City Council Member Dan Garodnick (photo: @DanGarodnick)
Due to term limits, popular City Council Member Dan Garodnick is not allowed to run for reelection this year, leading to a crowded field of competitors vying to replace him representing the politically active Manhattan district that includes East Midtown, Gramercy Park, Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.
Ten candidates, mostly Democrats like Garodnick, competed in a debate at Waterside Plaza on June 22. The event, hosted by news publication Town & Village and Waterside Plaza Tenants Association, featured nine Democrats and two Republicans who made their pitches to over 150 attendees sitting outside along the East River. After delivering their opening statements, during which they gave biographical information and a sense of why they are running for elected office, the 11 candidates spoke predominantly on the topic of housing affordability, and touched upon senior citizen and small business related policies. While it did not come up during the candidate forum, the rezoning of East Midtown, a major focus for Garodnick in recent years, is likely to pass this year, with implementation one of the most pressing issues facing the next Council member.
The crowded field includes both seasoned New York political operatives and political neophytes, all seeking to replace Garodnick, who has represented the district for nearly 12 years and whose constituents regularly push him to seek city- or state-wide office, which he may eventually do.
The seat is one of eight “open” City Council races this year. While all 51 Council seats are on the ballot, there are 43 incumbents eligible and seeking reelection, partially a function of the one-time extension of term limits passed ahead of the 2009 elections, which is allowing some to seek a third and final term this year, while others, like Garodnick are now completing their third terms, and those elected in 2013 (and beyond) are only eligible for two terms.
Several of the open seats are attracting deep fields of candidates, but the District 4 race is among the most crowded.
Vanessa Aronson, a public school teacher on the Upper East Side, started the June 22 event by describing a student in her class who uses a wheelchair and is only able to attend class because the adjacent subway stop to the school and school itself are both handicap accessible. This situation, she contended, is unfortunately the exception, not the norm, throughout the city.
“I'm running for City Council because I know New York can do better,” she said in her opening remarks. Aronson made education and her care for New York’s downtrodden central components of her message. The teacher, a Democrat, later referenced another student who lost a parent and subsequently became homeless due to a lack of immediate affordable housing, a topic at the forefront of the race, if the debate is any indication. In order to prevent such situations from occurring, “we need to make all the noise possible to put pressure on Albany,” she said, pointing to the fact that state law controls key city housing regulations.
Fellow electoral politics novice Barry Shapiro presented a declinist view of the southern part of the district. Shapiro, a retired former American Express employee, said he entered the race as a response to these developments. “The reason I’m running is that for the past 10 years I’ve been pretty disappointed in what’s been happening in Stuyvesant Town, Peter Cooper Village, the way our community has been treated, the way in which apartments have been partitioned, the way in which many aspect of quality of life has gone down,” he said.
In addition to the political outsiders, Marti Speranza, who has served as director of Women Entrepreneurs NYC, and Democratic State Committeewoman for the overlapping 74th Assembly District, is also vying for the seat. Speranza is branding herself a staunch protector of low-income New Yorkers and progressive values in the wake of the 2016 presidential election. “Our city is a sanctuary for immigrants, for women, for the LGBT community, for working families, and we must spare no effort in keeping it that way,” she says on her campaign website.
As of the most recent filing period, which ended May 11, Speranza was atop the field in funds after raising over $176,000, with over $111,000 cash on hand, giving her a financial advantage as the race heads into full swing leading to the September 12 primary. In a heavily Democratic district, the primary winner is highly likely to win the general election.
Keith Powers, second to Speranza in total contributions as of late May, has also emerged as a leading Democratic candidate in the race, fusing a message of local activism and political savvy. “I believe that City Council candidates need to be vocal and be local,” he said at the candidate forum, adding that an effective City Council member is active and “walks the walk every single day.” Powers is well-connected in city and state politics, having been employed by former City Council Speaker Peter Vallone as a lobbyist and chief of staff for former Assemblymember Jonathan Bing, and endorsed by Bing and neighboring Upper East Side City Council Member Ben Kallos.
“I think it's the right type of experience to bring to the job,“ Powers said of his political background. “I was proud to grow up in a rent stabilized apartment and to continue to fight for the tenants association,” Powers said, referring to his early residence in Stuyvesant Town.
Jeff Mailman, a lifelong New Yorker and graduate of nearby Cardozo Law School, has spent most of his career in public service. The Democrat has worked in the Attorney General's office under Andrew Cuomo and served as attorney and legislative director for Queens-based City Council Member Elizabeth Crowley. “Over these past six year I’ve gained extensive knowledge in a lot of issues,” Mailman said at the candidate forum.
He suggested his experience, relationships, and political knowhow make him uniquely suited for the job of Council member. “I’m running to use my City Council experience to represent you best from the very first day on the job,” he said. ”I know most of the Council members and their staff members. I know how to get things done.”
Mailman drew attention to his commitment to the city transit system, touting his endorsement from the Transport Workers Union, and voiced support for investing in mass transit. Once elected to office, he said one of his priorities would be to protect the safety of transit workers. “I really believe in supporting hardworking New Yorkers,” he said.
Coming off a stint in state Senator Liz Krueger's office, activist and Democratic State Committeewoman Bessie Schacter articulated the anxieties she understands many in the area have been feeling. “Our communities are in transition,” the candidate said. “A lot of people are finding it difficult to live here.” She referenced rising costs of living and problems with education and transportation.
“It's important to recognize that we reinvest in our housing, in our services, and education and transportation,” said Schachter. “I know exactly how to fix those problems. I know how to change the laws.” Schacter also plugged her endorsements from Upper West Side City Council Member Helen Rosenthal and East Side Assemblymember Dan Quart.
Business consultant and Democratic hopeful Maria Castro, a late entry into the race, proudly proclaimed she was not a government operative nor a politician. “I have been a businesswoman for the past three decades,” she said. Given her outsider status, business acumen, and commitment to the community, Castro said she would take on the big-money interests and advocate only for her constituents. “The developers can no longer be allowed to be given all the tax credits,” she said of one problem she would seek to fix if elected. Instead of developers being given special favors to build luxury buildings, Castro said, Manhattan needs “affordable housing for the regular people, the working people that are not making Manhattan their playground and are going to live here like us full-time.”
Similarly, Democrat Alec Hartman, CEO of five-year-old technology startup Tech Day, called affordable housing “the glue of our community” and floated the idea of having a uniform database New Yorkers would use to find affordable housing options. It was this type of tech-world outside-the-box thinking he says would make him an effective legislator. More conventionally, Hartman proposed repealing the Urstadt Law, a state law signed in 1971 barring city officials from enacting more stringent rent control laws.
Aronson echoed calls for Urstadt Law repeal (a popular stance among many city Democrats) and vowed to crack down on illegal hotels she alleged have been driving up housing prices in the area. (Airbnb has been a frequent target of District 4 residents.)
Sounding like Mayor Bill de Blasio, Speranza called affordable housing the “number one challenge” in New York City. “Communities that were havens for middle-class families are now at risk,” she said, referencing Stuyvesant Town. “We see seniors that are not longer being able to age in place.”
“I think we need to think more boldly,” Speranza said. As a fix, she proposes to use city-owned vacant land to build additional affordable housing. “The Comptroller did a report and in his audit he found that there are over a thousand empty lots,” she said, referring to a report from Comptroller Scott Stringer that has been disputed by the de Blasio administration, which claims that the city-owned lots suited for housing are almost all in the development pipeline.
In a similar vein, Schacter suggested picking through housing budget with a fine-tooth comb would unearth squandered funds that could be put to use elsewhere. “I’m talking first about an audit of our housing,” she said. “We’re actually spending $1.4 billion every year on affordable housing projects and we’re not checking to make sure those units are there.”
Democrat and small business consultant Rachel Honig though she spoke favorably about her opponents’ housing plans, she had a different priorities on the issue. For Honig, pressuring city government to conduct enforcement of laws already on the books should be the top priority. “The first thing we have to do is hold City Hall accountable to the protections that are in place,” she said. “After which, then we can start, or on a parallel path, frankly, we can start building affordable housing,” she said.
Honig also raised the issue of local, “mom-and-pop” stores being priced out of the expensive real estate in the heart of Manhattan. “We not only have a small business problem,” she said. “We have a small business crisis.” While she was complimentary of Garodnick’s work, Honig emphasized the need for the district’s next representative to push for change on issues such as small businesses, senior care and affordable housing. “We need quality leadership to carry the baton,” she said. (None of the candidates brought up Garodnick’s push to reform the commercial rent tax, a Manhattan-only tax that has been blamed for hurting many small businesses in the borough, especially below 96th Street where it applies.)
In such a crowded Democratic primary with several candidates that have political experience, connections, and endorsements, the margin of victory could be quite small, with getting out the vote essential to winning.
The pair of Republican hopefuls touched upon similar themes at the forum, putting their own spin on the topics at hand, though without the conservative orthodoxy one might hear from many GOP politicians.
Rebecca Harary detailed her experience opening up schools for special needs students and her role in the Propel Network, an organization that helps women without formal job skills find employment. Harary, coming off an unsuccessful bid for State Assembly in the fall, told the audience about her large family including eight grandchildren. “You can say that I’ve been a mother my whole life which means that I’ve really become accustomed to putting other people before myself,” she said. “When I see problems, I like to solve them.”
Harary’s opponent for the Republican nomination, Melissa Jane Kronfeld, a self-styled “progressive Republican” who promotes what she calls a “post-partisan agenda,” also described the importance of helping others. “Service is an obligation, it's simply not a choice,” she said. Kronfeld, who reported for the New York Post’s city desk while studying at New York University, according to her website, recently ran a social impact consultancy called Party For a Purpose that “empowers individuals, governments, and organizations to make the biggest impact that they can have on their communities,” she explained.
Due to her recent work outside of politics, Kronfeld felt she would bring a necessary perspective and mentality to the City Council and City Hall. Kronfeld promised a take-no-prisoners approach to the issue of housing affordability, the most common topic discussed at the debate. "I have no problem shaking every tree to overhaul this system once I get into office,” she said.
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by Sam Raskin
@samraskinz @GothamGazette
Mayor de Blasio at City Hall, June 29 (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)
Mayor Bill de Blasio negotiated a deal to extend mayoral control of city schools in exchange for a set of administrative actions benefitting charter schools. When the mayor celebrated the extension of mayoral control -- which was due to expire at the end of June, but was extended June 29 -- he did not release the details of the charter-friendly promises he was making to Republican state Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo, and their charter sector allies.
The Democratic mayor said at press conferences on both June 29 and June 30 that the details, all non-legislative, were still being finalized and that when they were ready they would be shared. When Gotham Gazette asked the mayor if he wasn’t participating in the type of secretive backroom dealing he’s criticized Albany lawmakers for, he said it was different because the details still weren’t final.
The Wall Street Journal reported one key detail late Wednesday night and the mayor’s press office only released the six-point agenda upon subequent requests from news outlets, many of which, including Gotham Gazette, made that inquiry on Thursday. In other words, there was no formal announcement, no press release emailed widely to reporters and editors and posted to the city’s website.
De Blasio also said at the end of June that once the details were public he’d take questions about them, but he left town for Germany Thursday night without doing so. When the mayor called in for his weekly Friday appearance on WNYC’s The Brian Lehrer Show, the segment was dominated by the surprise Germany trip, which the mayor took in order to speak at a rally outside the G20 summit of world leaders, the recent killing of an NYPD officer, and homelessness.
In one sense, de Blasio successfully avoided talking about a charter school-friendly agreement that, while expedient to win two more years of mayoral control, he is not excited about. De Blasio is a long-time charter school foe, though tensions have cooled over the past two years, and is closely aligned with teachers unions, which see the largely non-unionized charter sector as an existential threat. The mayor’s antipathy toward charter schools has been at the forefront of his challenges to win a long-term extension of mayoral control given the strong support for charters from Cuomo and the Republican-controlled state Senate. The third major entity involved in the Albany decision-making, Assembly Democrats, are even more anti-charter than de Blasio.
The charter school package de Blasio agreed to includes changes around rent reimbursements from the city to charter schools and school space utilization for charters, as well as MetroCard subsidies to some charter students and, most notably, an agreement that about 22 charter schools no longer operating can be replaced without an increase in the current cap on charters in the city. That cap was the key point of contention in negotiations among stakeholders in Albany, with Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie refusing to accept any increase in the cap. Instead, de Blasio agreed to a de facto increase.
According to City Hall, the changes will cost about $10 million per year, including about $7 million to increase charter school space reimbursement from 20% to 30%, which is already included in the budget, and $3 million for MetroCards for charter students who need transportation before busing begins each school year. It’s too early to tell if there will be any additional costs to the city related to the 20-plus “zombie” charters that are non-operational and now available to replacement through the charter authorization process, a City Hall spokesperson said.
It’s no surprise that City Hall did not send out a press release announcing the details of the deal or that the mayor didn’t make himself available to discuss them. At the same time, given de Blasio’s challenges in Albany, especially with regard to Senate Republicans and Cuomo, who both receive significant funding from wealthy charter school supporters, the mayor has sought to avoid charter-related conflict over the last two years. In 2014, de Blasio received a major setback through state legislation guaranteeing charter schools either space in public school buildings or rent reimbursements, some of which the city would have to pay.
In a statement, de Blasio spokesperson Freddi Goldstein said, “The charter sector is an important partner in our mission to deliver an excellent education to every child in New York City. Through the debate over mayoral control, we identified a few common-sense areas where we could better work together to ensure all 1.1 million school children have a chance to succeed.”
There are currently 216 charter schools operating in New York City, with 23 slots left under the existing cap, according to the New York City Charter School Center, and 22 defunct charters would be open to replacement under the new agreement. Meaning, without a change to the law in Albany, there is room for 45 new charter schools in New York City.
When a deal extending mayoral control of city schools was voted through a special session of the state Legislature on June 29, de Blasio called a City Hall press conference to celebrate. “Well, we have very good news for the children of New York City and for the parents of New York City,” de Blasio said. “Mayoral control of education has been extended for the next two years. This is a hugely important moment.”
In the question-and-answer session that followed the mayor’s brief remarks, Gotham Gazette asked how raising the charter school cap had been dropped from the negotiations. Senate Republicans had tied extending mayoral control to an increase in the cap. De Blasio credited Heastie, who had been steadfast about not agreeing to raise the cap, and said “eventually I think that logic pervaded in many ways.” He did not mention his side deal.
Asked then by Gotham Gazette if it was simply that Senate Republicans backed down, de Blasio said, “I won't speak for any of the parties.” He said that he had had a lot of productive conversation with Sen. Flanagan and, among other points, added, “I think we found some real common ground in terms of the ability to work together on specific ideas.”
When a reporter from The New York Times later followed up, asking if there were any side agreements related to charter schools, de Blasio finally admitted there was. “There were a lot of conversations about a set of issues related to charters, that we believe could be handled administratively,” he said. “Those ideas are being crystallized into a final form. There's still some finishing touches to put on. There will be an upcoming announcement on that.”
Asked to elaborate, de Blasio said he wasn’t ready “to go into the specifics, because I want to respect that all the parties have to finish the final touches, as I said, but again, very productive conversations about things where we could work together.”
He added: “I thought a number of the issues that were raised were perfectly fair, you know, were respectful of what the city was trying to do overall, in terms of education, were not onerous. There were ways we could work together, and that was part of what I think energized this process, was the more we talked about actual substance. When I said, ‘Well, wait a minute. We could work together on that. Let's see if we can solve that.’ The speaker was very clear about not wanting to address those issues legislatively, which I, again, think was a fair approach, given the sanctity of mayoral control of education. That didn't mean we couldn't look at other ways to address the issue, so again, I believe you'll see, very soon, some final outcomes on that.”
The next day, during another press conference exchange, de Blasio told Gotham Gazette, “Of course I’ll explain them when everything is finished, which I think will be quite soon. Again, there’s a lot of parties to this process, and I’m being very transparent about the fact that we talked about some real important issues related to charters. We came to some specific understandings, details still being worked out. Of course it’ll be published. And then, you’ll have at it. You’ll have every opportunity to make questions. But I have to emphasize, and this was important to what Speaker Heastie said in the beginning: It is not a legislative action, it was not something that had to be approved by the Senate and the Assembly formally. This is me deciding, as Mayor of New York City, with my administrative capacity, that there were some things we could do that would address some outstanding concerns of charters and I thought they were fair. But as soon as it’s cooked, as soon as it’s finalized, yes, everything will be public and then we’ll happily take questions on it.”
It is apparent that Heastie’s ability to say he did not give in legislatively on any benefits for charter schools is important to the speaker and many of his members, who are closely aligned with and funded by the teachers unions.
In statements following the release of the charter-related promises from the city, Flanagan celebrated and Heastie distanced.
According to Flanagan, whose office emailed his statement to its entire press list, the “announcement by Mayor de Blasio is an important step forward for charter school students and for their families, as well as for the 50,000 children now on waiting lists for a seat inside a charter school. They are clamoring for a chance at success, and together we have provided them with a better opportunity to achieve their goals, to succeed and to get ahead. I thank the Mayor for his openness in addressing this important issue and for demonstrating his support for both children who are currently in a charter school and those who would like to be.”
The statement from Heastie’s office, on the other hand, emphasized that the Assembly had not given an inch on charter schools. “As for charter schools, the Speaker was not an active participant in any discussions or negotiations,” said a Heastie spokesperson. “He said from the beginning the Assembly Majority would not trade anything regarding charter schools for mayoral control. Mayor de Blasio and the city's Department of Education have the right to make decisions of their choosing in regards to the administration of charter schools that do not require any legislative action.”
When Gotham Gazette asked de Blasio’s office when the mayor had meant when on June 29 he said "as soon as it’s finalized, yes, everything will be public and then we’ll happily take questions on it," his spokesperson emailed back to say, “At his next public event, same as always.”
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette
Transit advocates rally near City Hall (photo: Sam Raskin/Gotham Gazette)
Activists from eight transportation advocacy groups gathered near the City Hall R train subway station on Thursday calling on candidates running for elected office in the city to adopt a seven-point plan to improve New York’s crumbling transit infrastructure.
“We’ve put together the steps that New York City can take to make transportation work in New York,” said John Raskin, executive director of Riders Alliance, who led the news conference. The coalition released a four-page document titled, “Transportation and Equity: A 2017 Agenda for Candidates” which included seven proposed solutions -- increasing funding for public transportation, improving bus service, reducing the cost of mass-transit, increasing bicycle usage, reducing traffic fatalities under the Vision Zero campaign, improving how street space is divided, and providing alternatives for the L train riders who will soon see an expected disruption of service.
The advocates believe that the time is ripe to hold politicians’ feet to the fire on transit issues, ahead of the upcoming city elections. “Transportation is now a top-tier issue in our city,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives. “There's never been a better time for our city to make progress on streets and transportation. So if you’re running for office, ignore our issues at your own peril. New Yorkers are hungry for solutions and we have them.”
The coalition of advocates did acknowledge that much of the city’s transportation management is the responsibility of the state. The subway system is managed by the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which is controlled by Governor Andrew Cuomo. The governor recently declared a state of emergency for the MTA to ease procurement rules and speed up improvements to the subway system but critics believe the measure was too little, too late. “We’re not here to let the governor in Albany off the hook,” insisted StreetsPac Executive Director Eric McClure, noting that city dwellers are “unfortunately trapped” in a situation in which city matters are determined by representatives from outside the city. But the activists believe the city can take certain matters into its own hands. “In a world where the governor controls the MTA, we are answering the question: what can the mayor do? What can the city council do? What can other city level elected officials do to help New Yorkers get around town, access jobs and build a fair and sustainable city for the future,” said Raskin.
The organizations coalesced around popular transit fixes such as increasing capital funding to the MTA, adding and improving bike lanes, funding the Fair Fares proposal to provide half-priced MetroCards to low-income New Yorkers, committing to improving safety on the street through the Vision Zero campaign, augmenting the express Select Bus Service and enhancing bus lane enforcement.
“We’re not here promote flying cars or monorails, or new tunneling for autonomous vehicles,” White said. “These are all proven solutions that simply need to be expanded.”
Mayor Bill de Blasio has repeatedly touted expansion of the Select Bus Service, Citi Bike additions, and ferry service expansions as transportation accomplishments under his tenure. These received tepid support from White. “The mayor deserves credit for trying a multitude of solutions that are under his control, ferries included,” White said. “If you look at the subsidies per ride, investments in bus service, improving bus service, investments in walking and biking provide much more bang for your investment buck if you’re the mayor of New York. Ferries are important, but there is more to be had with investments in bus service in particular.”
The coalition, notably, did not take a collective stance on the proposed Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX) streetcar, which would run between Sunset Park and Astoria. Certain activists have expressed doubts about investing in a costly new streetcar as opposed to improving existing transit options. The proposal has few strong supporters among transit advocates and there are doubts about whether it can be adequately funded. There are a variety of business and other organizations supporting BQX.
Along with policies with consensus among activists and electeds, the transit groups also pushed for more ambitious, imaginative proposals such as a Brooklyn-Manhattan Bus Rapid Transit route over the Williamsburg Bridge to deal with the planned 15-month shutdown of the L train beginning in 2019.
Additionally, the advocates called on the administration to further its current use of a portion of real estate value added by upzoning to fund transportation projects. “[T]he city is in a position to make sure that part of that value goes to build and rebuild the infrastructure that the real estate relies on,” Raskin said. “That’s something we’re asking the city to do in a widespread way.” The groups also expressed support for the Move NY Fair Plan, which would reform bridge toll prices to simultaneously raise revenue and reduce traffic congestion.
Confident in the achievability and efficacy of their suggestions, the advocates believe the next step is to spread awareness and apply pressure on current and potential New York lawmakers. “The agenda that this group has put together for New York City is doable,” said Marcia Bystyrn, executive director of New York League of Conservation Voters. “The real challenge for all of us is making it clear to every elected official in New York that we expect them to deliver.”
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by Sam Raskin
@samraskinz @GothamGazette
Note: this article has been adjusted to more carefully characterize support for the BQX.