Transgender rights advocates (photo: @courtneymichie)

In December the suicide of Leelah Alcorn, a transgender girl from Ohio, garnered national attention. The teen left a note on her Tumblr blog saying that she hoped her death would spark conversation about discrimination, abuse, and lack of support for transgender youth. Alcorn had come out to her parents about her gender identity and was sent to a Christian conversion therapy to "cure" her.

"The only way I will rest in peace is if one day transgender people aren't treated the way I was, they're treated like humans, with valid feelings and human rights," Alcorn wrote.

Despite being a leader on civil rights issues, New York currently allows mental health professionals to practice conversion therapy - which can include severe punishments like isolation and shock therapy and that has been discredited by the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association.

Advocates and legislators in New York say the conversation over Alcorn's death has in some ways galvanized efforts to ban conversion therapy in New York and to pass the Gender Expression Non-Discrimination Act, or GENDA. While there has been an ongoing push behind GENDA, proponents are increasingly feeling 2015 may be the year.

The Empire State Pride Agenda launched a Change.org petition this week to garner support for the bills. Advocates and legislators say it is just the start of a renewed and focused campaign that they hope will mimic the successful push for marriage equality in the state by drawing in major celebrities and business interests associated with the cause. One advocate called the new push "more professional."

"We're doing everything possible to make 2015 the year we finally pass GENDA, as well as the bill to protect LGBT youth from conversion efforts," said Empire State Pride Agenda Executive Director Nathan Schaefer. "It's our 25th Anniversary year and a landmark time for our community, as increased visibility and more inclusive laws sweep across the nation. These issues are not partisan, they're not progressive; they're life or death for tens of thousands of New Yorkers, and our lawmakers need to rise up and protect those they represent."

Last year the Assembly passed the conversion ban bill but the Senate did not bring it to a vote. Meanwhile, the Assembly has passed GENDA seven times and it has not come to a vote in the Senate.

"It's downright disgraceful that we allow therapists that are licensed by the State of New York to continue to subject minors to this dangerous and damaging practice and that we continue to legally allow discrimination against transgender New Yorkers," Schaefer. "The State of New York has historically been a leader in protecting young people from harm and all people from discrimination. We must pass these two bills and get them to Governor Cuomo's desk for his signature this year."

Advocates say that 75 percent of transgender teens report harassment in school, while 35 percent report being attacked. Transgender people of all ages face increased poverty, violence and discrimination. Many report being denied housing, healthcare, and employment.
A number of counties around the state already have GENDA laws in place.

"The discrimination and violence that transgender individuals face should be unambiguously identified and rejected in our state's laws," said Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, who sponsors GENDA in the Assembly.

Gottfried's colleague, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, looks at the push in historical context. "If you look back at the history of civil rights legislation in New York State it is true that many issues have taken years of passage in Assembly before being passed in the Senate," said Glick, who sponsors the conversion ban in the Assembly. "You shouldn't have to pass something 10 times in the Assembly to get one vote in the Senate."

Sen. Brad Hoylman, who sponsors the ban in the Senate, said he thinks there needs to be more education across the state about how the transgender community is impacted by conversion therapy. He is excited that advocates appear ready to bring the issue to the mainstream.

Glick said that debate over GENDA in the Assembly has always led to discussion over "bathroom paranoia." Assembly debates over GENDA have featured many conversations about problems that might be caused by transgender people using public bathrooms. Glick says she has never heard of an actual incident where someone complained about transgender use of a bathroom.

Glick and Hoylman both acknowledge that like with marriage equality, passing GENDA may also require major action from Gov. Cuomo. "It would be helpful for him to raise public consciousness," said Glick. "Many people are disconnected from reality or don't understand conversion therapy. It still happens. It would always be helpful to have the Governor, who has the largest platform in the state, to lend his considerable voice to the issue."

Cuomo reaffirmed his support of GENDA this August during the Democratic primary after some grumbling from LGBT groups that he hadn't put any effort into passing GENDA. "As my first term as Governor comes to a close, I am reaffirming my commitment to the progressive ideals and sense of equality that we have advanced and continue to hold dear," Cuomo wrote. "In this regard, I look forward to continuing my pledge to have our laws and policies reflect the core values of New Yorkers: equality and fairness for all."

Advocates and some legislators worked actively to elect a Democratic Senate and they acknowledge that likely won't help them when trying to work with the new Republican Senate Majority. And they further acknowledge that Senate Democrats as well as Republicans feel that gay and transgender issues could be "radioactive" as they note that a number of Republicans and Democrats who supported Cuomo's marriage equality legislation have lost their seats.

Gottfried remains steadfast, though, that discrimination against transgender New Yorkers must be outlawed. "Just like discrimination based on age, sex, sexual orientation, religion, race, disability, or ethnicity," he said. "Many cities and counties around the state have enacted local GENDA laws; New York State is overdue to add it to the State Human Rights Law."

***
by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

PC Bratton addresses a CompStat meeting (photo: @CommissBratton)

Heading into the second full week of the new year and remembrances of the best-known civil rights leader in American history, whispers and footsteps are beginning to be heard again.

As the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday approaches, many are looking to turn the heat back up on conversation around criminal justice reform in New York City. This includes legislators and activists, most of whom have muted their calls for action during the holiday weeks following the Dec. 20 murders of two NYPD officers.

NYPD reform groups are planning a Martin Luther King Day march for justice, advertising on social media that the event is inspired by both a larger vision of fairness and their specific agenda, which includes the firing of the police officer whose chokehold led to Eric Garner's death and the outlawing of such a maneuver during arrests. The lead sponsor of a New York City Council bill to do just that, outlaw the use of chokeholds during arrests, is also saying it is about time to resume the conversation.

"I think the time is right to move forward," Council Member Rory Lancman told Gotham Gazette. "Certainly the period after the officers were murdered and the funerals were being conducted, it was appropriate to put everything else aside and deal with that trauma - for the officers' families, for the city. But that period has to give way at some point to resuming the legislative conversation of how we're going to reform policing in this city."

For Lancman, that means a city council hearing on his bill, which currently has 29 sponsors. The bill is five sponsors short of the supermajority trigger that would require at least a vote on whether a hearing should be held (the Council includes 51 members). The bill would be heard in the Public Safety Committee, chaired by Council Member Vanessa Gibson, who has not signed on as a sponsor and whose office did not return a request for comment.

On Wednesday, Gibson told reporters that she is talking with Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, additional council members, NYPD precinct commanders, and others about moving forward with conversations around policing. "I'm very optimistic that we will have the necessary conversations, the hearings, the oversight...and we will come to a point when we can find a necessary and delicate balance that is necessary for this city," she said. Gibson also expressed grave concern about the NYPD slowdown that has appeared to be happening over recent weeks and acknowledged that morale in the department is quite low.

With tensions high between Mayor Bill de Blasio and the police unions, it is clear that many, including the mayor, would like to see a cooling off period continue - one that does not include large-scale demonstrations in the streets or public hearings around reform bills. The Council must not only decide whether Lancman's bill will be heard in committee, but also several other NYPD-related bills such as the Right to Know Act, made up of two bills aimed at requiring more communication from police officers to suspects.

Council Member Brad Lander told Gotham Gazette that the next step must be productive conversation. "We need to find a way to have a real dialogue across a complex set of issues," Lander said. "I'm confident that the City Council and New Yorkers in general are capable of that, but it takes time to get it right."

There is question among council members as to whether formal hearings on NYPD reform bills are the right near-term venue for those conversations. The city council calendar lists a Public Safety Committee hearing for Jan. 26, but there is no agenda provided as of yet. A spokesperson for Mark-Viverito indicated that she is reviewing the legislation and confirmed that no hearing on the chokehold bill is scheduled at this time.

Some council members and the mayor say that enough reform is actually already in place and that what is needed now is both healing and patience. De Blasio has said he does not support the chokehold legislation (he believes that NYPD policy banning chokeholds is sufficient) and has expressed doubts about the Right to Know Act. The mayor points to the retraining of NYPD officers that has begun, a continued reduction in the use of stop-and-frisk, as well as new policies and directives that have been issued.

Lancman expects a hearing on his bill. He said he has no indication that Mark-Viverito or Gibson is slow-playing the scheduling, but that the legislative process is just beginning again. "If we're still having this conversation in March, I might have a different view, but I don't expect that will be the case," Lancman said. "I don't feel that there are any either official or unofficial procedural roadblocks that have been thrown up. It's just a matter of resuming the conversation, which was paused to deal with the trauma of the murder of the officers."

Conversation around race and criminal justice will take center stage around New York City and the country as Dr. King is paid tribute over the coming weeks and into February, which is Black History Month. Even if the City Council does not hold public hearings, panels, marches, and other events will occur. There's also no indication of the mayor and police union heads reaching resolution any time soon.

Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab American Association of New York and leading voice in the police reform movement, told Gotham Gazette that the movement lost some steam after the murders of Officers Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, which she called a tragedy. "There was some momentum lost with the murder of the two officers," Sarsour said on Friday. "But it's a just movement, since the murder there has been no grand demonstration. The movement is still here, though, and all the demands still stand, they didn't disappear because of those horrific acts."

"Our demands haven't changed," Sarsour continued. "We're using Martin Luther King Day to say this movement is back."

And none of this is to mention the spike in activity and outcry that could occur if Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan is officially named the Republican candidate to pursue Michael Grimm's vacated congressional seat in a soon-to-be-called special election. Donovan is, of course, the DA who presented the grand jury case against Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner, which resulted in no indictment. The announcement of that decision and Mayor de Blasio's reaction to it spurred massive protests and ill-will from the NYPD toward the mayor, respectively. On Friday, Donovan officially declared his intention to pursue the nomination.

Of a potential Donovan candidacy, Sarsour said, "Dan Donovan is the definition of divisiveness. That is what he represents for us right now, he represents the divisiveness that we're trying to heal in this city."

A Donovan candidacy would be provocative, she added: "It will activate folks on the Island - it could be in the form of protest, it could be in the form of voter registration and turnout. I'm expecting political and civic engagement from Staten Island communities in this race, even though it's a special election. They're not going to let Donovan take this seat without a fight."

***
by Ben Max, editor, Gotham Gazette
@TweetBenMax

Note: this article has been updated with comment from Linda Sarsour.

De Blasio & Cuomo side by side in Oct. at an ebola press conference (photo: @nycmayorsoffice)

An emboldened and strengthened Republican majority appears ready to block some of the biggest items on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's Albany agenda after his failed fall bid to help win the Senate for Democrats. There are major issues at stake for the city as rent laws and mayoral control of schools are set to expire and the mayor has invested political capital in pushing for an increased minimum wage.

De Blasio will soon have a chance to reset the tone of his relationship with Senate Republicans, led by Dean Skelos, who has not had kind words for the mayor of late. On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will give his State of the State Address, in which he will discuss several issues important to de Blasio. De Blasio's comments immediately following Cuomo's speech will be telling. Last year, de Blasio offered Cuomo nothing but support despite tensions over pre-kindergarten funding.

Shortly following the State of the State, de Blasio will likely travel to Albany to address legislators as part of budget hearings and make a plea for the city's needs. At that point, we will get a much clearer picture of what de Blasio is prioritizing and thinks may be attainable in a more hostile 2015 environment.

Insiders say they expect de Blasio will be much less confrontational than he was last year during his fight for expanded pre-k and a city tax to fund it.

However, insiders note regardless of de Blasio's attempts to defeat Senate Republicans he had already become a target of theirs because of his progressive stances and growing national popularity. But now things are personal, and de Blasio is expected to be forced to move his agenda through proxies in the Assembly and grassroots organizations. And all while the governor is likely to ally himself with Republicans on issues like increasing charter schools and not allowing minimum wage home rule for localities.

Indicative of the icy relationship, Republican Majority Leader Skelos even took time on the first day of session to chide de Blasio for his troubled relationship with the NYPD. "I think that Mayor de Blasio has to be more sensitive in terms of the words or statements he makes concerning the police," Skelos told reporters.

"I went to those two funerals. Those policemen were assassinated...[A]s public officials we have to show strong support of our police officers and our conference will do it," he added.

This isn't the way the 2015 state legislative session was supposed to start for Mayor de Blasio. A number of pundits and Democrats thought de Blasio's relationship with the Legislature would be in stark contrast to that of his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg.

Upon de Blasio's taking office, city-based Democratic legislators said they had been shut out of policy discussions with the Bloomberg administration and felt de Blasio would be more welcoming to discussions. The de Blasio administration successfully worked with legislators on pre-k and the mayor's traffic safety platform known collectively as Vision Zero. They noted that the Bloomberg administration made its presence felt by donating vast sums of money to Senate Republicans, a conference with few members hailing from the city. Now de Blasio has alienated those same Republicans and they remain as powerful as they were during most of the Bloomberg administration, if not more so.

Diane Savino, of the Independent Democratic Conference, members of which faced primary threats from de Blasio-backed candidates last spring before agreeing to caucus with Democrats if they won the majority (some still faced primaries), had a warning for the mayor in November 2013.

"I think the new mayor needs to understand that legislators have their own constituencies to answer to," Savino told Gotham Gazette. "It doesn't have to be a war. That didn't work too well in Washington."

Savino insists that despite any bad feelings, de Blasio's major issues are not at risk. "We've renewed the rent laws and mayoral control with a Republican Senate in the past. No one is going to look to jeopardize tenants because of a political grudge with the mayor," she said.

"On mayoral control of schools," Savino continued, "I think we should look at changes to make it better, like doing away with the Panel for Education Policy, which is essentially a staff meeting for the mayor's office. We aren't gonna end mayoral control. It's funny 'cause I think if you asked Councilman de Blasio 10 years ago whether he supported mayoral control of schools he would have said "no," but now I assume he is going to come out in support of it because he is in charge."

Other insiders insist de Blasio still has a strong lobbying presence in Albany and long-term personal and working relationships with major players on both sides of the aisle. "The mayor is still positioned really well. He has relationships on both sides of the aisle that span decades. He has experience working with Jeff Klein, Marty Golden, the Speaker, and his personal relationship with the governor," said Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Manhattan Democrat.

In the end, though, de Blasio may very well find himself at Cuomo's mercy (again). Last year as de Blasio pressed for pre-k funding and sought to stop charter schools from being co-located with district schools, Cuomo rallied with charter school advocates and even indicated that mayoral control might stand in the way of the charter school movement.

In December, however, the Cuomo administration sent out an open letter questionnaire to Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch and outgoing State Education Commissioner John King asking for their takes on extending mayoral control of schools to upstate cities and what "improvements" they would make to New York City's version.

Cuomo appears poised to help renew control, but with changes that win him points in the charter schools sphere.

The governor's willingness to expend political capital on de Blasio's biggest issues will be a major factor in what gets done this year. "I think this amounts to the fact that this is divided between Republican and Democratic chambers and a Democratic governor," said Hoylman. "This will come down to what the leaders are able stomach."

One insider questioned how much Cuomo would go to bat for major city issues when he will need to bargain with Senate Republicans for his own policies like the Women's Equality Agenda.

This could spell trouble for de Blasio and others in the city when it comes to rent regulations. Cuomo is seen to be a major ally of landlords because of his close relationship with the Real Estate Board of New York.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, bring in millions of dollars each election cycle from the New York City-based real estate industry despite having few city-based members.

"We do have vacancy decontrol, which I think is appropriate," Skelos told the Daily News this week. "Certainly I think I'd like to modify it to make sure that those who can afford to pay higher rent are paying that rent." In an earlier interview with City & State NY, Skelos reiterated his belief in free-market principles.

There is a large segment of allies that de Blasio can count on this session: progressive grassroots organizations that will likely turn out en masse to support increasing the minimum wage, mayoral control of schools, and rent regulation renewal. The Working Families Party and other progressive groups are still bitter at Cuomo and blame him for Republicans winning outright control of the Senate. De Blasio may technically be a Cuomo ally, but the Cuomo administration remains concerned about maintaining the governor's position as the premier Democrat in the state. And Cuomo is clearly comfortable with legislating in a bipartisan fashion.

Senate Republicans have announced they will hold hearings this month on both police and public safety. Some Democrats fear Republicans will use the hearings to drag de Blasio's relationship with the NYPD over the coals.

Much of 2015 for de Blasio and his Democratic allies in the city and Albany will likely be about ensuring their "must" items, not necessarily pursuing a more ambitious agenda. In the end, most legislators expect mayoral control of schools and the rent laws to be renewed - but the devil will, as always, be in the details.

"The short of it is that the world isn't gonna end, the children aren't gonna die, and we are gonna do our jobs," said Savino.

***
by David King, Albany editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Korean War veteran Tommy Lopez at a City Council hearing (photo: William Alatriste)

The New York City Veteran's Advisory Board (VAB) has come under increased scrutiny in recent months, but reform may be on the way.

On Wednesday two bills will be introduced by City Council Member Eric Ulrich, chair of the Veterans Committee, and Council Member Mathieu Eugene which aim to professionalize the VAB to better serve the city's veterans.

The VAB acts as a policy liaison between the New York City veterans community and the Mayor's Office of Veteran's Affairs (MOVA). But some veterans have argued their voices are not being heard because of the secretive nature of VAB meetings.

"There has been no real measure of accountability in how and when the board meets with the community in their respective boroughs, who they report to with issues, how those issues make it up the city's chain of command, or even how the public can give input into the board," Joesph Bello, a Gulf War veteran and advocate who runs NY Metro Vets, said at an October hearing.

Ulrich's bill aims to quell that concern by requiring the VAB to provide public notice and email veterans organizations of when and where it meets. In addition, the bill would increase the number of required meetings from four to five per year, with a requirement that one meeting be held in each borough. Ulrich's bill would also require the meetings be recorded and re-broadcast online for those who cannot attend.

"The Veterans Advisory Board does great work and strengthens the lines of communication between city government and local vets," Ulrich said by email Tuesday. "This legislation will allow for greater public input that will enhance the ability of the Board to meet the challenges facing veterans and their families in our city."

Eugene's bill would increase the number of VAB members from nine to 11, with the Council Speaker and the Mayor getting one more appointment each. In addition, Eugene's bill would ensure all members of the VAB get a city email address, something board members requested at a recent hearing. The bill would require those email addresses be made public, likely on the MOVA website.

The bills are expected to be heard in committee in early 2015.

[Related: read our look at the major policy issues around New York City services for military veterans in 2014 and what to watch for in 2015]

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

City Council Member press conference in support of the NYPD (photo: William Alatriste)

While specific incidents involving police violence – from the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, MO, to the death of Eric Garner on Staten Island – have been highlighted in protests all over the country since the summer, some commentators have attempted to contextualize the unrest. They detail what many describe as the daily injustices, especially in black communities, suffered by residents in their routine interactions with the police.

It is these daily interactions that create the foundational distrust that has exploded into a national phenomenon this year, activist Opal Tometi explained. 

Yet, the police do not act independently but within a wider framework attentive to social order and, in many places, the maintenance of the status quo.
In New York City, local policing reforms have focused on departmental policies and tactics, but less attention has been paid to the bedrock of the NYPD's authority, the laws that officers, as agents of the state, have been empowered to enforce.

In New York City alone, there are nearly 10,000 laws, violations, rules, and codes that a person might break, and the NYPD initiates approximately 1 million punitive interactions with residents every year. Almost none of these interactions have anything to do with serious crime. About half result in summonses. Of arrests, just 25 percent are related to felonies. Between 2001 and 2013 there were nearly 7 million summonses issued in New York City, compared to 5 million 'stop-and-frisks' during the same period. In 2014, tickets for jaywalking were up about 275 percent.

It hasn't always been this way. A concerted effort was made by city lawmakers in the 1990s to expand the authority of the NYPD to include enforcement for behaviors that had not previously been considered crimes. This shift provided legal justification for the routine intrusions that some, like Tometi, have pointed to as provocation for the apparent decline in legitimacy felt towards the police in specific neighborhoods around the New York City.

While the police have borne the brunt of recent protests targeting criminalization and brutality, lawmakers have generally been left off the hook, despite their crucial role in determining which behaviors are considered "criminal" and which are not. The City Council - not the police - has the power to roll back some of these laws, providing them with perhaps the largest lever to push in fundamentally changing the relationship between the police and residents. The Council also provides oversight for the NYPD and controls, with the Mayor, the agency's budget.

In the 1970s and 1980s, law enforcement resources were focused on serious crimes. As order-maintenance policing became en vogue in academic circles, and was adopted by NYPD Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Rudy Giuliani here in New York, the size of the police force was expanded and the emphasis shifted from policing serious crimes to the enforcement of low-level penal code violations and infractions of the City's administrative codes. Above all, Bratton wanted an increase in the number of interactions between the police and the public.

For the police to stop people constitutionally, however, they needed justification. In addition to beefing up enforcement on existing low-level laws, a strategic effort was made by the City Council and Giuliani, at the NYPD's urging, to create new laws explicitly for this purpose. Thus "aggressive panhandling" entered the realm of criminal conduct. At the time some council members balked, claiming the new laws and codes were "repressive," that the NYPD should not have increased authority to control particular behaviors, but today, it's the new normal.

In the early 1990s, along with a huge rise in misdemeanor arrests (recently detailed in a John Jay College report) there was a concomitant rise in summonses, which refer to behaviors, typically, that do not rise to the level of criminality. The number of summonses issued by the NYPD exploded, jumping from 150,000 in 1993, to nearly 500,000 just five years later. Of the seven most common summons infractions, which make up about half of all summonses in New York City, only two are actually penal code violations - that is those laws dictated by the State of New York. The others are violations of administrative code, health code, parks rules, and traffic law - generally local rules dictated by City Council. Open liquor container citations - an administrative code violation - were, in 2013, the top summons offense in the city. At least one judge has suggested that the police are enforcing this rule in a racially discriminatory way.

In the beginning, state lawmakers pushed back against this effort by the City Council, Bratton, and Giuliani to criminalize what had previously been legal behavior (in some cases de facto), in large part because they were concerned about the costs associated with adjudicating these new criminal cases – almost all of them violations and misdemeanors – in court. And so, in 1995 the State enacted a law that removed from criminal court jurisdiction all non-misdemeanor offenses charged under the Administrative Code. This would have made infractions, such as open container and public urination, into civil penalties, akin to a traffic ticket to be adjudicated in administrative, rather than criminal proceedings. Giuliani viewed the state law as "potentially devastating" because it divested the City of certain law enforcement authority.

At the behest of Giuliani, the City Council responded to the state bill with its own legislation to retain jurisdiction over violations. This allowed the police to continue the practice of using infractions as justifications to stop, question, detain, search, warrant check, and identify people who were suspected of breaking minor rules. This cemented the heyday of so-called "broken windows policing" - which Bratton, Mayor Bill de Blasio, and others credit for leading to the city's precipitous drop in violent crimes, although this assertion is contested.

In one manifestation of the approach, marijuana enforcement was increased as a way to control public gatherings of youth – not necessarily to curb marijuana use. "The police were not really interested in the possession of marijuana but instead used marijuana arrests to try to discover people with felony warrants outstanding against them," Criminologist Frank Zimring explained.

One result of Bratton's new strategy was a dramatic increase in the number of defendants in criminal court with no prior criminal court experience – and the population of people marked with a criminal record began to grow swiftly. As did distrust of police. People with criminal records or open and unresolved cases are left vulnerable to heightened enforcement should they come into contact with police at a later date.

Over forty certified city agencies – from the Human Resources Administration to the Sanitation Department – have the legal authority to issue summonses, yet the vast, vast majority are written by the NYPD. In 2013 there were 458,095 summons issued citywide, down from 510,270 the year before and from a peak of 648,638 in 2005. As of late 2014 the city was on pace to see the decline continue, a trend perhaps welcomed by the communities most heavily impacted by summons practices – the same communities targeted by stop-and-frisk, vertical patrols, and Operation Impact.

As the data shows, it is specific neighborhoods targeted for this type of policing. For example, there were roughly the same number of summonses issued in the single Brooklyn neighborhood of Red Hook as issued in the entire borough of Staten Island in 2012; the jurisdiction of the Red Hook court covers approximately 200,000 people - less than half the population of Staten Island.

Also targeted are specific demographic groups. While only 17 percent of dogs in the city are licensed, according to an estimate by the Health Department, 91 percent of people ticketed for the offense of having an unlicensed dog are either Black or Latino. Black residents are especially likely to be stopped by police when they are moving through a mostly white neighborhood, according to the New York Civil Liberties Union. Police argue they simply go where the crime is.

Broken Windows policing in New York City has been operationalized to mean the aggressive enforcement of minor crimes and violations in specific, targeted neighborhoods, and, as the NYCLU analysis suggests, against specific demographics of people; whether or not any of this has had any impact on crime reduction in New York remains unproven.

There is no empirical evidence to support the idea that aggressively enforcing so-called "quality of life offenses" through police actions has had a positive impact on public safety. These behavioral offenses, some of which are technically crimes, and others, like riding a bike on the sidewalk, which are violations, have come to include actually legal actions such as playing music on the subway platform or falling asleep on the train, for which people are now receiving criminal summonses.

Some academics have argued that the social costs of these enforcements, which might lead to job loss, housing eviction, or loss of parental rights, outweigh the benefits.

Meanwhile arresting and incarcerating, for example, a homeless person who cannot afford bail, costs the city at least $600 per day simply for housing at Rikers Island, which does not include the law enforcement or court administration costs; financially there is not a more expensive option to manage this quality of life concern.
Bratton and de Blasio have been vocal supporters of this type of policing, generally, while acknowledging the necessity of reforming the manner in which police interact with the public and suggesting that there should be off-ramps for people who have already been arrested to avoid spending time in jail for minor crimes. Arrests in 2014, both the gross numbers and the volume of misdemeanor cases, virtually mirror those of 2013 - the final year of the previous administration.

These policies have already scarred a generation of New Yorkers with criminal records and seem to have played a starring role in inspiring the profound distrust of the police felt in certain communities in New York. This distrust has turned to widespread civil unrest in the wake of the death of Eric Garner, who was accosted by six police officers soon after breaking up a fight. It doesn't seem from the evidence we have that Garner, accused of selling "loosies" – a tax violation – was breaking any laws when he was stopped by the police that day. He did not have any illegal cigarettes on him at the time of his death and was never charged with a crime.

Yet, the broken windows policies implemented by the City Council empowered the police to attempt to take him into custody. The law Garner was accused of violating, roughly speaking, is a similar type of offense as being paid off the books to babysit.

In December, New York City Council members joined the protests against police brutality, staging a "die-in" on the steps of City Hall, chanting "I Can't Breathe" and "I am Eric Garner" to honor the Staten Island man. Even as the City Council decried the results of the overreach of police influence, the body, led by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, has sought to add 1,000 new cops to the force. While these additions would ostensibly be given the additional training and oversight aimed at improving the quality of police-resident interactions, (new training chief Michael Julian is working with officers to get them to swear less frequently) the Council could also consider using its legislative authority to reduce the quantity of police-resident interactions.

While a small number of members have raised concerns about broken windows policing specifically, the Council as a whole has remained mostly silent on the unlimited role of the police in initiating the interactions with residents of the City that invariably lead to summonses, arrests, and incidents of brutality. The Council did announce a plan to open CCRB outposts in the district offices of participating council members, but it is unclear how many members will participate and when, or if, that initiative will get off the ground.

The police reform legislation currently before the Council, such as the Right to Know Act, which has wide support among council members but is opposed by Bratton and de Blasio, focuses on the content of police interactions rather than the number.

There has yet to be a legislative proposal for the Council to invoke its authority to limit the role of the police by carving out certain quality of life offenses from their jurisdiction or mandating civil enforcement where the NYPD has that discretion. Fare evasion can lead to either a civil summons or an arrest - there were 24,747 such arrests in 2013 and 89,128 summonses. Black residents were most likely to be arrested, rather than given a summons.

Ironically, the NYPD, in apparent protest following the death of two on-duty officers last month has stopped enforcing many quality of life violations. While the sample size remains too small thus far to provide much statistical evidence either for or against a reduced role for law enforcement, it does provide an opportunity for the City to consider ways of addressing community concerns besides the knee-jerk response for more police.

According to former cop and current John Jay professor Eugene O'Donnell, rank-and-file officers would welcome a reduction in their responsibilities to enforce quality of life concerns. "The root of this is that loose cigarette enforcement is a lunatic mission that no cop ever joined the NYPD to be part of," O'Donnell recently said.

***
Nick Malinowski is a social worker and independent journalist, living and working in Brooklyn; and is on Twitter @nwmalinowski.

CM Gentile eyes a Verrazano monument (photo: @VGentile43)

After Domenic Recchia's failed 2014 bid to unseat Michael Grimm, could Democrats nominate another Brooklynite to try and win the seat Grimm has now vacated?

New York City Council Member Vincent Gentile, a Democrat representing southern Brooklyn, is the latest addition to the list of possible Democratic candidates who may be his party's selected nominee for a one-on-one special election later this year in New York's 11th Congressional District, which includes all of heavily-Republican Staten Island and part of Brooklyn. According to a spokesperson for Gentile, the council member is set to meet with Democratic party leaders from both boroughs this week.

After pleading guilty last week to one felony count of tax evasion, Grimm resigned from Congress on Monday, setting the stage for a special election to be called by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan is widely expected to be the chosen Republican nominee for the race. Meanwhile, the Democratic frontrunners were quickly named as New York Assembly Member Michael Cusick and former Congressman Michael McMahon, both from Staten Island. But, with talk that both Cusick and McMahon are hesitant to take Donovan on, especially in a special election, other names have emerged from the Brooklyn side of the district, including Gentile.

"Councilman Gentile has been truly humbled by the outpouring of support he has received over the past few days and people urging him to run to fill the vacancy in the 11th Congressional District," Gentile's Communications Director, Justin Brannan, told Gotham Gazette on Monday afternoon.

Gentile has been a council member from Brooklyn since 2003, representing Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights and Bath Beach. Although Recchia, the Democrat who lost the election to Grimm, was also from Brooklyn, Gentile has a stronger link with Staten Island, representing part of the borough as a State Senator from 1996 to 2002.

"Indeed, with over a decade serving as an Assistant District Attorney, many years representing Staten Island as a New York State Senator, a strong legislative record and an unparalleled constituent service operation, Councilman Gentile is confident that he has a lot to offer the people of New York's 11th congressional district and is giving the race to replace Michael Grimm much thought," said Brannan. "Later this week he will meet with Democratic Party leaders on both sides of the Verrazano to further discuss the race," he added.

Any Democratic candidate, be it Gentile, Cusick, or another, is expected to face Donovan, the DA who recently presented the grand jury case against Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the death of Eric Garner. Being a Republican, Donovan has strong support in his home borough, but faces his own challenges with the spotlight on him from the Pantaleo-Garner case.

A key question is whether a Brooklyn candidate has any real chance in the 11th Congressional District. While Recchia proved an especially weak candidate, his being from Brooklyn certainly set him at a disadvantage to begin with. "There's resistance here to vote for somebody from the other side of the bridge," said Tom Shcherbenko, a district leader and president of the Staten Island Democratic Association. "My gut feeling is that we're not going to go with a candidate from Brooklyn," he added.

Making the race more complicated will be Governor Cuomo's decision of when to schedule the special election. Some say the governor may act quickly, setting a date in March, but if he opts to follow his precedent from 2014 when he did not call special elections to fill vacant state Legislature seats, he could choose to have the special on November's Election Day. This would be the same date as the election for Richmond County (Staten Island) District Attorney, and thus change the candidate equations drastically for both parties.

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by Samar Khurshid
@SamarKhurshid

New York City Hall

Happy New Year! What to watch for this week in New York politics:

In this first full week of 2015, New York politics will be dominated by five things: the resignation of Rep. Michael Grimm and looming special election to replace him; the laying to rest of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo (father of current Governor Andrew Cuomo); the start of the 2015 legislative session in Albany; the New York City Council's first Stated Meeting of the year; and the ongoing tension between New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD. On Monday, the mayor and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton will make an announcement at 3 p.m. at 1 Police Plaza.

There are always things popping up in New York politics, of course, so we're expecting more than the above to demand our attention.

Due to the passing of his father, Governor Cuomo's State of the State speech scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 7, has been postponed two weeks until the 21st. But, the two houses of the State Legislature are constitutionally mandated to begin their sessions on the 7th, so we'll soon know what the Senate leadership power-sharing agreement looks like - when the Senate adopts its rules for the session (the next two years), it will be clear how much power Sen. Jeff Klein and his Independent Democratic Conference (IDC) retain. Even with Republicans having taken outright control of the chamber without the IDC, Klein may be well be able to negotiate keeping his place at the decision-making table.

The City Council is back in action this week, starting with a full-body Stated Meeting on Wednesday, with several committee hearings thereafter. Council committees are then busy throughout next week as things get into full swing in the new year. 2015 looks like it will be a more contentious year in the Council, with stark division having already emerged over legislation the body is to take up this year regarding NYPD regulations, carriage horses, chokeholds, and pastic bag fees.

***Do you have events or topics for us to include in an upcoming Week Ahead in New York Politics (or to add to this one)?
E-mail Gotham Gazette editor Ben Max: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.***

The run of the week in more detail:

Monday
Monday will see the formal resignation of Rep. Michael Grimm, Republican Congressman representing Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in the House of Representatives. Grimm is resigning from office after pleading guilty to one felony charge of tax evasion from his days as a restaurateur and whatever nudge was necessary from House Speaker John Boehner. Speculation is already swirling around who will be selected by the Republican and Democratic party leaders from Staten Island and Brooklyn to face each other in the special election to replace Grimm. Governor Cuomo will set the special election date. It is expected that the Republican candidate will be Richmond County (Staten Island) District Attorney Daniel Donovan, who recently presented the grand jury case of Police Officer Daniel Pantaleo in the July death of Eric Garner. A Donovan candidacy could bring increased scrutiny to the Garner/Pantaleo case and surrounding issues, which would add to the already tense atmosphere around race and policing in the city. Meanwhile, many are still awaiting word from NYPD and federal investigations into the Garner incident.

Neither City Comptroller Scott Stringer nor Public Advocate Tish James has a public event on their schedules for Monday. Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito has not released a public schedule at time of our publication, but we'll update if or when her office does. Mayor de Blasio begins his week with one public event: a 3 p.m. announcement with NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton at 1 Police Plaza.

Monday is the wake for former Governor Mario Cuomo: "calling hours will be held between 1:00PM-5:00PM and 7:00PM-10:00PM at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home, located at 1076 Madison Avenue in Manhattan," according to the Governor's Office.

"In place of flowers, the Cuomo family requests contributions to be made to HELP USA for the Mario M. Cuomo Mentoring Fund: HELP USA Attention: Joe Gallo, 5 Hanover Square, 17th Floor, New York, NY 10004".

Tuesday
Tuesday will be the funeral for Mario Cuomo: "11:00AM...at St. Ignatius Loyola Church, located at 980 Park Avenue in Manhattan," according to the Governor's Office, which also noted in a press release that the funeral is not private, but open to family and friends.

On Tuesday evening in Albany, City & State NY is altering its planned pre-State of the State event to hold a 2015 Legislative Launch event and commemoration of former Gov. Mario Cuomo. Details: "The 2015 Legislative Launch event will feature lawmakers offering their agendas for the 2015 legislative session and a special commemoration segment for former Gov. Mario Cuomo. Elected officials and attendees will have the opportunity to share their tributes and memories of the former governor to be highlighted in City & State's Mario Cuomo commemorative issue later this month. The special print edition will highlight Gov. Mario Cuomo's contributions to the State of New York, the tremendous impact he had on our leaders, and the lasting legacy he leaves behind."

Wednesday
Wednesday is both the first day of the 2015 legislative session in Albany - read our 2015 Albany session preview here - and the first full-body Stated Meeting for the New York City Council - read our 2014 year in review/2015 preview on the City Counil here.

On Wednesday at 11 a.m. (moved from Tuesday) on the steps of City Hall, "Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Council Member Rafael Espinal, chair of the City Council's Committee on Consumer Affairs, will join colleagues, community members, business leaders and others to unveil a legislative package relating to the creation of a system of a letter grading system for cosmetology businesses, including nail salons, spas, barber shops, beauty parlors and other similar businesses throughout the five boroughs."

Thursday
City Council committee hearings get going again on Thursday: the Finance Committee will meet on the "sale of tax liens"; and, the Women's Issues Committee and Health Committee will meet jointly around legislation regarding HPV treatment, awareness, and prevention.

Thursday evening, it's a "State of our schools town hall with Council Member Daniel Dromm" (chair of the Council's education committee) at PS 69 in Jackson Heights.

Senator Liz Krueger will host a SCRIE/DRIE Seminar on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House: "Are you 62 years of age OR receiving disability benefits? Do you live in rent regulated housing? Is your household income no more than $50,000? Is your rent more than 1/3 of your income? If you can answer "yes" to these questions, you may be eligible to have your rent frozen through the Senior Citizens Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) or Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) Programs. Come hear from experts on these programs. After the presentations, attorney's from Lenox Hill's legal staff will be on hand to answer your questions and to make individual appointments."

Friday and the weekend
Nothing on our radar at this point, but we don't expect that to hold up as the week unfolds, of course.

[Have you read "Predictions! Experts Look Ahead to New York Politics in 2015"?]

***
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).

***
by Rati Mukhuradze and Ben Max
@GothamGazette

Mayor Bill de Blasio (photo: @BilldeBlasio)

By January 1st, 2002 — the day of his inauguration as Mayor of New York City— Michael Bloomberg had been a billionaire for some time. It had been a decade since his information services titan, Bloomberg L.P., hit it big on Wall Street. As a campaign pledge, the diminutive Bostonian promised to take a city salary of only a $1 a year, but, throughout the duration of his twelve years in office, he'd ascend the Forbes list, defying economic woes to make even more billions. As of September 2013, his net worth was estimated at $30 billion.

Bloomberg's successor, Bill de Blasio, is a different story, of course. On January 1st, 2014 — the day of his inauguration as mayor — de Blasio was a middle-class, outer-borough homeowning husband and father of two teenagers. Sure, he had a fairly high-profile political career going, but de Blasio was living a modest New York lifestyle, without a lot of money coming in or accumulated.

Becoming Mayor of the City of New York changes everything. While de Blasio isn't popping up on the Forbes list any time soon, his profile and earning potential have skyrocketed as a result of his new position. He's just a year into what could easily be eight as mayor, but de Blasio is now a national, even international player, with a newly expanded list of lucrative and powerful options for the future.

Entering his mayoralty, the lanky Bostonian had pulled in $165,000 a year for his duties as Public Advocate, and $52,000 in rent from a second home he owns in Park Slope. Before that, he made $112,500 a year as a City Council Member — both salaries fractions of his predecessor's net worth and annual income. Not that de Blasio's income has been anything to sniff at for the common New Yorker, but the contrast between the two mayors' finances is symbolic of the income inequality that de Blasio ran on, in many ways casting himself as the anti-Bloomberg.

Mayor de Blasio has two children, one in college, another on the way there next year, and the Park Slope house with a mortgage that the family had been living with and recently rented for $4,975 per month (which is below the going neighborhood rate) while they live rent-free in Gracie Mansion. (You'll perhaps recall that Bloomberg shunned Gracie to stay in his Manhattan townhouse.)

Now in the Upper East Side mayoral residence with his wife Chirlane McCray and their son Dante, de Blasio has vowed a return to Brooklyn. The mayor is making $225,000 a year, while McCray makes no salary as Chair of The Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City.

As mayor of the biggest big city in the world, de Blasio is on a path to richer pastures - how rich, though, is far from clear. Through his highly-watched campaign, election, and inaugural year, de Blasio has become a household name to many in New York and elsewhere. And in America, a national profile is currency.

The minute he became Mayor de Blasio, a whole set of prospects appeared for the self-professed progressive, with newfound ability to cash in on a future book deal, speaking engagements, consulting, or, what is likely the prized gem of them all for de Blasio: a shot at higher office.

De Blasio finds himself another in the line of New York City mayors to experience this catapult — one that could potentially help pay off Dante's and daughter Chiara's college bills, the Park Slope mortgage, and whatever outstanding expenses the family of four may still have.

In terms of what ones does after City Hall, recent history shows the basic mayoral formula tends to deliver the politician, in most cases, back to his comfy prior career, with more money and fewer press conferences. But de Blasio doesn't have a Forbes 500 company to return to, nor, like Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani, a private law firm at which to become a partner — or better yet, a figurehead.

De Blasio doesn't seem to have the pop culture chops to host "Mayor at the Movies" like Koch did, nor does he come off, unlike David Dinkins, as being professorial to the point of teaching at Columbia. If you re-examine de Blasio's public life since high school, his time with the Sandinistas, and beyond, the mayor has known one thing: politics.

"It's no doubt that de Blasio has a very good mind for it, but he doesn't have much of an intense interest for policy, nor governing itself," Wayne Barrett, the famous investigative reporter and Giuliani biographer, told Gotham Gazette. "He has a taste for public service. I'm just not sure if that'll last after 4 or 8 years in City Hall."

If it doesn't, Barrett argues that de Blasio is perfectly suited to enter the massive consultancy industry, using his past as a political organizer and operative to help elect like-minded progressive candidates in New York and beyond. These types of firms, which have interested big names like Bill Clinton, former Obama senior advisor David Axelrod, former NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly, and even McCray, de Blasio's wife, are moneymakers. In major national elections, top consulting firms can rake in millions.

And De Blasio clearly loves a good campaign. See UPK, his push for universal pre-kindergarten in New York City, or his ongoing pursuit of the 2016 Democratic National Convention - which, if it comes to Brooklyn as the mayor hopes, could be a major boon to his national profile. This would be especially true if tensions with the NYPD have settled and New York is thriving under his progressive policies by the convention.

There was the mayor, in the wake of a tough 2014 Election Day for his party, both in New York State and nationally, penning an article in the Huffington Post with diagnosis of what went wrong for Democrats around the country: not putting forward a strong enough progressive message; and looking ahead to 2016, which he has forecast as a promising year, especially - or perhaps only - if his allies follow his "blueprint to revitalize the Democratic Party."

Or maybe de Blasio will focus on fundraising, bringing in money for himself and others. On the national landscape of PACs and political donations, only people like the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson can really rival Bloomberg, who had morphed into a powerful political donor long before even leaving office and continues to position himself as a major source of funds in certain congressional and other races.

The Kochs, Adelson, and Bloomberg spend lots of their own money, of course, not something de Blasio will be poised to do. As Mayor of New York City, though, de Blasio has already become extremely powerful and well-connected, building relationships that he may very well be able to leverage for future clients.

De Blasio has a net worth, not including future earning potential, in the low six figures — a rarity for someone in his position. The mayor has defined his fiery progressive brand on not having much; on relating to everyday New Yorkers, especially outer-borough middle and working class folks. As he campaigned, de Blasio was the anti-Bloomberg, the non-billionaire. He called for a tax increase for those making over $250,000 a year - a bracket he didn't even fall into.

So he may not have the personal fortune to back him up, but, should the next few years go well, he could become a major fundraiser for progressives across the country. But will de Blasio himself, like those who have come before him, swim in the more lucrative waters that a post-mayoralty has to offer?

According to Ken Sherrill, a Professor Emeritus of political science at Hunter College, not having the same network of wealth as, say, Giuliani may doom de Blasio's chances of a common post-political gig: the speakers' circuit, which recently ensnared Ray Kelly and has paid Giuliani $100,000 a speech in the past. "Unlike Giuliani, his audience is not the people who would pay that kind of money to see him," Sherrill said.

"I don't think I can see him joining a corporate board," Sherrill continued. "The one question is whether or not de Blasio has the affluent patrons that Giuliani and Koch had. Bloomberg just has himself. But these kinds of people who pay exorbitant money to Giuliani wouldn't spend that on de Blasio."

But that doesn't mean there won't be a market for de Blasio speeches, it just may not be as green as it can be for others. Nor does it mean de Blasio won't get paid for a memoir, or an administration post-mortem; both of which can be highly profitable, even if they don't sell well. Take, for example, Andrew Cuomo: his new memoir All Things Possible: Setbacks and Success in Politics and Life sold very tepidly its first few weeks in circulation, yet the politician had already landed a $700,000-plus check from HarperCollins in advance. Though the lack of success of Cuomo's book could contribute to a market correction.

However, in terms of mayors, Giuliani banked hundreds of thousands of dollars from his widely popular, 9/11-themed memoir, Leadership. Koch wrote a library's worth of books, both for adults and children, after he left office. Dinkins has last year's A Mayor's Life: Governing New York's Gorgeous Mosaic, and, before he even took office, Bloomberg by Bloomberg was on shelves everywhere, recounting the tale of how the Wall Street maven made his Forbes fortune.

That said, de Blasio is basically forced to write a book of some sort, just to keep up with his predecessors. Not to say that he won't relish the opportunity to explain how he fixed all that was wrong with Bloomberg's New York if his liberal experiment does indeed go according to plan. We can almost guarantee that "tale of two cities," "progressive," or both will appear on the cover. Luckily for de Blasio, he won't have to go too far for help: as reported back in June, First Lady Chirlane McCray has taken to the memoir business early. Agent and advance unknown, but certain to be fairly large (and helpful to the family's finances as she works without compensation).

But then again, as Barrett says, de Blasio has ambition, and politics is driven by the motivated. Plus, de Blasio's young enough to remain in the political arena as an elected official himself even if he does serve out eight years as mayor.

Barrett says he wouldn't be surprised if de Blasio sought a higher office, particularly the governorship, as former public advocate and mayoral candidate Mark Green predicted to the Post. However, unlike in Mark Green's comparison to Zephyr Teachout's challenge from Cuomo's left, Barrett argues that de Blasio would never run for office against the governor if Andrew Cuomo runs for a third term, like his father did, in 2018. Cuomo or no Cuomo, a 2018 gubernatorial run for de Blasio would also likely require his doing so at the start of a second mayoral term (assuming his winning re-election in 2017) and is thus unlikely. But, there's always 2022.

There's certainly the question of whether de Blasio's liberal brand could work in more conservative areas of the state like Rochester or Buffalo - in any year, 2018, 2022, or beyond. "He's a better New York City candidate than he is a New York State candidate," Barrett added definitively.

Not to mention that going from Mayor of New York City to Governor of New York State actually comes with a pay cut: the governor makes $179,000 a year. The presidency, on the other hand, pays better.

And speaking of the presidency, making much of this moot could be fallout from what panels full of talking heads seem to see in their dreams each night: a Hillary Clinton victory in 2016. A Hillary win could have serious implications for Cuomo in D.C. As the former HUD Secretary under Bill Clinton, Cuomo is no stranger to the Cabinet, and a possible departure could leave an open seat in Albany for de Blasio.

But, Barrett thinks Hillary could find something for her old Senate campaign manager (de Blasio) to do in the White House or Capitol. And it's no secret that de Blasio has been building a national and international profile in just his first year as mayor. With his leadership of the Mayoral Task Force to Tackle Inequality, his security trip to the Situation Room in Washington, his handling of New York City's Ebola case and protocols, and his speech to the Labour Party in London, de Blasio has been busy on larger stages.

De Blasio made another D.C. trip in mid-November and soon after President Obama's executive action on immigration, de Blasio announced that he would be conveing "a first-ever summit on December 8th with at least twenty mayors from cities across the country to discuss and lay out a step-by-step implementation plan of an executive order on immigration," which he did. Then, another D.C. jaunt on December 1 to discuss police-community relations with President Obama and others.

With the New Left gaining momentum behind figures like Elizabeth Warren, who is to rule out that de Blasio doesn't stand a chance in D.C.?

"I can see de Blasio leading a Presidential Office on Income Inequality," Barrett said. "He does his time in New York, and then moves to Washington with the family."

Some have said de Blasio is more senatorial than mayoral, and a run to replace either New York senator seems at least somewhat plausible were a Schumer retirement or a Gillibrand vice-presidency, presidency, or cabinet appointment to occur.

To Doug Muzzio, a professor of politics at CUNY and city expert, all of these far-reaching aspirations hinge on 2017: the next mayoral election year. "A one-term mayor is different than a two-term mayor," he explained. "It all depends on getting a second term. If he wins, he can run for governor; if he loses, that becomes much more unlikely."

For now, of course, de Blasio must focus on repairing rifts with the NYPD and ensuring his agenda is successful. Whether the mayor likes it or not, though, Muzzio argues that de Blasio's future is binded to Andrew Cuomo. "The bottom line is that this is an ambitious guy who will undoubtedly run for [another] office, but it depends on what Cuomo does," Muzzio told Gotham Gazette of de Blasio. "He ain't gonna run against Cuomo — that's just not in the cards."

Still, Muzzio repeatedly admitted: "So many things can happen. I plead ignorance."

But, if you look at the history here, as is often instructive, a post-mayoral life is all too often marked by monetary and reputational gains, not political ones. Because if there's one thing City Hall doesn't seem to be any good at, it's guaranteeing any future success in elected office.

"What have modern NYC mayors gone on and done?" Gene Russianoff, the chief spokesperson for the Straphangers Campaign of NYPIRG, asked rhetorically. "Let's see: stayed insanely wealthy; tried to become insanely wealthy; joined a law firm; become a film reviewer; failed on the national political scene...And so it goes."

Bloomberg, of course, flirted with running for President - and Giuliani went a little further than that. With a rising national profile, demographic trends what they are, and the zeal with which many seem to embrace Elizabeth Warren's populism, de Blasio may already be dreaming of stepping onto the biggest stage, history be darned.

"The only thing I know is that the mayoralty is a stepping stone to nothing, politically speaking," Russianoff added. Just look at Ed Koch or Rudy Giuliani.

After asking "How'm I doing?" to New Yorkers for 8 years, Koch became a restaurant and movie critic, a professor, a political commentator, a children's book author, a judge on The People's Court, a radio show host, and a sought-after endorser in future races, until his death in 2013 at the age of 88.

"I used to say, 'He would never die if he had a camera on him,'" Barrett said. "He became such a public personality — it basically doesn't exist anymore. In terms of Koch's private success, too, it's amazing." That's why, in Barrett's opinion, Koch had the most exemplary post-mayoralty career in modern times.

And it's also why, in the end, de Blasio has a lot to accomplish - and think about.

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John Surico is a freelance journalist. His reporting can be seen in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The New York Daily News, The Village Voice, and elsewhere. He lives in Brooklyn.

Protests outside City Hall (photo: John Kenny @jjk607)

The tragic deaths of Eric Garner, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu offer New Yorkers an opportunity to have a real conversation about our city's sordid racial history. Racial politics may have come a long way in a city that prides itself on multiculturalism and progressivism, but community memories are long, and discussing the past must be part of moving forward. Mayor de Blasio recently acknowledged that some of the conflicts that have surfaced in recent weeks "go back centuries in their origins."

In New York City's black community, those origins are rooted in nearly 400 years of distrust and mistreatment. From slavery to Jim Crow, from unchecked white mobs to oppressive white police forces, the black experience in New York has been marked by pain, destruction, and neglect. There is no question that many in power have made an effort in recent decades to correct the wrongs of the past. But examining our history has to be part of the healing. Doing so will reveal that the recent protests are not just about Eric Garner, and not even just about policing. They are indeed about whether black lives matter in New York City.

Although the Dutch practiced slavery in New Amsterdam, the British assumption of New York in 1664 commenced a crueler period of slaves' treatment. One night in 1712, two dozen slaves revolted, torching houses and killing owners. The rebels were killed or captured, with those in the latter group suffering torturous executions - slowly burned alive, dragged through town by a horse, mutilated on "the wheel," and suspended by chains until death by dehydration - their heads left on stakes for weeks afterwards. In the aftermath of that rebellion, harsh new slavery provisions were passed, and even free blacks lost the right to own land.

These conditions worsened already tenuous race relations, leading to the 1741 slave conspiracy: part uprising and part witch trials for black people. After a white servant attributed an outbreak of arson around the city to a mass slave uprising, dozens of slaves were tortured into "confessing" the involvement of others before being deported, burned at the stake or hung. The historical record is ambiguous - it is possible that some slaves were plotting with abolitionist whites, but the trials were not serious inquiries. Every lawyer in town was enlisted in the prosecution. Only when prominent whites began accusing each other did New Yorkers realize the charade had gone too far.

The American Revolution did not end slavery in New York State. In fact, slavery within New York City actually increased significantly in the years immediately following independence. The end of slavery in New York, which finally took effect in 1827, did not herald any improvement in race relations. Abolitionists, both black and white, met at their peril. White mobs could be driven to fits of rage at any moment, such as one night in 1834 when the presence of a British lead actor at a theater (the British were anti-slavery) provoked a rampage, rioters beating any black people they found in the streets.

The Civil War draft riots are considered by local historians to be the absolute low point in New York City's history. Politicians and business leaders steeped in racism and cotton trade interests were already stirring up anti-black hysteria – Mayor Fernando Wood had proposed seceding from the Union – when an 1863 federal conscription requirement ignited a fury among the city's Irish.

Angry white mobs, who had no desire to fight a war to free black people from slavery, ransacked the city, focusing on federal property, wealthy elites, and especially black people, who were hunted throughout the city for days. Many were murdered, some hung in the streets. A black orphanage was burned to the ground, though thankfully the children escaped. The police performed admirably in protecting hundreds of blacks from the rioting crowds, which were finally beaten back by the Union Army. The draft riots are considered the worst civil uprising in American history.

Nor did the Civil War's conclusion bring racial justice to New York City. Tammany Hall, a political machine fueled by Irish and Italian votes and commensurate patronage, enforced the worst of Jim Crow Laws during its decades of dominance. Several of the worst incidents are spelled out in Jonathan Gill's excellent book, Harlem.

For example, on Christmas Day, 1901, three Irish teenagers beat down a black man in Harlem. A few white people actually came to his aid, but in the confusion they were in turn attacked by blacks, leading to a massive racially-charged street brawl. A white mob chased one wounded black man into the local drugstore, destroying it in the process, and the police beat another into unconsciousness with their batons.

In 1917, not far from Ferguson, Missouri, East St. Louis and other cities were ripped apart by a mass lynching that left hundreds of black people dead and thousands homeless. Harlem's NAACP chapter, which had been organized only recently by W.E.B. Du Bois, organized the Silent Protest Parade down Fifth Avenue, with hundreds of women and children in white leading thousands of men in black who held a banner reading, "Bring Democracy to America Before You Take it To Europe" - a sign the police took as provocation, attempting to break up the protest.

A few weeks later, Patrolman Robert Holmes was killed in the line of duty. One of four black officers in a police force that had only been racially integrated in 1911, his funeral was attended by 20,000 Harlemites.

Holmes was an exception. Through World War II, the number of black police officers remained extremely low, and they were confined to beats in poor black neighborhoods. The majority of white police officers assigned to such neighborhoods were there as department punishment, leading to community tension that would periodically erupt. In 1935, a misunderstanding over a shoplifting incident led to a frenzy on 125th Street that ended with three deaths and the wanton destruction of property.

Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia, initially popular among the City's racial minorities, appointed a commission to investigate the incident, but then tried to repress the commission's report. The commission had found that anger over racism and discrimination – nearly every institution in Harlem, from schools to hospitals to social service agencies, was whites-only – had been the underlying cause, noting, "As long as these conditions persist, no one knows when they will lead to recurrence, with possibly greater violence."

Only eight years later, in 1943, Harlem was again engulfed in flames after a white police officer shot a black soldier during a street confrontation. During the ensuing pandemonium six black men were killed by the police, a thousand were arrested, and hundreds of civilians and policemen were injured. That this could take place at the height of nationalistic war fever was in part due to black New York being entirely left out of the economic opportunities that the war had brought to the city, as well as the vast infrastructure projects that had improved much of the city under the New Deal. This time LaGuardia attempted to address the community's grievances, but the damage was traumatic and severe, leading to exodus of the white and black middle class. Many prominent black leaders denounced the rioters, but resident-poet Langston Hughes countered, "All the best colored people declare that they have been set back fifty years. I don't know from what."

In 1964, following a tragically familiar script, an off-duty police officer shot and killed 15-year-old James Powell on the Upper East Side, claiming Powell was advancing on him with a knife. The whole incident had begun when a building superintendent named Patrick Lynch (no relation to the current police union boss, we presume) turned a garden hose on a group of black teenagers who had been taunting him. When Lynch began chasing Powell, an undercover police officer joined in pursuit, with deadly consequences.

Six weeks later the District Attorney exonerated the officer of wrongdoing. As an enormous crowd gathered in Harlem, the NYPD's Tactical Patrol Force, comprised largely of former marines, charged it wielding batons. In the ensuing mayhem, more than 100 people were hospitalized, and chaos spread to Bedford Stuyvesant, lasting in both neighborhoods for six days. (The only silver lining, you might say, was Mayor Lindsay's response: forming the Civilian Complaint Review Board in 1966.)

In 1967, El Barrio was overrun by what Mayor Lindsay inartfully called "a disturbance" after the police shot a young Puerto Rican named Renaldo Rodriguez. Four people were killed and over a hundred were injured in the chaos.

If this all sounds like old history, New York City has had more recent heart-wrenching incidents of racial divisiveness. In 1992, long-simmering tensions between the black and Jewish communities in Crown Heights led to three days of unrest in the streets.

It is surprising how many transplants to New York are completely unfamiliar with the story of Amadou Diallo, a young immigrant from Guinea. Four white officers from the Street Crimes Unit (3% of which was black) fired 41 shots at Diallo as he stood outside of his Bronx building vestibule, reaching for his wallet to show his identification. When the police officers were acquitted by an Albany jury (the New York Supreme Court Appellate Division had held that the officers could not receive a fair trial in the Bronx) and assigned to desk duty, organizers took to the streets with major, peaceful demonstrations.

The marches, noted for their interracial composition, lasted for weeks, with activists making very similar policy demands to those being made in the aftermath of Eric Garner's death and the Staten Island grand jury's non-indictment. In 1999, Reverend Al Sharpton and PBA President Patrick Lynch were both players, obviously with opposing bullhorns. The Coalition Against Police Brutality, which had formed a few years earlier after a different set of policing incidents, drove many of the protests, and its lawsuit, Daniels v. City of New York, led to the disbanding of the Street Crimes Unit and the release of police arrest data.

The stop-and-frisk data released after Daniels served as the basis of Floyd v. City of New York, the landmark lawsuit against stop-and-frisk that concluded in the plaintiffs' favor this year when Mayor de Blasio declined to pursue an appeal and agreed to reform certain police procedures. The Coalition Against Police Brutality was a precursor to Communities United for Police Reform, which is now responsible for many of the "#BlackLivesMatter" actions. Thus, in some respects, today's protests are part of an ongoing 20-year movement.

William Faulkner once wrote, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." The young minority organizers of the Black Lives Matter protests say that the ongoing demonstrations are not only about Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Akai Gurley, but about expressing the emotions of a community that has always been discriminated against. Today's activists respond to demands that they "respect the rule of law" by asking for whom laws are designed, and for whom they are enforced. Politicians who unconditionally back the NYPD or call for "law and order" fail to acknowledge that for some communities, the rule of law has been seen and felt as a weapon and not a shield for centuries. Even today, racial disparities in the criminal justice system amplify this legacy. Changing that perception and that reality will take time.

Much about police and minority community relations is slowly improving. The NYPD is more diverse than it has ever been, as the tragic deaths of Officers Wenjiang Liu and Rafael Ramos illustrate. However, as recently as 1980 the force was 90% white, which is reflected in today's command and union leadership.

Today the city's elected officials look more like the city they represent than ever before, especially in the City Council. Both Mayor de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton have publicly discussed the need to build community trust, and the mayor has noted that the conversation moving forward must acknowledge "centuries of racism."

The crowds marching in the street are diverse in race, age, and income and have broad support for their demands. Protesters and police officers are not hurting each other or physical property in bloody street clashes; in fact, with the exception of a few fringe protesters and fringe officers, these have been perhaps the most respectful demonstrations in recent city memory, a dynamic that inflammatory comments by the PBA's Lynch risk jeopardizing.

Yet despite these positive steps forward, we are still not a city of racial trust, let alone peace and harmony. For those who can envision a unified city, and want to put in the work, perhaps the first step is to admit that the past is real, and as long as we share these streets, it's not even past. Perhaps a Truth and Reconciliation Process could move New York City forward.

In a city of constant change, replenished with new immigrants, professional transplants, and dream-seekers who work and live alongside communities that have passed down these stories for generations, perhaps New Yorkers need to have this conversation more explicitly than most. As we begin 2015, let us respect how far we have come, and let us respect how far we have to go.

***
Janos Marton is an attorney, writer and activist. In January 2015 he will launch janos.nyc, a site that will revisit New York City's history to contextualize current events. Find him on Twitter @JanosMarton. For people looking for a readable history of the city, Janos recommends The Epic of New York City by Edward Robb Ellis.

References
Edward Robb Ellis, The Epic of New York City, Chapters 6, 9 and 18.
Jonathan Gill: Harlem. Chapters 7, 9-10.
Graham Russell Hodges, Roots & Branch: African-Americans in New York & East Jersey, at 65 and 93.
Eric Homberger, The Historical Atlas of New York City, at 96-97.
James Lardner and Thomas Repetto, NYPD: A City and Its People, Chapters 12 and 16.
Interviews with activists.

Note: this article has been corrected to reflect that Amadou Diallo was from Guinea, not Haiti as previously stated.

Mayor de Blasio announcing digital.nyc (photo: @nycgov)

When a flip-phone wielding candidate came out of nowhere to become the next mayor of New York City, the city's tech community grew a little uneasy.

Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, himself a tech-media billionaire, the city's technology industry thrived. Silicon Alley was born, the Open Data Portal was launched, and New York City became a new favorite place for venture capitalists to pour their money into new tech initiatives.

Whether the driving force for tech industry growth in New York City was policies of the Bloomberg administration or the simple fact that technology was booming is an argument for another day. Either way, seeing her as the closest extension of Bloomberg, much of the technology community had endorsed third-place finisher Christine Quinn in the Democratic primary, and post-election was unsure how Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio would handle its needs at a critical time of growth.

As we close the books on 2014, it appears most of the worry was for naught. The tech industry is still thriving and in fact expanding outside of Manhattan. Venture capitalists have not fled. In addition, de Blasio notched two fairly large tech wins under his belt with the highly successful sale of .nyc domain names and the approval of the contract that will turn the city's outdated payphones into modern Wi-Fi hotspots (LinkNYC). The City also launched digital.nyc, "the official online hub of the New York City startup and technology ecosystem," in partnership with a variety of tech entities and largely sponsored by IBM. 

"I think they have done well in laying the groundwork to do more in this administration than the previous administration was able to do in 12 years," Andrew Rasiej, chairman of New York Tech Meetup, said in a recent phone interview.

Gotham Gazette takes a look at what Mr. Rasiej and other tech sector leaders have seen in 2014 - and what to look for 2015:

The Face of Tech
Ever the salesman, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg loved being the face of the emerging tech industry. He would go to tech events, give speeches, and constantly talk up New York City as the place to be for tech.

It's debatable whether Mayor de Blasio still needs to do this seeing as how the industry is now on solid footing and growing rapidly. But considering the city's economy is now in part dependent upon the tech sector, de Blasio will have to ensure New York City doesn't lose it's place to emerging markets like Austin that can boast blazing fast internet speeds, low taxes, and cheap rent.

"He has not done as much promotion as we would have liked," Erik Grimmelmann, president and CEO of the New York Technology Council, said in a recent phone interview about Mayor de Blasio. "He is not out there in the media as often as we would like highlighting tech in New York."

Grimmelmann noted de Blasio obviously had larger priorities in his first year with funding and rolling out universal pre-kindergarten at the top of that list. He said he would like to see de Blasio at more tech events in 2015 and promoting the sector more, but added stylistically it does not appear de Blasio will be the type of tech cheerleader Bloomberg had been.

That job may fall to his tech team.

De Blasio's Tech Team
It took months, but de Blasio filled out the leadership of his tech team by the fall. He named Anne Roest as the Commissioner for the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) in May, followed by the appointment of Minerva Tantoco as the city's first Chief Technology Officer in September, and Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki as the city's Chief Analytics Officer in October.

"He has put in place good people in the important positions and he has created new positions as it relates to tech," Grimmelmann said. "I think it is a very good team, but the teams have been put in place to do longer-term things. It will take time before we know how well it turns out."

The team has been busy with Roest focusing on fixing the new emergency 911 system during her first few months in office. Then it was all hands on deck for the LinkNYC announcement and push to get the contract approved.

Few specifics have emerged from the tech team as to what the administration will be rolling out next year, but it appears much, if not all, will come back to de Blasio's broader goal of bridging the digital divide.

"The first step is to make sure you support and advance the mayor's overall strategy for the city and then the trick is to connect the dots and define a set of principles that can guide those technology decisions that support that strategy," Minerva Tantoco, the city's Chief Technology Officer, said in a recent interview.

Civic Tech
One of the areas de Blasio has room to make his mark is the civic tech space. Bloomberg created the BigApps competition which encourages civic hackers and tech entrepreneurs to use city data to make apps. Despite one of the most robust non-governmental civic tech communities in the country, BigApps is about as far as the data-friendly former mayor got with the civic tech community.

Mayors from cities across the country like Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and San Francisco are beginning to team up with their respective civic tech communities to help solve problems. While de Blasio hasn't quite opened up City Hall for a hackathon yet, he has paired up with civic hackers to put the City Record archives online after signing a bill into law that requires it. The project could be a hint of more to come.

Tantoco said she is "still in the listening phase" with the civic tech community but noted she is eager to work together.

"I welcome ideas to collaborate with others and I have a strong commitment to make that a huge part of what we do in New York City," Tantoco said.

Collaboration may end up being easier after the first of the year. Rasiej and his business partner Micah Sifry will open Civic Hall, an 18,500 square foot space in the Flatiron District. Civic Hall will offer a collaborative workspace for those in the tech industry and could be the bridge between government and tech the city has been missing.

[Related: Gotham Gazette's Civic App Wish List for 2015]

Contract Procurement
In the coming years the City will need to purchase new equipment and software to update its aging technology. The City has not had the best track record in recent years with technology contract procurement, with the CityTime scandal being the highest profile of a string of projects that went over budget and/or over time.

New York City has not been the only one grappling with tech contract procurement, the slow pace of which typically doesn't keep up with the pace of technology. The biggest question is how cities can balance protecting their financial interests with ensuring the best product is purchased and delivered.

"It is a hairy, knotty problem," Tantoco said. "As new technology comes online, the way you buy them and select them becomes way more important," she added. "As technology becomes a huge part of our daily lives and how citizens interact with their government, these technology decisions and purchases become even more important."

The Department of Investigation recently released recommendations for large tech procurement contracts following the bungling of updating the 911 system. Those recommendations were discussed at a recent City Council hearing and will form a guide as the administration moves forward with contract procurement. City Comptroller Scott Stringer had announced a new directive in April outlining heightened requirements for oversight of city IT contracts.

Open Data
The city's Open Data Portal has been up and running for several years now, but there is still vast room for improvement. Data quality and simply getting more data on the portal have (and will likely always be) huge asks from the tech community.

"I would like to see him open up that considerably and do much more in that space," Grimmelmann said. "It is a great way of leveraging the talents of the community to provide data and for the community to figure out what it means."

Grimmelmann noted the biggest impediment to opening up data is for bureaucratic reasons: politicians don't want to release data that will end up burning them in the papers. It's a slippery slope for politicians, but one Grimmelmann wants to see de Blasio overcome.

"I would like to see him extend his leadership in overcoming those fears and reactions and make more data available," Grimmelmann said.

Tantoco called the Open Data Portal a "key priority" and said in the coming months her team would continue to focus on the ease of use and accessibility of the data.

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwtherK