tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75940474870903155382024-03-13T21:48:18.839-04:00ethics aint prettycontext, critique and old-fashioned journalism, with an edgeethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-80455096065034863472018-12-16T15:52:00.000-05:002018-12-16T18:48:19.312-05:00WBAI'S THE MORNING SHOW NEEDS YOUR HELP<div dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are potentially some big changes proposed, some from the top down from Pacifica. It could mean we lose <i>The Morning Show </i>and/or Michael G. Haskins altogether. We're asking people (former guests, listeners. donors etc.) to send emails to three people in total over the next few days (up to Tuesday or Wednesday) to tell them why the show is so important to you both as a guest who didn't ordinarily get much press coverage, and/or as a listener.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: medium;">Please let me know if you can help, as well as if you've emailed anyone so i can keep track. The rumor is they are trying to change WBAI in general into a more NPR/WNYC kind of place, so in other words, more mainstream and less coverage of full stories. NYC has enough pablum in its news and public affairs options, and i feel confident in saying we are one of the few places to really take on big real estate and allow actual grass-roots community groups to speak out. These are the three:</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Pacifica Executive Director, Maxie Jackson (its a man) ed<a href="mailto:ed@pacifica.org" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">@pacifica.org</a>;</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Linda Perry, </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">WBAI program director, <a href="mailto:pd@wbai.org" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">pd@wbai.org</a> and <a href="mailto:linda@wbai.org" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">linda@wbai.org</a>;</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">Berthold Reimers, station manager, <a href="mailto:berhthold@wbai.org" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank">berhthold@wbai.org</a>;</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;">It's probably best not to send a form email, so here are some research points, as well as a template:</span></div>
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<span id="m_7563787135842914914gmail-docs-internal-guid-a788b147-7fff-565a-df65-da0467969a4f"><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;">Dear X:</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;">I want to let you know why WBAI radio and particularly, <i>The Morning Show,</i> are so important. As a listener, WBAI offers out-of-the-box perspectives and angles often ignored by the mainstream media--and that includes WNYC radio. <i>The Morning Show</i> and its host, Michael G. Haskins, air a program that's both</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;"> educational and invaluable, and </span><span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;">take that mission a step further, providing a service that breaks down public policy in NY State and NY City in its realest terms and without propping up the status quo. Real estate is king here, and TMS is one of the few shows--ever--to handle these relevant issues--from over-development and gentrification, to affordable housing, to landmarking and preservation, to homelessness--without pulling punches, cow-towing to powerful lobbies or elected officials, or compromising its content.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;">But TMS doesn't exclusively air segments about these related issues. (See list for examples)</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;">Thank you for your time. Sincerely,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: medium;">(NAME AND LOCATION)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #980000; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Briefing Book</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #980000; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- list of guests (not all, but highlights--let me know if you want more)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #980000; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">- type of subject matter broached</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Emphasis on local and especially housing, (over)development, real estate power, selling of city assets to private RE interests and connections to BDB/Glen, homelessness, landmarking and preserving the city’s history--but pretty much anything and everything to do with land use, which as you know, is all that matters these days.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #980000; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-Why it's different from WNYC or mainstream media?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because we go where most MSM outlets wont: we dont believe in accepting the status quo, or its explanations, and in NY, that means the RE industry; we try to go directly to the sources of authentic grass-roots community organizations. We also try to cover issues ignored, misreported or under-reported by the MSM.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #980000; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-Why it's different than other WBAI shows.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As the only station-sponsored public affairs program,<i> The Morning Sho</i>w has a certain level of gravitas and is taken more seriously than a lot of other independently-produced shows are. We also take our responsibility to bring the full story to listeners very seriously. Plus bc we are a 2-hour show, we can include local, national and even international stories.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #980000; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-How WBAI has affected the show with shifting of the hosts, etc.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One of the excuses being used most commonly right now to bump TMS is bc of poor numbers. This is kind of a red herring. First of all, my understanding is that even the most popular and famous WBAI show, <i>Democracy Now</i>, doesn’t necessarily have 'great' numbers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Moreover, we don’t know how they are reading these numbers--is it comparing week to week, day to day? Because the shows currently running are quite different, as are their listenerships. Mimi Rosenberg (Weds) has been on air for about 15 years; Michael has one of the most recognizable voices at WBAI. How can these shows be compared with the ever-changing hosts on other days? It's a little like comparing apples to oranges. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Plus, entire shows are constantly preempted for fundraising drives. Even PBS and NPR don't do this: instead, they wrap the fundraising around a given show. It’s one thing to air re-runs, although that’s difficult for a daily public affairs show of such length (as opposed to a pre-taped segment, though the station hasn’t been very accommodating for pre-taping over the last year or two). WBAI keeps alienating any regular audience by these constant pre-emptions and by airing infomercials. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SOME NATIONAL GUESTS</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Sherrod Brown, US Senator, re TPP;</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jim Dean, brother of Howard, Chair of Democracy for America;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Charles Evers, brother of assassinated civil rights icon Medgar; first AA elect</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ed to be mayor in the south post-reconstruction;</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Grace Ge Gabriel, Regional Director, Asia International Fund for Animal Welfare re worldwide ivory ban; (former Deputy Director, Wildlife and Habitat Protection Program);</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jill Filipovic, renowned feminist journalist;</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dan Hartinger, Director of the National Monuments Campaign, Wilderness Society, appeared several times, discussing Trump administration selling off public lands, trying to ‘de-list’ certain national monuments;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">David Cay Johnston, pulitzer prize winning investigative journalist, Founder of DCreport; has been covering Donald Trump for 30 years; last two books: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Making of Donald Trump</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s Worse Than You Think: </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "roboto"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arthur Leonard, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Robert F. Wagner Professor of Labor and Employment Law, </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Editor at NY Law School, author LGBT Law Notes; discussing issues like SCOTUS and cake shop decision;</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Michaelangelo Signoreli, renowned LGBT journalist and radio host; </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor-at-large&source=gmail&ust=1545078673059000&usg=AFQjCNFC_Boo7fW9iwM4KJfLSW4QeRYjWw" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Editor-at-large" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">editor-at-large</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HuffPost&source=gmail&ust=1545078673059000&usg=AFQjCNFDHMHTMnP3zwPAJsQHucPgwneNoQ" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HuffPost" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">HuffPost</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, in August 2011, Signorile was inducted into the </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lesbian_and_Gay_Journalists_Association&source=gmail&ust=1545078673059000&usg=AFQjCNGBOqt7VQrYxRJH_ycvuCuK_OWkwg" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lesbian_and_Gay_Journalists_Association" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> LGBT </span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lesbian_and_Gay_Journalists_Association%23LGBT_Journalist_Hall_of_Fame&source=gmail&ust=1545078673059000&usg=AFQjCNF6CLjB9tkVAYPfAUT3ui6l6aciuA" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lesbian_and_Gay_Journalists_Association#LGBT_Journalist_Hall_of_Fame" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Journalist Hall of Fame.</span></a><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_Signorile%23cite_note-advocate.com-3&source=gmail&ust=1545078673059000&usg=AFQjCNHGoxW8QuZ395FtfAYJiFp6EEo8OQ" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelangelo_Signorile#cite_note-advocate.com-3" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #0b0080; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">]</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> In April 2015, Signorile's fifth book, </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's Not Over: Getting Beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia and Winning True Equality</span><span style="font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, was published, which is what he discussed;</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Eleanor Smeal, Pres and co-founder, Feminist Majority Foundation;</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matt Taibbi, Rolling Stone journalist, discussing his book, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I Cant Breathe </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">about the illegal chokehold death by the NYPD of Eric Garner;</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Dick Van Dyke, actor, Bernie Sanders surrogate;</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Aulani Wilhelm, Senior Vice President, Center for Oceans, Conservation International</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-size: large;">Some of the above guest have appeared multiple times. We've also covered transgender and LGBT issues, a great deal about small businesses in NYC including several appearances by Jeremiah Moss, author of<u> Vanishing NY,</u> well before his book was published, and quite a lot about disability-related issues. Some of the others:</span><span id="m_7563787135842914914gmail-docs-internal-guid-3bebb688-7fff-350d-716a-77c8087d47bb"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dec 3, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 29, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 27, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 24, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 20, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/DaveMertzSeg111918MGHRWDSUOnAmazon&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNFQoADvJysCXjqgfxlB-LYoNySo8w" href="https://archive.org/details/DaveMertzSeg111918MGHRWDSUOnAmazon" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">RWDSUs Dave Mertz Seg 11 19 18 MGH RWDSU On Amazon</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 15, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/DFAsJimDeanSeg111318MGH2018NTLElections&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNGCXUD-WvX1p_G0874m3xafL-TjZg" href="https://archive.org/details/DFAsJimDeanSeg111318MGH2018NTLElections" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DFAs Jim Dean Seg 11 13 18 MGH 2018 NTL Elections</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 13, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/MDDWhiteAliciaBoyd11618MGH2018BallotMeasures&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNEqoO-0HAZikD-ZH7lJudexXEUAJQ" href="https://archive.org/details/MDDWhiteAliciaBoyd11618MGH2018BallotMeasures" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2018 NYC Ballot Measures w/M DD White Alicia Boyd 11 6 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 12, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/SarahGoffSeg111218MGHCCNYLOCALELECTS&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNEMN7JV-KUkIAjDwFi4eL6d6ZPcUg" href="https://archive.org/details/SarahGoffSeg111218MGHCCNYLOCALELECTS" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">CCNYs Sarah Goff Seg 11 12 18 M</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Local elections</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 5, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AbeRakovSeg11518MGHVOTERDISEN_201811&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNEVbbVkbzCYMaA_3VjJwCYpdQYUsg" href="https://archive.org/details/AbeRakovSeg11518MGHVOTERDISEN_201811" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">LAVs Abe Rakov Seg 11 5 18 MGH VOTER DISEN</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 26, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/StateSenatorLizKruegarSeg92518MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNFnYZxXBaCT6WWIBVao6Dmsjcau2g" href="https://archive.org/details/StateSenatorLizKruegarSeg92518MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">State Senator Liz Kruegar Seg 9 25 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 25, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/NYCLUsJohannaMillerSeg92418MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNHzbHalRlNV8vRjKwP5IJkpSTdGnQ" href="https://archive.org/details/NYCLUsJohannaMillerSeg92418MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYCLUs Johanna Miller Seg 9 24 18 MGH</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disparate NYPD Policing Strategies completed survey</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 13, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/DavidTieuSeg91118MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNFzT86XF703fGEVsVikQSevt5XOnw" href="https://archive.org/details/DavidTieuSeg91118MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chinatown Mega Towers/2Bridges w/David Tieu Seg 9 11 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 11, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AliceElliotSegment91018MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNGoTfT3M3uqyve5f9IhOJprB8cNCA" href="https://archive.org/details/AliceElliotSegment91018MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Miracle on 42nd/Manhattan Plaza, director Alice Elliot Segment 9 10 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 4, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AliciaBoydSegment9418MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNEghnvQWFqR493wnKw3AVndyYzIqw" href="https://archive.org/details/AliciaBoydSegment9418MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BBG Update/BBP hearing MTOPPs Alicia Boyd Segment 9 4 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aug 29, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/BenRichardsonMetroMorning82818MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNGbTiCwraWR16AA0Me2M0VEnZUV7g" href="https://archive.org/details/BenRichardsonMetroMorning82818MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Latest on 80 Flatbush Towers & Rally w/Ben Richardson Metro Morning 8 28 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aug 28, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/ZishunNingSeg82718MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNHsGUJ7aGKGKy4-tYtDAXYg4zMVLg" href="https://archive.org/details/ZishunNingSeg82718MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">85 Bowery Agreement & Tenant Status w/CSWAs Zishun Ning Seg 8 27 18 MGH</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aug 21, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AndrewBermanSeg82018MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNHFyaJOYvXg2EQrmBDxtiJt2JPHqw" href="https://archive.org/details/AndrewBermanSeg82018MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Post Tech Hub NYCC Vote w/GVSHPs Andrew Berman Seg 8 20 18 MGH</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aug 14, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AlisonGreenbergHowardKolinsSeg81318MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNGAeQebI5H-5NdU1XGr8DKvyBgwLA" href="https://archive.org/details/AlisonGreenbergHowardKolinsSeg81318MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How Communities Fight Back; 80 Flatbush updatew/HSCNYCs Alison Greenberg, BHAs Howard Kolins Seg 8 13 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jul 11, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/MaggieClarkeKatherineOSullivanSeg71018MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNFSbpt9Qyi1NohjS-CBI7JmAKmaIA" href="https://archive.org/details/MaggieClarkeKatherineOSullivanSeg71018MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UPDATE Inwood Rezoning w/Maggie Clarke Katherine O Sullivan Seg 7 10 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jul 10, 2018 </span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/JohnFisherSeg7918MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNFNhD8DYHVyHiraPDHZ_suGIt5umg" href="https://archive.org/details/JohnFisherSeg7918MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TenantNet's John Fisher Seg 7 9 18 MGH </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Update on BDB Housing Plan, Upzonings etc.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jul 6, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/ChrisPolicanoSeg7318MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673060000&usg=AFQjCNEDKUOlIgdW6801Yq4YpCqhJoFfYQ" href="https://archive.org/details/ChrisPolicanoSeg7318MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SCOTUS/JANUS, DC 37/AFSCMEs Chris Policano Seg 7 3 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jul 3, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Jun 27, 2018 </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jun 19, 2018 </span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/EDITAliciaBoydSeg61818MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNGeybjK6R9PGzdR5v6y2Sd5IQ5OuA" href="https://archive.org/details/EDITAliciaBoydSeg61818MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Shadows Forum w/MTOPP Alicia Boyd Seg 6 18 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jun 19, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/NatalieJamesSegment61918MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNHqbq0oGaneyRvQlliWmCb6kcckLw" href="https://archive.org/details/NatalieJamesSegment61918MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Reclaim Pride Coalition's Natalie James Segment 6 19 18 MGH</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jun 13, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/CharlesBeckwithSeg61218MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNGpupmdbra6jldV1eLh0hpEuz-0OQ" href="https://archive.org/details/CharlesBeckwithSeg61218MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Save the Garment Center's Charles Beckwith Seg 6 12 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jun 7, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/GeoffreyCroftSeg6418MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNFCp_4zHsGyjowq-YsWUSzIkE2Ujg" href="https://archive.org/details/GeoffreyCroftSeg6418MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYC Parks Advocates' Geoffrey Croft Seg 6 4 18 MGH </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">incl crime, accountability, Marx Bros Playground</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jun 6, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/SarahAhnSeg6518MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEkNvJ3yCdo59MS6NRLLEqrdOoAZA" href="https://archive.org/details/SarahAhnSeg6518MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">85 Bowery Update w/Sarah Ahn Seg 6 5 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">May 5, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AndyMorrisonSeg5118&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEmnHMXChVnvQxe6esncYOPxO60Xg" href="https://archive.org/details/AndyMorrisonSeg5118" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NEPs Andy Morrison Seg 5 1 18 MGH</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> New Economy Project recent initiatives to make economy work for the poor</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> May 1, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AndrewBermanSeg43018MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNHqwDAMTdv5w6q3v9phoPMlGuVUWw" href="https://archive.org/details/AndrewBermanSeg43018MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Andrew Berman Seg 4 30 18 MGH</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Why new Landmarks chair so important, tech hub etc.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 27, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/BenRichardsonSeg42418MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNFKukQwhF9AgQJJmKTKmJFWYi-L2Q" href="https://archive.org/details/BenRichardsonSeg42418MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Flatbush Towers, Ben Richardson Seg 4 24 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 25, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/EnvironmentNYSAlexPeterSegment41018MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEuwmb9aBhPLNiffXshQqThvRHnTA" href="https://archive.org/details/EnvironmentNYSAlexPeterSegment41018MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Environment NYS Alex Peter Segment 4 10 18 MGH </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump administration’s assault against the environment on a myriad of fronts. With me now to discuss some of this--and equally important--what’s been happening on the state level since the budget was recently passed are: Peter Iwanowicz, executive director </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Environmental Advocates of NY, and</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Alex Beauchamp, </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Northeast Region Director,</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food and Water Watch</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and Food and Water Action.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 24, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/EDITOliveFreudSeg42318MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNH-Rm3xKm3Jtu2To1opGMurBskSuw" href="https://archive.org/details/EDITOliveFreudSeg42318MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UWS CESD'S Olive Freud Seg 4 23 18 MGH</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Shadows, overdevelopment</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 18, 2018 </span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/MaggieClarckAndKatherineOSullivanSeg41718MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNHKFCOxNPSVAndQpC7yaF6Vzp14kQ" href="https://archive.org/details/MaggieClarckAndKatherineOSullivanSeg41718MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">INWOOD REZONING w/Maggie Clarke & Katherine O' Sullivan Seg 4 17 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 16, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/EdithPrentissSeg41618MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEO6adNgJ2Nzl3egBRNdFy_jwpfLg" href="https://archive.org/details/EdithPrentissSeg41618MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edith Prentiss Seg 4 16 18 MGH </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Whether it’s trying to get around the city with a subway system closed off to millions; a poorly-run para-transit program; uneven sidewalks where mandated curb cuts aren’t maintained; or even participating in our political and election process, NYC has consistently failed the disabled community. With me now is Edith Prentiss, president of </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Disabled in Action</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, an advocacy group involved in lawsuits filed against the MTA for its failure to adhere to the now-30 year old </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Americans With Disabilities Act or ADA.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 13, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/BhairavisTaxiWorkersAllianceSeg&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNFiQVinwfvCmDAbd-7z43nB2z3jyA" href="https://archive.org/details/BhairavisTaxiWorkersAllianceSeg" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bhairavis Taxi Workers Alliance Seg MGH</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But conditions are worse now than ever, and recently FOUR drivers have committed suicide. With me is friend-to-the show, Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">New York Taxi Workers Alliance</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (NYTWA) to discuss what the city and state could and should be doing and why things have degenerated so badly.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Apr 4, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/LynneEllsworthSeg4218MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEMGcdBlEe0dtjO29MSYVlvoxLd2A" href="https://archive.org/details/LynneEllsworthSeg4218MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FAR/HT Caps; Lynne Ellsworth Seg 4 2 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mar 29, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/GeorgeCalderoSeg.32718&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNG_vsA_lI7B2grzUOAF3afYNxCpJA" href="https://archive.org/details/GeorgeCalderoSeg.32718" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tin Pan Alley, George Caldero Seg. 3 27 18</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Under threat from overdevelopment</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mar 26, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/TheodoreGrunewalgSeg32618&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNGeY7B-P22v4ftVBprE4m7mfrHyyg" href="https://archive.org/details/TheodoreGrunewalgSeg32618" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYCLPC rule changes, Theodore Grunewalg Seg 3 26 18</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mar 22, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/ChrisKemmittSeg32018MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNHNmYUV18-ztCo4fPz4jkMKgJ2Yuw" href="https://archive.org/details/ChrisKemmittSeg32018MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">School Resegregation, NAACPLDFs Chris Kemmitt Seg 3 20 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mar 22, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/ZishunNingYaninPenaSeg31918&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEU93WGV8896pV3NeNdVzC5sAmkjw" href="https://archive.org/details/ZishunNingYaninPenaSeg31918" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">85 Bowery, Zishun Ning/ Yanin Pena Seg 3 19 18</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mar 14, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/JoelBergSeg31318&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEsITvJlK9kgd-DLai_HSvHXUh0yw" href="https://archive.org/details/JoelBergSeg31318" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hunger Free America's Joel Berg Seg 3 13 18 </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump budget on the poor, SNAP etc</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mar 13, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/SusanDoohaSeg31218&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNEx-ewn1EGgAnLSpxnpSXrIPX70TA" href="https://archive.org/details/SusanDoohaSeg31218" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Susan Dooha Seg 3 12 18 MGH </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">n a state that prides itself on its progressivism, it’s rather ironic disabled and elderly New Yorkers have needlessly difficult lives--in part because of what our local governments do--or don’t do. The state has shortchanged and underfunded both independent living centers and the</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Long Term Care Ombudsperson Program</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for decades--which is really the only means residents and their families have for recourse, enforcement and oversight of New York’s nursing and adult homes and assisted living facilities. In New York City, it’s well documented how inferior the mass transit system is, in terms of an array of issues like accessibility and the dysfunction of</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Access-A-Ride. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, there’s currently a lawsuit pending against NYC Transit, the MTA and the city of NY because of the lack of subway access, and the lead plaintiff in that suit is here. </span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jan 24, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/JohnFisherAliciaBoydSeg12318MGH1&source=gmail&ust=1545078673061000&usg=AFQjCNG0ZQ5xVhg4CqWcJYJ1xXnkPHQMsA" href="https://archive.org/details/JohnFisherAliciaBoydSeg12318MGH1" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">NYC Housing & Dvlpmnt w/John Fisher Alicia Boyd Seg 1 23 18 MGH ( 1)</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jan 17, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/GenaMillerSeg11618MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNEBQQohiqBBusTNz4kmsEdAB9m3Ww" href="https://archive.org/details/GenaMillerSeg11618MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bullying in NY Public Schools, AFC's Gena Miller Seg 1 16 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jan 10, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/TinaLuangoSeg1918&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNHbR9l_AnDFvrp6tfXlX6-RkBVhcw" href="https://archive.org/details/TinaLuangoSeg1918" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NY Criminal Just Reforms, Legal Aid Society's Tina Luongo Seg 1 9 18</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jan 9, 2018</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/KatharineBoddeSegMorningShow1818MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNFHdC5DoCZ1pZUv0D1_x2YXoMHi9g" href="https://archive.org/details/KatharineBoddeSegMorningShow1818MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Repro Rights etc. NYCLUs Katharine Bodde Seg Morning Show 1 8 18 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Jan 3, 2018</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dec 20, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/SteveBarrisonSeg121917&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNFbbWZHWFl4kuBD2NSUg1pdYXAGWQ" href="https://archive.org/details/SteveBarrisonSeg121917" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYC Council Speakers Race, SBCs Steve Barrison Seg 12 19 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dec 19, 2017 </span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AllisonSessoseg121817MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNEnYAISH4Im6L1u-M8uydVkNs9sPQ" href="https://archive.org/details/AllisonSessoseg121817MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crisis for NYC Nonprofits, Human Services Council ED Allison Sessoseg 12 18 17 MGH</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dec 1, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/MichaelFloresLouisFloresSeg113017&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNHVYc18mxWiOqDloTyVLk5Q6CILVQ" href="https://archive.org/details/MichaelFloresLouisFloresSeg113017" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Queens Gentrification w/Michael Forest & Louis Flores Seg 11 3017</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 30, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/MichaelDDWhiteSegment112717MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNH8Kwc8GOwLNk_Pcdco6gNFTOBGPA" href="https://archive.org/details/MichaelDDWhiteSegment112717MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYC Public Libraries, Citizens Defending Libraries' Michael DD White Segment 11 27 17 MGH</span></a></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/LarryLevineSeg112017&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNEqdY8hkpzTcA8I8koMC9YAsWO2fg" href="https://archive.org/details/LarryLevineSeg112017" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sewage & NYC Waterways, NRDCs Larry Levine Seg 11 20 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 13, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/FredRiccardiSegment11917&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNFO5Ec2fwRx3VsFY-RYXZLI-_KSaw" href="https://archive.org/details/FredRiccardiSegment11917" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Medicare, Medicare Rights Center's Fred Riccardi Segment 11 9 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nov 13, 2017 </span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/DawnYusterSeg111317&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNGkj8MrrPHWGSK6EHN-XVMequW0qw" href="https://archive.org/details/DawnYusterSeg111317" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Racial Disparities in School Policing, AFC's Dawn Yuster Seg 11 13 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/PeterIwanowiczSegMorningShow116171&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNEkAqC_Ad55frrYJlersElfUjYDNw" href="https://archive.org/details/PeterIwanowiczSegMorningShow116171" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">2017 Election Ballot Measures, EANY ED Peter Iwanowicz Seg 9 14 171)</a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 29, 2017</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/LynnEllsworthMichaelHillerSeg&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNFgR-9SFXxfnlcC247WA4dyoRbQug" href="https://archive.org/details/LynnEllsworthMichaelHillerSeg" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Lawsuit vs Landmarks Commission, Lynn Ellsworth Michael Hiller Seg MGH</a></span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/ChristopherEriksonIBEWU392517&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNEWwuSM7ZJPKqMIeqCgI4TacBS7Ig" href="https://archive.org/details/ChristopherEriksonIBEWU392517" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Spectrum Cable, Christopher Erikson IBEW 3 9 25 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 24, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AndyHAndAnnN91817MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNFjoj53PnOuHaxEYBldH6iM9Z_KjQ" href="https://archive.org/details/AndyHAndAnnN91817MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Edie Windsor; GAYUSA hosts Andy Humm & And Ann Northrup 9 18 17 MGH</span></a></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/RajNyack92117MGH&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNHFLFp5x4MzrOc2SjZTKtSkN15xfg" href="https://archive.org/details/RajNyack92117MGH" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trump & Workers, Overtime etc; NELPs Raj Nyack 9 21 17 MGH </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Former Obama Admin, National Employment Law Project</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 18, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/PeterIwanowiczSeg91417&source=gmail&ust=1545078673062000&usg=AFQjCNHIt5RD2m68TdNLOdngisylsbeEMg" href="https://archive.org/details/PeterIwanowiczSeg91417" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYS Clean Air & Water, Env. Bill of Rights; EANY ed Peter Iwanowicz Seg 9 14 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Sep 11, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/SalAlbaneseSeg91117&source=gmail&ust=1545078673063000&usg=AFQjCNEaXjiBsO5hQZ5gWbQquVJCCtEIbQ" href="https://archive.org/details/SalAlbaneseSeg91117" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NYC Mayoral Candidate Sal Albanese Seg 9 11 17</span></a></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/AliciaBoydSeg9717&source=gmail&ust=1545078673063000&usg=AFQjCNH7WfrrL2sAcy7KJBrOspm45O_MHA" href="https://archive.org/details/AliciaBoydSeg9717" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">UPDATE: Bedford Armory, NYCC race, MTOPP's Alicia Boyd Seg 9 7 17</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sep 8, 2017</span></div>
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<a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.org/details/CarmenVegaRiveraSergioCuevasInt83117&source=gmail&ust=1545078673063000&usg=AFQjCNHIQ_p9mpvvWQoz7HHNrZ1OG0443w" href="https://archive.org/details/CarmenVegaRiveraSergioCuevasInt83117" style="color: #1155cc; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #428bca; font-family: "arial"; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Update on BX Jerome Ave Rezoning: Carmen Vega Rivera Sergio Cuevas Int 8 31 17</span></a></div>
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ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-26346406915033447952018-09-09T16:20:00.000-04:002018-09-14T15:19:42.421-04:00NYC Land Use Policies & Abuses: Designed by RE Industry, Implemented (or Ignored by Choice) by BDB/Glen<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Consider the disaster that is the <i>NYC Housing Authority</i> (</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">NYCHA.) It wouldn't be fair to lay all the blame on the feet of current Mayor Bill de Blasio (BDB) et al., because this was the culmination of systemic federal cuts, combined with two consecutive republican mayoral administrations deliberately neglecting the city's public housing complexes. That's the simplest way to explain how we got to where we were when de Blasio assumed the mayoralty in 2014. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A recent <i>Daily News</i> editorial entitled "Bill's Big Brick: How de Blasio Failed to Fix Bloomberg's NYCHA Problem He Identified,<i>"</i> noted that as public advocate,<span style="color: white;">,</span>de Blasio called out what is now considered massive fraud committed by the previous administration's "implausible" repair record of NYCHA units--which included falsified documentation claiming repairs had been completed when they weren't. Tenant signatures were forged to close cases; repair orders were destroyed. But here's the kicker: this fraudulent behavior continued at least three years into de Blasio's tenure.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As recently as the end of July, the chair of the City Council's Committee on Oversight and Investigations--who used to chair the Public Housing Committee and consistently turned a blind eye to current administration actions or the lack thereof--demanded </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-nycha-repairs-20180724-story.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">NYCHA employees be punished</span></a> for falsely closing work orders. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Which means, the fraud has continued though out the entirety of our faux-progressive mayor's terms...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A plethora of damning information has been released roughly over the last year indicating just how corrupt the malfeasance has been, including the fact the<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-metro-judge-nycha-decree-20180710-story.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">mayor knew for two years</span></a> </span></span>about NYCHA's lead paint inspection failures. There's also</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> the revelation that following a FOUR year inspection gap, NYCHA inspectors found potential lead-paint hazards in 80+ percent of almost 9,000 units housing children under six.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a different inspection-related scandal, hand-written documentation of tainted drinking water tanks in the city's housing projects--among the worst in the city, according to <a href="https://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/new-york-city/nycha-contamination-water-tanks"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>City and State</i></span></a>--vanished, having been absent or "erased" by NYCHA when the agency filed its <i>Annual Roof Tank Inspection </i>reports with the city's Department of Health.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In February, large numbers of NYCHA tenants lost their heat and/or hot water during the brutal winter. Ceilings collapsed. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A March state Department of Health report</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> assessed more than 80 percent of NYCHA apartments "had at least one severe condition," and severe hazards existed in 75 percent of common areas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In April, a federal judge <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/17/nyregion/nycha-lead-paint-judge-inspections.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">stopped what he called a "slapdash" agreement</span></a> in which the city agreed to fix a longstanding (and ignored) mold infestation problem (something I have covered on<i> EAP</i> previously.<span style="color: #3d85c6;"> (Ed. Note: For more extensive coverage, check out the blog <i>Progress Queens, </i>whose creator has been trying to sound the alarm for years, but was regularly ignored by the mainstream local media.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a case of true Trumpian-like tone-deaf behavior, de Blasio <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/04/10/de-blasio-praises-exiting-nycha-boss-despite-agencys-scandals/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">praised former</span></a> NYCHA chair, Shola Olatoye--who was allowed to resign despite her negligent if not criminal actions---even AFTER it was disclosed she had lied to federal inspectors as well as to City Council. He even blamed other NYCHA employees for the debacle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Based on published reports, I'm pretty sure Olatoye should be in jail. And, if she's criminally liable, so is her former boss, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development, Alicia Glen. <i>(Full Disclosure: My former friend from high school.)</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Any doubt about how clueless and indifferent Glen really is--which didn't occur in a vacuum--is captured in this timely <i>Daily News</i> <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-edit-nycha-glen-greg-20180823-story.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">editorial</span></a>, </span>"Gotcha Ms. Glen: The Awful Words of a de Blasio Deputy Mayor." <span style="color: #3d85c6;">(Ed. Note: For the record, I had written the bulk of this post to run with my previous one, but decided to split them because of the length. It was just fortuitous timing the DN would run such an editorial speaking exactly to the NYCHA issue and the pathetic de Blasio/Glen record.)</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">People have failed to connect the dots--either willfully or out of ignorance, it doesn't really matter--about how ALL of it goes through Glen</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. Look at</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> this excerpt from her bio on the NYC.gov website: <span style="color: #f1c232;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">With over 20 City Agencies under her purview, Glen's portfolio includes: the Department of City Planning, the Department of Parks; Recreation; the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) ... the Housing Development Corporation; the NYC Housing Authority ... and the Landmarks Preservation Commission.</span><span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Add to the list the <i>Department of Housing Preservation and Development</i> (HPD), the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Department of Small Business</i> <i>Services </i>(a misleadin</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">g and disingenuous moniker) and the notoriously corrupt <i>Board of Standards and Appeals</i>. I wrote this about the Mayor's disappointing appoint</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ments and their connections to</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> big real estate<a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;"> in 2014.</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Glen left her job heading <i>Goldman Sachs' Urban Investment Group </i>(UIG) for more than a decade to join BDB, and it should be hammered over and over she was a deputy commissioner in Giuliani's HPD--a man who consistently demonstrated nothing but contempt for the poor. So much for Glen's partial <i>Democratic Socialists of America </i>upbringing--which was just a blip on the political radar in the 1980's. That was obviously before Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and taking a wild guess here, I'm betting it's an ideology that's become quite irrelevant to Glen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The Real Deal</i> described the UIG</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span>as "an arm of the bank that invests in social impact projects, like CitiBike ... and the Brooklyn Navy Yard."</span><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Gotta love the euphemism of 'social impact' implying somehow it's for the public good when really, it's singularly about making greater profits for one of the country's most evil entities!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, it should come as no surprise---or be considered an accident--NYCHA's former general manager <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://nypost.com/2018/06/13/city-hall-helped-ex-nycha-manager-score-brooklyn-navy-yard-gig/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">"got a plum job with a city-affiliated organization</span></a>,"</span> arranged by City Hall while people around him were being fired. This is the very man "responsible for the day-to-day operations during the lead paint scandal," who was allowed to resign and then named Chief Operating Officer at the <i>Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation </i>(BNYDC)--where Glen has longstanding ties, as well as falling under her purview;</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> the appointment itself has Glen's fingerprints all over it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the record, the BNYDC is teaming with veterans of pro large-scale development organizations like the NYCEDC including its president/CEO and the <i>Brooklyn Bridge Parks Development Corporation</i>. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">EDC's current president is Glen's former chief of staff--and surely out of sheer coincidence, is also an alumnus of the <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-195229/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Great Vampire Squid.</span></a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's worth noting although the idea to sell off NYCHA land (including underneath where playgrounds are located) </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">and</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.progressqueens.com/news/2015/2/18/activists-worry-that-de-blasio-administration-will-keep-selling-nycha-to-developers" style="color: white;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Section 8 units</span></a> to private developers originated under Bloomberg, it was during de Blasio's tenure where the program began in earnest. And, it's not just the privatization of the city's public housing that's at issue: it's also to whom.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last year, the <i>NYT</i> ran a story discussing the growing opposition to Glen and her "Goldman Sachs model of development." According to the article, activists compiled a report reviewing projects undertaken by three specific for-profit developers--L&M Development Partners, BRP Development Corporation and BFC Partners because of Glen's pre-BDB background with them.*</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">None are exclusively </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"affordable" housing developers, and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">BFC and L&M are historically controversial. BFC is perhaps best known for being the well-connected Giuliani-favored developer responsible</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> for destroying community gardens across the city starting in the late 1990's--which coincidentally, overlaps with the time Glen worked at HPD. That just happened to be the</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> lead city agency tasked with disposition of the gardens.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Amazingly, BFC is as well-connected now during a progressive administration as it was during the two preceding republican ones--and it's the developer that really cleaned up with de Blasio's<b> </b>Bedford Armory scam.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, there are questions about Glen's <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20170611/REAL_ESTATE/170609858/ron-moelis-is-the-king-of-affordable-housing-but-his-ties-to-nyc-deputy-mayor-alicia-glen-made-him-a-target"><span style="color: #ea9999;">close relationship</span></a> with L&M's CEO--who happens to sit on REBNY's governing board.<b> </b></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(ED Note: I am astounded by the overwhelming generic, cookie-cutter nature and complete lack of aesthetic attributes I saw on the websites for all three developers concerning their NYC projects--even the 'luxury' ones. Not surprisingly in certain cases, the buildings were ridiculously out-of-scale with the neighborhood.)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fufthermore, it is striking how few officials at BRP have experience working in the public sector, given how many 'public' projects in which they are involved.<b> </b>Oh yeah, BRP and L&M both tout on their websites their "partnerships" with financial institutions like...Goldman Sachs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most people would consider this <i>Village Voice<a href="https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/02/14/vampire-squids-and-the-mayors-who-love-them/"><span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span></a></i><a href="https://www.villagevoice.com/2018/02/14/vampire-squids-and-the-mayors-who-love-them/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article</span></a> about Glen written by a colleague who has guested on WBAI Radio's <i>The Morning Show </i>(TMS) (where I'm senior producer) to be a devastating indictment of one's character as well as one's purpose, but something tells me she's probably proud rather than ashamed. Some of the highlights include:</span><br />
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<li><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;">[Glen] ... directs efforts at alienating public land [especially to these three developers].** In return, they built 29 mixed-income projects which produced almost no housing that was actually affordable to people in the neighborhoods in which they were built ... with a dozen others in the pipeline;</span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #bf9000;">Glen ushered </span><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html" style="color: #bf9000;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">enormous pools of private equity capital</span></a><span style="color: #bf9000;"> into working class neighborhoods producing profits for investors while boosting neighborhood land values and costs. It was still speculative capitalism and it was still gentrification, but it was packaged as some kind of social good </span>(as I noted earlier)<span style="color: #bf9000;">;</span></span></li>
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<li><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;">Her connections with favored developers ... are what enables the administration to hit the large, round numbers it likes to tout... at a cost far beyond the sticker price ... </span><span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;">It means giving away scarce public land for subpar private luxury development... and it means luring luxury development into the city's poorest neighborhoods;</span></li>
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<span style="color: #bf9000; font-size: large;">The more she does to screw tenants, the more valuable she is to the administration.</span><br />
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* The Voice reported while working at Goldman's UIG, Glen did 12 similar deals with L&M. and 11 more with BFC and BRP;<br />
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** Also according to the Voice article, during BDB's first year alone, Glen's office "handed over" 120 publicly-owned lots for $1 ... during his first term, she directed over $1 billion in subsidies and tax breaks, which translated into $709 million to L&M, $131 million to BFC and $100 million to BRP--again, FOR-PROFIT firms.<br />
*****<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most <i>EAP</i> posts have focused on the venal power of the real estate industry in New York State and New York City. I didn't set out to create a blog with what's evolved into such a singular focus, but after watching the governing models of the Giuliani, Bloomberg and now de Blasio administrations, it</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> became abundantly clear SOMEONE needed to not only bring attention to this issue--it needed to be someone without a vested or conflict-of-interest, as so many local news organizations and blogs appear to have. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Furthermore, as a native New Yorker, I can speak to the palpable and substantive shift in the power dynamics controlling the city. Believe it or not, there was a time when NYC was not the one industry town it has become (the industry being real estate)--the way Los Angeles relies on the entertainment business and D.C. depends on government. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">To that end, here are two of the latest TMS segments I produced which are germane to this macro discussion about real estate's total control and corruption of city public policy today. They're simply more examples of abuses committed by the current administration to benefit its donor class: developers, landlords and other real estate interests. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">he primary commonality between the two segments is the further demonstration of how de Blasio's government has consistently approved inappropriate development projects--even while ignoring established laws or zoning. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/BenRichardsonMetroMorning82818MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">80 Flatbush Towers</span></a> (a Chrysler-sized building--one of two towers--in the middle of brownstone Brooklyn) was resoundingly rejected by the local community board but unanimously approved by the Department of City Planning (DCP). How's that for a disconnect?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Around the <a href="https://archive.org/details/AliciaBoydSegment9418MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Brooklyn Botanic Garden</span></a>--where the developer submitted false shadow studies, well documented by the opposition--the city is still permitting the project to proceed, despite environmental requirements and the city's own 1991 zoning rules prohibiting buildings exceeding a certain height because of the damage they will cause the Garden.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The new revelation the city is owed at least $1.5 million largely from uncollected construction and building violation fines is hardly surprising to anyone who has paid attention. $500K alone is owed by Jared Kushner's company, which has a long track record of harassing regulated tenants out of its buildings and filing false reports with the Department of Buildings; "hundreds" of violations date back at least to 2013, the year de Blasio was first elected.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why do you think this was permitted to continue for so long specifically by Kushner, and by landlords in general? Might it have something to do with the mayor saying he <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2017/02/its-all-about-impact-stupid-pt-2.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">respects </span></a>Kushner "a lot"? Why do you think <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">HPD's</span></a> minimum fines are so paltry, often considered the cost of doing business, or why the agency pursues so few cases against landlords for harassment? And, who controls what happens at HPD?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the most common forms of tenant harassment is using construction to drive them out, and it's hardly a new </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">method. However, with all of de Blasio's upzonings--which for landlords who want to cash in are tantamount to waving a red flag in front of a bull--why did the city only just this summer introduce "The Partners in Preservation" pilot program? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>City Limits </i>reported the city plans to fund community-based organizations for 18 months to "coordinate anti-displacement initiatives." The targeted neighborhoods for this undertaking are located in the--wait for it--very same communities in the Bronx and Manhattan the city has upzoned like Jerome Avenue, East Harlem and Inwood. Do you think there may be a correlation? According to HPD,</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "high rates of speculative investment and rising rents have made residents particularly vulnerable to tenant harassment and displacement." Imagine that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Call me crazy but perhaps such a program should have been initiated at the <i>beginning</i> of the upzoning process, not at the tale end where there are already countless victims of gentrification and displacement? Going back at least two years, <i>The Morning Show </i>aired related segments of representatives from community after community vocalizing dire concerns describing precisely what HPD just identified. So, the residents saw what was to come but the government of Bill de Blasio and especially DCP--which we all know does little actual planning--couldn't (or wouldn't) acknowledge the inevitable chaos?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the end, everything de Blasio and Glen are doing will all result in the same thing--a totally unrecognizable entity called NYC without any of its soul or substance, inhabited by a very specific class of people. As I've written previously, systematically they <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2016/08/updated-part-1-rebny-thing-that-ate-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">are working to dismantle everything we know and recognize as 'NYC.<b>'</b></span></a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unfortunately, to be continued...</span></div>
ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-3953362616465703942018-08-17T14:21:00.002-04:002018-08-18T13:33:42.342-04:00BDB/DM Glen & REBNY Together Forever; NYC Suffers<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I realize it's very, very easy to be overwhelmed by what's happening at the federal level and the daily travesties committed by the Trump administration it's almost understandable to overlook what's going on in New York City. <i>Almost.</i></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Things are equally egregious here, just within a different context. The full NYC Council just voted to approve both the Inwood Upzoning (with minor changes) AND the de Blasio-promoted Tech Hub at Union Square (with little-to-no meaningful zoning and affordable housing protections). Both projects are wildly unpopular within their respective communities.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Speaking of "tech hubs," how many is the Administration now pushing? I know there's one based in the old Brooklyn Navy Yard, one for Downtown Brooklyn, a tech hub in Manhattan's rezoned Grand Central area; there's</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> also a rumor of one proposed within the Inwood Upzoning. <i>How many are actually necessary?</i> And doesn't this push for tech jobs--at the cost of so much else including saving small businesses--imply a certain level of elitism? Not what one would expect from such a "progressive" leader.....</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perhaps the worst part of the 14th Street "Tech Hub" is that despite the repeated campaign promises of then-council candidate Carlina Rivera while she was running, she fecklessly voted affirmatively without those very protections she swore would ultimately determine her vote. Did she lie? (I wonder what was the underlying quid pro quo from the de Blasio administration to buy her vote--obviously, precedence has already proven priority was not to benefit her constituents, who deserve better.</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Ed. Note: Like many EV residents, I called to object to Rivera's vote in the Zoning subcommittee for the tech hub without these vital safeguards. On August 3, 2018, I</span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> spoke with her legislative director who </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">told me she was still in negotiations with the city and her vote was merely a procedural one. Given the final outcome, was this just continuation of the lie? </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As accurately depicted by the<i> Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation </i>(GVSHP)<i>, </i>what ultimately passed was a "fraction of a fraction" of what is necessary to truly protect the contiguous neighborhoods. It</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> and many other community organizations are especially concerned with how market pressures will manifest because of these developments--both on existing tenants and small businesses. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After passing the full Council, GVSHP rightfully pulled no punches about what transpired. "It's a shame that the Mayor is so invested in protecting his real estate donor friends that he would not consider real but reasonable zoning protections .</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">... But of course, as always, the Mayor’s campaign donors got a very good deal out of this."</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A special shout-out was reserved for Rivera:<span style="color: #bf9000;"> </span>"It's also a shame that our local CM caved to the Mayor and broke a promise she publicly made that these real protections were part of any final deal.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> They’re not, and the deal approved today will do very little to protect this neighborhood." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Critically, as GVSHP notes, any benefits Rivera maintains will come to the neighborhood did not require the large commercial upzoning the Council approved--and which inevitably will open a Pandora's Box to development.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Perhaps to quell the backlash that Rivera shockingly did not see coming, her office released a letter on August 13th (conveniently <i>after</i> the full Council already approved the hub) requesting <i>City Planning </i>(DCP) require a special site-specific permit for hotel development so they can only be constructed where it's deemed appropriate south of Union Square. (I wonder what that criteria will be and who will be deciding?) </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The phrase '<i>too little, too late'</i> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">is woefully enormously inadequate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rivera's plan is "a pale shadow of the zoning protections she publicly promised would be necessary for her to approve the "Tech Hub","<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <a href="http://www2.gvshp.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=6501&em_id=2741.0"><span style="color: #ea9999;">GVSHP wrote in a rebuttal</span></a> </span>to Rivera's latest request to DCP. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The organization maintains the special hotel permit "will have little to no effect on the development problems" exacerbated by the hub, proceeding to break down point by point how truly useless and meaningless her appeal really is. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"CM Rivera broke her promise to the community ... Trying to pass off flimsy measures with little effect as the protections this community fought for won't change that."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In terms of Inwood, the CM, Ydanis Rodriguez, has never heeded the<span style="color: white;"> <a href="https://www.manhattantimesnews.com/we-are-all-against-ittodos-estamos-en-contra/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">overwhelming community opposition</span></a> </span>other than with lip service. The Inwood community has been well organized, outspoken and went so far as to offer its own compromise proposals through groups like<i> Inwood Preservation </i>(IP). One of its founders, Maggie Clarke, who has a PhD in environmental science and has lived in Inwood for 40 years emailed, "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was all done behind closed doors. We don't even know exactly what they voted on." </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">On the 'compromise' to which Rodriguez allegedly agreed, Clarke noted, "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just to be clear, our entire <i>Uptown United Plan </i>was a compromise. It proposed more building than there is now. What folks don't understand is when you jump from [current zoning] R7 to R8 and R9 (which is still in the plan), and where much of the area's commercial and industrial is only 1 or 2 stories, the impacts will be very large...</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Saying excising the [commercial] U is a big concession is like saying we were only stabbed 2 times in the heart rather than 3.... But our CM doesn't get it."</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To that end, an impromptu<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <a href="http://abc7ny.com/society/inwood-rezoning-protesters-in-councilmans-office/3874600/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">sit-in</span></a></span> was held in Rodriguez district office shortly after the committee vote. No, it didn't accomplish much, but it was heartening to see organic resistance rising up. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As in countless areas across the entire city, the very essence that makes a neighborhood unique and so very New York are the very elements the<span style="color: white;"><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/02/progressive-ideology-vs-real-estate.html"> <span style="color: #ea9999;">administration is permitting to be systematically dismantled--all so private developers can reap bigger profits</span></a><span style="color: #ea9999;">.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sooner or later though, city residents are going to finally say '<i>enough'</i> to Mayor de Blasio's pay-to-play policies and to his REBNY-backed allies in government, like Carlina Rivera, Ydanis Rodriguez and too, too many more. Think of the 1976 movie <i>Network</i>, with its classic scene in which Peter Finch tells his news audience, "</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>I'm a human being goddammit. My life has value. So, I want you to get up now, I want all of you to get out of your chairs, I want you to get up right now and go the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell, "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!</i>" So applicable today on so many levels...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recently, this lit</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">tle <a href="https://greenpointers.com/2018/07/17/affordable-housing-lottery-now-open-for-2100-studio-in-greenpoint/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">nu</span></a></span><a href="https://greenpointers.com/2018/07/17/affordable-housing-lottery-now-open-for-2100-studio-in-greenpoint/"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">g</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">get </span></span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">was reported which I'm sure most people missed. And why not? We've become inured to these kind of travesties. Check out the affordability threshold: 72K- 95-K for a studio! If someone earning that much money as a single person (which is the presumed justification for the small space of a studio ie it's too small for a family), how on earth can that person need to be <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">subsidized</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">--which is exactly what's happening, as opposed to oft-repeated misnomer about rent regulations. If there was ever any question or ambiguity about de Blasio's "affordable" housing plan, I think that's been put to rest with a resounding THUD.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Based on what we've witnessed over the last five years--the so-called affordable housing plan affordable to almost no one; ZQA; MIH; the upzonings of middle-and working-class neighborhoods, just to name a few--does ANYONE believe somehow the BDB/DM Glen mission miraculously changed to finally help the people who actually need it the most and not their <a href="https://nypost.com/2018/08/11/city-halls-top-brass-took-136-lobbyist-meetings-in-3-months/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">developer allies</span></a>?</span></div>
ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-76364107958219094482018-05-31T15:17:00.003-04:002018-06-01T14:29:42.104-04:00BDB & REBNY: A Noxious Co-Dependent Relationship Running NYC?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Update: This came in late Tuesday evening as I was putting the finishing touches on this post, but it must be mentioned. According to the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation, the Landmarks Commission has backed off (for now at least) it's proposed rule changes which would have cut out public input because of widespread opposition. Actually, the email says LPC, "retreated from many of the most controversial elements of their proposed changes to the rules governing the landmarks public review and approval process." A 'stay tuned' seems in order......</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I think it's pretty obvious: the <i>Real Estate Board of NY</i> (REBNY) has lost its mind, in part thanks to its co-dependent relationship with the government of the City of New York. It has been utterly enabled by Mayor Bill de Blasio and his chief henchperson, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen (full disclosure: my former high school friend)--who have given REBNY unfettered control of the city's public policy--because in the end, every issue, every policy, every edict is run through a real estate and land use filter. And if REBNY deems something unacceptable, well, by now we know the tune...</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If REBNY has a wish-list, then de Blasio and Glen have proceeded to check off item after item in the 'granted' column.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As with many such relationships, this kind of co-dependency breeds an unhealthy dynamic that leaves a path of damage in its wake--and I should know because this accurately describes in a nutshell the toxic marriage of my own parents. However, instead of being confined to immediate family members, we instead see it playing out on a much larger stage and scale deleteriously impacting the entire city.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I suppose this kind of situation organically creates the rapacious desire for fresh conquests, to push boundaries and because there are virtually no constraints or ramifications. Nothing is ever enough for developers and landlords: greater profits, greater greed, a continuous cacophony of "<i>More, More, More</i>" (and not in the lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek context of the Andrea True Connection.)</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's particularly surreal and quite Orwellian when we see how the administration is trying desperately to <a href="http://hdc.org/uncategorized/urgent-proposed-bill-to-lift-far-cap"><span style="color: #ea9999;">lift height caps</span></a> imposed by a 1961 state law on residential buildings when in actuality, there have been few examples where developers <i>haven't </i>been able to build ridiculously tall buildings (commonly known as supertalls) using a combination of existing zoning regulations and loopholes. Just look around at the developments taking place all over the city, regardless of the neighborhood.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In a recent newsletter by <i>Human Scale-NYC</i> (HS-NYC), it's asked, <span style="color: #f1c232;">"Why lift the cap when the city has yet to produce a plan--or even have a debate--about how much density a neighborhood can sustain before the quality of life deteriorates? Why do such a thing when the city is locked into a false economic theory that suggests (without evidence) that to have economic growth, the only possible strategy is to attract young, "intelligent" people... [so we have to build] lots of high-rise luxury housing...specifically in the hot neighborhoods of Manhattan and on the Brooklyn-Queens waterfronts...One worrying thought about it: Is "intelligent" supposed to be a code word for young, educated white college grads instead of black brown immigrants from poor countries?"</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">HS-NYC raises some very legitimate questions and points. As much as I hate the phrase "<i>quality of life</i>" and its implications thanks to its utter bastardization by Rudy Giuliani, it makes perfect sense in this regard. As the city keeps pushing development and especially out-of-scale development, the law of diminishing returns has to kick in at some point--though I think it can be argued it already has. Though the evidence is ample, here are</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> just a few examples</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">: the overtaxed transit system which constantly breaks down from overuse and lack of investment; overcrowded public schools; a general lack of personal space and the encroachment of shadows caused by these supertalls, which are all facts of life </span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">today</b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> for NYers. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(Ed. Note: I would maintain there is no neighborhood left in Manhattan that isn't 'hot'--thanks to the mayor's plan to rezone (i.e. upzone) the last few remaining communities comprised of mixed incomes and diverse populations (mostly of color): East Harlem and Inwood.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">HS-NYC correctly point out the entire premise of the de Blasio housing plan is predicated on a theory which focuses on attracting usually white, but more importantly, predominantly the upper-middle class and wealthy.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is wrong on so many levels, but as a native Manhattanite, I find the city's focus to attract people from other cities and states mystifying. In my lifetime, I can't remember a time when city government worked so hard to retain the residents<i> already</i> here, college educated or not, as it appears it's doing to appeal to outsiders.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The city and its allies like the <i>Regional Plan Association </i>and of course, REBNY, are using the veil of 'affordable housing' as the justification, but I think everybody sees through that facade after 5+ years of Bill de Blasio's tenure. As the <i>Historic Districts Council</i> wrote, "<span style="color: #ffd966;">There is <b>NOTHING </b>(ed emphasis) in this bill regarding affordable housing, it only increases developers' already broad latitude to build. NYC does not have a housing shortage--there are nearly 250,000 empty units, or about 11% of the city's total rental apartments, which currently sit empty. There is enough housing for everyone, but developers build for maximum profit, not for people</span>."</span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The situation has moved from bad to seriously egregious, again, thanks to the Cart Blanche granted by the de Blasio administration. Developers have become emboldened, constantly pushing the lines away from the public good, away from basic necessities like sunlight, air and public space, and away even from common sense. And, this madness now extends to selling publicly-owned assets like library branches to private developers--which once was utterly inconceivable...</span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The most recent example is the proposed mixed-used development including double towers--one of which is roughly the size of the Chrysler building--</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"planned" (a term I use facetiously as the city does no actual planning) for the middle of brownstone-dominated residential Brooklyn, around Fort Greene and Boerum Hill. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The developer wants to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">triple existing zoning while delaying the mandatory inclusionary housing. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">You can</span><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <a href="https://archive.org/details/BenRichardsonSeg42418MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">listen here to an interview </span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">with one of the leading activists opposing this development which I produced for WBAI Radio's <i>The Morning Show. </i></span></span><br />
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</i></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If this proposal wasn't bad enough on it's face, it's being facilitated by a little-known government agency that was dormant until 2010 when Michael Bloomberg's administration resuscitated it--but there is no ambiguity as to why it was brought back or how it's being used. The idea behind <i>80 Flatbush Towers</i>--and allowing such monstrous buildings where they really ought not to be--is perhaps the second most cliched justification for out-of-context development, just behind the affordable housing excuse: schools.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In the case of Flatbush Towers, two small schools are being proposed using public land and the accompanying air rights---an enormous boon to the developer and its partners. (They are asking for the equivalent of $300+ million in free air rights from the city and state.) There is also enormous concern the development will encourage such a large influx of people to the area that the new schools will "barely cover" the new population and actually result in a net LOSS of school seats.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Meanwhile, everything that we recognize as truly unique to NYC--from the longstanding independent small businesses, to the architecture, to the<span style="color: #6aa84f;"> </span>divergent and multicultural populations reflected in every walk of life including the cornucopia of food choices, to our very own heritage--is being systematically dismantled block by block, street by street, community by community. I've previously written on <i><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2016/08/updated-part-1-rebny-thing-that-ate-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">EAP</span></a></i> about the loss of unofficial landmarks, like Indian Row in the East Village, the garment center and diamond district. </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The latest in danger of being added to this list is <i>Tin Pan Alley</i>, considered the birthplace of popular music and a bastion of NYC culture and history. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is a <i>Morning Show</i> </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/GeorgeCalderoSeg.32718" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">interview with one of the organizers</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> trying to save TPA</span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">. </i></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because of encroaching over-development and the peculiar circumstance of existing zoning which encourages hotel construction, it's well past time for the Department of City Planning (DCP) to intervene and stop the glut of hotels. The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) has twice rejected landmarking designation because it has deemed the area lacking in architectural style--but have you ever walked around the neighborhood? If anything, the architecture is astounding. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tin Pan Alley and the larger at-risk area surrounding it called NoMad includes gems like "pre-Civil War Italianite row houses" and turn-of-the century buildings built in the "neo-Renaissance and/or Beaux Arts styles." </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Throw in the historical significance of the block(s) and the case for protection is self-explanatory. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>*****</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's been occurring--and permitted to occur by the city--at<i> 85 Bowery </i>in Chinatown is beyond a travesty. We've been consistently covering the plight of these tenants for the better part of two years on <i>The Morning Show</i>--something few local journalistic organizations can credibly maintain.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The evicted tenants resumed their hunger strike on May 30th, in their latest attempts to bring pressure to get back home. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">February 1st was the ostensible deadline the city gave the landlord to make "repairs" but here we are, in June. The city has done little-to-nothing to enforce its own time frame; meanwhile, dozens of people who are legally entitled to their apartments are still homeless.</span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">According to organizers, the city keeps permitting the landlord to delay and stonewall--the repairs being the questionable justification to evict the rent-regulated tenants in the first place--after he spent years trying to shirk his responsibilities AND tried to illegally evict them. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The city's Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) agency ignored the case for two years, after a 2016 Housing Court order mandated the fixes based on poor conditions. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The city's Department of Buildings (DOB) and others like HPD even stood by as the landlord disposed into dumpsters tenants' belongings.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The entire drama is particularly galling because it's being played out during the administration of our self-described 'progressive' mayor---who has repeatedly failed to intervene on behalf of these beleaguered tenants and demand his own government agencies do their damned jobs. This is the same man whose initial campaign for the office focused on social justice and on the whole '<i>Tale of Two Cities'</i> theme, apparently just a big canard that snookered voters and the press alike.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><i>Update:</i></u> The organizers of #85 Bowery have a 4pm Victory March planned for today at the entrance to City Hall. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jg5bOW3u7IItLJejYQ_Loo-eB8-CseQfOQvFIUm877uFvmw5tSjvUJWfnBiBxrfU30NXXUreigXEwDhdJkbscwx490WQiOfexGz_ESlyj39gTUv83rqJOFPVMMOd0f13S5cCqpHQrJM/s1600/34075984_1895014160510920_6645166232070782976_n+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1jg5bOW3u7IItLJejYQ_Loo-eB8-CseQfOQvFIUm877uFvmw5tSjvUJWfnBiBxrfU30NXXUreigXEwDhdJkbscwx490WQiOfexGz_ESlyj39gTUv83rqJOFPVMMOd0f13S5cCqpHQrJM/s320/34075984_1895014160510920_6645166232070782976_n+%25281%2529.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-50979783877143500512017-10-23T15:14:00.000-04:002017-10-25T13:59:10.058-04:00Help Save WBAI Radio; NYCLPC Sued & More NYC Real Estate Foibles<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As many of you know, I work in part as the senior producer at WBAI radio's <i>The Morning Show</i>, the only station-sponsored daily public affairs program. I came to the station--the oldest and largest independent progressive station in the NY area--after years of working in print. However, my background and greater passion has always been in broadcast and frankly, I'm a really good producer--much better than I am a writer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unfortunately for me, my timing in broadcast was terrible, both in terms of the national economy dating back to the recessions of the 1990s; the deleterious post-OJ effect on serious and substantive public affairs discourse; and frankly, a curious phenomenon that developed during that time period where it became shockingly clear<b> </b>that smart women with opinions (that could be backed up) who were over 30 were not exactly welcome within the ranks of many news outlets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">WBAI and the host of<i> The Morning Show</i>, Michael G. Haskins, have been true blessings for me on multiple levels (though not financial.) I implore you to help us in the fight to save WBAI. The owners of the Empire State Building are essentially extorting the station, yet they just prevailed in court.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><br />
<i>Please read this note from WBAI volunteer Marilyn Vogt-Downey:</i></span><br />
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The Empire State Realty Trust--the owners of the Empire State Building where WBAI's transmitter is located--has pushed WBAI Radio into a crisis. The crisis is real! And we need your help to turn this crisis around.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
We need your time, your energy and, especially, your skills... we need YOU to be part of a cadre of volunteers to help build our off-air multi-million dollar fundraising campaign. </span><br />
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YES we can do it together... </span><br />
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We need grant writers, event planners, social media & computer technology experts, phone banking volunteers, and particularly those experienced with obtaining large donor contributions... Are you an experienced fundraiser??? We need you now!!!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
Historically WBAI listeners have shown great heart and courage in the face of political adversity. Now it's urgent that we bring our efforts together on behalf of WBAI, our irreplaceable station.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
Specify your area of expertise and experience and let us know how you can help. </span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Again, please call </span><a href="tel:(347)%20647-9224" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank" value="+13476479224"><span style="color: #e06666;">347-647-9224</span></a><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> or email</span><span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span></span><a href="mailto:mjvogtdowney@gmail.com" style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;" target="_blank"><u><span style="color: #e06666;">mjvogtdowney@gmail.com</span></u></a></span></span><br />
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Together we will win!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my capacity as producer at WBAI, I've had the opportunity to create substantive segments about issues I believe are either ignored by the mainstream press or not fully examined. Here are some important interviews on which I worked before the recent court decision:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">A Community organization's lawsuit vs the NYC</span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/LynnEllsworthMichaelHillerSeg" style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999;"> <span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999;">Landmarks Preservation Commission</span></a> <span style="color: #ea9999;">(LPC) </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">for the 'capricious' manner in which it makes important landmarking decisions, with no standard set of regulatory guidelines. Because of the arbitrary nature, and absent standards, it's impossible not to speculate about what factors are considered like the administration's close ties to developers. Certainly, the fact that the LPC chair has no landmarking or preservation experience is more than troubling. Several other community groups have filed suit against LPC for an array of reasons, and this case has potential citywide implications;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/CarmenVegaRiveraSergioCuevasInt83117"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Update on the controversial (and wildly unpopular) rezoning</span></a> of Jerome Avenue in the Bronx;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/AliciaBoydSeg9717"><span style="color: #ea9999;">The travesties occurring in Brooklyn's Crown Heights section </span></a>caused in part by a corrupt community board and a mayoral administration hell bent on turning the city over to private developers as in the case of the Bedford Armory;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm also particularly pleased with the following two segments focusing on national issues:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">1) What the Trump administration is trying to do to <a href="https://archive.org/details/RajNyack92117MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">working Americans</span></a>, in terms of overtime regulations and the pay gap;</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">2) A fine tribute to and discussion of the late LGBT pioneer <a href="https://archive.org/details/AndyHAndAnnN91817MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Edie Windsor and her legacy </span></a> between the two co-hosts of GAYUSA, the longest running LGBT news and information show which has aired since the mid-1980s. Both hosts knew Windsor well and considered her their friend.</span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-3028364580810891592017-07-31T15:53:00.003-04:002018-06-03T18:05:42.991-04:00Is BDB's Transportation Policy Code for Enriching Real Estate Industry?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In what world does it make sense that the city of NY would spend <a href="https://archive.org/details/SamuelSteinSeg9916"><span style="color: #ea9999;">$2.5 BILLION </span><span style="color: #ea9999;">in taxpayer money</span></a> on a limited trolley system which:</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">a) is considered low on a list of under-served areas;</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">b) happens to run along the very same waterfront route in Brooklyn and Queens where many of the mayor's developer friends own property and/or have developments proposed?</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Or, where another city transportation 'priority' to expand ferry services has a price tag at minimum of $325M, not including operating and infrastructure upgrade costs. A passenger will be charged the same as a ride on a city bus or subway (currently $2.75,) though the actual cost is estimated somewhere around $6.50. One Slate journalist<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/transport/2015/03/de_blasio_s_ferry_plan_for_new_york_it_s_a_bad_idea_ferries_almost_always.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">wrote,</span></a> </span>"Once the city makes its $55M capital investment in docks, boats, (etc.)...the most successful route will require an operating subsidy per passenger almost twice the cost of a local bus and about six times that of a subway."</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, what's especially worrisome about the ferry expansion is the small projected ridership compared with those on the buses and subways, for whom the service is singularly designed to cater, and why. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">In describing the ferry scheme, the <a href="http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/transport/2015/03/de_blasio_s_ferry_plan_for_new_york_it_s_a_bad_idea_ferries_almost_always.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Slate</span></a> piece includes, "All public transit is subsidized, of course. But what makes this a particularly inappropriate use of city transportation dollars is the clientele. Aside from the aforementioned Rockaways stop and a politically expedient stop at Soundview in the Bronx, the ferries will serve expensive or gentrified areas." He continues [Editor's emphasis], "<i>The best reason to spend $30M a year running boats, however, isn't to get people from place to place, but to encourage new construction."</i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Mind you, the contract wasn't even awarded to a local company.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">And, it should be mentioned with both the trolley and ferries, free transfers to MTA buses and subway would be unavailable. As a native who grew up in the 1970s and 80's, I remember all-to-well what it was like not being able to afford two transit fares, bus-to-subway or vice versa---or having to allot more travel time hours so that I could take buses and transfer among two for free. I believe they call that lost productivity.</span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span><span style="font-size: large;">So, in what or whose world? Why, in faux-progressive Mayor Bill de Blasio's world, that's where. That's a world where transportation policy decisions are actually subterfuge for enriching the giant real estate industry that really runs NYC. (And this world view isn't exclusive to the mayor, or even to one <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PG4ZbsrWNGNd-Yfy-A7Uasx_jtyLkAOlG50ZnJgK-DM/edit#gid=0"><span style="color: #ea9999;">elected official</span></a>......)</span></span></span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yet, the same mayor--the man with aspirations (or delusions, your choice)--to be a national leader in the</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> left wing 'resistance' movement calls the #FairFares campaign to provide subsidies for poor NYers who are being priced out of mass transit after six hikes in roughly a decade a "noble" gesture but one the city can ill afford. And, because the price structure encourages paying for a bulk package with discounts, a single ride is more expensive to the very people who can least afford it.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These subsidies are estimated to cost around $200M. According to the Riders Alliance, almost one million residents could be eligible. By the way, the same system </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">already offers subsidies to seniors, the disabled and school children. And though not a classic subsidy, middle-class residents qualify for pre-tax benefits on the total cost of their Metrocards.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.straphangers.org/statements/2017/FairFaresTestimonyFINAL.pdf"><span style="color: #ea9999;">The Straphangers Campaign</span></a> testified before the City Council earlier this year about #FairFares: "More than one third of all low-income, working-age New Yorkers have reported that the rising transit fares have prevented them from either seeking or accepting employment further from where they live..... Transit inaccessibility further perpetuates the cycle of poverty by limiting educational and employment opportunities... and rising costs make it exceedingly difficult for these individuals to live in NYC or even attempt to complete a college degree."</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div><div><div><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, I realize my opinion on this next point differs with many transit advocates, but I have difficulty accepting that public funds may be potentially necessary to </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">expand a "public/private" bike-riding service or that this should take precedence over #FairFares. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">It's very easy to blame Governor Cuomo for the dismal state of our mass transit system---and that blame would not be misdirected. However, many people don't realize how culpable NYC also is in this situation---the decline and deterioration en mass of the transit system's infrastructure after decades of <i>combined</i> underfunding.</span></span></span></div></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The NYC Independent Budget </span><span style="font-size: large;">Office (IBO) issued a <a href="http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/newsfax/insidethebudget158.pdf"><span style="color: #ea9999;">report in 2008</span></a> about the money the city pays to NYC Transit, the subsidiary running the subways and most bus lines: "</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The city makes an annual grant to NYC Transit under section 18(b) of the state's transportation law. The city's annual grant matches a state appropriation, and has re</span><span style="font-size: large;">mained at about $159M since the mid-1990's." Doug Turetsky, communications director at IBO confirmed in an email funding for "18(b) hasn't changed since Giuliani." </span></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Furthermore, according to a <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/andrew-bill-work-save-subways-article-1.3336394"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Daily News editorial,</span></a> the city's share for half-priced fares for seniors and people with disabilities have remained flat since 1978, now covering less than 10% of costs. </span></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">IBO issued another <a href="http://ibo.nyc.ny.us/cgi-park2/2015/01/how-much-would-the-citys-annual-contribution-be-today-if-aid-for-the-metropolitan-transportation-authoritys-capital-projects-had-kept-pace-with-inflation/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">report in 2015</span></a> estimating what the city would be paying annually if aid had kept up with the rate of inflation: "If the city had decided to keep its contribution at the 1982-1986 level in real (inflation-adjusted) terms, the contribution would have reached $363M in 2014, and provide more than $1.8B for the proposed 2015-2019 capital plan."</span></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This very week, Newsday ran an <a href="http://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial/mta-s-plan-to-fix-subway-needs-city-state-1.13824166"><span style="color: #ea9999;">editorial</span></a> in which it </span><span style="font-size: large;">chastised the city for not contributing its 'fare share,' something mayoral candidate</span><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://archive.org/details/SalAlbaneseSeg61917"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Sal Albanese</span></a> has been arguing for years. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u><b>Editor's Note:</b></u><span style="color: #f1c232;"> <i>I realize I haven't been very active with the EAP blog in months now. This was in part due to the fact I was busy working on an article which meant a great deal to me. However, what was supposed to be about three weeks of work turned into three months. More significantly, the article transformed into something very different. (Worse still, though, was a request to provide information I knew didn't exist, at least in their terms---though I did spend an extra two days interviewing every industry analyst I could, just in case.) After about 90% of the article was edited--a point to which I really didn't believe we'd ever get--it was killed. It broke my heart, and left me extremely gun-shy to write. </i></span></span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">As always, I've continued working on WBAI's daily public affairs program, The Morning Show, now as senior producer. Below are several segments dealing with, what else? Development, gentrification and/or land use in our rapidly changing city.</span></span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="color: #f1c232; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Did the de Blasio administration <a href="https://archive.org/details/DavidTieuAndMaureenKoetz71417Seg"><span style="color: #ea9999;">knowingly violate zoning laws</span></a> in order to allow the construction of four mega-towers along the Chinatown/LES waterfront?</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-----</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/GardensFeliciaYoungAndAzizDehkan6517"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Community gardens are at-risk</span></a> more now than ever since the days of the Giuliani administration, when the city was practically giving gardens away to developers.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What's the common denominator between these two time periods and is it mere coincidence? Hint: Which high-ranking BDB official currently responsible for essentially all land-use policy was once a deputy commissioner at Rudy's HPD--the lead agency tasked with identifying city-owned lots for development (vacant or otherwise, it doesn't seem to matter in their criteria)?</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">A pro-active group of <a href="https://archive.org/details/DRaySeg41017"><span style="color: #ea9999;">advocates in Queens</span></a> is taking on gentrification and the BDB pro-development policies;</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">-----</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/LynnEllsworthSeg4617"><span style="color: #ea9999;">"Who Owns the Sun?"</span></a> a critical discussion by</span><span style="color: #ea9999;"> NYers for a Human Scale City and a</span> really apt question for all of us today.</span></span></span></div></div>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-22046369236674151942017-02-13T15:39:00.000-05:002017-02-22T14:29:11.993-05:00421a & IZ: It's All About the Impact, Stupid! Pt. 2<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><i>This is Part 2 of my posts dealing with little-discussed after affects of 'affordable housin</i></span></span></span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">g" policies utilized in New York City; here's the<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2017/01/421a-iz-its-all-about-impact-stupid-pt-1.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">link for Part 1.</span></a></span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><i>*****</i></b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning="">It's incredibly telling that our esteemed mayor, Bill de Blasio, </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">had nothing but </span><a href="http://www.politico.com/states/new-york/city-hall/story/2017/01/de-blasio-likes-jared-kushner-108572" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">good things</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> to say about Donald Trump's son-in-law going to DC to work in the White House. As </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Ethics Ain't Pretty</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> readers already know, </span><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Jared Kushner has been building up his slumlord reputation</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> for some time now--no doubt learning at the knees of a master sleazebag who doesn't possess an ethical bone in his entire body.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning="">The facts about Kushner, and the way he conducts business, are not in dispute. So far, the mayor has talked to the press about his respect for Kushner, "that he finds him to be a reasonable person" and that Kushner is "someone who really cares about New York City." That last quote is the most troubling.</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning="">It's already been widely reported how Kushner's <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://metcouncilonhousing.org/tenant_newspaper/2017/january/%E2%80%98disgusting%E2%80%99_trump_son_in_law%E2%80%99s_tenants_react_to_his_white_house"><span style="color: #ea9999;">rent-regulated tenant</span></a> </span>feel about both their landlord and the mayor's characterizations of this man. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning="">De Blasio has been accused of being a carbon copy of Bloomberg, a Bloomberg redux when it comes to zoning and land use policies. I doubt anyone expected the similarities would expand to include a similar kind of cluelessness and tone-deafness--especially from a self-identified progressive. Then again, we know how utterly <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/02/progressive-ideology-vs-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">meaningless</span></a> that word is now when it comes to the all mighty power of the real industry...</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><br />
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><b>*****</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span ...on="" 10-12="" 11="" 125th="" 15="" 17k="" 1="" 2003="" 20="" 30-story="" 35="" 421a="" 5-6="" 50="" 70-80="" 80="" 9="" a="" abatement="" abatements="" ability="" about="" absorbed.="" academics="" accept="" acceptable="" accompangy="" accused="" act.="" activist="" actually="" addict="" addition="" adequately="" administration="" affairs="" affected="" affecting="" affluent="" affordable="" african-americans="" after="" agency.="" agent="" ah="" albany="" alive-and-well="" all="" allows="" already="" also="" alternate="" always="" america="" among="" an="" analogy:="" analysis="" analyst="" analyze="" and="" any="" appearance="" applied="" are.="" are="" area.="" area="" areas="" around--including="" as="" asks="" aspect="" astroturf="" attempted="" authored="" available="" back--that="" back.="" back="" barrio="" base.="" base="" based="" be="" because="" become="" becomes="" been="" begin="" being="" believe="" best--="" best="" big="" billion="" biz="" blame="" blames="" blasio="" bloomberg="" blow-back="" book="" bored="" both="" bottom.="" bought="" bringing="" brooklyn="" brought="" building="" buildings="" but="" by="" calls="" came="" campaign="" can.="" can="" candidates.="" case="" cause="" caused="" causes="" chance="" change="" changes="" charter="" chinatown="" christine="" city--so="" city.="" city="" clearly="" clinton="" co-opting="" coffers="" come="" coming="" commercial="" communities.="" communities="" community-based="" community="" company="" complaint="" complex="" concern="" concerned="" concessions.="" connection="" considered="" consultant="" contentious="" convince="" corporate="" cost="" costing="" could="" council="" country="" course="" cover="" covered.="" crafted="" crafting="" create="" created="" creates="" culture.="" cuomo="" damned="" day--with="" day="" dcp="" de="" debacle="" decade.="" decided="" decides="" deep="" deeply="" deleteriously="" demands="" dems="" department="" dependent="" depth="" designed="" desnsity="" destabilizing="" destructive="" developer="" developers="" developing="" development="" did="" didn="" disappointment="" discuss="" discussed="" discusses="" discussion="" dismay="" dismissed="" disparate="" displace="" displaced="" displacement="" disproportionate="" disproportionately="" disservice="" distribution="" do="" doesn="" don="" donald="" double="" down="" drop="" dropping="" during="" earlier="" earners="" east="" echoed="" effect="" effected="" effectively="" eh.="" el="" elected="" election--and="" embarasment="" enablers--the="" enforceable="" enormous="" enough="" environmental="" especially="" essentially="" estate="" even="" eviction="" exacerbated="" exactly="" examines="" example="" exclaiming="" exemptions="" existed="" expand="" expect--gets="" expected.="" experience="" expired="" explains.="" express="" facilitating="" fair="" fat="" faulting="" faults="" federal="" feel="" fellow="" female="" few="" fight="" finally="" fisher="" flawed="" focus--especially="" for.="" for="" former="" found="" from="" fundamentally="" fundraising="" further="" furthermore="" galling--especially="" general.="" general="" generates--at="" generic="" gentrify="" gerrymandering.="" get="" getting="" give="" giveaway="" given="" go="" going="" got="" gov.="" governmenrt="" governor="" greedy="" groups="" guarantee="" had="" handbook="" happened="" happens="" hard="" harlem="" has="" have="" he="" here="" hernandez="" herring="" higher-income="" higher="" highly="" his="" hispanics="" history="" hit="" hits="" hope="" horror="" horse="" housing="" how="" hubris="" huge="" i="" if="" ignore="" ignored.="" ignoring="" im="" imagine="" impact.="" impact="" implemented.="" in="" incentive="" includes="" inclusionary="" income="" industry.="" industry="" inevitable="" influx="" infrastructure="" inhabited="" initial="" input="" interests.="" into="" introduced="" involved="" is="" isn="" issued="" it="" its="" itself="" iz="" john="" josmar="" journalist="" journalists="" jr.="" just="" justification="" keep="" kept="" kind="" krueger="" lack="" large="" larger="" left="" legislation--it="" legislative="" legislators="" legitimate="" less="" let="" letters="" like="" list.="" little="" longtime="" loss="" losses="" low-income="" low-rise="" lux="" luxury="" mainstream="" major="" making="" many="" mark="" market="" massive="" matters="" mayor="" meal="" meaning="" means="" media.="" media="" median="" meeting="" melissa="" message="" middle-income="" mike="" million="" minority="" misunderestimated="" money="" more="" moreover="" most.="" most="" mostly="" much="" multiple="" my="" myopia--a="" mysogeny="" narrative="" necessary="" need="" neighborhood="" neighborhoods="" net="" new="" no="" nobody="" non-profits="" not--to="" not="" notes="" nothing="" notice="" notion="" november="" now="" nstead="" number="" ny="" nyc.="" nyc="" obama="" objects="" occurs.="" odds="" of="" officials="" on="" once="" one="" only="" opposition="" or="" organizations--and="" organizations--some="" organizations.="" organizer="" orgs="" out="" outspoken="" over="" overheated="" overlords="" own="" paid="" paolo="" particularly="" pattern="" payers="" pence="" people="" perception="" perfected="" permitted="" personally--do="" phase-outs="" phenomenon="" phil="" piece="" pills="" place="" plan="" planning="" plans="" played="" point--because="" poison="" pol="" policy="" political="" politicians="" popping="" population="" possible="" potential="" potentially="" predominantly="" preoccupied="" presentation="" presented="" president......and="" presidential="" previous="" previously="" probably="" produced="" professionals="" program="" programs="" prolongs="" promoted="" pushing="" q="" quinn="" quits="" race="" raises="" rarely="" rate="" rates="" rationale="" real="" reality="" really="" reason="" receive="" receiving="" recent="" recently="" reception="" recommends="" recover="" red="" rely="" renewal="" repeatedly="" representative="" represents="" republican="" requests="" required--so="" requisite="" research="" residential="" residents.="" residents="" resulting="" return="" review="" rezoned:="" rezoning.="" rezoning="" rock="" roger="" role="" routinely="" rule:="" run-out.="" s="" said="" salary="" same="" say="" says="" scenario="" see="" segment="" senate="" sense="" series="" service="" session.="" she="" shock="" should="" shrinking="" significant="" similar="" since="" skewing="" slightest="" so-called="" so="" society="" some="" something="" somewhat="" somewhere.="" speaker="" sponsored="" spread="" standards="" still="" story="" street="" stuck="" studies="" study="" subsidy="" summarily="" superficial.="" support="" supposed="" surprising="" surreal.="" surrounding="" t="" table="" take="" taken="" takes="" targeting="" tax="" tells="" tenant.net="" tenant="" tends="" tenements--and="" than="" that="" the="" their="" them="" then="" there="" these="" they="" things="" think="" thinking="" this="" thoughout="" through="" throughout="" throw="" thus="" time="" to="" tom="" tools="" towers--which="" trading="" trojan="" trough.="" trujillo="" trump--as="" truth...so="" ultimately="" underlying="" uniform="" unite="" units--which="" units.="" units="" unlike="" unlikely--it="" untold="" up="" update="" upstate="" upzoning="" urban="" us="" used="" useful="" value="" ve="" version="" very="" vet="" violation="" viverito="" wages="" was="" waters="" we="" well="" were="" wh="" what="" whatever="" when="" where="" which="" while="" who="" whole="" whomever="" why="" will="" williamsburg="" win="" wish="" with="" wont="" work="" worked="" working="" worse....though="" worse.="" worth="" writer.="" year.="" year="" years="" you="" your="" zoning=""><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Journalist and activist Josmar Trujillo and <i>El Barrio Unite</i> organizer Roger Hernandez Jr. give an<span style="color: #ea9999;"> u</span></span><a href="https://archive.org/details/JosmarTrujilloRogerHernandezSeg12816" style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">pdate on community opposition</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> to de Blasio's East Harlem rezoning. A November meeting/presentation sponsored by the city's Department of City Planning (DCP) didn't work out exactly as the city expected. "Instead, they got a very contentious reception from residents," Trujillo said, where the "underlying message [was/is] a big fat 'no' from El Barrio to the city and to the larger plans of the mayor to ultimately gentrify and displace an untold number of residents."</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Both describe the major changes that have taken place since Mayor Bloomberg's 2003 rezoning, which permitted 10-12 story buildings in a community of low-rise 5-6 story tenements--and how it's already affected the neighborhood and its culture. That includes a major drop in the population with the number of Hispanics down 9%, and African-Americans dropping 11%, meaning 20% already displaced just in a little more than a decade. The initial rezoning brought in 17K units, mostly inhabited by higher-income earners, and skewed the area median income (AMI.)</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is tremendous concern over the consequences of de Blasio's 30-story towers--predominantly unaffordable to area residents--based on what has already transpired since the previous, more modest rezoning.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They also discuss the astroturf group(s) created by NY City Council Speaker, Melissa Mark Viverito, who also represents the area. These are organizations--some of whom are legitimate, but some are not--created to give the appearance of community support when in reality "less than 1%... was involved in crafting the Speaker's alternate plan," which is very similar to the city's with a few more concessions. "It allows for and takes as inevitable a massive rezoning that will change the neighborhood and ultimately displace people," Trujillo explains.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Co-opting non-profits isn't a new phenomenon but it was perfected by former Speaker Christine Quinn to give cover on giveaway after giveaway to the city's real estate industry.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Prior to the Speaker's "community alternative," <a href="https://www.indypendent.org/2016/03/29/speaker%E2%80%99s-constituents-denounce-council%E2%80%99s-luxury-housing-vote-east-harlem"><span style="color: #ea9999;">East Harlem residents created their own plan over the course of a year. </span></a>The city has ignored them.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hernandez tells how when the Speaker's so-called alternate plan was being crafted, groups like his were excluded, as were many organizations with legitimate grass-roots credentials. That appeared especially the case for those who didn't receive funding from a politician and/or were already outspoken about what's been going on in East Harlem, he observed.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>*****</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Government affairs consultant and longtime activist, <a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShowPhilDePaloSeg1114161"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Phil DePaolo, talks about </span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShowPhilDePaloSeg1114161"><span style="color: #ea9999;">the book,</span></a><span style="color: #f4cccc;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShowPhilDePaloSeg1114161"> </a></span><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShowPhilDePaloSeg1114161"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Rezoned: Race, Displacement, and Zoning in NYC</span></a>, </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">which examines the role zoning has played during the administration of de Blasio and Bloomberg, "b</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ecause of the disproportionate effect ...on communities of color in NYC." </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Their research found "affordable" housing (AH) created through programs like IZ "are really a Trojan horse designed to convince communities to accept zoning that creates up to 80% market rate housing and that's what causes displacement of longtime residents and businesses," DePaolo explains. IZ can cause significant losses in affordable units because once there's a luxury upzoning, "the surrounding areas become absorbed." </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not unlike in the previous segment about East Harlem, DePaolo details his own similar experience with non-profits who have been bought by elected officials, including those dependent on "the Speaker's trough."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These groups are supposed to be representative of the community as a whole "but we found that's not really the truth...so they come out with this plan that was based on a so-called community plan, but its very destructive because of the density promoted [with] no discussion about bringing in 70-80% luxury housing" and its impact. </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ed: Notice the pattern here, a pattern that has repeatedly worked for big real estate and for the politicians for whom they've bought and paid. Throw in their enablers--the media, certain non-profits, even some tenant organizations--and you can clearly see why we are where we are.</span></i></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In addition to the inevitable displacement, DePaolo describes how such tax abatements deleteriously effect both the tax base and the city's ability to expand the necessary infrastructure to accompany the incursion of people coming into a given neighborhood once rezoning occurs.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Authored and compiled by academics and urban planning and policy professionals, <u>Zoned Out</u> evolved over the course of a year because they saw a glaring lack of useful tools available for communities to effectively fight back, DePaolo said.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The book is based on a series of recent case studies like what happened in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and the 125th Street Harlem rezoning, good examples of what DePaolo calls DCP's "piece meal" myopia--<span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2016/08/updated-part-1-rebny-thing-that-ate-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">a complaint echoed throughout NYC communities, and a reason why DCP has been accused of being a facilitating agent for developers not a planning agency. </span></a> </span><span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Key recommendations include calling for a return to community-based planning and enforceable plans, something residents in both Chinatown/LES and East Harlem attempted to do but were summarily dismissed by the city. </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">DePaolo explains according to the city's charter, community input is supposed to be considered when a rezoning is on the table--but it's not required, so neighborhood demands and concerns are routinely ignored. Furthermore, because the city tends to rely on the same company for the requisite <i>Environmental Impact Study</i>, their analysis tend to be somewhat generic and superficial.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The disparate impact on minority communities caused by zoning could be a violation of the federal <i>Fair Housing Act,</i> DePaolo maintains. And it's something even former President Obama acknowledged. The outgoing-administration issued a handbook in which it describes how development is rarely uniform. Not </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">spreading development more equally to include affluent ar</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">eas is becoming an increasing</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> problem because it now almost exclusively affects low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/images/Housing_Development_Toolkit%20f.2.pdf"><span style="color: #ea9999;">passages</span></a> best summarize everything:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>When new housing development is limited region-wide, and particularly precluded in neighborhoods with political capital to implement even stricter local barriers, any new development tends to be [disproportionately] concentrated in low-income communities of color, <b>causing displacement and concerns of gentrification in those neighborhoods, raising market rents within neighborhoods </b>experiencing rapid changes while failing to reduce housing cost growth region-wide. As rents rise region-wide in response to insufficient housing supply, this displacement is exacerbated. </i></span><br />
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</i></span> <span style="color: #bf9000; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Lowered region-wide barriers to new housing development would lead to more equitable distribution, allowing neighborhoods to retain character and resources as they evolve, while facilitating effective affordable housing preservation options by preventing excessively rapid change that generates displacement and dislocation.</i></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">To be sure, there are portions in this report with which I have major disagreements--there are times it seems like it was written by REBNY and its lackeys. Still, it's an important acknowledgement, one DePaolo says he's not seen before.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>*****</b></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A recent article ran in an outlet for whom I have written for more than a decade, after my initial posting about the impact of programs like 421a and IZ. </span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">A number of <i>EAP </i>readers raised the question of timing, but given the obvious amount of work that went into the aforementioned piece, there's no doubt in my mind it's purely coincidental.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Having said that, I do have some problems with the article--written by a talented and diligent journalist. For one, the comparison to other cities is like comparing apples to oranges because we have a highly successful system of rent regulations so the equations aren't equal from the outset. (Credit to the fact this was one of the few articles dealing with NYC land use I'd seen in a long while that didn't blame such regulations for all the city's affordable housing woes.)</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I also have a real problem with any article focusing on the impact of the mayor's housing plans which relies on </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">an entity that has done little but legitimize those policies (and previous similar ones)--<i>NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. </i></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This would be the same <i>Furman Center</i> that is the once and future home of de Blasio's outgoing Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) commissioner--Vicky Been. To me, that automatically undermines any credibility it could </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">possibly have. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And by the way,</span><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="color: #ea9999;">I reported 2+ years ago Been wasn't working out all that well</span></a></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> because of her lack of practical experience--that she was in way over her head.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Plus, Been's return <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">further ties the administration to NYU</span></a>--a concern for many since the <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/02/16/de-blasios-nyu-appointments-may-influence-expansion-approval/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">beginning </span></a>of de Blasio's term. Remember, the-then public advocate and future mayor supported NYU's controversial expansion plans.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next, the fact that Been's replacement is a former NYC Economic Development Corporation (EDC) official who became de Blasio's commissioner of Small Business Services (SBS) agency, then left SBS to return to EDC as its CEO and president raises SO many more issues, and she's not mentioned. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most significantly, EDC has never ever been sympathetic to either preserving the city's long-standing small businesses or towards existing affordable housing stock. EDC traditionally loves mega-projects which usually push out both. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead, the well-connected brain trust of insulated elites (or as I like to call them, that cluster fuck of entitlement) would rather spur creation of minute amounts of vaguely affordable units, especially if it means a private developer can make a lot of money in the process. It's hardly a stretch to say there are few who work at EDC or sit on its <a href="https://www.nycedc.com/about-nycedc/board-directors"><span style="color: #ea9999;">board</span></a> who understand or care about real New Yorkers and the struggle to exist in a city which no longer even pretends to want them anymore. And it's precisely the kind of 'leaders' at entities like EDC who have created this scenario.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2015/03/last-hope-for-mom-and-pops-in-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">interviewed</span></a> Maria Torres-Springer several years ago upon her SBS appointment--she seems like a lovely woman. But she had no small business experience; similarly, she has no background in affordable housing or any housing at all--a fact omitted in the article.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Granted, the two point people in de Blasio's administration tasked with "affordable" housing also have no such experience. But, one can at least make the case outgoing DCP chair, Carl Weisbrod, and DM Alicia Glen have tangential experience in real estate per se, and its financing. (Personally, I don't buy it, and there are very specific reasons why the mayor picked these two people and not anyone from the pretty generous pool of candidates in the city and state who did and do.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But to run not one but two city agencies without any direct background in either except that amorphous government experience at EDC, well, that's something.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Look at last month's <a href="https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/mayor-de-blasio-appoints-maria-torress-springer-next-commissioner-departments-ousing"><span style="color: #ea9999;">EDC press release</span></a> announcing Torres-Springer's move to HPD:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>MTS comes to HPD with deep experience securing affordable housing and working directly with communities on holistic neighborhood planning. As president of EDC, and before that as the Mayor's SBS commissioner, Torres-Springer has created and advanced transformational projects, including the re-imagining of Spofford, a former juvenile detention center in the Bronx as a hub for the arts and affordable housing. She has been the administration's leader in developing the Downtown Far Rockaway Neighborhood Plan, which included $90 million in neighborhood investments and affordable housing to serve both the lowest-income New Yorkers and those in the middle class. Torres-Springer will build on Been's legacy of protecting neighborhoods and developing record numbers of securely-financed affordable homes in increasingly challenging economic times.</i></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, do the math: MTS became SBS commissioner in January, 2014. She returned to EDC in July, 2015. She was named HPD commissioner in January, 2017. That's about one and a half years at each, but you wouldn't know how short the time frame was based on the release! She's apparently accomplished virtual Robert Moses-level achievements, and he served in government for some 40 years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Next, parse the wording in the release: without trying to sound harsh, it seems to me she was little more then a gopher for the administration. Furthermore, affordable for whom, the perennial question? Just because housing to serve "the lowest income" is mentioned, it doesn't make it so. Based on both the administration's and EDC's track records so far, I'm inclined to believe someone included this reference for lip service.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, they have the chutzpah to tout Vicky Been's "legacy of protecting neighborhoods?" This from an agency who still has difficulty recognizing landlord harassment and enforcing existing laws? I'm sure the residents in all of the de Blasio targeted neighborhoods for rezoning will have a great laugh at that one, while landlords continue to systematically target any and every regulated tenant using any methods necessary. After all, the chances of getting caught and then punished are minuscule, and whatever fines landlords have to pay if they do get caught are less than the cost of doing business ie harassing tenants. As has been the case since the days of Rudy, it continues to be a win-win for landlords.</span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-55580956163249416152017-01-06T15:16:00.000-05:002018-05-30T16:08:38.043-04:00421a & IZ: It's All About the Impact, Stupid! Pt 1<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like many others, the election results really affected me and I don't think I realized how depressed I was and remain. Nonetheless, the sausage machine known as NYC government continues to churn unabated, as the real estate industry and REBNY grow in power and control over public policy.<b> </b></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are several segments I recently produced for WBAI's <i>The Morning Show</i> dealing with the most critical issues of our time as New Yorkers: land use, development and gentrification. But even in their commonalities, there's one theme that keeps recurring, a theme widely ignored by pretty much everyone: the effect of, and impact on, communities unlucky enough to be targeted by the city or really, by developers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why do you suppose that is?</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">NY State Senator<span style="color: #ea9999;"> <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/LizKruegerInt122216"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Liz Krueger</span></a> </span></span>discusses her OPED describing the 'charade' of the emergency session that had been pending, calling it a disservice to the voters and bad public policy. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"After 15 years in Albany, I have a rule: if something is just popping up with no justification for it, and nobody has had a chance to review and vet it, I guarantee you there's poison pills stuck in there somewhere." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, Krueger was deeply concerned there could be even the slightest perception of horse trading, legislative salary raises in exchange for Governor Cuomo's wish list.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While Krueger objected in general to the notion of so many complex matters potentially being decided in only one day--with little time to review or analyze any legislation--it's the </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">possible renewal of developer subsidy program 421a the governor is pushing that was probably the real rationale for the session. It's a "fundamentally flawed program" where upstate legislators with no connection to the city--so there's no blow-back to them personally--do whatever big real estate demands because of its large coffers, Krueger explains.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She asks how a program potentially costing city tax payers more than $2 billion but only generating--at best--$150 million worth of affordable housing considered acceptable or even efficient? </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Krueger blames the city's "overheated real estate market further exacerbated by exemptions and abatements which are now being used disproportionately in neighborhoods of color. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These areas "desperately" need to keep their existing affordable units, but </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">residents are being pushed out for the newer construction, which isn't necessarily for the people who actually live or need the housing in the neighborhood. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"You can a</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ctually displace people in older, affordable units with these new buildings, that actua</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">lly ma</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ybe do have a percentage of affordable a</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">partments,</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">but there's a net loss of affordable units," Krueger explains. And, this is precisely what is occurring.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tenant.net's John Fisher and Tom Waters, housing policy analyst for the Community Service Society, <a href="https://archive.org/details/JohnFisherAndTomWatersSeg121161"><span style="color: #ea9999;">focus on this potential 421a revival</span></a>, which expired earlier this year. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Waters describes the program as little value for an enormous cost, criticizing Gov. Cuomo's revised version because it prolongs developer exemptions. That means a further shrinking of the city's tax base. With no phase-outs included as had previously existed, Waters believes NYC housing will be shaped--and interfered with--for the next 35 years (the proposed amount of time for the new exemptions) when they finally run out. "We'll all still be be paying for de Blasio's housing policy," because of this increased cost, which will leave a "huge budget hole" for whomever is mayor.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For Fisher, the lack of concern over the impact of 421a and similar programs like Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) is most galling--especially within the </span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">media and from tenant organizations. He believes the press allows itself to be preoccupied by the red herring presented by real estate interests and their self-serving narrative--that the fight over 421a is about wages--while ignoring what actually happens when these programs are implemented. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's not surprising countless elected officials choose to ignore the ramifications---because they receive so much real estate money. Fisher believes because 421a in particular is so lucrative for developers, it fosters </span></span>"incentive to create huge luxury buildings," regardless of demand, cost, aesthetics, or effect on a crumbling and insufficient infrastructure--it's singularly about making money.</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's already a history of massive commercial and residential displacement, and higher eviction rates because of this kind of "affordable" housing---which targets middle-income earners, not the people who need it most. Even in the highly unlikely, best-case scenario, Fisher explains, where 50% of units are ''affordable'--that still mean the remaining 50% are market or luxury. Once introduced into a community, "there's a whole line of consequences, "including an influx of higher-income earners which automatically changes the demographics of the area.</span></span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is little i can say to adequately express the dismay, shock and horror i feel by the debacle of the presidential election--and I'm a writer. There is so much blame to go around--including I believe the hubris of the Clinton campaign and the Democratic Party. I was receiving multiple fundraising letters/emails a day exclaiming how '<i>We could win it all,</i>' and I kept thinking, <i>'Why are you being so greedy? Focus on winning the White House and the damned Senate back!'</i> especially given the odds of winning the House because of Republican gerrymandering.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;">I also think we all underestimated the depth of misogyny in this country and the alive-and-well double standards applied to female political candidates. But mostly, I feel a deep sense of embarrassment and disappointment caused by my fellow journalists, particularly in the mainstream media. They and their corporate overlords did this country an enormous disservice in how and what they covered.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;">Finally, I keep going back to this analogy: They say that an addict can only begin to recover after hitting rock bottom. Well, America is clearly the addict and let's hope to whomever or whatever (or nothing) that we've hit that point--because i can't imagine it getting much worse....though it always can. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">What happens if Donald Trump--as many of us expect--gets bored, or doesn't like working so hard, or decides he's not making enough money, and quits? Then Mike Pence becomes president......and then things really will get worse. Surreal.</span></span></span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-23569706816335194762016-09-02T16:00:00.000-04:002018-05-30T16:09:22.811-04:00UPDATED Part #1: REBNY: The Thing That Ate NYC<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>UPDATE #3: How on earth did i neglect to include former DCP chairs Joe Rose and Amanda Burden, along with many DCP commissioners to my </i><u>Dishonorable Hall of Shame</u><i> List?</i></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>I also omitted NYU, Cooper Union, Columbia University and Pratt for their voracious and insatiable appetites to be landowners, no matter the cost--usually to contiguous neighborhoods, but also to the actual students who are extorted for an education when education is no longer the priority for these institutions?</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Finally, there's a long list and history of community board members across the city who have done the bidding for developers, real estate organizations, electeds etc....often while giving political cover to representatives working against their constituents own interests. Furthermore, many have conflicts of interest which at the very least should force them to be recused from crucial land use decisions. Personally, I think they should be permanently prohibited from serving.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">UPDATE #2: </span></span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">WBAI Morning Show interview with <a href="https://archive.org/details/AndrewBermanGVSHP82516"><span style="color: #ea9999;">GVSHP's executive director</span></a> about both the city's redevelopment project at St. John's Terminal and the situation with the endangered tenements.</span></span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">-----</span></span></span></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There is r</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ecent n</span><span style="font-family: "ariel" "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">ews the city and Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) <a href="http://therealdeal.com/2016/08/09/city-ignored-request-to-save-east-village-buildings-from-demolition-by-lightstone/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">ignor</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://therealdeal.com/2016/08/09/city-ignored-request-to-save-east-village-buildings-from-demolition-by-lightstone/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">ed</span></a><span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">community and preservationist pleas to save five beaux arts EV tenement buildings <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://patch.com/new-york/east-village/stretch-11th-st-set-be-millennialy-hotel"><span style="color: #ea9999;">eligible</span></a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">for landmarking, to allow a 'hipster' hotel </span></span></span></i><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">to be constructed in their place.</i></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">According to the <a href="http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/east_village/ev-08-09-16.htm"><span style="color: #ea9999;">GVSHP</span></a>, LPC not only failed to act; they never even responded to the request! Wow--deja vu to the days of Rudy Giuliani, when this kind of (in)action was the rule, not the exception...and the city lost some real treasures, like the Cottage apartments on the Upper East Side, or the Palladium nightclub (originally the Academy of Music). To add insult to injury, after NYU demolished that storied music venue for a dorm, they had the poor taste to name it 'The Palladium dorm.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I guess the whole BDB-preserving-existing-affordable-housing is unfortunately exactly what we expected: a sham. People were living in these buildings until very recently.</span></span></span></i><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But it's not enough to lose quality affordable housing, is it? We are also losing interesting specimens from eras when architects took pride in their work, deciding to create buildings with aesthetic appeal and detail, NOT more glass shoe boxes designed for suburbanites and yuppies who think perfectly straight floors and shiny new appliances is really living. No unique character for these philistines.......Plus, it's yet another nail in the coffin separating the city's rich history from this generic entity with its disappearing soul.</span></span></i><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, we still mourn a particularly beautiful building once standing on the corner of 7th Street and 2nd Avenue, which was destroyed last year in that gas explosion--just a few blocks from the tenements.</span></span></i><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've said it before, the Las Vegas NY-NY casino is more authentic than is this facsimile to which we now refer as NYC.</span></span></i><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, I've decided to create the '<u>Dishonorable </u></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><u>Hall of Shame</u>,' an ever-growing list of people who have been active or complicit in the destruction of our beloved home: </span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Governors Pataki, Andrew Cuomo; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mayors Giuliani, Bloomberg, de Blasio; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Council Speakers Peter Vallone, Gifford Miller, Christine Quinn, Melissa Mark Viverito; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">State Senate Republicans; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">State Senate Democrats because when they finally won a majority, they made Pedro Espada chair of the housing committee; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Deputy Mayors Dan Doctoroff, Alicia Glen; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Borough Presidents C. Virginia Fields, Scott Stringer, Marty Markowitz, Eric Adams, Ruben Diaz Jr.;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Too many City Council Members to list;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The NYS Economic Development Council, NYC Economic Development Corporation (and their various offshoots;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">REBNY; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Rent Stabilization Association; </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Business Improvement Districts;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Downtown Alliance;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Association for a Better NY;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">T</span></i></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">here is no point in adding individual developers because, like dogs eating their own feces, its in their genetic makeup: they are going to do what they've been doing so long as the city and state keep enabling them. (Apologies to dogs...)</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />
</span></i></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Furthermore,</span></i></span></span><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> there are some who are straddling the fence like Gale Brewer--whom I have know for two decades and greatly respect--but who was the only sitting Borough President to support Mayor de Blasio's <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2015/02/a-tale-of-one-city-pt-1.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">MIZ plan</span></a>. It has also been pointed out to me Brewer has resuscitated a small business "savior" plan dating back to the Koch era, where it was summarily discredited, while also discrediting the 'Small Business Jobs Survival Act'--about which I have <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2015/03/last-hope-for-mom-and-pops-in-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">written </span></a>extensively on Ethics Ain't Pretty as well as in my capacity as <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/government/5155-new-york-city-small-business-crisis-continues"><span style="color: #ea9999;">a journalist. </span></a></span></i></span><br />
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</span></i> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Have additions? Tweet them to @ethicsaintpretty.</span></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">*****</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Real Estate Board of New York's (REBNY) power in the city and state have effectively transformed both over the last 20+ years--and i think many would agree, not for the better. As a true Manhattan native, I can't begin to describe how sick I feel every time I don't recognize my</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> city </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">anymore. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">When I see certain skyline views now, I wonder is that NYC or is it Baltimore or Philadelphia or Toronto or Vancouver or even Hong Kong? </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One very real way this has manifested has been how quickly, almost pathologically,<b> </b>we as a city--lead by our municipal government--have allowed our history to be sacrificed to the wrecking ball so a developer can erect yet another out-of-scale shoebox to compensate for any personal shortcomings.<b> </b></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Build as high as you can, shut out all light and air, tax an already overburdened infrastructure, compromise the very neighborhoods you are trying to exploit so the things making these areas so appealing can no longer exist. Maybe throw in a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">pittance of 'affordable' units (off-site if you're really lucky)<b> </b>and even better, get a tax bonus. Wow, getting subsidized to make money!</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was watching the classic film, <i>An American In Paris,</i> the other day which opens with wide shots of different monuments, including the Place de la Concorde. I haven't been to Paris in a while, but I think it's pretty safe to guess it still looks the same as it did when I was last there, and as it did in that 1951 movie. Incredibly, there are actually <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.newsweek.com/will-skyscrapers-ruin-paris-356206"><span style="color: #ea9999;">height limit</span></a>s</span> in that city; the Eiffel Tower <a href="http://parispropertygroup.com/blog/2015/rise-paris-city-center-skyscrapers/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">remains</span></a> the tallest building within Paris proper.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This got me to thinking about when I lived in London in the 1980s, working on an internship in the House of Commons. Despite the massive gentrification and their own desperate need for affordable housing, many of London's historic sights remain relatively unscathed, places like Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">According to the National Capital Planning Commission's <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://www.ncpc.gov/heightstudy/docs/Case_Study_Research.pdf"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Height Master Pla</span></a>n:</span><span style="color: yellow;"> </span></span><span style="color: yellow; white-space: pre-wrap;">London’s height regulation approach is primarily comprised of protected view corridors between specific vantage points and priority landmarks.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The website for the Mayor of London's office devotes an entire page to 'Heritage Assets and Archeology," disclosing how policy and planning decisions are made </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and why regarding its 'landscape heritage:' </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 1.2; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="https://www.london.gov.uk/file/436052/download?token=ps09fQv5" style="line-height: 1.2; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Spatial distribution of designated heritage assets</span></a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Crucial to the preservation of this character is the careful protection and adaptive re-use of heritage buildings and their settings... make a significant contribution to local character and should be protected from inappropriate development that is not sympathetic in terms of scale, materials, details and form. Development that affects the setting of heritage assets should be of the highest quality of architecture and design...</span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, many prominent cities across the globe have some form of regulation protecting their history<b>, </b>including landmarks and even views. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, then there's New York.<b> </b></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can you imagine what NYC would be like had the preservation of OUR past been a significant priority? Can you imagine REBNY ever permitting this?</span></span><br />
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</b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The news that Extel plans to demolish 10 buildings in the<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">diamond district</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span><span style="color: white;">is </span><span style="color: white;">just</span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> </span>the lat</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">est in a long line<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"> of blows.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.spacesmith.com/blog/the-disappearing-districts-of-new-york"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Industries</span></a> and other distinct areas are disappearing; </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">t</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">here is little of the garment and flower districts, for example. No more meat packing, no more printing... </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">We're losing--or have already lost--everything about NYC that has ever given it character, including some of the</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> less formal 'landmarks' like Indian Row on East 6th Street.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are longstanding criticisms of city government--especially against the Department of City Planning (DCP)--accusing both of not actually PLANNING on a broad scale. Moreover, DCP is now perceived as an instrument facilitating developers, often at the expense of local neighborhoods. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tom Agnotti, Urban Affairs and Planning professor at Hunter College (full disclosure: my alma mater) <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/development/555-charting-a-better-way-for-planning-and-community-boards"><span style="color: #ea9999;">wrote this in 2010</span></a>: </span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;">New York City does little real planning... [DCP]</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;"> the agency entrusted with planning in the charter, is</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span><span style="color: yellow;">fixated</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> on ad hoc localized zoning instead of planning. Zoning regula</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;">tes the built environment but doesn’t deal with most of the complex issues that New Yorkers care about. It regulates new development but does little to address most quality-of-life issues or solve serious problems in our neighborhoods. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;">Mind you, he wrote this well before before Mayor de Blasio's affordable housing and rezoning plans were introduced. </span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;">Further:<i> </i></span></span><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;"><span style="background-color: black;">And there is an inherent conflict of interest with the city planning department charged with both pushing for zoning changes and with providing information and support to communities that might want to question those changes...</span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;"><i style="font-weight: bold;">While citywide planning occurs in New York, it is piecemeal and not connected to community-based planning. </i>(Author's emphasis.)</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Understanding what Agnotti wrote is critical because it similarly explains NYC's approach to preservation; in fact, there is little official guidance about the importance of integrating NYs</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> legacy, as a general rule</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. There is virtually no relevant information on the DCP website </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">or on</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> the Mayor's home page.</span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><br />
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</span></b> <span id="docs-internal-guid-f035da10-3d56-b307-744c-edc4722726ce"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“The</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> purpose of safeguarding the buildings, and places that represent NYC's cultural, social, economic, political and architectural history,” </span></span></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">according to the website for the agency tasked with saving city history, the <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/about/history.shtml"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Landmarks Preservation Commission</span></a> (LPC),<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: white;">the VERY FIRST reason is to, “stabilize and improve property values.”</span></span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I did see, however, these gems on DCP's site:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Promote neighborhood economic development;</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">By creating conditions which benefit<b> </b>chain stores while pushing out mom and pop small businesses?</span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">*Work with neighborhoods and government agencies to develop sound ground-up frameworks for growth that align strategic planning priorities with individual </span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">community needs.<i> </i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let's ask the residents of neighborhoods like </span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;">East Harlem, Chinatown or the Bronx's Jerome Avenue Corridor to ask how serious DCP has been about that second point.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.2; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: large;">The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission is notoriously </span><span style="background-color: transparent;">overburdened and underfunded, and frankly, hasn't done its job properly for two decades. Don't forget, the current </span><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">LPC chair</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent;"> has no preservation experience. Even worse, she hea</span><span style="background-color: transparent;">ded the city's Board of Standards and Appeal (BSA), that mayoral-controlled nebulous entity responsible for some of the more glaring travesties because it grants waivers to developers to circumvent existing rules. </span></span></span></span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yes, we have landmarked buildings and some historic districts. But the process is rife with politics, reactive instead of proactive, and piecemeal in scale, similar to what Agnotti wrote when describing DCP. Just look at the number of historically or architecturally significant buildings--particularly those located near such districts--LPC refuses to landmark, or that have already been destroyed. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: yellow; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">New Yorkers for a Human Scale city included this summation in Round-Up #17<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;"> by</span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 24px;"> architect and urbanist John </span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; line-height: 24px;">Massengale </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">to explain how things work (or don't)</span><span style="color: yellow;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">:</span><span style="line-height: 24px;"> </span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: yelloe;">The New York City Planning Commission... process is reactive and personal, dependent upon who is serving as Commissioner and what influences have been brought to bear on the Commissioner’s boss, the Mayor...</span></span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px;"><span style="color: yellow;"> [LPC] has input on work in historic districts and on designated landmarks, but that is again done through negotiation and according to the personal preferences of the 11 Commissioners, who are appointed by the Mayor. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The history of mayoral interference, particularly on behalf of developers, is well-known. Now, pro-development City Council Members--one of whom chairs the Land Use committee in a fox-protecting-the-hen-house kind of situation-- have been trying to chip away at the little baseline protections we have. They got their way. Despite heavy opposition from community and preservation groups, Mayor de Blasio signed the bill on June 30th, 2016. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And don't get me started on the whole state vs city landmarking status, that has permitted developers to build within the city as they like in areas like the Lower East Side because state protections are less stringent than the city's--and offer less protection to its historic districts.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: largw;">The following WBAI segment is a discussion with the <a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShow62316MGHAmp2"><span style="color: #ea9999;">president of the New York Landmarks Conservancy</span></a> about a recent report they commissioned debunking many of the lies and myths REBNY has propagated so successfully about landmarking. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because of this success, REBNY--with a lot of help from countless elected officials--have created an environment where nothing is considered sacred anymore. </span></span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The report unequivocally shows landmarking and preservation is beneficial for the local economy--despite the REBNY narrative about stunting growth. Other REBNY lies were proven false as well like only affluent whites in Manhattan want to preserve the city's heritage. Or</span> that instead of being an impediment to creating affordable units, the creation of historic districts actually protects older housing stock, which is where many critical rent-regulated apartments are located. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">*****</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is my latest article: <a href="http://citylimits.org/2016/06/21/barriers-to-disabled-seen-at-citys-courts/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Council Eyes Barriers to Court Access for New Yorkers with Disabilities</span></a></span><br />
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</span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-81594249892334684052016-08-19T16:00:00.000-04:002016-08-28T14:57:32.719-04:00UPDATE: David Cay Johnston on Trump; Bloomberg a Consistent Hypocrite...<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Update: This is an interview I produced with the great investigative journalist, <a href="https://archive.org/details/DavidCayJohnstonSeg82216MGHAJ"><span style="color: #ea9999;">David Cay Johnston,</span></a> discussing his new book, <u>The Making of Donald Trump.</u></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Also, if you didn't already know, Michael <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/capitolinq/Mike-Bloomberg-endorses-Pat-Toomey-in-Pennsylvania-Senate-race.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Bloomberg's PAC's recently endorsed incumbent PA senator, Pat Toomey</span></a>--you know, the poster child for Grover Norquist's little fiefdom, the Club for Growth (CFG).</i></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Why on earth would someone so "reasonable" and "moderate" as Bloomberg back an individual who--except for his support of expanding background checks </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">for gun purchasers--has a belief system antithetical to the interests of NYC? </span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Toomey is widely know to be a Koch brothers flunky, completely anti-regulations that will do anything to hamper business interests--regardless of how those interests affect our air, water, environment, food, safety etc. In fact, the CFG website touts Toomey's, "advocacy for economic freedom" while "consistently standing up to big-government liberals in both parties." (WTF?) </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Furthermore, Toomey has a "murky" record on the whole-terrorists-being-permitted-to-by-guns matter, according to <a href="http://www.politifact.com/pennsylvania/statements/2016/aug/15/independence-usa-pac/did-pat-toomey-cross-party-lines-tighten-gun-laws-/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">PolitifactPennsylvania</span></a>. So much so they deemed Bloomberg's ad about Toomey crossing party lines, "misleading at its core...and rate the claim mostly false." Toomey even boasted of his <a href="http://www.padems.com/2016/08/perfect-track-record-nra-pat-toomey-boasted-less-two-weeks-ago/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">100% NRA rating</span></a></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>So, what's the deal Mr. Mayor? </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Well, anyone in NYC can tell you at length about Bloomberg's history of donating thousands of dollars to keep the state senate in the hands of the GOP. This, even though the Republican-controlled senate has consistently worked against the city on array of issues--from housing to home rule to LGBTQ rights and gun control measures, etc. Bloomberg's baby, right?</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>This Toomey endorsement simply underscores what a fraud Michael Bloomberg is, was, and remains. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Unfortunately, there are rumors already circulating Bloomberg is considering another run for mayor---apparently three terms was insufficient for his ego (not to mention the fact that third term was borderline illegal, and definitely unethical.) But he smells blood in the water--like many other potential 2017 mayoral candidates--because of the growing vulnerabilities (predominantly self-imposed) of Bill de Blasio. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>New York barely survived two terms of Rudy--who graciously offered to remain in office after 9/11--and was resoundingly rejected across the city. It did not withstand three terms of Bloomberg. Even a single de Blasio term is turning out to be disastrous..... Being an atheist, I'm not really one to invoke any kind of deity, but GOD HELP US if he runs, and wins. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, about the presidential race...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Word of former Mayor Bloomberg's endorsement of Hillary Clinton and speech at the DNC convention has been in the ether all week, along with an </span><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/25/us/politics/michael-bloomberg-hillary-clinton-dnc.html?partner=msft_msn&_r=0&mtrref=undefined&gwh=C231848BDC40FCD962023240968D6CFA&gwt=pay"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article</span></a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">in the NYT. (I'm astounded the article, which quotes Bloomberg 'senior advisor,' Howard Wolfson, never mentions Wolfsen served as communications director on previous H. Clinton campaigns. That doesn't seem like a minor detail to me.)</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;">Anyone who knows anything about New York politics can't possibly be surprised. What is surprising is how the article discusses Bloomberg's apparent 'dismay' about the Trump candidacy. You may recall earlier this year, Bloomberg hinted at his own potential run because of similar feelings when VT Sen. Bernie Sanders was gaining momentum in the Democratic primaries.</span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;">Putting aside the obvious false equivalent Bloomberg and others have made about Trump and Sanders--as if a self-aggrandizing, self-absorbed opportunistic blowhard ridiculously unqualified for any elected office </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">could ever be compared to a sitting U.S. senator and former mayor who has spent his long public service career trying to help others.</span><b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This minimizes Sanders, and with good reason: people like Michael Bloomberg are terrified of Sanders and what he represents: change.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you read between the lines, this is really about Bloomberg's inability to tolerate any group not part of the status quo or establishment; no revelation<b> </b>there, given how the man governed. Bloomberg was the quintessential elitist--not out of a superiority complex or from the safety of generations of inbred privilege--but because he has been so wealthy for so long, he clearly has no inclination or empathy for the majority of NYers, the non-one percenters. Bloomberg was, and remains, entirely out of touch.</span></span><br />
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</span></b></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bloomberg's speech Wednesday night was fine, essentially what was to be expected. He did, I think, appear to relish, insulting and mocking the Donald, belittling Trump's </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">"success" as a businessman. Which makes the reality even odder.....</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;">Putting aside also the absolute myth Trump is somehow not part of this status quo, Michael Bloomberg actually helped create the delusional bubble in which Trump resides. The most notorious example was the <span style="color: black;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Trump </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: black;"><span style="color: white;">"hotel" in</span></span> </span><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://gvshp.org/blog/2013/04/29/citys-own-data-contradicts-their-claims-on-trump-sohos-legality-pt-ii/" style="color: #ea9999;">SOHO</a>, </span>which went into <a href="http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/trump/trump-09-22-14.htm"><span style="color: #ea9999;">foreclosure</span></a> in 2014.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With support from former Council Speaker Christine Quinn and now-Comptroller Scott Stringer, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bloomberg and the others were accomplices by</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> allowing Trump to flagrantly flout existing zoning codes (and then brag about it.) </span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The list of </span><a href="http://gvshp.org/blog/2015/07/15/donald-trumps-illustrious-record-of-offenses/" style="color: #ea9999; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">examples where Bloomberg's people</a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> enabled Trump, or ignored their duties like enforcement, is pretty astonishing. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In other words, Bloomberg directly fed into Trump's entitled view of himself, which clearly extends to his smarmy children......</span></span></span><br />
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</b></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Remember when daddy Trump bought Ivanka's modelling "career" in the 80s, and then he and his PR machine tried to sell the public she was some kind of super model? The main difference here is apparently we </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">were </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">collectively smarter 30 years ago, not so easily fooled and manipulated. </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then again, we bought <i>It's Morning In America</i>, all while the federal government willfully ignored the burgeoning AIDS epidemic...And ketchup was a vegetable... And the president's inner circle funded and trained Central American death squads and tried to overthrow a democratically-elected government by trafficking crack in the US, and arms to Iran just a few years after our hostages were released in 1981. </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Never mind.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I know many progressives have been initially disappointed by Hillary Clinton's choice for vice president, myself included. Whether or not</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> VA Sen. Tim Kaine is liberal enough, or has too many ties to the oil industry, will be debated for a long while<b>. </b></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regardless, one thing I don't really understand in much of the post-announcement analysis has been the preoccupation with the fact that Kaine is a pro-choice Catholic. Shock and horror!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Kaine has legitimate bona fides: Planned Parenthood and NARAL have both given him a 100 percent rating. But</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> NEWS FLASH<b>-</b>-this is not a new phenomenon, nor is it mutually exclusive. Our late governor Mario Cuomo's career and his mystique were partially based on his committed opposition to the death penalty and for being consistently pro-choice, despite church doctrine. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What about the current Vice President, Joe Biden? Or the late great MA Sen.Teddy Kennedy? And, notice how Catholic female elected officials--like former MD Senator Barbara Mikulski or House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi--don't seem to provoke the same ire and backlash? Is this just a twisted version of paternalism, or are these women considered too far gone to bother? After all, they're only women, and we women get so emotional about things like control of our bodies........ </span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: large;">The point of being pro-choice is precisely that--being in favor of giving someone the opportunity to determine for (her)self what she consider best for her health and well-being. That's why it's called being pro-choice and not pro-abortion per se, and why the anti-choice movement using the pro-life moniker is so inaccurate. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">(I'm always struck by</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> the double standard when it comes to reproductive freedom and the church versus the death penalty and the church, and the free pass given to Catholic death penalty supporters.)</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Someone pro-choice doesn't have to be pro-abortion, just understand other people may believe differently from him or her, particularly when those beliefs are based on a religious view that is not universal. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">This is a clearly manufactured, contrived issue. But why has it gained any traction, and why has the media permitted it to do so? I'd really like to hear from you. Tweet me @ethicsaintpretty.</span></span></span><br />
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ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-75594836405803091902016-05-11T18:20:00.001-04:002021-11-22T15:21:16.807-05:00BDB, Real Estate & the Great Vampire Squid (credit to Matt Taibbi)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5E9oN9tz1iFxuy2WrFNhAH7McMBpaoFKLA8ENAIBY5F95StEr7up-DhQEEkY7_3EE6CaTgjVuadtc8-XbCYzqIX46nbvEf6TXAN3Y-C7cwZsM8tvr2PfQf_-aIRef3QMVQ93Un90MjGk/s1600/Scum+Cake.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5E9oN9tz1iFxuy2WrFNhAH7McMBpaoFKLA8ENAIBY5F95StEr7up-DhQEEkY7_3EE6CaTgjVuadtc8-XbCYzqIX46nbvEf6TXAN3Y-C7cwZsM8tvr2PfQf_-aIRef3QMVQ93Un90MjGk/s640/Scum+Cake.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Cake from my last birthday; Remember when this was the battle cry against gentrification, especially in the East Village?</span></td></tr>
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With all the scandals now swirling around Mayor de Blasio, I suppose it's easy to<b> </b>focus on possible fundraising improprieties concerning state senate candidates. The press loves simple narratives--in this case standard potential corruption--and given the low attention span or intellectual levels they ascribe to us, they can get away with simultaneously either barely covering or worse--willfully ignoring--the larger, more complex moving parts. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Kudos, then, to DNAinfo for its stellar reporting and follow through.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are currently numerous ongoing </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/follow-de-blasio-money-favors-donors-article-1.2610589" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">investigations</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> into the de Blasio administration, including </span><a href="http://nypost.com/2016/05/09/de-blasio-hit-up-catsimatidis-for-donations-while-he-lobbied-city" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">several based</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> on some variation on a </span><a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/parks-official-face-questions-in-probe-1462493708" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">pay-to-play</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> edict. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is becoming astonishingly clear (and disappointingly so) is the seemingly rampant impropriety, illegality and behavior as if they are above the law. Even </span><a href="https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20160506/civic-center/city-hall-official-got-ok-work-part-time-for-de-blasio-pal-under-probe" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">the appearance</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> of impropriety has not served as a deterrent.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">No matter what anyone tells you, it's abundantly clear the majority of these cases involve big real estate and developers, including the sale of the Brooklyn Heights Library or concerning the sale and deed change of the AIDS hospice on the LES. I have heard speculation from within certain alternative media outlets that the time frame suggests there is the possibility some of these deals were worked out even before the mayor assumed power. More on this later.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But something I think getting lost within the feeding frenzy is the fact the mayor's point person on all things real estate--my former high school friend DM Alicia Glen--is an alumni of one of the world's most venal corporations, <a href="https://ourfuture.org/20160413/wall-streets-fraud-of-the-week-club?utm_source=progressive_breakfast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pbreak"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Goldman Sachs</span></a>, whose track record borders on a <a href="http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-great-american-bubble-machine-20100405"><span style="color: #ea9999;">criminal enterprise</span></a>. Glen was no mere mid-level employee at Goldman, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">she headed its Urban Investment Group. </span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've previously posted <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">my concerns</span></a> about her <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">appointment</span></a>. Already, Glen has been linked to the egregious library sale. Reports of her trying to undo the nursing home sale I believe are only part of the story, and I think further investigation will yield evidence that her office was aware of the deal before even the First Deputy Mayor. After all, she has enormous power in this administration and virtually everything dealing with land use goes through her office.</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My point here is this: Mayor de Blasio made a very specific statement when he hired her, which was not simply to pacify REBNY. Really, what do you think she represents, what message did her appointment send? De Blasio himself may not be corrupt--I simply don't know anymore and he's a far cry from the man with whom I worked on the Dinkins' reelection campaign in 1993--but Glen's association with Goldman--not to mention Giuliani's HPD which was rife with sleaze while managing to also decimate the agency--speaks VOLUMES</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> to the rest of the well-intentioned honest people who comprise the administration. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">For this post, I've highlighted some of the recent WBAI segments I produced focusing on land use, development and the all-consuming power of the real estate industry, in no particular order. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Louis Flores, publisher of online news site Progress Queens, <a href="https://archive.org/details/LouisFlores42816HHCorp"><span style="color: #ea9999;">analyzes the mayor's recent revamping plan for the city's vast public hospital system</span></a>. Included deeply and vaguely within the pages of a city analysis is something we've come to expect from the de Blasio administration: the advocacy of selling public (hospital area) land and repurposing buildings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Community concerns over the recent and near unanimous Council passage of the <a href="https://archive.org/details/AnaAguirreInt42216MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">East New York rezoning</span></a> with Ana Aguirre, executive director of United Community Centers-Eas</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">t NY and member of the Coalition for Community Advancement.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tenant.net's John Fisher and Marina Ortiz of East Harlem Preservation <a href="https://archive.org/details/RAFAMMVSELLOUTONBDBPLANSMOrtizJFisher31816"><span style="color: #ea9999;">discuss the selling out by tenants groups who now support de Blasio's affordable housing plan</span></a>. Specifically, they focus on the Real Affordability for All Coalition (RAFA), and the unique relationship that develops because many of its members depend on funding from elected officials. By switching positions, they provide political cover for those electeds who side with the interests of big real estate over those of their own constituents. Meanwhile, said tenant advocates received nothing concrete in concessions from the city. They also discuss the inherent flaw in the kind of Inclusionary Zoning--mandatory or not--used in NYC, which inevitably leads to the construction of predominantly luxury units. That, in turn, fundamentally changes the dynamic of any given neighborhood, imminent displacement and even a net loss of affordable apartments. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/NormanOdorSegment41416" style="color: #ea9999; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Atlantic Yards Reports' Norman Oder</span> </a><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> elaborates on the array of problems and disruptions for residents living near Brooklyn's publicly-subsidized boondoggle, the Barclay's Center Arena--including sexual harassment and assault. Oder also talks about how the promised jobs have morphed over time, and how the 'affordable' units have become less and less accessible to the people who most need them, while also becoming so expensive as to exceed de Blasio's Inclusionary Zoning guidelines--which are already very generous to high-income households.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/SamuelSteinSeg4716"><span style="color: #ea9999;">CUNY graduate student and <i>New Politics</i> author Samuel Stein talks about how the city has the power to do better </span></a>regarding affordable housing, calling it a 'dangerous game" to link the creation of affordable apartments to luxury unit construction. Focusing on the "imperfect" tool of zoning, Stein believes the city s</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hould have imposed a moratorium before instituting any new rezonings. A</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">s soon as neighborhoods were identified by the AH plan, they became giant ta<b>r</b>gets of speculation and huge creations of wealth for land owners, as evidenced in East NY, he said, and it's no coincidence the city targeted lower income neighborhoods--which can't possibly remain so after the rezonings.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The mayor's plan is actually a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">real estate stimulus plan; Stein explains this is to be expected given the top two de Blasio officials responsible for implementation, City Planning chair Carl Weisbrod and DM Glen. Both have backgrounds rooted in finance and the real estate industry rather than in fields like affordable housing or city planning.</span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now back to the speculation about timing: In an article for Jacobin magazine, Stein <a href="https://www.jacobinmag.com/2016/02/de-blasio-streetcar-brooklyn-queens-gentrification-new-york-city-inequality/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">connects the dots</span></a> about the mayor's proposed trolley route between two boroughs. Stein's research not only revealed most of the same route is already adequately served, there are nine areas considered "subway starved" in comparison, which happen to be located in lower income minority neighborhoods. More significantly, the route matches up with many development projects sponsored by developers who happen to be supporters.</span></span><br />
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In his article, Stein writes, "The route is clearly not the most logical or sustainable...The 'Friends of the Brooklyn-Queens Connector' are...friends of higher waterfront property values, seeking public insurance for their private investments in the form of infrastructure development....The waterfront streetcar plan is based less on a community's need for service than a group of well-connected developers' desire for profit."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/2ndSteveBarrison32516"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Steve Barrison, attorney and EVP of the Small Business Congress-NYC</span></a>--which represents more than 185,000 mom pop businesses--discusses why they are trying to pressure Queens elected officials for help to stem the tidal wave of mass closings. Queens is the home to the largest number of immigrants in the city, and immigrants are the largest owners of small businesses.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Years of city policies either neglecting or even exacerbating mass closings of small businesses have created a crisis. As discussed on previous <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">numerous</span></a> <i><span style="color: #ea9999;">Ethics Ain't Pretty</span> </i><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2015/05/whats-missing-from-onenyc-why-losing.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">posts</span></a>, <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2016/02/bdb-re-is-it-worse-than-we-thought.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Council Member Bill de Blasio supported the one bill considered a real solution</span></a>:</span> The overwhelming reason NYC's longstanding mom-and-pops close is because of astronomical rent increases or the refusal of a landlord to renew a lease, and commercial tenants have no rights whatsoever. REBNY and other real estate interests have made it abundantly clear they wish to retain this status quo. Yet, not the mayor is virtually silent--<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-crispin-miller/whats-the-biggest-scandal-in-de-blasios-administration_b_9721568.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">why do you suppose that is?</span></a></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tom Siracuse, chair of the <a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShow12916TomSiracuseSegRentContCopy_201602"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Committee to Protect Rent Controlled Tenants</span>,</a> discusses how there are only about 25K of such units remaining in NYC, predominantly inhabited by seniors living on fixed incomes. Outside of those living in public housing, RC tenants have the lowest mean income of all renters in NYC; 1/3 spend more than 50% of income on rent. DHCR, the state agency tasked with overseeing controlled units is proposing (since approved with virtually no press coverage) a 9+% increase at a time when COLA's have been frozen, and rent stabilized tenants will get a rent freeze in 2016. Siracuse describes a faulty formula on which increases are based, resulting in controlled tenants being subjected to the highest cumulative increases of all rent regulated tenants over the years. This translates into more and more NYC senior citizens living at the very real risk of losing their longtime homes.</span></div>
ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-72805497543995303782016-02-12T13:56:00.000-05:002018-05-28T14:13:52.435-04:00BDB & RE: Is it worse than we thought?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recently, real estate-centric rag, </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">The Real Deal,</i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> ran an </span><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://therealdeal.com/issues_articles/real-estates-love-hate-relationship-with-de-blasio/" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article</span></a> </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">discussing the industry's love/hate relationship with Mayor de Blasio<b>,<span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span></b></span>focusing predominantly on that perspective--as one would e</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">xpect. It included a comment from the DM for housing and economic development who said their relationship was improving, "I think it's changed in the sense that with each month or quarter that goes by, the industry is even more satisfied with the [administration's] ability to get deals done." This quote was presumably offered </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">without any irony intended, given this little <a href="https://www.rebny.com/content/rebny/en/Event_Calendar/event.html/REBNY_Commercial_Holiday_Luncheon_577.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">gem</span></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Any mention of opposition to the mayor's affordable housing and zoning plans was perfunctory at best, and completely ignored perhaps the most important and most overlooked concern--the impact these plans will have on NYC's communities. More on this later.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I've written quite extensively on <i><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Ethics Ain't Pretty</span></a></i>, to the surprise and now disappointment of many New Yorkers, the de Blasio administration has turned out to be more like Bloomberg redux than anyone expected.<b> </b>Quite simply,</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> w</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">hen it comes to the all-consuming power of big real estate, the status quo, and watching our beloved city surpass the threshold of progress into generic and homogeneous, the situation has reached Defcon 5.</span><br />
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</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Really, we shouldn't be that surprised given his history: supporting the massive developer giveaway known as Atlantic Yards that destroyed a viable neighborhood and countless small businesses; in favor of building</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> condos in Brooklyn Bridge Park and </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">NYU's latest land grab. NYU--the university who </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">already </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">decimated a neighborhood--and with whom many high-ranking BDB officials were once affiliated.</span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">These were on the record during the mayoral race. But Bill de Blasio was a very lucky man with good timing who was never thoroughly vetted. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">In everyone's (necessary) myopia of <i>'Anyone but Quinn,'</i> these facts were ignored for a multitude of reasons which are too complex to examine for this post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">While in the Council, de Blasio supported the 'Small Business Jobs Survival Act,' (SBJSA) as a means to right economic disparity and injustice--the eventual theme of his<i> Tale of Two Cities </i>mayoral run. But, as Public Advocate and now Mayor, it's been radio silence except to propagate the real estate- friendly narrative that fines, fees and lack of access to capital are the reasons NYC mom and pops close, despite a plethora of data and statistics proving otherwise.</span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even considering these facts, it's still rather shocking what's gone on with the sale of the Brooklyn Heights library branch--an issue de Blasio <i>actually campaigned against</i> while running for mayor. Yet a few short years later, it's been a 180 change; in fact, the aforementioned DM assumed responsibility to ensure the deal went through. </span></span><br />
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</span></span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The last time something so egregious occurred was in 1996 when Rudy Giuliani unilaterally sold the license for WNYC-TV. It was only when he then wanted to also sell off the city's water supply that there was a backlash, but too late for the station (at which i worked). To this day, NYC doesn't have its own public TV station. (Look it up.)</span></span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Unfortunately, many of my fellow professionals have utterly failed in covering this issue.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></span> </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Citizens Defending Libraries</i> founders Michael D.D. White and Caroline McIntyre <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="https://archive.org/details/CitizensDefendingLibraries1716"><span style="color: #ea9999;">discuss the administration's push to sell city assets to a private developer for a pittance on WBAI's The Morning Show</span></a>,</span> which I produced. Naturally, a new luxury tower is in the works. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The entire process exposes how co opted so many public officials have become by big real estate's largess; it also reveals widespread conflicts-of-interest running rampant throughout executive boards which affect public welfare in some way--including the Brooklyn Public Library's Board of Trustees--and amongst employees of various government entities. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now back to the impact question. </span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-large: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">John Fisher, creator of </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tenant.n</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">et, tells WBAI <a href="https://archive.org/details/JohnFisherTenant.net12116"><span style="color: #ea9999;">why the expiration of the controversial developer incentive plan known as 421a isn't a bad thing.</span></a> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fisher discusses what much of the media, politicians and even tenant groups have ignored in the debate--the impact of such a program and others like it including inclusionary zoning--a cornerstone of de Blasio's affordable housing plan. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fisher noted that no matter how much "affordable" housing is included--25, 35, even 50%--it still means the rest will be luxury, translating into inevitable primary and secondary displacement of residents and businesses alike. This is a pattern we've seen for years, particularly under the Bloomberg rezonings-on-steroids. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Arguments in favor of deeper affordability and using an AMI that better reflects NYC, according to Fisher, are red herrings because the sheer volume and density of the market-rate housing created will ultimately supersede everything else and continue swallowing up community after community.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, current owners see these giant profits and want to get it on the action, often employing illegal tactics to push out long-term tenants. A reasonable person might be able to recognize something like a chronic lack of repairs, consistent lack of hot water and/or heat, or tenants being groundlessly hauled into housing court as forms of harassment, but the city's <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">housing agency is still grappling with the definition</span></a>. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And it's not as if ANY law enforcement office--not the five DA's or AG's offices etc.--or relevant agencies in charge of oversight take <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/ny-state-data-indicates-even-more-landlords-duck-rent-limits"><span style="color: #ea9999;">these issues seriously enough</span></a> to <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/tenants-take-hit-as-ny-fails-to-police-huge-housing-tax-break"><span style="color: #ea9999;">prosecute most wrongdoers for the criminal fraud</span></a> and other illegal activity. At best, there's a slew of press releases and a lot of promises made, but in reality <a href="http://www.progressqueens.com/news/2015/12/8/scheiderman-bharara-mum-on-propublica-421-a-investigations"><span style="color: #ea9999;">the wheels of landlord corruption continue to spin.</span></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Underscoring Fisher's position is this <a href="https://archive.org/details/CarmenRiveraVegaSegment11416"><span style="color: #ea9999;">interview I produced with a representative of CASA/New Settlement Apartments</span></a>, who discusses community opposition to the mayor's proposed rezoning of 73 blocks along the Bronx's Jerome Avenue corridor--a stretch included in </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">the nation's poorest urban Congressional District.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Carmen Rivera</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Vega tells how she and her neighbors spent a year engaging to create an alternative to the city's, after too many times actual residents--the ones who have been and would be directly affected---were again left out of area development plans. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Rivera said the median income is under $25,000 per year with many residents spending more than 50% of income on rent, yet the city is relying on an AMI of more than $63,000 to be eligible for its planned "affordable" units. The area is also home to many automotive-related businesses and related jobs the city seems bent on forcing out.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With the City Council </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">not only voting to approve a giant pay raise--but one significantly higher than was recommended--I was reminded of something. In </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">1999-2000, I worked for then- CM Kathryn Freed who represented lower Manhattan. This was definitely not a job for me and as I was leaving, the Council's salary was raised to $90,000 for this "part-time" job. Over 16 years, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">that salary will now become $148,500, a $36,000 pay raise since 2006. Considering annual rates of inflation or even COLA increases--or freezes as is the case this year--the word disproportionate is an understatement.<b> </b></span><br />
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</i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's especially important because, as my current CM pointed out, Council employees tend to make paltry incomes, and this $36,000 raise is often more than what many earn in a given year. As a working journalist who regularly interacts with many of these staffers, it's pretty clear these days the 'best and the brightest' aren't generally flocking to, or staying at, the Council for jobs, and invariably the low salary is a giant factor. The staffs also seem to be a lot younger and more inexperienced.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Frankly, I needed a job at the time that gave me some stability, having burned out from the constant state of panic that comes with freelancing--especially in broadcast in the late 90's, and I knew and respected Kathryn. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With a Masters degree, I earned $32,000; a colleague who started the same time earned $31,000 and he had a Masters in transportation planning. My salary was insufficient for me to survive in New York City, if i hadn't lived in a rent-stabilized unit AND had a roommate. From what I've seen, this salary situation hasn't changed much after all these years, and Council staff are not represented by any municipal union.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Furthermore, my salary would have excluded me as too high for the very low end of city-sponsored affordable units AND from the vast majority of what's being currently proposed because it was too low.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also of note: 60 Hudson Street--the building associated with last week's crane collapse--was already a major neighborhood concern in 1999. I inherited the relevant folder from the previous staffer, meaning this building was an issue even earlier. Yet, at last week's mayoral presser, the administration somehow seemed unaware of this. (And as a personal peeve, not one reporter inquired as to whether or not the crane crew was non-union.)</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I love this picture, and it brings out my Mod side; I feel sorry for you if you don't know who it is!</span><br />
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</span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-54673196312113724782015-12-16T14:17:00.000-05:002016-02-03T15:30:27.070-05:00BDB Uses RE Insiders to Sell RE-Friendly Housing Plans, Surprised By Rejection<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Extinct NYC stores as seen on Seinfeld reruns: Champagne Video, Pasta Vicci...</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: black; color: white;">Dec. 16. Update: </i><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">Lynn Ellsworth, co-founder of New Yorkers for a Human-Scale City and chair of the Tribeca Trust </span><a href="https://archive.org/details/LynnEllsworthNewYorkersForAHumanScaleCity121115MGH"><span style="color: #ea9999;">discusses</span></a><span style="color: white;"> on WBAI radio the need for a citywide coalition to fight overdevelopment, the massive power of the real estate industry, and the fight against the mayor's housing and upzoning plans. This includes their </span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.humanscale.nyc/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">petition</span></a> </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">calling out the way the city has completely capitulated to developers in the struggle to preserve historic neighborhoods and allowing them to "seize our commonly shared light, air, gardens and iconic views for private consumption."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">By now, it's safe to assume anyone who reads <i>Ethics Ain't Pretty</i> is the kind of person who has a sense of what's going on in the city. So, you already know the mayor's Affordable Housing Plan (AHP) with its Mandatory Inclusionary Zoning component, and his citywide upzoning plan are not exactly <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://goo.gl/Kz1Uk3"><span style="color: #ea9999;">going over</span></a> </span>like gangbusters. (I'm not going to get into some of the media misrepresentations or inaccuracies in coverage. They are worthy of a post unto themselves.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151117/williamsburg/de-blasio-zoning-plan-unites-civic-groups-opposition-it"><span style="color: #ea9999;">opposition</span></a> has spread across the city. It seems like almost everyday, another Community Board votes against the mayor, and the<span style="color: #ea9999;"> B</span><a href="https://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151202/bed-stuy/brooklyn-joins-manhattan-bronx-queens-reject-mayors-zoning-plan"><span style="color: #ea9999;">orough Board</span></a> votes are also piling up.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Most interestingly, the neighborhoods the de Blasio administration first targeted for development--like East Harlem, Brooklyn's East New York and the Jerome Corridor in the Bronx--are among the most vociferously opposed. And they are organized.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I recently produced this <a href="https://archive.org/details/SegmentWithJillDowlingThursday111915MGH1"><span style="color: #ea9999;">segment </span></a>for WBAI interviewing Jill Dowling, a member of the organizing committee with Movement for Justice in El Barrio.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are two key overall suspicions undermining what the administration keeps preaching. The first is if the plans would actually ever manifest in sufficient numbers of AH at all--without even getting into its widening of who is eligible and therefore asking the perennial question, 'affordable for whom?' </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The second is concern about direct displacement caused by all those luxury towers, and the subsequent result of a loss of too much existing affordable stock. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">One recent <a href="http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20151117/williamsburg/de-blasio-zoning-plan-unites-civic-groups-opposition-it"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article </span></a>describes how a Greenpoint group has been travelling the city, "sharing that story as a cautionary tale of how rezoning can spur development of pricey glass towers, but promises made to residents for new parks and other amenities go unkept," and they should know, having endured Bloomberg's rezoning-on-steroids. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They fault DCP for essentially destroying their community, "You've left Greenpoint lying in gentrification's waste....Ours was a working-class neighborhood, and now it's unaffordable to most people," said one of the organizers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For the sake of brevity, I'll put aside the mayor's <i>Zoning for Quality and Affordability</i> (ZQA) plan, which is inherently a slap in the face to those neighborhoods who struggled--often for years and at great personal expense--to protect their communities. (Because the system is already so stacked against them, the fact that this proposal would supersede those long hard-fought battles in areas that have been contextually or down-zoned goes beyond hubris.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It seems glaring to me that perhaps the mayor wouldn't have so much difficulty persuading community after community that these plans might be um, kosher, if he hadn't loaded up his admin with real estate insiders. As written extensively on <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><i>EAP</i></span></a>, on every single de Blasio appointment that deals with land use, his repertoire has been extremely limited.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I contend he would have considerably more credibility and maybe even given the benefit of the doubt if the officials principally tasked with selling these plans to the general public didn't have distinctive track records almost exclusively working on behalf of developers or big real estate.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">And frankly, the <a href="http://politicker.com/2014/02/audio-bill-de-blasio-promises-rebny-hell-build-big/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">mayor</span></a> and his <a href="https://www.rebny.com/content/rebny/en/Event_Calendar/event.html/REBNY_Commercial_Holiday_Luncheon_577.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">team</span></a> haven't exactly done much to dissuade this <a href="http://goo.gl/jQo4hA"><span style="color: #ea9999;">public perception</span></a> since he took office, if only symbolically. He also doesn't serve himself well by patronizing the opposition or by <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://observer.com/2015/11/bill-de-blasio-community-boards-opposing-my-housing-plan-are-doubting-thomases/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">diminishing their arguments</span></a>.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">One of the most serious and accurate criticisms against Michael Bloomberg was that he was such an elitist, he was only comfortable rubbing shoulders with other members of the ruling class, putting him in such a bubble he couldn't (or wouldn't) relate to the plight of the average New Yorker.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Mayor de Blasio has his own elitism--in the form of a myopic delusion that somehow publicly-funded private developers will be the magic solution to the city's desperate need for affordable housing by jiggering a few more units here and there. He continues to hold this belief in the face of a plethora of evidence this way is too little, too late while simultaneously jeopardizing the very thing he says he wants to preserve--existing affordable housing stock.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here is another segment of <a href="https://archive.org/details/NewMorningShow10115DavidTieuSeg"><span style="color: #ea9999;">WBAI's The Morning Show</span></a> I produced discussing de Blasio's housing and development policies. Though not specifically about either the ZQA or AHP and aired in October, it does focus on gentrification and the city's almost sociopathic reliance on 421a benefits allowing luxury development to produce an iota of questionably affordable units. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">David Tieu, from the Coalition to save Chinatown and the Lower East Side, also talks about the 2008 "racist" rezoning which protected parts of the whiter, more affluent district in the East Village--though I personally can't speak to the more affluent categorization, nor can anyone I know who still lives here--while permitting the lower-income, predominantly areas of color to be left open to precisely what's now going on: rampant luxury out-of-scale development, which is displacing existing tenants, encouraging harassment and overcrowding an already overtaxed infrastructure. Just think of the 80 story Extell tower coming to the former site of a community grocery store.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Some 60 organizations--whom I believe to be more legitimate stakeholders than are the slew of developers currently enriching themselves--have offered the city's its own solution, known as the Chinatown Working Group rezoning plan but have been dismissed by DCP as unrealistic.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="http://peoplefirstnyc.org/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">coalition</span></a></span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> is holding a public meeting this Saturday Dec. 5th, inviting "Mayor de Blasio to Face the People at a Town Hall Meeting Against Displacement," from 4-6pm at Seward High School, between Ludlow and Essex Streets.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They are also staging another rally against displacement and in opposition to the mayor's citywide zoning plans on Wednesday, Dec. 16th at 4pm in front of Gracie Mansion.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So, to end this otherwise depressing post with something joyful and fun, here is <a href="https://youtu.be/dgtDQN8hyTk"><span style="color: #ea9999;">video</span></a> that's both wonderful and terrible, simultaneously. Oh, those dresses, the knee socks, the hats...The mod in me is doing the pony as I listen to the dulcet tones of the great Tom Jones. If this doesn't make you at least smile, well, you just don't get it.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Correction: The girls aren't wearing knee socks--they are a hybrid go-go boot/spat! So groovy, I want my own pair!</i></span></span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-65791768335381643632015-09-29T14:04:00.004-04:002015-09-29T14:04:47.241-04:00ASSORTED: Animals getting sicker in city shelters; Verizon fails; BX Small Biz Forum; Fair Housing Act<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>More extinct NYC as seen on Seinfeld re-runs:</i> H and H bagels on the UWS; Bolo restaurant....</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Just in case anyone thought the mass closings of the city's small businesses had somehow been resolved--what with all the very recent attention and some proposed action by certain legislators--it hasn't. Just read this <a href="http://vanishingnewyork.blogspot.com/2015/09/greenwich-village-ghost-town.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">post</span></a> on Jeremiah's Vanishing New York. Using this anecdote, apply it against every neighborhood in the city. Because it isn't exaggeration or hyperbole to state the obvious: mom and pops are being pushed out in every community in every borough, and it's been happening for decades. </span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>EAP</i> readers know I've been <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/about/177-small-business-suffering-in-good-times-and-bad"><span style="color: #ea9999;">covering this issue</span></a> for a very long time, and not only on this <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2015/03/last-hope-for-mom-and-pops-in-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">blog</span></a>. I was reporting about this before it became a pseudo-cause celebre. And, you'll also know that w</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">hat makes this situation particularly tragic is the fact that our city government has been doing all it could and can to perpetuate this problem, which makes absolutely no sense given the city's small businesses are NYC's main employer, especially critical in immigrant communities.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, <a href="http://takebacknyc.nyc/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">TakeBackNYC</span></a> will be holding another forum, this time in the Bronx. For the most part, TakeBack has eschewed having elected officials involved in these town halls because, they perceive, so many are compromised by the power and money of the real estate industry--and too often they would be right. I think it's safe to declare few of our city's electeds are familiar with <u>Profiles in Courage</u>--either the book or the concept.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, they are making an exception at this week's meeting because the current prime sponsor of 'The Small Business Jobs Survival Act'--what many consider to be the best solution, albeit about fifteen years too late--represents the Bronx. Here are the details:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Bronx Small Biz Forum</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Wednesday, September 30, 7-9pm</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hellenic Orthodox Community Church, 3573 Bruckner Blvd., parking in rear or take IRT to Pelham Bay Park Station;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sponsors include Bronx Times, Bronx Merchants Coalition and Townsquared-NYC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also, here are several more WBAI Morning Show segments I produced. These are a bit more diverse than the ones listed in my last post, ranging from having the state divest from fossil fuel holdings, to the miserable failing of Verizon after receiving an exclusive city contract to bring broadband to every portion of the city, to the overlooked SCOTUS decision upholding the 1968 Fair Housing Act. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, because this is also one of those issues I've covered (almost exclusively) for years, an update on what's going on at the city's "independent" animal shelter system. The latest concern stems from sometimes preventable diseases spreading like wildfire among animals in ACC 'care.' Because of the still-unsanitary conditions and overcrowding, these diseases are deadlier and spread faster. Even worse, not only is the organization in denial about the extent of the problem, they're <a href="http://www.wsj.com/articles/animal-groups-are-cutting-ties-with-new-york-city-shelter-operator-1435192568"><span style="color: #ea9999;">adopting out sick animals</span></a> without disclosing the extent of illness to rescue groups, who often then have to spend their very limited resources to care for the animal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause-NY, discusses the abject failure of telecom company Verizon to bring fiber optic services called FIOS to all of NYC by 2014, as codified in a 2008 city contract. Yet, a recent city audit found up to 75% of NYC still doesn't have access to Fios. Why again is the general consensus that Mike Bloomberg is such a great businessman?</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 19.6px;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">NY State Senator Liz Krueger talks about sponsoring the "Fossil Fuel Divestment Act," which if passed, will direct the state comptroller to withdraw state pension funds from fossil fuel holdings. She also explains why she signed on to a lawsuit against the state Board of Elections for not closing the notorious LLC loophole, a way the real estate industry in particular has circumvented campaign finance limits.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Esther Koslow, pres. and chair of Shelter Reform Action Committee, gives an update on what's going on at the city's animal shelters. Most alarming is the rampant and virulent strains of diseases putting animals in their care at great risk, diseases that could be curable and preventable, but are often caused by poor conditions and overcrowding. The city and DOH still refuse to build shelters in every borough, despite a 2000 law passed by the City Council, but overrun by former Speaker Christine Quinn while she continued her mission to do the bidding of former Mayor Bloomberg. And, Koslow discusses the inherent problems and contradiction in continuing to allow DOH to oversee issues relating to animals while claiming ACC is "independent" though all funding and key decisions are made by DOH.</span><br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/225409983&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The NAACP-LDF discusses the importance of the Supreme Court's decision to uphold the Fair Housing Act, Although somewhat overshadowed in the mainstream press, this decision based on the 'disparate impact' standard is as critical to civil rights in America as is more well known legislation like the Voting Rights Act (already gutted by SCOTUS).</span><br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/225407320&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-74142698789482688182015-09-14T13:14:00.003-04:002015-09-15T14:55:17.315-04:00THE POWER OF BIG REAL ESTATE IN NYC: Permeating throughout all levels of government--case studies <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>Another very recent extinct (at least at its 40 year location) NYC site as seen on Seinfeld reruns</i>: <a href="http://evgrieve.com/2015/07/exclusive-after-40-years-punk-rock.html" style="color: #ea9999;">Trash & Vaudeville</a>, the<span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span>last remnant of NYC's original punk neighborhood and my now-extinguished longtime spiritual home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because of other projects and family commitments, I haven't found much time to write over the summer, into the fall even. However, I have continued producing segments for WBAI radio's Morning Show. Here are several dealing with land-use, development and real estate in New York City.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, discusses the anti-landmarking moves in the "progressive" NYC Council, widely seen by preservationists as a massive land-grab by the real estate industry. Noting more than half of the city's current landmarked sites and districts would not have met the proposed deadlines including the Empire State building, Berman said the bill removes any discretion from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since the hearing,<a href="http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/preservation/rebny/rebny-09-15-15.htm"><span style="color: #ea9999;"> the source for REBNY'S anti-landmarking report has refuted the powerful real estate organization's findings</span>,</a> and in fact, said rent-regulated apartments are "better preserved in landmarked areas."<span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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</span><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Michael Kramer from 'Save Our Seaport' on the National Trust for Historic Preservation naming the Seaport Historic District as one of the nation's top endangered sites, on the backroom deal between the NYCEDC and a private developer rife with conflicts-of-interest, and the effect of mega development on the historic district and the anti-flood plan for Lower Manhattan/Brooklyn.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Alicia Boyd, founder of the Movement to Protect the People discusses the rigged process and widespread corruption amongst local elected officials and the community board evident in the city's plans to upzone the minuscule commercial district for mixed use. That means, according to Boyd, "affordable housing" that's not really affordable in the only African American area abutting Prospect Park which will cause massive commercial and residential displacement, and those valuable park views.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Louis Flores, publisher of the online news site Progress Queens, has consistently covered NYCHA issues in an in-depth way often ignored or avoided by the mainstream media. His interview includes discussion of the lack of governmental NYCHA oversight by those officials and offices tasked with such responsibilities; insider deals the city has made to sell Section 8 buildings with well-connected developers who have track records of shoddy work; selling city assets ie land at NYCHA complexes with no ULURP as mandated by the city charter. This interview was conducted before the city announced plans to</span><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/market-rate-apartments-built-public-land-article-1.2354500"><span style="color: #ea9999;">develop market rate housing on NYCHA property.</span></a></span><br />
<iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/222651919&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-38831020758953580072015-07-29T14:21:00.000-04:002015-07-29T17:47:27.737-04:00WBAI Avella interview on Willets Point; TakeBackNYC interview; Reflections on the Rent Laws Battle & RGB<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/216448186&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">UPDATE: This is a segment I produced for WBAI radio with Queens State Senator Tony Avella discussing their successful lawsuit vs. NYC over the Willets Point giant (private) development plan, questionable practices by the NYCEDC, and how the city treats its small businesses. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">More extinct NYC as seen on Seinfeld: The Reggae Lounge, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Metro movie theater....</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">TakeBackNYC is holding a small biz forum tonight night, Wednesday 7/22/17, @ the Malcolm X Ballroom, Broadway & 165th Street, 7-9 pm, this time in Washington Heights</b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. This is a neighborhood that's been hard hit by escalating rents as evidenced by the countless number of vacant storefronts. It's also a heavily immigrant-populated community, who are the primary owners of the city's small businesses and therefore the primary employers of NYC's jobs. They are also notoriously vulnerable to illegal extortion by landlords.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><iframe frameborder="no" height="100" scrolling="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/216599034&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%"></iframe></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here's another WBAI radio segment I produced with Steve Null, who wrote the original SBJSA language with then-CM Ruth Messinger. He's currently an advisor to TakeBackNYC.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For those who don't already know, TakeBackNYC is a </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"direct action political lobbying organization" comprised of a coalition of actual small business owners, residents and advocacy groups</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> who are trying to stop the mass closings that have been ongoing over the last twenty years, aided and abetted by city and state governmental policies. I have several prior <i>EAP</i> entries explaining the history. They supplement the work of SaveNYC, which now concentrates less on the political process.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The TakeBackNYC forums are meant to present an alternative to the official government response of assorted roundtables to promote the status quo (ie the real estate industry) under the guise of saving small businesses, according to many small business advocates. Their primary proposal--referred to as the 'landlords' bill when it originated during the Koch days--is considered misguided and incomplete: it only covers retail establishments, mediation is non-binding, the lease term is for one year only, and it does nothing to prevent extortion.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the main elected officials touting this approach initially proposed to get Albany--already a questionable proposition--to pass a law PAYING landlords not to rent gouge commercial tenants. As if owners don't already benefit from an array of</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150714/REAL_ESTATE/150709899/these-energy-upgrades-could-save-landlords-350-million"><span style="color: #ea9999;">incentives</span></a>, </span>abatements and actual subsidies not including programs like the perpetual increase of an MCI, j51 and the notoriously corrupt 421a......and as opposed to rent regulations, which too many in the press still refer to as some form of subsidy program when in fact no money is ever exchanged. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's also not ignore willfully lax enforcement by prosecutors and the relevant underfunded government agencies, ultimately permitting harassment of tenants (sometimes to the point of them being forced out), sub par living conditions and unlimited examples of illegally decontrolled regulated apartments. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">While I was writing my rent regulation series in June, more than a few tenant organizers confided in me on background that while Gov. Cuomo should be blamed for the way everything unfolded and for the lack of success, there is no shortage of culprits.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Specifically, Mayor de Blasio was singled out for beginning his 'renew and strengthen' the rent regs campaign much too late. Though the laws were set to expire mid June 2015--a date that was commonly knows for several years--the mayor really didn't start his discussion in earnest until this May--just a month before they would sunset. If he had been as committed to bolstering tenant protections as he has been to his universal pre-K policy, they noted for example, he would have started much sooner, the City Council would have been much more coordinated and organized, and more resources would have been dedicated to the cause.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Albany Democrats--especially in the Assembly including new Speaker Heastie--must also receive their share as they totally capitulated. Rather than digging in their heels and calling the Senate Republicans' bluff--especially given how badly the GOP wanted a 421a renewal--in the end, all those months of tough talk and rhetoric was seemingly all bluster. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Honorable mention must also be given to those non-profits who provided elected officials with political cover for either political cowardice, expedience, or outright dishonesty. The fact that many of these organizations receive funding through these offices makes it impossible to ignore a potential ethical conflict-of-interest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regarding the recent RGB's final vote, two things I think are of note. The first is how everyone appeared to ignore the fact the Board approved two percent increases on two-year lease renewals, because this news was overshadowed by the first ever rent freeze.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Keep in mind, the RGB's own data revealed landlords' operating costs were estimated to increase by only about 0.5 percent. If one were to be generous, an increase of 1.5 percent would have been appropriate. So, already, the Board has given owners yet another gift, after so many years of disproportionately high increases. It's followed by last year's 2.75% increase for two-year leases, also excessively high and ignored by the press.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The other thing of note is the way the vote came down. Out of nine members, all but the two owner reps voted in favor. This includes the public members, who are supposed to be independent--except it has rarely worked out that way. This is an article I wrote about a former <a href="http://citylimits.org/2006/04/17/out-with-the-old-rent-boardloses-popular-public-member/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">public member who was punished</span></a> for actually being independent.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What the vote implies is that </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">City Hall maneuvered everything</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> before the members actually voted, perhaps in reaction to way things unfolded last year. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But this represents an inherent problem with the RGB and the system itself, and it's not exclusive to any single administration. Because all the members are appointed by the mayor, there are no checks and balances, no oversight and no accountability. Just because the numbers were not as egregious as in past years doesn't mean the process itself is a good one.</span><br />
<br />ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-9073124340454468842015-06-15T16:25:00.000-04:002016-04-25T16:01:56.814-04:00UPDATED SERIES ON RENT REGULATIONS: DHCR Enforcement & Timeline of Failure<br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today's article in City & State:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>After the Deal: <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.cityandstateny.com/articles/politics/new-york-city/after-the-deal-concerns-about-how-rent-regs-will-be-enforced.html#.Vw0pRfkrLIU"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Concerns</span></a> </span>About How Rent Regs Will be Enforced</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today's article in City Limits:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><a href="http://citylimits.org/2015/06/15/timeline-of-failure-how-nys-got-to-the-brink-of-rent-laws-lapse/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Timeline of Failure</span></a>: How NYS Got to the Brink of Rent Laws' Lapse</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Friday's article, #5 with more to come:</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large; line-height: 1;"><b><a href="http://citylimits.org/2015/06/12/study-up-for-the-next-round-of-the-debate-over-421-a/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Reform, Interrupted</span></a><span style="color: white;">: Study Up for Round 2 of Debate Over 421-a</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">#4 in the City Limits series:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Where is <a href="http://citylimits.org/2015/06/11/where-is-jeff-klein-in-the-rent-regulations-debate/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Jeff Klein</span></a> in the Rent Regulations Debate?</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">#3 in the series for City Limits:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://citylimits.org/2015/06/10/loss-of-330000-affordable-apartments-seen/"><b><span style="color: #ea9999;">Loss </span></b></a><b>of 333,000 Apartments Seen</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's the second article, about today's tenant rally in Albany and regulations affecting residents outside of NYC:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Rent Regulation Affects<a href="http://citylimits.org/2015/06/09/rent-regulation-affects-tenants-outside-new-york-city/"> <span style="color: #ea9999;">Tenants Outside</span> </a>New York City</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's the first article in a series on I'm writing on rent regulations/negotiations this week for City Limits.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://citylimits.org/2015/06/08/cuomos-power-tested-on-rent-regulations/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Cuomo's Power</span></a> Tested on Rent Regulations</span></b><br />
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<strong style="line-height: 20.7999992370605px;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">FYI: Community Board Public Hearings on Citywide Upzoning Plan June 10th:</span></strong><br />
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<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.gvshp.org/_gvshp/enews/gvshp-06-02-15.htm#two</span></span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-35471874023580845352015-06-01T15:54:00.000-04:002015-06-05T11:52:21.475-04:00A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A NYC RENT STABILIZED APARTMENT<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i><b>UPDATE</b>: Guess who is baaaack: THE ROOFERS!! The makings of scaffolding were spotted in the building earlier this week, and for the last few days the stomping, banging and associated noises can be heard both overhead and through the windows.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>What's more, the tenants have just received new MCI applications, but not for the roof. One is for an unnecessary TV/security system worth more than $10,000. By unnecessary, I mean in the 20 years we've been together, I can't recall an incident of theft, robbery or the like--though there has been a problem with teenagers in the building smoking pot in the stairwells during the winter months. Installing a security system now is particularly ironic because during the heyday of the crack epidemic, the area was considered a ground zero for its sale. The landlord took no precautions to safeguard either the building or tenants then, but now that the neighborhood is gentrifying and "safer," it's clearly appropriate to step up security.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>This another of the scams inherent in the MCI process--owners are permitted to make "improvements" whether they are needed or not, and regardless of what tenants may want. Anything to keep bumping up those base rents...</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>The second application (so far) is for a backflow preventer installed in 2013, allegedly at a cost of almost $14,000. I'm not sure what that is, but why wasn't it included along with the smorgasbord of other applications submitted in 2013? </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>This highlights more system-wide weaknesses: how easy it is for landlords to get away with fraud. Despite what the agency says publicly, DHCR only really goes by check copies submitted by owners to verify work. With technology being what it currently is, it doesn't take much to make things up but still look official. It's also well known DHCR regularly ignores its own regulations.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>And then there's self-certification, where DHCR relies on what an owner states to have done, but because of massive underfunding, too few inspectors and a lack of political will from the Governor, it's extremely difficult if not impossible to ensure the work occurred as described in the MCI application. And, we all know how well self-cert has worked within the city since Giuliani instituted it: crane and building collapses, illegal gas siphoning, an escalation in construction worker deaths due to unsafe conditions, developers building in excess of zoning limits....</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>More extinct NYC sites as seen on Seinfeld reruns</i>: La Reserve restaurant, Gladiator Gym....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even though I'm in the early stages of two different articles, I wanted to post this anecdote:</span><br />
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Recently, my boyfriend's rent-stabilized building underwent serious upheaval. The most current issues stem from roof work beginning late last October. From the very first day--the day the roofers literally just put equipment out--most if not all the apartments on the top floor began experiencing cracks in their ceilings. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Because the city allows non-emergency work to commence as early as 7am, every morning started with what sounded like the workers throwing heavy equipment across the roof, that they were jumping in place over our heads--and then the banging and drilling started. The rooms shook. This continued for months, with breaks only for inclement weather.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The work permits posted listed several jobs including asbestos removal that are valid until August 2015, all the while management kept telling tenants the work would only continue for a few weeks or months. They seemingly stopped about three weeks ago. The perennial question, of course, is who on earth begins roof work going into winter?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Friday after Thanksgiving turned into a debacle. Whatever the roofers had already done left the roof extremely vulnerable to water seepage. His apartment was so deluged with water because that happened to be a rainy day, that there were about 10 receptacles set up to collect the leaks, including at least four 55-gallon garbage pails the super lent him. We're talking about mini-gushers in some spots. Of course, his apartment was not an isolated case.</span><br />
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There were leaks in every room, water damage in most, and the phone line shorted out. Eventually, so did an electrical outlet.<b> </b></span><br />
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Plaster and bits of ceiling began falling, first as crumbles but eventually in small-to-medium sized chunks. It got so bad, he went around with a ladder, broom and scraper to poke out the water and air pockets to limit the potential of what could fall. He ended up filling two of those 55-gallon cans with debris.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many complaints were lodged with 311 and online from a myriad of tenants. They ranged from reports of the damage and destruction; to a growing number of cracks throughout individual apartments as well as building-wide; to the fact the roof team often worked well past weekday hours (sometimes as late as 10pm) and on Saturdays. There was also considerable concern about whether the leaking water was asbestos-tainted, as well as what if any safety precautions were undertaken while they removed asbestos or to limit asbestos dust from tracking throughout the building. Some also filed 'dimunition of services for individual apartments' forms with the NYS Division of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR).</span><br />
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Mind you, his apartment and others were repaired and painted in 2012, because of even earlier roof work which was also the direct cause of leaks, cracks and general chaos. Portions of walls had to be torn out in his apartment and in the one directly below due to widespread mold caused by the leaks.<b> </b>In fact, extensive repairs had to be made to the roof itself to correct the damage done from the first go-round, about seven years ago (which means it took them four to make the 2012 repairs).<b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still, the damage was much greater from the work commenced last year.</span><br />
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The landlord received giant Major Capital Improvement (MCI) increases for which he applied in 2013 and was granted in 2014 for jobs that included the roof, facade, partial parapet work, and some pointing. As a result of DHCR's action, the rent jumped by more than $200 per month, separate from any RGB increases.</span><br />
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In total, this means three attempts to "fix" the roof.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A letter from management dated December 2014, said, "<i>The building has needed a significant amount of repairs in recent years, and we had hoped that the facade and parapet work would address the leaks that you and others on the 6th floor had been experiencing.</i></span><br />
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</i><i>Unfortunately, while some of the leaks were addressed, several were not and the replacement of the entire roof could not be delayed any longer. The existing roof deck is constructed of wood planks. Several of the wood planks were found rotted and in need of replacement...[which] was not anticipated when this project initiated</i>." </span><br />
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This is significant as his apartment and others never had leaks until the initial roof work; furthermore, how is it the landlord was unaware the wood planks were rotted (at least in part) after the repairs just two years earlier?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />"<i>While working into the evening is not ideal, the roof deck cannot be left exposed or uncovered...</i>" Except it clearly was, because if you had seen the leakage, you'd know there was virtually nothing standing in between the roof and the ceilings.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"<i>The conditions of the original parapets and bulkheads below the roof line have also required a significant amount of repair</i>."<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Again, for which they received MCIs in 2014. Clearly, as maintained by the tenants in response to the 2013 application, the work was either incomplete or poorly done.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"<i>Even with best efforts to cover them, the heavy rain rain breached the protective sheets and caused the recent leaks. As of November 28th, the roof has been made completely watertight and there have been no further leaks into any area of the building.</i>"<b> </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Except that there were additional leaks after the 28th, including the one that caused an electrical outlet to short out in the kitchen.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The neighbors were finally galvanized to organize and hire an attorney after they<b> </b>received the 2013 MCI applications, which is unfortunately the only real recourse tenants have. The lawyer is primarily focusing on challenging the haphazard parapet work. The state's rent stabilization code requires "complete replacement," which was clearly not the case. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For whatever reason, they decided not to challenge the MCI granted for whatever was done to the roof. (Of course, the case could be made shoddy work should be automatically challenged, but the landlord-friendly system doesn't work that way.)</span><br />
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There is widespread concern the landlord will file another MCI application for the latest work because--the owner claims--as cited a few paragraphs earlier, repairs alone will not fix the problems. And, DHCR permits total rehabs.</span><br />
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This is a hugely controversial facet of the MCI program, because very often, owners deliberately allow conditions to deteriorate so considerably simple repairs won't suffice, as described in an <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/12/tenants-rip-program-tying-rent-hikes-to.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article</span></a> I wrote last December. It's effectively a perverse incentive to reward doing the absolutely wrong thing.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">By the way, when HPD finally did send an inspector earlier this year (who miraculously appeared to be a diligent and dedicated worker), we discovered all the complaints should have been lodged about the roof itself and not about the apartment. The laundry list of complaints were, therefore, dismissed on a technicality--even though many were made over the telephone with an employee from either HPD or DOB, who could have apprised him of this at any point because conversations were had in each case. Frankly, who would have ever thought to do this, as the damage was inside the apartment?</span><br />
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DHCR has yet to respond or send anyone.</span><br />
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I can't omit that the walk through with the managing agent and contractor included talk the work would involve sheet rock to cover the damage, and then plaster. Yet, when the workers appeared, no sheet rock materialized, so he now worries whatever mending was done will be insufficient to prevent a recurrence. Also, my boyfriend was adamant about not allowing the repairs to even start before the roof was complete because he wanted to ensure everything was dry, though management lobbied him repeatedly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />And, it's not as if he was or will ever be compensated for the amount of time and energy he spent cleaning up the water damage, going around the apartment<b> </b>preemptively popping air and water pockets, and twice having to single-handedly move furniture from room to room to allow for the repairs<b>. </b></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">He managed to fill another 55-gallon can with water-soaked wall paper he personally stripped because otherwise they would have just painted over the paper. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b>He will never get back the hours wasted trying to negotiate when the repairs would be made with both the managing agent and then the contractors. Nor for the work he had to turn down to be available for either management or the days work was done, because he didn't trust them to do a competent job unsupervised--given the track record, would you?</span><br />
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The point of this tale is two-fold:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. Not only to give a glimpse into the not-uncommon pressures under which regulated tenants are forced to live, but to underscore something my boyfriend told me. Your home, he said, is supposed to be your safe place away from the enormous stresses already placed on our day-to-day lives as New Yorkers. To instead have this respite be the source of them--for eight long months--was almost too much for him to bear. </span><br />
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One can only imagine what the physical state or mindset must be of tenants who face seriously dangerous conditions like toxic mold or no heat in winter everyday.</span><br />
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Whatever your view of rent regulations may be, we're still talking about tenants who are contractually obligated to pay rent in return for a safe place to live. NY State's warrant of habitability is supposed to guarantee a certain standard of just that--habitability.<b> </b></span><br />
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However, DHCR--which oversees most regulated-related issues including MCIs--and the city's housing agency, HPD, give landlords enormous latitude and flexibility to circumvent these commitments. There are also countless existing loopholes to facilitate this kind of activity.</span><br />
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Both agencies are notorious for looking the other way--or worse--time and time again when tenants are living in sub par conditions. As <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">recounted</span></a> previously on <i>Ethics Ain't Pretty</i>, HPD can barely recognize what might be considered harassment, even though it's reached epic proportions. </span><br />
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2. The other is to remind readers the state's rent laws are set to expire mid-June. Extending the current laws alone will not suffice in helping tenants. An important tenet of what activists are advocating is to reform the MCI system--not only in what can be considered an MCI, but in the way tenants pay for these "improvements" in perpetuity, long after a landlord has recouped the initial investment (because after all, it IS an investment to keep your property in working order.) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even though DHCR initially granted a $200 per month increase, the agency later modified the ruling to about $60. However, despite the modification, that $200 still applies to the base rent and all future increases will be calculated with that amount as the starting point. All part of the game...</span><br />
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Every NYC regulated tenant--and anyone who cares about fairness and keeping the city remotely diverse, whether economically or racially--must convey this message to their state legislators and the governor</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">TakeBackNYC, a</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"> new coalition of small business owners, residents and community organizations will be hosting a </span><a href="http://takebacknyc.nyc/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">forum</span></a></span><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b> </b>on <b>Thursday, June 4th, 2015 @ 7pm at St. Joseph’s High School, 80 Willoughby Street</b></span><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>.</b> </span></span><br />
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As was the case with a March forum, the goal is to allow different stakeholders to learn about and bring awareness to the problem, and its root cause: exorbitant rents and a lack of rights for commercial tenants. I've </span><a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2015/03/last-hope-for-mom-and-pops-in-nyc.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">recounted</span></a><span style="color: white;"> ad nauseum on this blog about the situation and how political it is, mainly because it involves REBNY and big real estate--who want to maintain their unfettered ability to make the largest profits as possible, facilitated by our city's government.</span></span><br />
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They'll also discuss the different proposals currently under consideration in the City Council. That there are even multiple "solutions" and now acknowledgement of an actual crises of mass closings is in itself a minor victory for the small business community. Among them is the 'Small Business Jobs Survival Act,' which is the solution most supported by real small business owners and activists. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">There's also a #SAVENYC </span><a href="http://www.deadflowersproductions.com/2015/05/savenyc-brooklyn-show.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">event</span></a><span style="color: white;"> scheduled for </span><b style="color: white;">Saturday, June 6,</b><span style="color: white;"> featuring The Rocksteady 7. Doors open @8pm, </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Hank's Saloon, 46 Third Avenue at Atlantic, Brooklyn, NY. </span><br />
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ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-8441121644790870702015-05-01T14:48:00.002-04:002015-05-05T13:59:27.452-04:00What's missing from #OneNYC? Why losing NYC character is important, RGB increases, #SAVENYC event tomorrow....<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Since my last post, here are a few more businesses </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">that I saw on Seinfeld re-runs</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> which have also vanished: United Artists movie theater in Times Square, 50th Street Guild movie theater, Putamayo, Chock Full o'Nuts coffee shops...</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And speaking of businesses, it's hugely curious the de Blasio administration's new <a href="http://www1.nyc.gov/html/onenyc/index.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">#</span></a><a href="http://www1.nyc.gov/html/onenyc/index.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">OneNYC</span></a> (his version of Mayor Bloomberg's sustainability plan) includes a purported goal of lifting people out of poverty, while simultaneously appearing to ignore one of the most sure-fire measures that has accomplished this. Small businesses have traditionally been considered a major pathway for low-income earners to achieve social mobility. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In fact, small businesses in general are often the only employers of the least desirable, like people with little education or with a criminal record, because they take chances, including in hiring. Just starting a small businesses implies you're a chance-taker, as the odds are overwhelmingly against you at the outset. And, you can be sure big corporations don't take similar hiring risks, and government hiring usually involves rules, regulations and certain minimum requirements.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yet, there is not a single reference to saving an existing business or to job retention in #OneNYC, or anywhere else in the administration's repertoire, for that matter.</span><br />
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Depending upon whom you ask, immigrants own either almost 50 percent of all NYC small businesses according to the city's small business agency, or more than 80 percent, small biz advocates like the <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://savenycjobs.org/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Small Business Congress</span></a> </span>(SBC) estimate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regardless, why would the mayor's plan ignore existing businesses? You can talk about creating jobs, workforce development and better job training up the wazoo, but why wouldn't you do anything to protect those that already exist? </span><br />
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This heartfelt <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/14ce3225ced74083"><span style="color: #ea9999;">editorial</span></a> written by an immigrant small business owner goes to the crux of what's wrong with the city's two decades of ignoring the needs of our mom and pop stores--a policy still in place and seemingly not in any danger of imminent change.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">#OneNYC's biggest "initiative" to directly help the poor is raising the minimum wage, an admirable and necessary goal. However, it's a somewhat simplistic and one-sided solution that could ultimately backfire, if it alone is enacted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To put this into perspective, understand NYC small businesses contend both with exorbitant rents IN ADDITION to often paying a landlord's passed-on property taxes. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Throw in a living wage requirement, or anything that could lower revenues for many mom and pops, and that could very well be the tipping point. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's just too much pressure--something inevitably has to give. We could potentially see widespread closures and massive amounts of job layoffs.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, before you think I'm adopting some reactionary position suggesting a living wage is less important than keeping small businesses open, that misses the critical point. It's not an either or question---we should be able to have both.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The key reasons the city's mom and pops operate within such a hostile climate are twofold:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1-The unfettered speculative real estate market--rising </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">rent is a major cause of prices increasing, but wages are stagnating simultaneously, and e</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">very lease renewal puts more pressure on wages. Every rent increase essentially takes away any flexibility a small business owner may have had and that covers how much workers are paid above minimum wage. Steve Null from the SBC said,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "There's a jobs AND wages crisis, and its connected. [Real estate]</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> speculation and profiteering is causing inflation." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2-The top-down economic policy started under Mayor Giuliani, but expanded as if on steroids under Bloomberg; </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As Null explained, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">instead of the city asking small biz owners 'How can we help you pay more [to your workers]?,' i</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">t ignores the environment under which they operate, permitting speculators to keep making bigger profits. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"You can have better wages or higher landlord profits, but not both. You have to make an economic priority," Null said.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's not kid ourselves--we all know the main reasons small business after small business close in NYC--especially these days--are astronomical rent increases or a tenant being denied a new lease.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To help paint the picture, the SBC described some of the most common results when a commercial lease expires:</span><br />
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<li><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a death sentence for many long-established businesses, arts and cultural institutions, and for thousands of jobs;</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 20px;"><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It perpetuates sky-high rents, the changing character of city neighborhoods and loss of an energy and spirit to that community that can't be replaced;</span></span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20px;">The loss of opportunity for social mobility and critical first job experience for lower </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20px;">income</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20px;"> families;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 20px;">Countless empty storefronts on main street, with some spaces warehoused for years to maintain artificially high rents.</span></li>
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The mayor can change this immediately if he so chooses. After all, as previously written in <i>EAP</i>, <a href="http://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=452228&GUID=42F34849-58F6-4B80-97FB-3BD48A5DDD7B&Search=&Options"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Council Member</span></a> Bill de Blasio</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> was once a sponsor of the <i>'Small Business Jobs Survival Act' <a href="http://eastvillagernews.com/2013/06/will-a-democrat-for-mayor-stand-up-for-small-stores/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">(SBJSA)</span></a></i>, which he called a means to fighting economic injustice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The SBJSA is intended to equalize the one-sided relationship between commercial tenants and landlords by bestowing tenants with rights: equal rights to negotiate and mediation,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> to a lease renewal, and to a lease that would cover a decent time span.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And this bill applies not only to retail tenants, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">but also cultural/arts organizations and professional offices</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">--as opposed to at least one other proposal currently floating around. Unfortunately</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">,</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> these desperately needed rights seem to have disappeared from the mayor's brain.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It shouldn't be surprising given the deputy mayor for housing and economic development, who recently told a radio interviewer in a stunning example of cluelessness, "New Yorkers have a tendency to over-romanticize the city's past...to rewrite history. Change is hard but change can also be great." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How can someone with such authority and responsibility be so incredibly wrong? Then again, given her chosen and limited frame of reference--predominantly Goldman Sach's Urban Investment Group and Giuliani's HPD--I guess it's not that shocking.</span><br />
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Jeremiah Moss, creator of the Vanishing-NY blog and the #SAVENYC campaign, articulately explained why the DM is so deluded, in a segment I produced for WBAI radio's 'The Morning Show' on April 16:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>I hear this argument a lot, that it's just all about nostalgia, and it's NOT all about nostalgia. It's not about the past really, it's about the present and a very real problem in the present of NYC losing its unique character. So, while many of the places we're losing are older--older places i think are like elderly people, the most vulnerable in this society--it's really about preserving and protecting what makes New York, New York. </i></span><br />
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And that's not a nostalgic endeavor, that's about wanting to have a place with character, and we know NY is losing its character. We're hearing about it now everyday. We hear about it from celebrities. We hear about it from tourists. We hear about it from writers. It shows up in film... on Saturday Night Live. This is clearly something that most people agree upon...It's [the city] not there anymore, and it's disappearing faster and faster everyday.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Like clockwork, the Rent Guideline Board's (RGB) just-released preliminary increase numbers for stabilized lease renewals simply underscore how utterly meaningless the administration has been about affordability--and sadly, how beholden it is to the real estate industry. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last year's shenanigans were bad enough. But in a year where owners costs have demonstrably dropped, it seems as though our progressive mayor--with his total control of RGB appointments and the cover the RGB's own data offered--if he had wanted a freeze or negligent increases, the mayor could have easily gotten them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Instead, we got 0-2 percent increases for one-year lease renewals and 0.5-</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3.5 percent for two. One tenant activist wrote: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>BDB/Alicia Glen Screw Tenants Again. </b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; font-style: italic;">T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>his year the argument for a rent freeze, or even a decrease, and the accompanying data, are even stronger. While the freeze is still in play, the upper boundaries are even higher than last year. And for a two-year lease, the lower number.... is almost a full percentage point higher than last year's 2.75 percent. With the decrease in landlord expenses, especially fuel, a 0.5 percent increase is obscene. These ranges were set with the full approval of Mayor de Blasio.</i> (Glen is the DM to whom I referred earlier.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It should be noted the RGB's own <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/html/research/cresearch.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">2015 Price Index of Operating Costs</span></a> for rent-stabilized apartment buildings increased by a mere 0.5 percent. T</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">he federal government's 2015 </span><a href="http://www.ssa.gov/news/cola/"><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">cost of living</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> adjustment (in this case, increase) was 1.7 percent.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How on earth are these ranges justified, especially for two-year renewals? This administration was welcomed by many who expected a deliverance after so many years of exclusively pro-landlord disproportionate increases. Disappointment shouldn't be the only response. People should be irate and inundating their Council Member, Speaker and Mayor with calls and emails. They should be marching on those offices. This cannot and should not be accepted as a fait accompli.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Don't forget #SAVENYC's <a href="http://arlenesgrocery.tunestub.com/event.cfm?id=202474"><span style="color: #ea9999;">rally/concert</span></a> at Arlene's Grocery, in what remains of Manhattan's LES tomorrow, Saturday, May 2 @10pm. Admission is $5, with appearance by the very fabulous and entertaining NYC stalwart, performance artist Penny Arcade, and original NYC punk and front man of the Dictators-NYC (formerly the Dictators), Handsome Dick Manitoba. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Having seen both perform several times, get ready for lots of fun. Because both are veterans of the city's one time thriving underground/alternative scene, prepare to also be schooled in why NYC's disappearing character is so damned important.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Update and Correction: The RGB's 2-year lease renewal range is 0.5-3.5 percent, not 3.5-5 percent. Additional information has also been added.</span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-58002213764700310252015-03-30T14:51:00.000-04:002015-07-22T13:12:55.417-04:00A TALE pt. 2; SBJSA; EV Explosion, RGB......<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2nd UPDATE: There are reports out of the immediate area affected by the gas explosion that the local businesses are really hurting. From a friend on 6th Street: <i>As for local businesses, things are bad because we haven't had access to them, everything has been blocked off. Tuesdays was the first day I could get to the supermarket, and my laundry place, which is on 7th Street, still has police barricades and cops (you have to tell them where you are going.) Gem Spa, which I have been to twice this week, is only accessible from St. Marks side, the block is still all barricaded except as of yesterday, and the east side of street now has area where pedestrians can walk.... Had sweet conversations with supermarket with supermarket and laundry people, they were happy to see me (and everyone.) </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">PLEASE PATRONIZE THESE LONG-ESTABLISHED BUSINESSES: GEM SPA NEWS STAND, MOISHE'S KOSHER BAKERY, B&H DAIRY, STAGE RESTAURANT, PORTO RICO COFFEE/TEA STORE... LET'S PREVENT A REPEAT OF WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THE EAST HARLEM EXPLOSION-- those businesses are still struggling, state-promised relief hasn't yet materialized a year later, and the city appears to be MIA.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">UPDATE: <i>Check out this blog and video about the area's <a href="http://www.progressqueens.com/news/2015/3/30/2011-video-of-manhole-explosion-and-water-main-break-aftermath-at-site-of-east-village-gas-explosion"><span style="color: #ea9999;">history</span></a> of disasters and the familiar conjecture why it has been allowed to go on.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The latest building explosion occurred one block north of my own. My sincerest sympathies to the tenants of those buildings whose lives are now in shambles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Construction--<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/ruptured-gas-line-brooklyn-courthouse-closes-streets-article-1.2165416"><span style="color: #ea9999;">both legal and illegal</span></a>--have placed the neighborhood under siege for years. The plumbing and gas work the city had stopped just a short time before the explosion will probably result in some kind of criminal charges against the contractor or subcontractor. However, it is the landlord who should most be held most accountable. Sadly, the likelihood of this is not great, based on history. Business as usual for NYC real estate......</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It should be be noted that since Giuliani instituted <a href="http://themidtowngazette.com/2013/10/leave-certification-to-the-pros-architects-say/" style="color: #ea9999;"><span style="color: #ea9999;">self-certification</span></a>--12 whole weeks of waiting otherwise!--that wild west development mentality to which i alluded last post is the norm, not the exception. We don't know if the plethora of construction crews and contractors who work across the boroughs are licensed and/or union--the only measures that ensure codes and safety regulations are strictly followed--and even then, it's still no <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/de-blasio-gas-pipe-tampering-blame-explosion-article-1.2164833"><span style="color: #ea9999;">guarantee</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In other words, the city has enabled circumvention of rules to accelerate construction, too often at the expense of workers and residents alike. When there is malfeasance, the city has usually slapped the culprit's<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/deadbeat-contractors-developers-owe-city-millions-millions-fines-article-1.413042"><span style="color: #ea9999;"> wrist</span></a>, with little follow up. Remember how many offenses it took for architect <a href="http://therealdeal.com/blog/2011/10/25/robert-scarano-loses-final-appeal-against-dob-can-no-longer-file-his-own-documents/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Robert Scarano</span></a> to lose his license?<b> </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The Building's Department has been badly-run and underfunded for many years now, notoriously one of the city's two worst agencies, and t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">he latest <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/building-inspectors-surrender-cops-bribery-scheme-article-1.2109403"><span style="color: #ea9999;">scandal</span></a> is further evidence of this. An <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150319/REAL_ESTATE/150319835/crackdown-on-buildings-dept-corruption-isnt-over#utm_source=Daily%20Alert&utm_medium=alert-html&utm_campaign=Newsletters"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article</span></a> quoted DOI Commissioner Mark Peters, who said</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "a leading reason bribery recurs is that inspectors have the unilateral power to quickly stop projects or let them resume--as they should, he said, in case of a safety hazard. But the combination of modest wages and the authority to make decisions worth millions of dollars to builders is a recipe for graft." It should be noted there is so far no evidence of bribery in the case of the East Village explosion.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One would think tightening-up city oversight of these potentially dangerous situations--whether it'</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">s a crane toppling over, ill-equipped private contractors working on volatile gas lines, or architects designing buildings that exceed site zoning--would finally become a priority, even before this latest incident. Alas, as I mention later in this post, the current administration (at least so far) seems to feel building at any cost should remain the priority.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Meanwhile, we should also be mourning the loss of a beautiful building, a wonderful example of early 20th-century architecture--a dying breed--probably because of greed. Has NYU already approached the owner about buying the land to construct yet another shoe-box looking over sized dormitory, as they can get extra bulk using a community facility bonus?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my most recent post of <i>Ethics Ain't Pretty</i></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">, I wrote about the plight of the city's small businesses, and the 'Small Business Jobs Survival Act.' The matter was really underscored lately as I found myself watching Seinfeld re-runs, circa 1994-96. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Every single<span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;"> local store they showed (or used) as an exterior location no longer exists</span>:</span> the Regency and Metro movie theatres, Antique </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Boutique, Shakespeare &Company and Brentano's book stores, Love's discount drugs, the Improv, and a small Manhattan antique/junk store formerly located on 2nd Avenue between 3rd and 4th Streets. Frankly, it became sort of a morbid game for me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I'm grateful the #SAVENYC campaign has garnered some traction, and I'm encouraged the organizers are beginning to realize momentum doesn't necessarily lead to action. Generally speaking, we'll all be waiting a long time by relying simply on the hope elected officials will do the right thing. It's still up to average citizens to back up that momentum using tools like: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">-Phone calls and letters to your council member, council speaker and mayor; </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">-Street petition drives, as well as online: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black;"><a href="http://www.change.org/p/save-our-jobs-support-the-small-business-jobs-survival-act-file-int-0402-2014?utm_medium=email&utm_source=organization&utm_campaign=optins_downloaded" target="_blank"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Save Our Jobs: Support the Small Business Jobs Survival Act (File #: Int 0402-2014)</span></a>, </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">and make sure the petitions get to the area's electeds as well as an individual landlord;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">-Flyer distributions;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">-Holding public events like the recent Little Italy action, more forums, and press conferences where you essentially shame council members (especially those of immigrant origin) who don't support the bill, and thank those who do--utilize the myriad of community media vehicles, especially in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Before I was a journalist, in my previous life I worked on political campaigns. It is critical to understand success will only come from the grassroots upwards, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">especially because the opposition is well-funded (the real estate industry), intractable (the bureaucracy), and either compromised or lacking in morale courage or political will (too many of our elected officials.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>YOU MUST BE VISIBLE.</b> This will be a street battle. It will only be won block by block, district by district, and borough by borough. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now, back to the main point of this entry, which as you will see, is extremely prescient. I started having regular and very specific nightmares in the mid-late 1990's that tortured me--mostly of my neighborhood--where every single building had been torn down and replaced by giant </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">interchangeable shoe-box luxury towers. Not a single store remained from when I first moved in (or earlier), not a silhouette was familiar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My own building kept morphing into different shapes, but more importantly, I usually could not gain access. Sometimes the front door was moved; other times it simply didn't exist. The dinky elevator's door rarely opened, and if it did, would never stop at my floor. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The nightmares weren't reserved for just my neighborhood and in fact, were amply repeated throughout the city. Every institution that helped to make NYC so unique--the rep movie theaters, used book, record and clothing stores, decent clubs, affordable (often ethnic) restaurants, historic markets and bakeries--any place that once offered something different from the norm all disappeared. The small businesses owned and run by people who worked 15 hour days, often seven days a week--people who were my friends and neighbors, vanished. (That one played repeatedly for a time when a three-generation Palestinian family who ran my local pet store was forced to close after 18 years because they were denied a new lease, no matter what the terms.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sometimes, they were more sinister:</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">large institutions (usually academic or medical) literally gobbled up everything within sight. Giant development projects forced parades of the displaced to shuffle across various avenues, desperately in search of a safe and affordable place to resettle, with the ranks of the homeless swelling to never before seen heights. There were variations on these themes, but you get the drift.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then, a little more than a year ago, I had this lovely dream where the darkness engulfing the city was replaced by light. As cliched as it may sound, for a while there, my dreams were optimistic and hopeful, even when they had nothing to do in substance with the city in which I grew up. (The same city where, after two years of college in DC, I transferred to a school here. I never missed my family, just my city.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After a few months, the lightness began to dissipate. Slowly, some of the old nightmares returned. Nowadays, I have them regularly, interspersed with an entire set of new ones. O</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">n too many fronts, it's starting to feel like there was never an election, a new mayor or </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">new administration</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">That old feeling of deja vu is now coming on strongly.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's the <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nycha-defends-selling-portions-projects-developers-article-1.2110755"><span style="color: #ea9999;">secret deal</span></a> City Hall <a href="http://www.progressqueens.com/news/2015/3/10/city-comptroller-department-of-investigation-mum-on-controversial-nycha-sale"><span style="color: #ea9999;">reached</span></a> to sell certain NYCHA apartments--a variation of an idea that first originated with the Bloomberg regime. And despite his outspokenness against the Bloomberg plan <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/bill-de-blasio-slams-nycha-leaders-bloomberg-article-1.1481369"><span style="color: #ea9999;">to sell</span></a> NYCHA land, it was just reported the de Blasio administration plans to do <span style="color: #ea9999;"><u>e</u></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-nycha-selling-green-space-developers-article-1.2165863"><span style="color: #ea9999;">xactly</span></a> that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is great irony in the fact the deal was made with not only very well-connected firms regardless of who has been mayor, but ones with dubious reputations for less-than-stellar work, <a href="http://www.progressqueens.com/news/2014/12/15/david-koch-connected-to-firm-that-lobbied-on-behalf-of-new-nycha-investor"><span style="color: #ea9999;">L&M Development Partners/BFC Partners</span></a> (who work together quite a bit in the field of affordable housing). Guess who one of L&M's lending partners is--Goldman Sach's Urban Investment Group, which our current deputy mayor for housing and economic development used to run. L&M also has a <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/city-hires-housing-firms-cheat-workers-wages-article-1.1754687"><span style="color: #ea9999;">questionable</span></a> track-record regarding subcontractors, fair wages and workers, hiring one even after the firm's owners "plead guilty to criminal charges of tax evasion and paying workers off the books."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So, the city is looking to improve living conditions for the poorest from companies commonly known not only to build shoddily, but who are also less than willing to correct their mistakes. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">BFC even had the <a href="http://nydn.us/11Vrr3u"><span style="color: #ea9999;">chutzpah</span></a> to unsuccessfully </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">sue<span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/exclusive-harlem-homeowners-hit-back-developer-4-5m-suit-article-1.1753057"><span style="color: #ea9999;">homeowners</span></a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">to shut them up for having the nerve to complain to their elected officials, given that the homes were subsidized with public money.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, BFC first rose to prominence in the 1990's during the Giuliani administration for <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/16/nyregion/wary-of-a-new-threat-community-garden-activists-in-new-york-look-back.html?_r=0"><span style="color: #ea9999;">tearing down community gardens</span>.</a> Hmmm--isn't that interesting? That same aforementioned deputy mayor was a senior official in Giuliani's HPD, the point agency involved in selling off the gardens. I personally don't believe in coincidences when it comes to real estate in New York.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />The development <span style="color: #ea9999;">"<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/queens/eleventh-hour-deal-paves-lux-development-article-1.2009004"><span style="color: #ea9999;">deals</span></a>"</span> negotiated thus far are <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140310/REAL_ESTATE/303099985/sweet-domino-sugar-deal-done-sour-smaller-victory-than-touted"><span style="color: #ea9999;">hardly</span></a> a vast improvement in terms of the actual <a href="http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2015/01/dissecting-de-blasio-much-of-100.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">number</span></a> of affordable units created. There's also the little matter of how quickly the city jumped to negotiate with a developer/landlord who has a history of harassing rent-stabilized tenants in an effort to vacate regulated units--precisely the kind of behavior about which Mayor de Blasio has been outspoken against. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, the perpetual question, "<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/atlantic-yards-affordable-housing-families-making-100g-officials-article-1.1847375"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Affordable for whom</span></a><span style="color: #ea9999;">?</span>" appears to be answered in a shockingly similar fashion as when it was asked of the Bloomberg administration. (A-not for the people who need it most. No matter how you spin it, people or families earning $100,000 a year or more simply don't need the same kind of assistance. Whether they choose to send their children to exorbitantly priced private schools should not be a public policy quandary for the rest of us, especially today with options like school choice.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">During the mayor's race, candidate de Blasio repeatedly expressed his belief t</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">he city just hadn't benefited </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">appropriately for such developer incentive programs to continue, particularly regarding financial bonuses to build affordable housing. However, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mayor de Blasio's recent 'State of the City' address and subsequent machinations have made it clear 421a with perhaps some tinkering, and its cousin, IZ, are both under serious consideration.<b> </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many don't realize how similar IZ is to something like 421a. In the end, they both predominantly lead to large towers, commercial and tenant displacement, segregation, and too few many actually affordable units.<b> </b>All the while, the money keeps rolling in for developers--why else would REBNY and its media shills keep maintaining that we need these incentives because otherwise no affordable housing would be built.</span><br />
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It's been widely <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/advocates-politicians-push-housing-tax-break-article-1.2097458"><span style="color: #ea9999;">reported</span></a> the city spends in excess of one billion dollars per year on 421a alone, but what about the ancillary costs?<b> </b>As David Jones, president and CEO of the Community Service Society <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/david-jones-throw-421-a-start-article-1.2112403"><span style="color: #ea9999;">wrote</span></a>, that expenditure exceeds "the entire budget of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), which enforces the housing code, supports the development of new housing and distributes 33,000 federal Section 8 vouchers." Jones also noted that amount could pay for about 100,000 new rent vouchers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's the concomitant costs when residential tenants are priced out so they either have to move--sometimes away from the city--or worse, become homeless.<b> </b>The city already pays about $3000 per month per homeless family for the privilege of being crammed into a dismal, tiny slum hotel. Yes, this is an area where the mayor and his highly qualified HRA commissioner are committed to improving conditions, but it will take time to undo so many years of willful neglect, disregard and callousness.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />There is also a loss to the tax base when local businesses--usually long established--are forced out. It's been well proven local businesses contribute more to the local economy than franchises or chain stores do. And, what about the associated job loss, particularly damaging to immigrant and other vulnerable populations?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mayor de Blasio's latest budget allots for more legal services in <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150323/BLOGS04/150329973/official-admits-sacrifices-will-be-made-to-meet-mayors-housing-"><span style="color: #ea9999;">gentrifying areas</span></a>, ie, those locations his administration will be singling out for the bulk of development and added density. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But that extra money won't help tenants outside of those neighborhoods. And, it does little to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-shank/nyc-housing-a-clear-and-present-danger_b_6962090.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">correct HPD itself</span></a>, where the root of so many problems originate.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Furthermore, few seem to take into account the impact of more towers and more people on the city's decrepit infrastructure. Our mass transit system is already over capacity, while both the city and state keep reducing their portion of funding. The cost of much delayed repairs to city bridges has become astronomical.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In many areas, there are insufficient numbers of public schools and/or seats in those schools. The energy power grid continues to age and deteriorate, with <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/ruptured-gas-line-brooklyn-courthouse-closes-streets-article-1.2165416"><span style="color: #ea9999;">ruptures</span></a> and </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">14 recent manhole cover <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/manhole-blast-injures-firefighter-brooklyn-article-1.2139469"><span style="color: #ea9999;">explosions</span></a> in Brooklyn alone. This point now seems particularly salient.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We face increasing numbers of water main breaks, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">subway and street floodings, and the fairly recent phenomenon of <a href="http://gothamist.com/2007/08/11/the_depressing.php"><span style="color: #ea9999;">sewage back-ups</span></a> over the last two decades. It's not a coincidence these events have occurred at the same time of unbridled development with little thought to overall planning.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Granted, issues like climate change aren't something the mayor alone can solve, but he can certainly make sure the city plans more efficiently and effectively. Yet, the department of City Planning is something of a misnomer because it implies the chair, commissioners and staff take a macro-view on how and what shapes NYC. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In reality, they lurch from mega-development project to mega project, zonings (sometimes up and sometimes down), and now <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zoning-qa/zoning-for-affordability-1.shtml"><span style="color: #ea9999;">rezonings</span></a>, if Mayor de Blasio has his way. According to Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, these <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/opinions/5633-citywide-rezoning-plan-would-benefit-developers-hurt-neighborhoods-de-blasio-berman"><span style="color: #ea9999;">rezonings</span></a> would mostly result in buildings 20-30 percent higher, even in contextual zoning districts. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In areas where affordable housing has been included within these districts, the results have been mixed--not the influx of affordable units the city is promising will manifest. And this would be completely separate from any incentive or bonus programs like 421a, IZ, low income housing loans, etc., so developers can still get these breaks as well. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Finally, the aesthetic argument the city is promulgating is simply ludicrous and ironic--that NY would be oh-so-much more livable without the boxiness of contextual zoning---BY ALLOWING TALLER BUILDINGS EVERYWHERE, to block out what little sun we have remaining to us. Because, that strategy has worked so well in the past....</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">Berman wrote in a recent </span><a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/opinions/5633-citywide-rezoning-plan-would-benefit-developers-hurt-neighborhoods-de-blasio-berman"><span style="color: #ea9999;">op ed</span></a><span style="color: white;">, "Fewer restrictions on height, allowing grander floor-to-ceiling heights and apartments with more commanding views, would fetch developers even higher prices. But it certainly would not make these new apartments more affordable. And neighborhoods would pay the price with less light, air and sky, and a loss of the character and scale they fought so hard to maintain... The main beneficiaries of these aspects of the 'Zoning for Quality and Affordability' plan appear to be real estate interests, not those who care about quality design or affordable housing. It's likely no coincidence that these proposed changes are ones that deep-pocketed developers have sought for years. Now, wrapped in claims about quality and affordability, they finally have a chance to get them." Enough said.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Not widely commented on at the time, the mayor's affordable housing plan from last year actually calls for accelerating the land use and environmental review processes, and making it easier for developers to build. Often, those reviews are the only lines of defense for a neighborhood to fight against the vast resources and lawyers of a developer, and a government more interested in enabling and enriching them than ensuring a habitable city. Despite its name, the city's new zoning plan underscores the real priority.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pundits and journalists alike are missing the broader picture: it's not just examining how a specific program works--or doesn't, as is really the case. We can continue to examine 421a or IZ or any some such developer incentive scheme, or even the zoning plan, individually. But, we're not connecting the dots, to the detriment of the people who call this city home.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As spring begins, so does the annual farce over lease renewals at the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB). The Rent Stabilization Association has already begun its radio campaign, first with general anti-rent regulations ads. Soon, we'll be subjected to the woe-is-me tales narrated by </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">(allegedly)</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">small landlords, many of whom live in their own buildings. Too bad so many regulated buildings are actually owned by large companies...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Additionally, there's already a bad precedent--where last year's vociferous</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">pledges for a rent freeze failed to materialize thanks to <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140702/BLOGS04/140709987/sources-de-blasio-aide-pushed-rent-increase"><span style="color: #ea9999;">interference</span></a> from Mayor de Blasio's own deputy mayor for housing and economic development. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Frankly, I'm frightened to see what's in store for stabilized tenants this year. There's been no similar promises</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">so far, despite the massive decline in oil costs. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Many people don't realize the board has never not voted for increases in its history.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And there was this odd (and a little creepy) </span><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://our.cityofnewyork.us/page/content/affordable-housing/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">video</span></a>, </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">which had limited distribution. Note to the mayor's communications team: justing saying it in a bunch of different languages doesn't make it so. (I hope the city didn't spend a lot of money in its production!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now comes the news the mayor appointed a Forest City Ratner executive as an owner representative to the RGB.</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ratner, of course, is best known for the Atlantic Yards </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">boondoggle</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">, </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">which helped to destroy viable Brooklyn communities.</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Where the eventual (if ever actual) "<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/atlantic-yards-affordable-housing-families-making-100g-officials-article-1.1847375"><span style="color: #ea9999;">affordable housing</span></a>" will be <a href="http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2015/01/in-de-blasios-affordable-housing.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">unaffordable</span></a> to a majority of <a href="http://atlanticyardsreport.blogspot.com/2015/01/dissecting-de-blasio-much-of-100.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">New Yorkers</span></a> who most need it, despite millions in tax abatements. </span><br />
<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><br /></b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ratner</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">cannot alone be blamed for this outcome--that would be like blaming a rat for eating garbage. Developers take advantage of whatever they can to make the greatest profits possible--it's what they do<b>. </b>That's where government is obligated to intervene, and where both the city and state have failed miserably.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">What on earth can this person actually know about living in a rent-regulated apartment, an aging housing stock, and underfunded and unresponsive government agencies who regularly stand aside while landlords harass tenants, make unnecessary improvements for the reward of increased rent (often for things they should be doing in the first place) with the goal of destabilization. Last year's appointment as owner representative has a similarly dubious background.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">No, things are not boding well for the city's roughly one million stabilized apartments. And we haven't even gotten to June...</span><br />
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ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-60117318277598920352015-03-03T16:16:00.003-05:002015-09-28T14:34:32.240-04:00LAST HOPE FOR MOM AND POPS IN NYC?<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">UPDATE: This recent Crain's <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150303/BLOGS04/150309982/family-biz-blames-the-city-for-firms-shrinkage"><span style="color: #ea9999;">article</span></a> demonstrates the difficulty our small businesses face on a myriad of fronts. In this case, the city has consistently failed to protect manufacturing zones, so land prices have shot up. The business ultimately had to contract, which probably means job losses (though oddly, the article doesn't say). Similarly, when a landlord only offers a one or two year lease to a commercial tenant, that makes planning for the future virtually impossible. Without the ability to plan ahead, businesses can't expand or hire additional workers. Often, because of this state of limbo, they have to cut staff. The SBSJA would require lease renewals to be a minimum of ten years.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Over the summer, I <a href="http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/government/5155-new-york-city-small-business-crisis-continues"><span style="color: #ea9999;">reported</span></a> about the latest revival in the City Council of the <span style="color: #ea9999;">'<a href="http://savenycjobs.org/jobs-survival-act"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Small Business Jobs Survival Act</span></a>'</span><span style="color: #ea9999;"> </span>(SBJSA), a bill that's been kicking around in some version since the mid-1980's and initially championed by then-UWS member, Ruth Messinger. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The *Villager newspaper has been one of the few media outlets consistently reporting on this issue over the last few years, including a vital explanation of history and the political context. I urge you to read this recent </span><a href="http://thevillager.com/2015/01/22/mayor-and-speaker-are-m-i-a-on-small-businesses/"><span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">article</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The bill would require arbitration between a landlord and a tenant to negotiate a fair lease for both parties, equalizing the currently lopsided relationship. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As it stands now, commercial tenants have no rights whatsoever.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Significantly, it would definitively stop the rampant extortion by some landlords in order to grant a renewal--especially in immigrant communities. Even though this is </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">tec</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">hnically already illegal, it's rarely been an issue about which law enforcement and elected officials have been particularly motivated to take action.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b>In many ways, it's a perfect crime as few complain, especially immigrants.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's been well documented local businesses contribute more to the local economy than franchises or chain stores do.</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But we often forget about those predominantly employed by them--</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">immigrants, the under-educated and under-employed and even felons--</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">and how these businesses have successfully served as a gateway out of poverty for many low-income families.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And by the way, many people don't realize this situation has also been a death knoll for</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b>countless arts and cultural groups, who have also been really affected by astronomical rents and rent increases.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Although probably about fifteen years too late to be truly effective, activists see the SBJSA as the only real way not only to save these NYC institutions, but also thousands of jobs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, the chair of the Council's Small Business Committee thinks the answer is to have Albany subsidize landlords to not rent-gouge. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Only in New York.... </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">But this plan has some key flaws. First, it's voluntary. Second, it relies on state action--not exactly a sure thing. It would not stop the extortion. Lastly, his idea would give landlords who have commercial tenants property tax subsidies, but apparently ignores the fact that most owners pass those taxes on to their tenants.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And, make no mistake--the fight has been and remains a real uphill battle. They </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">are facing off against a litany of obstacles which include:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1-the power of big real estate;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2-the increasing suburbanization and homogeneity of NYC.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Small business advocates have little faith in the city's official representatives of their community, especially </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">the agency for Small Business Services</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(SBS) and Business Improvement Districts (BIDS). </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is critically important to understand how things have gotten so bad<b>. </b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">BIDS are predominantly comprised of banks and property <i>owners, </i>who have a very different agenda than do commercial tenants. In fact, governing laws of BIDS mandate the majority of board members must be landlords. It's a blatant conflict of interest. So is the fact that SBS pushes its various loan programs with some of the very same lenders who sit on BIDS. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Plus, banks themselves play a giant part in destabilizing neighborhoods because they considerably skew the rental curve upwards. Banks are willing to pay a lot more in rent so that most other tenants are simply priced out of the equation, and many landlords are singularly concerned with obtaining premium rents--not the character of a community or its needs.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And SBS is teaming with former employees from assorted BIDS and pro-development entities like the city's Economic Development Corporation or the state equivalent, Empire State Development. Both have been historically unfriendly to small businesses, particularly if large scale development projects are involved.<b> </b>Quite a few at SBS are Bloomberg-holdovers. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In fact, of the executive staff listed on its <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/about/sbsleadership.shtml#commissioner"><span style="color: #ea9999;">website</span></a>, I know of only one person with any direct experience owning a small business--and I know about that person from when I was writing my article. It's not even listed in her bio.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This point cannot be dismissed, though SBS staff have and do. Can you imagine say, the Transportation or Environmental Protection departments with almost no leadership having a background in those given fields? It would be completely unacceptable--so why is it permitted at SBS?</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well, one main explanation is the power of the financial and real estate sectors. They don't want to see the SBSJA passed because it would change</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> the unfettered ability to speculate</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It's in their best interest to keep SBS out of the hands of people who actually know something about owning or running a small business.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Interestingly, Council Member Bill de Blasio was an adamant supporter of the bill as a means to fight economic inequality--which as we all know, was a giant campaign theme for him in the mayor's race. It was actually former Council Speakers Vallone and Quinn who did everything in their power to quash it. Guess why? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However, Public Advocate, mayoral candidate and now Mayor de Blasio all but ignored his own argument, eventually towing the popular status quo line that fines, fees and regulations are the biggest <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/pr/2015_02_17_SmallBusinessFirst.shtml"><span style="color: #ea9999;">obstacles</span></a> currently facing small businesses.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Certainly, these are sometimes significant issues, but it's the difference between problems versus complaints. Business owners complain about fees and fines, but realistically, they don't generally close down because of them. They do, however, close because of the epidemic of small businesses being unable to afford leases or aren't even given the option of renewing--that's a true problem. <b> </b>At this rate, there will be no surviving independent small </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">business left.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It's highly peculiar that for all of the divisions and programs at SBS, there's no emphasis on job <i>retention, </i>nor has it been something the mayor has made a priority<i>.</i> Job creation and training, sure. And the SBS will tell you that it offers pro bono legal advice to help commercial tenants but again, if these tenants have no rights to begin with, what good is any kind of legal advise? And this program is especially <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/sbs/html/pr/2014_10_23_Neighborhood_Legal_Fellows.shtml"><span style="color: #ea9999;">galling</span></a>, in the face of what can only be construed now as willful inaction.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's also an odd disconnect within the administration. The excellent commissioner for the Human Resources Administration, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJcVssCsbnI"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Steve Banks</span></a>, told NY1 in an interview last year that their data analysis revealed a quarter of "clients" (nice Orwellian euphemism from the Rudy/Bloomberg days) who had utilized some kind of city employment program returned to the agency for assistance within a year. Banks said that given the $200 million spent on employment programs, "We need better results for people, we need programs </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">that work." So clearly, as early as a few months into the de Blasio administration, they knew what existed was not solving the problems, with the ultimate goal of helping people out of poverty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The NY1 anchor had enough wherewithal to follow up the line of thinking by asking what good job training is if there are no jobs to fill? But he didn't take that thought further in asking why aren't there the jobs, other than to recite the obvious post-recession explanation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For what it's worth, Banks' job focuses on the social needs of the city, and doesn't include land use and development. In the NYC of the 21st century, these somehow appear to be mutually exclusive and distinct areas.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As one activist emailed me, how much of the answer rests <span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white;">with the "</span></span></span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">anti-small business /pro-real estate policy" of the mayor and "progressive" Council Speaker. Speaker Mark-Viverito can't be absolved, given the role the Council has played over the years to not pass this bill, and because there is no evidence she is doing anything differently. (It would be very interesting to see how many members of the Council's central staff--particularly in areas like the newly created Development/Land Use Unit--either previously worked for or left the Council's employ to work for a developer/real estate entity. I made two formal requests to the Council's press office regarding the unit's employees and their professional backgrounds, but was seemingly ignored.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: HelveticaNeue-Light, 'Helvetica Neue Light', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, 'Lucida Grande', sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">"Does NYC have a jobs crisis with the closing of all our small businesses? Does NYC have a wage crisis, with businesses unable to pay fair wages due to paying exorbitant rents?" the activist asked. In actuality, the email read, there are three crises going on simultaneously--the closings, the job losses, "and stagnant wages at the same time as sky high prices caused by exorbitant rents. Yet, no mention of any crisis by our government. That is Bloomberg 100%." </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The data appears to bear out this sentiment. Commercial evictions during this administration remain on par with the two previous. Updated data from Landlord and Tenant Court for all five counties obtained by the Small Business Congress (SBC) to include 2014 reveals the average monthly number of</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> eviction warrants issued was 485 in 2012, 499 in 2013, and 491 for 2014 (up to August). </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Extrapolating from this data, the SBC estimates this translates into 900-1200 closings per month, and thousands of jobs lost. As I wrote last year, these numbers tend to be lower than the actual numbers because they don't include the businesses who just walked away without a fight. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For many years now, I've said the beauty of this city was always that anyone could come here and adapt to the energies of what used to make it so unique. But since Giuliani decided to become the 'Mayor of Niketown' (as expressed by the genius of Fran Lebowitz) and his push to make the city "family-friendly" at the expense of everything else, our once incomparable home is now a place where suburbanites come and expect it to change for them, conditioned by tv shows like "Sex and he City" and musicals like "Rent," all in an effort to give their sheltered little lives some glamour and excitement. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">These people are comforted by suburban norms like the chain stores that populate their insulated existences--how else can you explain Domino Pizza's presence here? Many insist on having a car--even in Manhattan--when we have one of the world's best mass transit systems (if you aren't disabled).</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frankly, the New York New York Hotel Casino in Las Vegas has more authenticity than does this current version of the city.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In what really is the last ditch effort to keep long-established businesses around, the SBC will be holding a series of forums in each borough, and have sponsored a petition urging the mayor, speaker and council members to support the SBJSA. This is the</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.change.org/p/save-our-jobs-support-the-small-business-jobs-survival-act-file-int-0402-2014?recruiter=209435266&utm_campaign=signature_receipt&utm_medium=email&utm_source=share_petition" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">link</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. All but two Manhattan members have signed on--the two representing the mid and UES.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And here is information for the first community forum, to be held in Manhattan on Thursday 3/5:</span></span><br />
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<b><u><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">A Community Forum</span></span></u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;"><b><u><span style="color: black;">Solutions to Save Small Businesses,</span></u></b><b></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><b></b><b><u>Art and Cultural Institutions</u></b></span><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_238135946" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">5</span></span> <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_238135947" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">7-9 PM</span></span></span></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Judson Memorial Church</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;"> 55 Washington Square South</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">New York, New York </span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: black;">Sponsored by: </span></b><b><i><span style="color: black;">The Villager</span></i></b><b><span style="color: black;"> and</span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Village Independent Democrats</span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Join your neighbors, local business people, and a panel of experts to discuss how we can save and protect the small businesses that are the lifeblood of o</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="14b995e77d6e1210__GoBack" style="color: #222222;"></a><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">ur community and our city. </span></span></b><b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;">Landlords now have all the rights that determine the destiny of owners, their workers, and the character and culture of an entire community. </span></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Because the gateway to the American Dream has been locked, and government has given the key freely given to big Real Estate…let’s throw a life line and <i>empower</i> our struggling small businesses drowning in a sea of greed.</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Two opposite pending legislations claiming to be the solution to save our small businesses are at City Hall and in Albany : </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">One, a new resolution was introduced at City Hall calling upon Albany to pass legislation establishing a property tax credit for commercial landlords who ”voluntarily” limit rent increases upon renewal - incentives to not rent gouge.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">The other in Council committee: the Small Business Jobs Survival Act, (S.B.J.S.A.). regulates lease renewal process giving rights to business owners to arbitrate fair lease terms and 10 year leases.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Which is the best solution? Or is there a better solution?</span></span></b><b style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;"> </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Let your voice be heard on taking real action to save our businesses, art community, neighborhood’s identity, middle class and jobs. </span></b></div>
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<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: large;">Log onto The Villager or VID website for more details.</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: x-small;">*Note: It should be acknowledged The Villager has had a controversial relationship with former Speaker Quinn in the past. </span></span></b><br />
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UPDATE: PA JAMES IS A SPONSOR, NOT PRIME SPONSOR<span style="font-size: large;">.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Coming soon: A Tale of One City, Part 2</span></b>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-11238972961190494412015-02-10T16:08:00.000-05:002015-03-16T17:00:18.031-04:00A TALE OF ONE CITY, PT. 1<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last month, an <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/12/tenants-rip-program-tying-rent-hikes-to.html"><span style="color: #e06666;">article</span></a> of mine ran dissecting the state-administered process known as 'Major Capital Improvements' (MCIs) for rent regulated apartments. The article is part of an ongoing joint <a href="http://citylimits.org/series/bringing-it-home-the-affordability-battles-of-2015"><span style="color: #e06666;">series</span></a> between City Limits and City&State on the 2015 housing affordability battles. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />The piece really raised the ire of some of the more independent tenants activists in the city. I was pilloried for including so many organizations who they perceive to be very much part of the problem. One of the most prevalent accusations over the years is that they have been co-opted and compromised by elected officials and individuals with personal agendas. Also, that they have provided cover or served as 'astroturf'' groups for former Council Speaker, Christine Quinn, to help perpetuate the lie she was committed to tenants rights. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my defense, I was forced into an untenable position as a journalist because the relevant state agency--the Division of Homes and Community Renewal (DHCR)--refused to grant any kind of interview or to respond to specific questions. I had to rely on whatever reports or analysis I could find to appropriately portray a picture about this highly dysfunctional, often unresponsive and capricious agency.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And regarding state dysfunction, it's been very interesting to read the post-arrest prognostications written about Sheldon Silver. They have ranged from <span style="color: #e06666;">"<a href="http://observer.com/2015/01/working-families-party-calls-sheldon-silver-allegations-really-troubling/"><span style="color: #e06666;">cultural</span></a>"</span> explanations to the realization that maybe Silver<span style="color: blue;"> </span>wasn't so progressive and tenant-friendly after all. One only has to remember what transpired over the <a href="http://tenant.net/alerts/Guide/index.html"><span style="color: #e06666;">1997</span></a> rent law negotiations to know where Silver's <a href="http://www.propublica.org/article/a-sheldon-silver-mystery-did-he-betray-new-york-renters"><span style="color: #e06666;">loyalty</span></a> has always been. For those reporters who are still referring to Silver as a one-time <a href="http://tenant.net/pipermail/nytenants-online/2003-June/000247.html"><span style="color: #e06666;">tenant ally</span></a>, I recommend doing a little research. Even the <a href="http://tenant.net/pipermail/nytenants-online/2003-June/000248.html"><span style="color: #e06666;">2003</span></a> negotiations were telling. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As expected, the <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20150125/POLITICS/150129891/tarnished-silver-speakers-arrest-upends-most-everything-in-albany#utm_source=Daily%20Alert&utm_medium=alert-html&utm_campaign=Newsletters"><span style="color: #e06666;">revisionism</span></a> and whitewashing has already reached a fever pitch. Many are scrambling because there are more than a few "activists" who have given Silver (and likewise, Quinn) the ability to talk out of both sides of his ass. More than a few are inevitably trying to protect their own reputations. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another key criticism</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">stems</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"> </b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">from how many support mandatory inclusionary zoning (IZ), as featured in Mayor de Blasio's affordable housing plan--particularly among so-called progressives. I have seen some articles showing IZ can work in other cities, but not necessarily in the version </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #e06666;"><a href="http://www.cityandstateny.com/157/best-laid-plans-will-de-blasios-housing-plan-speed-gentrification-or-solve-the-livability-crisis.html#.VNOqNJ3F_D8"><span style="color: #e06666;">advocated</span></a> </span>by the <a href="http://gothamist.com/2014/05/07/de_blasios_housing_plan.php#"><span style="color: #e06666;">administration</span></a>. This is what I <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/06/appointments-progressives-real-estate.html"><span style="color: #e06666;">wrote</span></a> about IZ last year on <i>Ethics Ain't Pretty</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">One of the few things I remember from my time as an MPA graduate student is the concept of 'spillover effects,' the unforeseen consequences of public policy decisions, also known as unintended consequences. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It seems glaringly obvious that no one championing IZ here is considering, or concerned with, any such ramifications.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />In fact, there's currently an ongoing <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140218/BLOGS01/140219939/failure-of-inclusionary-zoning"><span style="color: #e06666;">debate</span></a> about whether or not IZ would add in any meaningful way to the number of "affordable" units versus those generated by the 421a program. Some have even argued such programs result in a net loss of affordable housing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />Regardless, these endeavors usually result in two major outcomes:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1. Developers end up the big winners, and we still have a serious shortage of real affordable units;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2. Primary and secondary displacement of both residential and commercial tenants and the segregation of lower and middle income earners who are subsequently treated as second class citizens in their homes. Limiting access to amenities and poor doors are only a few <span style="color: #e06666;"><u>examples</u></span>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The mayor's 'State of the City' address<b> </b>last week made it clear both IZ and 421a are both on the table. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This, despite what the de Blasio campaign posted on its website in 2013: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"In 10 years, New York City has lost nearly as many affordable apartmen</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">ts as it has built or preserved. Gentrification, unscrupulous landlords, and the real estate lobby’s hold on government have pulled tens of thousands of apartments out of rent stabilization, and more are lost every year." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even with the mayor adding resources to <a href="https://www.indypendent.org/2014/12/11/report-how-ensure-preservation-rent-regulated-housing-nyc"><span style="color: #e06666;">target at-risk tenants</span></a> in gentrifying neighborhoods, Tenant.net appropriately tweeted, "De Blasio's $36M for tenant legal help is too little, almost too late; only in rezoned areas, not throughout city, won't stop displacement."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The above link to the story about East Harlem demonstrates that given the city's abysmal track-record, will more money actually help? As it is, <a href="http://ethicsaintpretty.blogspot.com/2014/10/nyc-and-rent-regulations-resurgence-or.html"><span style="color: #e06666;">HPD can barely prove</span></a> when a tenant is harassed by an owner---whether out of incompetence or lack of will. To be fair, HPD's inaction is only a part of the puzzle that is designed to make it as difficult as possible for tenants to prevail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The department's great solution has so far been to embarrass slumlords by posting their names on its website. At last year's Council hearings to 'strengthen' the anemic <i>Tenant Protection Act</i>, HPD's representative testified the agency had no other solutions of any substance to combat tenant harassment and foster better landlord accountability. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moreover, it can't be ignored East Harlem is one of the neighborhoods singled out by the de Blasio administration for development. Who can fault my cynicism?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's been almost a year since the mayor produced his affordable housing plan, albeit absent many critical details. Last week's speech did little to shed light on many of those areas.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />But, because the ideological similarities between the current deputy mayor for housing and economic development and Bloomberg's development tsar--deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff-- are so striking, one important detail was underscored: there indeed will be little substantive change in housing policy between Mayors Bloomberg and de Blasio--at least, not where it IS NEEDED the most. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In case you missed it, </span><a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/building-inspectors-surrender-cops-bribery-scheme-article-1.2109403"><span style="color: #e06666; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">news broke</span></a></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> last night about the arrest of employees from HPD and the buildings department for "widespread housing fraud and bribery schemes." For the record, HPD and DOB are both notorious for being among the most corrupt, inept and poorly-run of all city agencies. Not surprisingly, property managers were found to pay off city workers in the face of serious code violations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These kinds of stories and arrests have been going on for years, whether it applies to buildings, elevators, construction safety etc., particularly as the last two administrations created a kind of wild west for development--emphasizing self-certification while cutting inspectors and regulations. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Mayor de Blasio's housing plan also discussed some of those same goals, using similar buzzwords: <b>Streamlining</b> inter-agency coordination to <b>simplify and expedite</b> development approvals and permits:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">"The City will convene a task force to solicit input from the industry and other </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">stakeholders about how to consolidate and streamline the permitting and review </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">process across agencies in order to reduce costs and avoid delays for developers." </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The plan also calls for speeding up the ULURP and the environmental review process. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If this vacuum of oversight continues to be widened as the system of checks-and-balances still remaining is further dismantled, don't expect a better outcome. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">These arrests are always a big show, but really, will anything change if the city's priority remains ensuring that it's easier for developers to build?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Follow<i> Ethics Ain't Pretty on Twitter #ethicsaintprett</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-26990364858155834652015-01-30T15:02:00.000-05:002015-02-01T14:47:11.638-05:00OF MICE AND MEN: POLITICIANS, CORRUPTION AND REAL ESTATE<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I would be remiss not to mention the recent arrest--and now replacement as Assembly Speaker--of Sheldon Silver. While the press is rightly having a field day, I fear the feeding frenzy is overlooking some really important subtext,<b> </b>most significantly, within the context of the massive power wielded by the real estate industry in this state and city. Almost everything leads back to real estate in New York.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Specifically, Silver's arrest should necessitate a re-examining of the state's 421a program and its ilk, which give private developers financial incentives to construct "affordable" housing. Like rent regulations, 421a is up for renewal this year, and as you can imagine, REBNY and the like are practically wetting themselves. I'm hoping U.S. Attorney Bharara follows up this arrest with arrests of the developers who are as guilty of corruption as any elected official. The great <a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/196209/whats-difference-between-sheldon-silver-and-jamie-dimon?utm_source=The+BroadsheetDAILY+~+January+28th+2015&utm_campaign=google+june+12&utm_medium=email#"><span style="color: #e06666;">William Greider</span></a> has written an interesting piece comparing the crimes committed by Silver with those committed by JP MorganChase CEO and super villain, Jamie Dimon.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Media <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/26/nyregion/developer-who-keeps-low-profile-is-embroiled-in-silver-scandal.html?_r=0&gwh=99AA05B3CA2BC35B50D7D0D8719882D1&gwt=pay"><span style="color: #e06666;">accounts</span></a> have cited that one of the cooperating witnesses in the case against Silver is developer Leonard Litwin of Glenwood Management. No matter how respected Litwin may be--or how nice a man he is according to the New York Times (though when the Times extols the virtues of a bigwig in real estate, it seems rather redundant)--the fact is that despite an influx of public money, Glenwood's WTC residential building only produced five percent affordable units, and Litwin has an extensive history of throwing money at legislators to get his way.</span><br />
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It also stretches beyond credibility Glenwood senior officials were unaware of the kickbacks to Silver via the use of a separate law firm. I also found it interesting the newspaper singled Silver out for how much he received over the years from Glenwood. </span><br />
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According to press reports last year, <a href="http://therealdeal.com/blog/2014/06/16/real-estate-developers-funnel-huge-donations-to-cuomo-through-loophole/"><span style="color: #e06666;">Glenwood</span></a> was Governor Cuomo's biggest donor, with $800,000 coming from 19 different LLCs since Cuomo first took office. In fact, this is all part of the Moreland Commission scandal. Commission members flagged such donations from real estate LLCS (Limited Liable Companies) exploiting a loophole in the law, before being shut down by the governor. There is no way I'm excusing Silver; it's just that the hypocrisy and double-standard is quite galling<b>.</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For the record, my beloved late grandmother lived in a Glenwood building on East 75th street, from around 1988-2003, when she died at 92. It's one of those behemoths--sitting over an entire block--that mark much of the area, guilded with excessive (and tacky) ornamentation like giant chandeliers and lots of glass to appear "luxury." It was all very bougie and wannabe, and generally appeals to the yuppie demographic.</span><br />
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My grandparents faced a housing emergency after my grandfather's health deteriorated and they were unable to move to Florida as had been planned. Having lived in the neighborhood since the 1960s, they preferred to stay near their friends and family. There was a pre-existing relationship between my aunt and someone in the Litwin family, which is where Glenwood came in. My grandparents also needed to have a doorman and elevator because of their ages. Ultimately, grandpa died in 1990.</span><br />
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The year before her death, my grandmother's stabilized rent was $2,222, while she lived on a fixed income of $40,000. That means more than 65 percent of her income was dedicated to housing costs. I'm not really certain to whom those 'affordable" units went, because she would have been an ideal candidate, and I'm sure her unit became market rate after her death. </span><br />
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I'd be very curious to see an actual break down of which units in any Glenwood building are "affordable," to whom they are rented, and how the city and state ensure the units remain affordable--in exchange for the assorted tax breaks Glenwood has received over the years. Based on the way the NYCHPD functions (or doesn't, to be more accurate,) it would not be a shocker if an analysis revealed many of those units set aside no longer fell within the affordability guidelines, despite the rules. And that could apply to any developer who received this kind of corporate welfare.</span><br />
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The things I most remember about that building was how cheap it all seemed, including the construction--we could hear people ringing doorbells for other apartments when her door was closed, and noise consistently bled through the walls and ceiling. She lived on the ninth floor overlooking parts of Second Avenue, and while it is a busy thoroughfare, the windows did little to insulate her from the traffic's cacophony.</span><br />
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I also remember how much money she felt coerced into laying out every holiday season because of management's 'suggested' tips for the building's gigantic staff--most of whom she never knew. My grandmother was very fair, so even though it directly impacted her adversely, she wanted to ensure she did the right thing regarding the building's personnel.</span><br />
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However, management didn't exactly operate under the same standard. As has been the case for decades for regulated tenants citywide, she was not at the top of the management's to-do list regarding repairs or other work. I will say, however, the few members of the staff with whom I had regular interaction were very nice and definitely kept an eye out for her, for which our family will always be grateful.</span><br />
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By the way, Mayor de Blasio "officially" named Litwin to the city's DNC host committee, as reported today, though he was initially named in November. Litwin contributed almost $5000 to de Blasio's mayoral run. The NY Post <a href="http://nypost.com/2015/01/30/de-blasio-picks-silver-pal-to-help-with-citys-2016-dnc-bid/"><span style="color: #e06666;">wrote</span></a> about Litwin, <span style="background-color: black;">"<span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">He is known as one of the top political donors in New York </span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">ate — and has skirted around caps on campaign contributions by funneling millions of dollars in donations through</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">st</span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;"> </span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 23.9999980926514px;">more than 20 limited-liability companies controlled by Glenwood." Just the association you want to waive in people's faces to prove your administration has some kind of moral high ground.</span><br />
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Going back to Silver, his "temporary' replacement as speaker appears to be Bronx member and Democratic county leader, Carl Heastie. Aside from the fact that Heastie is considered a friend to real estate (and potentially, the Rent Stabilization Association), he is a selected party leader. While it is not illegal, to wear both hats as an elected official and party honcho simultaneously has not worked out well traditionally for the people of the empire state. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most recently--from Clarence Norman to Brian McLaughlin to Guy Velella--we have been let down time and again by individuals allowing party and personal business to supersede their responsibilities and duties to governing for all. Unfortunately, today's pervasive culture of corruption in Albany isn't limited to abuses by party leaders, but also includes senior electeds who often have close ties to party machinery. Most of these individuals could not have risen so high in the ranks without party backing--John Sampson, Malcolm Smith, Carl Kruger, Pedro Espada Jr... </span><br />
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And as long as state legislators are allowed to "earn" additional income because their jobs aren't considered full-time--and then don't even have to fully disclose the source of outside income--we will never have a truly responsive government. It's difficult to imagine state legislators start with a $79,500 base pay, plus living expenses and lulus, and it's not considered full-time employment. (The New York City Council operates similarly, but those members earn even more!)</span><br />
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Though the days of Carmine DeSapio and Tammany Hall are technically long gone, the reform movement's struggle of the 1940's-1960's (in which my father was extremely active) have become utterly meaningless. For the most part, reform clubs are today's regulars. Sadly, I guess we have learned nothing from the Ed Koch-Stanley Friedman-Donald Mannes-Meade Esposito debacles.</span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-16155619281095708132014-12-19T11:59:00.001-05:002016-05-02T14:44:16.259-04:00Tenants Rip Program Tying Rent Hikes to Landlord Investments<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is my new article on Major Capital Improvements for rent regulated apartments and the push to reform the system. I interviewed at least a dozen people with virtually no response or assistance from DHCR.</span><br />
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</span> <b><u><span style="color: #ea9999; font-size: x-large;"><a href="http://citylimits.org/2014/12/19/tenants-rip-program-tying-rent-hikes-to-landlord-investments/">Tenants Rip Program Tying Rent Hikes to Landlord Investments</a></span></u></b><br />
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<span style="color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://citylimits.org/2014/12/19/tenants-rip-program-tying-rent-hikes-to-landlord-investments/">http://citylimits.org/2014/12/19/tenants-rip-program-tying-rent-hikes-to-landlord-investments/</a></span>ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594047487090315538.post-71524234935253085782014-10-24T15:28:00.000-04:002016-02-09T12:09:49.347-05:00NYC and Rent Regulations--a resurgence or the continuation of a slow death?<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Has anyone else noticed that since Mayor de Blasio announced his affordable housing plan (AHP) last May--in which the benefits of saving and/or preserving rent regulated housing are extolled--more and more of such apartments appear to be under siege?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The <a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#label/BDB+HOUSING+PLAN/145cd62ccd20f296?projector=1"><span style="color: #ea9999;">plan</span></a> explicitly says: <i>The City needs to protect tenants in </i></span><span style="font-size: large;"><i>rent-regulated units more aggressively. We cannot allow landlords to harass tenants and drive them out of our rent-regulated housing stock. Keeping those units affordable is critical to our overarching goals of addressing inequality.</i></span></span><br />
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Yet, here are just a few examples between July and September of tenant harassment:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Harlem</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/uptown-lawmaker-tenants-file-10m-lawsuit-harlem-landlord-allegedly-hiking-rents-article-1.1942204" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/uptown/uptown-<wbr></wbr>lawmaker-tenants-file-10m-<wbr></wbr>lawsuit-harlem-landlord-<wbr></wbr>allegedly-hiking-rents-<wbr></wbr>article-1.1942204</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pelham Parkway/University Heights</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/bronx/disabled-bronx-tenants-landlord-article-1.1943288" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/bronx/disabled-bronx-<wbr></wbr>tenants-landlord-article-1.<wbr></wbr>1943288</span></a><br />
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East Harlem</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/tenants-landlords-article-1.1596108" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/uptown/tenants-<wbr></wbr>landlords-article-1.1596108</span></a><br />
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Inwood</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/exclusive-blame-tenants-inwood-slumlord-sez-article-1.1621913" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/uptown/exclusive-<wbr></wbr>blame-tenants-inwood-slumlord-<wbr></wbr>sez-article-1.1621913</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Bushwick</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/25/nyregion/in-new-york-push-for-market-rate-housing-pits-landlords-against-tenants.html" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nytimes.com/2014/<wbr></wbr>02/25/nyregion/in-new-york-<wbr></wbr>push-for-market-rate-housing-<wbr></wbr>pits-landlords-against-<wbr></wbr>tenants.html</span></a></div>
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Brownsville</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/tenants-wait-home-2012-fire-article-1.1897322?false" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/brooklyn/tenants-<wbr></wbr>wait-home-2012-fire-article-1.<wbr></wbr>1897322?false</span></a><br />
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Upper West Side</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/uptown/uws-tenants-landlord-stellar-article-1.1902856" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/uptown/uws-tenants-<wbr></wbr>landlord-stellar-article-1.<wbr></wbr>1902856</span></a><br />
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Flatbush</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/brooklyn/landlords-harassed-targeted-rent-stabilized-tenants-suit-article-1.1757051" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/brooklyn/landlords-<wbr></wbr>harassed-targeted-rent-<wbr></wbr>stabilized-tenants-suit-<wbr></wbr>article-1.1757051</span></a><br />
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East Village</span><br />
<span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/08/07/landlord_to_rentstabilized_tenants_you_all_need_to_leave.php</span><br />
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East Village, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Stuyvestant</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/exclusive-millionaire-manhattan-landlord-probed-force-tenants-article-1.1880709" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>new-york/exclusive-<wbr></wbr>millionaire-manhattan-<wbr></wbr>landlord-probed-force-tenants-<wbr></wbr>article-1.1880709</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This guy has notoriously been harassing tenants for almost <a href="http://www.villagevoice.com/2000-05-09/news/there-goes-the-neighborhood/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">20 years</span></a>!</span><br />
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East Village</span><br />
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/donald-trump-son-in-law-forcing-residents-east-village-building-tenants-article-1.1861391" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://www.nydailynews.com/<wbr></wbr>life-style/real-estate/donald-<wbr></wbr>trump-son-in-law-forcing-<wbr></wbr>residents-east-village-<wbr></wbr>building-tenants-article-1.<wbr></wbr>1861391</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Donald Trump's family gets in on his <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/26/nyregion/win-trump-no-tenants-battle-80-s-ends-with-glad-handing-all-around.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">old</span></a> act.</span><br />
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Chinatown, LES, East Harlem</span><br />
<a href="http://sailthru.cityandstateny.com/4ea1b1d715b30dde9b3442b11o97c.ph/U75qsuYQg4qT-JWyB6169" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">http://sailthru.<wbr></wbr>cityandstateny.com/<wbr></wbr>4ea1b1d715b30dde9b3442b11o97c.<wbr></wbr>ph/U75qsuYQg4qT-JWyB6169</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Chinatown, LES</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: black; color: #ea9999; font-size: large;">http://issuu.com/downtownexpress/docs/20140828_xcm_tvg_pg004_c4ef987fde2dd0</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, the question is, how seriously is the mayor and his inner circle of real estate insiders really taking the problem, and how strong is his commitment to the rent regulation system in general? The record has been decidedly mixed over the ensuing months.</span></span><br />
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It's already been mentioned here the AHP disappointed many affordable housing activists for what it didn't say in this area. Specifically, there was no mention of <a href="http://gothamist.com/2014/05/07/de_blasios_housing_plan.php#"><span style="color: #ea9999;">repealing</span></a> vacancy decontrol, though de Blasio did advocate repealing <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/09/8553642/lawmakers-call-rent-freeze-repeal-urstadt-law"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Urstadt</span></a>. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is no question the overall effect of vacancy decontrol has been devastating--which was its intent all along. And as owners are not obliged to notify any government agency when an apartment is decontrolled, it's impossible to quantify exactly how many units have been lost. According to tenants rights organization, <a href="http://metcouncilonhousing.org/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Metropolitan Council on Housing</span></a>,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> "Vacancy deregulation is causing the number of stabilized apartments to shrink by tens of thousands every year." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some 250,000 units were lost since 1994, according to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB)</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">. In the RGB's <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/research/pdf_reports/changes2014.pdf"><span style="color: #ea9999;">report</span></a> issued this year about changes in the regulated housing stock in 2013, high rent/vacancy deregulation accounted for the biggest reason units were removed, at 63 percent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's not so clear is if in fact NYC had home rule, would it really pass stronger tenant protections? Because, based on the actions of the last few mayors and City Council, that answer would not be a definitive 'yes.'</span><br />
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Then, consider this combined with the <a href="http://www.vice.com/en_ca/read/a-vote-against-a-rent-freeze-means-new-york-is-still-run-by-and-for-the-rich"><span style="color: #ea9999;">debacle</span> </a>at the RGB's final vote in June, where the mayor all but promised a rent freeze for stabilized apartments--especially during the campaign. At the last minute, two of his own appointees making up the majority instead approved a one percent increase on one-year leases, and 2.75 percent for two--modest increases yes, but following years of excessive ones. In a practical sense, a rent freeze wouldn't have made a huge difference except symbolically, after so many years of landlords raking in giant profits enabled by the city.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was widely speculated the reason for the last minute change came down to <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140702/BLOGS04/140709987/sources-de-blasio-aide-pushed-rent-increase"><span style="color: #ea9999;">interference</span></a> from deputy mayor for housing and economic development, Alicia Glen. Given her background (see prior entries), it's hard not to see this as a tacit message to the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) and the like, that they will still get their way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What's really curious is </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">how the renewal rate approved for two-year leases ended up almost three times what was approved for a one-year renewal.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some post-vote analysis speculated the machinations occurred behind Mayor de Blasio's back. Regardless, the mayor is ultimately responsible as it was his appointee, so it must reflect back on him. If in fact those reports are true, how can he stand for such insubordination? If they aren't, and the mayor was aware what Glen was doing, then we must infer the rhetoric was meaningless.</span><br />
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Plus, the three individuals singularly responsible for implementing the affordable housing plan are all well connected to the real estate industry. They are also <a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/08/8551526/de-blasios-top-aides-report-millions-income?top-featured-2"><span style="color: #ea9999;">rich</span></a>. That would be Glen, City Planning Commission Chair, Carl Weisbrod, and Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner, <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/02/09/new-housing-commissioner-lives-in-swanky-nyu-town-house/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">Vicky Been</span></a>. That's not to say one cannot be wealthy to understand the acute affordable housing shortage, or to be sympathetic (but not empathetic.)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But to have all three so economically advantaged demonstrates a stunning tone-deafness, a disconnect within the de Blasio administration. After all, Glen openly <span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2013/12/8537887/de-blasios-economic-development-bloomberg-collaborator"><span style="color: #ea9999;">celebrated</span></a> </span>bringing yuppies to Harlem. H</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">as any one of them ever known what it's like to worry about paying the rent? Because I have, as have many people I know throughout the city. That's where empathy might have come in handy....</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Incidentally, several sources (both inside and outside government) have confirmed to me Been isn't exactly working out in her new job. "She is in over her head," at least two people told me. Apparently, despite Been's background in academia, and writing about housing policy, she isn't necessarily equipped to actually implement it.</span><br />
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<br />Recently, the mayor <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/01/nyregion/city-to-publicly-shame-harassing-landlords.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0"><span style="color: #ea9999;">signed</span></a> a bill essentially intended to 'shame' landlords guilty of harassing tenants, by publicly posting their names on HPD's website--which seems rather meager. But the problem itself is very real. Even the <span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">pro-landlord, pro-real estate New York Times wrote, "</span><span style="background-color: black; line-height: 23px;">Such efforts have been on the rise in gentrifying neighborhoods of the city where market-rate rents have soared and some landlords try to engineer vacancies to make room for higher-paying tenants."</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 23px;">As expected, a flak from the Rent Stabilization Association</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 23px;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 23px;">(RSA) </span><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4375rem;">said it would do little more than taint and “vilify” property owners and “curry favor with the tenant movement,” which is just laughable.</span><span style="color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4375rem;"> “Should a tenant have their name published for failing to pay rent?” he added.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 1.4375rem;">Possibly a valid point, <i>if all things were equal</i>, and if it weren't for reality. Just a few of the major constant obstacles facing tenants include </span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4375rem;">the dysfunctional and underfunded state housing agency that has years worth of backlogs, the city's overburdened housing court, and the lack of money or political will to better assist tenants through public legal services</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.4375rem;">. Simply put, landlords have a disproportionate amount of power and say on both the city and state levels regarding policy, oversight, enforcement and accountability.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 1.4375rem;">And anyway, this already happens--through the tenant</span><span style="line-height: 1.4375rem;"> <span style="background-color: black;"><span style="color: #990000;"><a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/tenant-blacklists-harder-to-rent/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">blacklist</span></a><span style="color: #990000;"> </span></span><span style="color: white;">,</span></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 1.4375rem;"> which isn't solely based on tenants who are in rent arrears. It can be any tenant sued by a landlord in housing court for any reason--legitimate or frivolous--and it's much more encompassing than HPD posting the names of the minuscule number of owners who are found guilty of harassment.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">An important gage of how serious such laws are is to see how the real estate lobby reacts. O</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">ne veteran tenant activist told me</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> REBNY or the RSA put in "token objections for the media's sake, but that's essentially all they do."</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> An examination of the transcript before the City Council's Housing and Buildings Committee in April revealed no registered opposition or testimony from landlord or real estate groups during the anti-harassment hearings. I checked with the committee chair's office just in case, but they never got back to me. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Furthermore, the 2008 'Tenant Protection Act' (TPA) on which this law is based, was already considered pretty weak, and it should never be forgotten that its driving force was</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> former Council Speaker, Christine Quinn. Next to Peter Vallone, big real estate didn't have a better friend or protector. So, it stands to reason nothing really harmful or with teeth could ever have passed the Council.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Maximum fines are doubled from $5,000 to $10,000 but minimum fines remain at $1,000</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">, and a judge isn't compelled to fine even the minimum amount. Many</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> simply don't, and some don't even fine owners at all. Frankly, even the new fine levels and the reluctance of many judges to appropriately penalize such bad actors means it's still cheap enough to keep harassing tenants as part of the cost of doing business. Between the anemic oversight and gross underfunding of both the city and state agencies tasked to oversee these issues, the odds are greatly stacked in favor of landlords. They can, and often do, get away with such behavior, and if they are caught, the repercussions are generally inconsequential. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">As several witness revealed at the hearing--many from various free legal service organizations--there's more economic incentive than ever before to get tenants to vacate, especially seniors</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> and other long-term tenants. The longer someone has lived in an apartment, the more likely a landlord will want them out, because the rewards are so great, than</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">ks in part to the 20 percent vacancy bonus permitted. Couple that with something called a 'longevity' bonus, which allows owners to calculate greater increases based upon how long a unit was occupied, and even a bonus for apartments renting for less than certain amounts, and voila, the rent exceeds $2,500 and the apartment becomes destabilized. </span></span><span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">And as mentioned, there's so little oversight to verify a landlord acted legally, why wouldn't one simply fake it?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">People whom I've interviewed, as well as some of the aforementioned witnesses, discussed the growing plague of </span><span style="color: #ea9999;">'</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://nyctenantadvocate.wordpress.com/what-is-predatory-equity/"><span style="color: #ea9999;">predatory equity</span></a>,'</span><span style="color: white;"> a particularly sleazy form of real estate speculation. We've seen it over and over again--some investment group obscenely overpays for a building, while leveraging equally ridiculous amounts. When they figure out they can't make the kind of return they anticipated, well, it's always bad for tenants. Think the </span><span style="color: #ea9999;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/nyregion/pinnacle-group-settles-ny-tenants-harassment-suit.html?_r=0">Pinnacle</a> <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/furious-tenants-urge-federal-judge-toss-rent-deal-hated-landlord-pinnacle-article-1.962732">Group</a>. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And even with both laws, harassment is still considered difficult to prove. HPD's representative revealed at this hearing <i>only 44 cases initiated out of 3200 </i>since the 2008 TPA were substantiated by the agency. "2195 are discontinued, dismissed or withdrawn," and another 608 were settled, often without the tenant's consent or understanding, reported HPD's associate commissioner for enforcement and neighborhood services. Furthermore, she said, "It is unlikely that a property owner will settle if the settlement includes admitting harassment."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 1.4375rem;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A landlord can still haul a tenant into housing court for literally no reason. If the tenant doesn't appear, there is a very real risk he or she could lose their home. However, if the owner doesn't appear--or even send a representative--there is no downside to the landlord, or even a potential cost. Sometimes, a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">tenant can be liable for an owner's legal fees if the case is determined frivolous, but rarely is it the other way around.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> At best, only about 10 percent of tenants at housing court appear with an attorney, while 90 percent of landlords do. That doesn't even take into account time and the amount of work a tenant is forced to take off to appear in court, while that's all part of the job for landlords. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 1.4375rem;">As John Fisher from Tenant.net wrote, "</span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">One real problem is getting to the point where a finding of harassment may be made. The vagaries of the definition of harassment has always been a stumbling block, and from what I've seen, still is. While the 2008 law spelled out the definition in a bit more detail, in many instances, obtaining a finding has to do with proving landlord intent, and that is very difficult to do.... and even put(s) the burden on the tenant. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The result can be years of litigation at great expense to the tenant."</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white; line-height: 1.4375rem;"><span style="background-color: black;">The newer version of the anti-harassment law doesn't address these chronic inequities.</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; line-height: 1.4375rem;"> HPD's response when queried about other measures or policies the administration might currently be considering to stop tenant harassment and increase landlord accountability is interesting. "<i>We are starting to look at other options to discuss</i>." This isn't exactly a new problem! "So we don't have... anything substantive to put on the table for you today, but this is definitely a work in progress." Astounding. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This sense of ambivalence from the administration is not completely unexpected. As noted, there's the problem of who his closest advisers are, particularly when it comes to land use matters--which are ultimately tenant issues.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is also extremely telling the AHP does not call to make newly created affordable units rent stabilized, focusing only on current apartments. The RGB credited other affordable housing programs (which are actual subsidies or tax incentives) like 421a and 420c for adding rent stabilized units, so the overall net loss was smaller. But under the mayor's favored program of mandatory inclusionary zoning (IZ), there was nary a reference. Don't get me wrong--I'm not a fan of paying developers off for anything. It's just that given de Blasio's stated support of rent regs, I expected him to advocate adding units, both because he believes it to be the right thing to do, as well as to help strengthen the system, overall.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There's also the perennial problem that when it comes to rent regulations in general, local media has consistently done an appallingly poor</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> job explaining what exactly they are, how they work, and whom they most benefit, and the overall</span><b style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </b><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">narrative has been anti-tenant for decades. Does anyone recall the Daily News used to run a tenant advice column in the 1980's?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;">After all these years, there are still reporters who can't distinguish between rent control and rent stabilization, either because they are too lazy to make the effort, or for more cynical reasons. Remember, most of the dailies have real estate holdings, and some of the newer journalism venues and online sites are unabashedly biased in favor of this all-powerful industry. Often, the funding behind the venture comes from real estate pockets. Unfortunately, even some of the old journalistic stalwarts have lost their way, as well.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">R</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">ent regulations continue to be described specifically as subsidies. They aren't. Dictionary.com defines 'subsidy' as: <i>a direct pecuniary aid furnished by a government to a private industrial undertaking, a charity organization, or the like. </i>Yet, no money is actually ever exchanged, paid, lent, borrowed, transferred etc.<b> </b></span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And in fact, rent regulations are among the most effective and cheapest affordable housing programs in the history of NY State, in part because the biggest expense is administrative overhead.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But for the approximately two million tenants now living in regulated apartments, there is the very real possibility of being priced out. Between regular RGB increases and the ever expanding number of loopholes which also permit owners to add on to the rent, even so-called affordable regulated units are quickly becoming unaffordable for many New Yorkers. Examples are increases from Major Capital and</span><span style="background-color: black; color: lime; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Individual Apartment Improvements,</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> which are in perpetuity, and something called 'preferential' rent.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white;">Without telling you any details regarding the size of my apartment, or where it's located, my own rent has increased between 80-90 percent in about 20 years. I can assure my income has not grown comparably. How many other items have increased by such drastic proportions over the same time period? College tuition, gas prices, and healthcare costs come to mind, and all three are the result of shady practices committed by at least one greedy actor.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Another very important element of rent stabilization in particular usually ignored by the media is the automatic right to a lease renewal; the few remaining rent controlled apartments don't have leases. This is absolutely critical. If you are a good tenant, there should be no reason you are denied the stability of not only having a sense of your upcoming (inevitable) rent increase, but also that a new lease will be forthcoming when it's time.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Think of it from the perspective of a market rate tenant: you spend money on a broker, then pay first and last month's rent, as well as a security deposit. That's usually thousands of dollars. Then, after a year or two, your apartment's or building's owner simply decide you are no longer an acceptable tenant, or perhaps your rent is increased by 50 percent, and you can't afford to remain. All that money you've already spent, and all that time searching, is gone in a flash, due to greed or capriciousness. How is that fair?</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's potentially some reason to be optimistic. Several tenant organizers with whom I spoke for a separate article were all reasonably hopeful</span><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> about next year's rent renewal fight in Albany. For the first time in 20 years, they at least have an executive who is not openly hostile to rent regulations, as was the case with Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg--both of whom did their damnedest to ensure wildly excessive increases totally out of proportion with actual owner costs. In particular, much credit and praise was given to de Blasio's Albany lobbying team. At least, it seems, smart and effective people are in place for 2015. That has to count for something.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;">Something else to consider which apparently has gone virtually unnoticed: Recently, Goldman Sachs' Urban Investment Group--of which Glen was head for years--</span><a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/brp-companies-goldman-sachs-urban-152925913.html"><span style="color: #ea9999;">announced</span></a><span style="color: white;"> it will help provide $75 million dollars in equity in a joint venture that will leverage $250 million in new residential development. That's more than three times a return on their outlay. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; color: white;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">At the very least, this gives the appearance of a conflict of interest. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Glen may not benefit from this deal in the short-term, and in fact had to cut financial ties with her old firm to take her current job. However, as the article about her largess discusses, Glen's, "</span><span style="line-height: 30px;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">stock portfolio overflows with "GS" funds, like the "GS Tax-Advantaged Global Equity Portfolio," in which she has holdings of more than $500,000," so there's a probability she'll benefit from these investments in the long-term. </span></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 30px;">And does anyone really believe she will never discuss with any of her former colleagues--even casually--city plans for neighborhood or infrastructure improvements, and the like?</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: black; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 30px;"><span style="color: white;">It's like a form of insider trading, or how the old boys' network used to work on male-only golf courses. Remember that comment about yuppies in Harlem? That can easily translate into a "wink wink, nudge nudge--know what i mean?" (Bad Python pun intended: Glen's mother officiated at Eric Idle's wedding in 1981, I was told at the time.)</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: white;"><span style="background-color: black;">Even if this is completely kosher across the board, the role of the UIG just underscores the interdependent relationship between the permanent government and the real estate industry in New Yo</span><span style="background-color: black;">rk.</span></span><span style="background-color: black; color: white;"> Just business as usual. And that's the least 'progressive' thing we could ever see. </span></span><br />
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ethics aint prettyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06225815942710318716noreply@blogger.com1