Will the governor soon be signing a medical marijuana bill into law? (nysenate.gov)

The State Legislature appears to be moving closer to a deal on medical marijuana as amendments are set to be introduced to the Compassionate Care Act that would make the bill more palatable to members of both the Assembly and the Senate.

The amendments mostly concern specifics of eligibility and oversight and are being hammered out as the Legislature sets to return to session in Albany on Monday.

Earlier this month Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver dismissed the legislation because he felt the Senate was not prepared to move the bill, but the bill's sponsor, Sen. Diane Savino, has used parliamentary maneuvers to defy Senate leadership and move the bill through the committee process while also negotiating changes to the legislation to garner more support.

"The next person who needs to weigh in and say: 'I don't like this, but I do like that' is the governor," Savino said during a phone interview on Thursday afternoon.

Cuomo has his own medical marijuana proposal that would see 20 hospitals around the state be allowed to treat seriously ill patients with marijuana seized in drug busts. The governor says his proposal would test the efficacy and feasibility of medical marijuana in the state. But advocates insist proof already exists that medical marijuana helps patients with a wide range of conditions and that people suffering need legal and safe access to the drug to improve their quality of life.

"There is a lot of momentum behind this all over the state," said Gabriel Sayegh of the Drug Policy Alliance of New York. "Patients are literally sick and tired of being put off, of being told to wait. Twenty-one other states have done this successfully including the latest in Maryland."

The Compassionate Care Act would allow licensed doctors, nurses and physicians' assistants to prescribe medical marijuana to patients with "severe life threatening or debilitating diseases." The state Health Department would register hospitals, businesses and non-profits to sell marijuana and the State would tax its sale. An advisory committee would be created to help the health commissioner in clinical matters.

The new amendments are designed to win over those skeptical of how loose, or tight, the controls on the system will be. Patients would have to be 21 to smoke marijuana regardless of their disease, while patients under 21 could use other delivery methods. A number of diseases are to be added to the list of those that can be treated with marijuana, but the process for adding diseases in the future has been restricted.

In an effort to make sure the health commissioner does not have too much power over the process the advisory board has been strengthened and its makeup tweaked. "We don't want a situation where one person has too much power as we saw in the case with Dr. Shah," said Savino, referencing Dr. Nirav Shah, the state's recently departed health commissioner who oversaw a lengthy review of fracking. "We also don't want every single change to have to be approved by the Legislature," Savino added.

The amendments also restrict who can work at marijuana dispensaries, preventing those with drug-related offenses from doing so.

Sayegh had yet to review the amendments but said that his general concern is that, "We want to make sure doctors and patients aren't unduly restricted." He said he expects the amendments were negotiated to "account for concerns" and added: "We are excited about this momentum but there is undoubtedly going to be some challenges ahead to getting this done."

The bill won't likely come before the Senate's health committee for another two weeks. In the meantime Savino says she wants to hear from Cuomo. "We really want his input on this. We really want three-way negotiations with the governor."

The governor's office did not immediately return a request for comment.

About two dozen advocates will be in Albany to lobby legislators on the bill on Monday, when both houses return to session, and Sayegh said lawmakers should expect to see advocates en force for the rest of session.
***
by David King, Albany Editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Building 92 at The Brooklyn Navy Yard (bldg92.org)

BROOKLYN - In its heyday during World War II, the Brooklyn Navy Yard was an industrial powerhouse. It employed 77,000 people, and ran 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

Long gone are the days of Rosie the Riveter, but thanks to a resurgence in industrial manufacturing in New York City, business is once again booming at the Yard. The 300 acre City-owned site is nowhere near operating at the production levels of World War II, but it is currently seeing the biggest industrial expansion since that time period.

And due to the Yard's success, the Economic Development Committee of the City Council will hold a hearing on April 24 to discuss using the Navy Yard as a model for expanding the city's industrial sector. In preparation for the hearing, Committee Chair Dan Garodnick, along with Council Members Stephen Levin, Mark Weprin, and Vincent Gentile, toured the Yard with David Ehrenberg, president and CEO of Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) on April 22. Gotham Gazette accompanied the council members on the tour.

"You see the success of concentrated manufacturing in a particular geographic area that is working," Garodnick said following the visit. "It gives New York City an opportunity to grow businesses and to create jobs and we should be doing everything we can to encourage that."

Garodnick said that at the hearing the committee will look at what has worked at the Navy Yard and how the City can potentially use that model elsewhere to continue to grow industrial areas in the five boroughs.

Today, the new Brooklyn Navy Yard does not feature the large scale manufacturing that dominated the site during the war. The large buildings have been carved up into small and medium size spaces to accommodate "manufacturing 2.0," much of which incorporates the simultaneously booming technology sector and emerging green manufacturing.

The Yard currently houses just over 330 businesses which employ roughly 7,000 people. As it continues to expand over the next five years, that number is expected to increase to 12,000 employees. The jobs pay an average of $12 per hour—more than a typical retail job—and often offer a career ladder.

The Yard is currently at 100 percent occupancy and, though expansion continues, it has been nearly full for roughly ten years. While occupancy rate is one measure of success for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, the not-for-profit that manages the Yard, workforce development is a more important metric.

For the last 15 years the Yard had an on-site workforce development center but it was tucked deep inside the grounds and not easily accessible to the public. Two years ago BNYDC opened Building 92 right on Flushing Avenue with easy access to public transportation and a way for residents to walk in off the street to look for jobs.

"As a mission-driven not-for-profit [workforce development] has to be at the center of our focus," said David Ehrenberg, president and CEO of BNYDC, by phone April 23. "It is not just about having a lot of businesses. It is about making sure the opportunities that that creates really has an impact on the local community."

Ehrenberg explained some of the business selection process on the tour. The Yard, he said, will not only look at the business and what space they are looking to occupy, but how many jobs the business will create.

"It requires selecting businesses that are going to hire people and then working with those businesses to make sure that as they hire, they hire from a wide network of individuals," Ehrenberg said.

The workforce center uses multiple platforms by which to get people into jobs including internships, training programs, and partnering with local community groups to find job seekers. The workforce center has its own team visit with tenants and ask what jobs those businesses are looking to fill. This allows the center to pair job applicants with jobs as efficiently as possible and helps cut down on unnecessary training programs.

Ehrenberg said by having a singular focus his organization can dedicate its resources most effectively. The rental money collected from tenants is reinvested into renovating buildings or launching programs to create more jobs.

He added that being on-site helps him understand the needs of the tenants in ways he couldn't if he was in a remote office.

"I see our tenants all the time in the hallways, at lunch. I am going to figure out whatever the issue is because it is right there in front of me," Ehrenberg said. "I am committed because I am physically there at the site. I think that is really a critical component of success."

The Yard as a Model
The success of the Navy Yard is a double-edged sword. It is home to a new age of manufacturing in New York City, but with its success and its 100 percent occupancy, there is limited room for expansion.

Building 77, a 16-story structure that represents one quarter of the built space in the Yard, was recently leased to Jack Basch, the CEO of Shiel Medical Laboratories. The building, which has 11 windowless floors, captured the last available built space in the Yard. There are roughly 70 remaining acres of land that new buildings can be built on, but finding a company or companies willing to build presents a far greater challenge than attracting companies into already-built space. Many of the businesses that occupy the Yard are (or entered into their leases as) start-ups occupying small spaces with hopes of growing their business and space, not large companies with millions to invest in developing land.

The Yard does feature several unoccupied buildings, but each is leased and currently undergoing renovation or soon to be.

If manufacturing 2.0 is going to continue to grow, the City will have to expand outside the Yard to other industrial zones. Where the city will make its next big industrial investment and what that investment entails is yet to be determined. There are currently 21 Industrial Business Zones (IBZ) throughout the five boroughs, some of which already have some form of industry or manufacturing in them.

Mayor Bill de Blasio's preliminary budget did not include funding for IBZ development, which had been as much as $4 million in 2007. IBZ funding has decreased in recent years, with the City Council using its discretionary funding to restore $1.1 million in fiscal year 2014 funds. In its budget response released on April 23, the Council requested $1.2 million for IBZ be baselined in the Executive Budget, which will be released by the mayor May 8.

Ehrenberg said he has not been contacted by individual council members interested in implementing the model used at the Navy Yard in their district, but he has received inquiries from Philadelphia, Detroit, and San Francisco in recent months.

***
by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. (left) & Mayor Bill de Blasio (Margot Jordan)

A few months into his first term as a member of the New York City Council, Brooklyn's Robert Cornegy Jr. has tapped into his experience in city government and community activism to embrace his role as chair of the Council's small business committee and pursue legislation to help those in his district and around the city. Recently, the council member, who represents Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights neighborhoods, sat down with Gotham Gazette to discuss two new pieces of legislation he has introduced to the Council, his role as committee chair, gentrification, and much more.

Here, in the fourth part of the interview (see below for links to parts 1-3), Cornegy discusses his second in the state lactation station, his take on the council's progressive caucus, and gentrification with Gotham Gazette's executive editor Ben Max:

In part one of the interview, Cornegy discusses his proposed amendment to the new paid sick leave law and his audible alarms bill.

In part two, Cornegy outlines his expectations of the new Department of Education leadership and several aspects of his approach to chairing the Council's small business committee.

In the third installment, the council member goes into greater detail about efforts to help small businesses and reduce unemployment and underemployment, including looking at what the City Council can do regarding contracts for women and minority owned businesses (WMBEs); the work of Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in appointing committee chairs; and more.

Stay tuned to Gotham Gazette for the other parts of our interview with the council member on a wide range of topics.
***
Video production generously donated to Gotham Gazette by GZIPUSA.HumanityCode.com

@GothamGazette

@RobertCornegyJr

@TweetBenMax

State Sens Gustavo Rivera, left, and Jeff Klein, center, both may face primary challengers (nysenate.gov)

The Bronx could become a flashpoint in the 2014 battle for control of the New York State Senate as Sens. Jeff Klein of the IDC and Gustavo Rivera of the mainstream Democrats both face the possibility of primary challenges.

While there is no love lost between the two men, it may not actually be in either's interest to see the other challenged. Primaries for the two could test the allegiances of other Bronx activists and elected officials while making Klein and Rivera appear to be meddling in each other's district - even if they aren't.

Each man's potential challenger says he is motivated by the incumbent's policy positions.

Oliver Koppel, a former city council member, assembly member, and attorney general, has said his possible challenge to Klein is motivated by the fact that Klein has allied himself with Senate Republicans, which has in turn stymied and watered down progressive legislation that would benefit the 34th Senate District and the state.

Current City Council Member Fernando Cabrera has kept his possible challenge to Rivera fairly low profile - a spokesman for his campaign told Gotham Gazette Cabrera isn't giving interviews regarding a run at this time - but according to a number of Bronx insiders, Cabrera has told them that he feels Rivera has betrayed the values of his district by supporting same-sex marriage and other socially progressive measures as well as going against the Bronx establishment's major endorsements in the races for mayor and speaker of the City Council.

A spokesman for Klein said the IDC would not comment on a theoretical challenge from Koppell, who, for his part, has said he will announce a decision about a run soon after the just-passed Easter holiday.

Rivera would only comment on a potential primary to say that he is "focused on my constituents" and that he takes, "any challenge seriously."

Klein and Rivera may want each other out of office, but seeing the other primaried may make their own race more difficult. Rivera told Gotham Gazette that he thinks Klein's arrangement with Senate Republicans is "untenable" and Rivera, along with Sens. Liz Krueger and Neil Breslin, has historically been one of the most vocal critics of Klein and the IDC. Gary Axelbank, host of "BronxTalk," said that it is well known that neither Klein nor Rivera is a fan of the other, but that animosity could hurt Rivera. "Jeff Klein has the kind of resources that if the Rivera-Cabrera race is perceived as a Klein-Rivera race the councilman could gain quite a few resources."

Axelbank said that those loyal to Klein may jump to support Cabrera over Rivera without any prompting just because of the kind of power Klein wields.

But there is also the flip side of that coin. Cabrera is an unabashed social conservative and will likely garner the support of Bronx Sen. Ruben Diaz and his followers. This could be a boon for Cabrera, but the race being about Rivera's progressivism is likely to hurt Klein if he is perceived to be directly or indirectly supporting a candidate, in Cabrera, who is anti-choice and anti-gay.

Progressive advocates who are urging Koppell to challenge Klein argue that Klein has helped suppress or dilute a number of progressive initiatives including the DREAM Act, a minimum wage increase, and the Women's Equality Agenda. Liberal activists and labor groups would very likely unite behind Rivera against Cabrera, but its unclear if the Senate Democrats who are being pulled in multiple directions this year by IDC and Republican-backed challenges will be able to give Rivera any financial support.

But Cabrera carries other, major political baggage. He unexpectedly came out against the plan to turn the Kingsbridge Armory into an ice sports facility, saying that his constituents had concerns about noise and traffic, but the developers and a number of other insiders said that Cabrera had been privy to negotiations and had no problems with the deal until he tried to get the ice center to funnel $100,000 annually to Community Action Unlimited, an organization that he happens to control.

The IDC already had to deal with being associated with an ethically-troubled ally when Sen. Malcolm Smith was indicted on bribery for trying to buy his way onto the Republican ticket for mayor of New York.

If Koppell decides to challenge Klein things could get even messier in the Bronx as a number of Bronx electeds would be forced to decide whether they want to risk alienating Klein and lose the support of the head of the Senate or publically give Klein and the IDC their blessing.

Klein recently won the endorsement of Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU), indicating that labor and progressives may be inclined to play it safe.

One Bronx insider said he expects most community activists and advocates in Klein's district to support him, "They can't risk alienating the guy who brings home the bacon. They might not like the guy but they aren't stupid."

Other electeds say that Koppell has been wavering back and forth on whether to run and it may be too late in the game to mount a credible challenge against the Senate's most prodigious fundraiser.

Both Klein and Rivera would certainly rather be traveling the state to work for other Democratic candidates this summer than slugging out a primary battle.

Klein is backing challengers to at least two Senate Democrats: Democratic leader Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins will likely face a challenge from Westchester County legislator Virginia Perez and Buffalo Sen. Tim Kennedy will face a Klein-backed primary challenger in the form of Erie County legislator Betty Jean Grant.

Rivera plays well in other districts as the passionate progressive young leader from the Bronx who defeated jailed former Sen. Pedro Espada.

While they would rather wage summertime proxy wars over control of the Senate, at the moment Klein and Rivera are facing the prospect of spending their summers in the Bronx trying to secure the votes of their own constituents.

***
Update: on Tuesday, April 22, Sen. Klein held a re-election kick-off event, at which he was formally endorsed by several Bronx elected officials, including Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.; Democratic County Committee Chairman Assemblyman Carl Heastie; Assembly Members Michael Benedetto, Mark Gjonaj, Jose Rivera, Marcos Crespo and Luis Sepulveda; and Council Members James Vacca, Annabel Palma, Vanessa Gibson and Ritchie Torres.

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

Council Member Robert Cornegy, Jr. (council.nyc.gov)

A few months into his first term as a member of the New York City Council, Brooklyn's Robert Cornegy Jr. has tapped into his experience in city government and community activism to embrace his role as chair of the Council's small business committee and pursue legislation to help those in his district and around the city. Recently, the council member, who represents Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights neighborhoods, sat down with Gotham Gazette to discuss two new pieces of legislation he has introduced to the Council, his role as committee chair, and much more.

In part one of the interview, Cornegy discusses his proposed amendment to the new paid sick leave law and his audible alarms bill.

In part two, Cornegy outlines his expectations of the new Department of Education leadership and several aspects of his approach to chairing the Council's small business committee.

In the third installment, the council member goes into greater detail about efforts to help small businesses and reduce unemployment and underemployment, including looking at what the City Council can do regarding contracts for women and minority owned businesses (WMBEs); the work of Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito in appointing committee chairs; and more with Gotham Gazette's executive editor Ben Max:

Stay tuned to Gotham Gazette for the other parts of our interview with the council member on a wide range of topics.
***
Video production generously donated to Gotham Gazette by GZIPUSA.HumanityCode.com

@GothamGazette

@RobertCornegyJr

@TweetBenMax

New York City Hall (wikimedia)

What to look for this week, via the city and Albany:

After a fairly quiet week due to the Passover and Easter holidays and public school spring break, things are due to pick back up this week, at least in New York City, if not Albany where the legislature is still on break until next Monday, April 28th.

Mayor Bill de Blasio begins his week with an appearance on ABC's The View Monday morning, followed by yet another pre-kindergarten-related event, at which he will urge families to sign their children up for pre-k by Wednesday's deadline. Monday evening, de Blasio will deliver remarks at the New York Times Cities For Tomorrow Conference.

Expect several other events and announcements from the mayor this week, perhaps including additional appointments to top posts in his administration.

The City Council has not held a public meeting of any kind since it's last full-body "stated" meeting of April 10th. This Wednesday, April 23rd, council committee hearings will kick back into gear, with a frenzy of meetings the last three days of the week:

Wednesday, 4/23
The Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises will meet at 9:30 a.m. to review the Domino Sugar Factory land use application. The hearing will be more of a formality, as the deal was already officially announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Look to see what, if any, issues are brought up by Council Member Antonio Reynoso, whose district the project is housed in, and how those issues may be addressed with a deal already in place. The Committee on Land will take stock of the deal on Thursday.

The Technology Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to analyze how the City uses data and technology to improve health and safety in New York. A representative from the Mayor's Office of Data Analytics is expected to testify on this topic as well as discuss future projects.

The Committee on Parks will hold an oversight hearing at 1 p.m. to look at equity among parks. Are there disparities in the care of the City's open spaces? Many visiting Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens argue yes. De Blasio has said he supports measures to redistribute some of the money from the larger park conservancies to poorer parks. This hearing could sow the seeds to move that initiative - which is not favored by some parks advocates - forward.

The Vision Zero town hall series continues with its third borough installment, in Queens. The meeting starts at 6 p.m. at LaGuardia Community College. (Council Member Brad Lander and Park Slope Street Safety Partnership are having one their own on Monday evening in Brooklyn)

Also Wednesday evening, city officials including Deputy Mayor Richard Buery and the DOE's Chief Strategy Officer, Josh Wallack, will participate in "Universal Pre-K in New York City: Quality & Equity in the Face of Rapid Expansion" at Bank Street College.

Thursday, 4/24
The Committee on Economic Development will hold an oversight hearing at 10 a.m. to examine the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a model for the expansion of New York's industrial sector. Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen cited Brooklyn Navy Yard in her recent ABNY speech on the city's tech economy. No word if Glen will testify at the hearing.

The Education Committee will hold a hearing at 1 p.m. Noticeably absent from the agenda is the promised oversight hearing regarding charter schools. Chair Danny Dromm had promised in early March to call in Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz for closing her schools and busing her students to Albany for a political rally. The hearing was originally scheduled for April 8 but postponed until the 24th "due to scheduling conflicts." But, the agenda posted for the rescheduled hearing makes no mention of charter schools - instead, the meeting is set to focus on the reporting of school environmental data.

With the State budget agreement's protections for charters showing a loss for Mayor de Blasio, there is reason to believe that neither the mayor nor his council allies want to bring further attention to the issue for the time being.

Friday, 4/25
The Committee on General Welfare will meet jointly with the Committee on Youth Services at 10 a.m. to discuss data collection on runaway and homeless youth.

The Committee on Civil Rights and Committee on Higher Education will meet jointly at 10 a.m. to discuss faculty diversity at CUNY.

And a few things to look for from Albany:

Since the legislature broke after reaching a budget deal, Albany has been quiet. Even Governor Andrew Cuomo has kept a low profile after being heavily criticized for disbanding his Moreland Commission on Public Corruption.

While State Senators and Assembly Members have been in their home districts, rumors about reconciliation between the Independent Democrats and their mainland party-mates seem to be leading nowhere. All eyes are on former New York City Council Member Oliver Koppell, who has said he will announce after Easter whether or not he will be mounting a primary challenge to Independent Democratic Conference leader state Senator Jeff Klein.

Meanwhile, forecasts of the post-budget legislative session include significant items like campaign finance reform, which Klein is making a priority, "Vision Zero" bills, and much more. Both houses of the legislature return to Albany on April 28th; the session ends in mid-June.

***

by Kristen Meriwether and Ben Max in New York City and David King in Albany

@GothamGazette

Washington Square Park (nycgovparks.org)

If you want to smoke in a park, go to Queens.

Since the city's ban on smoking in parks went into effect in 2011, only one ticket for violating it has been issued in Queens — at Flushing Meadows Park in June of 2012.

Compare that to a single day a few months earlier, on St. Patrick's Day, where 30 tickets were issued near Wollman Rink in Central Park to a large group of people smoking and drinking. But even that ticket blitz was unusual for the city's most famous park. Only 50 tickets for smoking, including those 30, have been issued in Central Park in the past three years.

Data on every ticket for smoking in parks issued from 2011 to early 2014 — obtained through a FOIL request from the Parks Department — shows a scattered enforcement of the law that spurred a debate about the reach of government and civil liberties a few years ago. Not surprisingly, most people haven't changed their mind on the law. Smokers still hate it and the law's proponents say it's been a success. Enforcement — which was a highly-debated issue at City Council hearings discussing the law — has been inconsistent and, seemingly, quite rare.

There is obviously no data on how many New Yorkers told other New Yorkers to knock it off — which is how Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the rule would be enforced — but the summons data reveals Parks Enforcement Patrol (PEP) officers will occasionally issue $50 fines for smoking, just not really in the 'outer boroughs'.

The total is quite underwhelming. Only 440 tickets have been issued in three years, which means unlike many other ticketable offenses in New York City, it's not a moneymaker. If every one of those tickets was paid, the city only raked in $22,000. Of the 440 tickets, 397 were issued in Manhattan; 17 in Brooklyn; 15 in Staten Island; eight in the Bronx and the one in Queens (the two leftovers were not identified by park).

There is no strict protocol for addressing a violation of the ban. "Depending on the circumstances, the individual PEP Officer typically gives a warning prior to issuing a summons," wrote Parks spokesman Philip Abramson in an e-mail.

For the most part, it seems that those who do not stop smoking when warned are issued tickets, and Parks Enforcement Patrol officers can follow that up with another ticket if the smoker continues using his/her cigarette, cigar, pipe or hookah. There is a vague park violation: "Failure to comply with directives of officer/park employee," which can be issued at the discretion of a Parks Enforcement Patrol officer and carries an additional $250 fine. It is unclear how many of these tickets were issued after a smoking ticket and Parks did not respond with that information.

Enforcement of the smoking ban is left up to the city's 160 or so Parks Enforcement Patrol officers. When asked why more than 90 percent of tickets were issued in Manhattan, Parks said that's just where PEP officers observe the rule-breaking.

"This is where our PEP Officers have observed smoking violations and they issued summonses where appropriate," wrote Abramson.

When asked about the small number of tickets in Queens and the other 'outer boroughs,' Abramson replied with the same thing: "Our PEP Officers take enforcement action wherever they observe violations."

That's not the case, according to many regulars in Manhattan's popular and historic Washington Square Park, a 10-acre park encompassed by NYU that accounts for one-third of the total smoking tickets since 2011.

On a recent beautiful day in the packed park, a handful of people smoked openly. There were no PEP officers around, but two chess players said even if the PEP officers were there, they wouldn't be issuing smoking tickets.

"Nah, they stopped that," said one regular who was smoking a cigarette.

"They don't do it anymore. They leave you alone," said another.

Based on the data, ticketing in Washington Square Park is very uneven. Between January and September 2013, not a single smoking ticket was issued in the park. But in October, PEP officers handed out 57 tickets (13 percent of these tickets ever issued in New York City). After the October frenzy, not one ticket was issued in the park in November, December or this January — and regulars say they haven't seen officers enforcing the rule in recent months.

In the first six months of 2013, only 18 tickets for smoking in parks were issued across the city. In the second half, 116.

This stark increase in tickets coincides with a rare hiring spree in PEP officers. Last summer, the Parks Department almost doubled its force, hiring 81 new PEP officers. Most PEP officers are not assigned to a specific park, rather a specific borough, and according to Joe Puleo, president of AFSCME Local 983, the majority are in Manhattan. Parks did not provide a breakdown of PEP officers by borough.

Audrey Silk, a retired police officer and founder of Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (CLASH), an anti-anti-smoking group, guessed that spikes in enforcement have to do with novice officers exerting their newfound power. "As time goes on, it gets less exciting to the officer," she said.

Turnover at Parks among PEP officers is high, according to Puleo, which may account for the ups and down in ticketing. He said of the 81 PEP officers hired last year, 24 are already gone and that's primarily because of the low pay ($32,963 starting salary, according to a job posting on the Parks website that has been open since August.)

Silk also said for her, nothing has changed since the law went into effect and she continues to smoke in Brooklyn parks.

"It's just so toothless that it will fade into oblivion," she said, adding that, "bad laws deserve to be disobeyed."

On the other side of the debate, the law's proponents, including the city's Department of Health, said the law has been a success and become a part of the culture in New York
City.

"The law was part of changing social norms in the city," said Dr. Susan Kansagra, deputy commissioner for the Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. "We think it's been successful."

Dr. Kansagra pointed to a study released last year by the Eastern Evaluation Research Society that showed smoking in parks decreased by two-thirds between the end of 2010 and 2011; the ban went into effect in May 2011.

Dr. Kansagra added that the law is similar to the smoking ban in restaurants and bars, which went into effect in New York City in 2003.

"This law is self-enforcing in the same way that the smoking law in restaurants is," she said.

Queens Community Board 7 member Phil Konigsberg said he thinks the law is becoming part of the norms in New York City.

"It's self-enforcing," he said. "Would you even think about going into a restaurant and lighting up a cigarette and smoking?"

Anecdotally, Beverly Nelson, a Bronx resident who has a son with asthma, said she thinks the law has been working.

"People just know they can't because they haven't been smoking," Nelson said, also pointing out that the amount of cigarette butts at Orchard Beach has decreased incredibly.

"I think overall the law is working. I see less smoking in our parks and beaches and pedestrian plazas," said Sheelah Feinberg, executive director of the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City. "From my vantage point, I think it has been a successful policy."

Many of the people interviewed for this story said they thought it must be tourists who refuse to put out their cigarettes that are getting the tickets. For a tourist in New York City, the smoking law can be confusing because it is not against the law to smoke in nine state parks within city limits, including Riverbank Park in Manhattan and East River State Park in Brooklyn. Last year, a judge overturned the state parks ban on smoking after C.L.A.S.H. filed a lawsuit. Even so, Hudson River Park in Manhattan has taken it upon itself to ban smoking, though C.L.A.S.H. has filed another lawsuit to stop the ban.

If it is mainly tourists, some are getting the message. On April 14, two German tourists smoked outside the gates of Washington Square Park directly in front of a 'no smoking' sign. When asked if they had ever been ticketed, they said they had only been in New York City since Saturday.

"No, we're scared," one said.

"So we're out here," said the other.

***
by Adam Wisnieski for Gotham Gazette

Mayor de Blasio making a prior Sandy recovery announcement (nyc.gov)

In September 2013, then-candidate Bill de Blasio made a mayoral campaign trip to the Rockaways, a region in Queens hit hard by Superstorm Sandy the prior year. De Blasio gave an impassioned speech vowing that, if elected, he would ensure that the jobs needed to rebuild the battered community would be filled locally.

"To me, the perfect equation is to have people building the houses they, and their neighbors, will one day occupy," de Blasio told the congregation at St. Mary's Star of the Sea Church on September 29, 2013.

Thus far, not many homes are being built. The Build it Back program, created by former mayor Michael Bloomberg and continuing under de Blasio, has been the target of serious fire in recent months. When Bloomberg left office on December 31, 2013, construction had not started on a single Build It Back home. As of Thursday, April 17 that number had jumped to just nine. The de Blasio administration could not confirm the number of local residents working on those building sites, but did say there were some.

To fix the Build it Back program, de Blasio ordered his Sandy recovery leadership team to deliver a diagnostic report and offer a new way forward. The report, entitled "One City, Rebuilding Together," was unveiled at the Build it Back headquarters on Staten Island on Thursday.

During the press conference, de Blasio reiterated his commitment to hiring local workers, announcing he is creating a new position focused entirely on workforce development and the employment of local residents. The position, which has not yet been filled, will report to Amy Peterson, the director of the Housing Recovery Office.

"We want to build a high quality, local workforce to play a part in the process," de Blasio said to claps and cheers from the residents on hand for the announcement. "If anyone deserves some of the employment opportunities in the recovery process, it is New Yorkers who were affected by Sandy."

While the promise of hiring local plays well to the crowd, it is in fact a requirement by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) - a department de Blasio served in during the Clinton administration. According to the HUD website, its Section 3 program requires that when financial assistance is given (as in the case of Sandy recovery), low-income local residents are provided with job training, employment, and contracting opportunities.

The program stipulates Section 3 residents must make up at least 30 percent of new hires on the building projects, however, if a contractor or developer chooses not to make any new hires on a job site, they would still be in compliance with the law without hiring local residents.

Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, a citywide coalition advocating for local jobs and more affordable housing in Sandy-impacted areas, sent de Blasio a plan recommending 30 percent of each crew, not just new hires, be Section 3 eligible to protect against the loophole. While it is a change the administration can make, it is not a suggestion they are currently committing to.

"Right now the requirement is for new jobs," Peterson said by phone Thursday. "We will be working to ensure we get as many people into local jobs as possible, but we are not making a wage change at this point."

Technically, the federal requirements are up to contractors to fulfill, but the de Blasio administration will be operating with a hands-on approach. Thursday's report noted the administration would be working with community organizations and labor unions to recruit local residents for work and training programs.

Utilizing community groups to find and train local workers is a process already used by developers on projects (many of which are subsidized) around the city. It is also a process Peterson is familiar with. Prior to her current role she was president of Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW), a New York City organization that trains and places women in the skilled construction, utility, and maintenance trades.

Peterson said she expects to select three community organizations to work with, one in each major area affected by the storm. She added that that number could increase if needed. The organizations will be chosen from those that have already been helping on the ground in Sandy-impacted areas.

Residents will be able to go to these groups and receive Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training, help with resumes, or if they are already trained, simply explore job opportunities. For residents not properly trained, these organizations will work with unions to get people into pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship programs. These programs typically last several years, with both classroom and on-the-job training in a variety of trades.

Eric Bluestone, a partner at the Bluestone Organization, utilizes these training programs on his affordable housing projects around the city. A development company, Bluestone is currently contracted under the Build it Back program and will work to rebuild homes on Staten Island, although it has not yet started any projects.

"Historically, many of the workers came to the site and they did not have any training so they started off working primarily as laborers or laborers' assistants," Bluestone said by phone on Wednesday. "They did, for lack of a better term, the most menial tasks because they didn't have any training."

To address the issue, he said roughly eight years ago his industry began working with the building industry and education providers to train people. This would not only help them meet local hiring requirements for their projects, but also provide a service to the neighborhoods they were building in.

"Not only is it a benefit to the employer, because now they are getting someone from the community who has a better level of skill, but it is also a benefit for the community because they get career track training," Bluestone said.

He added that in some instances the residents did so well the subcontractors hired them on for other jobs.

"That is really what we want to see," Bluestone said.

Peterson said the federal money will not be used to pay for training programs but monies could be used to fund a workforce development connection organization.

Susannah Dyen, a policy coordinator for Alliance for a Just Rebuilding, explained that unions typically pay for the apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs. Grants are sometimes also available, she said.

"The sizes of the apprenticeship programs are matched to how the market is growing and how much people are retiring, so if the unions and contractors know there is going to be more work down the line, they can have more apprentices," Dyen said by phone Wednesday. "By thinking about all the work that is coming down and what is the model we want for local hiring and training of New Yorkers, we can envision a system that would allow there to be more opportunities."

For de Blasio, these opportunities feed perfectly into the campaign message he pitched on his tour of the Rockaways seven months ago. While the details are not completely in focus just yet, his general vision remains.

"The ultimate goal is to reach people who were personally, specifically dislocated by the storm, either in terms of housing or employment, as much as humanly possible," de Blasio said on Thursday.

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by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

New York legislative leaders celebrate their recent budget deal (AP)

Some years, the state budget is home to the "big ugly," a package of unrelated legislation cobbled together last minute through back room deal-making. Typically, the deal allows members of both legislative houses and the governor to claim victory for passing their favored pieces of legislation and lets those expected to oppose certain measures avoid the heat for permitting the bills to be passed. 'Big ugly' deals are usually decried for ramming controversial legislation through in one massive eleventh-hour budget vote without time for proper debate.

This year, the budget may be known more for what it did not include than for what it did. Major issues like significant campaign finance reform, the women's equality agenda, the DREAM Act and "Vision Zero" traffic safety initiatives were left in the back rooms, much to advocates' chagrin. But never fear! There is always room for a post-budget, end-of-session 'big ugly,' especially likely in 2014 thanks to outcry over the budget's shortcomings and the fact that it is an election year.

Gotham Gazette takes a look at some of the major pieces of legislation that could be addressed this session post-budget, along with several smaller items that would have an impact on New York City residents. The State Senate is back in session on April 23rd and the Assembly is back in session on April 28th. The session concludes June 19th.

Campaign Finance Reform
The Cuomo administration was surprised by the backlash from editorial boards and activists across the state to the lack of comprehensive campaign finance reform in the budget deal.

State Senator Jeff Klein has been working behind the scenes to piece together a deal on a more robust campaign finance system than the minimal pilot program included in the budget that only applies to this year's comptroller race. Klein may be extra motivated because of pressure from groups that are threatening to pour cash into a primary challenge by former New York City Council Member Oliver Koppell. Koppell has stated that he won't decide whether to run until after the Easter holiday, a delay that could give Klein more time to reach some sort of agreement with his Republican partners in the Senate.

Just how real Klein's proposal is depends on whom you are speaking with. Those allied with Klein say his effort is sincere and has the attention of Senate Republicans, who understand they need to protect Klein from a primary in order to keep their governing coalition together. Senate Democrats doubt that Klein can convince Republicans to accept a new campaign finance system even if it is not directly funded by taxpayer money, but by unclaimed funds or settlements won by the State. Republican hesitancy is due to their believing a new public matching system could further endanger their hold on control of the Senate.

Meanwhile, Cuomo has signaled to advocates that he is willing to push harder for campaign finance reform as his office tries to regain its footing after being blasted for the budget deal, including the abrupt end of the Moreland Commission.

Vision Zero
Transportation advocates are gearing up to push Mayor Bill de Blasio's "Vision Zero" traffic safety initiative in Albany. There are several bills in both houses that would allow the City to increase its number of speed cameras from 20 to 160, decrease the city speed limit to 25 or 20 m.p.h. from 30, and increase penalties for causing traffic fatalities. Sen. Martin Dilan, who is the Senate sponsor of the bill to reduce the speed limit to 20 m.p.h. told Gotham Gazette he believes a larger deal on these initiatives will come together quickly when legislators return to session. Dilan's spokesman, Graham Parker, said that Dilan's district has seen an increase in traffic fatalities and that there is a real sense of urgency there.

Keeping Inmates Near Home
Sen. Gustavo Rivera and Assemblyman Marcos Crespo, who both hail from the Bronx, are pushing a bill to create a pilot program that would keep inmates in jails closer to their families so that relatives would not have to travel hours upstate to see them. Rivera points out that, for some families, that kind of travel prevents them from seeing incarcerated relatives and notes that studies have shown that staying connected to family while in prison reduces the chances of recidivism.

"I'm tired of hearing that one of my constituents has to drive five hours to see their mother," said Rivera. It seems unlikely that the bill would pass through the Senate, as Republicans are protective of upstate prisons. However, multiple sources tell Gotham Gazette that there are ongoing discussions between the Department of Corrections and the executive branch, and that Cuomo could issue an executive order to implement a similar plan.

The Cuomo administration was rebuffed in its efforts to create a State-funded college-for-inmates program earlier this year. The plan was seen as a nod to black and Hispanic City legislators who feel Cuomo isn't paying enough attention to issues that impact their constituents. This could be an alternative move to address those concerns. A spokesperson for the Cuomo administration declined to comment on a possible executive order. 

Medical Marijuana
Sen. Diane Savino of Staten Island and Assemblyman Richard Gottfried of Manhattan are pushing legislation that would allow doctors and physicians' assistants or nurses to prescribe marijuana to those with life-threatening or debilitating conditions. The state Health Department would issue licenses to dispensaries. The bill has major support from advocates who have made their presence felt in Albany, but Senate Republicans oppose the measure. Earlier this month Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who supports the idea, said he thought the issue was dead because of Republican opposition in the Senate. But Savino insisted that she intends to move the bill. Silver clarified that he would pass the bill, as the Assembly has over the past few years, if the Senate takes action.

Around the same time, Savino invoked measures that will push her bill to a vote even though Senate leaders don't support it. Savino told Gotham Gazette earlier this month that she has the votes to pass the measure when it comes to the floor.

Even if the bill does pass both houses, it seems unlikely that the governor would sign it. Cuomo supports a plan whereby he would use executive action to permit 20 hospitals to prescribe medical marijuana to patients in their care. The medical marijuana would come from confiscated product obtained in criminal busts. Cuomo has made it clear that he does not support full legalization. Critics of the governor's plan insist that confiscated marijuana will not have the same effects as pharmaceutical grade and that there is no need to study the benefits of medical marijuana when its benefits have been demonstrated across the country.

The "Boss Bill"
Sen. Liz Krueger from Manhattan and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee of Suffern are pushing a bill in their respective houses that would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against their employees based on their reproductive choices. The bill comes in response to hundreds of lawsuits filed by employers in federal court in an attempt to get out of a provision of the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) that requires they provide insurance plans that pay for contraception.

"With the full Women's Equality Act stalled by the bizarre politics of the Senate, and with employers going out of their way to cut off women's access to contraception, here's the question: can this legislature act to protect women at all?" asked Krueger in a statement. "In New York, in the 21st century, no boss should be able to tell employees whether they can have access to birth control. This bill to protect a woman's basic right to make her own decisions about contraception, free from reprisals, should pass quickly in both houses. It would send a deeply disturbing message if it doesn't."

Krueger told Gotham Gazette earlier this month that she was further moved to support the bill after hearing from a number of constituents who were admonished by their employers about their pregnancies because they weren't in "traditional" relationships. It seems unlikely the bill will pass in the Senate this session, as some Senate Republicans have moved toward the right heading into the election year and not all Democratic senators support the bill. The bill remains in the Assembly's labor committee.

Rent Sabotage
Sen. Martin Dilan and Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, both from Brooklyn, say that there has been a rash of apartment sabotage by landlords in their districts as property values rise. Rents have increased by 15 percent in some districts and as a result some landlords of rent-stabilized apartment buildings have taken to doing major physical damage to these apartments in an effort to drive tenants out and take the apartments off the rent control rolls.

Apartments can come out of rent control when the rents reach $2,500. The Dilan-Lentol bill would create a class D felony for landlords who do physical damage to apartments in an attempt to drive tenants out. Jaron Benjamin of the Metropolitan Council on Housing says the bill is a good first step to combating the problem but his group is preparing for next year when rent control laws will be up for renewal. Benjamin wants vacancy decontrol to be done away with so that apartments will stay affordable. "We get calls everyday on our tenant hotline from people who are worried that a landlord is destroying their apartment or have and won't come back to fix it," said Benjamin. "The idea of having real penalties beyond fines is a good thing because right now they stand to gain by driving tenants out and paying the fines."

The Women's Equality Agenda and the DREAM Act
Both the Women's Equality Agenda, a ten-point plan that would fight pay discrimination, sex trafficking, and sexual harassment, and, most controversially, codify Roe vs. Wade in New York State's health code and the DREAM Act, which would provide college tuition assistance to the undocumented, have been defeated in the state legislature and show few signs of life.

While Hispanic and other legislators and supportive advocates are unlikely to give up on the DREAM Act, a path forward for the legislation is unclear.

Meanwhile, on the Women's Equality Agenda being brought back to the Senate for a vote, one legislator said, "It's so far away from the table that no one knows where they put it." But, expect groups such as NARAL Pro Choice to draw more attention to the issue as the session comes to a close; they plan to make the equality agenda a major election issue, and it could play into control of the Senate.

Chances of a Big Ugly
Although an end-of-session 'big ugly' is possible, many legislators feel that it will be increasingly difficult to move anything of significance as the session winds down and election season picks up. The IDC appears poised to challenge some sitting Democrats, while Democrats may get involved in primaries against IDC members. Republicans are confident they can win back Senate seats because this is not a year of big national races that could boost Democratic turnout. Meanwhile, Cuomo continues a balancing act between right and left that he seems to hope will boost his re-election numbers and set him up for a possible presidential bid in 2016. All perhaps leading to legislative paralysis.

"We got more done during the Senate coup," said one advocate, "Who would have imagined we would be in this position with the Senate? But that's life on Planet Albany."

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by David King, Albany Editor, Gotham Gazette
@DavidHowardKing

Council Member Robert Cornegy Jr. at a council hearing (William Alatriste)

A few months into his first term as a member of the New York City Council, Brooklyn's Robert Cornegy Jr. has tapped into his experience in city government and community activism to embrace his role as chair of the Council's small business committee and pursue legislation to help those in his district and around the city. Recently, the council member, who represents Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights neighborhoods, sat down with Gotham Gazette to discuss two new pieces of legislation he has introduced to the Council, his role as committee chair, and much more.

In part one of the interview, Cornegy discusses his proposed amendment to the new paid sick leave law and his audible alarms bill.

In part two, Cornegy outlines his expectations of the new Department of Education leadership; his efforts to help small businesses, reduce unemployment and underemployment; and more with Gotham Gazette's executive editor Ben Max:

Stay tuned to Gotham Gazette for the other parts of our interview with the council member on a wide range of topics.
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Video production generously donated to Gotham Gazette by GZIPUSA.HumanityCode.com

@GothamGazette

@RobertCornegyJr

@TweetBenMax