of thepolicy, and are currently not regulated inNew York. It's my view that life settle-ments are important options for con-sumers who may not want or need theirlife insurance policies anymore.However, consumer disclosures and pro-tections must be enacted to guarantee

that New York consumers are makinginformed and intelligent decisionsregarding the sale of their life insurancepolicies.

In the health insurance arena, one ofmy top priorities will be to continue toadvance making health insurance moreaffordable and accessible, particularlyfor small businesses and sole propri-etors. Although premiums have not risenas dramatically in recent years, smallbusinesses and all consumers continueto struggle with higher taxes and energycosts. When faced with higher costs,small business owners are often forcedto either shift more of the cost to employ-ees or to terminate benefits altogether.Or, all too often, it is the case that smallbusinesses cannot afford to provideinsurance in the first place.

My colleagues and I in the Senatemajority have offered a series of initia-tives designed to reduce health insurancecosts for individuals and small business-es. They include the following:

• Providing small businesses and indi-viduals purchasing their own healthinsurance a state tax credit equal to 10percent of the cost of health insurancepremiums

• Expanding the Healthy NY program

by increasing income eligibility from 208percent to 250 percent of the federalpoverty level and making the programuniversally available at the unsubsidizedfull actuarial cost

• Encouraging greater use of high-deductible plans coupled with health sav-ings accounts (HSAs). The policieswould be free of state mandates, giving achoice of benefits and flexibility of pric-ing.

Last year, the governor directed thecommissioner of health and superintend-ent of insurance to develop, evaluate andrecommend proposals for achieving uni-versal coverage in New York by May 31,2008. A number of public hearings wereheld last fall to solicit insight, and a con-tract was recently awarded to the UrbanInstitute to assist in the development of astrategic road map for reaching the goalof universal coverage. I look forward toreviewing the final report and engaging ina thoughtful discussion on the topic asthe process moves forward. C

James Seward, a Republican repre-

senting parts of Herkimer, Ostego,

Schoharie, Greene, Cortland and

Tompkins counties, is chair of the State

Senate Insurance Committee.

ISSUE FORUM:

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Why Does Your RentGo Up Every Year?

Real Estate Taxes Increased 64%Water and Sewer Rates Increased 53%

Tell City Hall: Enough!Freeze Real Estate Tax Rates, Property Assessments

and Water and Sewer Rates.Keep New York’s Housing Affordable for New Yorkers.

There are more than one million rent stabilized apartmentsin New York City -- half rent for less than $844 per month.They are the largest single source of affordable housing inNew York. But, since 2002:

Message brought to you by:

Rent Stabilization Association123 William Street, New York, NY 10038

The NYC Rent Guidelines Board must pass along theseincreased costs in the form of increased rents. Each year, asbuilding operating costs increase, your rent goes up – andup. There’s not much City Hall can do about rising heatingoil costs. But City Hall can and should hold down propertytaxes and water and sewer bills.

“All the politicians read it.”–Marty Markowitz

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The Way to Reach Elected Officials

P O L I T I C S • P O L I C Y • P E R S O N A L I T I E S


BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER LOU TOBACCO

Disturbingly, the average starting ageof individuals who become daily

smokers is 14.5 years and 90 percent ofsmokers begin this deadly habit beforethe age of 18. Due to these frightful statis-tics, nicotine addiction must be consid-ered a pediatric disease, a fact of whichtobacco companies are well aware.

That is why it is so important to targetour children in my anti-smoking cam-

paign, the same audience that tobaccocompanies are trying to hook on nico-tine. I recently launched the “TobaccoAgainst Tobacco” campaign at PublicSchool 6 in an effort to educate New YorkCity children about all the harmfuleffects of smoking. The program aims toinfluence them at a young age so thatthey never start smoking in the firstplace. It also seeks to encourage ourteens to kick the habit.

Building a healthier community startswith reaching out to younger generationsin order to convince them that smokinghas serious life-long consequences andinforming them of the dangers of lightingup. With Staten Island’s youth smoking atmore than twice the rate of their counter-parts in the other four boroughs, the bat-tle to improve the quality of life forStaten Islanders and New York City as awhole begins by winning the minds ofour young people.

To win the minds of our young peo-ple, my “Tobacco Against Tobacco” cam-paign will focus on informing ouryounger generations about the dangersof lighting up that first cigarette. Ourchildren, whether they are six or six-teen, need to know the health risk asso-ciated with smoking if we are going tomake strides towards preventing themfrom ever starting.

Cigarette companies continue to tar-get young people who have a naturalpreference for sweet flavors by using hip

marketing themes like ‘Caribbean Chill,’‘Midnight Berry,’ ‘Mocha Taboo’ and‘Mintrigue’ to promote teen smoking. Mycampaign’s goal is to warn younger gen-erations about these types of cigarettes,which may seem like harmless candy, butare in fact a gateway to a lifetime addic-tion to smoking nicotine.

Building on my “Tobacco AgainstTobacco” campaign, I am also workingwith Assemblyman Matthew Titone tohelp pass legislation that he sponsorswhich would prohibit the advertisementof tobacco products on buses, bus sta-tions and other mass transit vehicles thatreceive state aid or funding.

With smoking-related illness costingpeople their health, and costing the state$5.4 billion in Medicaid fees and $6 bil-lion dollars in lost productivity, it is criti-cal for us to reduce smoking rates inorder to enrich the lives of New Yorkersand save the state billions in medicalexpenses.

While we face many challenges in pre-venting our youth from smoking, we cango a long way towards accomplishing ourmission of changing teen perceptions ofsmoking and making sure that city resi-dents kick the habit. Together we canmake great strides towards eradicatingthis deadly addiction. C

Lou Tobacco is a Republican repre-

senting parts of Staten Island in the

Assembly.

An Anti-Smoking Campaign Aims to Improve Our Quality Of Life

In December 2006, back when the ‘08presidential candidates were all poten-tial, City Hall editorialized in favor of

having a New Yorker or two in the presiden-tial race. Like so many others, we expectedthat Rudolph Giuliani and Hillary Clintonwould at this point be in better shape forthe nominations of their respective parties.We thought the path to an independent runby Michael Bloomberg would be muchmore certain. And we were even willing tostill entertain the notion—already pastridiculous at that point—that George Patakimight test the waters instead of fading asthoroughly into oblivion as he has.

Bloomberg was right in much of thesentiment he expressed as he finallyopted out of the race: the urban agendashould have a place in this year’s presi-dential election. Having one, two, threeor even four of these people in the race,we assumed, would put it there. By run-ning, they could have helped pull thedebate toward topics important to resi-dents of New York and the nation’s othermajor cities. More homeland security andtransportation funding, a re-calibratedapproach to the war on drugs and crimeprevention—these should finally be partof decisive discussions.

After all, 1 in 14 Americans lives in theNew York metropolitan area. To have atleast as much attention paid to our needsand concerns as is paid to the 1 in 100Americans living in Iowa would makesome sense.

Of course, Clinton and Giuliani had tofocus on national issues in their races.Healthcare, taxes, the Iraq war—posi-tions on these were rightfully central toall the presidential candidates’ platforms.But considering how many Americanslive and work in cities, it is hard to under-

stand why the problems and concerns ofday-to-day urban life could not havefound a place amid talk of ethanol subsi-dies and border fences.

And maybe Clinton and Giuliani couldhave spent more time discussing specificsof how each contributed to the currentsuccess of New York, instead of activelydistancing himself from the city and rein-forcing many people’s image of the BigApple as a modern day Gomorrah. Thecity and state may not be in perfect shape,but there is something, especially in thefive boroughs, that is working, andClinton and Giuliani could have donemore to explain to America just what thatis. As that editorial a year and a half agopointed out, “the country would be unrec-ognizable if it were to experience thelevel of economic growth and overallreinvigoration that has defined the city inthe last thirteen years.”

The candidates left in the race woulddo well to remember that. The candi-dates who have left the race—as well asall those in New York who supportedthem—have an obligation to help themsee the light. C

EDITORIALKeeping the Urban Agenda on the Agenda

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LETTERSCFB Is Right onthe MoneyTo the editor:

Thanks to City Hall for appreciatingthe Campaign Finance Board’s “tenacity”in enforcing the city’s campaign financelaws in its editorial of February 12.

However, I strongly disagree with thesuggestion that the seven-year investiga-tion of Miguel Martinez’s 2001 campaignis “pretty standard” for the Board.Martinez’s audit was slowed by a com-plex investigation and a lawsuit broughtagainst the CFB. In truth, three-fourths ofour 2005 campaign audits were complet-ed within 18 months.

This year, the CFB is undergoingchanges to further streamline ourenforcement processes. Last year’s “pay-

to-play” legislation sets new time limitson CFB audits: 16 months for citywidecandidates, and 14 months for all others.The new law also strengthens our train-ing program, making our previously vol-untary compliance training seminarsmandatory for all campaigns.

With a record number of candidatesexpected for 2009, we aim to reduce vio-lations and complete our audits on timewithout compromising the vigorousenforcement taxpayers expect. We arepleased the administration and theCouncil are supporting those efforts withthe resources necessary to implementthese reforms.

SINCERELY,AMY LOPREST

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NEW YORK CITY

CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD

Letters to the Editor:We welcome letters to the editor.All letters must be identified with theauthor’s full name and, for verification,phone number. Anonymous letters willnot be published.Substantive letters addressing politicsand policy will receive top priority.Submit your letters by email [email protected], or contactour staff writers directly with the emailaddresses at the ends of their articles.

OP-ED



BY ERNEST LOGAN

Across the city, individual schoolbudgets have been cut an averageof $70,000 because of an aggres-

sive and ill-timed $100 million cut by theDepartment of Education (DoE).Principals literally walked in to theiroffices halfway through the school year tofind the DoE had pulled thousands of dol-lars from their school accounts. As aresult, dozens of advocacy groups, com-munity organizations, clergy, unions andelected officials have come together toform the “Keep the Promises” coalition.Budget cuts always have the unintendedconsequence of leaving the most at-riskstudents behind and disenfranchisingthose students who have been thus farengaged and passionate about their educa-tion. Our goal is to get these funds restoredand protect schools against future cuts.

$70,000 is a significant amount for noto-riously fragile school budgets to absorbmid-year, especially when you considermost schools still depend on grant writing,candy sales and other fundraisers to subsi-dize school activities and purchases. It isworth noting that while $70,000 may repre-

sent the average budget cut, 230 schoolslost more than $100,000 and nearly 50schools lost more than $200,000.

These cuts are forcing principals to dis-card some of their carefully-calibratedplans and make immediate reductions inprograms and academic intervention serv-ices that students depend upon. Pick anyneighborhood, and you will see the directimpact. In District 10 in the Bronx, forexample, at least one school had to cancelSAT prep courses onweekends, affecting hun-dreds of students. InDistrict 31 on StatenIsland, a principal report-ed that After SchoolRegents Review andSaturday AP ExamSimulations are nolonger an option. In District 24, over onehundred students lost their Saturday MathPrep Program. In District 5, one school wasforced to cancel testing tutorials for ELLstudents. These types of losses directlyaffect student achievement, test scores andgraduation rates.

The cuts went deeper than programs,however. One school in District 2 lost fund-

ing that was allocated to pay for its gradua-tion ceremony. A school in District 4 was inthe process of purchasing air conditionersfor classrooms that don’t have any. Stillothers can no longer afford much-neededlibrary books, computers and classroommaterials.

Extra-curriculars such as clubs, teams,music lessons and other after-school activ-ities have also taken a major hit in all fiveboroughs. Complicating matters, parents

now are scrambling to pick up their chil-dren earlier or find alternative programs—a major inconvenience for working fami-lies, especially mid-year.

In addition, schools trying to keep upwith the ebb and flow of staff illnesses,retirements and maternity leaves arereporting that their efforts to hire person-nel and pay substitutes are in jeopardy.

Principals are being forced to combinewhole classes in large group settings due tothe lack of teacher coverage, or split upindividual classes among other classes,thus increasing class size.

The members of the “Keep thePromises” coalition believe much morecould have been done to prevent the cutsfrom reaching the school level, and we areprofoundly disappointed that theDepartment of Education chose not to col-

laborate or make smartchoices. We stand united toright that wrong.

This battle is also aboutprinciple and accountabili-ty. The school system hasbeen redesigned to giveprincipals more resourcesand more authority over

their school budgets. Yet, this surreptitiousand unilateral reduction of school budgetsdemonstrates how fleeting that power canbe. No one wants a system that places addi-tional responsibilities and accountabilityon the shoulders of school leaders, thenpulls the rug out from under them. Therehas to be a better way, and we want towork with the Department of Education tofix that major inconsistency.

Is it possible that the DoE’s financesare so tight that it was necessary to leaveschools unprotected? Highly unlikely,considering that high-profile, high-costconsultants and a multitude of initiativeswere held harmless from these cuts. Wemay never know the true story, however,because most of the DoE’s finances anddata remain clandestine and out of reachof any meaningful accountability. It is timeto open the DoE’s financial books.

The “Keep the Promises” coalition cametogether because these challenging eco-nomic times demand strong leadership, andthe children of this city deserve the qualityeducation they have been promised.Besides the restoration of the recent cuts,we are also campaigning against proposalsin the State and City budgets that wouldcost city schools approximately $700 mil-lion and slow the pace of school construc-tion. Our campaign will culminate in a largerally at City Hall at 4 p.m. on March 19. Weencourage everyone who cares about NewYork City schools to join us. C

Ernest Logan is the president of the

Council of School Supervisors and

Administrators.

OP-EDProtest the Bad Math on School Budget Cuts

No one wants a system thatplaces additional responsibilities

and accountability on theshoul-ders of school leaders, then pulls

the rug out from under them.

Increase Child Care In New York City BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBER

JESSICA LAPPIN

Finding safe, dependable and afford-able child care in New York City is a

difficult and often heart-wrenching task.Far too many working families are forcedto struggle with this issue each and everyday because there simply are not enoughday care slots to go around. In 2006, over39,000 children were on Administrationfor Children’s Services (ACS) waitinglists for care throughout the City. And itis particularly hard to find slots for younginfants. According to ACS, less than 3percent of the children they serve arebetween birth and one year old. With ourpopulation estimated to grow by one mil-lion people by the year 2030, this prob-lem will only get worse.

These numbers are especially disturb-ing within the context of our city’s eco-nomic future, since child care is the keyto employment, advancement and eco-nomic stability. Without child care, it isimpossible to lift oneself out of povertyor to remain in the middle class.

Some innovators, such as unions likeSEIU 1199, have recognized this problemand developed solutions. In 1993, 1199and health care employers joined togeth-er to create the 1199/Employer ChildCare Fund to provide workers with childcare services. The fund runs two of its

own day care centers in the Bronx, oper-ates summer day camps and holiday pro-grams and offers subsidized weekend artclasses.

Sadly, however, most private compa-nies have yet to follow suit. Currently,only 5 percent of businesses in New YorkCity offer on-site child care to employ-ees. On the surface, this is surprising,since studies have shown that reliablechild care has proven to save businessesmoney by reducing absenteeism andemployee turnover. But real estate inNew York is at a premium, and settingaside the space for child care facilitiescan prove costly and problematic.

Across America, even in places wherereal estate is a lot less expensive, othercities and states are using tax breaks tohelp defray the cost of building or run-ning a center. According to the NationalConference of State Legislatures, 18states either provide, or have provided,income tax incentives to employers whoconstruct and operate child care facili-ties or pay for childcare services foremployees. Two states provide propertytax incentives for employer-provideddaycare sites. But unfortunately, NewYork is not one of them.

We should—and can—change that. Irecently introduced legislation thatwould provide a credit on theCommercial Rent Tax to businesses that

offer child care to their employees. Anemployer could either provide care in thespace it rents, or it could pool its creditwith other businesses to subsidize theoperation of an off-site center.

This represents an innovative andtimely approach because, unlike mostother taxes, the Council can makechanges to the Commercial Rent Tax(CRT) without Albany’s consent. TheCRT applies to large businesses inManhattan, located south of 96th Street,that pay more than $250,000 a year inrent.

In addition, I have also introduced acompanion resolution calling on the NewYork State Legislature to enact legisla-tion authorizing New York City to pro-vide tax incentives to businesses thatoffer child care assistance to employ-ees—regardless of their size or locationthroughout the city.

It makes practical and economicsense for New York City to join statesand cities around the nation that recog-nize the need for new thinking on how toprovide quality, reliable childcare. Thisachievable approach will help workingfamilies, local businesses, our economyand, ultimately, our city as a whole. C

Jessica Lappin is a Democrat repre-

senting parts of Manhattan in the

Council.

welcomessubmissions to

the op-ed page. Apiece should bemaximum 650

words long,accompanied by the name and address

of the author, and submitted via email [email protected]

to be considered.


Once a Candidate Himself, Now a Delegate for ObamaTwo decades after mayoral primary, Ravitch stays involved and boosts Illinois senator

BY MATT ELZWEIG

THE YEAR WAS 1989. NEW YORK

City was rampant with crime andthree-term mayor Ed Koch had become adivisive figure, after several investigationsfor corruption, a soured relationship withthe press and feuds with other public ser-vants which showed no sign of cooling.

Yet defeating Koch, an outsized per-sonality and familiar presence who wasdetermined to be the city’s first four-termmayor, would be no easy task.

Rudolph Giuliani wanted to try, but firsthe had to win a primary for the Republicannomination against Ronald Lauder. And theDemocrats were not ready to let Koch get afree pass: taking on Koch was ManhattanBorough President David Dinkins, CityComptroller Harrison J. Goldin and RichardRavitch, a businessman and attorney whohad been chair of the Metropolitan TransitAuthority from 1979 to 1983.

Ravitch got 5 percent of the vote.Dinkins, who won the four-way race, wenton to beat Giuliani by the slimmest major-ity for a mayoral candidate in 80 years.

Looking back, Ravitch explained his

low showing by saying that when Dinkinsentered the race he was “abandoned” bya lot of the people who had “encouraged”him to run in the first place.

But he does not sound bitter, twodecades later.

Ravitch now runs Ravitch, Rice &Company LLC, a law firm on the UpperEast Side, but he is still very active in poli-

tics and public service. He is also chair ofthe AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust andof Waterside Management Company, aswell as a trustee of the Century Foundationand Mount Sinai Medical Center. And he ison the Board of Parsons Brinckerhoff Inc.

Ravitch’s professional involvementwith politics began in 1975, when Gov.Hugh Carey (D) tapped him to chair the

New York State Urban DevelopmentCorporation. He was appointed chair ofthe MTA in 1979.

He continued in various positions inand around government until his failed1989 race for mayor. But though his ownforay into elected life ended years ago, hehas not strayed from political involve-ment. He is on the delegate slate forIllinois Sen. Barack Obama from the 14thCongressional District.

Ravitch said he is eager to see Obamain the Oval Office, convinced the Illinoissenator could restore civility toWashington. From Obama’s books,Ravitch said, he believes the senator hasthe right kind of approach to toleratingthose who disagree with him.

“That’s the most effective way of get-ting things done,” Ravitch said. “TheUnited States has suffered egregiously asa result of the Bush Administration’sactions and words. And I can’t imagineanybody who could restore America’sgreatness [better] than this guy.” C

[email protected]


[email protected].

WHEREARE THEY NOW?

Richard Ravitch in a 1989 mayoral endorsement interview, and today, inhis East Side law office.

BY CARL WINFIELD

MICHAEL HARRIS IS LOOKING FOR

a job. But he already spends hisdays working.

Harris spent just over six months as anadministrative aide to Assembly MemberMicah Kellner (D-Manhattan). Since leavingin December, the disabled commuteractivist has been meeting with officialsacross the city to discuss wheelchair acces-sibility throughout the city’s public trans-portation options. In his off-time, he hasbeen planning a vacation to Los Angeles—though even that will include some work,with a planned informal survey of that city’spublic transportation system.

This is the kind of energy and devotionthat have already gotten him noticedamong the leaders of the city’s disabled,including City Disabilities CommissionerMatthew Sapolin.

“Michael is a shot of new blood for themovement,” Sapolin said.

The bubbly 24-year-old was born witha neurological disorder that limits hismovement, though he has no troublequickly weaving his red, motorizedwheelchair through the tables at aMidtown diner while speaking in depthabout his continuing efforts to get theTaxi and Limousine Commission to investin a fleet of wheelchair-accessible Toyota

Siennas. He stopped talking only to check his

Blackberry. “I’m kind of a gadget guy,” he said, run-

ning his finger along the trackball.

While a senior at Manhattanville Collegein Purchase, New York, Harris becamefrustrated with the difficulties of gettinginto the city from campus. In response, hestarted the Disabled Riders Coalition as asenior project for his government class.

The movement quickly attracted atten-tion.

“What really started as trying to getmyself a route off campus transformedinto a larger thing,” Harris said.

He attended one press conferenceMayor Michael Bloomberg and otherelected officials held to address theeffects of token booth closings on dis-abled riders. Though he was impressedthat they were speaking out on behalf ofthe disabled, he noticed that he was theonly disabled person there.

“I looked around the room and said tomyself: ‘Where are all the riders with dis-abilities to say it for themselves?’” hesaid.

Harris began organizing press confer-ences, writing letters and doing his ownresearch on transportation accessibility.

That volunteer work caught the eye ofKellner, who won a special election foran East Side Assembly seat last June. Adisabled advocate himself, Kellner soonhired Harris as an administrative aide—all that the budget allowed—but encour-aged him to help craft policy on disabled

issues as well. Kellner said this was a logical fit. “When people think about straphang-

ers, they think of Gene Russianoff. Whenpeople think about disabled riders,they’re going to think about Michael,”Kellner said.

Initially, Harris balanced his role asexecutive director of the DisabledRiders’ Coalition and his job in Kellner’soffice. But he eventually found himselfwanting to do more—and get paidmore—than the position in Kellner’soffice could provide.

“I was able to work on some policyissues,” Harris said, “but at the end of theday, it was a part-time position.”

Living with his parents in Bayside,Brooklyn, Harris supports himself withhis savings as he looks for a new job. Heis interviewing with several local electedofficials he said, hoping to land some-thing in communications or policy by themiddle of March.

As for what might come after that,Harris said, he is still unsure. But electedlife is appealing.

“My City Council member is term lim-ited out in 2009. Would I run for myCouncilman’s seat in 2009? Probably not.Might I in eight years?” he said. “Quitepossibly.” C

[email protected]

IN THE TRENCHES

Michael Harris, founder of theDisabled Riders Coalition, isinterviewing with several localelected officials in search of a jobin communications or policy.

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Disabled Activist, Out of a Job, But Definitively Not on the SidelinesMichael Harris wants to translate advocacy into policy and paychecks


Broadcast NewsmakersFor commercials and connections, local electeds nurture their on-air personas

BY DAVID FREEDLANDER

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s radioshow may be in limbo, but those in themarket for a wireless political fixcan still tune to AM 570 everySaturday night at 11 p.m. to hearAssembly Member Dov Hikind(D), a fiery Orthodox Jew fromBorough Park, talk about life, theuniverse and everything.

Being on the air can be tough,Hikind says.

“I feel very lonely very often, ofcourse,” he intones into the micro-phone. Hikind’s radio voice is reas-suring and warm, like a pediatri-cian’s.

“Sometimes I think enoughalready! Let me just go pick fruit inIsrael or something!”

On this night, the tables are turned.Instead of Hikind asking the questions,he is being interviewed by his grown sonShmuel.

So of course, on this night at least, theshow is not exactly Meet the Press.

“There is so much out there to admireabout you,” Shmuel says. “How comeyou’ve never run for higher office?”

Hikind broadcasts his show live at 11p.m. Saturday nights out of his neighbor-hood political club. His chief aide, CharniSochet, mans the production, queuing up

callers and reading off advertisementsfor Passover vacations and local bak-eries. They rent the time from TalklineCommunications, a left-of-the-dial AMstation.

“We sell enough advertising that thisshow has become extremely successfulfinancially,” Hikind says. “That makes my

wife a little happier about it.”Hikind is not the only politician host-

ing his own fireside chats—though withthe care he brings to the broadcast and

his commercial mindset, he does seemto take the job of broadcaster moreseriously than most.

Council Member Gale Brewer hasher own monthly public access televi-sion show on ManhattanNeighborhood Network, as do StateSen. Tom Duane and AssemblyMembers Adriano Espaillat and KeithWright. On the other side of the river,Rep. Ed Towns, State Sen. MartyGolden and Borough President MartyMarkowitz all host regular shows onBrooklyn Community AccessTelevision.

“It’s a format for electeds to talk totheir constituents and let them know

what’s going on,” said Greg Sutton, anexecutive producer at the Brooklyn sta-tion.

He says that as many as 10,000 peopleare tuned in to the station at any onetime—a lot considering the burlesquequality of most of the programming. Thatis on average a .008 Nielsen share.

Public access has become the darling

of the resurgent media rights movementthat says its decentralized nature is theanswer to major media companies’never-ending quest for consolidation.

Keeping these channels in use is whatkeeps Brewer on ManhattanNeighborhood Network, where she hostsa charmingly lo-fi public affairs programcalled, “This Side of Central Park.”

“We fought very hard for this kind ofthing, and I think it’s important to keepthe public access current,” she said. “Ifyou are a public official you need toshare information, and at my level ofpublic office, there aren’t a lot of placesto do that.”

Not that she fancies herself an expertbroadcaster.

“I’m no Tim Russert,” she concedes. Politicians have always been early

adapters of new technologies, accordingto Robert E. Denton, author of Politics

and Communication in America:

Campaigns, Media, and Governing in

the 21st Century.

“Politics is basically just a means ofcommunication,” he said. “And politi-cians have been pretty quick across timein terms of picking each new technology,from pamphlets and the Pony Express tohiring campaign bloggers. Anything thatcreates an interpersonal conversationwhere you are able to clearly articulateyour message points is good.”

But those who do it say the benefitsare too great to pass up.

“In the absence of being able to spendtime with every constituent, it’s the nextbest thing,” said Council Member SimchaFelder, who about once a month fills infor Nachum Segal on his show on WSNR-620 AM. “It’s a way to get a feel aboutwhat’s going on in the neighborhood.”

And despite the glut of newspapers,radio and television stations focused onthe city, Felder and others feel that toomany media outlets are divorced fromthe concerns of everyday New Yorkers.

“The media is interested in sellingwhatever it is they are selling,” he said.“They are most often not involved inthe bread and butter issues of mostpeople in the city. When else do you getto hear about sanitation issues, trafficissues, ticket issues? And these thingsare critical.” C

[email protected]


[email protected].

Assembly Member Dov Hikind is one of many politicians joining the mayor on the airwaves to host theirown fireside chats.

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“We sell enoughadvertising that this

show has becomeextremely successful

financially,” AssemblyMember Dov Hikindsaid about his radioshow. “That makes

my wife a littlehappier about it.”

Sign-up fore-mail updates at



Lindsay Staffers FeelBloomberg Staffers’ Pain

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s defini-tive announcement that he would not berunning for president could have leftsome on his staff down in the dumps.

Some veterans of Mayor John

Lindsay’s administration have a messagefor them: we know just how you feel.

Lindsay, who was elected to his firstterm as mayor as a Republican and hissecond as a Liberal, made an abbreviatedcampaign for the Democratic presiden-tial nomination in 1972. But after losingthe Florida primary, he ended his cam-paign and returned to City Hall.

“Obviously, there’s enormous disap-pointment, but the campaign in thatsense was a continuation of the missionthat brought many of us to work for themayor and to work for the city,” recalledJay Kriegel, who became one ofLindsay’s deputy mayors after the cam-paign, and is now a senior advisor at theRelated Companies.

But the Lindsay supporters, like manyof those who were pushing Bloomberg to

run, had a sense that the campaign wasover before the official word came. Thathelped, he said.

“By that point, the campaign was flail-ing, and we all realized we had a job wehad to do,” he said. “Probably not unlikethis band, it was a group of people thatfelt pretty passionately about what wewere doing and worked very hard.”

Steven Isenberg, who left City Hallto work on the presidential campaign andreturned as Lindsay’s chief of staff, saidthe first couple of days were the hardest.

“There’s no question there’s a disap-pointment, and a little bit that the air hasbeen taken out of you,” he said.

That Bloomberg never actually starteda campaign would make acceptance eas-ier, he said. Still, Isenberg said, he wouldunderstand if some on Bloomberg’s stafffound focusing on city government a lit-tle harder after entertaining dreams ofWest Wing offices and fancy Washingtonjob titles.

But the one who always takes the endof a campaign the hardest is the prospec-tive candidate himself, Isenberg said.That is how it was with Lindsay.

“The one who has to think about it anddeal with it psychologically more thananybody else is the mayor,” he said. “Buttruth be told, the way City Hall life is,after a few days you’re just back into it.”

Spitzer Gets PR Advicefrom Cunningham and Arzt

Darrel Aubertine’s special electionvictory Feb. 26 might be good news for

Democrats, but if Gov. Eliot Spitzer

really wants to lead him to victory, Bill

Cunningham has some advice: go afteran enemy that people can rally against,like bond insurers. Cunningham offeredhis advice as part of a panel on Spitzer’sfirst year in office held at the New SchoolFeb. 27, the morning after Aubertine’ssurprise win.

Spitzer has testified to Congress aboutthe economic and job-growth impact ofbond insurers, which backs the fundingfor construction of hospitals and schools.Cunningham said Spitzer is on the “vergeof attacking” them. George Arzt, presi-dent of Arzt Communications, has a dif-ferent secret to success: reach out to out-siders.

“He needs to get new blood in govern-ment,” Arzt said. “He’s got to get an agen-da going.”

Chick LitMove over, Gloria Steinem. On

May 14, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) will release Rumors

of our Progress Have Been Greatly

Exaggerated, a look at women’s rights inAmerica.

Exploring such issues as domestic vio-lence, poverty and reproductive freedom,

Maloney seeks to exposethe “myth that womenhave achieved equal statuswith men in American

society.” In the book, Maloney, a former co-

chair of the Women’s Caucus, outlineseight goals women must achieve to ele-vate the nation’s reputation in equalrights. She also tells the stories of womenshe considers to be inspirations, includ-ing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), Meryl Streep and Mia

Hamm. The book includes an overview of leg-

islation currently in the works that wouldaffect women and a “take action” guidefor women who want to make a societalimpact.

The Animal AgendaFor many, Valentine’s Day was a

time for romance and rose bouquets. But for a group of animal rights

protesters, Valentine’s Day was alsothe perfect time for a protest againstthe city’s horse-drawn carriage indus-try, which they fault with needlesslyendangering and killing a number ofhorses.

“You can’t have this industry inNew York and make it humane,” saidEdita Birnkrant, a campaign coordina-tor at Friends of Animals, an advocacygroup which joined in the protest atthe corner of 59th Street and FifthAvenue.

With both sides cramming the side-walk, the scene rapidly turned ugly.One carriage driver looked on with amixture of amusement and anger.

“Nothing ever satisfies theseidiots,” he said. “These horses could

be living in a penthouse in the Plaza.”Council Member Tony Avella (D-

Queens), who introduced a bill to bancarriages late last year, says more NewYorkers should be paying attention.

“The way we exist with animals intoday’s society is a judgment against our-selves,” Avella said.

Avella has found some on the Councilwho agree with him, he said. But Mayor

Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) andCouncil Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who both call the horses alucrative tourist draw, have not budged.

“There’s people that are willing to lis-ten, and then there’s the mayor and thespeaker,” Avella said.

With Bloomberg and Quinn both infavor of congestion pricing, Avella saidhe finds their insistence on keeping car-riages on the street especially strange.

“For the mayor to be so hot and heavyfor congestion pricing but to still allowhorse driven carriages in these same

areas is absurd,” he said. And that is not the only animal bill

around. In the wake of the Michael Vickscandal, animal rights groups are peti-tioning Albany to create stiffer penaltiesfor people who attend dog fightingmatches.

But heightened tensions over controlof the State Senate, as well as theapproaching budget negotiations, seemto have distracted most lawmakers—andeven the bill’s sponsor, Assembly

Member Joseph Lentol (D-Brooklyn). “I haven’t made a real push for it yet,”

said Lentol (D-Brooklyn), “but I expectthe bill to be acted on shortly.”

Lentol called the issue a no-brainer. “If I have to come down on a side,”

Lentol said, “I’d come down on the sideof the animal every time.”

Containment PolicyCouncil Member Joseph Addabbo

(D-Queens), who represents HowardBeach, has often heard complaintsabout glass on the beach. One con-stituent, he said, nearly severed hislarge toe on a broken bottle left inthe sand.

Much of the broken glass, he said,is concentrated around garbagecans.

“Someone goes to throw some-thing, goes for a three-pointer and theymiss, and they leave it there,” he said.

With warm weather on the way,Addabbo is sponsoring a bill to pro-hibit glass packaging within 150 feetof city beaches.

Hoping to avoid a confrontationwith businesses, he suggested thatstores could transfer anything sold inglass containers—like beer or fruitdrinks—into containers made ofplastic or other non-breakablematerial after purchase. C

By David Colon, Edward-Isaac

Dovere, Andrew J. Hawkins,

and Dan Rivoli

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Senior Reporters

When only two journalists asked questions at Assembly SpeakerSheldon Silver’s Feb. 29 press conference about a new package ofbills to protect the elderly, Silver opened the floor to the seniors atSt. Margaret’s House who there for the photo-op. They asked fivebefore Silver called the event to a close.

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Marcus Cederqvist was barelysettled into his new job asthe executive director of the

New York City Board of Electionsbefore Mayor Michael Bloombergbegan firing off criticisms about theselection process for the Board’s com-missioners, and the city began togear up for the Feb. 5 primary vote.But when all the votes were counted(or undercounted, according to somereports), Cederqvist, the former headof the Manhattan Republican Party,said he is ready for November’s gen-eral election, as well as the citywideelections of 2009. He discussedBloomberg’s criticisms, the installa-tion of new voting machines and theperception of his job as one of thecity’s last patronage positions. Whatfollows is an edited transcript.

City Hall: Coming from the New YorkRepublican Party, you seem like apretty partisan guy. What’s the transition like com-ing from that to a non-partisan environment at theBoard of Elections?MC: Well, my background isn’t quite that partisan. Mylast job was as the executive director of the New YorkRepublican County Committee, but before that I waschief of staff for a city councilman, and that was a pub-lic service aspect of my background. I did that for sixyears. When I was at the county committee, just like allcampaigns and party organizations, you’re kind of a cus-tomer of the Board of Elections in a sense. So I hadworked with a lot of people on the board and I knew alot of the people here and it was just a great profession-al opportunity to come here. There’s a lot going on now,obviously. They’re going to be changing the voting sys-tem, so there are a lot of challenges ahead.

CH: Who approached you about the job?MC: John Ravitz was the first one who mentioned it.Again, he’s known me for years. I worked with him for ayear when he was the chairman and he told me he wasleaving, although I guess the news was already outthere, and that it’s something that I should consider. Italked to a couple other people and kind of threw myhat in the ring.

CH: What was your reaction to the controversy sur-rounding the vote to approve you as executivedirector of the Board of Elections? There was someconflict between the party bosses in the Bronx andBrooklyn.MC: That didn’t really revolve around me. That had todo with something else in the board that I’m not asfamiliar with. I mean, it was a unanimous vote for me; itwas a little more non-controversial. All the delays in theboard…it wasn’t really beneficial, honestly, because Icame right before an election, right as they were choos-ing new voting systems: the BMD, ballot markingdevices. It would have been nice if I could have come ina little earlier and get oriented a little better.

CH: There was also controversy about the ballotcounts the night of the presidential primary. What isyour take on all of that?

MC: Having been involved in elections before, I knowthat those are artificial results. I know the responsiblething is to wait for the certified results. I’ve beeninvolved in some really close races, so we know howimportant it is to wait for the actual results. New YorkState has the most meticulous canvas procedure proba-bly in the country. We have these unofficial results thatcome out on election night and there’s a procedure forthat, and that’s actually in accordance with state electionlaw, as is the whole canvas procedure. One thing is, peo-ple should have total confidence in the results because itis so meticulously scrutinized; it’s done in a very publicway. I mean, the machines are locked up election nightand sealed, and brought back to the voting machine facil-ity and then they’re actually unsealed in a public processwhere representatives from the campaigns can be there;they can verify what the board is taking down. And atthis point, when you’re doing a recount, these are theactual employees that are doing it instead of what areessentially volunteers on election night, when we have31,000 poll workers and then those county sheets thengo to the police and they’re entered into their mainframesystems, so there are a few layers where it is possible tohave some degree of error. It’s generally fairly accurate.But also keep in mind, even if it was 100 percent accu-rate, you’re not including affidavit ballots or absenteeballots and those have to be counted and they have to beconsidered in the end results. So really, the certifiedresults are the important part.

CH: Did it bother you at all that there was so muchcriticism from Bloomberg and others of the Boardfollowing the reports of undercounted ballots? MC: It didn’t ruffle my feathers. I didn’t think it was par-ticularly helpful, though. I don’t think there are manypeople that are more accessible than me in terms of call-ing me and finding out what’s going on, and no one didthat beforehand.

CH: You did not get an advance call from City Hall? MC: Yeah, no one with the exception of some of thereporters who speak to our office if they wanted to geta sense of what was going on. We would have beenhappy to share that with anyone if they had called us.

CH: Being new on the job, are there any changes orreforms you’d like to make to the Board of Elections?MC: I wouldn’t say right away. The first thing is, keep inmind, I came in right before an election and that processwas well underway already. And then it’s kind of respon-sible to see what the lay of the land is before you go andtry to shake things up too much. I’m responsible for day-to-day operations, but obviously the ten commissionersrun the agency and so any ideas that I might have, it’sincumbent upon me to sell them on it first.

CH: The mayor has also made comments aboutwanting to revise the city charter, saying he wantsto change the way the commissioners of the Boardof Elections are chosen. Do you think he is right?MC: My understanding is that the way everything is setup is done in the State Constitution, so that would prob-ably be a state action. The other thing, honestly, is thatthe mayor’s criticisms aren’t new. He’s been critical ofthe agency since the beginning. As a point of disclosure,I worked very hard on the mayor’s re-election campaign,so I do have a certain connection with him and hisadministration. Nonetheless, I disagree with some of thethings he said. He says we’re a partisan agency. We’renot a partisan agency. We’re a bipartisan agency andthere’s a system of checks and balances in this agencyfrom the top all the way down to the very bottom.Everything that gets done gets signed off on a bipartisanbasis and that’s to ensure…that’s the system of checksand balances we have in place. And I think the peoplewho set it up that way were very prescient because thatway, regardless of whatever party or parties are in con-trol of City Hall, you have a very consistent structurehere, so that people can have faith in the accuracy of theelections that are conducted here.

CH: So what are some of the changes that are goingto be made in preparation for the election inNovember and the citywide elections next year? MC: The commissioners a few weeks ago selected anew ballot marking device and there’s going to be one inevery polling place in New York City. That allows peoplewith all types of disabilities to be able to cast a ballot attheir polling place, it helps mark the ballot for them andthen, under federal ruling we also have to replace ourentire voting system, you know; we have to replace thelever machines by September 2009.

CH: Some say that your job is one of the city’s lastpatronage jobs. Is that accurate? MC: I’m not sure quite frankly that I’m the best personto answer that. In terms of the pay, I appreciate the com-pensation, but compared to other agency heads, it’s a lotlower. Now I’m not complaining. The money’s not themost important thing to me. It’s the challenge of the joband everything. The other thing is, the commissioners Idon’t think would put people in here, including myself—especially myself because that’s what the questionwas—that couldn’t handle the job, because that wouldbe deleterious to the whole agency and to what they’retrying to accomplish, which is conduct elections thatthe public has faith in. And so, no, I don’t buy that I wasput here to serve the interest of some kind of party bossbecause frankly, that’s not really what I am anyway.They put me here because they had confidence I coulddo the job, period.

CH: What’s going to happen to the old votingmachines when they’re replaced? Are they going toa museum? Or do you get to keep one to put in yourliving room as a souvenir?MC: Me personally? No, my place is too small. C

—Andrew J. [email protected]

Election Results:

Marcus Cederqvist, the new executive director of the Boardof Elections, says there are some misconceptions about votereporting and patronage at his new office.

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City Hall - March 1, 2008

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Transcript of City Hall - March 1, 2008