An immigration reform rally (pbs.org)

On June 15, 2012, Kurt was interning at his mother's insurance brokerage firm in Long Island, having wrapped up a rigorous freshman year as a finance major in the Macaulay Honors Program at Baruch College. He got a text from his aunt saying, "Did you hear the news about Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)?" Kurt went online and read about President Obama's immigration initiative that allows undocumented young adults who grew up in the United States a two-year deportation reprieve, work authorization, and the ability to obtain a driver's license. It was Obama's response to immigration reform stalling in Congress after the 2010 defeat of the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act.

"I actually started crying," Kurt said. "I couldn't contain myself. Now there will be so much opportunity that will open up to me."

A twenty-one-year-old Guyana native, Kurt came to the United States when he was five years old. He has been active in the New York State Youth Leadership Council, lobbying and organizing for the recently defeated New York DREAM Act. Kurt attended a DACA orientation sponsored by Atlas DIY, an advocacy group for undocumented youth, and asked it's executive director, Lauren Burke, to handle his application. He was her first approval. This summer he will have an internship with JP Morgan.

Kurt is representative of the first wave of college bound and college enrolled "dreamers" who are invested in immigration reform and rushed to apply for the DACA program when it was launched nearly two years ago.

Nationally, applications for DACA peaked in October 2012, with 116,222 applications that month alone, but they have steadily dropped since, dipping to a total of 36,309 for the final three months of 2013. In New York City, an estimated 79,000 people may be eligible for DACA, 16,000 of whom lack the necessary education qualifications, notes the New York Legal Assistance Group, which provides free legal services to DACA applicants. According to immigration analysts and advocates, misunderstanding about eligibility and barriers that many immigrants face in meeting DACA's requirements are behind the drop and have kept a large segment of the city's immigrant population from applying.

The latest version of the federal DREAM Act, introduced on May 11, 2011, would allow students who came to the U.S. at age 15 or younger and at least five years before the date of the bill's enactment to qualify for conditional permanent resident status upon acceptance to college, graduation from a U.S. high school, or being awarded a high school equivalency certificate in the U.S.

The conditional permanent resident status would last six years and count toward the residency requirements for naturalization. During that time, unrestricted lawful permanent resident status would be granted if the applicant had graduated from a two-year college or certain vocational colleges, studied for at least two years toward a B.A. or higher degree, or served in the U.S. armed forces for at least two years.

The educational requirements for DACA are broader than those of the DREAM Act and reflect the range of immigrants' educational experiences. The memo that created DACA says that to qualify, a person must show, among other things, that he or she is "is currently in school, has graduated from high school, or has obtained a general education development certificate." U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has interpreted the "currently in school" language to include literacy and job training programs.

Still, for many immigrants, DACA is equated with the DREAM Act, the main beneficiaries of which would be college students. "People who were extremely plugged into the pro-immigration movement had the most to gain from DACA," said Dr. Arianna Martinez of LaGuardia Community College in Queens, who specializes in local impacts of immigration policy. "People who fit the age and other requirements about how long they've lived here but don't have a high school diploma and are working don't see themselves as eligible for DACA."

Along with eligibility confusion, the steep application fee of $465 has been another barrier, particularly in homes where more than one person is eligible. "If there's going to be a fee, it was hoped it would go toward a permanent solution that would lead to a green card or citizenship," said Bridget Splain, Project Coordinator, Office of New Americans Opportunity Center at Mercy Center in Mott Haven, the Bronx.

It's this segment of the city's immigrant population, the under-educated and poor youth, that the New York City Council set out to reach through its January infusion of an additional $18 million into literacy education and high school equivalency (HSE) programs specifically for undocumented immigrants. The funds also cover the cost of legal assistance and DACA application fees, as well as outreach efforts by community organizations.

Betsy Plum, Outreach Coordinator for the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC), is working with over 200 immigrant services organizations to get the word out about DACA. Where in the past immigrant services groups rarely connected with each other, NYIC is liaising to increase awareness of the range of services offered throughout the five boroughs.

"It's really wonderful to get adult education, legal providers and outreach providers all in one room and say, "How do you navigate the issues with someone who would legally qualify for DACA if you can get them into an adult education class?" said Plum. "It's making connections with different programs, knowing that program X is really great for individuals who work nights."

Reaching the "hard to reach" involves a mix of traditional and newer tactics such as posting flyers in native languages, advertising in the immigrant press and using social media. "We have a YouTube channel with 2 or 3-minute segments where we answer people's questions about DACA and it's utilized by a lot of older people who can't go to a workshop at 2 o'clock in the afternoon but they can access the internet 24 hours a day," said Atlas DIY's Burke.

There's also a lot of pavement pounding. Outreach workers who speak the target population's language and are often from the same country go to Mexican day-laborer sites, Chinese restaurants in Sunset Park and Korean churches in Flushing.

For education providers, the additional City funding has already made a difference in meeting the huge demand for free English as a Second Language (ESL) services and high school equivalency education that many foreign-born seek. The Highbridge Community Life Center in the Bronx has been able to add three additional ESL and HSE classes. "Where we're located in the Bronx, there's a large immigrant population and there is always more demand than what we can provide," said director Echo Shumaker-Pruitt.

The Chinese American Planning Council, located in the heart of Chinatown on Elizabeth Street has also been able to expand its ESL services. "Yes, we're offering more classes due to the City Council funding," said Simon Chiew, Director of the Workforce Development Division. "We can offer over 100 more slots this year."

Pruitt added that while they offer the necessary educational services to help individuals qualify for DACA, it's not up to the educational providers to determine eligibility. "We just take people that have the potential of being eligible because they meet the age requirement, then we refer them to legal providers who determine if they are eligible for DACA if that is something they're interested in pursuing," Pruitt said. "There might be some people who are interested in DACA but maybe they can apply for citizenship or a green card."

Another hurdle the DACA-eligible face is difficulty establishing continuous residency in the United States, something that is less an issue for younger applicants still living with parents. "As an undocumented person the number one thing you learn is you have to stay in the shadows and try not to establish a paper trail of your presence here," said Elisa Gahng, Staff Attorney with MinKwon Center For Community Action in Flushing. "Now in order to apply for DACA you have to prove your presence through documentation."

Finding documents that prove continuous residence can take some ingenuity. "We've used sonograms, mammograms, birth certificates of children born in the U.S. and children's vaccination records," said Splain.

Potential applicants may also be initially fearful about revealing their status to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), or providing a trail to undocumented parents and siblings. "I think there was that concern in the beginning, but USCIS did a really great job alleviating that and talking about what the privacy policy would be between them and the Department of Homeland Security," said Burke.

The current policy is that individuals whose cases are under consideration for DACA will not be referred to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The policy also covers the applicant's family members and guardians.

"One of our jobs is to make sure we inform people so that they really understand what this process is," said Splain. "Certainly people are anxious, but once they understand how the process works, I don't feel that fear is at the forefront. There's more hope than fear."

The extra City Council funding and the push by outreach and education groups to inform potential applicants is paying off. "There are just 21 counties throughout the country that had more than 1,000 applicants in the first months after DACA's 2012 launch, Martinez said. "NYIC told me they've screened 650 new people since the funding got rolled out just a few months ago. That's pretty good when I think about it in that larger context."

Although DACA recipients are ineligible for health insurance coverage through the Affordable Care Act, NYIC sponsors workshops on how to access New York State Medicaid and other local healthcare resources. "It's not just you got your DACA, so now go about your business," said Martinez.

Martinez added that immigrant outreach organizations are working beyond DACA for more comprehensive immigration reform. "It's very important to a lot of community-based organizations that while they're trying to process more people into DACA, they're simultaneously pushing for the New York DREAM Act. There's concern about what happens when we've helped all these people move through ESL or the HSE and then we want to help them move toward higher education and they just can't afford it. It's important and connected." The recently defeated version of the New York DREAM Act would have expanded state tuition assistance to DACA recipients and undocumented students.

For 30-year old DACA applicant Angel, inability to afford costs without access to State aid caused his college plans to derail. "I had to stop attending college because I couldn't afford it so I was forced to work," he said.

The Dominican Republic native came to the United States at the age of 9 for what he thought would be a visit with his parents. Once here, his parents told him the U.S. would be his new home.

Angel said that during his elementary and high school years his parents encouraged him to study, but as he neared the end of high school, he realized that his immigration status was an issue that needed to be resolved.

Angel now works part-time off the books teaching martial arts to high school students in his Brooklyn neighborhood. He hopes to resume his college studies and major in architecture once his DACA application is accepted.

"DACA will give me work authorization and I'll pay taxes," he said. "That will be just a start. I'll be able to find a better job, get paid a little more, save money, go back to school, get a degree. I think that's perfect."

***

by Hayley Camacho for Gotham Gazette

@GothamGazette

CM Robert Cornegy Jr discussing his audible alarms bill (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, introduced two pieces of legislation to the Council: an amendment to the new paid sick leave law to ease the burden on small businesses devastated by Hurricane Sandy, and a bill that calls for audible alarms on the outward-leading doors of schools housing students in pre-K to fifth grade or District 75 (special needs) students.

Council Member Cornegy sat down with Gotham Gazette to discuss these two pieces of legislation and much more. In part one of the interview, Cornegy discusses these two initiatives 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.

***

@GothamGazette

@RobertCornegyJr

@TweetBenMax

Mayor de Blasio announces his press team (nyc.gov)

What to look for in New York politics this week, via the city and Albany:

After another busy week in New York City politics highlighted by the introduction of a bill in the City Council to provide municipal identification cards to all New Yorkers, including undocumented immigrants, and Mayor Bill de Blasio's speech "On the Future of New York City," given on his 100th day in office, the week ahead will surely have its fair share of news.

On Monday afternoon, the mayor will be making an announcement from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Politicker is reporting that it is fireworks-related.

Speaking of fireworks, there have also been reports that the battle over the next head of the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment has become quite contentious. Whether or not a film commissioner appointment is made this week, look for at least one or two major administration appointments as the lengthy mayoral transition concludes. Many have at least one eye on the post of FDNY commissioner, perhaps the most high-profile appointment the mayor has yet to make.

Meanwhile, word came on Friday that Mayor de Blasio's new Hurricane Sandy response team had delivered the promised "new comprehensive diagnostic report," with "extensive recommendations to provide financial relief to homeowners, engage local communities, and build a stronger, more resilient New York."

The announcement from the mayor's office explains that the report will be unveiled at an event on Thursday, April 17th, the details of which have yet to be foretold.

The city at-large awaits further word on municipal union contract negotiations, but it is unclear when any might come. The clock is ticking, however, as the administration returns to the fiscal year 2015 budget after the mayor released his preliminary outline, the City Council held a month of oversight hearings, and the State came to terms on its own budget deal. New union contracts should be settled by June 30 at the latest, the city's comptroller, Scott Stringer, has warned, so that they can be accounted for as the City Council passes the budget that day.

Typically, the mayor releases his revised executive budget in late April, which prompts the next round of council oversight hearings leading into the end of June agreement.

The City Council itself has no full-body "stated" meeting or any committee meetings scheduled for the week as the Passover and Easter holidays arrive and council members attend to constituent services in their districts, continue budget discussions, and prepare for the next round of those meetings, which begin on the 23rd.

The city's Department of Education (DOE) has been busy of late as chancellor Carmen Fariña revamps things under her purview. The DOE announced significant organizational overhaul last week after several policy items of late, including heightening requirements for becoming a principal and reducing the role of standardized tests in the student promotion process. The DOE has said that further announcements should be expected soon.

And a few things to look for from Albany:

Legislators continue their long post-budget April break this week - the Senate returns to the capital on the 23rd, the Assembly on the 28th - but that doesn't mean all is quiet in Albany. The fallout from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's decision to abruptly end The Moreland Commission on Public Corruption continues. Last week, Manhattan U.S. District Attorney Preet Bharara issued a stiff rebuke to Cuomo when his office seized Moreland's files and Bharara slammed Cuomo's decision to end the commission in an interview with WNYC's Brian Lehrer.

Bharara indicated that he would be inclined to look into allegations that Cuomo meddled in the commission. Moreland commissioners continue to speak to the press about their frustration with the Cuomo administration's involvement in the commission, albeit anonymously. Expect to hear more about Moreland this week.

The Moreland debacle comes as two men vying to replace Cuomo have geared up their campaigns and unions and progressive groups have expressed exasperation with Cuomo's agenda.

Westchester County Executive and Republican gubernatorial hopeful Rob Astorino seized on the Moreland controversy to attack Cuomo and demand he investigate Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins began a tour touting the "Green New Deal" as a progressive alternative to Cuomo's right-leaning economic agenda. Hawkins earned a surprising 50,000 votes in his challenge to Cuomo four years ago. This race is only going to pick up steam as spring blooms.

The other recent controversy in Albany that is sure to make more news this week is the argument over a public campaign financing system, especially the pilot program for the state comptroller's race that was part of the state budget deal of April 1. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has declared he will not opt into the program, railing against the process by which it was designed.

Meanwhile, the resignation of health commissioner Dr. Nirav Shah has Albany on alert for potential action on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking. Shah has been documenting a health study of the process for three years and faced tremendous pressure to make a recommendation for or against the process. Some expect Shah's resignation could indicate that a decision from the Cuomo Administration on whether to allow the process is imminent. 

With things appearing relatively quiet in Albany and city government, look to some of the 2014 electoral races for a bit more action - especially the race in New York's thirteenth congressional district, where Rep. Charles Rangel is facing stiff opposition in his reelection bid.

***

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

Bill de Blasio delivers his April 10th speech (nyc.gov)

The theme of Mayor Bill de Blasio's April 10th speech, entitled an "Address on New York City's Future," was defining a "progressive city." In doing so, de Blasio hit upon the points familiar to those who have followed the mayor throughout his campaign and into office: de Blasio's vision of a progressive New York is born from a collective purpose, an administration the "product of movement politics," he said on Thursday, one which is focused on "progressiveness, opportunity, inclusion, justice."

Those bedrock principles are to be manifested, de Blasio has explained time and again, in, among others, the forms of expanded education access and workers' rights, responsible development, affordable housing, trust between community and police, and, a general assurance that the city and its government are working for all New Yorkers. Though his speech on Thursday was similar to many he has given over the past year-and-a-half, if not longer, this time was different - one hundred days into his term, Mayor Bill de Blasio was able to tick off tangible accomplishments that his administration has achieved toward realizing his progressive vision for the city he was elected to lead 157 days ago.

"We've already taken great strides," de Blasio said before providing support in the form of data that may have made his predecessor proud, were it not for the fact that de Blasio was boasting about outperforming him: lower rates, first quarter this year as compared to last, in terms of wait-time for repairs in NYCHA buildings, traffic fatalities, shootings, murders, and robberies; a higher rate of pothole-filling; hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers covered by expanded paid sick leave, thousands more pre-K seats created, and hundreds of affordable housing units in the works.

De Blasio touted having put forth a "fiscally responsible, transparent and progressive" preliminary budget, again reminding listeners of the balancing act he is attempting: running an activist, inequality-reducing government that spends wisely and keeps the streets clean and safe.

While de Blasio got specific detailing the progress his administration has made over its first hundred days, he mostly stayed at 30,000 feet when discussing the days, months, and years ahead. He quoted Abraham Lincoln, Robert Kennedy, and Plato, but he did not outline any new policy plans or flesh out existing initiatives. The mayor showed a well-produced video of several New Yorkers singing his praises, he did not unveil any power point slides of agenda items.

Even when touting his responsible fiscal stewardship, de Blasio did not so much as allude to the elephant in every municipal meeting room and cubicle: the union contracts the City must negotiate.

What will the administration next ask from Albany now that the pre-K armistice is signed? What is the status of the expansion of the community school model? When might those carriage horses ride off into the sunset? Along with the status of the contract negotiations, a few of the many questions unanswered on Thursday.

Though he did not specifically remind New Yorkers in his speech, we do know that more detailed policies are afoot: the mayor's Sandy recovery team is due to release implementation plans on Friday and an affordable housing manifesto is expected May 1. Further announcements are expected from the Department of Education and several other agencies, as well as the last set of initial commissioner appointments by the mayor himself. As de Blasio made clear on Thursday, all of the coming developments should be expected to align with the "progressive city" that the mayor envisions.

"The beginning is the most important part of any work," de Blasio quoted Plato, "for that is the time at which the character is being formed."

***

by Ben Max, Executive Editor, Gotham Gazette

@TweetBenMax 

[view an excellent video compilation of highlights from Bill de Blasio's first 100 days as mayor by NYTrue.com's John Kenny]

Mayor de Blasio's "Address on New York City's Future"
(Transcript via the mayor's press office)

Mayor de Blasio:
Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you everyone for being here. I want to particularly thank Jennifer Jones Austin for her extraordinary introduction, but more importantly for her extraordinary work in helping us to build this administration and to make the changes we're making in this city. We owe her a debt of gratitude for having played such an important leadership role in our transition. Let's thank her.

[Applause]

And let's thank Katherine Ponce de Leon for leading us so beautifully in the pledge of allegiance.

[Applause]

I thank all the elected officials, all the commissioners and city officials, all friends who are with us this today for joining us as we mark this occasion. But I especially have to thank my partner in all I do, the person who I think with and dream with and the person who has been with me every step of the way, the first lady of the City of New York, my wife Chirlane McCray.

[Applause]

We have a lot to celebrate. We have a lot to be thankful for, but our hearts are still very heavy today. Yesterday we lost a good man. We lost New York City Police Officer Dennis Guerra. And I want you to understand what this means in human terms – a married father of four, just 38 years old, a hero, a man who walked into danger to try and save others, and saw it as his duty and his responsibility. We lost someone who exemplified all that's good about New York City, and my heart goes out to his family. We feel their loss with them. And I ask you to keep them in your prayers, and I also ask you to keep in your prayers Police Officer Rosa Rodriguez, who's still in critical condition, still fighting for her life. Remember her and her family. She too is a hero. And she needs our prayers and support in this moment.

And they represent the most selfless and noble traditions of this city. And let us have a moment of silence for Office Guerra.

[Silence]

I want to take a moment to thank everyone at the Cooper Union, this extraordinary New York treasure. I want to thank President Bharucha for his leadership, and I want to thank the faculty, all the workers here at Cooper Union and all of the students who make this place one of the great institutions of this city.

It is a particular honor to be here because this stage is renowned for over a century and a half for being one of the places that New Yorkers come together to think, to talk, to dream. And it's part of a – an institution that's always had the highest academic standards but has always believed in inclusion. It's believed that everyone deserves an opportunity for the extraordinary education afforded here.

You heard from the president, this is a stage where scientists and artists and presidents and mayors have spoken. And they've spoken to passionate souls and curious minds over the generations – people seeking truth and people trying to make sense of the times they live in and where we go from here.

So we find ourselves in a perfect setting to discuss all that our city is and all that we're capable of when we're at our very best.

One of the most distinguished individuals to ever grace this stage, Abraham Lincoln, said right here at Cooper Union, "Let us have faith that right makes might."

And that is the spirit we bring to this endeavor.

When this Administration was sworn into office 100 days ago, there were certainly some who didn't know what to make of us – not just of me, but of all of you, of all the people who helped to get us here.

So let me take a moment to tell you what we're all about.

This administration is a product of movement politics.

But the movement we're a part of doesn't define the boundaries of its ranks through exclusivity.

Rather, it's a movement of people who share a vision – people in every borough, of every background, and every income bracket, who believe in our city's progressive traditions.

In the last 100 days, we've been inspired by the support of so many New Yorkers – working parents and retirees, schoolteachers and business leaders.

And what we all share is a vision of a progressive city: a city that is run with the highest standards of effectiveness and professionalism, a city that respects everyone's dignity, a city that honors our proud tradition of inclusion and equality.

We welcome every New Yorker in this endeavor because we believe that we are at our best when everyone gets a shot at fulfilling their dreams.

Some people weren't quite sure what to make of our progressive agenda to reduce inequality and restore opportunity. But now they're starting to see.

Because politics of the sort that we believe in doesn't measure success by poll numbers, but by action.

We believe in grassroots, people-powered government.

We judge – thank you.

[Applause]

We judge success on results – on making a difference in the lives of real people in every neighborhood, in all five boroughs.

Now the vision we are advancing isn't new to our city – progressiveness, opportunity, inclusion, justice – these values are coded in New York's DNA.

New York has always been the center of progressive America. This is the city where courageous workers were pioneers in the union movement; where the NAACP was formed and where the Stonewall protests launched the LGBT rights movement; the city of the Statue of Liberty, the ultimate symbol of open doors and unmatched opportunity for people from every corner of the globe.

We weren't sent to City Hall to change New York's character. You sent us here to restore New York's proud legacy as the progressive city.

[Applause]

You sent us here to keep the sacred promise of our city that everyone has a place, that everyone gets a voice.

No nos enviaron a la Alcaldía para cambiar el carácter de Nueva York; ustedes nos trajeron aquí para restaurar el orgulloso legado de Nueva York como la ciudad progresista.

[Applause]

Y para preservar la sagrada promesa de que en Nueva York hay lugar para todos y que todos tenemos voz.

[Applause]

Our inequality crisis – the Tale of Two Cities that we've been living for years and years threatens who we are, and it threatens what kind of city we will be.

Restoring a progressive New York, that is our vision and it's what's driven the steps we take, and it's what drives the steps we will take ahead, together.

But I can tell you, in the first 100 days, we've already great strides. And I want to thank everyone in this room who's been a part of it. You know I had an opportunity during the Inner Circle show that the media puts on each year – I had the opportunity to portray one of the great New Yorkers of TV history, Ralph Kramden, played by Jackie Gleason.

[Applause]

And if he were standing here – if Ralph Kramden were standing here, he would say at this moment how sweet it is.

[Applause]

In a progressive city, the government must perform at the highest level of effectiveness and professionalism. It's how we keep faith with the people. It's how we show them that we mean to honor their trust. And it sounds simple, but I assure you it's not.

It begins with finding the finest, most talented individuals to serve others – no matter what sacrifice it means for them. People who give of themselves to this city – a lot of them are here – the leaders of our city agencies, people who work to make this place run and are working to make it better. Please give them a round of Applause to thank all of them.

[Applause]

Many people told me in the months before I became mayor that it would be hard to find good talent, let alone great talent. But get to know our deputy mayors and the heads of our agencies and all the people who are making this project, this plan come together, who have made these 100 days happen. And it will make you additionally proud to be a New Yorker.

Now if New Yorkers can't be confident that their city will provide basic services, then all of the other things we're doing – all of the rest of our vision for a progressive city will mean very little.

Keeping New Yorkers safe and providing the vital services that New Yorkers need was, is, and will always be job one.

We've never lost sight of this first job – no matter how many challenges we've faced.

Yes, we did not expect one of the snowiest winters in the city's recorded history. The statistics actually go back literally to the time that Abraham Lincoln stood on this stage.

[Laughter]

And we got the snowiest January and February ever. So learn by doing on the job. But I'll tell you, our sanitation workers and all the city agencies involved did a remarkable job of keeping this city clear.

[Applause]

And then one morning, with no warning whatsoever, we had the tragedy in East Harlem. One moment life was normal, the next moment everything was in shambles for so many families. And our first responders performed extraordinarily. I want to thank them all, particularly our firefighters, who did so much to save people.

[Applause]

And the East Harlem community came together, one for another, protected each other, consoled each other, supported each other. And New Yorkers, from all over this city, closed ranks to help the people of East Harlem.

And then, as we came into office, we experienced a different kind of challenge and a different kind of tragedy – the growing epidemic of pedestrian deaths. And we saw before our eyes a problem growing every day, threatening the lives of our families and our children. And that's why we put the Vision Zero plan in place right away, to immediately do better at protecting our people. And I'm proud to say, even though this plan has just begun, even though only the first steps have been taken, that in the first quarter of this year, we have – compared, I should say, to the first quarter of last year – the number of traffic deaths is down 26 percent.

[Applause]

And when it comes to public safety in general, Commissioner Bratton and the men and women of the NYPD are doing extraordinary things every day, and they're doing it while building a stronger relationship between the police and all of our communities. They're keeping crime low while healing the relationship and bringing communities and police closer together. And that is something we should all be thankful for.

[Applause]

Again comparing the first quarter of this year to the first quarter of last year, murders are down 9.5 percent, shootings are down 3.4 percent, robberies are down 7.2 percent. And overall, crime is down. All of this done by the extraordinary men and women we depend on every day. And they have continued, but it's really – it's something that we have to take stock of at all times. They continue to keep us safe, and they're working every day to build a deeper partnership between police and community.

And then we have to make sure that government balanced its books. And we have to be honest with the people of this city about the challenges that came with that. So we produced a preliminary budget that was fiscally responsible, transparent and progressive to keep this city on a solid footing so we could do all of the things we plan to do in the future.

And finally, to take stock of the day-to-day work of government, that foundation we have to lay each and every day so we can build towards a better city, I'd say nothing typifies the mundane work of government better than filling potholes.

[Applause]

You can tell the difference when the potholes has been filled and when it hasn't been. Well, our Department of Transportation crews – let me give you something that's really extraordinary. Last year the Department of Transportation crews, in the first quarter, filled 115,000 potholes. This year they have filled nearly 289,000 potholes.

[Applause]

That's something to be proud of.

[Applause]

So the kind of governmental excellence I'm talking about is critical to restoring New York as the progressive city, but it is by no means enough.

In a progressive city, we're honest, we recognize that growing inequality is the crisis of our times, and it contradicts everything we know is good about this city.

Throughout our history, New York has been the global center of opportunity and progress, commerce and culture. Our tiny geographic confines have produced countless leaders and innovators from finance to theater to education. This has been a place where drive, creativity and above all hard work have been rewarded. Work was always rewarded.

But now we have to fight to keep it that way. Because now, for so many people in New York – for so many good, hardworking people – even the basics have become a struggle. The things we think people should be able to wake up and depend on every day, the things we think should be a given – a decent place to live, the income to support a family, a better future for your children. In today's New York people are struggling just to achieve those basics. And it's our responsibility to lift them up, to help make sure that each and every New Yorker can have those guarantees again.

We have to remember that the best and the brightest are born in every neighborhood, in every zip code.

[Applause]

And what marks a just society is that it allows them all to reach their potential.

But we're not there now. And if we can't get there again, we risk losing so much of what makes New York New York.

So let's talk about the things we need to do.

In a progressive city, there's equal educational opportunity for every child. Every child.

[Applause]

When we embarked on our efforts, we said that the things we were going to do, the changes we were going to make wouldn't just be in one neighborhood or another. It wouldn't just be a pilot program. Our goal was to create something universal, because the problems were so deep. We couldn't just help the few, we had to reach across the spectrum. We had to reach everyone. And I'll tell you when we do that, when we make that kind of investment – when it's something across the whole city, across the whole society, people can feel that it represents our values and our priorities. And you know who feels it the most? Our children. Our children know when they're being invested in. They know when we think they really are our future, because we invest in them.

[Applause]

And so we acted on that vision. And in these last weeks, we secured the most state funding for pre-K in the history of New York State for the City of New York.

[Applause]

When I say we, I mean everyone in this room, because you made the difference. Now, starting this September, tens of thousands more New York children will have full-day pre-K – tens of thousands more.

[Applause]

And there are cynics out there trying to convince us sometimes that the things we see before our very eyes aren't true. But let me remind them of the research, because the jury is back and the research is clear – pre-K is one of the best things we can do to launch kids on a successful educational career, and a successful life ahead.

[Applause]

Studies have shown time and again that children who get full-day, high quality pre-K – exactly the kind we will produce – that they're better prepared to begin school than those that don't have it. They have better vocabularies and math skills. They are less likely to become delinquent later in life. They are more likely to become employed consistently later in life.

Those are the studies, that's the academic research. Let me tell you about something I saw just a few days ago. I was reading a noted work of literature, "The Very Hunger Caterpillar´–

[Laughter]

– to a pre-K class. Luckily I had read it many, many times before to Dante and Chiara. I was ready for all the plot twists. I was reading it to a pre-K class at P.S. 239 in Ridgewood, Queens. One of the students hadn't said much. A lot of them were very engaged, very active, but one 4-year-old boy in the back of the room finally got up the gumption, raised his hand, and he had a word he wanted to share with the rest of the class, one of the vocabulary words they had learned because of reading this book.

So this previously shy 4-year-old boy in Queens raises his hand and I called upon him. And he says, proudly, "Metamorphosis!"

[Laughter]

If that's what pre-K does, I want a lot more pre-K.

[Applause]

And on top of that, thousands of students will have access to after-school programs they never had before. Our goal is to make sure that every middle school student in this city has free, available after school so they'll be safe, they'll be learning –

[Applause]

And so their parents can go to work with a little less worry.

I recently visited an afterschool program at MS 331 in the Morris Heights neighborhood of the Bronx. There they go – Bronx is in the house.

[Laughter]

I went with Chancellor Fariña and we were both entranced by what we saw.

It is a wonderful program – offered everything from homework help to arts and culture.

And we saw a group of middle school girls and they were doing a dance routine. And they were precise and they were focused and they were energetic and they were helping each other. They were critiquing each other. They were working to get better with every attempt. And I started talking to them and they talked about each other and how one had been shy until they got into the after-school program, how one didn't participate in class until they got into the after-school program. One of them said she didn't do her homework as much until she got into the after-school program.

These were children full of energy and life and purpose and hope, and they were safe. And they were getting better every day. And that is what after school is about.

[Applause]

There's a lot to do in a progressive city. And in that kind of city, aggressive crime fighting and honoring the dignity of all New Yorkers, they aren't mutually exclusive ideas. They are ideas that go hand-in-hand.

We've begun a new era in the relationship between the NYPD and the communities it serves.

And I want to give you one example of just how much has changed, just how much we have all traveled a path together in the last two years.

A few years ago, a young man named Nicolas Peart, a young man from Harlem, wrote an op-ed – a very powerful op-ed – in the New York Times that described that despite trying to do everything right – going to school, and pursuing his dreams and abiding by the law – he had already been stopped and frisked five times. And it had taken a toll on him. But instead of going into his shell, he decided to take action. Nicolas joined with others, filed a civil rights lawsuit. One of the lawsuits, I'm proud to say, we recently settled.

[Applause]

And here's the reality. He's a good young man. He's the kind of young man we want building the future of this city. But he was being discounted. He was being treated as part of the problem. In fact, all along, he was part of the solution. And he responded to the injustice that he experienced with maturity, with intelligence, with tenacity. He worked through the system and he showed that the system could work. So, in a progressive city, we celebrate a young man that was once shunned, and now we can look to as an example to us all.

[Applause]

Just this week, I got to see more of the change happening, when I addressed a new class of NYPD cadets. And it was really an inspiration to see them. Young men and women of every background, from every corner of the city. They worked so hard to get to the academy. They believed in this city. They believed in public service. They want to help others. And now, they're receiving a different kind of training – training that focuses on building partnerships, building faith and trust between police and community – for the good of all, and for the safety of all. And they embraced that vision. And they are part of New York's bright future.

Now, in the progressive city, we make sure that people are safe in many ways. We make sure they're safe from economic dislocation. We make sure that something as simple as an illness doesn't mean lost wages or lost jobs. And that's why, just in these last weeks, I signed legislation that increased and extended paid sick leave coverage for over half a million more New Yorkers.

[Applause]

We're going to honor family. We're going to honor work. We have to give people a chance to make it. We have to give them some stability. We have to be there for them when the chips are down. Paid sick leave is one of those simple but fundamental things we do to help people weather the storms of their lives, to help them be there for their children when their children are sick, and know that they won't lose that crucial day's pay, or two days' pay, or a week's pay, that so few New Yorkers can afford to lose.

And by the way, for years and years, despite the hard work of so many people in this city, we couldn't even get a vote on this legislation. But now it is the law of New York City, and we are proud of that fact.

[Applause]

By the way, paid sick leave doesn't just protect working people, it also helps to build great companies. More and more, I'm talking to business owners around this city who recognize and embrace the notion that a healthier work force is good for everyone, that a work force that's respected and taken care of is good for everyone. They understand that that builds loyalty, that builds productivity, that builds longevity and jobs.

And I'll tell you, we signed the legislation at an amazing company, Steve's Ice Cream in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. The owner of the company, David Stein, explained to all of us that he believed in creating a quality product. To do that, he needed quality workers. He needed committed workers. He needed workers who felt that the company was something special to them, and the work they did was special to them. So, he believes in paid sick leave because he wants his workers to know they're invested in, too. And I can tell you. It was inspiring. And I felt it was only the right thing to do to do a taste test to affirm his philosophy, and it is true that the devotion of his workers has created a fabulous ice cream.

[Laughter & applause]

And in a progressive city, we do everything we can to make sure that people can afford to live in and stay in the neighborhoods they love. That's part of what makes New York what it is. A mix of all of us. A place for everyone. So, we've begun on the road of fulfilling our commitment to creating 200,000 units of affordable housing that this city desperately needs.

[Applause]

Let me put that in human terms. That will be enough housing for between 400,000 and 500,000 New Yorkers. Now, at the same time, we'll be creating jobs. And we'll be focused on making sure those construction jobs as we create that housing, the maintenance jobs as we create that housing – that as many of them as possible will go to residents of the communities in which the housing is built. We have to create opportunity for them.

[Applause]

And as many, many people asked me out on the campaign trail last year, what does affordable mean? One of the questions I got most often from – you know, New Yorkers are shy and retiring. They rarely tell you what they're really feeling. A lot of people wanted to know that. So, we believe in affordable housing that reaches through the whole income spectrum. Folks who make the least, up through folks we would consider working class, and middle class. We need everyone to have an opportunity.

[Applause]

And so we've looked, from the beginning, for every chance to do more, to say to the real estate industry: We'll work with you, but the public must get its fair share. We looked at the Domino Sugar plan in Brooklyn. We said, we think we can get more. And so, as a result of tough but fair negotiations, there will now be 110,000 square feet more of affordable housing in that project.

[Applause]

All together, over 700 units of permanent affordable housing – 32 percent of the total units in that project – will be affordable.

We looked at the Hudson Yards Development – a very important part of the future of this city. We said we have to make sure it creates more opportunity for people. 1600 jobs in that development were not slated to pay living-wage wages. But we felt it was important for working people to get enough money to actually feed a family, to actually take care of themselves. And now, based on tough but fair negotiations, those 1,600 jobs will pay a living wage.

[Applause]

In East New York, we recently broke ground just a few days ago on an amazing affordable housing development called Livonia Commons. It's a multi-stage project that will create 278 units of affordable housing. And to the great credit to everyone involved, there was a commitment to hiring locally, to working with community organizations in East New York, to make sure the people who often haven't gotten opportunity would finally get it, creating the housing that their own community would benefit from. That is the direction that we will take our plans in the future. That is the direction we believe in for creating a more fair city.

So, you've heard me talk about some of the steps we've taken and why we've taken them. Now I'd like to just take a moment, for you to hear from some New Yorkers who have seen this vision of a progressive city at work, and it will tell you what it means for their lives.

[Plays video]

[Applause]

Some of these eloquent New Yorkers are here today. Let's thank them. Kassim Hinds. Bishop Eric Garnes. Juan Carlos Rivera. And Elizabeth Caquias. And their stories are just a few powerful examples of what real change means. And there's much more to come.

We've made our beginning these last 100 days. And Plato wrote, "The beginning is the most important part of any work for that is the time at which the character is being formed." And so that statement epitomizes our feelings about these 100 days. The themes, the ideas that we focused on – of government effectiveness, equality, and inclusion are the same ones that will guide all of our work in the months and years ahead, taking on some of the biggest challenges we face.

Let's talk for a moment about education. Our goals, our beliefs, our mission is to reach every child. It begins with investments like full-day pre-K for all and after-school programs for every middle school student. Those are structural changes. Those are foundations we lay for much bigger changes. And, again, they're universal in nature, because we're not going to fix something that's broken with half measures and small steps.

A few weeks ago I spoke at Riverside Church. I laid out a vision for improving neighborhood schools across the city. And one of the most fundamental things I said is we're not going to allow, any longer, the notion of a school that can't be fixed or a neighborhood school that parents don't feel comfortable sending their kids to. That has to be a thing of New York City's past.

[Applause]

So big changes, like pre-K and after school, not only uplift the children and families who benefit immediately – it starts to uplift our whole school system. Year after year, generation after generation, each year we're going to see better-prepared, better-supported students with more time in the classroom. And that will lift all boats.

But there's so much more to do. We have to focus on parents because too often in recent years, parents were treated as bystanders.

[Applause]

Let me say as a New York City public school parent myself, we are not bystanders – we are stakeholders.

[Applause]

And systematically embracing the role of parents in their own children's education, strategically engaging them, making it easier for them to be part of uplifting their own children, making it easier for them to be part of making their school better – that's what we set out to do.

And we know that the best way to build on what we've already started is to continue to bring in the highest quality teachers. It's not enough to just recruit them. It's not enough to sign them up for a year. We have to keep them. And in this area, sadly, the City of New York's been going backwards in recent years. In 2008, only 15 percent of mid-career teachers resigned. By 2013, five years later, that number had tripled to 43 percent. Devoted, capable teachers leaving the profession or leaving the work of our schools for other school systems – we have to turn that around. We have to attract the best and the brightest, continue to train them and make them better, hold them to high standards, and keep them so our school system can move forward.

[Applause]

And, as every parent knows, wherever we can, whenever we can, particularly at the younger grades, we have to start the work of reducing class size, because that's so fundamental to improving educational quality.

So we want to focus on the things that are intrinsic – early childhood education, extending the school day through afterschool, involving parents more deeply in the education of their children, recruiting and keeping the best teachers, reducing the size of classes. These are fundamentals. They haven't always gotten the attention they deserve – they certainly didn't get the investment they deserve. But this is how you make change.

[Applause]

We're going to make sure that fewer and fewer children are in trailers because you can't learn the way in a trailer you can in a classroom.

[Applause]

But I'll tell you what we won't do. We won't continue a misguided policy – a policy that has frustrated parents so deeply, that has taken us on the wrong path, that's warped our assumptions about what real education is. We're going to in every way we can, move away from high-stakes testing.

[Applause]

Because it stands to reason that in evaluating a child or any one of us, there's so much more to it than just a single standardized test. We're going to look at all the measures, all the things that make up the work of our young people. And I'm very, very proud to say that yesterday, our Department of Education, led by our extraordinary chancellor, Carmen Fariña, took an historic step, formally reducing the reliance on standardized testing for grades three through eight – a great beginning on making a reform that we desperately need.

[Applause]

So as I said at Riverside Church, we will do this work. We will do it together. We will do it at the grassroots. We will do it in an inclusive way. Because we need all our children to succeed. It doesn't matter if they go a traditional public school, a charter school, a religious school – they all will shape the future of New York. And we will work with all of them to get it right.

Let me talk to you quickly about a few other areas where we have to do things differently. You know, almost half a million New Yorkers live in public housing – almost half a million people who are only asking for fairness. For a long time it seemed mayoral administrations didn't entirely embrace their responsibilities to the Housing Authority. There was a lot of talk about mayoral control of education – rightfully so. There wasn't a lot of talk about mayoral responsibility for the Housing Authority. Well those half million people deserve that sense of responsibility and accountability at City Hall.

[Applause]

So we've said from the beginning we're going to do things differently and it begins with repairing people's homes. It begins with treating them with the dignity and respect to actually make their apartments good and clean and usable for them again. So, we provided the resources that NYCHA had been starved of for so long. Let me give you a little example. Last year, on complex repairs needed in apartments, major plumbing problems, and other things that took very skilled labor, a typical resident waited, on average, 250 days for a repair. Now, this year at the same time, they wait 50 days.

[Applause]

But when it comes to basic repairs, the everyday things that matter a lot in people's lives – last year, a typical NYCHA resident, on average, waited 150 days for even the most basic repairs. This year, they wait five days.

[Applause]

And I want to thank the leadership at NYCHA and all the hardworking people there for saying we can do better and we will do better. And they've proven it's possible.

[Applause]

We can do even more. Because there's so much that we can achieve in NYCHA for the good of all. And I've talked about the amazing opportunity we have doing energy retrofitting in all of our NYCHA buildings. It will take time, there's no doubt. But it will make our environment cleaner. It will ultimately pay for itself. And, in the process, we will provide jobs for the people who live in those developments. Now I mentioned, almost half a million New Yorkers live in public housing.

Let me give you another category of almost half a million people. Almost half a million of our fellow New Yorkers are undocumented. But they're still our fellow New Yorkers.

[Applause]

So this year, this year will provide a new municipal ID so they can live a better life here in our city.

[Applause]

If you can't sign a lease, if you can't get a bank account, if you can't do the basics, if you can't even prove who you are, it doesn't feel like you truly belong. It doesn't feel like you're respected and embraced. But these half million New Yorkers are building this city alongside all of us every single day, and we will do better by them.

[Applause]

Now let's talk about yet another area affecting hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. And it begins in Brooklyn, but it's something we're feeling all over the city. So many people who are wondering whether there will be healthcare available for them in their community. And they're wondering it for a good reason – because they've watched over the last dozen years over a dozen hospitals close before their very eyes – institutions they thought were sacred and permanent, suddenly gone. Healthcare was farther away, it was less accessible. But people need health care everywhere. They need it equally. They need it fairly. In a growing city, in fact, we need more ability to provide healthcare. So we said we could do it differently. We said could use the tools of government to protect community healthcare facilities – to update them, modernize them, make the finances work differently and better, but still always protect healthcare at the local level, because that's where people need it – in their neighborhoods.

[Applause]

And look at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn today. Just last week, a deal was reached to keep healthcare on that site, to keep that community served the way it deserved.

[Applause]

And that is just the beginning. As we start with our vision for a Brooklyn Health Authority, and we will build it out across the five boroughs, actually using the tools of city and state government together, working with community residents, listening to their needs, finding a way to make it work, but starting from the assumption that if healthcare is not provided somewhere you can reach it, then healthcare is simply not available to you. And that will not happen in our progressive city.

[Applause]

Finally, a group of so many thousands of our fellow New Yorkers, who've experienced something very hard to describe or express, because they experienced the worst natural disaster in the history of this city when Sandy struck. And for so many people that meant literally everything was gone. Their entire home was gone. For so many people, their livelihood was gone.

And let's be clear – they've been waiting a long time. This wait hasn't given them a lot of faith that government was on their side or help was on the way. And we've said we simply won't stand idly by. So we made a commitment. I said we're going to take $100 million in federal funding that was going elsewhere and we're going to put it into rebuilding people's homes so they can restore their lives again.

[Applause]

We've added new leadership. We've added new staffing. We've said very clearly, up and down the line of city government, this has to get done. And we've made a commitment – a very public commitment – that everyone, everyone whose home was destroyed will have their home rebuilt. We owe that to them and we will achieve it.

[Applause]

So let me just talk about the vision we bring forward, by way of closing. Because we have to think about all the things that we need to do and we have to think about what animates to keep this work moving forward. Sometimes you have to break it down to the basics – why do we do this work? Why are we so involved in our communities? Why do we engage the political process?

Someone who spoke so powerfully for a different and better country said it in a way I am really moved by – Robert F. Kennedy. He said, "Everything that makes our lives worthwhile – family, work, education, a place to raise one's children and a place to rest one's head – all this depends on the decisions of government. Therefore, our essential humanity can be protected and preserved only where government must answer – not just to the wealthy, not just to those of a particular religion or a particular race, but to all its people."

That simple concept – that we must answer, we must respond, that it's our obligation to see clearly what people are experiencing and to do something to make their lives better. That's what we believe in. And we believe in the kind of politics that empowers people.

We saw it last year. Last year's election sent a clear message – the people of this city wanted a city government that would work for every single neighborhood. And we said we would give them that. And in these 100 days, we've advanced that vision – the idea that our prosperity can be shared broadly, the idea that everyone needs opportunity again, or else the city simply can't work the way it was meant to.

It will not surprise you that we've experienced some resistance from some powerful interests. There are some people who have a stake in the status quo and don't want to see these changes. It's expected that you experience opposition when you try to make changes of this nature – it's nothing surprising, it's nothing new. Our responsibility is to look that in the face and continue our work and deepen our work.

[Applause]

Because the real power – the real power resides with the people.

Grassroots politics, neighborhood politics, tells us that the people are almost always ahead of their leaders. I'll give you the examples – parents have been pushing for expanded pre-K and after-school programs for decades. Finally their voices have been heard. Working people have been calling for paid sick leave for years in this city and, finally, their voices have been heard. New Yorkers across the spectrum – but particularly parents of color – protested the abuses of Stop and Frisk. They gathered – people from all over the city gathered on Father's Day 2012 – that silent march down Fifth Avenue – saying we can't going on like this, we have to heal this wound – and finally their voices have been heard.

That's what we believe in – the grassroots, the people's voice. That's what animates us. That's what gives me hope. That's what gives me strength. That's what gives me and all of us a renewed sense of purpose each day.

This stage was known to welcome people who challenged the status quo, who challenged that which was unjust. And one American who epitomized that notion was James Russell Lowell – 19th century poet and a fierce abolitionist, who once wrote, "Fate loves the fearless."

Seizing the big opportunities for change requires heart and guts. But New Yorkers, given that opportunity for change, they see that they can achieve like no other people. And thanks to all of you, we've made this progress over these 100 days, because we thought about it from the level of our people and our neighborhoods and what it would mean.

Because of the progress we've made, that 4-year-old boy from Ridgewood, Queens, learning scientific concepts in pre-K, might someday be a life-saving surgeon in one of our neighborhood hospitals. Because of the progress we've made, that middle school girl from Morris Heights, carefully practicing her dance routines with her friends, might someday enthrall and inspire audiences at Lincoln Center, or in a community theater. Because of that progress we've made, a young woman from St. George will one day change the lives of our grandchildren as a great teacher . Put those children on the path to success and we'll realize that the small investment we've made now built our future profoundly.

That is what a progressive city looks like.

And you've shown the world that in the face of crisis of every kind – and even in the face of that most challenging, most complex crisis of inequality, that we will act. And to continue this mission, we need your help. Now, more than ever, we need your help. We need you to go out in your communities and make sure families sign up for pre-K and after school. We need you to keep leading the way, keep showing the leaders the path, holding your elected officials accountable. We need you to keep this momentum of these last 100 days growing all the time.

We have so much more to do, but we know from what we've accomplished already that it can and will be done. If you keep up your energy, your focus, your drive, I have no doubt that together we will build, once again, a progressive city here, in our beloved New York. Thank you. And God bless you.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has agreed to end his Moreland Commission to Investigate Corruption (Gotham Gazette)

Albany, N.Y.-- Governor Andrew Cuomo's Moreland Commission on Public Corruption spent over one million public dollars since its July inception, and, with Moreland's death by budget deal, it is quite unclear what return on investment New York taxpayers will see.

A large portion of the million dollars went to paying for talented investigators, some of whom earned six-figure salaries, and toward purchasing NSA-style data analysis software to detect possible corruption. Moreland was ready to deliver a detailed portrait of Albany's legislative and fundraising processes and to launch full investigations into potential corruption cases, but Cuomo agreed to kill it last week as part of a budget deal.

Moreland had prepared for a long life full of thorough investigation, staffing up with some of Albany's brightest to bolster the team of sitting district attorneys and law enforcement officials who served as commission members. Executive Director Regina Calcacaterra, a former deputy Suffolk County executive and state attorney, was hired at an annual salary of $175,000 to lead the commission full-time. Assistant Attorney General Kelly Donovan, on leave from the AG's office, was hired at an annual rate of $164,000. Investigator Elizabeth Danya Perry earned $140,000 annually; with Assistant Attorney General John Amodeo hired at $138,000; deputy director Tyler Friedman at $125,000; and director of public information Michelle Duffy at $98,000 per year.

Moreland also entered into a $175,000 contract with K2 Intelligence for "reviewing immense amounts of data from disparate sources and of varied levels of organization to uncover conflicts of interest or possible corruption."

While Moreland was alive and well, sweating State legislators spent an additional $345,000 of public money defending themselves from the subpoenas issued by the commission - which was touted as the end-all in exposing corruption and detailing Albany's dysfunctional political culture. But, now good government types are mourning its demise, and no one knows if the money spent and investigations made will yield anything of consequence beyond what Cuomo secured in the budget deal.

"We must root out corruption in politics and government," Cuomo said in July when announcing the panel's formation. Cuomo noted that the legislature had refused his major ethics reform package during a year when several legislators were indicted and two wore wires to capture colleagues breaking the law. "From the beginning," Cuomo continued," I said I would not accept a watered-down approach to cleaning up Albany and that the legislature must either pass this legislative package or I would empanel an investigative commission tasked with accomplishing these same goals to achieve reform."

Nine months later, Cuomo has abruptly ended the commission on a promise from the legislature that it would enact a pilot campaign finance program that good government groups have called "a cruel hoax," smaller changes to state law regarding corruption, and the creation of a new position at the Board of Elections (BOE) designed to boost election law enforcement.

While Moreland staff is currently in the process of shutting down operations, some cases are being referred to other agencies for further investigation or prosecution - but how many and what kinds of cases may never be known.

"Cuomo played Lucy to Moreland's Charlie Brown," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG). Cuomo gets to nominate the new election law counsel at the BOE, but Horner notes that not only must both houses of the legislature confirm the nominee, but Cuomo gave up his leverage when he agreed to end Moreland. The new chief election enforcement counsel will serve one five-year term, as will others who fill the role as it is currently outlined. The legislature also approved codifying two new felonies: "corrupting the government" and "corrupt use of position or authority."

A Moreland member confided to Gotham Gazette that the whole ordeal felt like "putting collars on the most vicious pitbulls you could find, walking them up to the line and then deciding 'nah' at the last second."

Moreland co-chairs William Fitzpatrick and Milton Williams, on the other hand, heralded the agreement after the deal was announced, saying in a statement: "We are pleased that many of our recommendations, including to create an independent enforcement mechanism at the Board of Elections, will be implemented."

But good government advocates say that it isn't just the tax payer's money that was squandered during the life of Moreland, but, more importantly, the opportunity to get a real accounting of how things work in Albany is lost.

"If they had followed through they had the tools and subpoena power to be able to paint the kind of picture of Albany that no reporter, good government group or political scientist ever could," said Bill Mahoney of NYPIRG.

"Albany could have gotten the housekeeping it needed." said Horner. "It could have just been dust bunnies that needed picking up and not a major plumbing job but we will never know now."

The same good government groups reeling over Moreland's demise hailed its first report, issued in December. That report detailed the flaws in the state BOE that leave most violations of campaign finance law unpunished and recommended a public campaign finance system similar to New York City's. Republican state senators have stood steadfast against public financing, saying that it is a waste of taxpayer money. Cuomo said it was their resistance that killed a larger deal on campaign finance in the budget this year.

Advocates wonder why Cuomo relinquished the greatest leverage he had over legislators. The governor repeatedly threatened to invoke a corruption commission during the first two years of his term whenever the legislature refused to act on ethics reforms. Once convened, Moreland became the boogeyman that struck fear in the hearts of legislators, but being at odds with the legislature over the commission may have thrown too big a wrench in Cuomo's overall legislative plans to keep him committed to it.

"Killing moreland makes it more likely the public will view Albany in a worse light than it deserves," said Horner. "A huge historical opportunity has been missed."

Horner notes that Cuomo could empanel another corruption commission again if he so chooses, but would the legislature take it seriously if he did, and has Cuomo lost the momentum he had to actually reform Albany?

"I would hope he does follow through on campaign promises during the rest of [the legislative] session" said Mahoney, "what we won't get is a picture of how the legislature really works - Moreland could have provided that and we've lost that chance."

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

Bill de Blasio during his 2010 public advocate inaugural address (Hiroko Masuike/Getty Images)

"The next phase of New York City's growth and its greatness will be meeting the rising tide of public engagement and ending the disconnect between the people and City Hall," said Bill de Blasio in his inaugural address - as public advocate, on January 1, 2010.

In that speech, which he gave between those of Comptroller John Liu and Mayor Michael Bloomberg, de Blasio hit not only on the need for better public engagement, and repeatedly so, but also on poverty, responsible development, affordable housing, education, and homelessness.

De Blasio followed his inaugural speech with a first 100 days as public advocate that included taking action on several of those issues, but only in the fairly impotent way that the position, and it's $1.7 million budget, allowed.

According to press releases and statements found on the archived public advocate's website, Public Advocate de Blasio quickly launched a "Community Organizing and Constituent Services Department" on January 4, 2010, and spent much of the next three-plus months using the bully pulpit that the office provides to call for changes in homelessness policy; protest the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling; announce his plan for a new website, "Open Government NYC," to bring more transparency to local public funding by government officials; launch a campaign to inform New Yorkers of their role in the charter revision commission process and encourage the commission to fully engage the public; and rail against the Bloomberg administration's closing of several city schools.

Legislatively, de Blasio, with Council Member Dan Garodnick, introduced in March, 2010, a set of bills "to strengthen civilian oversight of the NYPD" via the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB). With these proposals, and others, de Blasio the public advocate was able to impact the public discourse, but often fell short of accomplishing policy goals.

Four years later, Bill de Blasio is mayor, and approaching, on Thursday, April 10, 2014, his 100th day in office.

Mayor de Blasio will commemorate the day with a speech at Manhattan's Cooper Union. In the speech, de Blasio is certain to hit on several of the topics he spoke about during his inaugural address on January 1, 2014, which in multiple ways, was an expansion upon his address of four years prior - but with an air of far greater agency.

According to the mayor's press office, on Thursday de Blasio "will discuss the measurable progress that his administration has made since he took office, and will offer a look ahead at the next steps he will take in the coming months."

De Blasio will trumpet his early accomplishments such as "the dramatic expansion of universal pre-K and after-school programs, his Vision Zero initiative to drastically reduce traffic crashes and pedestrian deaths, the city's new legislation to expand paid sick leave to help 500,000 New Yorkers, his work with Commissioner Bratton to end the overuse of stop-and-frisk and...his successful negotiations to require developers to build thousands of units of affordable housing."

Even in the relatively short time of 100 days, de Blasio has indeed used the levers, and dollars, of government at his disposal to act on his "progressive" vision for the city that he was almost only able to articulate in words as public advocate.

It should be no surprise that de Blasio has not forgotten where he came from, including a $700,000 bump to the public advocate's coffers in his preliminary budget outline.

While de Blasio will spend much of Thursday's address touting his early mayoral wins, when he turns to next steps, he is likely to preview policy agendas due from his commissioners, especially those charged with leading Sandy rebuilding efforts, as well as his next battles with Albany.

On Friday, the mayor's new Build It Back team is due to release "an updated strategy with diagnostic and additional specific recommendations to improve Sandy recovery."

Meanwhile, NY1 is reporting that legislation will be introduced in the City Council to enact de Blasio's call for a municipal ID card, which, if implemented, would most benefit immigrants and the homeless. That legislation could be introduced at the Council's next stated meeting, scheduled for just after de Blasio's speech on Thursday.

Along with the ID program, other ways in which the administration will address the difficulties faced by the homeless are likely to be featured in the mayor's remarks, especially considering his having made the issue a budget priority and homelessness policy a recurring theme for de Blasio.

To actualize some other elements of his agenda, the mayor will need to resume his pursuit of acquiring greater home rule from Albany. In his first 100 days as mayor, de Blasio won a small home rule victory in the City's being able to use funds toward rent subsidy programs for transitioning the homeless into permanent housing. But, despite securing $300 million for expanded pre-K, de Blasio was unsuccessful at convincing state representatives to allow the City to raise taxes on its highest earners and he lost power to the State on charter schools.

Next up, de Blasio needs Albany to help accomplish key pieces of his Vision Zero plan, such as allowing the city more speed and red light cameras, and, de Blasio may take up the extremely uphill battle for minimum wage home rule.

Much of de Blasio's agenda harkens back to not only his mayoral campaign platform, but also his time as public advocate, and even his first 100 days in the City Council, in early 2002.

As a freshman council member, de Blasio chaired the general welfare committee, and in what may have been a preview of his pre-K push, quickly co-sponsored a public hearing on "the city's failure to expand its number of child care slots" despite receiving federal funding to do so, as reported by The Amsterdam News in 2002.

Also early in his council tenure, de Blasio pushed the nascent Bloomberg administration to reexamine a Giuliani-era policy of moving certain homeless families around for 10-day wait periods.

As he reprises topics that have been central to his public policy work for years, de Blasio's message on Thursday will undoubtedly continue to center on reducing inequality, expanding opportunity, and creating a more fair and just city.

One key aspect of the mayor's portfolio that he may very well continue to stay mum on, though, is the ongoing contract negotiations between the City and municipal labor unions, the outcomes of which are sure to define de Blasio's tenure regardless of how many days on the job the mayor has accrued when they are announced.

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by Ben Max, Executive Editor, Gotham Gazette

@TweetBenMax

New York City Council members (William Alatriste)

Reform or no reform, this year's discretionary funding process continues to move along in the New York City Council.

Discretionary funding forms are due back from council members to the finance division of the City Council on Wednesday, April 9, according to a memo that was sent to all 51 council members on March 26, a copy of which was obtained by Gotham Gazette.

The new Council, led by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, has committed to reforming the discretionary funding, or member item, process - but that process is still ongoing while internal rules reforms are being negotiated.

As first reported by Gotham Gazette, an 11-question survey was sent out to each council member by the speaker's office on March 25. The survey asked for input on a variety of reform topics, including if council members are in favor of the speaker doling out member items equally or according to a yet-to-be-determined needs-based formula.

Survey results are in the process of being tallied and a proposal will be submitted by the speaker's staff to the rules committee, although no date has been set for this step. In a March 26 interview, Council Member Brad Lander, chair of the rules committee, told Gotham Gazette that new council rules would be approved before the budget is adopted. The latest the budget can be adopted is June 30.

In the memo sent to council members, which is solely focused on discretionary funding, members are asked to outline their capital and expense requests. In doing so, they are instructed not to exceed certain dollar amounts, something not done in prior years. In 2013, the Council rules stated, "The [member item] amount is determined by various factors, including local needs, the member's request, and other considerations."

According to the 2014 memo, the ceiling is $7.5 million for capital funding and $500,000 for local expense funding. Funding requests for Department of Aging and Department of Youth are asked to be exactly $110,000 and $150,000, respectively.

If the $7.5 million cap stays, it should level out capital funding by reducing the largest member item payouts. In fiscal year 2013, eight members received over $7.5 million in capital discretionary funding from then-Speaker Christine Quinn. If those members had been limited to the $7.5 million cap, an extra $15.1 million could have been distributed to other members. Of the group that received more than $7.5 million in fiscal year 2013, only Donovan Richards and Jimmy Van Bramer are still members of the Council.

With both member item reform and budget negotiations still in progress, nothing has been decided. The cap set in the speaker's memo could move or disappear completely based on rules reforms or the speaker's discretion.

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by Kristen Meriwether, Gotham Gazette
@MeriwetherK

A visual representation of the 50 words appearing most often in a large sampling of statements, speeches, and press releases from Mayor Bill de Blasio during his first 100 days in office (98 to be exact: January 1-April 8). The word cloud has been set to show words larger the more they appear in those statements and releases. Also, the tool was set not to include basic words such as "a," "and," and "the." The representation does not include question-and-answer sessions the mayor participated in with the media, but includes his inaugural and preliminary budget speeches as well as most of the press releases announcing administration appointments and key initiatives.

For more information and the text of said speeches and statements, see the news page at nyc.gov.

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Gotham Gazette

@GothamGazette

Avi and Julie Israel, front, lost their son and became parent advocates for I-STOP (nysenate.gov)

Avi Israel remembers everything about the day his 20-year-old son, Michael, killed himself three years ago; from the cocking sound of the shotgun to his desperate struggle to break down the bedroom door, to finding Michael in a pool of blood.

It was Michael's addiction to prescription painkillers that killed him, Israel said recently. And he blames that addiction on the 20-odd prescriptions from three different doctors treating Michael's Crohn's disease.

"When I lost Michael, it was unnecessary," Israel said. "Michael could've lived."

Israel, 61, and his wife are among the families that pushed for New York's Internet System for Over-Prescribing Act, or I-STOP, which was signed into law in 2012. As of the end of August 2013, all physicians in the state are required to check the I-STOP database before writing a prescription for many painkillers and addictive medications.

The new rule is supposed to help physicians see all the medications their patients could be taking, especially those prescribed by other doctors. As well as preventing harmful drug interactions, the database is intended to prevent patients that are struggling with addiction from "doctor shopping" – going from doctor to doctor for new prescriptions. I-STOP also requires those taking narcotics and other addictive drugs to visit their doctors at least once a month to renew the prescriptions.

But some say the law has caused unintended problems. Patients complain that the monthly doctor visit is onerous and difficult to comply with when they are debilitated by chronic pain. Drug counselors say I-STOP doesn't address the root problem – addiction – and that the emphasis should be on treatment programs, not policing patients.

Bob Dvorak, 63, of Saugerties, N.Y., said he worries the new rule will make it more difficult to get his prescriptions. He takes a slew of medications for peripheral neuropathy – or damaged nerves – in his legs. He is in constant pain, he said, usually starting his day at "one" on the pain scale, which progresses to a "seven" by bedtime.

Dvorak takes up to three pills a day of the painkiller Vicodin, as authorized by his neurologist. Sometimes he cuts them in half and takes them in smaller doses, he said, to "smooth out the big ups and downs."

"I am probably addicted to them," Dvorak said. "You know what, so what? To my mind, it's a hell of a lot better than sitting in a ball waiting for the pain to stop."

The I-STOP legislation, sponsored by state Senators Andrew Lanza (R-I, Staten Island) and Kemp Hannon (R, Nassau), came in response to what experts have called an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, which is killing more and more people in New York and nationally.

The most recent federal data shows 19,154 deaths occurred nationally in 2010 because of opioid abuse. Almost 84 percent of those deaths were related to prescription drugs such as oxycodone and morphine. In New York City, approximately 9,000 people died of overdoses between 2000 and 2012, according to the New York State Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and in 2012, the leading cause of accidental death in the city was drug overdose.

Staten Island alone saw 70 deaths in 2012 caused by drug overdose, said NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett during a March 27 testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disability, Alcoholism, Drug Abuse and Disability Services. The borough had the highest rates of overdose in the city, she said.

"Doctors and pharmacists now have the tools necessary to help people avoid falling prey to prescription drug abuse and to help those under its influence," Lanza said of the epidemic plaguing his Staten Island district during an April 2 interview. "While there's no magic bullet, and there will always be people struggling with addiction, I believe we can turn the tide on this epidemic by changing attitudes and implementing policies, while supporting services for prevention and treatment."

The I-STOP database has existed since 2010, but it was underutilized while it was not yet mandatory, according to the website of the State Department of Health Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. Before I-STOP became mandatory last year, only about 5,000 people had accessed the system.

However, since the law went into effect last August practitioners and pharmacists have performed nearly 8.1 million individual searches for 3.7 million patients, according to the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement.

It's unclear at this early stage whether the database is helping reduce prescription drug addiction, but it is a useful resource, said Dennis Galluzzo, a pharmacist in Williamsville, N.Y., who sat on all three state advisory committees for I-STOP. Pharmacists were always required to put their painkiller data into the system once a month, but this is the first time the database is updated on a constant basis.

"The whole point and crux of the matter is that doctors were not seeing it," Galluzzo said.

Dr. Sharon Stancliff, the medical director of Harm Reduction Coalition, an organization in Manhattan that promotes the health and dignity of those impacted by drug use, doesn't think the I-STOP program will help her drug-addicted patients. The focus, she said, must be on getting addicted patients into treatment.

Stancliff said the database has not shown her anything that her patients have not told her voluntarily. And if patients are lying to their doctors, she pointed out, the database is unlikely to prevent them from getting the drugs they seek. "If people don't have access to legal, they'll turn to illegal," she said.

Galluzzo, a pharmacist, also said that I-STOP in itself will not solve the problem. "There's a need for more of those places where people can get help, counseling, to help them stop taking these medications," Galluzzo said. "Once they're on, the biggest problem is getting them off."

Stancliff, Galluzzo and other pharmacists and practitioners are now hoping New York State takes I-STOP the next step, with education and follow-up programs.

On March 27, the State Senate passed a bill that would allow people over-the-counter access to naloxone, a drug that counters opioid overdose via a nasal spray. As the bill moves to the Assembly, a pilot program is already being tested on Staten Island, where the drug is being put in the hands of police officers.

Bassett told the City Council the drug has already saved three lives on Staten Island, and the Health Department is working with 35 city hospitals to adopt guidelines on prescriptions.

Another bill now in the State Senate's insurance committee would require insurers to cover treatment for addiction and would give the decision-making authority for a patient's treatment to his or her doctor.

Despite any problems with I-STOP, Avi Israel says the system could have saved his son, Michael, from a taking his own life. Michael had three doctors – his surgeon, a gastroenterologist and his primary caregiver – and Israel said they never spoke to each other or consulted each other regarding his prescriptions. Michael was on Xanax from his primary care doctor, hydrocodone from his surgeon, and Cymbalta and 18 other drugs for his Crohn's, Israel said. He wishes safeguards had been in place to prevent his son's addiction from getting out of control.

"What's wrong with seeing the doctor once a month?" Israel asked. "You're taking dangerous medications."

Now, Israel and his wife travel the country speaking out in favor of legislation similar to New York's I-STOP program.

"The elephant in the room is addiction," Israel said. "We can't sweep it under the rug anymore."

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by Rebecca Bratek for Gotham Gazette

(nbcnewyork.com) 

Rexford Dasrath didn't respond to orders when police answered a call reporting that he was threatening his landlord with a steak knife at his Bushwick apartment in November of 2013. The commands shouted by police only seemed to send Dasrath into a greater frenzy, and when he lunged at a rookie officer with the steak knife he was shot five times - once in the hand, the rest in his torso. The 300-pound 22-year-old was pronounced dead later that day in Brooklyn's Woodhull Hospital.

Rexford Dasrath's case is emblematic of an increasingly common law enforcement situation - and one that impacts police forces and the public in communities across the state.

Dasrath was on psychiatric medication and had had two previous interactions with police, during both of which he demonstrated that he was mentally ill. But the officers who responded on that day in November were not aware of Dasrath's history, and according to prominent mental health advocates, the NYPD as a whole is not properly prepared to deal with people in mental health crises.

Another example occurred in September of last year when NYPD officers shot and wounded a mentally troubled man who was lurching in and out of traffic in Times Square - they thought he had a gun - he didn't, and neither did the two bystanders who were also struck by the officers' bullets.

Other cities' police departments are not as unprepared to respond to situations involving the mentally ill. Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston have crisis intervention teams (CITs) in place; centers to which police can take people in crisis for evaluation where they won't be turned away; in-depth training for officers in how to deal with mental illness; and partnerships with mental health experts. Similar programs also exist in communities around New York State.

Advocates from across New York City were repeatedly rebuffed when they approached the Bloomberg administration about initiating a similar program in the city. "There is this NYC ego that what we're doing is the best in the nation," said Carla Rabinowitz of Communities for Crisis Intervention Teams in NY, a group of mental health and community groups that came together to lobby the new de Blasio administration to implement a crisis response program. "[Bloomberg officials] were hesitant to do it and we got nowhere," said Rabinowitz of previous lobbying efforts.

The group has major reason to be optimistic that the de Blasio administration will be more willing to tackle the issue. Police Commissioner Bill Bratton was police chief in Los Angeles when the city instituted its crisis response program, and new NYPD inspector general Philip Eure cited his work establishing a similar program in Washington, D.C., as one of his greatest achievements. "We are hopeful the mayor will implement a crisis response team stakeholders meeting with mental health providers, hospitals, parents and police," said Rabinowitz. "The police are on the front lines of this, whether they like it or not."

State Senator Kevin Parker (D-Brooklyn) has been promoting legislation that would create a crisis response demonstration program in the city, and now recent interest from legislators from other parts of the state has yielded a push for legislation that would create CIT pilot programs across the state. The bill has drawn the interest of Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Morelle (D-Rochester). Discussions have begun between the City's Albany office and, according to some sources, they involve Bratton. Neither the NYPD nor the de Blasio administration responded to multiple requests for comment.

"Thanks to the work of the coalition I expect to get a demonstration bill done by end of year," Parker told Gotham Gazette this week. "The timing is absolutely right. Everyone knows how far behind we are in dealing with people with mental illness. Currently the police only have a criminal justice response - when you have a hammer everything looks like a nail. We aren't blaming the police, we are just recognizing we have not given the police any other tools."

There is no doubt the NYPD is on the front lines in dealing with mental illness. Officers responded to 121,000 calls in 2013 for incidents involving emotionally distressed persons. Multiple studies show that although crisis-related calls make up only about 10 percent of the total made to most law enforcement agencies, these calls take longer for officers to actually address. These studies conclude that proper training could reduce the amount of time spent on such calls, thereby saving the city money while preventing more violence. A full crisis response program for the city is expected to cost $2 million a year.

NYPD officers do currently receive some training in how to deal with the emotionally distressed - about 8-16 hours annually, with only 1.5 hours of training from mental health experts. Rabinowitz said proper crisis intervention training would be about 40 hours annually.

Rabinowitz's group already offers training that can help officers in the line of duty. One such training involves the trainee wearing headphones that play voices that mimic what someone with schizophrenia might be dealing with during a moment of crisis. Orders are then shouted; "Something they might hear from the police, and then we see how well they respond - it gives them an idea of what people in crisis are going through," said Rabinowitz.

Parker's bill would require a municipality's police commissioner to name a head of crisis intervention training, establish a new, comprehensive training program for officers to help them respond to citizens in emotional or psychological distress, create partnership within the community to inform the training, and eventually issue a report to the governor on the success of the program.

Former Brooklyn City Council Member Albert Vann and current Council Members Rosie Mendez, Jumaane Williams and Brad Lander all support a council resolution asking the NYPD to utilize crisis intervention teams.

Parker points out that in the last three months of 2013 three lawsuits were filed against the NYPD relating to deaths that occurred during incidents where police were responding to a person in mental crisis. The lawsuits are seeking over $50 million in damages - a financial burden Parker said the city can't bare.

According to Rabinowitz, in the end it is about creating an understanding between police and the families of those with psychiatric disorders: "We need a partnership between the mental health community and police, because family members are afraid to call the police. When 14 police show up and start shouting at a person in crisis they just don't react the same way, and police need to be prepared for that."

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by David King, Albany Editor, Gotham Gazette

@DavidHowardKing