Developers buying politicians

From the NY Times:

...the trial is tantalizing for where its tentacles extend — linking political corruption in Westchester to that in Brooklyn, and touching on the curious fashion in which real estate developers pursue their chosen game.

Important details are shadowed in pretrial murk. Ms. Annabi stands accused of taking bribes to cast deciding votes for two large developments in Yonkers. But in the largest of these developments, Bruce Ratner’s 81-acre Ridge Hill project, prosecutors have not said how much money was forked over.

All of which brings us to the role of the politically wired developer, whose projects are catnip to politicians. No prosecutor has implied that Mr. Ratner or his aides played a corrupt role. In Brooklyn, where he has a 22-acre development known as the Atlantic Yards, he was mentioned in the corruption case last year that toppled a Brooklyn Democratic power, State Senator Carl Kruger. Prosecutors called Mr. Ratner “Developer No. 1.” In Yonkers, he appears in Ms. Annabi’s indictment as “Developer No. 2.”

After I wrote last month of Mr. Ratner’s entanglements, several left-liberal sorts, not least former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, wrote to object that I had besmirched a fine fellow. The developer is a patron of liberal causes. He has set aside a significant number of apartments in his Atlantic Yards project for working-class tenants.

Much of this is true, as is this: Mr. Ratner wrangled $726 million in subsidies and benefits from the city and state, and he fights for even more by the week. (He was the developer of The New York Times building.) His willingness to tuck affordable apartments into his gleaming towers is perhaps a reasonable political tradeoff rather than a testament to his character.

Mr. Ratner relies, too, on phalanxes of former top officials to make his case. The less polite might call them fixers. So he hired Bruce Bender, a former top City Council aide and south Brooklyn Democratic power, as his senior vice president, and put Scott Cantone, a former Giuliani aide, in another post.

KEEP THEM OPEN!!

Councilman Tony Avella and staff from St. John's Queens and Mary Immaculate Hospitals will hold a press conference tomorrow at City Hall at 12 noon. The following is footage from Saturday's rally at St. John's:


"KEEP US OPEN!"


Myrna Bailey, Administrative Director of Clinical Services


Councilman Tony Avella


State Senator Shirley Huntley


Assemblyman Michael DenDekker


Comptroller William Thompson


Assemblywoman Marge Markey


State Senator Toby Stavisky


Dr. John Denton, Director of Medical Education

Videos by nutrichris on YouTube.

So I can't help but wonder as I look at these videos and yesterday's photos:

- Where was Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum? Early retirement?

- Where were Public Advocate candidates and current council members Eric Gioia and John Liu? Both represent Queens but apparently only "certain" people.

- Where was Borough President Helen Marshall who made a point about keeping these hospitals open during her State of the Borough speech? When you have no primary or general election opposition to worry about, this is what happens, I guess.

- Where were Community Affairs Unit Commissioner Nazli Parvizi and Queens Community Affairs Unit Director Jennifer Manley? Harassing another community group somewhere?

- Where was City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden? Trying to figure out how many condos can be squeezed into this space after the hospital closes?

- Where was Councilwoman Melinda Katz, whose district utilizes this hospital? Hosting a fundraiser for developers with eyes on this property?

- Two mayoral candidates showed up and a third sent a representative. Where was Mayor Bloomberg? Keeping his ass warm in Bermuda?



Shame on all of you.

Gotbaum: Illegals CAN'T get benefits (not that we check status)

From Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and the New York Immigration Coalition’s Guide to Public Benefits for Immigrants:

Many immigrants also worry that a benefits administrator will report them to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This is not true. By law, city agencies are not allowed to ask you about your immigration status or disclose your immigration status to anyone.

Undocumented immigrants cannot get most state and federal public benefits, but these benefits are still available to their citizen children. For example, if you are an undocumented immigrant, you are not eligible for Food Stamps, but you can apply for Food Stamps for your citizen children.

Yes, please come to the USA illegally. We'll look the other way when you subdivide apartments into multiple dwellings and sleep in shifts. Then please multiply. We have a goal of shoehorning at least a million more people here by 2030. Don't worry, we'll feed your kids! The next generation will remember who helped you out each Election Day. Tweeding 101.

For more fun reading, try this:

Undocumented can't get public benefits: guide

Panel Bloomberg appointed finds no ethics problem

The New York City Conflicts of Interest Board ruled on Wednesday evening that members of the City Council may vote to modify, extend or abolish term limits even if they will directly benefit from such a change, dealing a blow to three officials who had argued that it would violate ethics laws for Council members to alter term limits without a public referendum.

In an 11-page ruling, the board rejected arguments made by Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and two City Council members, Bill de Blasio and Letitia James. The three had argued that it would be unethical for the majority of City Council members, who would otherwise be barred from seeking re-election next year, to vote to extend the number of maximum terms to three, from two, because they would themselves benefit from such a change.

The Conflicts of Interest Board disagreed. It ruled that “a legislator’s act of voting for, or against, extending his or her own ability to seek another term” does not violate laws that prohibit lawmakers from using their office for “personal or private advantage.”

Ethics Panel Clears Way for Term Limits Vote

CPC votes "yes" on Willets Point plan

So the City Planning Commission voted in favor of the Willets Point plan today. Not surprising, since this is who they are:

The City Planning Commission, established by the 1936 City Charter, began operating in 1938 with seven members appointed by the Mayor. The 1989 Charter expanded the Commission to thirteen members. The Mayor appoints the Chair who is also the Director of City Planning. The Mayor also appoints six other members, each Borough President appoints one member, and the Public Advocate appoints one member. The Chair serves at the Mayor's pleasure while the other 12 commissioners each serve for staggered terms of 5 years.

The mayor's pleasure? Sounds almost pornographic.

Here's Councilman Hiram Monserrate's statement:

"Today's decision by the City Planning Commission is not a vote, but a rubber stamp. With a majority of the Commissioners serving at the request of the Mayor, their decision to pass this plan without addressing the many noted flaws is not surprising. However, there was one notable exception to this rule. I would like to acknowledge Commissioner Karen A. Phillips for her willingness to cast her vote against a project and a process that sets a dangerous precedent for the city as a whole.

The current Willets Point plan sets a precedent for community planning by decree, rather than discussion. The City Planning Commission's vote is further proof that the Administration is more interested in steamrolling this process rather than accepting the community's many pleas for collaboration.

Today's decision begins the countdown towards the final vote in the City Council. With a majority of Council Members already expressing their dire concerns about this project, including the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus, I look forward to finally having an open discussion and solution on the issues that the Administration has so far not resolved – guaranteed affordable housing, fair-market compensation and relocation plans, traffic mitigation plans and a commitment to take eminent domain off the table."

And here's WPIRA's response:

"At a time when the mayor is ordering painful budget cuts and raising property taxes on struggling homeowners, the City Planning Commission rubber stamps the administration's misguided plan for Willets Point without even so much as questioning this $1 billion plus waste of taxpayers’ money.

Unfortunately, that is hardly a surprise. Throughout this rush to judgment, the administration has refused to answer the tough questions and ignored the concerns of the property owners whose land the City seems bent on seizing through eminent domain.

We applaud Public Advocate Gotbaum for once again raising the questions that the City has refused to answer. She knows a bad deal when she sees one, and has the independence to say it to a mayor used to getting his way.

We have confidence the City Council will continue to stand up to the Mayor as he pressures them to approve his flailing plan.

Willets Point needs help but we don't need a multi-billion dollar boondoggle that will never get done. It’s long past time for the Mayor to work with the property owners to develop a meaning and affordable plan to revitalize Willets Point.

We stand ready to work with the Council on a plan that makes sense for the local community, protects and creates jobs, and doesn't require massive taxpayer subsidies for wealthy private developers."

And Mayor Bloomberg said the plan must move forward.

Betsy not buying City's Willets Point B.S.

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum stated the following today:

"Tomorrow, the City Planning Commission will vote on a development plan for Willets Point that is far from complete. We can expect that the Commission will rubber stamp the plan. In less than two months, the City Council will be required, because of the ULURP clock, to vote on this same plan.

What’s wrong with this scenario? Plenty.

First, we just don’t have enough specific information. The Request for Proposals (RFP) sets out the framework for the redevelopment, but we don’t know who is going to be the ‘master developer’ for the site, to hold accountable for what the actual plan will look like at completion.

Second, the needs of local businesses in Willets Point haven’t been adequately addressed. These businesses have been in the area for a long time. Many have dealt with horrible conditions, including no sewer system and a lack of any City improvements or maintenance for years.

Third, given our current economic crisis, we need to know what kinds of public subsidies will be provided for this plan, and where the money will come from.

Unfortunately, the clock is already ticking for the City vote on the Willets Point plan. The administration shouldn’t force the Council to speculate on the details of this plan. It may be difficult in the short time left, but they need to come up with the specifics about the future of this development."

Response from WPIRA:

"Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is exactly right about Willets Point: There are too many questions and not enough answers for the City Council to move forward with the Mayor's seemingly haphazard plan. This is exactly why 33 members of the Council have voiced opposition to it and it's probable abuse of eminent domain. Mayor Bloomberg should recognize the fatal flaws of this plan and instead work with the property owners on sensible and affordable infrastructure investment that Willets Point has needed for decades. If not, we trust the City Council will show the same independence that Ms. Gotbaum demonstrated today with her courageous stance and reject this misguided proposal."

WPIRA responds to city's ramped up tweeding effort

The Willets Point Industry and Realty Association, the group of business owners who control more than 53% of the privately held land in Willets Point that the Bloomberg administration wants to seize via eminent domain abuse, responded to yesterday's announcement by the EDC that minorities, women and Queens residents will play a major role in the city's redevelopment of the area.

"Women and minority business owners know that yesterday's announcement by Helen Marshall and Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber – two people who won't even be in office in about 16 months – is just another phony photo op. It's like George Bush proclaiming "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq all those years ago – a wild exaggeration that only misled the American public. Trust me, we are not going to be fooled by Marshall and Lieber anymore," said Irene Presti, WPIRA member.

WPIRA maintains if the Bloomberg administration really wanted to help women and minority owned businesses, it would provide the municipal services (sewers, street lights, sidewalks) that have been intentionally withheld for decades so the area could revitalize on its own. The cost-effective solution to redevelop Willets Point would maintain and expand good jobs. Instead, the City is determined to steal the businesses and land, thus destroying the jobs of thousands of working families for a development scheme that will never happen.

Neil Soni, Vice President of House of Spices in Willets Point said, "As a certified Minority-and-Women-Owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE), I find today's announcement yet another betrayal by an administration that continues to try to pit one group of New Yorkers against another. This divide-and-conquer strategy will fail miserably because it is so transparent and comes from an administration with an appalling record on these issues. But even worse, this administration makes promises like they have already seized our private property through eminent domain. Deal with us first, fairly, honestly and like professionals—then make your promises. Only then can this be taken seriously."

Presti points out an article in the Village Voice on June 10, 2008 which reported that the City has failed miserably to provide opportunities for women and minority businesses. In the article, Commissioner Robert W. Walsh, who has run the New York City Department of Small Business Services since Bloomberg took office, conceded that he hasn't had a single meeting with the mayor to discuss the M/WBE program since the new law went into effect in late 2005. He also acknowledged that, from the beginning of the administration, his conversations with Bloomberg about aiding small businesses "had not been focused on gender or race." Asked if they'd ever had a conversation in which Bloomberg gave him "a sense of how important an MWBE program was to him," Walsh replied: "I don't want to put words in anybody's mouth. I can't remember a conversation like that."

"We agree with Betsy Gotbaum, whose investigations have found that the City just isn't getting the job done for women and minority businesses," said Irene Presti. "We also agree with State Senate Bill Perkins, who has spoken out forcefully about the City administration's failure to even acknowledge its failures in this program."

Pictured: The Soni Brothers' House of Spices was founded in 1970 on a corner in Jackson Heights. House of Spices now has nine distribution centers around the Unites States with a total of 500,000 square feet of space distributing to the ethnic markets as well as to mainstream markets. They are major landholders at Willets Point and the city is threatening to take away their business via eminent domain. Their American Dream has turned into a nightmare.

Clairol Christine and Mayor Mike visit Titanic crap

...Quinn swooped into town with Bloomberg on his corporate jet yesterday, while her likely '09 mayoral opponent, Comptroller Bill Thompson, and sometime-speculated candidate, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, flew coach on Continental.

Upon arriving in Ireland, Quinn and Bloomberg visited Belfast's "Titanic Quarter," a massive housing and business development planned for the former dockyards site where the doomed ship was built and launched.

Bloomberg Gives Quinn A Lift To Belfast

There's something just so appropriate about this...

St. John's dorm construction a complete fiasco

This was the original condition of the grounds from the beginning.
Shows the filling of the drywells - which remained constantly flooded with water until they received the "sewer repair" permit - its safe to assume that they were funneling the water into the sanitation sewers.
The tankers used to drain the water. Despite the supposed installation of 16 drywells, the sides of the foundation is still flooded with water - we don't have a storm drainage system.

Dear Public Advocate Gotbaum;

We would like to bring to your attention a condition that is of great concern to many Jamaica Estates residents. We reside in close proximity to the Saint John’s University Henley Road dormitory facility in Jamaica Estates, Queens that is under construction at the present time. This site has been plagued with constant flooding regardless of whether it rains or not. We have witnessed the use of numerous oil tankers removing huge amounts of water only to have the flood return the following morning. Our layperson’s interpretation of the situation is, that the builders excavated below the water table, and this in conjunction with the fact that our community has underground streams, and years ago a fairly large lake existed adjacent to the dormitory site exacerbate this condition. Recently the builders were pouring concrete into this flooded site, a construction faux pas that could very well compromise the foundation of the building. This was followed by numerous failed waterproofing attempts, as sheet after sheet of soaked waterproofing material detached from the foundation walls.

It is important to note that the construction of this “community facilities project”, self certified by Architect Ramy Issac, proceeded without a community impact study. If this condition is manifesting itself early in the life of this project, I can only imagine the health issues water, mold and mildew will cause unsuspecting students in the future. It is disconcerting to think that this construction, partially financed by dormitory bonds and tax payer’s money, is allowed to proceed regardless of how many lives it endangers.

I hope that the City Council will consider including guidelines for new construction so abatement issues will not be necessary and we can live without mold related illnesses.

In addition, we welcome any assistance that you can afford us in addressing this matter. The Concerned Residents of Jamaica Estates have kept an accurate log as well video footage, documenting the issues discussed above.

Thanking you in advance,
The Concerned Residents of Jamaica Estates

Turf concerns

Unlike grass fields, which cool the surrounding air by reflecting sunlight and evaporating water, artificial fields absorb and reradiate the sun's heat. Synthetic turf fields are some of the hottest places in the city, said Dr. Stuart Gaffin, associate research scientist at the Center for Climate Systems Research at Columbia University, who discovered this from NASA satellite maps when doing research on the urban heat island effect.

Concerns grow but the grass doesn't

Over the last two summers, researchers visited the hot spots identified in the maps and measured just how hot the city's synthetic turf fields can get: as high as 130 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Synthetic turf is hotter than asphalt, said Gaffin.

This could have a particularly negative impact on temperatures in communities where a significant amount of natural surface is replaced by synthetic turf. One such example is the area around the new Yankee Stadium. The stadium occupies the site of Macombs Dam Park, a 20-acre rectangle that formerly contained well-worn soccer and baseball fields and a running track and was bordered by hundreds of mature trees. To replace some of that park's facilities, the city will build an artificial turf soccer field and track on top of a parking garage.

Another consideration is the impact of artificial turf on the city's combined sewage overflows. In most of the city's sewer system, storm runoff combines with household sewage. During huge downpours, sewage treatment plants cannot handle the added rainwater, and untreated waste overflows into the harbor and rivers. Grass and dirt soak up rain, but synthetic turf fields, which are designed to drain quickly, very efficiently funnel rainwater into the sewage system.

Replacing natural fields with synthetic turf runs counter to the city's goal of increasing natural areas and permeable surfaces as a way to reduce stormwater runoff. This strategy is part of Mayor Bloomberg's sustainability blueprint, and likely to be included in the stormwater management plan the city is required to adopt by the end of the year.

From the NY Times: Groups Urge a Moratorium on City Use of Artificial Turf

In a letter to the city’s parks and health commissioners, dated Thursday, the groups say the installation of such fields should be suspended pending the results of a review of health risks being conducted by the health department.

The letter was signed by Betsy Gotbaum, the public advocate, who is a former city parks commissioner; Christian DiPalermo, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks; and members of the Natural Resources Defense Council and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest.

Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner, is an advocate for turf fields. He has said the surface is safe and cheaper and more durable than grass.

Bronx Hall of Waste

The courthouse has been lit up like Times Square all night for months now - and the building isn't even being used yet.

A courthouse or a light-house? Building's June electricity bill was $114,762

"While the city is encouraging New Yorkers to save energy and make our city cleaner and greener, an empty government building has all of its lights on," said Betsy Gotbaum, the city's public advocate. "That's absolutely unacceptable. Here's a simple tip to the city: turn off your lights."

For years, construction problems have plagued the new courthouse, built on a three-block site at E. 161st St. near the Grand Concourse.

By one estimate, the building is two years behind schedule and $75 million over budget.

The testing of the green

In case you haven't noticed, New York is becoming more and more artificial every day. Let's take Commissioner Benepe's plan to put fake grass in parks to replace real grass, for example:

KISS YOUR GRASS G'BYE

This is despite the worry that the rubberized pellets used in the turf may be toxic. Not all people think Benepe's plan is a good idea, though, including Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum:

Gotbaum to Parks Dept.: test city’s synthetic grass

Photo from Queens Tribune