(photo: The Governor's Office)
Standing near a City Hall subway stop, Staten Island Assembly member and GOP mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis railed against Mayor Bill de Blasio’s handling of the city’s transit system and its state-controlled operator, the Metropolitan Transit Authority.
At a podium set up just outside a 4 and 5 train entrance -- the same station that the mayor and his family emerged from for his inauguration on January 1, 2014 -- Malliotakis said last Friday that de Blasio has been ineffective and pledged that if she is elected mayor, she’ll provide additional city investment into the ailing system.
“The mayor cannot keep pointing fingers, he needs to take responsibility for the subway system that runs through his city,” she said, as puzzled straphangers emerged from the stairs behind her.
The issue of what to do about the city’s beleaguered public transportation system has quickly become a central question before the September primaries and November mayoral election. With cascading delays and the looming closure of the L train just as the subway’s ridership has ballooned to over 5.6 million commuters on an average weekday, the transit system’s troubles are threatening to devolve into a full-blown crisis, and Malliotakis isn’t the only mayoral candidate pouncing on the issue.
On Monday morning, former City Council member and Democratic candidate Sal Albanese echoed Malliotakis as he stood outside the midtown offices of Governor Andrew Cuomo. He was there to hand-deliver a letter to Cuomo’s staff – the governor was in Albany – in which he pledged to immediately increase the city’s MTA capital funding to $1 billion annually if elected mayor, and to work with the governor. “We can’t take the position that this service is basically a ping-pong ball between the mayor and the governor,” he said, alluding the icy relationship between de Blasio and Cuomo.
Paul Massey, a millionaire real-estate executive and political novice who is seeking the Republican nomination, seems to want to regain his footing after having stumbled somewhat over the transit issue at a mid-May press conference in front of City Hall, where he was critical of the mayor and alluded to “a lot of problems in our mass transit system,” but didn’t give any specific ideas for fixes when asked for details.
A spokesperson for Massey said that the campaign will roll out a “comprehensive plan next week” and outlined some of the plan’s main points: additional funding for the MTA is necessary, but any increase in the city’s contribution would be “conditional on the city taking back control of our transit system, including additional NYC representation on the MTA board.” This would likely entail a change to the MTA’s charter, which would have to be approved by the state legislature.
In addition, Massey’s campaign said it will unveil plans for “immediate system-wide upgrade of subway signals and switches,” “a ground-up overhaul of city traffic management policies,” and “transformative infrastructure investment in all five boroughs.” Massey mentioned some of the looming platform when he campaigned Monday evening outside a subway stop on the Upper East Side.
The idea of conditional increased funding was also put forward by activist and Democratic hopeful Robert Gangi, who said in a phone call that he would “communicate that [the city] is prepared to increase its investment but at the same time get some understandings and some commitments about where the money should go,” including the purchase of “a significant amount of new buses and subway cars.” He did not have a specific number for funding increases, but said he would study the issue.
Gangi’s main transportation plank is less about infrastructure and more about socioeconomics: he backs the “fair fares” plan to provide free access to public transportation, including subways and buses, to low income New Yorkers. He claims he would pay for it in part by cancelling other transportation proposals, such as the Brooklyn-Queens Connector (BQX) streetcar announced last year by the mayor.
Public transportation is fundamental to the largest city in the country and its elected leaders. But the issue is taking on new urgency just as the city’s political calendar heats up.
“This is a bread-and-butter issue, this is not some esoteric issue. This is what drives the city’s economy,” said Albanese, expressing a sentiment echoed in some way by every candidate Gotham Gazette spoke to (along with Albanese, Gangi, Massey, and Malliotakis, there are a handful of other mayoral candidates).
Similarly, none of those four candidates thought that the equipment powering the 665 mainline miles of subway tracks is adequate, with the system’s archaic ‘block’ signaling system receiving outsize scorn. “Much of the equipment for the subway was installed pre-World War II,” said Malliotakis, who compared the city’s subway unfavorably to that of other cities around the world, including Paris, Copenhagen, San Francisco, Vancouver, and London.
London’s transportation system’s signal improvements were also invoked by Albanese, who argued that they showed a modern metropolis could make necessary upgrades provided a political will. He pledged to take the subway regularly as mayor, saying “I understand that sometimes you have to take the SUV, even a helicopter once in a blue moon, but I will use transit.” In a jab at the current mayor, he added that Mayor Michael “Bloomberg, talk about billionaires, actually got on the train himself on a regular basis.”
Mayor de Blasio is not a frequent subway rider, and, with the system in crisis, he’s dismissed recent calls to take the train more often as a way of both leading by example in using public transportation and a way to understand what his constituents are dealing with. (De Blasio quietly took a subway ride uptown on Wednesday afternoon, his first subway trip since mid-April.)
The subway situation may be a vulnerability for de Blasio in this campaign, especially given that many New Yorkers reflexively blame the Mayor, not knowing that the MTA is much more the Governor’s responsibility. De Blasio’s famously frosty relationship with Cuomo has manifested in finger-pointing and a lack of dialogue on the city’s transit, and de Blasio has taken flak for a workout routine that involves taking two SUVs from his official home on the Upper East Side to a gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn, his longtime neighborhood. The issue would have likely blown over if the mayor didn’t then jab at critics, arguing that using public transit instead would amount to “cheap symbolism” in the fight against climate change.
As the nightmare commutes and bad headlines mount, de Blasio has laid the blame with Cuomo and the MTA, routinely prefacing responses to subway crises with reminders that the MTA is “state-run.” Nonetheless, he has faced increasing attacks from rivals, as well as questions from members of the public and reporters about what he’s doing to address commuter issues and whether he’s being a forceful enough advocate for his constituents.
Currently, New York City has committed to providing $2.5 billion, or 9 percent, of the MTA’s 2015-2019 capital program, which funds improvements to the transportation system. That number was the endpoint of a contentious public fight between the mayor and the governor, who sided with the MTA and the Transport Workers Union Local 100 in accusing the city of neglecting its responsibilities after an original commitment of $657 million. The state has committed $8.3 billion, or 28 percent.
Critics and budget hawks have complained that no funding sources have yet been identified for these commitments, which kick in after the MTA, which has pledged $11.8 billion – collected from fares, loans, and other sources – has used up all other funding.
The governor directly appoints six out of 14 voting MTA board members and names the Chair, effectively controlling the agency; the mayor recommends four board members. Despite that, Malliotakis argued that de Blasio couldn’t pass the buck on transportation, since “aside from keeping us safe, it is the number one issue,” and accused his appointed members of not challenging “the status quo.”
At an unrelated press conference on June 5, the mayor was asked if the city’s congestion could be fixed without the addition of subway lines. “We need to first think about the things we can do right now,” he said, including ferry service, select bus service – “very, very productive” – and light rail, touting his BQX project. He did say that if reelected, he would start looking into the possibility of adding lines, saying “I’m going to be spending real time in the second term trying to figure out our physical reality for the future.”
In an email, a spokesperson for the mayor’s reelection campaign touted the $2.5 billion MTA capital plan contribution “to support new buses, subway cars, signal and station improvements, while introducing a citywide ferry system, and expanding bike lanes and CitiBike. That’s a transit record we are happy to compare with anyone."
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by Felipe De La Hoz, Gotham Gazette
@FelipeDLH @GothamGazette
Paul Massey meets voters (photo via @MasseyForMayor)
Republican mayoral candidate Paul Massey introduced himself to voters on the Upper East Side at a campaign event Monday, shaking hands outside the 86th Street and Lexington Avenue subway stop. Massey spoke with roughly three dozen people in the nearly half-hour he posted up near the street corner, sporting a dark blue suit and a broad smile on a stiflingly hot June day.
“Want to meet the next mayor of New York?” members of Massey’s staff asked commuters, most of whom rushed past, trying to lure them in for an introduction. Most passersby seemed to be confused about who Massey was, but the presence of cameras and press caught the attention of a few curious onlookers.
The 57-year-old real estate executive, accompanied by several staffers and volunteers who distributed campaign literature, frequently told those he spoke with about what he believes to be Mayor Bill de Blasio’s flaws, especially a splintered relationship with the NYPD and his inability to “consensus-build” with Governor Cuomo.
De Blasio, a first-term Democrat, is expected to make it through the Democratic primary. Massey, a first-time political candidate, is locked in a tough primary battle with Assemblymember Nicole Malliotakis. With three months to primary day, Massey must build name recognition and court voters.
During Monday’s rush hour meet-and-greet, Massey heard comments about city agencies, increases in homelessness and crime, transportation, and street safety issues. It was not clear how many Republican primary voters he spoke with.
Holding his first subway stop event on the Upper East Side was no coincidence, of course -- the neighborhood is one of the relatively few in the city with at least a solid Republican census when it comes to mayoral races, and it could be particularly helpful to Massey if he can win votes there. In past elections, including the 2013 general election for mayor, the largely well-off neighborhood typically votes for the Republican candidate in greater numbers than much of New York City. Republican nominee Joe Lhota bested de Blasio in 2013 by as much as 30% in parts of Election District 73, where the Massey campaign event took place.
Massey’s message, that he is a change agent and problem-solver who will unite the Big Apple while reversing the overly-leftward shift ushered in by de Blasio, is resonating with some. One campaign volunteer said that he missed Michael Bloomberg and thought Massey was the best candidate to revive the former mayor’s governing philosophy.
David, a young-looking Republican from Manhattan, had a relatively long conversation with Massey, then, speaking with Gotham Gazette, voiced displeasure with de Blasio’s relationship with the NYPD, which has been the source of much controversy over the past three-plus years, though less so of late.
“I’m sick and tired of the corruption in New York City,” David said. “De Blasio has just divided this city completely. [The police] are sacrificing their lives for us, and our mayor is mocking them,” he added. “We need a change in this city, and I think Paul is definitely going to provide that change.”
As can often be the case at campaign subway stops, Massey had some trouble attracting engagement. At one point he offered a young boy a high-five, but the boy kept walking -- only to double back and accept the gesture when he seemed to realize it was part of some kind of event.
Before departing for his next campaign stop Massey took questions from reporters who were there to see him. He took the opportunity to harshly criticize de Blasio, as he typically does, painting his Democratic rival as “divisive” and an “extreme ideologue” who has governed a city which is “falling apart.”
When asked if he had learned anything new from the individuals he had spoken to throughout the afternoon, Massey said, “I think people are concerned about similar things. People are concerned about our safety--they worry about the mayor’s relationship with the police. The conversations were in sync with what I’ve been hearing all along. The theme is, we really need a change from Bill de Blasio, and we need it now. There is a chord of discontent out there about this mayor that I think we’re just starting to realize.”
Asked why he had chosen the location for the subway meet-and-greet, Massey said there was no particular reason, that he’s been campaigning all over the city.
With subway problems dominating much of the New York conversation of late and his event outside a subway stop -- from which Massey emerged at about 5:10 p.m., seemingly after a train ride -- the candidate was asked about solutions to transit-related issues, which he lamented are “plaguing the city.” Massey cited a need to overhaul operations at the MTA, a state entity under the Governor’s control. In a similar vein, Massey said as mayor he’d improve infrastructure in all five boroughs, with the goal of improving transit.
Massey’s full agenda of infrastructure proposals will be released next week, he said, though he was sure that the framework would include a provision conditioning MTA capital spending on increased mayoral control on matters related to the agency.
“I think the people on the streets that I talked to were telling me that several times a month they're significantly late for work,” he said, labeling the problem a “management issue” that de Blasio has failed to properly handle. Massey subsequently argued that poor subway conditions are at least in part due to the mayor’s inability to cooperate with Governor Andrew Cuomo, after a reporter pointed out that MTA matters are Albany’s, not City Hall’s, responsibility.
“I think that currently we have a mayor that hates the governor and that is impeding a lot of things in this city,” he said, later adding that not only potential transportation fixes, but efforts such as affordable housing initiatives are also hindered by de Blasio’s contentious relationship with Cuomo. “[W]hoever the governor is, I'll work with him or her in a consensus-building basis.” Massey said. “That's the kind of leader that I am.”
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by Sam Raskin & Amanda Tukaj
@GothamGazette
JC Polanco (screenshot via NY1)
After receiving endorsements from several Republican clubs and organizations, J.C. Polanco, a Bronx native who is currently the New York City Regional Director for Assembly Minority Leader Brian Kolb, officially jumped into the race for Public Advocate last week.
“I had to travel the city and try to get enough support from my party to get the nomination,” Polanco said in an interview with Gotham Gazette. “Now I’m going to start moving from meeting party leaders, county leaders to talk with groups across the city.”
Acknowledging the challenge of running citywide as a Republican given the significant registration advantage held by Democrats, especially considering the incumbent, Democrat Letitia James, is seeking reelection, Polanco said, “I’m a New York Republican, I’m very different.” He cited his focus on economic development, NYCHA residents, and charter schools. Polanco has also been critical of Donald Trump, the unpopular president Democrats across the city (and country) are looking to tie Republican candidates to in most elections.
“The odds are not in my favor given the daunting party registration numbers. But I’m up for the challenge,” Polanco said. “Competition is good.” It’s now about running an energetic campaign and talking to people all over the city about his agenda, he added.
And what’s on that agenda? “At the top is to reform city government, including the public advocate position,” he said. “It’s an important position, it’s supposed to be the watchdog, but it’s been watered down.” Polanco wants to empower the public advocate through a city charter amendment giving it “investigatory powers.”
Even without those powers, he said James has not been forceful enough in checking Mayor Bill de Blasio, a fellow Democrat who James is close with and has endorsed for reelection (de Blasio is sure to return the favor). While James has focused her tenure on passing legislation and filing lawsuits against the city to enact change, she has not been critical of the mayor on several major items, including questionable ethical choices.
Polanco, a former president of the City Board of Elections and a one-time challenger of state Senator Jeff Klein when Klein was in the Assembly, enters the race all but assured of an easy path to the general election. He joined Errol Louis on NY1’s Road to City Hall June 6 to formally announce his bid.
“The far left have a monopoly on the conversation in New York City, and I could just not sit back and watch this happen for another election cycle,” Polanco told Louis. “And I saw the Public Advocate position as a perfect vehicle. I think the Public Advocate position is the perfect place for a visionary like myself to come in and talk to voters and talk to the city and get things done and have a conversation about important things that are not being discussed today.”
Since losing funding under Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council, the public advocate’s office has “become more of a press mill, a place where you just issue press releases and take positions,” Polanco said. He wants the position to have investigatory and subpoena powers so it can demand information from City Hall.
Also on Polanco’s early policy agenda is a renewed push for nonpartisan elections, an effort that failed under Bloomberg. It’s widely believed that nonpartisan elections, wherein any registered voter could vote in an open primary system, would favor Republicans looking for crossover appeal.
Polanco also said he would push for more charter schools in New York City, and with the help of Eva Moskowitz, the lightning rod CEO of the Success Academy charter network and a former member of the City Council. Moskowitz has had an antagonistic relationship with de Blasio.
Further, Polanco wants to see public housing tenants have the chance to own their units. He claims that this would unlock the “American Dream” for these residents, and would reduce crime in housing authorities.
At age 25, Polanco attempted in 2002 to unseat Klein, but was unsuccessful despite endorsements from then-Mayor Bloomberg and then-Governor George Pataki. Klein later won his Senate seat, and is now one of the most powerful people in New York as the leader of the breakaway Independent Democratic Conference (IDC).
Polanco was later appointed Bronx Commissioner of the Board of Elections, and selected to be the city’s Board of Elections President. He is currently a professor of Latino studies and history at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and a political consultant, along with his job for the Assembly minority.
While Public Advocate James is seen as a heavy favorite to win reelection, it has been unclear whether she would see serious competition -- Polanco’s entry into the race has Republicans excited. During his exploratory phase, he received several endorsements for the race from county party organizations, and he now has the backing of the Republican Party affiliates of all five boroughs. He has also been endorsed by the Reform Party and is seeking to get on the Independence Party line as well.
Asked for a response to Polanco’s entrance to the race and some of his early campaign arguments, James’ reelection campaign sent a statement saying the public advocate “has been a powerful champion for working families and the most vulnerable New Yorkers,” and touting her accomplishments. “Tish has passed historic wage equity legislation to ban the use of salary history in the hiring process; successfully championed NYPD body cameras; led the fight for universal school lunch; and used the Worst Landlords List, legislation, and litigation to hold bad landlords accountable,” the statement says.
“We support everyone's right to run for office and welcome them to put their ideas forward,” the campaign statement says. “We're especially glad that J.C. Polanco is joining Tish's efforts to further empower the office through measures like a charter revision."
Polanco is an ally of Republican mayoral candidate Nicole Malliotakis, having donated $50 to her campaign and speaking fondly of her in comparison to her main primary rival, Paul Massey. Polanco told Gotham Gazette in May that Malliotakis “brings this across-the-city sort of understanding of New York City Republicanism” to the race for mayor, while Massey, on the other hand, is “someone that has the experience in business, that is raising enormous amounts of money and is also making the rounds, something that many New York Republicans are used to: the businessman Republican. So you’re gonna have a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party in New York City.”
In the interview after announcing his candidacy, Polanco told Gotham Gazette that he is endorsing Malliotakis for mayor. “I’ve known her for a long time, worked closely with her,” Polanco said of Malliotakis, who is a member of the Assembly minority where Polanco works. “I don’t know Massey.” He said he also does not know Republican candidate for comptroller Michel Faulkner, but will get to know him. (Massey and Faulkner have endorsed each other.)
Malliotakis has been endorsed by the Brooklyn and Staten Island GOP, while Massey has been endorsed by the Queens and Bronx GOP (Manhattan split its vote and did not endorse). They have quickly become locked in a heated contest that looks like it will be a battle until primary day.
Speaking to the Queens Village Republican Club recently, Polanco argued that the public advocate’s role should be expanded.
“You need to be a visionary for this role because quite frankly, they’re very limited in powers,” he said, according to a video by NYTrue.com, arguing for a charter revision to empower the advocate “to have standing to sue this mayor in court.” He then cited NY1 and the New York Post for having sued City Hall for access to emails of Mayor de Blasio’s with outside consultants, supposedly revealing a “pay-to-play” scheme, which he repeatedly referred to as “nefarious.” He claimed that the public advocate should be empowered to do what journalists ended up having to do.
Asked by Gotham Gazette about the fact that James has been an active litigant against the city, he mentioned that she has been kicked off of several lawsuits due to a lack of standing.
“Now, he may have escaped an indictment, but he’s been indicted and convicted in the court of public opinion in my book,” Polanco said of de Blasio in Queens. “And we as Republicans have a shot.”
Polanco told Gotham Gazette he wants to end “pay to play” in the city and that as public advocate he would create a website, “endpaytoplay.nyc.gov,” where the public could see who has donated to whom, who has hired what lobbyists, what projects lobbyists are working on, and so forth -- connecting all the dots of money, politics, and policy in the city. “Shed sunlight into city government,” he said of his plans.
(The city does already have a “doing-business” database, which affects how much individuals can give to candidates -- if listed as doing business, campaign contributions are capped at $400 to each campaign.)
Polanco, early on in his Queens Village speech, advocated for easier access to handguns, an uncommon policy stance in New York. He claimed that residents have to “run through a labyrinth” to access handguns. He argued that these restrictions significantly hamper the ability to practice second amendment rights and protect one’s home, and he would “do something” about gun laws to ease the restrictions. Polanco explained to Gotham Gazette that he had been responding to an audience question and that expanding gun ownership is not necessarily a top priority, though he does believe in it.
Polanco says he can win as a Republican in the heavily Democratic city by running as a reformer and building a broad coalition.
“I think a lot of New Yorkers will welcome a message of reform. I may be a Republican but I’m a New Yorker,” Polanco said on NY1, “and I think that if we were to carry our message of Republicanism, reform through parts of the city where my party has disregarded in the past, we will experience victory in November.”
“I expect support from everybody,” he told Gotham Gazette. “I hope to bring in some of those Democrats who have voted Republican in the past -- voting Republican is not that foreign to many Democrats.”
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by Ben Brachfeld & Ben Max
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by Ben Max, Gotham Gazette
@tweetBenMax @GothamGazette