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Who Got What: FY2011


Photo (cc) stgermh

When it comes to bringing home the bacon, some City Council members do a lot better than others.

According to an analysis by Gotham Gazette, Councilmember and Finance Committee chair Domenic Recchia sponsored more individual member items than any other council member in this year's budget (more on its approval here). Recchia raked in nearly $1.3 million for nonprofits of his choice.

Recchia was one of four members -- Lewis Fidler, Leroy Comrie and James Oddo are the others -- who topped the million-dollar mark in member items, often referred to as council pork.

At the other end of the spectrum, Elizabeth Crowley garnered the least amount of money with $358,321, falling behind recently indicted Larry Seabrook, who had $362,276. Vincent Gentile, Gale Brewer, Margaret Chin and Helen Foster also got less than $400,000

FY2011SkedC

These figures only include each councilmember's individual youth, aging and discretionary funding. All council members receive the same amount for youth programs and for senior programs. The difference comes in the so-called discretionary funding, which can go to a wide array of nonprofits.

The figures below do not include funding doled out by the speaker's office in consultation with the rest of the council (known as the speaker's pot or list). That pot was nearly $18 million this year, and its programs are often sponsored by one or more members.

When asked yesterday how discretionary money is doled out, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said more experienced members know how to navigate the discretionary funding system more than newer members. So, it's not surprising those that top the list are members of the council's leadership.

If a member wants to fund a program,"you got to ask," Quinn said.

Recchia said his position as finance chair means some member items that benefit the whole city have his name attached.

"A lot of these things are for the city of New York, not for my district," Recchia said. "These are all good programs."

The programs Recchia funded this year include $75,000 for the Brooklyn Arts Council and $15,000 for the Kings Highway Beautification Association to clean graffiti.

The numbers below are about 19 percent of the council's total discretionary funding, which is valued at about $165 million in fiscal year 2011. The vast majority of that, about $115 million, goes to citywide initiatives, such as combating domestic violence or adult literacy programs, among many others. This does not include another $231.6 million the council used to restore programs cut by the mayor.

COUNCIL MEMBERS AMOUNT
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr. $1,371,839
Lewis A. Fidler $1,244,089
Leroy G. Comrie, Jr. $1,118,121
James S. Oddo $1,089,131
Joel Rivera $998,901
Peter F. Vallone, Jr. $978,321
Inez E. Dickens $940,464
Erik Martin Dilan $881,339
Annabel Palma $857,651
Christine C. Quinn $852,464
James Vacca $712,651
Robert Jackson $710,464
Thomas White, Jr. $703,571
Vincent M. Ignizio $702,131
Maria Del Carmen Arroyo $683,526
Albert Vann $682,839
Stephen T. Levin $672,339
Deborah L. Rose $672,130
Diana Reyna $651,839
Jessica S. Lappin $612,664
Melissa Mark-Viverito $592,964
James Sanders, Jr. $578,321
Eric A. Ulrich $578,321
Mathieu Eugene $577,339
Michael C. Nelson $577,339
James F. Gennaro $543,321
Sara M. Gonzalez $539,839
Mark S. Weprin $534,321
Daniel Dromm $528,321
Julissa Ferreras $528,321
Karen Koslowitz $528,321
James G. Van Bramer $528,321
David G. Greenfield $502,339
Darlene Mealy $502,339
Fernando Cabrera $498,151
Letitia James $487,339
Jumaane D. Williams $477,339
Ydanis A. Rodriguez $460,464
G. Oliver Koppell $457,651
Daniel R. Garodnick $453,114
Brad S. Lander $427,339
Peter A. Koo $416,321
Daniel J. Halloran III $415,321
Charles Barron $414,703
Rosie Mendez $414,664
Vincent J. Gentile $377,339
Gale A. Brewer $367,964
Margaret S. Chin $364,464
Helen D. Foster $362,651
Larry B. Seabrook $362,276
Elizabeth S. Crowley $358,321

After Delays, An Arts District Grows in Brooklyn


Brooklyn academy of music
Photo by bitchcakes
The proposed cultural district will bring performance and gallery space to the streets around the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

By the time he stepped down as director of the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 1999, Harvey Lichtenstein's ambitions had spread beyond the walls of the art space in downtown Brooklyn. He turned his sights to the vacant lots and drab streetscapes around the concert hall, envisioning an entire cultural district.

''BAM had made a reputation as a performing arts center, but the context never grew up around it,'' Lichtenstein said at the time. ''Now it is the right time to develop it as a cultural district.''

Since the city first announced the preliminary plans for the expansion of the BAM Cultural District in Fort Greene 10 years ago, there have been delays, building relocations and canceled projects. Weathering the ups and downs of the economic and housing crises, the city has scaled back some projects while putting others on hold for an indefinite period of time. The question remains whether the original plans will ever be realized -- and when.

The answer to that question seems to be taking shape. After several changes in direction and design, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership in alliance with the city Department of Cultural Affairs and New York Economic Development Corp. say they are moving full speed ahead with the construction of six projects in the neighborhood surrounding the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Certain buildings, such as the Brooklyn Public Library's Visual and Performing Arts Library designed by architect Enrique Norten, seem unlikely to ever get off the ground. The city has, though, committed $100 million in capital funding to the cultural district. It the will spend the majority of this money on six projects that will be located in and around the area between Fulton and Lafayette Streets and slated for completion by 2012.

"I am confident in the days ahead that much of the original BAM Cultural District plans will come to fruition ... and that this year, 2010, will be a significant one for the BAM Cultural District," said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

Longer Process, Downsized Plans

Even years before the recession set in, further stalling development, the plans for the cultural district had fallen behind schedule. The BAM Local Development Corp., under Lichtenstein's direction, oversaw all projects and budgeting, but after rumors of mismanaged money and inefficiency, the city intervened and put the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership in charge of the development of the Cultural District in 2006.

BAM Cultural District
Downtown Brooklyn Partnership
The latest master plan for the BAM Cultural District. (For a larger version of this image, go here.

By the time management had changed hands from BAM LDC to the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, the reality sunk in that certain projects were never going to get off the ground. What remains, though will provide additional performing and gallery space several blocks from the planned Atlantic Yards development.

The city has dedicated funding to the renovation of the façade and ground floor of the now vacant Strand Theater on Fulton Street, next to the BAM Majestic Theater. BRIC Arts and Urban Glass will use this space to expand their programming. Urban Glass plans to open a new gallery and retail space, while BRIC Arts, will create a multidisciplinary arts and media center including opening a gallery and performance space. If plans stay on schedule, the Strand Theater is projected to be up and running by tall 2011.

A month ago, BAM celebrated its groundbreaking of the Richard B. Fisher Building, a flexible 250-seat theater for BAM performances that will also provide a 1,400-square foot rehearsal studio space for community and education programs. The new building, designed by H 3 Hardy, will house the Max Leavitt Theater Workshop and an exhibition space in the lobby for visual artists.

Over the last five years, the Theater for a New Audience has moved three times, but it seems that this group -- specializing in Shakespeare and classic works -- will finally have a home. This December it will break ground on a 299-seat theater in the cultural district.

Frank Gehry and Hugh Hardy originally designed the building, but Gehry has since dropped out of the project and left Hugh Hardy's architecture firm to complete it. A few weeks ago, architect, Geoff Lynch of H3 Architecture and landscape architect, Ken Smith, presented the most recent plans for the theater and arts plaza, which are estimated to cost upwards of $50 million dollars, to Community Board 2.

The city will invest in public design in the district. Known for its work with the Museum of Modern Art and 7 World Trade Center, Ken Smith's firm will revamp the streetscape, create outdoor gathering space and design the plaza between Flatbush, Lafayette and Ashland avenues. Smith will also be responsible for designing an approximately 8,000 square foot Arts Plaza, located in front of the Theater for a New Audience.

On the Edge

Other arts projects in downtown Brooklyn lie close to, but not technically within, the cultural district. Common Ground and the Actors Fund will build a community performance theater in The Schermerhorn, a 217-unit supportive housing development that opened last year. The Brooklyn Ballet already has a permanent home in the building.

The developer, Two Trees Management, has been the force behind 110 Livingston, a 300-unit condominium and mixed art space. It will provide a performance facility on the ground floor for the multi-disciplinary exhibition and performance arts organization, Issue Project Room. While the organization waits for renovations to be completed, it has already begun hosting pre-renovation concerts in the space.

"I think the first and foremost thing in terms of expansion is that our founder, Suzanne Fiol, really envisioned Issue as a place to bring culture to everyone and make it accessible to everyone," said Michelle Amador, business and development director. The increased capacity of the new space will help enable it to do that.

The Missing Library

The arts library, with its high-profile design, had been one of the hallmarks of the original plans for the district. In 2007, the Brooklyn Public Library pulled out of the project after failing to raise the estimated $135 million needed for design and construction costs. Meanwhile with the recession and the accompanying budget cuts, the library's financial position has become weaker.

While the Brooklyn library has withdrawn, the Department of Cultural Affairs said in a statement that "a library continues to be a part of the vision of the district, although no plans have been made at this time."

Rob Perris, district manager for Community Board 2, believes there is still hope for a future library. Theo original plan, he said, "was an extremely ambitious project. They were just not able to raise the kind of money that they had in their hearts. " But, he said, there is a possibility for a "more scaled back library facility."

Lost in the Housing Crisis

The collapse of the housing market brought another setback to the original plans. The Brooklyn Arts Tower -- a mixed residential and cultural center designed to house studio space for Danspace Project Inc. -- has been shelved for the foreseeable future until the real estate market improves.

The North Site 1 and North Site 2 on the BAM master plan from Downtown Brooklyn Partnership’s website are designated for "mixed-income housing and cultural center," but minimal information has been made available to the public about the development of these sites.

"The city remains committed to maximizing affordable housing units along the cultural area, which we all agreed to," said Markowitz. "And they are continuing to work with a designated developer to evaluate the financing because this all takes money. At this moment obviously, an announcement of the design and the actual construction timetable -- we’re not there yet. It will take a year or two more. But the good news, it is not off the table."

"The Brooklyn Arts Tower, like many projects across the city, was subject to the dynamics of the housing market over the last several years," the Department of Cultural Affairs said in a recent statement. "The city continues to work with the developer to evaluate appropriate next steps for this project."

Even in its scaled back state, city officials think the cultural district will enhance the arts scene in Brooklyn -- and beyond. "These major public investments in cultural venues and infrastructure build on Fort Greene’s rich cultural legacy by providing space for emerging artists and sustainability for cultural organizations," said Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate Levin. "In the next few years, we will see an enhanced, vibrant arts destination for Brooklynites and all New Yorkers."

Nicole Gates Anderson is a freelance writer based in Brooklyn.

Stated Meeting: Fines for Unlicensed Plumbing


Pipes

Installing pipes at any project without a license is about to cost a whole lot more.

Cracking down on unlicensed plumbers and fire prevention workers, the City Council unanimously approved legislation on Tuesday to more than double fines for contractors working on projects without a license.

Plumbing Fines

The bill (Intro 68) would increase the fine for the first violation from $1,000 to $2,500 and a second violation from $2,500 to $5,000.

When asked how often plumbing or fire suppression work is installed at a project by an unlicensed contractor, Council Speaker Christine Quinn said she did not have statistics. She said the council often has heard anecdotal complaints.

"This is too much of an important issue not to leave to experts," said Quinn.

City officials said increasing fines for unlicensed plumbing and fire preventions work would deter shoddy construction in new and renovated buildings.

The law, which the administration testified in support of in April, will go into effect 90 days after it is signed. The Mechanical Contractors Association of New York and the New York Fire Sprinklers Contractors Association also support the bill.

Astoria Rezoning

The neighborhood best known for spanakopita and airy, European-esque cafes received what some residents called a lifeline from the council yesterday in the form of a rezoning.

The rezoning, one of more than 100 approved during the Bloomberg administration, would preserve the character of the neighborhood and prevent out-of-scale luxury development prevalent during the building boom, said city officials.

"I've lived in Astoria my whole life," said Councilmember Peter Vallone Jr., who represents the area. "Today is a great day for Astoria."

According to Vallone, the neighborhood has not been rezoned since 1961.

The rezoning will allow for larger buildings along the neighborhood's major thoroughfares, like Steinway Street, and require smaller buildings along its residential side streets.

Both the Queens borough president and the local community board supported the rezoning.

Child Care Reporting

The council approved legislation ( Intro 226) requiring the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to report to the council quarterly on its child care programs. Similar legislation was approved by the council in 2005, but expired in 2008.

The new bill will require the department report on the number of child care programs, their inspections, complaints of programs operating without a license and programs that have lost licenses.

Health Permits

The council also unanimously approved legislation (Intro 206) that rescinds a requirement for medical record storage facilities to receive permits from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. It also revises the information needed to obtain a permit to transport milk or milk products.



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