The four Democratic candidates for mayor discussed issues of historic preservation at a series of forums sponsored by coalition of groups, including Landmark West, the Historic Districts Council, the Municipal Art Society, and the New York Landmarks Conservancy. The following is an edited transcript of the candidate's opening remarks and a sample of some of the questions from the audience.
Other Candidates Speeches |
As a strong supporter and proponent of historic preservation, I look forward to the dialogue and an opportunity to work with you even more on issues that remain open throughout this borough and indeed this city. I am a candidate for mayor running on the basis of my experience, my accomplishments, and my vision for this city.
As most of you know I am in my 16th year as an elected official in city government, having served eight years as a member of the New York City Council, and now in my eighth year as president of the borough of Manhattan. In addition, I served for 10 years as a member of a local community board, and two years as chair of that community board. The work that I have done informs my vision for the city of New York. And my vision for the city of New York is very different from the direction in which I see the city moving.
I want a city that is open, open in terms of opportunities for more, rather than a few. Where we work on the priorities that affect all of our daily lives, affordable housing, education, jobs, and so much more. We are a great city, but I think that we have limited our vision to the big tickets items whether it's stadiums on the West Side of Manhattan, which I have always been opposed to, or now focusing on stadiums throughout other areas.
We have many challenges before us. How are we going to prepare the next generation so they are on a career path for jobs? How are we going to make it possible for people to live in New York City with the high cost of housing and now with one out of five New Yorkers having to pay more than 50 percent or more for their housing costs? How are we going to maintain communities with character that it makes it possible through preservation initiatives?
I am pleased to have been a part of lobbying, advocating, and facilitating many of the historic districts such as Townsend Heights, Sugar Hill, NOHO, Murray Hill Historic District, Madison Square North, the African Burial Grounds, and Commons Historic District, just to name a few, as well as individual landmarks that include private buildings and public buildings such as schools, libraries, police precincts, firehouses, churches, and synagogues. And at the City Council, I was very pleased to have been a part and a leader in passing the Landmark Protection bill. This gave the landmarks commission the power to seek fines for violations of its regulations.
Like many of you, I came to New York because of the opportunities related to jobs, but I also wanted to be in a place that is historic in terms of buildings, as well as many other issues and contributions that have been advanced and made right here in New York City. So I realize that safeguarding our city's historic and cultural heritage is important in helping to stabilize communities and I'm very pleased to have been a leader in fighting for so much of that.
I agree that we must do more and government must be a leader in making it happen. With respect to commitment to tax incentives to building owners for restoration work on historic properties, not only do I fully support the state and the federal proposed legislation but would actively lobby in Washington and Albany and work with our congressional and legislative leaders in Albany in an effort to get these tax incentive bills passed.
I also would endeavor to implement a municipal tax incentive program to complement the programs at the state and the federal levels. But further, I would consider a tax credit or subsidy based on need in order to rehabilitate and adapt vacant historic structures. There are vacant historic structures that are left to deteriorate because there are no funds. There are no tax incentive programs that would encourage the refurbishing of vacant historic buildings that may get lost due to total neglect. It would also revitalize public schools where the board of education might not be able to modernize the building or perhaps renovate the building because of costs. So that would be an additional incentive to get these vacant buildings also renovated and upgraded.
With respect to preservation of public buildings, especially historic school buildings, yes, we must do more because indeed they are anchors in city neighborhoods and unfortunately we have lost too many of those building for residential development, homeless shelters, social services programs.
As mayor, I would establish what I call the School Preservation Conservancy, which would be comprised of volunteers, but assigned staff would assist it. This body would be asked to identify schools buildings that need to be considered for historic preservation. We have to put them in a protective program first while decisions are being made. We can do that the very first year of my administration and therefore prevent further demolition or takeover of these buildings while the Landmarks Preservation Commission engages in terms of its review, deciding whether or not based on criteria these buildings are eligible for landmark destinations or the National Register.
Also in my first year, I would create an inventory of all the other historic buildings that we believe should also be evaluated because we're losing the buildings by not protecting them or identifying them and not acting quickly to protect them.
With respect to funding an independent Landmarks Preservation Commission, I agree that the commission needs more money and the way that we do that is to allocate the necessary funds. It has pained me to see the reduction of dollars for the Landmarks Preservation Commission and a reduction in staff. This reduces the ability of that commission to do enforcement, to do follow up, to schedule the hearings, and move actively on a timely basis with respect to those hearings.
I would look to appoint someone to head up the commission who has relevant experience in the field of preservation, encourage input from communities, and create much more transparency so that all of us know what is happening within the commission. We will hold hearings on issues whether I think they are relevant, whether the commissioners think they're relevant or not.
I also think that we need to strengthen our outreach and educational programs in the communities talking about landmarks. I certainly experienced this with a lot of churches in Harlem that were proposed to be landmarked. So I think it is important that we go back into the communities and do more of that. We also must increase staff in order to enforce the Landmark Protection bill. I recall in 1990 when I entered the council, that not only was the presence of the activists and the leaders in the landmark preservation community felt, but you played a very significant role in helping to shape policy, moving issues along, and enabling City Council as well as the mayor's office to get so much more done.
And lastly with respect to zoning reform that reinforces and complements historic neighborhoods, this of course should be done as was done in Tribeca.
There is much more that a mayor can do. I am fully committed to restoring the power, the presence, the value, and strengthening the work of the Landmark Preservation Commission but including the larger preservation communities because I know that is how we will be able to get this done. With that I prepare to answer any questions or respond to issues one might have.
'We cannot make the landmark law work if we don't have the right leadership at the agency and the funding and the staffing to enforce it.' |
Q: The borough president's office appoints the borough historian and I have been privileged to work with your historian's office. How do we integrate preservation and development?
Fields: As a matter of fact, based on the work of our historian, we will be releasing this week a brochure on all of the historic sites in Manhattan that relates to the African American communities: the churches, the museums, all of those have been identified and they have been put in a booklet.
As we look for ways at integrating preservation with overall land use, we have given thought to how we would incorporate that within the City Planning Commission. We have to consciously plan for preservation and make it a part of the review process by simply assigning staff to do it.
Q: Can you explain your position on two issues? First, your vote at the borough board to transfer 2 Columbus Circle to the museum automatically meant the fa'ade would be destroyed because the museum has already said that they were planning to do this. Second, the landmark and development issues surrounding the Cathedral Church of St. John Divine.
Fields: With respect to 2 Columbus Circle, this was a project that had gone through public review for over a year and a half. This was the project that had been approved at the local community board level, it had been approved in terms of the plans for the museum and the vote that was taken had to do with the sale. I believe it was the right decision to make at that time.
On St. John the Divine, our position on that was that the entire land, the entire area should have been landmarked, but that the church should have an opportunity to build on it because it was also tied into their ability to address their financial needs. But by having the entire area landmarked, that also would require input and oversight by Landmark Preservation Commission in terms of what would get built on that site and we believe that that provided for the protection and in terms of making sure that. If a building was ever built there, it would be in context with the character of the area and there will be some controls.
Q: I wanted to ask about your vision for the development of the West Side midtown area. Now with the stadium seemingly out of the picture, I wonder about your thoughts on public access to the waterfront and generally development of the West Side.
Fields: I was, and continue to be, opposed to a stadium on the West Side. I think it was the wrong location, it never made sense, and it still certainly does not make sense. About four and a half years ago, my office commissioned a study for the West Side of Manhattan. It was a study conducted by a firm that reached out very broadly to talk with people throughout the community at every level: community boards, civic organizations, community organizations, business leaders, entrepreneurs, real state, all of the stakeholders.
What came out of that study is that we should expand the Javits convention center. It called for more of a north expansion with hotels at the northern part at 42nd Street. It called for hotels, small retail space, open spaces, but more affordable housing. Affordable housing at low-, medium-, and market-rate level. The site is large enough for all of that.
So specifically, our plan calls for housing on that site, and I think it was important at that time and I think that is still just as viable and important now that the stadium has seemingly been removed with respect to the West Side. So I take exception when it is stated that no one has looked at the West Side and no planning has been discussed. The problem was that this mayor came in with the view that he wanted the stadium on the West Side and nothing else got through in terms of those discussions.
Open space and access to the waterfront is extremely important. And that's an area where we can also look to preservation and opportunities to integrate the land use approach in preservation.
Q: One of the most important things the mayor will do for historical preservation is appoint a landmarks commission chair. Four years ago, candidate Bloomberg promised to appoint a landmarks chair who had a proven record in historic preservation and a knowledge base in historic preservation. He did not deliver on that promise. Will you commit here and now that the landmarks chair that you appoint if elected mayor will be someone with a proven record in historic preservation and a demonstrated commitment to enforcing the landmarks law?
Fields: I commit. I do think that it is important. I would fully commit to that because, as I said, we have to give this commission value again and we begin to do that with the person that heads it up. Whether it is integrating preservation more fully into the overall land use approach, whether it is focusing on how we protect the schools that are doing inventories and fast-tracking the scheduling of hearings so that decisions can be made in a timely manor so that we don't continue to lose so many of those buildings.
We cannot make this work if we don't have the right leadership at the agency and the funding and the staffing to enforce the laws, to give the support to those who are out there trying to really work in that system. We can do it. But it requires again, leadership, commitment, funding, working together and again a commitment and I'm there.
Q: Can we look at some of the regulations that may really go against the spirit of historic preservation?
Fields: I think it is important to periodically review regulations. So, yes. Absolutely. And I think again that a commissioner who has the right kind of experience, the right kind of a focus, can take on these kinds of issues and make things happen. And that's the difference here. It's not just managing an agency to make sure that all the workers come in on time, but so it is looking at all areas more comprehensively that effects the work and regulations.
Q: Have you given any thought to Governors Island and what can be done to make it come alive again?
Fields: Not only have I given thought to it, but I also worked on a task force about four and a half years ago and we came up with what I believe it is still a viable plan. It calls for a conference center, recreational facilities, and educational facilities. Now, having said that, I know that this mayor has said that he will be issuing a request for a proposal and I am resubmitting my plan of those ideas. It can become a destination port, especially for many conferences, small conferences, educational groups and forums.
Q: You know about P.S. 109, a historic school that sits on East 99th street. It was recently closed. Why in this day with a shortage of classroom space is this happening?
Fields: I have been part of trying to get that school reopened, keeping it as a historic site and the battle has been with the School Construction Authority and the administration, which believe that it must be torn down. We don't want it to be torn down. We are fighting to keep it there and so all of this time it has not been used as a school. With respect to whether or not the School Construction Authority should have control over historic sites, that's why I talked earlier about the idea for a school preservation conservancy so that we can get our arms around these schools and put them into a protective class and fight to get the funding - public funding as well as private funding. So I think by taking a different approach, we can get something, more efficiently and more effectively.
Other Candidates Speeches
' Fernando Ferrer: The Irreplaceable Treasures of the Bronx
' Gifford Miller: Updating the Landmarks Law
' Anthony Weiner: Old New York as a Gateway to the new New York
It is easy to express outrage against the system by which candidates in New York gather signatures from the public on "nominating petitions" in order to get on the ballot – and then are kicked off the ballot when their opponents challenge those petitions on legal technicalities.
Attorney General Eliot Spitzer expressed outrage in 2001, when his office issued a report (in pdf format) that concluded “New York State has the most confusing, stringent and needless petition requirements for ballot access.”
Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed outrage in 2004. “It’s become a whole cottage industry...you don’t have to beat the other guy based on positions or your ability to serve, all you gotta do is beat him because you got a better lawyer who can get him thrown off the ballot,” Bloomberg said. "I think it's time to end this 'gotcha' kind of technique, where lawyers comb petitions to find some technical violation."
Why the system persists might be explained by the news from Bloomberg’s campaign, shortly after the deadline for filing the petitions this month, that Michael Bloomberg would be challenging the signatures in the nominating petitions of Republican rival Thomas Ognibene, reportedly “hoping to keep Ognibene off the ballot and avoid a GOP primary.” Yes, the same Michael Bloomberg, just eight months later.
"In New York, politics is a blood sport," said election lawyer Henry Berger. (See “Ballot Bumping In New York”)
Running for virtually any political office in the country requires demonstrating some form of citizen support in order to protect the ballot from being flooded with frivolous candidacies. In New York, this support is established by gathering signatures from registered voters in the district in which the candidate is running.
The New York election laws that require candidates to collect signatures dates back to the late 19th century, when they were first implemented in an attempt to break the control political parties had over the nomination process. Before their implementation, the only way candidates could get on the ballot was by receiving the support of the party machine.
The new laws were meant to allow a way for insurgent candidates to run for office.
Today the law requires candidates running for citywide office to collect 7,500 signatures within a span of 37 days. Borough-wide candidates need to collect 4,000 and City Council candidates need 900.
Rather than ensuring that those without the support of the machine can still seek office, these laws wind up restricting the options that voters have when they go to the ballot box on Election Day.
New York is one of only 13 states to set a petition requirement as the sole means of getting on the ballot; most states allow candidates to pay a filing fee in lieu of accumulating signatures. New York also allows the shortest period of time in which to gather those signatures, a mere 37 days, compared to the more than a year allowed in Michigan, and the unlimited time period in six other states, including New Jersey.
And the number of signatures required to get on a ballot in New York is way out of line with other states: In California, to get on the ballot even for governor requires only 65 signatures.
What the larger signature requirement often shows is not how much actual citizen support candidates have, but how much money they have to pay people to gather the signatures.
In search of larger and larger total signature numbers, many candidates find themselves eventually employing paid petitioners to hawk their candidacy. Of the major mayoral candidates, only Anthony Weiner employed an entirely volunteer, grassroots effort. He cites the superiority of this approach, claiming that paid petitioners are “mercenaries, whereas the people who collect our petitions are very animated about our campaign.”
Those with the backing of the local party organizations and labor unions typically have a huge advantage in the process. Those without such endorsements need to build their own field operation to gather the signatures, or roll up their sleeves and collect them themselves.
For incumbents and established politicos, reaching the threshold is often not a problem. The difference between the 40,000 signatures that Anthony Weiner gathered and the 158,000 that Gifford Miller’s operation gathered is more or less meaningless to the process.
However, for insurgent candidates in municipal races these petitions are deadly serious; the slightest errors in their compilation could lead to the would-be officeholder being stricken from the ballot.
“Its absurd to me,” exclaimed Gur Tsabar, a candidate running for City Council in the second district, which includes the Lower East Side, during a press conference he called to blast the ballot-bumping there. “Political clubs are deciding who will appear on the ballot, not the residents of the district.”
By law, any candidate or any voter from the district or political jurisdiction may challenge a candidate’s petition signatures, claiming that, for one reason or another, the signatures are not valid. Incumbent office holders and candidates with party backing have seized on this process to mount challenges as a way to minimize and marginalize competition. With little oversight or compelling reason not to mount a challenge, well-financed and/or party-backed candidates throw up this obstacle as a matter of habit. They know that if a challenge is mounted their opponent must waste precious dollars and time defending themselves to the Board of Elections, and potentially in court; time and money better spent campaigning for office.
As is the case in the second council district, local party organizations often use this process to flex their political muscle, challenging candidates who oppose them. Six of the 11 candidates running for the open city council seat vacated by the term-limited Margarita Lopez are being challenged by the ironically-named Coalition for a District Alternative (CoDA), a political club that actively supports both Margarita Lopez and Lopez protégé Rosie Mendez, who is running to be her successor.
If the Board of Elections confirms that the defendants’ signatures are not valid, for reasons as slight as the omission of a zip code or a forgotten date at the top of the sheet, the entire page of signatures is removed from the candidate’s count. (This is actually an improvement from the even more stringent requirements of the 1980s, which found signatures invalid if “street” or “avenue” were abbreviated.) If the final count falls below the minimum threshold, the candidate’s candidacy is over before it begins.
During the last municipal election, dozens of city council candidates were kicked off the ballot following petition challenges. Expect more of the same this year.
Doug Israel is the public policy director of Citizens Union Foundation, where Matthew Gertz is an intern.
The Campaign Tangle Series from 2001
• The Campaign Tangle Begins, by Bob Liff
• Campaign Tangle 2: Timeline For The Legal Tango By Henry Berger and Kimberly Strobl
• Campaign Tangle III: A City Of Challenges
• Campaign Tangle IV: The Rejected
• Campaign Tangle 5: Chaos and Confusion
• Campaign Tangle 6: Welcome To Brooklyn
• Campaign Tangle 7: The Disillusioned Candidates
• Ballot-Bumping in New York (an Issue of the Week in August, 2003)
• A Brief History of Election Law in New York
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Every two weeks the New York City Council meets for its Stated Meeting to introduce and pass legislation. As a regular feature, Gotham Gazette covers these meetings and posts a summary of the bills passed.
QUOTES OF THE DAY:
"There will no longer be a tax on worship." - Councilmember Hiram Monserrate on suspending parking meters on Sundays.
"New Yorkers who pray on Saturdays and Fridays have been left completely out of the considerations of this bill." - Councilmember John Liu in response.
MEETING SUMMARY:
PARKING METERS ON SUNDAY
Since the city instituted Sunday parking meters three years ago, many churchgoers have complained about having to feed meters while they are in church. Some pastors have even complained to local politicians that their congregants must choose between walking out to the street with a handful of quarters in the middle of a sermon or getting a parking ticket.
To put an end to what some have dubbed "pay to pray," the New York City Council passed a bill (Intro 669) that would eliminate the need to feed parking meters on Sundays.
"This will impact hundreds of thousands of people who choose Sunday as their day of worship," said Councilmember Hiram Monserrate, who drafted the bill. "There will no longer be a tax on worship."
The council says it is also a way to give something back to New Yorkers who have seen tax and fee increases in recent years. And they hope it will help stimulate shopping.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg has promised to veto the bill, arguing that the city would lose needed revenue. Sunday meter parking generates $12 million a year and was instituted in 2002 during the post 9/11 budget crunch.
Bloomberg also argues it will create additional parking problems because people will hog the parking spaces, parking their cars on Saturday night and not moving them until Monday morning.
The bill passed by a vote of 41 to 3 (seven members were absent). John Liu, Tony Avella, and Helen Sears - who all represent districts in Queens - voted "no" on the measure.
"I think it will make those parking spots much harder to find," said Councilmember John Liu, who chairs the council’s transportation committee. and also argued that the action may lead to an increase in double parking and make streets more dangerous for pedestrians.
"New Yorkers who pray on Saturdays and Fridays have been left completely out of the considerations of this bill," added Liu.
The council has more than the 34 votes needed to override the mayor and has promised to do so.
"This vote will tell the mayor three things," said Councilmember Vincent Gentile, who also helped draft the legislation. "Enough is enough. Leave us alone on Sundays. And sign this bill into law."
TAX BENEFITS FOR LEAD PAINT ABATEMENT
In February 2004, the New York City Council passed a law which requires owners to apartments built before 1960 to remove lead paint and dust and to give an annual account of children under the age of seven living in the building. Critics have charged that the regulations make it more expensive to renovate affordable housing.
In an effort to help landlords cover the cost of lead paint removal, the city offers tax benefits. And the council passed a measure (Intro 607-A) which extends these tax benefits to more building owners.
In the past, landlords had to prove there was a child under the age of seven in the building in order to receive the tax break. Under the new legislation, any landlord can apply.
It also reduces some fees, liability, and regulations that have discouraged some landlords from doing abatements. The council hopes that the measure will prevent landlords from passing the cost of removing lead paint on to their tenants.
"This will prevent further lead poisoning of our children and preserves affordable housing," said Councilmember Miguel Martinez.
SENIOR CITIZEN RENT INCREASE EXEMPTIONS
The council also passed a measure aimed at providing rent relief for low-income senior citizens.
In order to qualify for the senior citizen rent increase exemptions (also known as SCRIE), an applicant must be over the age of 62, have an annual income of $24,000 or less, and pay one-third or more of their income in rent.
The council's bill (Intro 666) will increase the maximum annual income requirement from $24,000 to $29,000 (in $1,000 increments each year) over the next five years.
In return for the exemptions, the government pays property owners an amount equal to the lost rent. The council estimates that the legislation will cost about $13.8 million over the next five years.
DISABLITY RENT INCREASE EXEMPTIONS
In June, the New York State Assembly passed legislation to create a similar rent exemption program for people with disabilities. The council passed legislation (Intro 667) to enact the program in New York City.
The disability rent increase exemption (or DRIE) will help 20,000 disabled New Yorkers, who earn less than $17,004 a year, and who pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent.
Although advocates for the disabled and council members hailed the new program, they said the salary requirements are too low and should be equal to the limits set for senior citizens.
SUMMER RECESS
Each year, the City Council takes a summer recess. There are generally no committee hearings during the months of July and August, though the council does meet once a month to pass urgent land-use measures or other legislation.
The next Stated Meeting is scheduled for August 17, 2005. The council resumes its regular schedule of hearings and meetings in September.
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