Community members rip the City Council a new one

We've come to the end of our coverage of the disastrous Planning Together hearing from 2/23. Now, the public has a chance to speak. Reps of Community Boards, neighborhood organizations and a planning expert weigh in, and they don't hold back. There are allegations of chicanery and racism and it's oh, so enjoyable. A lot of people out there are paying attention, and that's a good thing.

Both sides heard at Queens hearing on monuments

From PIX11:

The future of New York City’s controversial monuments was the topic of conversation Friday at Queens Borough Hall where for the first time, New Yorkers had a chance to give their two cents.

As many as 800 pieces of art across the five boroughs including a statue of Christopher Columbus in Midtown, are at the center of the debate.

Nearly two dozen residents testified before Mayor de Blasio’s advisory commission on city art, monuments and markers.

From residents who warned that erasing history would be dangerous, to others who called Columbus a “terrorist” — the opinions ran the gamut.

Outside all the talk of history, the turnout for the public testimony was noticeably low with members of the media outnumbering residents.

The midday hearing drew ire from some but the Mayor’s office insists holding a hearing like this in the middle of the day on a weekday, is standard procedure.

Attendance not important to council members

From Gotham Gazette:

Gotham Gazette monitored 13 City Council hearings over a ten-day period, from late February into early March, collecting data that shows more often than not, the committee chair is the only Council member that remains to hear testimony from members of the public at the end of a hearing (7 of 13); more often than not, at least one Council member had two committee hearings scheduled for the same time (8 of 13); and committee hearings never start at their scheduled time, with the earliest start time nine minutes after the scheduled time and the latest start time 54 minutes after. The average start time of the 13 hearings was 23 minutes past scheduled start.

It can be frustrating for members of the public to miss work and spend hours at committee hearings waiting for their turn to testify, only to find that most Council members have left before they’ve had a chance to speak. Yet to Council members, leaving hearings early or arriving late is often seen as necessary, either due to conflicting hearings or meetings, or to take care of something in their home districts.

(Or to meet with lobbyists.)

City planning holds sham hearing; freezes out the public

From Historic Districts Council:

"Were you left outside, too? The Historic Districts Council, NY Landmarks Conservancy, MAS, Friends of the Upper East Side, Landmark West!, and the Society for the Architecture of the City were unable to testify at the City Planning Commission’s public hearing for ZQA/MIH this morning because the room was at capacity by 9:15 am--the hearing commenced at 9:00 am. By 10:30 am, representatives of City Planning explained that attendees who wished to speak could choose to wait outside with no guarantee of entry. Even worse, the City Planning Commission has not given any indication that they will hold additional hearings to ensure the whole of the public will be heard.

This is a public hearing, not a line on Black Friday. ALL of the public should be able to speak, not just those who got in line several strategic hours earlier than everyone else. There must be allowances made so that all the people of New York can have a voice. Please send a letter to Carl Weisbrod, Chair of NYC City Planning Commission and tell him that this morning’s situation was untenable and that our voices deserve to be in the record on this unprecedented rezoning proposal. Everyone deserves a chance to be heard and not be left out in the cold."

______________________

I submitted a protest letter and received the following reply at 8pm:

"Thank you for your message regarding the ongoing public hearing on the MIH/ZQA text amendment proposals.

We are sorry that you encountered long lines in the morning. We appreciate your interest in appearing before the Commission to testify on these important initiatives. Please note that the the City Planning Commission hearing on these items is ongoing, and the Commission will continue to hear every speaker who signs up and is present to speak.

There are no lines at this point, and we encourage you to come back and sign up to speak. We are continuing to post the Speaker # on our Twitter account and on our website.

If you would like to submit written testimony at any time prior to the vote, written comments on the DEIS will be considered until Monday, December 28 and written comments on the application may be sent up to the date of the Commission vote. You can mail written comments to:

CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
Calendar Information Office - 31st Floor
120 Broadway, New York NY 10271"
______________________

Familiar government story:

• Call a public hearing
• Call your cronies to reserve prime speaking slots
• Schedule hearing for a room that's too small to accommodate crowd
• Sit and laugh as opponents get frustrated and leave
• Claim that you were available to listen to all the testimony and there was minimal opposition
• Enjoy the lazy media's reporting that suggests that suddenly everyone loves what you proposed
• Use this as justification to proceed as planned

Comment period extended for citywide rezoning proposal

They'll give you a few more weeks before you have to bend over.

Brooklyn gets opulence, Queens gets crap

Dan's dirty hands exposed in court

From the NY Post:

Former City Councilman Dan Halloran offered to dole out tens of thousands of dollars in no-show city consulting work to an undercover agent in exchange for funds to boost a congressional run — and then demanded to be paid even after losing the race, the federal agent told jurors Monday.

Jurors at the White Plains federal corruption trial of Halloran, state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Queens GOP operative Vincent Tabone also heard audiotape of Halloran telling the agent that he’ll take his money in cash.

“Look, at this point, we don’t need all of it in checks. We can take green now,” he says in a Nov. 15, 2012, meeting at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in White Plains also attended by crooked developer-turned-FBI-informant Moses Stern.

“Cause now I can . . . I can pay vendors off,” he says. “Before, I had to show money coming in to help my campaign. Now, I don’t have to.”

Later that same day, Halloran (R-Queens) sent the agent — whose real name wasn’t provided to jurors — an e-mail containing a commitment letter pre-dated four days and promising $40,000 to $80,000 for consulting work on a Queens YMCA.

“I was being very clear that I was going to take his money,” the agent testified. “I expected we would do zero work related to that.”

The agent also said he previously gave Stern $6,500 in cash to create checks in others people’s names for Halloran’s campaign.

Halloran is also accused of pocketing $20,500 in cash bribes for masterminding cross-party negotiations for a failed bid to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — the Republican line in last year’s mayoral race.

Photo from the Daily News

Why did Helen Marshall prevent Tony Avella's rep from testifying against the USTA?

From SaveFMCP:

On April 4th, 2013, Borough President Helen Marshall held a land use meeting as part of the ULURP for the USTA expansion. State Senator Tony Avella was the only elected official to send a representative to testify. However, Tony Avella's representative was denied the opportunity to speak. The Senator's written testimony against the USTA expansion as well as his letter to the Borough President protesting the treatment of his staff members is presented below.

State Senator Tony Avella's testimony to Helen Marshall against USTA expansion by Save Flushing Meadows-Corona Park

Opposing the USTA's land grab

Civic leader Ben Haber testifies during a meeting of Queens Community Board 7 held on February 11, 2013, in opposition to the proposed expansion of the United States Tennis Association in Flushing Meadows Corona Park.

And here's his letter to the NY Times from 1993...

The more things change, the more they stay the same.