Liu says Parks Dept. needs to do a better job with concessions

City Comptroller John Liu says better management of parks concessions would net millions for the city.

He highlights Tavern on the Green, which closed nearly two years ago and still has yet to be replaced with a new tenant, costing the city over $2 million (and made my school change the location of our Senior Formal! Still bitter about that, if you couldn't tell).

Liu says all the concession mismanagement by the Department of Parks and Recreation has cost the city $8.8 million. In addition to the lost revenue calculations, the City and State have forfeited nearly $3.7 million in sales taxes with Tavern’s demise, and 500 jobs disappeared, the audit estimates. 

“Parks are not just about concessions, but concession contracts should be better managed so that revenue flows to the City without unnecessary interruption,” Liu said. 

The audit concluded that other concessions could also have been better managed – to the tune of $6.6 million. These include the pushcart licenses in Battery Park, the Central Park tennis courts, the ice skating rink at Flushing Meadows Corona Park, and the snack bar at Orchard Beach in Pelham Bay Park.

He mentions the ice skating rink in Queens, but the audit has left out (for good reason) the non-existent ice skating rink in Van Cortlandt Park. 

Over the summer, we've been writing about the parks department's failure to close negotiations with Ice Rink Events to bring a skating rink to Van Cortlandt Park. There was limited interest--only three companies showed up to the site tour, and two of them didn't bother bidding on the contract--which seems to have given Ice Rink Events the upper hand in the negotiations, allowing them to force the better deal.

Because of that, parks is probably going to not gain as much money as they could have out of these negotiations. Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to rink up and running this year. They're already behind schedule.

They recently announced a compromise for this year only, though if the entire summer has shown us anything, it's that the entire concession process needs to be looked over and reexamined for a more transparent process. 

Liu says that specifically, the Parks Department should have started key contract solicitations earlier and ensured more competition. Parks also failed to maintain key documentation supporting contract decisions and preventing conflicts of interest. 

The Parks Department, as custodian of over 29,000 acres of City parkland, is responsible for soliciting and awarding concessions for various attractions. Typically, the concession operators pay a fee or a percentage of their total receipts – money that is used to support programs and services.  

Jump below for the rest of the audit summary.

Cuomo's proclamation for special session

Here's Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proclamation calling the state Assembly and Senate into extraordinary session at noon today to discuss/vote on legislation about the tax code deal announced yesterday, which also includes job creation and hurricane relief.

If you'd like to watch the special session, head over to their website for a livestream.
Cuomo's proclamation for the extraordinary session

Axed single-space meters turned into bike racks (UPDATE)

For those wondering what would happen to the single-space meters, you now have an answer.

If that car was a bike, he wouldn't have gotten a ticket.

Some get removed completely and recycled. Others, as seen here, have found a new use as bike racks. There are a bunch of these scattered along Johnson Ave. and W. 235th Street in Riverdale, with more coming throughout the borough soon.

This has been a long time coming for some members of the community. Current Community Board 8 chairman Robert Fanuzzi said he has been trying to install bike racks in the area since at least two years ago.

Fanuzzi and fellow board member Thomas Durham drove through the community board, searching for corridors they could put bike racks in.

"We inventoried all the places that’d be great for bike racks and certainly Johnson Avenue was one of them," Fanuzzi said.

When he was the chair of the economic development committee, in 2009-10, "I heard from young families that this was the way to save local businesses was to make it more bike accessible, because lack of parking was a turnoff."

He made it very clear where else he would like to see bike racks.

"Where there is trouble parking there should be bike racks."

What do you think? Are these a good use of the old meters?

For past stories about the change of meters, check out here.

UPDATE: The Department of Transportation sent out a press release today about the new bike racks.

They say the city has converted 175 of the decommissioned parking meters throughout the city. Also, the city is currently reviewing responses to a Request for Proposals for a vendor to manufacture 6,000 additional racks to be installed at meters citywide to help meet the city’s growing demand for public bike parking.

"Our infrastructure needs to keep pace with new demands on city streets,” said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. “By transforming obsolete parking meters into off-the-rack bike parking, we are recycling old facilities to meet this growing need."

Made from galvanized, durable ductile iron, meter racks easily slide on to former parking meter posts that have had their heads removed following DOT’s installation of the new muni-meters. By taking advantage of already-installed infrastructure, the meter racks eliminate the cost of removing old posts combined with the cost of installing an entirely new bike rack.

The new meter rack’s design is based on the standard “Hoop” rack designed by Ian Mahaffy and Maarten De Greeve, which was selected as the winner of a DOT and Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum-sponsored competition in 2008.

New Yorkers can also request rack installations at nyc.gov/dot.

Officials, agencies react to Cuomo's tax plan

City Comptroller John Liu, State Senator Gustavo Rivera, the MTA and the Alliance for Quality Education have all released statements complimenting Governor Andrew Cuomo on his leadership in tax reform. More statements will flow in, so I'll post them all below the jump.

Here's part of Cuomo's press release from today. Read the whole thing here.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced that they have reached a proposed three-way agreement on legislative and executive proposals to create jobs and cut taxes for middle class New Yorkers. The agreement includes support for a comprehensive New York Works Agenda that will create thousands of jobs with new investments in New York's infrastructure, passing a fair tax reform plan that achieves the first major restructuring of the tax code in decades resulting in a tax cut for 4.4 million middle class New Yorkers taxpayers, approving $50 million in additional relief for areas devastated by recent floods, and reducing the MTA payroll tax to provide relief for small businesses. The leaders will now present the agreement to their members for approval.

"Our state government has come together in a bipartisan manner to create jobs, grow our economy and, at the same time enact a fair tax plan that cuts taxes for the middle class," Governor Cuomo said. "We are investing in projects that will restore our state's infrastructure and put thousands of people to work. We are cutting taxes on middle class New Yorkers and small businesses, which will inject nearly $1 billion into our economy. We are targeting new tax credits to hire inner city youth and reduce unemployment in some of the poorest areas of our state, as well as providing direct aid to communities struggling to recover in the wake of this year's severe storms. This would be lowest tax rate for middle class families in 58 years. This job-creating economic plan defies the political gridlock that has paralyzed Washington and shows that we can make government work for the people of this State once again."

Jump below for the statements.

Koppell gets an 'A' for human rights

City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell is one of nine Council Members who received an 'A' grade on the “2011 New York City Council Human Rights Report Card,” which was released by the Human Rights Project at the Urban Justice Center on Nov. 14.

 

The goal of the annual Human Rights Report Card is to provide reliable and accessible information on the performance of City Council representatives in protecting and advancing the human rights of New Yorkers in 2011. Council Members were graded based on their sponsorship of, and votes on, legislation  to advance human rights, as well as their responses to the Human Rights Questionnaire sent to each Council Member in June.

 

The Human Rights Project highlighted Koppell’s legislative priorities including the “Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act,” the “Accessible Taxi Mandate” and improving Department of Buildings access to illegal residential housing conversions as the basis for its rating. The project also noted Koppell’s advocacy on behalf of these measures, as well as his budget priorities, which included the "Children Under Five Mental Health Initiative," the “Geriatric Mental Health Initiative” and helping ensure that teachers were not laid off.

 

“I am very proud to have received an A grade on the NYC Council Human Rights Report Card based on my legislative record at the City Council, and I look forward to continuing to advocate on behalf of this vital issue,”  Koppell said.

Electeds wait until December to kick off Christmas in the Bronx

While businesses around the country began kicking off the winter holidays pretty much the day after Halloween, the Bronx's elected officials managed to hold off until December actually started.

On Saturday, Dec. 3, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. (far right) welcomed Santa Claus to the Bronx as he joined City Council Member G. Oliver Koppell (far left), Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz (third from left) and members of the board of directors of the Woodlawn Heights Taxpayer & Civic Association at the organization’s annual Christmas tree lighting event.

Diaz Op/Ed from El Diario

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. published an Op/Ed in El Diario La Prensa this week, discussing the living wage bill in the City Council. It's in Spanish, so for your consideration, here is the English version.

To read the op-ed in the original Spanish, click here.

By Ruben Diaz Jr.
Bronx Borough President

Diaz supports a living wage.

On November 21, thousands of people from all over the City crowded into the Riverside Church in upper Manhattan to make their voices heard loud and clear: it is time for this administration to do right by the people of this City and pass the “Fair Wages for New Yorkers” Act.

What this bill asks for is very modest. When major economic development projects solicit heavy taxpayer subsidies for their projects work, they must pay their employees a “living wage,” currently defined by federal law as $10 per hour with benefits or $11.50 without.

This is, by any measure, a modest sum. Yet our opponents continue to describe this bill as the end of all business in New York City, regardless of the utter lack of truth in their claims.

Jump below for the full piece.

Get back from Israel, go to Albany

I'm from Albany. I've never been to Israel. But I'd be willing to bet that going straight from Israel to Albany is going to make you appreciate Israel a lot more.

The Legislature's near-certain return to action for a special session is going to be very difficult for a handful of elected officials who are in Israel this week.

Bronx/Manhattan state Senator Adriano Espaillat and Bronx Assemblyman Nelson Castro are two of 18 lawmakers from America, Chile and Uruguay who are currently visiting the Middle East nation, sponsored by the Anti-Defamation League.

But the governor is about ready to call a special session to have the elected officials vote on a budget that will hopefully fix a rising deficit.

Espaillat spokesman Ibrahim Khan said the state senator will be back Wednesday night and could be in Albany Thursday if need be.

The Daily News has the full saga:

During their eight-day trip the lawmakers are visiting “places of religious, political and historical importance and meeting with Palestinians, Arab Israelis, Bedouins, Holocaust survivors, members of the Knesset, the Supreme Court and representatives from the Israeli government and civil society,” according to a press release from the ADL.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who was not on the tour and is on his way up to Albany today, is a bit upset at the lack of clarity over the past week.

"They need to give us a little notice," he said. "It's a little ridiculous. People have plans."

Dinowitz highlighted Espaillat's trip (they share a bit of Riverdale), saying that it could "easily cost $1,000 to change that flight," and it would come out of Espaillat's own pocket.

Quickly checking Expedia, one-way flights from Israel to the NYC area range from $662 to $4,950, with many around the $1,000-$2,000 range.

There's at least one assembly member won't be ending his in-country vacation short for the special session. 

Related side note: the Riverdale Review will hopefully have a story about Espaillat's trip in the Dec. 15 issue.

Espaillat hails court ruling upholding prison gerrymandering reform

Espaillat applauded a court ruling that
upholds gerrymandering reform.

While there is absolutely zero consensus on what the state and federal districts will look like next year, at least one part of the process has taken a step forward: prisoners will be counted in the district they called home before incarceration, not the district where they reside during their sentence.

State Senator Adriano Espaillat congratulated Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (who represented Espaillat's district before winning the AG seat) on successfully defending the state law that Senate Republicans challenged.

Criticized by civil rights and good-government groups, prison gerrymandering wrongly counted prisoners as residents in areas where they are temporarily incarcerated, instead of the communities they come from, Espaillat says. Prison gerrymandering is especially harmful to minority, urban districts because that is where many of the prisoners come from, but then are incarcerated in upstate, rural districts.

“Prison gerrymandering harmed Downstate communities, particularly those with high numbers of minority constituents, like the ones I represent," Espaillat said. "It cost our communities valuable resources and equal representation in government. We commend Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for successfully defending the ill-conceived challenge to prison gerrymandering reform that we passed in the legislature last year.

“We must immediately implement requirements of the prison gerrymandering reform as part of the redistricting process and count incarcerated individuals as residents of the communities they come from. Additionally, we must move aggressively towards independent redistricting and restore New Yorkers’ faith in government." 

“As a lawmaker, I fought to end the practice of prison-based gerrymandering that distorted the democratic process and undermined the principle of ‘one person, one vote.’ This decision affirms and applies a fair standard to the drawing of state legislative districts and makes it easier for counties to do the same by providing them with an accurate data set," Schneiderman told the Daily News.

Here's the court ruling.

Prisoners Decision and Order

Engel encouraged by falling unemployment numbers

Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY-17) said he was encouraged by the better-than-expected unemployment numbers for November, as the rate dropped to 8.6% in the nation, the lowest since March 2009.

In addition to the 120,000 jobs added, an upgrade of the September and October reports accounted for another 52,000 jobs. Engel repeated his call for passage of jobs legislation to boost the economy and get even more Americans back to work.

Last week, however, we reported that unemployment in the Bronx had increased over the past year.

Private payrolls in the country grew by 140,000 jobs in November after increasing by 117,000 in October, according to the recent report by the Department of Labor. This is the 21st consecutive month of private sector job growth. Government employment fell by 20,000 jobs as public payrolls have fallen for the tenth time in the last 11 months. Retail jobs surged in November, adding almost 50,000 jobs. Construction jobs fell slightly, while manufacturing rose. Health care and social assistance jobs rose by almost 20,000, while temporary hiring also increased by over 22,000. Temporary hirings are often seen as a sign of an increase in future permanent hirings.

Engel released a statement rejoicing in the improved numbers and calling for a jobs bill, something he's been blaming the Republicans on because they have refused to work with the other side of the aisle.

“Far too many families are still struggling with long-term unemployment – but it is much nicer to be talking about gaining 140,000 private sector jobs than the hundreds of thousands we lost during the months leading to the end of the Bush Administration. We need to use the positive signs seen this fall as a springboard to facilitate a stronger recovery," Engel said.

“This means setting aside political rancor and sending a bipartisan jobs bill to the President’s desk. The House Republican Majority refuses to work with the Democratic Minority, or the President, to put forth legislation to help create jobs, and instead is fixated on an ideological agenda ahead of helping middle and lower income families.

“It also means extending unemployment insurance for those still struggling to find work. In 75 years, we have never cut off unemployment insurance benefits when the unemployment percentage was so high.  Hardly anyone receiving unemployment benefits chooses to be in this position, but until more jobs are created we must do what is necessary.

“Our economy is gradually making positive strides, in spite of Republican opposition to any effort to strengthen it. Imagine what we could do if they’d join our efforts to pass the American Jobs Act – or similar legislation. Let’s finally work together, and produce a jobs bill which helps the unemployed and aids employers at the same time.”