Public expectations of New York City Local Government

In a city where people develop strong emotional and physical attachments to the communities, it is difficult not to be concerned about the services provided by the government. The Williamsburg Park in Brooklyn promised by Mayor Bill De Blasio's administration has not been built, sparking outrage amongst residents of that community. The park was initially said to have been a part of a deal in 2005 to construct residential buildings along the waterfront, within 28 acres of space. Hundreds of residents rallied at city hall on Thursday 12th about the broken promises of the government, and in hopes that the project could resume. The warehouse fire that occurred within parts of the park in February has caused a revival of the case. Councilman Steve Levin says "A promise is a promise" backing up the hundreds that rallied at City Hall. Residents are hoping Mayor De Blasio can strike a deal with corporations to complete the construction of the park and the residential condos.













Picture source: NYtimes

In News, The city has also allocated $15million to the construction of flood prevention barricades round Lower Manhattan. The city is taking serious measures to prevent future flooding like Hurricane sandy did in 2012. Majority of the Battery Park financial area were flooded including the train stations, parks, ferry station, and a number of other important places. Many residential houses were also flooded as power outage spread across the city, which accounted for perhaps one of the costly storms.

Above: flooded Battery Park tunnel entrance

A sum of $8 million plus $6.75 million were allocated from capital budget, that goes towards the the construction of flood protection in Battery Park and massive flood protection in Lower Manhattan respectively. An effort that might reduce the cost of rebuilding in the aftermath of future storms in New York city.

Another look at the "Rooftop Highway" proposal

In the North County, there has been a plan to build a four-lane highway (would be named Interstate-98 or I-98 or nicknamed the “Rooftop Highway”) that would connect I-81 in Watertown to I-87 in Champlain for many years.

“The proposed Route 98 could reduce travel times and speed up commerce. Let’s see if we can make it a reality. We’ve been talking about it for years. Let’s get DOT to undertake a study and see if we can make this project happen” (said by Governor Cuomo during 2014 State of State Address). Governor Cuomo has put aside $2.5 million to “undertake a study”.

This study is not the first study to focus on the proposed Rooftop highway. Two studies took place in 2002 and 2006 and both studies resulted in the conclusion that Rooftop highway “didn’t merit the investment”(Matt).

Joan McDonald, the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation (DOT) doesn’t completely rule out the idea but she believes that “DOT “probably” wouldn’t end up building the highway”, due the results from pass studies. Link to video of interview with Joan McDonald http://nynow.org/post/dot-commissioner-says-i-98-rooftop-highway-unlikely .

Currently, Route 11 runs fairly close to the proposed Rooftop highway would be constructed. Maybe this is why the Rooftop Highway hasn’t made it far pass the proposal stage because there as been many proposal to get this highway built since the 1950s. Also, financial and environmentally issues come into play. The cost of constructing the Rooftop highway (172 mile interstate) is estimated at $6 billion and improvements to Route 11 are at $320 million (Project Discussion Overview).

“The Northern Corridor Transportation Group is the primary advocacy organization working to develop transportation alternatives in the North Country that will help spur economic growth” (NCNOW News), which supports the Rooftop highway proposal.

This morning, the Northern Corridor Transportation Group named Tony Arguiette as Chair. Former Chairman Wade Davis believes that Arguiette experience in advocating for employment and job creation needs in the North Country” and believes that “his leadership will help take the organization to the next level and I fully support him in his new role” (NCNOW News). 

With the funding for a new study to take place, it will be interesting to see the results and if the Rooftop highway will become a reality. Also, Arguiette might be a person to watch and see if he will prove himself as Chairman of the Northern Corridor Transportation Group.

Sources:

The Associated Press. Syracuse.com. “Cuomo wants NY to look again at building Interstate 98 from Watertown to Champlain”. Received from http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/01/cuomo_wants_ny_to_look_again_at_building_interstate_highway_from_watertown_to_ch.html

NCNOW News. I-98 advocacy group names new chair in effort to bring highway to St. Lawrence County”. Received from http://northcountrynow.com/news/i-98-advocacy-group-names-new-chair-effort-bring-highway-st-lawrence-county-0138667

Picture is from The Northern Tier Expressway or The Rooftop Highway. Received from http://www.upstatenyroads.com/i98.shtml

Project Discussion Overview (February 25, 2014). Received from

http://nysdrc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/DRC_WhitePaper_I98_022514.pdf

Ryan, Matt. New York Now.“DOT Commissioner says I-98 “rooftop highway” is unlikely”. Received from http://nynow.org/post/dot-commissioner-says-i-98-rooftop-highway-unlikely

Growing strife amongst New York State Democrats

The New York Assembly in Albany had disapproved of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's bill to fund failing public schools, but this has created somewhat of strife between the Governor and Mayor Bill de Blasio who falls on the side on the Assembly. Strife created by the growing issue of increasing number of failing schools that should have been addressed long ago. As discussed in previous post, released report from the governor's office showed about half out of a total of 178 schools are short coming of the standards. Large percent of these students are Minority and from low income families, and attend majority of these failing schools that makes up about 9 out of 10 schools. While Mayor Bill de Blasio's proposal to maintain longer control of New York City schools had been accepted by the Assembly, Speaker Carl Heastie articulated reasons why Gov. Cuomo's education proposal wasn't approve. On that note, Mr Heastie replied saying “We must help our children to succeed, not punish them because they may live in poorer communities or deny their schools the funding they need to improve the learning environment”.
More party disagreement have come in form of Mr Heastie's willingness to support Mayor Bill de Blasio long-term control over NYC schools till 2020, as opposed to Gov. Cuomo's objection of the Mayor's control for only three years.

Above: New York Mayor Bill de Blasio left and Governor Andrew Cuomo right.

Mayor De Blasio who is supposedly great friends with the Governor has grown skeptical over his working relationship with the Governor. According to the Albany insider news obtained from Nydailynews blog, the Mayor is seeking to amend his relationship after the two have fallen out on the opposite side of the spectrum. On two occasions Gov. Cuomo has fallen out of favor with Mayor De Blasio's, the first occurred when the Governor refused a major housing project organized by the Mayor, and another occurred when both individuals had simultaneous events inside Capitol the building. The issue here is so much about which level of government controls where and what, and reforms that these levels of government can influence.
Another Democrat to have developed a bad relationship with the Governor is Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner. Mayor Miner has taken sides with Mayor De Blasio on the new proposed plan to take over schools in New York City.


Above: Mayor Stephanie Miner

New York State Senate Democrats have also grown sour over their relationship with the Governor, blaming him (Gov. Cuomo) for some short comings in the office. Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins has also publicly criticized Governor Cuomo for actions against school teachers, and for also eliminating her from budget talks.

Above: Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins

Queens Democratic Assemblyman Jeff Aubry has also backed Stewart-Cousins by saying the Governor was wrong for not including her in the budget talk, as it raises questions about gender inequality and racism.

Assembly Has Not Included Ethics Reform

On Tuesday of this week, we saw the release of the Assembly’s and Senate’s one-house budget resolutions. These resolutions show the policy priorities of each chamber before entering the closed door budget negotiations between the leaders from each chamber and the governor.
The Assembly’s $150.7 billion budget resolution does not include the ethics reform that was presented by Governor Cuomo through his 30-day budget amendments. Speaker Carl Heastie said “We haven’t come to a final position on ethics,”. The Speaker has long spoke out against the manner in which the ethics reform was tied to the budget. Speaker heastie sees “It kind of ties the Legislature’s hands.” Cuomo’s administration validated the use of the ethics amendments to the budget because the legislature has long avoided real ethics reform. The Speaker is not against ethics reform but has stated his discontent with the ethics reform only applying to the legislature and the way it was embedded into the budget.



Speaker Heastie would be more willing to negotiate the ethics reform if it was also applied to the executive. The Speaker keeps reminding the public of the $700,000 book deal that the Governor could receive for his memoir. Interestingly, Heastie did comment saying “There are certain things under the legislative guise should be protected and I do believe in that.” In a news conference outlining the Assembly’s one-house budget resolution the Speaker was“cagey”  and “subdued’ about the details of ethics reform.
 There was some mention of ethics reform in the Assembly’s resolution but the Speaker didn’t go into detail. As the resolution stands there would be the cutting back of contributions from limited liability corporations, restricting the use of campaign funds for personal use but no disclosure of outside income.

Rochester Teachers Rally against Cuomo

Teachers across the Rochester area gathered in a rally against Governor Cuomo’s education plan on February 27^th. Governor Cuomo has pushed for a major reform of New York States education, to decease the amount of failing schools and students, but also improve the teacher evaluation process. Governor Cuomo also stated that he wants to close many of the schools that have been in constant failure over the past years, and some of those schools reside in Rochester. Teachers all across the Monroe County area have rallied together to criticize Cuomo’s views on our education system. A rally that was held which was organized by Rochester Teachers Association, and New York State United Teachers, at the rally teachers across the area took turns complaining about Cuomo’s expectations of teacher evaluations. Many teachers stated that their evaluations are too focused on the students test scores at the end of the year, limiting them to what they can teach and what they should really focus on not to get a bad evaluation. Some of the teachers stating that high stressful test taking environments limit a student’s ability to know the material and actually learn. Many more rallies have been scheduled not just in the Rochester area but across the state as well.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2015/03/05/teachers-rally-common-core/24474105/

Cuomo’s reform focuses a lot on teacher evaluations and if they work or not. Some teachers claim that the process of an evaluation is unfair due to different kids learning at different levels. For example, a poverty kid coming into a public school is already at a disadvantage from all the other students. Also kids who have a poor home life and that are not motivated by parents or family to get their schoolwork are also at a disadvantage. In Governor Cuomo’s plan for better teacher evaluations, he plans to grant tenure to teachers that receive high evaluations for more than five consecutive years, also rewarding high performing teachers with bonuses. This all helping prove that their teaching styles are working and that kids are learning and passing.

http://www.13wham.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/cuomo-protests-love-teachers-20672.shtml

Minimum Wage to nearly double

In 2012 New York State had a poverty rate of 25.9%, the 21^st highest in the United States. Governor Cuomo has created a ten-step plan to help combat this issue. With St. Lawrence County having the third highest poverty rate in the state at 21.4%, it is an issue that needs to be addressed at the state level. The Ten Point Plan was mentioned in the Governors 2015 Opportunity Agenda and outlines the way to battle poverty and fight pay inequality.

The minimum wage currently stands at $8.75, which was a $.75 increase from the previous $8 that was enacted December 31^st 2013. Governor Cuomo is pushing for an increase in the minimum wage to $10.50 across the state and $11.50 in New York City. The increase is to keep up with the annual inflation and residency costs because New York has some of the highest costs of living. While a reasonable wage is needed to survive, will increasing the minimum wage drastically help or hurt the economy?

New York City Mayor de Blasio recently went to Governor Cuomo and asked to pass legislation that would increase minimum wage exceeding $13 and hour in New York City. The New York Times states that increasing the minimum wage by such a dramatic increase could halt economic growth and actually increase the rate of inflation. From 1962 through 2000, a total of 38 years, minimum wage has increased just $3.45. Since 2000, the rate at which minimum wage has increased is nearly three times what it has been in previous years.

The City of Oakland California recently increased their minimum wage to $12.25, a 36% increase from the year before. While this may be good news from many of the employees, it also can have a negative impact on the economy. Many people get laid off because companies can not afford to keep paying these wages, inflation, and the rise of prices for consumer goods. The SF Gate reports that the city’s booming restaurant industry has already had a negative impact by these increases.  Restaurants have to increase their prices nearly twenty percent to account for the minimum wage spike. This is just one example of an industry that has been effected the SF Gate states and there will be many more to come.

While New York feels the need to increase the wage to a higher amount to account for the high standards of living, this could also have a damaging effect. Will wages continue to increase as consumer prices continue to rise and turn into a never ending spiral? Will Governor Cuomo look at other cases of minimum wage hikes as a reputable asset or will he ignore it totally and increase the minimum wage without preforming studies on the possible effects?

Information retrieved from: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/2015-opportunity-agenda-restoring-economic-opportunity-5

http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/article/Minimum-wage-hike-hits-booming-Oakland-dining-6115583.php

http://www.labor.ny.gov/stats/minimum_wage.asp

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/06/nyregion/mayor-de-blasio-appeals-to-businesses-to-raise-workers-pay.html

New York Attorney General Reaches Settlement With Credit Agencies

Today the Attorney Generals office reached a settlement with Equifax Information Services LLC, Experian Information Solutions Inc and TransUnion LLC some of the largest credit reporting agencies that should make life easier for those burdened by medical expenses.

Under the new deal medical debts would not be put on to consumers credit report until after a 180 day waiting period to give time for insurance to pay out. Given that half of bad debt collections on credit reports is associated with medical expenses the should be a relief to those suffering from credit problems.

In addition this settlement gives consumers more leverage to challenge false information in their credit report. Now Credit Reporting Agencies are required to have trained personnel review documents submitted by consumers who have found errors in their reports. Hopefully this will make being the victim of identity theft less of a Kafkaesque experiences.

The Seaway and ice coverage

Having a cold winter has taken it toll in many ways. Having the St. Lawrence River located in the North County, people can see how this winter has had an effect on the river and ice coverage.

“Ice coverage on the Great Lakes stood at more than 85 per cent Monday and is expected to peak in early March. Ice coverage in 2014 reached 92.6 per cent on March 6, the second highest level on record. But a more persistent cold in 2015 has some scientists suggesting the all-time record of almost 95 per cent ice coverage set in 1979 could be challenged this year” (Slow start of Seaway Shipping). The Great Lakes are not the only bodies of water that have ice coverage; the St. Lawrence also has ice coverage. So what does this mean for the opening of the Seaway, if the ice doesn’t melt in time, icebreaker might be sent in because the St. Lawrence River is part of the Seaway system.

When the icebreakers are used, it is interesting to watch but what about the environment effects that happened. The Joint Observational Study (JOS) trying to answer the question “Do icebreaking activities and/or ship transits in ice conditions within the study area cause; 1) Shoreline ice scour and/or 2) Land-fast ice to break away from shore prematurely?” (Joint Observational Study: Study Conclusions & Recommendations). What the JOS found was that icebreakers are not used every year and that “small scale” impacts have occurred in shallow shorelines with both natural ice break ups and clear-out. Also, “an inclusive process should continue to be used when setting the Seaway Opening Date, during which all stakeholders are consulted”, which hasn’t been set yet.

Sources:

Link to news article Ice Slows start of Seaway shipping, http://www.recorder.ca/2015/03/04/ice-slows-start-of-seaway-shipping

Link to Joint Observational Study, http://www.greatlakes-seaway.com/en/environment/observation.html