Colby Hamilton

In a video that first appeared (to my knowledge) on the Norwood News website, New York City Comptroller is seen talking with members of the Bronx Community College about the difficulties faced by students.

According to the News, Liu was on a "mini-tour" which consisted of a trip to a jobs center as well as a senior center:

The Bronx continues to have the highest unemployment in the state, according to the most recent New York State Department of Labor numbers, at 12.1 percent. The city's rate overall stands at 8.7 percent.

Courtesy of the Governor's office

Update below.

Governor Andrew Cuomo appeared onthe Capitol Pressroom with Susan Arbetter this morning, where he talked redistricting. Both YNN's State of Politics and the Times-Union Capitol Confidential blogs have write-ups on the conversation.

The topic was undoubtedly spurred by today's polls showing New Yorkers remain convinced some degree of independence is needed in the redistricting process. The Governor admitted that his long-voiced plan to veto the legislature's plan, though, wouldn't necessarily mean better results:

The veto really would inject a certain amount of chaos and uncertainty that really would be in no one’s best interest.

TU's Jimmy Vielkind saw the comments as an acknowledgment that Cuomo's threat might not be as rock solid as it appears:

For months, Cuomo has used the veto threat as a stick while negotiations with the legislature continue: there are now two proposals advanced by good-government groups to reform the redistricting process, both softer than the bill Cuomo delivered to legislators in the winter and which went nowhere. Today, Cuomo’s suggesting his stick, in the Rooseveltian sense, might not be so big.

Nick Reisman at the State of Politics Blog doesn't see the Governor's statements as backing down:

But Cuomo wasn’t walking back his plan to strike down lines drawn by lawmakers, either, or his opposition to boundaries that are political.

The governor, rather, noted the legal nuance is a bit more complicated than simply sending the matter to the courts.

Maybe. But if the Governor's not willing to call back the legislature and he's not psyched about the legal prospect of a veto (sending the lines to the courts), then the only room left is negotiation. And that will mean, at some level, compromise.

Which, in the end, is what will likely happen: the Governor's office will undoubtedly be working on legislators to put something out the Governor can say is fair and nonpartisan, while legislators put together the best maps they can under the circumstances.

UPDATE

David King with Gotham Gazette makes this point about the Governor's comments:

Good government groups seem to be taking the comments in stride. A number of independent redistricting advocates have been saying that a veto could cause chaos thanks to the possibility of the state moving to an earlier primary date. They note that Cuomo’s comments only show that he is in touch with the realities of the situation. The courts have never been exactly anxious to get involved in redistricting.

Since the real issue is whether Senate Republicans are able to draw themselves a majority through this process, the question really is will Cuomo go toe-to-toe over lines drawn by the Senate majority?

King notes, in a post yesterday, that Senate Democrats are worried his relationship with Republicans could keep him from doing just that.

More than three-quarters of New York voters polled in a new Quinnipiac University survey say they want an independent commission, with little to no legislative input, to draw new political lines. According to the poll, 48 percent said they wanted a completely independent commission drawing lines, while 28 percent said one with some legislative input was prefered.

A plurality of those polled--45 percent--said Governor Andrew Cuomo should make good on his promise of vetoing lines drawn by state legislators. Nearly a quarter of respondents weren't sure.

Interestingly support for the veto has been falling from a 49 percent high back in August.

In terms of how lines should be drawn, 53 percent said they want districts to be drawn without taking the incumbent into account. The only group polled that disagreed? African Americans, who, by a plurality of 47 percent, felt lines should be drawn to protect incumbents.

When it comes to drawing districts that take race and ethnicity into account--something we've been writing about--those polled were vehemently against the idea, with 72 percent of respondents saying districts shouldn't be based on racial or ethnic requirements. Among black voters, a majority--50 percent--agreed.

By Karen DeWitt, New York Public Radio Capital Bureau Chief

The state’s environmental agency is putting the brakes on the process to approve hydrofracking on some private lands in New York, now that a key advisory panel will miss a November 1 deadline to issue a report.

The State’s Environmental Commissioner Joe Martens said the report from the advisory committee—made up of industry, environmental and community representatives—will not be issued next month, partly because data on costs from hydrofracking to other state agencies, like the departments of health and transportation, aren’t ready yet.

Martens said “there’s been a little bit of a change in plans” and that the panel will be meeting through January of 2012 to try to issue a report that will also contain costs to local governments , as well as state costs.

“There’s no firm timetable,” Martens said.

Martens says the data on the potential costs of hydrofracking to the state is “unlikely” to be ready in time for the governor’s budget proposal in January, and he says he “can’t predict” whether hydrofracking permits will be issued in 2012.

Commissioner Martens also said just the review of the thousands of comments that have been received during an ongoing public comment period will take months.

Councilman Jackson, left, with Assemblyman Camara and other elected officials. (Colby Hamilton / WNYC)

A united front of minority politicians and their labor allies held a press conference today to call on Governor Andrew Cuomo to keep the “millionaires’ tax” on higher-income earners in place at the end of this year.

“New Yorkers deserve a budget plan of shared sacrifice,” said Assemblyman Karim Camara, who chairs the bicameral Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Legislative Caucus. He said the current tax rate would generate $5 billion in revenues that could be used to offset cuts that disproportionally affect the working class and minority communities.

The Governor has said he wants the taxes to expire at the end of the year. Until recently any discussion of tax increases appeared off the table. But that was before the Occupy Wall Street protest.

Support for keeping taxes on higher-income earners wasn’t just among the protesters on Wall Street, said Councilman Robert Jackson, or among the 72 percent of voters who favor the tax. The co-chair of the city council’s minority caucus said the Governor need only visit his district in Harlem.

“If you don’t believe us, walk through our community and ask the people. They will tell you what is necessary,” he said.

The show of solidarity from African American, Latino and Asian elected officials opened up a new front against the Governor’s support for nixing taxes for the state’s most wealthy—and it could be a bigger one than he’d care to acknowledge.

Call it Andrew Cuomo’s color blind problem. In discussions after the event, the strategy was made clear: If the Governor remains blind to the calls of communities of color—through their elected representatives—he could have a problem that goes beyond a single issue like the millionaires’ tax.

The Governor has enjoyed a close relationship with minority communities over the years. But elected officials from those communities—upset over years now of cuts to social programs at every level, unshakable high unemployment, and attacks on unions that employee many from their neighborhoods—appear less willing to just go along with a governor they see more concerned with protecting his future interests (i.e. 2014 gubernatorial, 2016 presidential) than those of their constituents.

At least, that’s what today’s organizers are hoping Cuomo hears. So far the Governor remains popular across all groups, and community leaders haven’t taken as hard a stance as the elected officials. But if the Governor sticks to his position on the millionaires’ tax, that could all change.

Before it even began, Occupy Albany was imbued with its first agenda item. Press reports last Friday talked about the “millionaires’ tax” as an issue for Occupiers before they'd even shown up. The tax is a big one for left-leaning groups and organized labor who have been pushing for its continuation of on higher-income earners.

Governor Cuomo has said he wants to do away with the tax, but many inside and outside the protests point to recent polls showing the majority of New Yorkers support keeping the revenue stream.

Over the weekend there was more friction between the Governor’s office and the mayor of Albany than between protesters and police. The Governor’s push of Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings to evict the curfew-breaking protesters was an indication to some observers that the protests were getting to the governor.

“The coverage of his push to get Occupy Albany shut down shows how close to home that’s hitting,” said one observer close to the issue. “There’s clearly a concern on their part, internally, that it’s going to escalate in a way that makes it difficult for him.”

Are the Occupations, which have now spread throughout the state, enough to get the Governor to change his mind on the continuation of taxes on higher-income earners? People in support of the move certainly hope so.

Courtesy of the mayors office

WNYC's political analyst Joyce Purnick has a new piece up on our billionaire mayor's predicament with those pesky protesters down in Zuccotti Park. As Purnick points out, Bloomberg might be rethinking that third term right about...now.

The Occupy Wall Street protest is a headache for him. The world is watching and he is the man in charge of the city. If he antagonizes the protesters, he could wind up with a riot on his hands. If he lets them continue to protest, he looks weak and indecisive.

There is no simple solution, as the mayor said himself when he noted recently on his WOR radio show that "it's just not so easy; you can't just walk in and say, 'Hey, you're outta here.' " And even if the city did eject the protesters, he asked, where would they go then, since they do not appear inclined to head home. To Union Square? The Great Lawn in Central Park? The Sheep Meadow?

Of course, this is just another turn in the no-good, rotten, miserable, stupid year for the mayor. From snowstorms to Goldsmithgate, Cathy Black to John Haggerty, the mayor's third term has so far been riddled with embarrassing episodes that question his effectiveness as a mayor.

And now these kids protesting Wall Street.

The Occupy Wall Street protesters live in an alternate universe, which leaves the mayor where no leader wants to be: looking for a way to resolve a very volatile situation that is playing out in the public eye. Maybe he will be lucky and nature — the approach of a New York winter — will help the mayor out.

I'm sure President Lyndon Johnson felt the same way in 1970, but there's nothing that suggests the issues the protesters are raising--income inequality, disillusionment with politics, unemployment--are going away any time soon. Why would the protesters?

As we've been reporting, one of growing issues throughout the state is how local municipalities are faring under the the state's tax cap, specifically under state mandates like Medicaid. Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times today has a piece out about how counties and towns throughout the city are taking things, and the answer is: not well.

The property tax cap was a big piece of Cuomo's successful first legislative session. But now the need for local governments to raise funds is pushing hundreds to override the much-heralded legislation:

The Association of Towns of the State of New York estimated that, based on historical budgeting data, about a third of New York’s 932 towns might also consider overriding the cap. Some towns said they needed faster property-tax increases to pay for important capital projects; others cited a need to finance their share of the rebuilding in the wake of Tropical Storms Irene and Lee.

This issue has already created rumblings around the state for something to be done in the next session. Cuomo's office, according to the article, argues that only about 20 percent of localities' budgets could require an override, and that the existence of an override provision shows the law has built in flexibility. But with a 60 percent supermajority threshold, it's entirely possible localities could be facing severe financial issues if the override can't be reached.

As we reported last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo was handed an award for his work legalizing same-sex marriage in New York. But some of his recent comments regarding opposition to same-sex marriage aren't sitting well with opponents of the law.

Rev. Jason J. McGuir, the executive director of New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms, sent the letter below to the Governor today, asking for a retraction of comments made at a New York Times event, where he stated: “There is no answer from the opposition. There really isn't. Ultimately, it's, 'I want to discriminate.' And that's anti-New York. It's anti-American."

"To say that those who disagree with your position are 'anti-American' is more than just political
rhetoric, it is a statement that drives us further apart, when the challenges our state faces should be drawing us closer together," McGuir said in his letter.

Later in the letter McGuir cited former Governor Hugh Carey's regret, later in life, for allowing abortions to be covered under Medicaid as a path McGuir hoped the current governor would one day walk.

"It is my prayer that one day you too will come to realize that while supporting gay 'marriage' may have been politically expedient at the time, it was ultimately harmful to the Empire State and her citizenry," McGuir wrote.

Read the letter after the jump.

This version has been updated from the original version.

Call it a victim of internal politics. A noon press conference today in Brooklyn, hosted in Republican State Senator Mary Golden's district, included a number of prominent New York City Republicans who are against mandatory sex-ed in city classrooms.

In fact, many of the city's elected Republican officials were scheduled to be there, including the city's newest Republican congressman, Bob Turner.

Fascinatingly, no City Council Republicans showed up. Some said they weren't invited. Others, like Councilman James Oddo, said they were, but were unable to make the event. Everyone contacted were against the city's policy.

From the guest list, it looked like sort of a Brooklyn Republican Party party--even Brooklyn GOP chair Craig Eaton was originally listed as being on hand. Then again, so was former Bronx Democratic Assemblyman Michael Benjamin, who was quoted in the press release that went out after the press conference.

Yet none of the three current Republicans on the City Council, nor other Republican electeds like Staten Island State Senator Andrew Lanza or Assemblyman Lou Tobacco, were on hand. Calls into many of the elected officials offices have not been returned, but at least some of those not in attendance had not been reached out to.

"If they'd invited me, I would have liked to have been there," said would Republican elected official.

President Johnson, who signed the Voting Rights Act into law (The US Library of Congress / Warren K. Leffler)

Last week we tried a thought experiment on the Empire. Following up on our reporting on ethnic and racial minority groups’ efforts during the redistricting process to have lines drawn that better served “communities of interest” (i.e. racial and ethnic groups), we took up one of the ideas floating around. Is it possible to create a Congressional district in Queens that was at least 40 percent Asian?

The short answer was, yes—see below.

But, it turns out, just because it’s possible to draw a 40 percent Asian district doesn’t mean it’s legal, if even likely, thanks in part to the long shadow cast by the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act.

But isn’t the VRA (that’s the cool way to refer to it) all about helping minority groups, like, vote?

It is. But it’s more than that. Let’s take a step back to review what the VRA is, how it impacts and affects us here in New York, specifically during the redistricting process. Then we’ll get to why our 40 percent Asian district in Queens would never fly.

WNYC's Bob Hennelly is reporting that John Haggerty, the Republican operative accused of stealing campaign money from Mayor Bloomberg's 2009 third-term effort, has been found not guilty of Grand Larceny, the most serious charge against him.

He has been found guilty of lesser charges. We'll post more when it becomes available.

Update 1

District Attorney Cyrus Vance sent out a release on the verdict.

“John Haggerty abused the electoral process to enrich himself,” said District Attorney Vance. “I thank the jurors for their service and careful attention in this case.”

Update 2

The indefatigable Azi Paybarah of CapitalNewYork.com caught Haggerty's lawyer, Dennis Vacco's, reaction after the verdict.

Courtesy of the Borgognone campaign.

Promising, as so many others have, to work to "stop all the bickering, end the partisan gridlock and start passing laws to get people back to work", Staten Island businessman Alex Borgognone announced his candidacy as a Democrat for Congress. The seat is currently held by freshman Republican Congressman Michael Grimm. The 13th Congressional district covers all of Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn.

“In the coming months, I look forward to talking with the people of Brooklyn and Staten Island about new ideas for re-starting our economy, and what we need to do to create jobs,” Borgognone said in the announcement.  “My opponent ran on a promise of job creation, but that promise has proven to be empty as he’s focused on playing Washington politics instead of fighting for our district.”

Borgogone is picking up where the last Democratic to run for Congress in Brooklyn--Assemblyman David Weprin--left off in terms of issues. His announcement identified Medicare and Social Security as top priorities.

The race in the 13th has been a wait-and-see game, as Democrats like former Congressman Michael McMahon, who lost his seat to Grimm, Councilman Vincent Gentile of Brooklyn and others being courted by various Democratic elements are holding back. This is no small part because the district, and its voters, are likely to shift during redistricting. Depending on how much more blue or red it appears will determine the viability of a campaign from high-profile candidates like McMahon.

But that doesn't appear to be a concern for Borgognone, a former registered Republican according to the Staten Island Advance.

WNYC has this from New York Public Radio Capital Bureau Chief Karen DeWitt:

A state advisory panel on hydrofracking in New York may not meet its initial November deadline to report on potential fees to charge gas drillers and impacts of the controversial process on the state.

Rob Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York and a member of the Cuomo administration's environmental department’s fracking advisory committee, said he’s been told to expect to attend meetings until the end of January, which could delay the initial November 1 timetable for the committee to report.

Moore said several other state agencies that need to provide input on how to structure potential fees for gas drillers and other impacts were not yet prepared to do so. A meeting that was planned for October 14 was cancelled.

“You have four of the five agencies involved in this that were clearly caught flat-footed,” Moore said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Courtesy of The Madison Square Garden Company

Transportation Nation has a long rundown of the Lhota appointment as head of the MTA, which had been practically a foregone conclusion for weeks now.

"Throughout my career in both the public and private sectors, I have initiated reforms that are performance-based and that cut costs, and I look forward to bringing this same approach to the MTA," Lhota said in a statement from the governor's office. "I thank Governor Cuomo for this exciting opportunity to serve the people of New York."

You can read the governor's statement on the appointment at Transportation Nation. But let's take a look at some of the on-background remarks about the appointment:

Reaction among transit watchers, none of whom would speak on the record to avoid alienating the next chief of the NY MTA, was part puzzlement and part wait-and-see.

“I was a little surprised that Joe Lhota rose to the top of that pool,” said an official from a previous mayoral administration. “He understands inter-governmental relations and he understands the politics but he’s more of a political operative than a manager.”

Both Cuomo and outgoing MTA chairman Jay Walder have said in the past few weeks that the next chair did not need to have a transit background. “I think it is helpful to have a knowledge of mass transit,” Walder said at the NY MTA’s September board meeting. “I don’t know that it’s an absolutely essential quality.”

Lhota fits that profile. His resume shows no transportation posts. But he did manage large governmental agencies in the Giuliani administration and ran the city when the mayor was out of town. Since then, he has navigated the executive suites of the Cablevision Systems Corporation, which owns Madison Square Garden. And Lhota has served as a board member at the City University of New York for the past ten years.  Lhota was one of two board members who did not support withholding an honorary degree from playwright Tony Kushner last May.  The vote to table the degree past last spring’s commencement was much-criticized and later reversed.

...

Sources differed on Lhota’s ability to rise to those challenges. The NY MTA needs someone “who can handle the union relationships, the crisis of money, and Lhota will get it faster than most people,” said one.

But others don’t expect Lhota to be a voice for transportation in the way Jay Walder was.  Walder came from London Transport and is headed for a job running Hong Kong’s transit system.  In his tenure as MTA chief he pushed for several innovative transit measures, including countdown clocks, real time information, and better communication with customers.  But his relationship with the union was toxic, and Walder presided over the MTA’s deepest cuts in more than a generation.

The governor is also appointing two other people to the MTA family:

Cuomo also appointed two women to serve in key transportation posts:  Nuria Fernandez, a former Federal Transit Administration official and Chicago Aviation Commissioner, who resigned under pressure from then Mayor Richard Daily after failing to close a deal with United Airlines.  Fernandez will serve as the the MTA’s CEO, and Karen Rae, who worked in the  Obama Administration on high speed rail, will serve in the Governor’s office as Deputy Secretary of Transportation.

Transportation Nation's Andrea Bernstein posted a great piece that pulls back the political shroud around the battle over bike lanes in Brooklyn. It's a meticulously traced story of how high-profile political players--Senator Charles Schumer's wife, former Giuliani aides, and others--use their status for personal battles.

The lede here is priceless:

Last March, Mayor Michael Bloomberg dined privately with a small group of guests that included his former transportation commissioner, Iris Weinshall, and her husband, the United States Senator, Charles Schumer.

By that time, both Schumer and Weinshall had made known their displeasure over a bike lane that had been built across the street from their home – on Brooklyn’s leafy Prospect Park West.

According to two sources familiar with what was said at that dinner, Schumer asked the mayor: “Can’t you get rid of that lane?”

“You don’t like it?” the mayor responded.  A beat. “I’m going to make it twice as wide.”

Thus ensued a political battle wrapped up as a NIMBY issue:

But the clash of two broadly powerful men is typical of the story of the Prospect Park West bike lane story, which was never really about a bike lane. Or rather, it was never only about a bike lane, but rather about the perennial New York City question – who decides what goes where in the densely-packed urban streets we call home, and how they get to decide.

It's well worth reading the entire article here.

Sometimes--maybe even regularly--polls come in that have fascinating (baffling) results that make you either question the usefulness of polls or the cognitive faculties of mankind.

Today's case study: According to a Quinnipiac Poll released this morning, those polled showed New York voters are behind the mayor's war on fun attempts to make the city a healthier place to live.

• 79 percent of voters polled said law requiring fast-food restaurants to post calorie information is “useful.”
• 70 percent that the Bloomberg administration is “correct” to encourage restaurants to use less salt.
• 50 percent supported a ban on Food Stamps for sugary sodas.
• 85 say the smoking ban is good for people's health, and 52 support the ban on outdoor smoking in city parks and elsewhere.

OK, fine, part of this makes sense. People know what makes sense, health-wise, and they support concrete efforts to encourage healthy behavior. Shared social consequences for individual health problems and all that--valid argument.

But if voters support the government's involvement in the personal choices they make about their diet and tobacco use, then it's mind boggling to get to this next statistic: 49 percent say government shouldn’t get involved in people’s eating and drinking habits -- the plurality.

It might just be an issue of how much is too much, according to Maurice Carrroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“New Yorkers are split on the question of ‘nanny government,’ the idea that City Hall might be intruding on their personal lives,” Carroll said. “But they like – a lot – a couple of the things that critics complain is ‘nanny’ government:  making restaurants post calorie counts and urging less use of salt. That ban on outdoor smoking?  A bare majority backs it.”

  (Courtesy of MTA.info)

Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced his recommendation to replace Chris Ward, a Paterson appointee, as head of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. Transportation Nation has the write up:

Chris Ward’s three and a half year tenure as executive director of The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has come to an end.   Patrick Foye,  Cuomo aide and former state Economic Development chief, is in.

...

Cuomo announced the appointment in a press release today: “The Port Authority must meet its potential as a major economic engine that plans for the region and attracts business on an international scale. We must also improve its operations and maximize the value out of every dollar spent so that it is financially responsible and respects the tax and toll payers.”

Foye’s most recent job before that was deputy county executive for economic development for Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano. Foye left that job in January after Mangano decided, against Foye’s advice, to sue a state-appointed control board to prevent it from taking over the county’s finances. The county lost the lawsuit.

Foye, a lawyer who worked with Skadden Arps, is a former downstate chairman for New York’s Empire State Development Corporation. Since May 2010, he has sat on the board of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

In an interview, MTA board member Mitch Pally said Foye has been active in his role as the appointee from Nassau County in Long Island. “He’s delved into operating details of the system, communication issues with commuters and fare structure,” Pally said.

You can read the entire post here.

One more interesting thing in the notice about Foye's appointment was the governor's desire to move the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Moynihan Station project under the purview of the Port Authority. More, hopefully, on this later.

Update: Photo slideshow added at the bottom.

Occupy Wall St protesters outside the awards ceremony (Colby Hamilton / WNYC)

It was supposed to be a celebratory evening for Governor Andrew Cuomo. The liberal news site The Huffington Post was presenting the governor with its 2011 "Game Changer of the Year" award for his successful campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in New York.

Magazine cover celebrities and newsmakers lined up for pictures on the carpet at the entrance. Glasses of champagne were handed out to hundreds on hand celebrating the governor and 99 other leaders' work on various social, political and business fronts.

During his remarks, Cuomo spoke out against the death penalty, up for a woman's right to choose, and about the inevitable future of legalized same-sex marriage "from coast to coast."

But the other 99 -- the Occupy Wall Street "99 percent" protesters who'd shown up outside -- had a different set of talking point. The crowd of about 150 was mostly young, grungy and remarkably disciplined. They made up chants decrying the governor's support for hydrofracking and refusal to extend taxes on upper income earners.

After some initial back-and-forth with the police, the protesters agreed to move their picket across the street. They were violating a permit the Huffington Post party organizers had for use of the sidewalk.

Shortly after Cuomo's remarks some mid-level celebrity in sequence and high-heels ran into the middle of the street. A gaggle of dutiful photographers followed, flashes blowing. Traffic was forced to stop for the impromptu photo shoot.

The protesters, dimly lit by the cameras, continued to protest the governor who'd already left out the back.

Check out a photo slideshow of the event after the jump.

From a new report on the state's fiscal condition released today by the Comptroller's office:

Growth in revenue collections in several major categories of taxes is slowing, and at the midpoint of the fiscal year, Personal Income Tax, sales tax, and business taxes are lagging recent projections by $400 million. If these trends continue, the state may need to adjust its revenue projections downward.

This is probably a major part of the problem. From Susanne Craig's post yesterday in the Times DealBook on Goldman Sachs and other Wall Street banks decreased profits:

New York, the nation’s financial hub, is bracing for the fallout. Wall Street, which accounts for 14 percent of the state’s tax revenue, is expected to lay off an additional 10,000 employees in the area by 2012, bringing total layoffs since 2008 to 32,000, according to a recent report by the New York State Comptroller.