New York City Hall
What to watch for this week in New York politics:
Buckle up, it’s the final week before a new state budget is due by midnight Friday -- the start of the new fiscal year is April 1. As always, negotiations are expected to come down to the wire, and it’s likely that the bargains reached at the last minute will be budget and policy decided and voted through with almost no review by rank-and-file legislators or the public. Albany!
There’s a great deal at stake in the state budget for New York City, of course, and Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda.
Speaking of de Blasio, the mayor was out in public on both Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday he attended and delivered remarks at the funeral of FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo; then de Blasio headed to Albany to speak at the annual Somos Conference. On Sunday, de Blasio had one campaign event: he spoke at Pilgrim Wesleyan Church in Brooklyn and received the re-election endorsement of Assemblymember Rodneyse Bichotte. Then, in his official mayoral capacity, de Blasio delivered remarks and marched in the Greek Independence Day Parade.
On Monday, the mayor continues his "mansion tax" advocacy and appears on NY1's Road to City Hall in his usual weekly spot -- see details of both below.
Once the state budget is set, de Blasio will take that into account as he prepares the next version of a proposed city budget. De Blasio’s executive budget plan is due this spring -- the city fiscal year starts July 1 -- and it will also take into account feedback from the City Council, which is nearing the end of its many hearings on de Blasio’s preliminary budget plan.
Those hearings conclude this week, including the hearing on public safety (NYPD, etc.) and the postponed hearing on health that is set to feature at least some discussion of the controversial metzitzah b'peh practice and what the city is doing about it -- see below for more.
And, this week is voting week for participatory budgeting in the City Council districts where members are running the program. Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and others kicked off the vote week this weekend, according to a press release: “Now in its 6th year, Participatory Budgeting, or PB, has grown to include 31 Council Members, representing Council Districts across the City. Participatory Budgeting is a community-driven process that increases the transparency of budgeting decisions and provides New Yorkers with a greater say in how their tax dollars are spent.”
Speaking of Mark-Viverito, on Monday and Tuesday this week she is hosting the first-of-its kind sanctuary city conference -- see below for details.
And, the week in politics will culminate with Saturday night's annual Inner Circle charity show, where the city's press corps will roast the city's politicians, especially the mayor, and vice versa.
See details of what's happening all over the city and in Albany through our day-by-day rundown below.
***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics?
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The run of the week in detail:
Monday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Monday in Albany.
The New York State Board of Regents will meet on Monday in Albany.
Monday is the United Federation of Teachers’ annual lobby day in Albany. “More than 800 teachers, paraprofessional, and parents representing New York City public schools will board early-morning buses Monday to travel to Albany to meet with their local legislators to discuss education funding, charter schools, and other issues. UFT President Michael Mulgrew, along with legislative leaders, will address a plenary session with all the teachers at 11 a.m.; the session will be followed by teachers meeting with individual legislators representing their schools.”
On Monday at 11 a.m. in Albany, “New York State Senate Health Committee Chair Kemp Hannon will hold a press conference...at the fourth floor of the state Capitol to lead a bipartisan push for a key budget measure that would help save the lives of premature infants. The Senator will be joined by fellow bill sponsor (S4526) Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, other legislators, doctors, and infant health advocates in calling for the enacted state budget to include Medicaid coverage for donor breast milk so that this screened and safe “medicine” can be provided to infants born at very low birth weights.”
On Monday at noon at the Capitol in Albany, a “mass disruption” is planned “to demand progressive tax policies to end homelessness, income inequality, and prepare for Trump cuts,” according to one organizing group, Vocal-NY…”statewide coalition says over 88 people - representing over 88,000 homeless New Yorkers - will risk arrest halting business as usual as the final week of budget negotiations begin. Protestors will denounce Governor Cuomo's refusal to support the extended 'Millionaires tax' and 'Mansion tax' despite Assembly and Senate Democratic support, NYS' record homelessness, and worst income inequality in the nation. And Senate Republicans' proposal to cut taxes for millionaires despite growing poverty throughout the state.”
On Monday and Tuesday, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Local Progress will host the first national conference on sanctuary cities at Borough of Manhattan Community College. Discussion will center around protecting immigrants from the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Participants include politicians and activists from all over the country, such as Speaker Mark-Viverito and City Council Member Brad Lander, San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz Soto, and Cook County, IL Commissioner Chuy Garcia.
At 10:30 a.m. Monday at City Hall, there will be a press conference calling for the "fearless girl" statue near the Wall Street bull to be made permanent. Public Advocate Letitia James will speak.
At the City Council on Monday, there will be two preliminary budget hearings:
At 10 a.m. Monday, Adrian Thomas, the subject of the film Scenes of a Crime who was falsely accused of murder and exonerated due to video evidence, will hold a press conference in Albany urging legislators to pass A4239, a bill to expand the use of videotaping for police interrogations in order to reduce wrongful convictions. He will be joined by his mother, as well as Al O’Connor of the New York State Defenders’ Association; John Turi, the Rensselaer County Public Defender; and Art Frost, of the Rensselaer County Public Defender’s office.
On Monday at 5:15 p.m., "Mayor de Blasio will host a tele-town hall regarding the Mansion Tax." In the 7 and 10 p.m. hours, the mayor will appear on NY1’s Road to City Hall.
On Monday at 7 p.m. City Council Member Brad Lander and partners will hold the next meeting in their #GetOrganizedBK series. This will be “an “Organizing Bootcamp” to help build the organizing skills we need for the long haul” and include remarks from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Austin City Council Member Greg Casar, and Philadelphia City Council Member Helen Gym.
Tuesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Tuesday in Albany.
The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics will meet on Tuesday in Albany.
At 10:45 a.m. Tuesday in Albany, "State Senator Martin J. Golden (Brooklyn- R, C, I) and Assemblyman Joe Lentol (Brooklyn – D) will announce that they are again sponsoring legislation, S2410/A5477, known as the New York State Criminal Street Gang Act, which may have prevented the tragic murder of EMS worker Yadira Arroyo by gang member Jose Gonzalez, if the Assembly passed, and the Governor signed the bill that was approved by the State Senate."
At 9 a.m. Tuesday, the New York City Bar Association will host “Stopping Health Care Hemorrhaging: Transforming New York City's Health Care Infrastructure,” featuring Public Advocate Letitia James, along with two panels of public health experts and attorneys.
At the City Council on Tuesday, the Transportation Committee will hold a preliminary budget hearing, with testimony from The Department of Transportation at 10 a.m.; The MTA/NYC Transit at 11:30 a.m.; and The Taxi and Limousine Commission at 12:30 p.m.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, the New York League of Conservation Voters will host its “Emerging Leaders Happy Hour,” featuring guest speaker Mark Chambers, director of the Mayor’s Office of Sustainability.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, City & State NY will host its annual Above and Beyond Awards, honoring women in New York’s political, media, education, nonprofit, and other sectors. This year’s honorees can be found here.
At 6 p.m. Tuesday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. will host a hearing of their “Gifted and Talented Task Force,” focusing on “gifted and talented education in New York City public schools, as well as the admissions process for the city’s specialized schools,” at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza in Brooklyn. (This event was originally scheduled for Tuesday, March 14, but was rescheduled due to the snow.)
At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Open Society Foundations will host “Public Health in a Populist Moment,” a discussion regarding the impact of populist politics on public health. Panelists include Jonathan Cohen of Open Society Foundations; Chloe Cooney of Planned Parenthood; Gregg Gonsalves of Yale Law School and Yale School of Public Health; Naa Hammond of the Groundswell Fund; and Ronald Martin of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition. Elisabeth Rosenthal of Kaiser Health News will moderate.
At 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, the Reform Party will host a candidate forum for mayoral candidates seeking the party’s nomination at 2 Penn Plaza. As of March 22, confirmed attendees are Bo Dietl, Sal Albanese, Michel Faulkner, and Mike Tolkin.
Wednesday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Wednesday in Albany.
At the City Council on Wednesday, there will be three preliminary budget hearings:
*Health Committee Chair Corey Johnson recently told Gotham Gazette that metzitzah b'peh will be discussed at the hearing. The Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual, which includes the mohel sucking the blood from the infant’s penis, is an ongoing source of controversy, flaring up recently after new reports of herpes being transmitted to babies and a lack of cooperation from the communities despite an agreement with the de Blasio administration. The mayor said the city is reevaluating that agreement given the evidence.
Also at the City Council on Wednesday, at noon The Committee on Technology will meet to discuss a proposed law “in relation to online submission of applications for permits, licenses, and registrations and a single web portal for such applications.
On Wednesday evening, City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer will co-host a public safety town hall, 6:30 p.m. at P.S. 48.
Thursday
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Thursday in Albany.
At the City Council on Thursday, the Committee on Public Safety will hold a preliminary budget hearing, with testimony from District Attorneys and the Special Narcotics Prosecutor at 10 a.m.; The Civilian Complaint Review Board at 12 p.m.; The Criminal Justice Coordinator at 1 p.m.; and The Police Department at 2 p.m.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, Brooklyn BP Eric Adams will hold his fourth annual Women's History Month Celebration at Brooklyn Borough Hall.
At 6 p.m. Thursday, Gay City News will host its 2017 “LGBTQ IMPACT Awards,” honoring those who have made significant impacts in NYC’s LGBTQ community. This year’s honorees include former Governor David Paterson, United States v. Windsor plaintiff Edie Windsor, and Executive Director of the NYCLU Donna Lieberman, along with many others.
Friday and the weekend
The New York State Legislature will be in session on Friday in Albany. A new state budget is due by midnight Friday -- the new fiscal year begins Saturday, April 1.
At 8 a.m. Friday, the Building Congress will host its “Construction Industry Breakfast,” featuring conversations with Marisa Lago, the Director of the Department of City Planning and Chair of the City Planning Commission, and James Patchett, President and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
At 6 p.m. Friday, Public Advocate Letitia James will hold a public Q&A for residents of Bushwick and Cypress Hills at the North Brooklyn YMCA.
At 6 p.m. Saturday, the Inner Circle Show will host “Trumped: De Blasio to the Rescue?” The event will take place at the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
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Have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics? E-mail Gotham Gazette executive editor Ben Max any time: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (please use "For Week Ahead" as email subject).
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by Ben Brachfeld and Ben Max
@GothamGazette
De Blasio pitches his mansion tax (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)
Budget watchdogs have expressed concern that Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “mansion tax” proposal, which would impose levies on real estate transactions above $2 million, may be misguided or even unnecessary.
De Blasio made a last-minute trip to Albany on Wednesday to rally with Democratic lawmakers and progressive advocates in favor of a number of proposals currently being considered in state budget negotiations. The mayor’s chief concern, however, was the mansion tax, a proposal he has floated for years and revived this budget season as a tool to subsidize affordable housing for seniors.
The proposal would impose a 2.5 percent tax on buyers who purchase property in the city at more than $2 million, raising an estimated $336 million next year, according to the mayor. That funding would then be used for a new Elder Rent Assistance program to provide $1,300 in monthly assistance to 25,000 seniors, the mayor said at his State of the City speech in February. In order to implement the tax, the city needs state approval, which is unlikely given opposition to new taxes from the Republican majority in the state Senate as well as Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who is fiscally moderate and habitually opposed to de Blasio proposals.
The Wednesday rally at the state Capitol was one stop in something of a barnstorm by de Blasio, who has been pushing the mansion tax plan among seniors, including at two senior center stops on Thursday. The mayor has cited the necessity of the tax revenue to provide the additional rent subsidies to older New Yorkers who fit certain age and income guidelines.
[Related: In Albany, De Blasio and Democrats Push ‘Mansion Tax’]
But fiscal experts question whether the city really needs a new tax to raise that revenue and, if so, whether a transactional tax is the best way to do it.
“This could be a good idea in the context of general property tax reform and other tax reform,” said Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank. “But it's not a good idea as a revenue raiser."
Gelinas noted that the city already charges a mortgage tax, which she called “a tax on people who can't pay cash for an apartment.” “If we wanted to have a more progressive tax on just the purchase of more expensive properties, the money should go to reducing or eliminating mortgage taxes or other property taxes," she added.
That’s not what the mayor is proposing. Instead, Gelinas pointed out, de Blasio is attempting to raise revenue for a new program through a new tax, something mayors don’t usually do unless they face a sharp revenue crunch. “The city is not exactly starved for revenue right now,” she said.
Although the city is feeling the early effects of an economic slowdown, revenues and reserves are still robust after years of sustained growth. Available monies could be used to prioritize affordable senior housing, Gelinas said. Yet, as he once did with his universal pre-kindergarten program, de Blasio is insisting that the way to fund his senior assistance program is through a new tax.
The mansion tax also faces opposition at home from allies of de Blasio. Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer told Gotham Gazette that she opposes the $2 million threshold for the tax since it would have an outsize impact in Manhattan, where property prices are far greater than the other boroughs. She would prefer a $5 million threshold. “Manhattan should not be the cash cow for the rest of the boroughs,” she said last month.
A report by the nonpartisan Independent Budget Office, prompted by Brewer, looked at property sales from the last three years and found that between 2014 and 2016, 8 percent of homes sold citywide were priced at $2 million or more. Of those, 86 percent were in Manhattan.
[Related: De Blasio Faces Local Questions About ‘Mansion Tax’ Plan]
In response, the de Blasio administration points out that it is a “marginal tax for incremental sales price over $2 million,” meaning that only the price above the $2 million would be taxed at the 2.5 percent. Those purchasing homes closer to the $2 million threshold would be paying very little in added tax.
There are also concerns among the real estate industry about the proposal’s effect on sales, at a time when Brooklyn brownstones can cross the $2 million threshold. The de Blasio administration dismisses that concern due to the incremental nature of the tax.
Carol Kellerman, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission, believes the mayor hasn’t made a clear case for the mansion tax. “If the goal is to impose higher taxes on people perceived to be wealthy, there are ways to do it through the income tax structure,” she said in a phone interview. “The mayor’s not proposing this as a form of budget relief or as necessary for budget needs.”
Kellerman also emphasized the “volatile” nature of a transactional tax, which would depend on the ups and downs of the real estate industry and also have a “distortive impact” on the market and change behavior. “If there’s a need to raise that amount of revenue, a transfer tax of this nature is not a reliable source of revenue,” she said.
She also pointed out that the mayor has already allocated billions in the city’s capital plan for affordable housing, so the need for a separate tax for senior housing doesn’t necessarily pass muster.
Given opposition from state Senate Republicans, the mansion tax may be dead on arrival in Albany. De Blasio has argued, including in Albany Wednesday, that he’s heard that before about proposals, such as the $15 minimum wage. Gelinas was blunt about mansion tax prospects. "I don't think it's going to go anywhere," she said.
A spokesperson for the de Blasio administration refuted both Gelinas and Kellerman’s concerns, stressing that property tax reform is a larger undertaking and that the mansion tax is necessary when considering how the proposed federal budget will impact affordable housing and seniors in particular.
The spokesperson also pointed out New York’s existing state mansion tax, which is 1 percent for properties above $1 million, and cited jurisdictions around the world that have used similar taxes to fund policy goals from rising housing markets.
A spokesperson for another budget watchdog, city Comptroller Scott Stringer, declined to comment on the mansion tax proposal. The comptroller has not released any fiscal analysis of the proposal.
At the Wednesday rally in Albany, de Blasio reiterated the need for the mansion tax. “Here’s the bottom line, right now, there are seniors struggling to get by in New York City and all over New York State,” he said. “There are seniors struggling to get by because so many of them are on fixed incomes. So many of them don’t have a way to get more income but the cost of housing keeps going up...We owe it to them to get it right, and asking the wealthy to pay their fair share so our seniors can have decent life is a thing we call common sense.”
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette
Council Member Espinal and Mayor de Blasio (photo: Jeffry W Reed)
About a year ago, the City Council approved a comprehensive rezoning plan for East New York, the first of a dozen neighborhoods that the city targeted for new land use rules in an effort to develop more housing, including affordable housing, and improve community amenities. As with any rezoning, the plan approved in April 2016 was many months in the making and negotiated in close consultation with the local City Council member, in this case Rafael Espinal, who had significant influence over the designs and final say on the plan’s passage in the Council.
Now, Espinal, his district, and the de Blasio administration are seeing the early stages of the East New York Neighborhood Plan put into action, though the effects of the rezoning will only be seen and felt in stages over decades. The plan brings with it major investments in the community, but also more density and gentrification, neighborhood improvements that can benefit current residents while also endangering their ability to afford the area long-term.
In an interview last week at his legislative office in Downtown Manhattan, Council Member Espinal touted what he delivered for his community, and praised the city’s commitment to fulfilling its many promises as it gets ready to begin repaving streets, designing public parks, and opening a much-awaited community center by the end of this year.
While critics of the final deal reached by Espinal and the de Blasio administration worry that even the rent-stabilized affordable housing will not be affordable enough for current residents, no one can deny that hundreds of millions of dollars are flowing into a community that has among the highest poverty and unemployment rates in the city.
In negotiating the plan with the administration, Espinal faced immense political pressure while attempting to balance parallel and competing interests -- an administration that wanted to prioritize housing development; a community that wanted deeper affordability than was being offered; and a neighborhood that needed jobs and economic development after years of stagnation and being underserved. Espinal came out of negotiations with $267 million in promised capital investments -- money for schools, parks, infrastructure -- in what will likely be the largest neighborhood rezoning the de Blasio administration attempts.
Of the 10 to 15 neighborhoods the de Blasio administration may attempt to rezone, East New York’s is the only plan that has passed thus far. The rezonings are about neighborhood development, but also key to the mayor’s plan to create and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing. The East New York rezoning process itself was a major test of the administration’s commitment to equity in development and to ensuring that investment in communities doesn’t mean wholesale gentrification and displacement, issues that will be watched over time.
[Related: East New York Deal Sets Precedent for Wave of Rezonings]
Espinal said the city has followed through so far, having allocated $90 million to the plan already. “There was this commitment from the administration that they were going to get to work as soon [the rezoning plan] was passed,” he said. “And I have to say that they stayed true to that commitment.”
Espinal listed off progress on the various projects underway -- the district’s first state-of-the-art community center in decades is expected to open by the end of this year; the Brooklyn Parks Department has received funding for a number of local projects and is set to begin work; the Department of Transportation is ready to “put the shovel in the ground next month” for the planned streetscaping of Atlantic Avenue; and the nonprofit Phipps Houses is ready to break ground by the end of the summer on a lot to build 1,000 units of 100-percent permanently affordable housing.
The city has also received applications for developing another 200 units at a city-owned site, again for housing that will be 100-percent permanently affordable -- meaning that rent caps will be in place to ensure that residents of specific income bands don’t pay more than 30 percent of their income in rent. The specifics of those income thresholds was part of the debate over the rezoning and has been part of the overall discussion of de Blasio’s housing plan, with some elected officials and activists pushing for deeper levels of affordability.
The East New York plan includes two of four options for Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, which requires developers to set aside a certain percentage of units under rent thresholds amid other market-rate units. One of the bands requires that 20 percent of new units be created for households making up to 40 percent of Area Median Income ($31,080 for a household of three) and the second option requires 25 percent of units at 60 percent AMI (including 10 percent at 40 percent AMI). Developers will be able to choose which of the two options they prefer when building on a parcel of land.
Additionally, a working group of city agencies is studying the legalization of basement apartment units, and is due to issue its report soon, based on which $12 million in city funding could potentially help homeowners retrofit about 1,200 basements for residential purposes, creating another potential source of housing affordable to lower-income residents. That funding has yet to be allocated but is one of the commitments made by the administration.
For another key piece of the plan, the School Construction Authority is seeking public review for a 1,000-seat public school, and two community visioning sessions have been held so far. And, a Workforce1 job training center, run by the city’s Department of Small Business Services, opened in December.
“So everything that we fought for and everything that the mayor committed to delivering is actually coming to fruition,” Espinal said.
[Related: Part of Rezoning Plan, City Opens New Career Center in East New York]
Still, the process is not without its anxieties. With rapid development comes gentrification, for better and worse, and there is fear about rising rents and displacement -- for both residential and commercial tenants. De Blasio has long-argued that the best thing for New Yorkers, especially low-income residents, is to harness development and gain concessions from developers. He has also shown a willingness to invest city money into affordable housing and community parks, among other things.
Though the neighborhood may have the blessing of capital commitments from the mayor, even those might not be immune to the larger pressures of the annual budget process at the city, state and the federal level.
“There’s no real way to legally hold [the administration] accountable,” admitted Espinal. “But I think being the first rezoning put us at an advantage, in that, since we were the first, [the mayor] had to make good on this first project in order to convince other members, in order to show the city, that he was committed in doing the right thing by every community.”
To bolster accountability and transparency, the City Council passed legislation in December, sponsored by Espinal, Public Advocate Letitia James, and Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, which mandates that the administration maintain an online public list of commitments made during a land use review process, including rezonings. The details of that online portal are being ironed out with the administration and it “should come live pretty soon,” Espinal said.
Concerns about rising costs and gentrification are harder to allay. Before the rezoning plan passed, community advocates warned about the effect a rezoning could have on the neighborhood. New York Communities for Change was one group that opposed the plan, and protested Espinal’s support for it, mainly calling the affordability levels of the housing inadequate. They even threatened to run a primary candidate against him in his upcoming reelection bid (though it appears they are not following through).
In the weeks leading up the Council’s vote on the rezoning, and on the day of the vote itself, the groups held rallies, calling for a “no” vote from Espinal, which would’ve effectively killed the plan altogether. The full City Council, by tradition, not statute, votes with the local representative on land use matters. With Espinal’s blessing, and a lot of praise from colleagues for the deal he struck, the plan passed nearly unanimously. The one “no” vote was from neighboring Council Member Inez Barron, who actually represents a small piece of the rezoned area herself. Barron worried about affordability and gentrification.
“One year later, tenants are still being harassed, rents are rising, and we still have a rezoning plan that will not create affordable units for the people of East New York,” said Renata Pumarol, deputy director of New York Communities for Change, in an email.
Among the adverse effects that NYCC claims the rezoning has caused are rising rents along the L Train corridor and along the 2,3,4 and 5 subway lines, minimal affordable housing development, predatory land grabs, and tenant harassment. Pumarol said in the email, as an example, that monthly rents at Marcus Garvey Village for certain families increased from $1700 last year to $2100.
[Related: Homeowners Stand to Gain in Areas to be Rezoned, If They Can Keep Their Homes]
Espinal brushed aside the criticism that was levelled against him, even as he acknowledged that housing speculation was an expected trend that was hard to contain.
“I agree that we should find ways to create more affordability in these plans,” he said, “but the position I was in at the time, it wasn’t feasible. I was given these certain tools and what I was able to do was maximize every tool that was on the table that the agencies had to build affordable housing.” Espinal said he would gladly stand with those same community groups to fight for affordable housing but he had to move forward with the rezoning, “because I wasn’t just building affordable housing, I was also giving my constituents the tools they need to deal with the forces of gentrification as it comes into the community.”
Housing speculation kicked off well ahead of the plan even being approved as word spread that the city had identified East New York for redevelopment. The rezoning plan attempted to ameliorate some of those effects, by creating a Homeowner Helpdesk and by providing legal assistance to those facing eviction in housing court, a program that was recently fully funded by the mayor.
“It’s a snowball that started rolling a long time ago, coming in from Williamsburg,” Espinal said, referring to one neighborhood among several that de Blasio often cites when talking about misguided past rezonings that did not deliver for the community already there. “Bushwick has seen a lot of gentrification, and has seen a lot of the negative effects of that because government didn’t intervene at all,” Espinal added, mentioning another of the neighborhoods de Blasio also cites.
The Council member emphasized the need for the city to step in, as it has with the rezoning. “For anyone to say, ‘Oh we shouldn’t invest in these neighborhood because it’s gonna raise speculation,’ you know I think that’s just wrong,” he said. “I grew up there and as a kid all I wanted was the city and state to invest all this money in the neighborhood because I wanted a better park...I was a kid watching TV, seeing the high schools, and I’m like, ‘how come my high school doesn’t look that way?’”
The city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing policy is also dependent on drawing real estate developers to a neighborhood. That’s part of what the city is relying on for meeting a 10-year target of 6,000 new units in East New York, with at least half of them affordable. And the market pressures that may affect the community, Espinal said, would be offset by first creating 1,200-1,300 units of permanent affordable housing within the next two years.
The challenges for the community aren’t limited to the stock and costs of affordable housing. Relatedly, though, East New York has one of the city’s largest concentrations of homeless families. The Partnership for the Homeless estimates that more than a third of East New York families are poor and nearly 40 percent of its children live in poverty.
De Blasio has struggled to control homelessness citywide, and often references his affordable housing plan as one of ways the city will reduce homelessness in the long-term. The rezoning plan says nothing directly of taking on homelessness, and a new homelessness plan the mayor recently outlined dictates the opening of 90 new shelters while the city stops using commercial hotels and scatter-site apartments to house homeless New Yorkers.
It is unclear how many new shelters the city may target for East New York. But, part of the rezoning deal involved the closure of two homeless shelters in the district.
The mayor has promised a new shelter siting policy that prioritizes proximity to a homeless person’s most recent address and support center, keeping homeless people close to their communities. This principle raises concerns in communities like East New York that shelters could be concentrated in already-overburdened neighborhoods. That cyclical logic is what bothers Espinal.
“I’m very concerned when [the mayor] says that every neighborhood will have to pay their fair share,” Espinal said. The idea that “depending on how many homeless are coming out of your neighborhood will determine how many homeless shelters you have in your community,” Espinal said, “if we’re going to follow that philosophy then that means East New York would get a large group of those shelters and I don’t think that’s fair...this could mean that we’re gonna get two brand new shelters after we’ve closed down two that we committed to close.”
The mayor’s homeless shelter siting plan could run up against the City Council’s own proposed legislation, spearheaded by Speaker Mark-Viverito and Council Member Brad Lander, to modernize the city’s fair share guidelines that determine the siting of municipal facilities. The Council’s proposals would require a more equitable distribution of facilities across the five boroughs, which may not necessarily align with the mayor’s homeless shelter plan, which he calls a community-focused approach. “We’re going to change our shelter system to reflect the needs of each community board,” the mayor said in announcing the new approach. “We want people to be close to home. But we want everyone to do their fair share – every community board needs to be part of the solution.”
Espinal supports the fair share legislation and also wants to see a “compassionate” homelessness policy that keeps people close to their neighborhoods, two things that aren’t mutually exclusive, he said. “I think the issue is taking a family from Brooklyn and housing them in the Bronx,” he said, “and then saying, ‘How are you going to get to school every morning in Brooklyn?”
He went on, “If you’re in the immediate area or a neighborhood near where your school is, I think that would work a lot better. I know my neighbors in Queens, which is just a few blocks to the north and a few blocks to the east, are a little shy of housing homeless shelters in their areas. But you know, these neighborhoods are right next door, why not put a shelter in the community board next door to mine?”
Presented with Espinal’s comments, a spokesperson for Mayor de Blasio said in an email, “We are committed to engaging communities as we open shelter sites across the five boroughs, taking into account community feedback and working to address neighborhood concerns.”
Jaclyn Rothenberg, the spokesperson, noted that the city is canceling the use of 360 emergency hotels and cluster sites, which will ultimately lead to a 45 percent reduction in the city’s shelter footprint. Brooklyn alone has about 93 shelters, 48 cluster sites and 22 hotel shelters, according to an NY1 analysis based on a Freedom of Information Law request, released a day before the mayor announced his new policy.
According to city data, there are 1,197 cases, including 2,703 individuals, in shelters who hail from Community Board 5, which covers East New York. At the same time, about 1,368 cases or 2,171 individuals are currently housed in shelters actually situated in that community board. In the same area, there are 64 apartment units in cluster sites housing 201 individuals and 242 beds in commercial hotels that hold 411 individuals.
“We encourage all communities to join us at the table as we move forward," Rothenberg said.
Naturally, Espinal also worries about how proposed federal budget cuts may also affect the neighborhood, even if they don’t necessarily affect the city’s rezoning commitments. “I represent a neighborhood that’s one of the lowest income communities in the city and we’re gonna face the same problems that any inner city community will face,” he said, citing education and health care as two important streams of federal funding. A repeal of the Affordable Care Act would be a particularly stinging blow to his community, he said.
The future is not all anxiety and uncertainty, however. Along with the city’s commitments, Espinal recently received a welcome piece of news in Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Vital Brooklyn proposal, which would invest $1.4 billion in Central Brooklyn, including parts of East New York and Bushwick. The plan, according to a spokesperson for the governor, was months in the making and sought input from local and state legislators.
Vital Brooklyn includes investments in education, job creation, affordable housing, healthy food options, open and green spaces, among others. Espinal, who was with the governor at the announcement, said it brought back memories of the East New York plan which similarly addressed a comprehensive range of needs for the community. “I can’t speak to how much of that $1.4 billion is coming into East New York itself but you know it’s only going to enhance the work we’ve done,” he said.
When asked, Espinal said he’d like to see the mayor and governor coordinate on the overlapping parts of the plans, but he doesn’t hold out hope for the feuding leaders, both Democrats like Espinal. “I would love to see coordination but if they decide to do things with their own priority and prerogative then I think that’s fine as well,” he said.
“I think it’s no secret what the relationship is,” he added with a chuckle, when asked if he thinks the mayor and governor can work together. “But I think they can. I don’t think there’s anything controversial in investing in low-income communities. It’ll better serve the community if they’re able to come together and come up with a comprehensive plan that will match the needs of the neighborhood.”
The Department of City Planning is currently studying a number of neighborhoods for the next rezoning after East New York. Furthest along in the process are Greater East Midtown and Downtown Far Rockaway, which are both undergoing public review, as well as East Harlem. The city is also conducting an environmental impact study in the Bay Street Corridor in Staten Island while another potential rezoning study, in Flushing, Queens, was “paused” in late-May after facing opposition from local legislators.
Most of these neighborhoods eyed for rezoning are smaller than East New York, but each has its own socioeconomic and even political complexities. Espinal, having been through the process, is now the sounding board for the Council members who will be in the hot seat next as they negotiate their own rezonings with the administration. “They all reach out to me,” Espinal said proudly. “They all worry about not getting the best deal out of the administration. And they ask advice about what was it that I pushed for and how did I push for it, also dealing with the political pressures too.”
Last year, at the land use committee vote to approve the East New York plan, Council Member David Greenfield, the committee chair, called it a “unicorn deal” that set the bar for other rezonings. “This is the new standard that’s being set in the city that quite frankly everybody else will chase,” he said. “But rest assured I can tell you, as the chair of the land use committee, they’re not gonna capture it.”
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by Samar Khurshid, senior reporter, Gotham Gazette
@samarkhurshid @GothamGazette