Gotham Gazette

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Open Government

A Failure to Communicate


New Yorkers have more reason than most Americans to be preoccupied with emergency preparedness. Given the fact that this month alone we’ve endured a system-wide transit shutdown, a building-shredding tornado, and a tragic and terrifying fire at Ground Zero, city residents have a right to ask tough questions about our government’s ability to keep us informed in times of crisis.

Failures of infrastructure, high-impact accidents, natural disasters and terrorist attacks all carry risks of extreme danger that can only be mitigated by the receipt of timely, accurate information. That is why, in the aftermath of both the storm that shut down the subways and the fire at the Deutsche Bank building, New Yorkers’ most persistent questions concern the City’s failure to provide adequate and timely information during these crises. After all, public safety, which requires a high level of communication, is a core function of government.

While part of the immediate challenge is technological, the main impediments, it turns out, have to do, not with wires or electromagnetic fields, but with judgment, responsibility and fear of potential consequences. New York City, which has made great technological strides under Mayor Bloomberg, must move forward with a reverse 911 system that can deliver recorded messages to affected New Yorkers during an emergency. We should also exploit all the gadgets already in people’s hands to get them emergency information. But we must do so with a full understanding that technological innovations alone will not solve the emergency communications dilemma.

From California to the nation’s capital to here at home, and at every level of government, emergency response officials have been stymied in their efforts to provide timely information to citizens through their cell phones, PDAs and computers – not primarily due to gaps in technology, but due to a lack of human resources and the absence of clear lines of authority. In New York City, the Office of Emergency Management, which has proved its mettle again and again in times of crisis, has nevertheless been unable to fulfill its goal of updating residents “on active emergencies,” or to provide its promised “guidance on protective actions you may need to take to stay safe,” – both promises spelled out on office’s website. The reasons for this are complex and interrelated.

For starters, there’s the ever-present question of liability. This results in a tendency for officials to keep emergency information within tightly controlled channels and pass it on to the public piecemeal, and too often only after many hours of confusion.

Problems of authority and chain of command add to the information vacuum. In high stakes emergency situations, as events rapidly unfold, many people at numerous agencies and at different levels of government must gather information and analyze a situation that is in flux. During a time of high pressure and shifting insight, deciding what information can and must be conveyed to the public requires both keen judgment and a kind of “the-buck-stops-here” authority. Currently no single identifiable person or agency has that responsibility. As long as it’s unclear where the authority rests, those hard judgments are unlikely to be made in a timely manner.

G iven all the technology available to us today, the challenge is not as much in making sure that information gets out as in providing solid, reliable information in the first place. When information is shared freely, it spreads quickly. When just a few people in a building, school or other community receive word of what they can do to remain safe during an emergency, it has a viral effect. That is why during moments of danger it is so important to fill a vacuum of information with as much accurate and reliable information as can be made available to the public.

What is needed is a strongly managed communications network able to respond to emergencies with reliable, authoritative information delivered as quickly as possible. Throughout the network, employees should be encouraged to make the tough decisions about what information should be conveyed to the public. The people who comprise the network should be designated in advance and everyone should know who they are.

Finally, the most fundamental part of improving emergency communications is making it a priority, which requires, above all, respecting its importance. If knowledge is power, it is also our primary bulwark against danger. Without knowledge of the danger, we cannot protect ourselves and our loved ones.

For the City of New York, August 2007 is a wake up call. There are intelligent steps we can and must take that will banish to the history books scenes of New Yorkers wandering the streets in confusion, shaking our heads. And the good news is, creating an excellent emergency communication system does not depend on our waiting for some new technological innovation – all we need is the political will and good sense to use our highly developed problem solving skills.

Scott M. Stringer is the Manhattan Borough President

 

The City Clerk -- Wait, Who?


He or she keeps city records, officiates at marriages and receives a six-figure salary larger than members of the City Council and the state Legislature. That person is the city clerk or the clerk of the City Council, whichever you prefer to call it.

An often ignored position, the clerk holds a political appointment made by the City Council that carries impressive compensation and, some think, a modicum of responsibility. So, when former City Councilmember Victor Robles unexpectedly retired after six years at the beginning of August, political posturing began almost immediately.

Before the council sits down to debate who should get the position – whether he or she should be from the Bronx or Brooklyn, Manhattan or Queens, maybe even Staten Island - what exactly does the clerk do and are the responsibilities worth $174,399 of your tax dollars?

A Recording History

Since the consolidation of the five boroughs in 1898 and the establishment of a citywide legislative body, there has been a citywide record keeper.

At the turn of the century, the position required keeping records for the City Council's predecessor – the Board of Aldermen. By the turn of the millennium, the clerk's position included oversight of the city's marriage bureau and guarding the records of the city's lobbyists.

A proposed City Charter dating back to the 1920s doles out these responsibilities to the legislative body's clerk: "The Board (referring to the Board of Aldermen) shall choose a clerk and… shall keep and publish a journal of its proceedings, and its proceedings shall be public except when by a two-third vote of all of its qualified members it shall declare that the public welfare requires secrecy."

In comparison, today's City Charter lays out the duties of the city clerk over two pages, not one paragraph, and states: "The city clerk shall keep the record of the proceedings of the council… (and it) shall be deemed a public record of such local laws."

Over the last century the position has progressed from secrecy to openness and from transcribing to performing other city services.

Signing Off and Overseeing 'I Do'

Unlike county clerks, who keep records of the city's judicial proceedings, the city clerk sticks to the legislative and administrative filings.

The clerk is required to sign all official documents and keep all city documents and all proceedings of the City Council. He or she must ceremonially sign off on the annual budget, admnister oaths of office, issue marriage licenses and register lobbyists.

"It's a very important agency that affects a lot of people," said Michael McSweeney, the city's first deputy clerk, who is acting city clerk until a replacement is named. "The agency is a revenue producing agency for the city."

The inability to carry out some of those responsibilities, however, recently mired the office in scandal. Earlier this year, the Bronx Marriage Bureau was closing early, turning away several individuals looking to tie the knot. This gave the relatively quiet office some unflattering headlines.

These incidents could pose interesting challenges for the upcoming city clerk.

Accepting the Appointment

Since the City Council was established in the late 1930s, the City Charter has not said much regarding the selection of the city clerk - only "the council will appoint a clerk."

The details have been left up to those who are serving in the body at the time, political observers said, leaving much of the arm twisting to the city's political chairs or the council's speaker.

"This is a non-elected job that provides a means for public officials to provide patronage," said political consultant Hank Sheinkopf. "It's always been political… (But) it's a meaningful position."

Others see the position as less influential. "I would mostly think of it more as a patronage operation," said Steven Cohen, a professor of public administration at Columbia University. "It actually is a throwback to when the council was mainly involved in naming streets."

Formally, the council accepts recommendations for the position, which can come from anyone. But the most influential nominations, officials and political observers said, come from party leaders, the speaker's office or borough delegations.

The Democratic caucus of the council will meet to discuss the candidates, and then send its recommendation to the council's Committee on Rules, Privileges and Elections. If approved in committee, the appointment is then sent to the full body where a majority of the council, or 26 members, must approve it.

Although some say the process has become less politically polarizing than it once was, City Hall insiders said posturing for one candidate or another, in this case for candidates from one borough or another, is inevitable.

Political Patronage

Based upon relatively recent history, the clerk position tends to rotate from borough to borough. Former Mayor David Dinkins, who served as the clerk from 1975 to 1985, was a Manhattanite, while his successor, Carlos Cuevas, was from the Bronx. Robles is from Brooklyn.

That pattern, however, won't stop some county Democratic leaders from attempting to clinch the position for their borough anyway. State Assemblymember Vito Lopez, the Kings County Democratic committee chair, said he hopes to make a Brooklyn-based recommendation to the council in the next two weeks. Right now, he added, Councilmember Erik Dilan is the frontrunner.

"I think politics and political process are very healthy," said Lopez. "Will the final decision have some politics involved? The answer is yes"

And for the Brooklyn-based Democratic Party, Lopez said, they already have a numerical advantage (the borough has the largest delegation). "Since Brooklyn is the largest borough," the assemblymember added, "I think we will find a very confident and competent person."

Calls for comment to the Bronx County Democratic leader, Assemblyman Jose Rivera, and the New York County Democratic leader, Assemblyman Herman Farrell, were not returned. But in other media accounts, Rivera has said he has submitted a recommendation for Bronx County Clerk Hector Diaz.

When McSweeney was asked whether he would like to seek the position on a more permanent basis, he said, "My only focus is to make sure that the agency is running efficiently during the interim… I'm just looking to do the best job that I can." He declined further comment.

Filling the Vacancy

City officials said the appointment of the city clerk would probably occur in the next several months. In response to the vacancy and the upcoming process, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn released the following statement:

"Since the decision of Victor Robles to retire as City Clerk, the City Council has received a number of recommendations for his replacement. The council will carefully consider all of these recommendations."

And it seems some in City Hall are completely confident in Quinn's ability to lead an open selection process.

"I think the speaker will allow this process to be vetted among her members and amongst the delegations of the boroughs," said Mike Nieves, senior adviser to Council Majority Leader Joel Rivera. "Do I think some people are going to try to play politics? Yes, that always happens."

Why Be The Clerk?

While the city clerk is not an inherently political position, some have used it to their political advantage. Dinkins served as clerk for a decade until he won the Manhattan borough presidency and subsequently became mayor. More recently, Robles took on the clerkship in 2001 when he was term limited from the City Council.

Whether it's avoiding the political graveyard or a layover in between lower and higher office, the job is attractive to many -- whatever its limited power.

"It was a typical old Tammany patronage position," said political consultant Joseph Mercurio, referring to the city's historic political machinery and the selection of the city clerk. "It's really one of those confusing positions that doesn’t necessary have a purpose. It's like keeping public advocates. You need a place for the incumbent."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Searchlight: Land Use and an Indicted Council Member


The City Council held an unusual early August stated meeting to guarantee that a public hearing would be held on several land use matters in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx. In addition, because Councilmember Dennis Gallagher was indicted on rape and assault charges a few days earlier, the council temporarily removed Gallagher from his position as minority whip and ousted him from seats on several committees.

The Gallagher Case

At the recommendation of Speaker Christine Quinn, Gallagher, one of three Republicans on the council, agreed to step away from his leadership role, which included a $5,000 bonus, and from his positions on the aging, parks, finance, housing, sanitation and youth services committees. The council approved the removal (Resolution 995) by a vote of 37 to 0 on August 6.

Following the vote, the council's Standards and Ethics Committee met behind closed doors to determine if further disciplinary action was necessary. The committee deferred any action at the request of Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, who urged the committee to allow the criminal process to move forward without interference.

Minority Leader James Oddo is charged with naming a new whip. Oddo declined to comment on when and if he would do so, and the council's only other remaining Republican, Vincent Ignizio, has shown similar hesitation to fill the role until the criminal proceedings conclude.

Gallagher did not attend the meeting.

Making Room for Park Space

The council had scheduled this session so it could meet a deadline on three land use applications, which expand parkland at Barretto Point Park and increase facility space at the Hunts Point Water Pollution Control Plant.

The City Planning Commission approved the applications in late July. In order to hold additional public hearings in the Council Chambers, as requested by Councilmember Maria del Carmen Arroyo, the council had to "call up" the items within 20 days. The council approved the "call ups" by a vote of 37 to 0. Now, it must hold public hearings within 50 days and then approve or reject the applications.

The proposed expansion will bring the plant up to state and federal requirements, increase its capacity, replace outdated equipment and expand the adjacent parkland by more than an acre, according to a report from the commission.

 

The Campaign Fundraising Begins


While many voters find it hard to focus on the presidential campaign a year and a half before the general election in 2008, some candidates in New York City are already campaigning for contests even further in the future- the 2009 city election.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board and the New York State Board of Elections recently posted the latest campaign filing data for candidates running for office, and the donors are starting to line up behind their preferred candidates. Although only six candidates in New York City have officially declared their candidacies for citywide office (Tony Avella, James Brennan, Melinda Katz, Norman Siegel, Anthony Weiner and David Weprin), many other have begun collecting money. If the mayoral race is any indicator this is turning out to be a record setting fundraising year for candidates.

However, with new changes to the city's campaign finance laws passed in early July, many types of contributions that are now acceptable will soon be restricted or even prohibited. This creates a clear advantage for the most aggressive early fundraisers. Under the new rules, donations from limited liability corporations (LLCs) and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) will be entirely banned and donations from those "doing business" with the city will be severely restricted. But for now, candidates can accept these donations.

The Latest Filings

In total, all of the 2009 candidates who have filed with the campaign finance board as of July 21 have amassed $17,855,467 and spent $3,275,609. As would be expected, the presumed and declared candidates for mayor have amassed the most money so far. Together, they have over $8.9 million dollars in their campaign accounts and have spent more than $1.5 million, according to filings posted on the Campaign Finance Board website. During the same filing period for the 2005 mayoral election, only $1.9 million dollars in contributions had been reported and $435,567 spent.

The current money leader, Comptroller William Thompson, has already raised more than $3 million -- approximately twice as much as former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller, the leading 2005 mayoral candidate in contributions for the equivalent filing period. (Democratic candidates Fernando Ferrer and Anthony Weiner had not yet filed four years ago; Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Republican candidate, financed his own campaign and had not yet filed either.)

Following is the breakdown of how much potential citywide and boroughwide candidates have raised and spent for the presumed or declared office they are running for. All data is taken from the Campaign Finance Board website and is current as of the July 16, 2007 filing deadline, unless otherwise noted. In addition to these presumed candidates, more than half of the current City Council members will be term limited out of office at the end of the current term and so could still decide to make a bid for another office. This may also account for the eagerness of some candidates below to jump-start their fundraising for the 2009 elections.


(For candidates for other citywide offices, click here.)

Soon to be Barred

The campaign finance rules recently passed by the City Council widened the existing ban on corporate contributions to include limited liability companies (LLCs), limited liability partnerships (LLPs) and other forms of non-incorporated businesses. According to the filings, all the presumed and declared candidates for citywide and boroughwide office but one (Norman Siegel, who is running for public advocate) took money from these entities. Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión raised the most from them with $403,790 reported.

To the dismay of many observers, the new campaign finance law does not ban contributions from unions. So far, the unions have donated less than the limited liability companies and the limited liability partnerships, but labor has still given a sizable $117,600 to the presumed and declared candidates for citywide and boroughwide office. John Liu reported raising the most from unions, $19,650, and a few candidates -- Norman Siegel, Marty Markowitz, Jim Brennan and Simcha Felder - raised nothing from them.

Following is a breakdown of the money the presumed and declared candidates for citywide and boroughwide office have received from LLCs, LLPs and unions.

(For candidates for other citywide offices, click here.)

DOING BUSINESS AND DONATING

In what many believe to be the most far-reaching piece of the campaign finance legislation, the new law will dramatically limit donations from those who "do business" with New York City, including individuals and entities with city contracts, concessions and franchises; grants valued at or greater than $100,000; applicants seeking land use rulings; and parties to discretionary economic development agreements. These individuals would be able to give no more than $250 to a council candidate, $320 for a borough-wide contests and $400 to a person running for citywide office. This represents a 90 percent reduction in the current levels, and these contributions would no longer be eligible for any matching funds.

The city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications is supposed to develop a database of these individuals and entities. Until then, candidates are permitted to continue soliciting contributions from those doing business with the city. As the database has yet to be created, it is all but impossible to accurately determine which current contributors to candidates might eventually be restricted from making donations.

The lack of the database for the time being offers just another reason that those who begin their fundraising for 2009 early have a marked advantage over those politicians who will be slower to make up their minds and get their fundraising machines in gear. The spate of new regulations, along with limited amount of time to avoid them, could bode well for establishment candidates who have been raising funds since they won their last election and poorly for the candidates who have yet to step forward.

Doug Israel is director of public policy and advocacy, and Jessica Lee is an election reform intern at Citizens Union Foundation, which publishes Gotham Gazette.

 

 

Quinn's Rule


She calls it leadership - others call it power.

Whichever you choose, there is little doubt among the city's political observers that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has positioned herself, inadvertently or not, for bigger and brighter offices.

"I don’t think the power of the speaker is necessarily the question," Quinn said recently. "The speaker's job is not necessarily about power. The speaker's job is to be a leader."

With an appetite for politics whetted by presidential biographies and political memoirs, Quinn is widely viewed as a candidate for mayor of New York City in 2009 (although she declines to say outright that that is the plan). But how has she handled the job she has now?

As she begins to round the halfway mark of her tenure – 19 months into her reign with two budget processes down and two more to go – many experts, colleagues and advocates praise Quinn for her efforts to make the council more transparent and democratic. But others say she has not gone nearly far enough.

Second to the Mayor

The City Council speaker is widely viewed as holding the second most powerful elected position in city government, following the mayor. This power has been in a state of flux throughout the years – some view it as having been depleted, while others see it growing during Quinn's tenure.

Since the speakership was established following a revision of the City Charter in the late 1980s, the position has been defined not only as the rule-maker or deal-breaker of the body, but also as somewhat of a compass. Council members choose the speaker from among their ranks and then expect him or her to set their legislative direction and lead them.

As a result, rarely is there division in the body.

Speakers have, however, clashed with the other side of City Hall: the mayor’s office. In some sense, the speaker and the rest of the City Council – like any legislative body -- are supposed to counteract the executive, in this case the mayor, in a system that gives that office enormous authority. But many see Quinn as downplaying this role and establishing herself as a partner with Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

The Third Speaker

Known to friends and colleagues as "Chris," the Irish Manhattanite is the first woman, the first openly gay person and only the third individual – man or woman, gay or straight -- to hold the position since the governing body was restructured in 1989. Quinn follows two leaders who took extremely different approaches to the position: Peter Vallone Sr. (whose son is among Quinn’s members) and Gifford Miller.

Vallone, the first speaker, held the position for more than a decade in that era before term limits. As he worked to manage a new legislative body struggling to define its identity, Vallone lead the council with a firm hand through unanimous decision after unanimous decision. In the council, political observers said, it was Vallone's way or the highway, and legislation usually fell by the wayside if the speaker did not support it.

"In the old days if you didn’t vote with the leadership you were subject to all sorts of retribution," said former Councilmember Ronnie Eldridge, who now hosts a talk show on CUNY TV and whose tenure overlapped Vallone. "We used to have legislation that the speaker didn’t like that was never brought up."

Far less experienced and barely over 30 when he took the position, Miller's first two years as speaker were defined by the turmoil that accompanied the September 11, 2001, attacks. As the first speaker under term limits, Miller had four years to accomplish his goals – most of which, political experts said, he spent running for the other side of City Hall.

In retrospect, Miller's legacy is seen now as having been scarred by his political duels with the then newly elected Bloomberg, who he hoped to defeat in the mayoral election. Instead, Miller ended up losing in the Democratic primary and leaving office.

With such a short history, the role of speaker is still evolving, shaped by the individual holding it and the circumstances at that given point in time.

"You see each of the three occupants using that post a little differently," said David Birdsell, dean of the School of Public Affairs at Baruch College. "Clearly, it is a position of considerable strength, vis-Ă -vis chair appointments and distributing the functional rewards of the council."

Cooperation Not Confrontation

Despite her wide smile and down-to-earth manner, Quinn is reportedly tough as nails behind closed doors. But that toughness has not kept her from forging a close working relationship with Bloomberg, a relationship that many see as the hallmark of her tenure.

"The speaker’s power comes from the relationship with the mayor," said Steven Cohen, a professor of public administration at Columbia University. "It's a very political job and it requires consensus building skills and good communication skills. I think Quinn has those."

And unlike Miller, who hoped to unseat an incumbent mayor, Quinn wants to succeed a very popular incumbent. How much this affects the council is anyone’s guess but the contrast between the two speakers can be striking.

Under Miller, for example, the council frequently passed legislation despite the mayor's opposition and subsequently overrode his veto. Through Quinn's stint there have been only five veto overrides, including the metal bat ban and the regulation of the city's pedicabs.

"The essential difference is Gifford's entire tenure … he was a declared candidate to run for city mayor," said Assistant Majority Leader Lewis Fidler. "That affected his willingness to say no to people. ... Christine Quinn has been more willing to say no and to shape some priorities."

This relationship with Bloomberg has most likely been the most controversial aspect of Quinn’s tenure. Some, who claim she is "in the mayor's pocket,” express concern that her compliance with his agenda prevents the council from providing a vital check on executive power. Others see their cooperation as a pathway to reform, compromise and accomplishment, which has led to an overhaul of the city's campaign finance reform rules and a new, up-to-date building code.

"I decided I was going to do everything I could with the mayor," said Quinn. "I think my relationship with the mayor is effective, and I think the two of us working together is effective."

She also questions why it has become a standard to expect elected officials to feud, instead of work together.

Inside the Council

That apparently congenial attitude extends into 250 Broadway – the offices of the remaining City Council members. Well, maybe not in all of their offices.

Quinn has sparred with Councilmember Charles Barron, following a debate on renaming a street in Brooklyn after the late activist Sonny Carson. When Barron's chief of staff, Viola Plummer, threatened another councilmember with an alleged political assassination after he abstained from voting on the divisive issue, Quinn suspended and eventually fired the staff member for not signing a so-called code of conduct.

The incident has sparked a lawsuit and numerous press conferences. But Quinn has received far more praise than criticism for her handling of it. "She has shown a lot of strength," said former speaker Vallone.

On the other hand, Barron sees Quinn’s actions in the disputed move as indicative of her position's overarching power, which he defined as a "dictatorship." "The power of the speaker is so far reaching that I think it takes away from democracy," he said. "The speaker determines your chair, all the chairs (of committees). The speaker determines every committee you sit on. The speaker hires all the central staff. The speaker determines where you sit."

Opening Up the System

Despite all her power, many council members find Quinn accessible and say she is at least willing to listen to legislative proposals that she might support.

"I don’t think she is of the opinion that things need to pass unanimously," said Fidler. "I think she is happy to pass at 45 to 6." And so, he said, she will allow council members to introduce whatever bills they want. Although, he added, "clearly it is still the case that for the legislation to move the speaker has to be on board."

For years, council members had complained that speakers would stall legislation or block hearings if the intro, as City Council bills are called, did not correspond with the speaker's agenda. In response, Quinn initiated several reforms. One, she said, guarantees that proposals from individual members would be introduced by mandating the speaker's office draft legislation within 60 days of a request by an individual councilmember.

"People have the right to introduce whatever bills they want," said Quinn. "We encourage people to introduce bills that are within the power of the City Council. Every bill that gets introduced doesn’t get passed.”

Votes in City Council tend to be extremely lopsided and the speaker is always on the winning side. Nothing she does not support is likely to ever become law.

And some say she is reluctant even to give some measures a fair hearing. Councilmember Tony Avella, who is running for mayor in 2009, recently invoked an obscure rule after five pieces of his legislation idled without a committee hearing for more than a year. This included bills that would have required the Department of Transportation to replace damaged stop signs within 48 hours and mandated sprinkler systems in dormitories. After he used the rule, some of the bills finally got hearings last month.

Avella accused Quinn of freezing some of his legislation because the two have disagreed previously and are likely rivals for mayor. (So far, according to the city's Campaign Finance Board, the two, as well as a handful of other potential candidates, are already fundraising. Quinn has garnered more than $1.38 million, while Avella has approximately $103,000.)

"The speaker has way too much power, so those that are held in good favor certainly get more than others," said Avella. "Independence has been reduced to an absolute nil."

But Minority Leader James Oddo, one of only three Republicans in the council, said he still finds his caucus has good access to the speaker. In an era of term limits and endless political ambitions, striking compromises and balances can be a difficult task. But, Oddo said, the speaker manages it.

"It's almost like a Three Card Monty game. It's designed for you to lose," said Oddo. "She has not only not lost, I think she's excelled."

After 19 Months…

Quinn easily rattled off a list of accomplishments she thinks she has achieved in her short tenure as speaker. These include creating more transparency in the budget process, expanding full-day kindergarten, securing bulletproof vests for police officers and targeting the city's habitual housing code violators.

The most sprawling reform, colleagues and experts said, involved the budget process. Under Quinn's speakership, the council regularly meets to discuss budget priorities, and for the first time council members' names have been attached to items they proposed in its annual discretionary spending – an initiative meant to open up the council's spending habits and increase constituents' confidence in the governing body.

These measures create more transparency, but some say they do not go far enough.

"There have been some modest improvements when it comes to the transparency of the budget, in particular the performance measures," said Elizabeth Lynam, deputy research director at the Citizens Budget Commission. But, she added, the council needs to develop some alternative spending proposals if it hopes to gain independence from the mayor.

Quinn's largest defeat was her failure to win approval of a tax credit for New Yorkers who rent, rather than own, their homes - a key proposal in her state of the city address earlier this year. But, despite the setback, housing advocates give the speaker credit for simply proposing the idea.

Quinn came from the world of advocacy (she was the former executive director of the New York City Gay and Lesbian Anti-Violence Project before working for former councilmember and now State Senator Thomas Duane), and activists eagerly anticipated her tenure as the council's leader. While she keeps her door open to former colleagues, advocates like Craig Gurian of the Anti-Discrimination Center of Metro New York, express disappointment in her leadership thus far.

Gurian, who lives in Quinn's Chelsea district and is a scholar-in-residence at Fordham Law School's Stein Center for Law and Ethics, said Quinn, like her predecessors, has failed to help the City Council mature. Instead, he said, she has stifled legislation and restricted hearings. For instance, a bill that would mandate co-op boards list reasons for a buyer's rejection is stalled despite widespread support for the measure, Gurian said.

"If what she is saying is, 'I'm satisfied to be another Peter Vallone,' that’s not, I think, what those of us in either the LGBT community or the civil rights community or the good government community were looking for," said Gurian. "I started 2006 with high hopes for her speakership, but I’ve been disappointed in the continuing lack of council democracy and in the speaker's failure to provide progressive leadership on civil rights issues."

Some have even said she has strayed from her progressive agenda and succumbed to the relentless special interests, like real estate developers, that come with the power of her office.

The Next Two Years

With more than two years left at the front of the council chamber, Quinn is not yet ready to define how her term will be seen. But the hardest part of her time in office could lie ahead.

With more than two thirds of the council term-limited in 2009, many will spend the next two-plus years running for other elected offices, with members vying against one another. Such an atmosphere could spark increased political posturing and make it harder for Quinn to establish consensus among her members. At the same time, Quinn will find herself in a divided role – as speaker, as partner with the mayor and as a person seeking to succeed him.

The state probably just made her job even more difficult. Under the agreement on congestion pricing reached in Albany last week (see related story here), the council will have to endorse any plan to charge motorists to drive in Manhattan. Quinn has conditionally endorsed the mayor’s controversial proposal, but many of her colleagues, like Finance Committee Chair David Weprin, staunchly oppose the idea.

For now, Quinn said, she will concentrate on bettering the city's middle schools and aim to create a more affordable New York City for the shrinking middle class. "My time is not up," Quinn said. "My time will be defined when it's done… I hope when I look back, my time will be defined as a long list of accomplishments."

 

New Bills: Clean Energy to Cough Syrup


After sprinting through the approval of campaign finance reform legislation and its fiscal '08 budget, the City Council has slowed down to a meandering stroll. With more than two weeks before its next stated meeting on July 25, the council isn't slated for much. So far, only three days of meetings are scheduled in July and nothing is on the calendar yet for August.

Nonetheless, in the past month council members made sure to get some new bills and resolutions on the books before the summer hiatus. Some of the proposed legislation is destined to resurface for a debate before the whole body, while other bills are destined for - well, nowhere.

Here are some of the highlights.

Clean Energy

More than 22 council members have signed onto a bill (Intro 594) that would mandate all heating oil in city-owned buildings contain at least 20 percent biodiesel by 2012. The bill would incorporate clean fuel into city facilities incrementally, with oil containing 5 percent biodiesel required by July of next year.

Biodiesel includes sustainable fuel derived from a natural substance, such as vegetable oil or animal fat.

Councilmember James Gennaro of Fresh Meadows, the primary sponsor of the legislation and chair of the council's Environmental Protection Committee, said, “New York City can make dramatic improvements in its air quality, reduce our dependence on foreign oil, and stimulate local business and job growth, all by encouraging the use of cleaner, renewable heating oil."

While city buildings would be required to use the clean fuel under the legislation, the biodiesel also would be available for purchase by private businesses and residents starting in 2009.

Councilmember David Yassky of Brooklyn has introduced nearly identical legislation (Intro 599), which would also require 20 percent biodiesel be used in city buildings, but by 2011 - a year earlier than Gennaro's timeline. Yassky has garnered six co-sponsors, all of whom have also signed onto Gennaro's bill.

Water Rates

Beyond clean energy, both Gennaro and Councilmember David Weprin have proposed a resolution (Reso. 933) calling for the immediate renegotiation of the city's lease with the New York City Water Board, which oversees the city's water rates. The members hope to roll back the 11.5 percent water rate hike approved by the board in May to approximately 8.5 percent. The approved increase was the highest in 15 years, according to the council members.

Water rates, the resolution says, have increased more than 50 percent in the last decade to cover the cost of operating the wastewater treatment system and other related facilities and projects. This year's water rate hike will increase the average single-family homeowner's annual water and sewer bill by $72, to about $700 a year, the resolution states.

Because the water authority’s rental payments to the city are projected to triple – from $102 million in 2003 to approximately $312 million in 2015 – some council members hope to funnel some of that funding back to the ratepayer. Instead of folding the money into general revenues, they would like to see it used to offset the skyrocketing water rates.

So-Called Religious Equality

Although the Department of Education currently allows for the display of certain religious symbols during the holiday season, it prohibits the presentation of a nativity scene or crèche. Councilmember Tony Avella would like to change that.

The councilmember has introduced a resolution (Res. 930) that would incorporate a nativity scene into the department's policy, which now permits religious symbols, such as a menorah, Islamic star and crescent and Christmas tree.

"This resolution is clearly about equality and inclusion," said Avella in a prepared statement. "By adding a nativity scene/crèche to the holiday display, Christianity will receive equal representation with other religious faiths during the holiday season."

Because the stated purpose of the department's policy is to promote religious understanding, Avella argues excluding a nativity scene is hypocritical. The resolution has garnered support from seven of his colleagues and the Polish- American Congress.

Defacing American Flags

Last summer, residents at seven homes in Brooklyn awoke one morning to find their American flags incinerated.

Is response, Councilmembers James Oddo and Lewis Fidler introduced legislation (Intro 590) that would impose a fine of up to $10,000 fine for anyone who defaces or damages an American flag on private property.

Prohibiting Toys

New York City could become the second city in the nation after San Francisco to ban the use of phthalates in toys and childcare products. Under a bill (Intro 589) introduced by Councilmember Eric Gioia, merchants in the city would be banned from selling toys containing more than .1 percent of phthalates.

Several European nations have also enacted phthalates bans.

Phthalates are a group of industrial compounds used for flexibility in plastic products. Although the Consumer Products Safety Commission found there was no risk to children under the age of 5 from exposure to products with phthalates, other studies have found some harm to animals. In one study, a pregnant rat exposed to phthalates gave birth to rats that weighed less than normal.

The bill would require the commissioner of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to compile a list of banned products.

Restricting Cough Syrup

To prevent the abuse of products containing dextromethorphan, Councilmembers Maria Baez and Sara Gonzalez have proposed banning the sale of some medications to minors.

The bill (Intro 592) would ban those under 18 years old from buying medications that contain dextropmethorphan. The substance is found in more than 120 medications, such as Alka-Seltzer Plus Cold & Cough Medicine, Dayquil LiquiCaps, Dimetapp DM and Robitussin.

In recent years, teenagers have abused such products to get high. Common side effects from such abuse are blurred vision, loss of physical coordination, abdominal pain, and rapid heartbeat. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 12,584 emergency department visits were caused by the substance in 2004, with half of those involving teenagers.

The bill would require that medications containing the substance be moved behind the counter. Merchants who sell the product to minors could be subject to a $250 for the first violation, $500 for the second violation and a $750 fine for subsequent violations.

 

Summer Reading: Experts Pick Their Favorite New York Books


Franz Kafka, the sometimes inscrutable Czech writer who chronicled man’s search for worth and meaning, and Mickey Spillane, the tough detective writer whose novels featured sultry blondes and bleeding bodies (often the sultry blonde is the bleeding body) have little in common. Amid their many differences, however, both men found inspiration in New York and wrote books that the academics, writers and others we asked cited as among their favorite works about the city.

MORE NEW YORK READS

Summer Reading Part I:
People who make their living from books pick the book they love about the city where they live.

The Latest Books About New York:
New books – fiction and nonfiction – about the city.

This week’s recommendations come from experts about the city and from artists who work in the city. Most of those who responded also told us what made their selection especially noteworthy. (Their comments are included.)

Interestingly many of the experts, including many who have written nonfiction works about New York, pointed to works of fiction or photography as their favorites. So, if you are heading out of town, whether to Jones Beach or the Kalahari, and want to bring a piece of New York with you, there’s almost certainly something here to satisfy your taste. If not, look at our choices from last week when people who work with books – as booksellers, librarians and writers – recommended their favorite volumes about the city.

FICTION

Andreas Killen, professor of history, City College of New York

Amerika by Franz Kafka
One of my favorite books about New York is actually by someone who never visited it. The New York that Kafka creates is a place of wondrously tall buildings, elevators, speedy vehicles, businessmen sitting behind enormously large desks, slightly creepy characters, and mysterious, opaque events. It is an almost childlike vision of New York at the dawn of its emergence as the capital of the 20th century. Kafka's city is a purely imaginary construct, and precisely for that reason it captures something quite basic about New York, which is for so many people an imaginary construct before they ever visit it and even after they have come to know it quite well.

Jenny Weiss, editor, Overheard in New York

V. by Thomas Pynchon
I found V. on my father's bookshelf when I was a teenager. Before that, Manhattan to me was counting limousines and eating Italian ices from hollowed-out orange rinds. The characters in the Manhattan sections of V. are unstable, lacking strong connections to other people or any moral grounding. The depiction of money and job woes is bitingly true -- at least until one character lands a gig hunting alligators in the sewer.

A Hazard of New Fortunes by William Dean Howells
This is a classic work of American literature from 1890. It begins with an extended search for a New York apartment, when Basil March moves from Boston to work in publishing. Of course, he ends up paying twice what he planned for half the features! This novel also shows the politics around early public transportation, which make our transit strikes look very tame by comparison.

Kiss Me, Deadly by Mickey Spillane
In 1952, this became the first private-eye novel to make the New York Times best-seller list. Detective Mike Hammer wants to find out who totaled his car and nearly killed him. The men he encounters as he follows leads from borough to borough are quite unsavory, the women very savory, but all murderous. (Maybe if he had just taken the train. . . .) The 1955 adaptation of this book, though set in Los Angeles, is one of my favorite movies.

Leon Reid IV - Street artist, Brooklyn

Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
Anyone interested in New York City squatting, subway tunnel dwelling, and/or other traditions of establishment exploitation should take a close read into Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. The book is a landmark not only for its bedrock truth regarding race relations in the "cosmopolitan" New York of the 1950s, but also because of the language with which Ellison allows the protagonist to describe his predicament, slyly, without one mention of Mr. Invisible's identity. Haven't we all wished at some point to be transparent? Read Ralph's narrative as a testimony from someone who was.

Laura Washington, New-York Historical Society

Falling Man by Don DeLillo

Marcy Arlin, artistic director, Immigrants' Theatre Project:

The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
My favorite because he captures the humor and the surreal quality of New York as well as the interconnectedness of all of the people that live here.

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

Winter’s Tale by Mark Helprin
(One of our readers, Matthew Sholler, also endorses Winter’s Tale: “If you're any kind of a fan of the magical realism genre that many late 20th-century Latin American novels and shorter stories are known for, then this will be a treat. Set in New York City in the early 1900's, it's the only book I've read that uses this approach to storytelling in a North American context. Helprin creates a wonderfully compelling protagonist in Peter Lake, a wily, good-hearted thief who goes on an incredible journey following a chance encounter with the daughter of a wealthy newspaper publisher. In addition to its distinctive characters, Winter's Tale contains some of the most vivid and inspiring descriptions of New York City, giving it a life of its own, a life that anyone who appreciates New York will recognize and celebrate.”)

THE ART OF NEW YORK

Deborah Schwartz, director, Brooklyn Historical Society

Broken Land, an anthology of Brooklyn poems edited by Julia Spicher Kasdorf and Michael Tyrell
It’s just very lovely, … very evocative and gives the reader a very powerful sense of the many faces of Brooklyn, the different characters of Brooklyn, the tension and dynamism and the beauty of the borough. Some of it is about neighborhood; some about emotional issues; some about political issues; one about the Brooklyn botanic garden. There are stories that are very personal and private and others that are the grander scheme of urban life. It’s a great treat. It’s beautifully done.

Lester Thomas Shane - actor, director, writer, and faculty membr at New York’s New Actors Workshop, the American Academy of Dramatic Art, New York Film Academy, and a children’s company, the TADA! Ensemble.

Broadway by Brooks Atkinson

The Season: A Candid Look at Broadway by William Goldman

Eloise by Kay Thompson

The Zagat’s guide
The one I use most.

Steven McElroy, artistic director and member of the New Ensemble Theatre Company, LITE (Laboratory for International Theatre Exchange) and Emerging Artists Theatre Company

Playing Underground: A Critical History of the 1960s Off-Off-Broadway Movement by Stephen J. Bottoms

Off Off Broadway Explosion by David Crespy

Caffe Cino: The Birthplace of Off-Off-Broadway by Wendell C. Stone

Most of the reading about the city I’ve done in the recent past has been about the birth of the Off Off Broadway theater movement in the 1960s and there are three great books on my short list. Since, to me, Off Off Broadway is a vital part of the city's history -- not only theatrical, but generally -- these books are definitely books about New York, and good ones.

LOOKING TO THE PAST…

Eric Sharfstein, communications manager, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.

The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America
Shorto makes history read like a novel. Island at the Center of the World tells the story of New York before it was even New York and reveals a community that was more upwardly mobile than we might imagine and far more multi-ethnic than the grade-school lessons we all remember about the early settlements to New York’s north and south.”

Joshua Freeman, author of Working Class New York and professor of history, Queens College

Old New York In Early Photographs, 1853-1901: Prints from the Collection of the New-York Historical Society by Mary Black
Neighborhood by neighborhood, these extraordinary images freeze a city in constant flux: carters moving goods to sailing ships on South Street; pushcarts, peddlers and shoppers lining the sides of Mulberry Street; crowds on Fifth Avenue greeting Admiral Dewey; bicyclists going past Grant's Tomb; the dizzying S-curve of the Ninth Avenue elevated train at 110th street, running through virtual countryside. That we have photographic images of all this and more seems miraculous.”

(Freeman is also a great fan of fiction set in New York, including: Herman Melville's Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street; In Dreams Begin Responsibilities by Delmore Schwartz; the Harlem detective novels of Chester Himes and Richard Price's Blood Brothers.”

Fred Siegel, author of The Prince of the City: Giuliani, New York and the Genius of American Life

Tough Liberal by Richard Kahlenberg
The biography of Albert Shanker of the United Federation of Teachers is the most important book I have read on New York and education in quite a while

Michael Miscione, historian

Forgotten New York by Kevin Walsh
The roadmap to a five-borough historical treasure hunt. Walsh has located, cataloged and deciphered all the oddities and anachronisms that dot the Gotham landscape. You'll scratch your head no more over that curious statue or that mysterious structure or that bizarre inscription.”

Out of Fire and Valor: The War Memorials of New York from the Revolution to 9/11 by Cal Snyder
It's shameful how we New Yorkers disregard the war memorials all around us. After reading Cal Snyder's book, you'll never pass another monument without pondering its heartfelt significance.”

Sarah M. Henry, vice president for programs, Museum of the City of New York

A Living Lens: Photographs of Jewish Life from the Pages of the Forward by Alana Newhouse
It’s a wonderful project of photographs never seen before. [The museum has featured an exhibition of some of the photographs.]

Kathleen Treat, Gotham Gazette reader

Bronx Primitive by Kate Simon

She also wrote New York Places & Pleasures

(Treat also recommended for children, Sidney Taylor’s All-of-a-Kind Family, a “wonderful series about growing up on the Lower East Side.” And she wonders, “Does anyone read Harry Golden any more?”

…THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE

Michael Wallace, co-author of Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898

From Welfare State to Real Estate: Regime Change in New York City, 1974 to the Present by Kim Moody
The juxtaposition of rags and riches is an old story in New York City, but the divisions have never been sharper. While thousands of black and Hispanic youths, spurred by a poverty rate twice the country's, line up for a handful of jobs at a Times Square store, the superrich are busy snapping up $20 million condos. Kim Moody's compelling narrative of Gotham's post fiscal crisis history offers an explanation of what produced this jagged social topography. Economic elites and powerful mayors, operating in a municipal environment transformed by globalization and 9/11, were able, he argues, to impose a neo-liberal agenda on the city. And subsidizing real estate and corporate development, while rolling back social programs, in turn exacerbated the income gap. Moody's assessment – comprehensive, cogent and rooted in solid research – is essential reading for those seeking to understand the contemporary relationship between "progress" and poverty.

The Suburbanization of New York: Is the World’s Greatest City Becoming Just Another Town? edited by Jerilou Hammett and Kingsley Hammett
What's next for New York? Will it retain its edgy preeminence as global crucible, the place par excellence where the world's peoples come to clash and fuse and create the future? Or will the forces of suburbanization – now sprawling and malling their way into town – tame the raucous metropolis, subdue its contrarian politics, make of it just another outlet for Disneyfied culture, big-box commerce and franchise food? Perhaps something altogether new is busy being born at the contested urban-suburban frontier? Only two things are sure: New York is in rapid motion, and this book is a great guide to where it might be headed. Its diverse array of speculations -- written by some of the country's smartest (and wittiest) analysts and activists -- are incisive and accessible, provocative and entertaining, perfect for an urban studies course and for anyone interesting in pondering the past and future of cities.

Mark Finley, playwright and theater director

Gay New York by George Chauncey
Because it's so thoroughly researched, it's full of scope and detail - two things you rarely find in the same place.

Stonewall: The Riots that Sparked the Gay Revolution by David Carter
It also is impeccably researched and detailed. It's so immediate and relevant because it focuses on a time closer to our own and some of the key players are still around. A boundless source of insight.

(Finley also likes several novels: Old New York by Edith Wharton, because “The author does such a fantastic job in evoking the period you feel like are there, not just want to be there”: and Time and Again by Jack Finney and The Alienist by Caleb Carr. Both of which he says are not classics of the Edith Wharton mold, but terrific stories told by great storytellers.)

Reporting by Besa Luci, Mara Gay, Zach Rose and Valerio Russo

 

Who Got What


COUNCILMEMBERS TOTAL AMOUNT OF FUNDING FOR ITEMS SPONSORED BY ONE MEMBER NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL ITEMS
David I. Weprin
$736,500
31
Leroy G. Comrie, Jr.
$710,857
80
Lewis A. Fidler
$702,625
41
Peter F. Vallone, Jr.
$682,857
48
Michael E. McMahon
$661,000
72
Inez E. Dickens
$588,200
69
Christine C. Quinn
$423,500
60
Robert Jackson
$337,250
44
Joel Rivera
$321,337
33
Domenic M. Recchia, Jr.
$312,500
27
Dennis P. Gallagher
$299,857
41
Annabel Palma
$285,000
8
David Yassky
$285,000
29
Erik Martin Dilan
$280,000
19
James S. Oddo
$274,500
57
Maria del Carmen Arroyo
$239,187
19
Larry B. Seabrook
$238,431
10
Letitia James
$232,500
34
Michael C. Nelson
$217,500
25
Miguel Martinez
$195,000
4
Bill de Blasio
$176,000
20
Melissa Mark Viverito
$174,000
12
G. Oliver Koppell
$172,187
14
James Vacca
$165,187
12
Sara M. Gonzalez
$160,000
5
Gale A. Brewer
$158,500
22
Vincent J. Gentile
$156,500
61
Diana Reyna
$151,250
10
Kendall Stewart
$140,000
17
Thomas White, Jr.
$132,857
8
Charles Barron
$130,964
31
Maria Baez
$127,187
13
Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr.
$122,357
20
Daniel R. Garodnick
$119,500
12
Rosie Mendez
$118,700
25
Albert Vann
$118,000
26
Eric N. Gioia
$115,000
17
John C. Liu
$105,500
13
Simcha Felder
$103,500
21
Helen D. Foster
$102,187
1
James F. Gennaro
$102,000
14
Helen Sears
$93,000
17
Vincent Ignizio
$92,500
12
Jessica S. Lappin
$86,500
14
James Sanders, Jr.
$86,000
3
Melinda R. Katz
$85,907
20
Tony Avella
$67,607
9
Hiram Monserrate
$67,000
6
Alan J. Gerson
$63,000
12
Darlene Mealy
$59,000
11
Mathieu Eugene
$46,500
10


***This chart includes the total funding allocated for each councilmember's individually sponsored items. The totals do not include any items that were
co-sponsored by multiple council members or items signed by borough delegations. It represents approximately a third of the total members' list funding.

 



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