City Council members break out the violin

From City Council Watch:

--Ydanis Rodriguez, during the first round of questions, took up his entire allotment yelling at Fritz Schwartz, who headed the Pay Commission. He explained that he loves his job, that he supports the 99%, but that he has to work so hard. He works 60 hours a week! He has to go to community meetings. People talk to him in restaurants. He believes that CMs deserve at least $175,000 per year.

Rodriguez kept coming back to the question of half-time versus full-time. He demanded to know what constitutes full-time, because he puts in so many more hours than that.

It became sadly clear that Ydanis Rodriguez thinks that “full-time” means you work 40 hours and then you go home. If you work more than that, then you deserve overtime. Could it be that he doesn’t understand the difference between an hourly and a salaried employee? Also, does he think that 60 hours a week is an unusual amount of work for a well-paid professional in New York? I know plenty of people who put in those kinds of hours…including Council staffers who make like $30k.

As a former staffer for a council member and a longtime Watcher, I have a pretty good idea of what members do. I am curious if Rodriguez counts the following activities when he adds up his hours: attending press conferences for civic groups, or to “save” El Diario; going to meetings of the Progressive Caucus; going to meetings of the Black, Latino and Asian Caucus; going to meetings of the Democratic Caucus; going to meetings of the Manhattan delegation; getting plaques from local organizations; going to ribbon-cutting ceremonies; talking to other electeds; running for Speaker; sending out weather bulletins or press releases condemning a vicious criminal, etc. etc.

Rodriguez also claimed that some CMs “have Ph.Ds.” Is this true? I’ve never heard that. Unless he is thinking about Eva Moskowitz.

--Inez Dickens was mad that no one is taking into account all the groceries and funerals she pays for, for her needy constituents. She said that unlike other elected officials, CMs “are on the streets!”

--Ben Kallos also said that CMs never have time off. “If it is Christmas Eve and you are locking up your district office, and a resident comes by because he is being evicted, well there is no Christmas Eve dinner for you.” He contrasted this to citywide elected officials who supposedly don’t have to deal with constituents’ needs. Somehow he insinuated that he works harder than Michael Bloomberg ever did, which seems like a weird thing to say given Bloomberg’s reputation for total workaholicism. (Bloomberg once said, "I have nothing in common with people who stand on escalators.") Fritz Schwartz said that, when he was Corporation Counsel, he saw Bloomberg work quite a bit. Kallos sneered, “Um, I don’t weekend in Bermuda.”

--Jumaane Williams is insulted that lowly commissioners and deputy commissioners often make more than he does. Why should a staffperson make more money than an exalted elected official? It was pointed out that some deputy commissioners run billion dollar departments and have hundreds of people reporting to them; Williams was nonplussed at this, and seemed to want to say, “So do I!” But of course, he doesn’t.

--Brad Lander repeated his glib refrain that “It is easy to be cynical” about council members’ pay. It is especially easy to be cynical about it when one is given so much material for cynicism.

Amazingly enough, Lander will not even be present on Friday to vote on the bill. How come? He is going on vacation that day. Sure, just taking off a few days in February when he thought the hearing calendar was clear, two weeks before the whole Council goes on its unofficial mid-Winter break. Doesn’t everybody do that?

What f---ing gall.

The Daily News thinks so, too.

Moratorium on hotel conversions enacted by Council

From Capital New York:

The City Council approved six bills on Thursday, five of which passed unanimously.

The only measure to face any opposition was a bill to place a two-year moratorium on developers who want to convert hotels into residential condominiums.

Eight members voted against the proposal, which has the backing of Mayor Bill de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Hotel Trades Council.

In addition to placing a moratorium on developers who want to convert hotels into residential condominiums, the measure would also order a study on the effect those conversions have on the city's economy. The bill is opposed by the powerful Real Estate Board of New York and the Hotel Association of New York City.

Councilwoman Inez Dickens, who voted against the bill, said her colleagues’ attempt to protect hotel jobs was “misleading.”

“Although this new revised bill tried to address some of the issues property owners had, their property rights are still being denied without an explanation or a clear purpose,” Dickens said.

Councilman David Greenfield, a Democrat from Brooklyn, said the bill “was going a little bit too far.” He said some communities may, at some point, no longer have the need for hotels.

"Let us know if you want us to honor you"

LaborPress seeks council members to nominate themselves for this very important honor. And the minimum sponsorship is $3,000, because these days the unions and the council members they love both represent the little people.

Maybe if they were a little more selective, they wouldn't get screwed over so often.

Summer Friday caption contest

Oh to be a fly on the wall here...

Go ahead and caption this photo!

Council Member has mega violations

From CBS New York:

A New York City councilwoman from Harlem has been under fire for her personal business dealings, and some residents want to see her held responsible.

As CBS 2 investigative reporter Tamara Leitner reported Monday, the complaints have been coming from residents of a building owned by Councilwoman Inez Dickens (D-9th.)

In one Harlem apartment building, residents have been complaining about an assortment of problems, including holes in the wall, a missing peephole, and a stair railing held together with duct tape.

“My bathroom ceiling was all messed up,” said resident Ai Oikoshi. “I called my super to fix it and it took three months.”

And she was not the only tenant complaining. Adam Hamzah said he had no heat for several months during the winter, and the front door did not lock.

“They didn’t fix it, so I had to let someone from the street fix it,” he said.

CBS 2 searched public records, and found Dickens is the owner of the building. In fact, she and her sister own a number of buildings and have been cited for nearly 200 infractions, records showed.

The building at 187 Lenox Ave. is one of four buildings Councilwoman Dickens owns. She has racked up more than $90,000 in fines on that building alone.

Public records showed Dickens, who hopes to be the next City Council speaker, has nearly $200,000 in unpaid building fines.

She also has $75,000 in DOB violations.

What a joke: crooks investigating other crooks

From the Daily News:

The City Council's ethics committee has launched an inquiry into two criminal cases filed against Councilman Ruben Wills first exposed by the Daily News.

"The Committee on Standards and Ethics met this week and opened a matter regarding the pending misdemeanor charges" against Wills, said Jamie McShane, spokesman for Speaker Christine Quinn.

McShane said Quinn's review was ongoing and noted that the ethics committee's inquiry into Wills' misdemeanors would be held "in abeyance" until the charges are resolved in court.

The chairwoman of the ethics committee is Inez Dickens, who was featured in The News' series for housing and building code citations against apartment buildings she owns.