Koo pushing for expanded developer air rights

From Crains:

A group of City Council members sent Mayor Bill de Blasio a letter this week urging him to allow owners of landmarked nonprofits to sell a combined 25 million square feet of their air rights, which would then be used by developers in a few selected areas across the city to build taller buildings.

Democratic Councilmen Peter Koo of Queens and Ritchie Torres and Fernando Cabrera of the Bronx argued in the Feb. 24 letter that such a system would allow 180 landmarked nonprofit institutions to cash in on their full property values. Under current rules, those unused rights can be transferred only to sites close by.

"As you know, many religious and nonprofit institutions housed in individually designated landmarked structures struggle to maintain their buildings while providing services to further their mission," the letter stated. Mr. Koo is chair of the Committee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses and Mr. Torres is deputy leader of the council.

The trio used concepts and numbers contained in a proposal advanced by a group called Iconplans, which is led by former real estate broker and grocery store executive Lawrence Daitch, and real estate investor Michael Lipstein. The duo first floated their idea years ago, during the Bloomberg administration.

Is online voting the way to go?

From Metro:

Legislation introduced by Councilman Fernando Cabrera on Wednesday would require an online voting system where absentee and military ballots could be cast in certain municipal elections.

The proposed system would allow primary, runoff and general election ballots to be cast for mayor, public advocate, city comptroller, borough presidents and council members. A spokeswoman for Cabrera said the system, which would not initially be available for all voters, represents a “baby step.”

There would be a password attached to the proposed voting process, according to the Cabrera spokeswoman. His office is also working with SOE Software, a company that specializes in election modernization.

Still, the idea of online voting worries Neal Rosenstein, government reform coordinator of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

“There’s a ton of folks who say that the system wouldn’t be secure,” he said. “Public confidence in the election process is the most important thing.”

Quinn not being as bitchy as last year

From The Politicker:

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has long been accused of using the Council’s budget as a tool to punish those who cross her and keep members in line. But, as member item allocations have come under increased scrutiny in light of the mayor’s race, Ms. Quinn appears to have changed course.

Sources familiar with the camps of three of Ms. Quinn’s most vocal critics in recent months told Politicker Tuesday that their member allocations–which fund local community non-profits, including senior centers and after-school programs–will either remain steady or tick up slightly, according to preliminary numbers shared with their offices this week.


Queens Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., who has repeatedly accused Ms. Quinn of slashing his funding back in 2011 after he vocally opposed her plan to re-name the Queensboro Bridge after former Mayor Ed Koch, said he was informed in a meeting with Council staff on Sunday that his funding would remain about the same as last year–marking the first time in three years, he said, that his total has not been cut.

Another frequent critic, City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, who appeared on a CNN broadcast in March criticizing Ms. Quinn’s decision to slash her funding because of a mis-timed press release, as well as in a New York Times story on the subject, also appears to have been spared.

It was the same for Bronx Councilman Fernando Cabrera, who said Tuesday he was told his allocation would be the same as the last two years–despite his public threats to bypass Ms. Quinn and force two bills to vote.

Bridge to be named after Dinkins?

From the Daily News:

Ed Koch has a bridge named after him, so why not David Dinkins?

That’s the question City Councilman Fernando Cabrera will ask Thursday when he introduces a bill to rename the Willis Avenue Bridge after New York’s first and only African-American mayor.

“David Dinkins was a political pioneer,” said Cabrera (D-Bronx). “Nobody knows who Willis was. But Dinkins was the mayor who turned the city around.”

Mr. Cabrera believes in revisionist history, apparently.