Shafran not conceding to Vallone

From the Daily News:

City Council hopefuls Paul Vallone and Austin Shafran are separated by just 144 votes in a Democratic Primary race that is still too close to call.

The two are leading a five-candidate battle for a shot at the northeastern Queens seat currently held by disgraced Republican City Councilman Dan Halloran.

Vallone, the son of former speaker Peter Vallone and the brother of City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr., claimed victory Tuesday night when unofficial tallies showed he had 2,723 votes. But Shafran, with 2,579 votes, refused to concede until the voting machines are checked and paper ballots counted, a process that begins on Monday.

“Protecting voting rights is the foundation of our democracy so we will use every legal option possible to ensure every vote is fully and fairly counted,” he said Wednesday.

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Lopez could represent Ridgewood on Council

From the NY Times:

A criminal investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed subordinates did not deter him. Nor did civil suits accusing him of groping and other unwanted intimacies. Nor censure by the State Assembly, nor the clamor of fellow Democrats that forced him to resign as the party’s chairman in Brooklyn and step down from the Legislature.

The former assemblyman, Vito J. Lopez, is running again, this time for City Council, and despite the lingering scandal, he has at least a fair chance of winning. He is campaigning in Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn, and in Ridgewood in Queens, working-class neighborhoods where many people have known him for four decades, since he arrived as an energetic young social worker, and where many are grateful for the thousands of apartments and the centers for the elderly and other social services that blossomed during his 28 years in the Assembly.

Frank Carone, a leader of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, which is supporting Mr. Lopez’s chief rival, Antonio Reynoso, admits that Mr. Lopez’s chances are “extremely strong” in an off-the-radar election in which he can, the old-fashioned way, turn out beneficiaries of his largess to cast ballots in the primary next Tuesday.

“He’s pulling out every trick in the book to hold onto some semblance of power,” said Lincoln Restler, a founder of the progressive New Kings Democrats, a group that is also focused on defeating Mr. Lopez.

As evidence, Mr. Restler points out that 6 of the district’s 34 polling places are in properties managed by Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a nonprofit organization which Mr. Lopez founded in 1973 and which sponsored many of his housing projects. One building has a bronze bust of Mr. Lopez and another a permanent sign over the entrance: “Thank You Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez.”

Mr. Restler and Mr. Reynoso said that when campaign workers tried to knock on doors at Lindsay Park, a 2,700-unit co-op complex and beneficiary of Lopez assistance, security guards warned them that only workers for Mr. Lopez could enter.

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Paul Vallone's many faux pas on citywide TV

The entire debate is on NY1 and apparently no password is needed to see it.

At 24 seconds into the 2nd segment:

Chrissy:

As we all know, Jobs For New York has endorsed you and your campaign. And they also have spent over $100K to falsely attack your opponents. Now, you and I have always talked, and you have stated publicly that you were against negative campaigning, and it's something that you would not condone. However, your spokesperson has said that you were happy and willing to accept help from anyone that was willing to give it to you. So, my question is why have you never publicly denounced the attacks, and why did you not ask Jobs For New York to stop the negative attacks on your behalf because you do not condone them?

Vallone:

Well one of the things that Chrissy and I agree on is running a positive campaign is paramount and is something that's respected and needed in our district. And one of our important messages is always to say is outside expenditures should be banned across the board. Not just any one organization - all of them. Local races should remain local. Period. What are you responsible for these days? The campaign you lead and the positive message you send out. In 2009, my first campaign, and again now in 2013, our message has never been about the other candidates - publicly at debates, publicly here, you never go after candidates. It's not what the people deserve. So my campaign is a positive message, and any outside groups should be banned from being involved in any of our local races, period.

[Basically, he refused to denounce Jobs For New York.]
Graziano:

Since you haven't denounced what Jobs For New York has done, I'm going to take a different approach, which is that you talk about community and unity as part of the main thrust of your campaign, how does that reconcile with the votes you have done at Community Board 7 - for example, when you backed Gambino crime family associates for the White House to build construction against the wishes of the community in Whitestone and the neighbors?

Vallone:

It's interesting when you can speak for Community Board 7 when you don't sit on Community Board 7. Community Board 7 overwhelmingly approved the project that Mr. Graziano is referring to. It was a manufacturing block and it was a project that everyone who was there approved. And typical to Mr. Graziano's demeanor is to come in at the last minute and cause strife. So unlike campaigns that try to segregate the community, we unite the community. And that's what leadership should do. You should talk to the community board, talk to the elected officials, not stand on the corner screaming about a story that no one wants to listen to. So if that's the approach that certain campaigns want to take, then let them take that. We are proud to work together with the community board, because we have 2 in our district - Community Board 7 and Community Board 11 and those are the areas that take control for the zoning, the elected official. For someone to say that they are single-handedly responsible for that, speaks volumes about that person.

[Graziano never said he spoke for Community Board 7, he said that the community of Whitestone was against the White House rezoning, which is proven by the above link. Paul Vallone dodged the question, but apparently got his issue confused with the Waterpointe rezoning (a contaminated Whitestone site) that his family's lobbying firm pushed for, because the White House area is not the least bit industrial.]
Duane:

As you know, I have pledged that I will be a full-time council member. Would you pledge to give up your law practice and be a full-time council member as well?

Vallone:

I will absolutely, if honored by the people of the district, be a full-time council member. That's what you have to be. That's what my father was. That's what my brother was and if I have that honor to represent the district, that's what I will do. I think that's critical, and I think that's one of the things John has pointed out over the campaign, and has Austin, to make sure 100% commitment to the City Council. That's what the people deserve in our district and that's what I pledge.

[Interesting, considering that at every debate, he refused to say he would be a full-time council member. Also interesting is that his brother, Peter, is featured as a member of the Vallone law practice, proving that he's not actually a full-time council member. Whoops!]

Shafran:

Overdevelopment from the real estate industry is one of the biggest threats to our neighborhood. Now Paul, you are a registered lobbyist for a firm that received $2.5M last year selling access to city government, for, among others, the real estate industry. You've received approximately $85K in contributions throughout your runs for the city council from the real estate industry, and as Chrissy pointed out, the biggest NYC developers have created a superPAC that spent over $250K on you and your campaign. Now we have a public finance campaign system that was put in place and which we are all a part of, that is supposed to root out the influence of special interest spending and you've taken $95K in public matching funds from that system. So my question for you is, on behalf of the taxpayers of our community, can we have our money back?

Vallone:

Well, all of the money the candidates receive are governed by the NYC Campaign Finance Board. And all of us have received the matching funds. And every one of our contributions I'm very proud of. When you spend a lifetime in the community, such as I have, you have a family in the community, small business in the community, you make a lot of friends in the community. And those are the connections and those are the people that are working with our campaign. So any type of receipt for any type of contribution to our campaign has been public. And any idea that that is somehow being kept from the people of the district is insane. In fact, what does our practice do? We're a small practice - a law firm that was started by my grandfather 80 years ago. And we do elder law and we do work in the community. That's what our community does. That's what we do.

[So Paul Vallone, of the Astoria Vallones, wants us to think that he is a lifelong resident of northeastern Queens? Wow. There's nothing he won't lie about, is there?]

Shafran:

Actually, I'm talking about the firm with which you are a registered lobbyist that made $2.5M last year selling access to city government.

Vallone:

When you are a lawyer and you provide legal services, and if a client comes to you and they also need consulting services, you must register with the City of New York.

Shafran:

So you are a registered lobbyist?

Vallone:

My father is one of the most distinguished members of the city, and he has a consulting firm. If a client comes to us and they need legal services, and they also need consulting services, by law, you must register as a lobbyist. That is what I have done. That is what the law requires and - going back to John's question - the minute that this district is honored and privileged to vote me into City Hall, all of that will end because our job will be 100% for City Council.

[WOW! Someone thinks rather highly of himself and his family!]
Shafran:

So, I do take that to mean that you are a registered lobbyist and we all know that. This campaign has been hijacked by outside spending.

[Then it becomes a free-for-all.]
At 8:24 in the second segment, Errol Louis steps in:

Louis:

If the questions you've heard so far have not been clear, let me try to focus them for you. They're saying, and we have seen, there's a lot of money that has been spent by this group, Jobs For New York. They don't talk about jobs, they don't even talk about New York. They have made personal attacks on all of your opponents. You've said earlier tonight that you don't like that sort of a theme, they would like you to say publicly that you would like them to stop doing it in the last week.

Shafran:

Which other candidates have done throughout the city.

Graziano:

Correct.

Vallone:

I started the night off by saying across the board - no outside expenditures from any group. I'm taking it beyond one group to all the groups. And if that's an answer the candidates don't like, they're just going to have to live with it.

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How does the Machine screw over Willets Point? Let us count the ways...

From Willets Point United:

The City Council, when we last checked, purports to be a deliberative body, but when you get really close to examine how it really functions you come to understand that it is deliberately obtuse when it comes to the interests of small businesses, and communities impacted by mega-development. Take the ULURP application for the slyly named Willets West-a project that emerged like Rosemary’s Baby from the failure of the original Willets Point development that passed under a false flag in 2008. If what we have seen so far is any indication, the council is preparing to roll over because of an inordinate obsequiousness to the interests of Joe Crowley and the Queens County Democrats.

In the first case, the initial hearing is scheduled for September the 3rd, the first business day after the Labor Day holiday. Acting like folks who want to remain inaccessible and perhaps even incognito, the notice for the hearing was posted on Thursday the 29th, leaving a single day before the holiday for the word to get out.

When it comes to the hearing itself, the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises is signaling that it really doesn’t want to have a vigorous debate on a project that remains promiscuously controversial considering the illegal lobbying that drove the original council approval five years ago. It is doing so first by shutting down the request from Willets Point United to present a 20 minute power point that deconstructs the numerous erroneous assumptions from EDC - an entity that was forced to reconstruct itself after orchestrating the aforementioned illegal lobbying.

There’s really no excuse for doing this since WPU has been willing to forego the time of five or six of its testifiers so that the power point could be presented. The only conclusion an impartial observer can draw from this is that the committee is trying to tamp down the opposition’s ability to make its case. Will the committee limit the developers to 2 minutes? No, we don’t think so - and Chairman Weprin needs to explain why he needs to act as a homer for the developers.

In addition, the time being allotted to each speaker has been reduced to 2 minutes! - another example of favoritism since the developers, being the prototypical special interests, normally have fewer people coming to testify. Two minutes for some of the folks who stand to lose their businesses and their property if this corrupt deal is approved is the quintessential example of the stacked deck.

The committee is also showing its true colors by disrespecting the expected testimony of many of the Hispanic immigrant workers and business owners. No Spanish translator will be provided at this hearing – despite the ULURP application that is at issue requiring that 100+ businesses vacate the premises that are owned and operated predominantly by people who speak Spanish. The City previously failed to provide any Spanish translator at the eminent domain hearing which was widely criticized at the time. Apparently the City has not learned any lesson and is content to steamroll the 100+ immigrant businesses without hearing them at the Council. And why hasn't Julissa Ferreras, the home rule council member who has been working for years with the tenant businesses, demanded interpretation services for her constituents, or spoken out against the skulduggery being perpetrated by the City against Willets Point land and business owners?

The above points, taken all together, demonstrate the City Council's active contempt for public testimony about the proposed Willets West mall / Willets Point Phase One ULURP application. Speaker Quinn, Land Use Committee Chair Leroy Comrie, and subcommittee Chair Mark Weprin should be ashamed of themselves. These latest examples of bias come a year after the Mayor's Office and NYCEDC selected Sterling Equities and Related Companies, and their plan to expand the development from 62 to 108.9 acres including constructing a shopping mall on parkland, in a private process that shut out the Queens-based Willets Point Advisory Committee from the developer selection process, contrary to multiple written promises. The fix appears to be in; let the Council now show us - and all New Yorkers - otherwise.

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The dirty deal that made Christine Quinn speaker

From WNYC:

At its core, the details of the deal-making that December day involved key Council jobs and committee assignments. In turn, the Council shaped in these negotiations became a critical conduit for the big redevelopment projects that the bosses and their corporate allies wanted.

Back in 2002, Rivera had positioned his 21-year-old son, Joel, to be the majority leader of the Council when Gifford Miller became speaker with the support of the Bronx and Queens. Quinn kept Rivera in the post, which came with a $23,000-a-year bonus over the base council member’s salary, and also named him chair of the Health Committee, a post she had held herself for four years. Quinn appointed Baez to head State and Federal Legislation, a gain for the Bronx delegation. Rivera had elected his daughter Naomi to an Assembly seat in 2004, and Quinn, who’d given $1,000 to Naomi’s campaign, put her husband, Antonio Rodriguez, in a $109,000 graphic designer job at the Council. Rivera also won the power to name the next city clerk, a patronage plum with 86 jobs controlled by the speaker.

Crowley’s Queens team already had the Council’s top staff job: Chuck Meara – whose brother Brian is Crowley’s personal lobbyist – had been Miller’s chief of staff and kept the job under Quinn. But Queens also wanted the second most powerful job, first deputy, and it had a Crowley family candidate for it: Ramon Martinez, Crowley’s one time brother-in-law. Quinn knew Martinez from the ‘90s, when they worked briefly together in the Council before Martinez went on to work for Hillary Clinton and other New York elected officials.

Martinez and Crowley’s sister Maura had finalized their divorce in 2003. Now, in 2005, they were faced with the challenge of financing the college educations of three teenagers. In the family business of county party politics, Crowley’s family needs, like Rivera’s, rose to the top of the patronage agenda. The Queens negotiators made it clear that they wanted Martinez to get the job so he could “pay Crowley’s sister’s alimony” or “support Crowley’s sister,” a theme that all the sources at the meeting agree was conveyed in these general terms. Crowley declined to talk to WNYC for this story.

The denouement? When Quinn took over as speaker in January 2006, firing 61 staffers she branded as patronage employees, her top hire was Martinez, who remains her key aide, dwarfing the influence of the laid-back Meara. Martinez, who was then working in the Public Advocate’s office, got an instant $20,000 raise when he moved to the Council. His salary soared by $50,000 in two years, and he now makes $206,190 – some $94,295 more than the speaker herself.

And then there's this:

Roll the calendar forward to 2009. That’s when Queens leader Joe Crowley surfaced at the Council with a project of his own to champion. A member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Crowley rarely gets involved in Queens controversies. But he interjected himself into the debate over another Related Companies project: the $3 billion redevelopment of Willets Point.

The Bloomberg administration wanted to transform the scrapyards and light-industrial zone there – in the heart of Crowley’s congressional district near Citi Field—into a housing, hotel, mall and office colossus. But the project required condemnation by eminent domain of a raft of businesses - 150 of them Hispanic-owned. So when the rezoning of Willets Point came before the Council in November 2009, it was already shrouded in such controversy that 32 members, including a dozen from Queens, signed a letter opposing it. It fell to Quinn to get the Council to support the project.

It didn’t help appearances that the project was a bit of an ethical mess. Claire Shulman, the 83-year-old former Queens borough president, had set up a nonprofit local development corporation, Flushing Willets Point Corona LDC, to build grassroots support for the project. The LDC was underwritten by a $250,000 city grant and real estate interests, including Related’s co-developer on the project, Sterling Equities, the real estate arm of Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz. But Shulman had failed to register the group as a lobbyist with the city clerk and was fined $52,000 for the omission. Then she registered it, and a storm ensued, since LDCs are barred by law from lobbying the Council. The Times quoted hersaying that “we lobbied the city for the city,” a statement that eventually resulted in a state attorney general’s finding that the LDC had “flouted the law” and a settlement that barred it from lobbying the Council. Quinn did not criticize the grandmotherly Shulman at the time - indeed, she shared stages with her, beaming about Willets Point – and remains silent on the lobbying gaffe.

Though the project’s opponents, led by local Councilman Hiram Monserrate, vowed they would not support the rezoning unless it was stripped of any use of eminent domain, they switched en masse when Bloomberg and Quinn added 800 more affordable housing units to the project. The day before the vote, in unscripted moments at a press conference, Bloomberg extolled Quinn’s efforts, saying repeatedly that “we would never have gotten this done” without her and Monserrate. Crowley held a pre-vote press conference at City Hall, pushed recalcitrant Council members, and delivered a speech backing Willets Point at a breakfast of the prestigious Association for a Better New York on the morning of the vote. He called himself “part of the leadership team” that won its passage.

Quinn told WNYC that she never talked directly to Crowley about Willets Point, indicating that she didn’t even know the Queens organization’s position on the project.

Now, a revised project is back before Quinn, slated to come to a Council vote in October. Critics note that it cuts the affordable housing units in half, and that the developers may not have to build any if they delay the housing project for a decade, which they are permitted to do under the deal. The emphasis now is on a huge mall, an echo of Related’s Gateway development in the Bronx.

Mayor Bloomberg, of course, is the granddaddy of the Yankees, Gateway and Willets Point deals. But as speaker, Quinn’s charter duty is to lead a Council that is the only check and balance to mayoral power. Years ago, the media began calling her "deputy mayor" Quinn, a tag earned by her frequent support of Bloomberg. But almost none of the coverage of her over the years has noted the inside track the Democratic leaders have had as well, shaping staff and policy.

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Paul Vallone says he would favor legislation that bans election spending by PACs

But has no problem benefiting from such spending now...

Why won't he denounce the mailers put out by Jobs For New York/Parkside if he, as the county candidate, had nothing to do with them? (As if County and Parkside aren't thick as thieves.)

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Astoria candidate doesn't play by the rules

Astoria attorney John Ciafone is running for City Council District 22 (Astoria) to replace outgoing Peter Vallone, Jr. He has run previously for the council as well as for the assembly. He dropped out back in 2010, and he may have dropped out this time around as well since there are no CFB filings from his campaign on file.

What you may not know is that Ciafone currently appears on Public Advocate Bill DeBlasio's slumlord list. To his credit, he is on the "most improved" list, having reduced his violations from 195 to 2. He tried to donate to DeBlasio, but it was returned. Local council member/Vito Lopez protege Steve Levin and Queens BP candidates Peter Vallone and Melinda Katz apparently have no qualms about keeping his money, however.

Ciafone currently has ads on residential buildings in the Williamsburg-Greenpoint area.

They appear on 202 Franklin Street, 119 Freeman Street, and 199 Green Street, among others.

No permits are on file, so far as I can tell, that allow commercial signs on these buildings.

It's all about who you know, and who you give money to.

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Hit piece sent out by Vallone supporters

The FBI didn't exactly arrest these two for betraying Queens, but whatever.
While not untrue, these 2 candidates were never implicated in any wrongdoing. This hit piece had to have come from either John Duane, Paul Graziano or Paul Vallone. Of course, it doesn't identify on which candidate's behalf it was sent.

Jobs for New York is the Real Estate Board of New York's PAC. Jobs4NY endorsed Paul Vallone.
When you have skeletons in your closet, such as being poker buddies with one of the accused, you might want to think twice about giving your blessing to literature such as this.

By the way, Paul Vallone gave one excuse to the organizers of Monday night's Bayside Historical Society event: "A client of mine passed away, and I am helping with funeral arrangements." And another excuse to the Queens Courier: "He was comforting the family of his 'good friend and mentor' Judge Joseph Risi, who had just passed away, a campaign spokesperson said."

The judge actually passed away on Saturday and his son is an attorney and likely does not require the legal services of Mr. Vallone.

Whoops.

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5 Pointz permit approved by City Planning Commission

From the Queens Courier:

5Pointz, the graffiti covered warehouses in Long Island City, are one step closer to becoming two high-rise apartment buildings.

On Wednesday the City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the land use application that would allow the Wolkoff family, owners of the property on Jackson Avenue and Davis Street, to build apartment towers to larger dimensions than allowed by current zoning rules.

One tower would reach 47 stories and the other 41 stories, with close to 1,000 rental apartments, 30,000 square feet of outdoor public space and 50,000 square feet of retail space between them.

“Once City Planning delivers the application to the New York City Council, which we anticipate to be sometime next week, I will call the matter up,” said Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer. “By calling it up we will trigger a 50 day window in which the City Council must vote on this application. Once this happens there will be two public City Council hearings at which the public will be invited to comment and testify. I will review the application at City Planning’s recommendation.”

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Council pushing disposable bag fee

From the Politicker:

City Councilmembers and advocates announced a plan today to slap a 10 cent charge on all plastic and paper carry-out bags at grocery and retail stores across New York City.

Customers would be required to bring their own bags or pay the fee, which stores would get to pocket, according to the proposed legislation, unveiled this afternoon at City Hall.

The legislation, which will be formally introduced at a Council meeting Thursday, is aimed at reigning in “wasteful” plastic bag use in the city, where it’s not uncommon for grocery stores to double-bag single quarts of milk.

According to the bill’s proponents, New Yorkers use approximately 5.2 billion plastic bags per year–the vast majority of which are not recycled. The city also spends an estimated $10 million a year to transport those 100,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills each year, they said.

“Many agree that it is time to move forward on addressing this environmentally-harmful problem,” the group said in a release.

The legislation would also force the city to begin widespread distribution of free, reusable bags. Restaurants would be exempt from the rule, Stores that break the rules twice would be slapped with $250 fines.

A spokesman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose support is likely necessary for the bills to pass, declined to say whether or not she supports the bills.

A spokesman for the mayor said the office is reviewing the legislation.

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Vito Photoshop bust

How many differences can you spot between these 2 photos?


The top one comes from the Daily News.

The bottom one comes from a recent Vito Lopez mailer.

Miss Heather has the story and the rest of the mailer.

The Daily News goes in depth on what this is about.

This guy is either really stupid, or has cojones the size of cantaloupes.

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Quinn funding illegal alien training

From the Daily News:

New York City plans to spend $18 million over the next two years to help immigrants who came to the United States illegally as children land legal jobs and get driver’s licenses.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn — flexing the power of her office in the midst of a tough election fight as she runs for mayor — will announce the effort Wednesday.

It’s geared toward helping more young New Yorkers qualify for President Barack Obama’s year-old Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals initiative, which lets undocumented immigrants who came the U.S. before age 16 and were younger than 31 on June 15, 2012, get driver’s licenses and Social Security cards.

As many as 79,000 New Yorkers meet the age and immigration requirements for the program, Quinn says, but as many as 16,000 of them could be disqualified because the strict program requires applicants to have graduated from high school, earned a GED or be currently working toward a diploma.

The $18 million from the City Council will fund adult education classes and GED programs for people who need help meeting the education requirements.

Why do we need to help adults? I thought they were supposed to be welcomed because they were here "doing the jobs Americans won't do?" Haven't we heard that they and their kids are all successful and contribute positively to the economy?

Wouldn't this money be better spent helping American kids instead of helping people who don't belong here compete with American kids?

What school or park is falling apart and could have used $18M?

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Quinn's asskissing presser features Queens councilmen

From the Politicker:

It was mostly smiles for Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn under the burning sun outside of City Hall this afternoon.

She accepted new endorsements from two council members from Brooklyn, Stephen Levin and Michael Nelson, as well as two from Queens, Mark Weprin and James Gennaro--all of whom spoke to her established record, which they contended distinguishes her from the other candidates running for office.

"Let me get right to it," Mr. Gennaro said. “Whatever you care about in New York City, whatever issue you care about in New York City, Chris Quinn has a record of accomplishment--a record of solid accomplishment in whatever issue you care about. Not a phrase, not a slogan, not a word picture. An actual record of leadership."

"Madam Speaker, I look forward in seven months to calling you Madam Mayor," Mr. Levin said to a beaming Speaker Quinn who graciously kissed him on the cheek afterwards. And so on for Mr. Weprin and Mr. Nelson.

The endorsements today were largely unsurprising. Mr. Gennaro, for instance, has been functioning as an informal attack dog for the Quinn campaign on a variety of issues. And Ms. Quinn was previously endorsed by the Queens County Democratic organization, and loyal members like Mr. Weprin were likely to follow suit. Nevertheless, it's a component of Ms. Quinn's larger strategy: steadily and slowly growing the list of colleagues backing her bid for Gracie Mansion.

Ms. Quinn, however, didn't strike exclusively positive notes this afternoon. Asked about former Gov. Eliot Spitzer nearly tearing up during an appearance on Morning Joe this morning (she appeared shortly after), Ms. Quinn said she hadn't seen a clip, but launched into a critique of both Mr. Spitzer and another scandal scarred pol, former Congressman Anthony Weiner, one of her main rivals in the mayor's race.

"I, as much as anybody else, believe in second chances. None of us are perfect. In every way, but particularly in elected life, you need to earn a second chance. So the question is what have Anthony Weiner and Eliot Spitzer done to earn a second chance?" she said, echoing comments she made yesterday. "What have they done with their time since their fall from grace that would earn them this second choice--chance. I would say not very much."

Does anyone remember Miss Quinn calling for Weiner and Spitzer's resignations? I don't. Now they're dirt because one of them is running against her?

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Rest in peace, Walter McCaffrey

From CBS New York:

Former long-serving New York City Councilman Walter McCaffrey has died at the age of 64.

Mr. McCaffrey died Wednesday morning at Mount Sinai Hospital, according to longtime friend Martin McLaughlin. He had recently been ill, but the nature of his disease was not specified.

Mr. McCaffrey, a Democrat, served in the City Council from 1985 until 2001. He represented the 26th District, which includes parts of the Long Island City, Sunnyside and Woodside sections of Queens.

He counted among his successes legislation that banned or restricted adult entertainment venues from residential neighborhoods.

Mr. McCaffrey also wrote legislation that mandated security cameras at automated teller machines.

After leaving public office, he started a lobbying firm, McCaffrey Group. Among its issues was the fight against congestion pricing.

Mr. McCaffrey was born and raised in Woodside.

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Halloran's participatory budgeting projects will be funded

From the Queens Courier:

The district represented by indicted Councilmember Dan Halloran will receive funding for all seven participatory budget items and then some.

Nearly $3.2 million in capital and expense projects will be honored by the City Council, according to the legislative body’s Queens delegation.

“Northeast Queens is home to many of the borough’s great cultural institutions, not-for-profits and some of the best schools in the entire city,” said Councilmember Leroy Comrie, the deputy majority leader and chair of the delegation.

“I was pleased to have had the opportunity to work with my colleagues in the delegation to ensure residents can continue to thrive, and the funds we provided will make sure the quality of life in these community’s remains strong,” he added.

The Council stripped Halloran of his committee assignments and funding allocations in April when the lawmaker was charged in a conspiracy and bribery scheme.

Power to distribute his district’s funds fell to Speaker Christine Quinn’s office and the borough delegation, which said they would dole out money for 23 community projects. Those include all seven the district voted on during its second annual participatory budget process.

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God bless America!

From the NY Post:

Two City Council members have been in public service for so long, they’re collecting government pay from three sources — salary, pension and Social Security, according to newly released financial-disclosure forms.

Oliver Koppell (D-Bronx) — one of the wealthiest members of the City Council — and Karen Koslowitz (D-Queens) each collected income on top of their $122,500 council salaries.

Koppell took in as much as $60,000 in pension from his longtime gig as a state assemblyman, and between $5,000 and $44,000 in Social Security.

Koslowitz took in between $60,000 and $100,000 in pension payouts last year for working a previous stint on the council and as Queens Deputy Borough President until she rejoined the council in 2010.

Koslowitz also earned between $5,000 and $44,000 in Social Security last year and has between $10,000 and $88,000 in credit card debt.

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Losers, all

From the Daily News:

Unleashing passions that still burn today, the City Council voted in 2008 to allow New York officials to run for three terms in office, rather than just the two terms that voters have repeatedly commanded.

This history has placed 10 incumbents in position to run for third terms this November. They are doing so in clear violation of the public will. Worse, five of the defiant 10 are members who actually voted against allowing officials to seek three terms.

The five members who voted for the extension and are defying the subsequent will of the voters are: Maria del Carmen Arroyo and Jimmy Vacca of the Bronx; Brooklynites Sara Gonzalez and Darlene Mealy, and Inez Dickens of Manhattan.

The five hypocrites who voted against allowing members to run three times but are doing so now are: Dan Garodnick, Melissa Mark-Viverito and Rosie Mendez of Manhattan; Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn, and Annabel Palma from the Bronx.

Once, they told their constituents that the city was best served by injecting fresh blood after eight years. Now, breaking their bond, they serve only political ambition.

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Sealed with a kiss

From the Politicker:

For one, it marked the end of an era, his last governing document over the finances of the city he’s run for the past 12 years. For the other, it marked the start of a new chapter, her chance to celebrate the early budget she hopes to inherit come January.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his wannabe successor, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, unveiled the duo’s final budget deal Sunday evening, surrounded by fellow council members in the grand rotunda of City Hall.

With a handshake and kiss on the cheek following lots of applause and accolades, the pair announced a $70 billion deal that restores threatened cuts to libraries and childcare, prevents fire house closures, and adds an extra $58 million to the New York City Housing Authority to help plug a $200 million budget hole caused by federal sequestration cuts.

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Park maintenance shouldn't rely on discretionary funding

Photo from Times Ledger

From the NY Times:

Of the 51 Council members, at least three — the Democrats Charles Barron of Brooklyn, Peter Koo of Queens and Annabel Palma of the Bronx — gave no money to parks in the past three fiscal years. Another three — the Democrats Gale A. Brewer of Manhattan, and Albert Vann and David G. Greenfield, both of Brooklyn — allocated $8 million to $9 million each over the same period.

The amount of money they have to disburse is determined, in part, by the speaker of the City Council, Christine C. Quinn, who is now running for mayor (and who has been a major supporter of parks). Some members may perceive more pressing demands, like affordable housing or public safety.

Some City Council members chafe at the requests to finance basic park infrastructure. “Why should we be paying for it?” said Mark Weprin, a Queens Democrat, who recently designated money for protective netting at a public golf course. “They come to us with a list of projects, and I always find that offensive. These are the basic needs of an area. It shouldn’t be up to the local councilman to fix up parks.”

Agreed.

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Instant runoff voting may be coming in 2017

From the Daily News:

A new City Council effort would eliminate costly and cumbersome runoff elections in favor of instant runoffs in which voters would rank candidates to choose their favored contender in a primary election.

Backers of the proposal plan to introduce a bill in the Council on Wednesday that would put the matter to a voter referendum. It could take effect as early as 2017.

Supporters say the new system could avoid the difficulties expected this year as the Board of Elections warns that it won’t have time to reset new electronic voting machines in the two weeks between the September primary and the runoff expected if no candidate receives at least 40% of the vote. It could also save taxpayers about $20 million.

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