Money is better than poverty, if only for financial reasons.
-- Woody Allen (1935- )
The St. Vincent’s saga has been a long and unpleasant one. One of the most essential institutions in the Downtown neighborhood and certainly the most necessary medical facility -- has been this hospital and emergency room. It would be hard to find a family that has not relied on the top flight Emergency Room and what some have called the best-kept medical secret in New York.
Whether the doctors, nurses, attendants, ambulance personnel and other hospital employees will manage to weather this storm, is yet another story. But, from the AIDS epidemic, to the SARS scare, to the 9-11 disaster, the hospital and its staff has always been there for the community. My only complaint involved the parking. Other than that, they saved my son’s life. Literally.
Lenox Hill, another important Manhattan hospital, is also reportedly in financial trouble. Upper East Side friends have reported long Emergency Room waits, only to spend hours on a gurney in the hallway waiting for attention. The large area of Manhattan without St. Vincent’s leads you away from where you live or where your doctors are affiliated.
Where do you bring your kid in the middle of the night with a 105-degree temperature when an ice bath won’t do it? Where do you take a cab to when the headache pain is so intense that you fear an aneurism? To a new hospital with no doctor you know or who knows you?
At a kid’s party last week one of the 5 year-olds hurt his arm and not knowing where to go we had to drive in rush hour traffic to N.Y.U on 33rd Street. The Downtown mom did not know where to take him. Suppose it were a life-threatening condition?
Forget the Rudin deal, forget the politicians (who also sometimes need a hospital in a hurry), and forget the community organizations that have taken both sides of the fierce opposition to St. Vincent’s development -- in order to save the hospital services.
This is a deal that will only be saved by financial realities.
So, the well-place rumor is that Mount Sinai is ready to do the deal and is in the wings behind curtain #1, pending resolution of the $700 million of St. Vincent’s in debt -- which the new potential suitors will not assume. Shortly, they may not have to, and will take over the hospital operation.
Let’s hope so.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
A New Era
It’s never just a game when you’re winning.
-- George Carlin
The election on Thursday evening at the Downtown Independent Democrats ushered in a new era for residents of lower Manhattan. One of Manhattan's most powerful political clubs, which had been headed by Sean Sweeney, brought in some new leadership. After an informative speech by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the voting took place. What was striking, was the sense of camaraderie among the members – a stark contrast to the previous elections, which had been marred by, attempts to pack the club and dislodge the leadership.
Marc Ameruso challenged winner Jeanne Wilcke for the Presidency, but the other officers were largely unopposed.
However, while there was a sense of excitement, there was no rancor or divisiveness. The days of the Julie Menin and David Reck challenges to power appear to be over. He now has his own club with former District Leader Linda Belfer and Bill Love.
Sweeney remains as Treasurer and spent most of the evening photographing luminaries. He had to borrow a camera because his own needed help. Having a Scotsman watching even his own money is probably a good sign.
-- George Carlin
The election on Thursday evening at the Downtown Independent Democrats ushered in a new era for residents of lower Manhattan. One of Manhattan's most powerful political clubs, which had been headed by Sean Sweeney, brought in some new leadership. After an informative speech by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, the voting took place. What was striking, was the sense of camaraderie among the members – a stark contrast to the previous elections, which had been marred by, attempts to pack the club and dislodge the leadership.
Marc Ameruso challenged winner Jeanne Wilcke for the Presidency, but the other officers were largely unopposed.
However, while there was a sense of excitement, there was no rancor or divisiveness. The days of the Julie Menin and David Reck challenges to power appear to be over. He now has his own club with former District Leader Linda Belfer and Bill Love.
Sweeney remains as Treasurer and spent most of the evening photographing luminaries. He had to borrow a camera because his own needed help. Having a Scotsman watching even his own money is probably a good sign.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Just Desserts or Black Swan?
Men stumble over the truth from time to time, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing happened.
-- Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Trying to read between the tealeaves in this regenerating economy is no easy task. While the numbers appear to show that business is improving in certain sectors, employment has again dropped along with optimism and foreclosures have again surged in March.
Improvements in certain real estate in some sections of the country have been noted. Condos in Manhattan have reportedly increased in both sales price and numbers of transactions. There is a market in Manhattan for higher-end apartments (above $3 million) and for Hamptons’ summer homes in higher price brackets (above $2 million) as well as very low priced housing (under $350,000). Most of these transactions follow a simple logic: FNMA mortgages are readily available up to $417,000 and for those happy souls with cash – the lack of mortgages is not a stumbling block. Discounts of 15 to 20 percent all across the board are common.
Meanwhile the foreclosure numbers keep rising and more product comes on to the market. This ensures that home values will not appreciate to the top of the market (2006) until the year 2020 in many locations. Fully 25% of all homes are worth less than the mortgage on it.
Businesses, on the other hand, are suffering. Unfortunately, small businesses employ more than 60 percent of the labor force. If loans are not available, most small businesses have few options: continue to operate at a loss, or fire a few people. When there are no people left to fire, the businesses must close.
Even the touted success that GM has paid back its government loans turns out to be like the shell game played on Canal Street.
The hangover, of course, is that unpaid bills and taxes follow everyone around and it doesn’t matter that there is no business. With no financing, many small companies and their employees are enmeshed in a death spiral. The banks have seen to severe bankruptcy restrictions to prevent a sane exit from Dante’s new Inferno.
Even Hollywood is suffering.
The government has attempted to deal with these issues in a variety of unsuccessful ways. Mortgage modifications are an acknowledged disaster, extended unemployment benefits has become the New Welfare, and rather than soften the crushing debt load for small businesses and individuals, 16,000 new IRS agents have been hired to tighten the noose.
Goldman Sachs, that paragon of American Capitalism philosophy, was finally charged with civil fraud for working its magic
After working diligently, sometimes hand-in-hand with JP Morgan Chase, to destabilize Villages, Counties and Countries with their credit-default swap derivatives – then perversely betting that their toxic handiwork would fail – they get a slap on the wrist from the SEC. Considering the degree of devastation caused by knowingly shopping their degraded bonds like Johnny Appleseed, while shorting them since they expected them to plummet, nothing short of scores of indictments are in order. But, that will not likely happen.
Here are some questions to be asked and answered:
Were the banks complicit in creating mortgage products that they knew would implode at some point
before they saturated the market through complicit mortgage brokers who created any and all documents to push them through – as recently came to light at Washington Mutual?
Were they designed to self-destruct from day one? And, were the securitized mortgage bonds created after harvesting the deadly mortgages back from brokers and then sold off – WHILE purchasing credit default swaps so that they could sit and wait for the bombs to go off?
Were homeowners and real estate investors duped by the fine print into accepting mortgages and easy money that were doomed to fail no matter they did?
Will the Goldman investigation spread to all of the other banks like JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deutche Bank and a few that were decimated, like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual? Given the fact that companies like Countrywide, Ameriquest, Long Beach Mortgage and thousands of other independent mortgage brokers were peddling dynamite – will an extensive investigation find out that all of this was planned and carefully executed since at least 2005?
Given the fact that no borrower ever had the time to read an entire mortgage document at a closing, was this the industry’s dirty little secret about duping the public?
Will this pass because the government has no stomach for it, or will Europe force our hand with its own investigations into the matter.
Then, there is the other dangling shoe in Europe -- which is the Greek financial fiasco. Of course, this too was partly constructed
by Goldman's "creative accounting." How many more of these fiscal time-bombs are buried within sovereign debt structures across Europe?
Either of these problems is capable of morphing into a Black Swan
-- Sir Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965)
Trying to read between the tealeaves in this regenerating economy is no easy task. While the numbers appear to show that business is improving in certain sectors, employment has again dropped along with optimism and foreclosures have again surged in March.
Improvements in certain real estate in some sections of the country have been noted. Condos in Manhattan have reportedly increased in both sales price and numbers of transactions. There is a market in Manhattan for higher-end apartments (above $3 million) and for Hamptons’ summer homes in higher price brackets (above $2 million) as well as very low priced housing (under $350,000). Most of these transactions follow a simple logic: FNMA mortgages are readily available up to $417,000 and for those happy souls with cash – the lack of mortgages is not a stumbling block. Discounts of 15 to 20 percent all across the board are common.
Meanwhile the foreclosure numbers keep rising and more product comes on to the market. This ensures that home values will not appreciate to the top of the market (2006) until the year 2020 in many locations. Fully 25% of all homes are worth less than the mortgage on it.
Businesses, on the other hand, are suffering. Unfortunately, small businesses employ more than 60 percent of the labor force. If loans are not available, most small businesses have few options: continue to operate at a loss, or fire a few people. When there are no people left to fire, the businesses must close.
Even the touted success that GM has paid back its government loans turns out to be like the shell game played on Canal Street.
The hangover, of course, is that unpaid bills and taxes follow everyone around and it doesn’t matter that there is no business. With no financing, many small companies and their employees are enmeshed in a death spiral. The banks have seen to severe bankruptcy restrictions to prevent a sane exit from Dante’s new Inferno.
Even Hollywood is suffering.
The government has attempted to deal with these issues in a variety of unsuccessful ways. Mortgage modifications are an acknowledged disaster, extended unemployment benefits has become the New Welfare, and rather than soften the crushing debt load for small businesses and individuals, 16,000 new IRS agents have been hired to tighten the noose.
Goldman Sachs, that paragon of American Capitalism philosophy, was finally charged with civil fraud for working its magic
After working diligently, sometimes hand-in-hand with JP Morgan Chase, to destabilize Villages, Counties and Countries with their credit-default swap derivatives – then perversely betting that their toxic handiwork would fail – they get a slap on the wrist from the SEC. Considering the degree of devastation caused by knowingly shopping their degraded bonds like Johnny Appleseed, while shorting them since they expected them to plummet, nothing short of scores of indictments are in order. But, that will not likely happen.
Here are some questions to be asked and answered:
Were the banks complicit in creating mortgage products that they knew would implode at some point
before they saturated the market through complicit mortgage brokers who created any and all documents to push them through – as recently came to light at Washington Mutual?
Were they designed to self-destruct from day one? And, were the securitized mortgage bonds created after harvesting the deadly mortgages back from brokers and then sold off – WHILE purchasing credit default swaps so that they could sit and wait for the bombs to go off?
Were homeowners and real estate investors duped by the fine print into accepting mortgages and easy money that were doomed to fail no matter they did?
Will the Goldman investigation spread to all of the other banks like JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Deutche Bank and a few that were decimated, like Bear Sterns, Lehman, Merrill Lynch and Washington Mutual? Given the fact that companies like Countrywide, Ameriquest, Long Beach Mortgage and thousands of other independent mortgage brokers were peddling dynamite – will an extensive investigation find out that all of this was planned and carefully executed since at least 2005?
Given the fact that no borrower ever had the time to read an entire mortgage document at a closing, was this the industry’s dirty little secret about duping the public?
Will this pass because the government has no stomach for it, or will Europe force our hand with its own investigations into the matter.
Then, there is the other dangling shoe in Europe -- which is the Greek financial fiasco. Of course, this too was partly constructed
by Goldman's "creative accounting." How many more of these fiscal time-bombs are buried within sovereign debt structures across Europe?
Either of these problems is capable of morphing into a Black Swan
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
America’s Future
If you’re going through Hell, keep going.
-- Winston Churchill
The recent past and not too distant future in America presents a set of challenges unknown to most generations that did not experience the Great Depression. For all practical purposes, the economic meltdown, which came to head with the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008, was a defining moment in our history. At the same moment in time, the failure of Bear Sterns and Lehman were nearly joined by A.I.G., Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, as well. Only after hastily arranged “marriages” for Merrill Lynch, Countrywide, and a number of smaller investment firms, were the majors saved by Federal loan guarantees (JPMorgan acquisition of Bear), actual loans (A.I.G.), and essentially unlimited money via the Fed discount window – was the system propped up.
As a result of bailing out the banks with TARP money, taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac via a conservatorship, and giving huge loans to certain “too big to fail” entities, we now have some stability. But, it is a stability that comes with a high price.
That price is looming inflation from printing trillions of dollars, deficits that are thrown forward for nearly a decade and, ultimately, both higher taxes and a severely reduced standard of living. We either had to take the hit all at once with a worldwide Depression, or, slowly, and painfully, as a wasting away of a life of plenty. There is no mystery about it. We have been taking the money from one pocket and putting it in the other, rather than generating and producing like other countries. The derivatives market, all $700 Trillion of it, has assured us of this dubious future.
For at least the next decade, expect higher taxes; lower entitlement programs like social security and Medicare, a higher chronic unemployment, and a dollar that buys less. No retirement may become the price that we all pay for the excesses of Wall Street and the manipulations of the credit markets. We may not have accurately predicted a “double-dip” for the third quarter of this year but all of the non-governmental feedback is that many Americans are suffering, and will continue to suffer, as if we are indeed in the midst of The Great Depression II.
-- Winston Churchill
The recent past and not too distant future in America presents a set of challenges unknown to most generations that did not experience the Great Depression. For all practical purposes, the economic meltdown, which came to head with the failure of Lehman Brothers in 2008, was a defining moment in our history. At the same moment in time, the failure of Bear Sterns and Lehman were nearly joined by A.I.G., Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, as well. Only after hastily arranged “marriages” for Merrill Lynch, Countrywide, and a number of smaller investment firms, were the majors saved by Federal loan guarantees (JPMorgan acquisition of Bear), actual loans (A.I.G.), and essentially unlimited money via the Fed discount window – was the system propped up.
As a result of bailing out the banks with TARP money, taking over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac via a conservatorship, and giving huge loans to certain “too big to fail” entities, we now have some stability. But, it is a stability that comes with a high price.
That price is looming inflation from printing trillions of dollars, deficits that are thrown forward for nearly a decade and, ultimately, both higher taxes and a severely reduced standard of living. We either had to take the hit all at once with a worldwide Depression, or, slowly, and painfully, as a wasting away of a life of plenty. There is no mystery about it. We have been taking the money from one pocket and putting it in the other, rather than generating and producing like other countries. The derivatives market, all $700 Trillion of it, has assured us of this dubious future.
For at least the next decade, expect higher taxes; lower entitlement programs like social security and Medicare, a higher chronic unemployment, and a dollar that buys less. No retirement may become the price that we all pay for the excesses of Wall Street and the manipulations of the credit markets. We may not have accurately predicted a “double-dip” for the third quarter of this year but all of the non-governmental feedback is that many Americans are suffering, and will continue to suffer, as if we are indeed in the midst of The Great Depression II.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
President Mike?
New York now leads the world's great cities in the number of people around whom you shouldn't make a sudden move.
-- David Letterman (1947 - )
A funny thing happened on the way to Housing Court. A few people who have been very unhappy with Hi-rise Mike, who has been blamed for the over-development of Downtown, have made a slight turn to the right. Apparently, the Mayor has recently made a few moves that even the die-hard left of center Liberals have had to applaud. The most recent of these has been his stance on supporting affordable housing. In the wake of the Stuyvesant Town Court of Appeals ruling and drying up of investment capital for real estate projects, Bloomberg appears to have gotten some religion . Of course, you can always second-guess his motives – but, in this current economic Armageddon, which has erroneously been called The Great Recession, it pays to be thankful for the Ends, not dwelling on the Means.
Considering the fact that Downtown has about had it with delays on rebuilding at the 9/11 site, the Mayor’s assertive comments are welcomed.
As the Pragmatist philosopher William James might say, “What is the cash value of believing in” Bloomberg’s candidacy. The answer is – maybe, fairly high.
So, let’s assume that Bloomberg is obsessively micro-managing his White House aspirations with a good spin from his pr doctors. No politician alive is immune from wanting to reach higher office. That’s true of Stringer wanting to be Senator, Quinn for wanting to be Mayor, Squadron for possibly seeking national office, and Obama… well, wanting to stay where he is; Which is becoming less and less likely as we pussyfoot through the quagmire of Wars and Depression. It may be a time for a change. But, perhaps one that is weighed, deliberate, and cautious.
Even his detractors credit Bloomberg with having high-quality management skills, especially financial acumen. And, even if there is a sizeable contingent of New Yorkers who would have preferred he had moved on – obstinacy and grandiosity (if that’s what it is) are not necessarily negative traits for a President. But, the ability to do an about-face on important social issues, not defense or security, is a valuable trait that he has kept hidden. Our economic condition, however, is a disaster and needs to be changed.
The sensitivity (or practicality) to changing social winds and, perhaps, some sense of what New York and its dysfunctional State government needs from Washington – is a positive sign for New York City as well as Long Island. Bloomberg may have that.
With the assistance of Frank McKay, the still evolving “whiz kid” (not such a kid) from the Independence Party on Long Island as one of his political gurus, is also a promising sign that he’s mindful of the landscape. It goes a long way towards carrying this state and overcoming any Jewish or Billionaire provincialism.
Only money, as he found out in the recent election for Mayor, is not going to do the trick. The ever-so-subtle shift in hubris after his recent close election, however, may have done the trick. He is appearing neither week, nor grandiose.
A combination of smart political moves and sensitivity to voter issues may yet lift Bloomberg onto the national scene this time around.
-- David Letterman (1947 - )
A funny thing happened on the way to Housing Court. A few people who have been very unhappy with Hi-rise Mike, who has been blamed for the over-development of Downtown, have made a slight turn to the right. Apparently, the Mayor has recently made a few moves that even the die-hard left of center Liberals have had to applaud. The most recent of these has been his stance on supporting affordable housing. In the wake of the Stuyvesant Town Court of Appeals ruling and drying up of investment capital for real estate projects, Bloomberg appears to have gotten some religion . Of course, you can always second-guess his motives – but, in this current economic Armageddon, which has erroneously been called The Great Recession, it pays to be thankful for the Ends, not dwelling on the Means.
Considering the fact that Downtown has about had it with delays on rebuilding at the 9/11 site, the Mayor’s assertive comments are welcomed.
As the Pragmatist philosopher William James might say, “What is the cash value of believing in” Bloomberg’s candidacy. The answer is – maybe, fairly high.
So, let’s assume that Bloomberg is obsessively micro-managing his White House aspirations with a good spin from his pr doctors. No politician alive is immune from wanting to reach higher office. That’s true of Stringer wanting to be Senator, Quinn for wanting to be Mayor, Squadron for possibly seeking national office, and Obama… well, wanting to stay where he is; Which is becoming less and less likely as we pussyfoot through the quagmire of Wars and Depression. It may be a time for a change. But, perhaps one that is weighed, deliberate, and cautious.
Even his detractors credit Bloomberg with having high-quality management skills, especially financial acumen. And, even if there is a sizeable contingent of New Yorkers who would have preferred he had moved on – obstinacy and grandiosity (if that’s what it is) are not necessarily negative traits for a President. But, the ability to do an about-face on important social issues, not defense or security, is a valuable trait that he has kept hidden. Our economic condition, however, is a disaster and needs to be changed.
The sensitivity (or practicality) to changing social winds and, perhaps, some sense of what New York and its dysfunctional State government needs from Washington – is a positive sign for New York City as well as Long Island. Bloomberg may have that.
With the assistance of Frank McKay, the still evolving “whiz kid” (not such a kid) from the Independence Party on Long Island as one of his political gurus, is also a promising sign that he’s mindful of the landscape. It goes a long way towards carrying this state and overcoming any Jewish or Billionaire provincialism.
Only money, as he found out in the recent election for Mayor, is not going to do the trick. The ever-so-subtle shift in hubris after his recent close election, however, may have done the trick. He is appearing neither week, nor grandiose.
A combination of smart political moves and sensitivity to voter issues may yet lift Bloomberg onto the national scene this time around.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Sign This!
The truth is more important than the facts.
-- Frank Lloyd Wright
Apparently, the company doing the construction on the small parcel bordering Thompson/Watts/Broome streets is not even sure who ordered the job done. But SoHo is now the proud recipient of yet another useless structure whose only reason for existence – is to sport another “wrap-around” billboard. In fact, the race to create this 40-foot high tubular steel Lego set has pitched media companies against each other. The existing VanWagner sign, which has aided the media mess that is turning SoHo into a mini-Times Square, is apparently going to be partially blocked by the new addition. At least there’s some justice in this unfortunate event.
Where once there was art, we now have Times Square in SoHo. Big media money has clearly taken over the political process.
The Community Board is nowhere to be seen or heard from in this matter, despite the fact that its entire force was rallied to arrange the removal of one in Greenwich Village. It’s just another example of the political neglect that has severed SoHo from any meaningful support.
-- Frank Lloyd Wright
Apparently, the company doing the construction on the small parcel bordering Thompson/Watts/Broome streets is not even sure who ordered the job done. But SoHo is now the proud recipient of yet another useless structure whose only reason for existence – is to sport another “wrap-around” billboard. In fact, the race to create this 40-foot high tubular steel Lego set has pitched media companies against each other. The existing VanWagner sign, which has aided the media mess that is turning SoHo into a mini-Times Square, is apparently going to be partially blocked by the new addition. At least there’s some justice in this unfortunate event.
Where once there was art, we now have Times Square in SoHo. Big media money has clearly taken over the political process.
The Community Board is nowhere to be seen or heard from in this matter, despite the fact that its entire force was rallied to arrange the removal of one in Greenwich Village. It’s just another example of the political neglect that has severed SoHo from any meaningful support.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Representing SoHo
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
-- Henry Kissinger (1923 - )
The recent election, which replaced Alan Gerson with Margaret Chin, comes on the heels of State Senator Squadron’s success in replacing the decades-long incumbency of predecessor Marty Connor. Both Squadron and Chin received strong support from SoHo.
Squadron is now the Social Services Committee Chair in the Senate. While they are all democrats, there are differences even among democrats. Squadron appears to be on a fast track bringing him to statewide and possibly nationwide attention – in part, no doubt, owing to his close relationship with Chuck Schumer. Margaret Chin is a community activist and her City Council membership is too new to evaluate. Both are responsive new leaders.
Community Board #2 is, of course, another matter. For many years it was known as the Greenwich Village board despite the fact that, in theory, it also represents SoHo, Hudson Square, Chinatown and part of Little Italy and the East Village. Its members are appointed by the Borough President and various City Council members. It is certainly not an apolitical entity and is subject to very little scrutiny by the residents of its communities. Yet, it is supposed to be the entry-level forum for local democracy. The current Chair of Community Board #2 is Jo Hamilton.
What we do know is the fact that Marty Connor and Alan Gerson along with some members of the Community Board, which had ignored their base in SoHo -- were removed or were "fired."
From a SoHo perspective, then, the time has come to re-state some issues, which have not been resolved. It is important that we, once again, make those in political power aware of them.
Billboards and Art.
While there has been a recent uproar about a building on 12th street in Greenwich Village (Equinox Fitness Center) that has billboards plastered around its exterior, the decades-long effort to eliminate the unsightly signs in SoHo has been completely ignored. It’s no surprise that the Community Board, whose members are nominated and supported by elected politicians (who receive campaign contributions from the media companies which erect billboards), has dragged its feet.
Speaker Vallone of the City Council pushed through legislation, which called for fines up to $25,000 for illegal billboards and severely restricted them. Of course, the Department of Buildings is a neutered agency and there is no enforcement unit to exercise the mandate – even if there was a will to do so. Which it does not have, courtesy of the Mayor.
SoHo is an area that has thrived due to the history of art. An intelligent media person, a creative Department of Buildings Department manager or a community-minded bureaucrat in the Bloomberg administration – could propose the use of billboards to promote art or even display art.
Protection of the remnants of original community art has always been a dream of many “old-timers” in SoHo.
Attempts to have “Sunflower Park”, the location of the guerilla art sculptures which were unceremoniously ripped out of the asphalt at Broome Street and West Broadway after 40 years, renamed as Bob Bolles Park – has been ignored at all levels from the Community Board to the elected politicians. The art brought condo developments and upscale stores but nothing for its residents that made its place on the international map.
But, artistic minds like don’t exist in City government. Easier to bludgeon the residents into submission with beer ads or scantily clad, anexoric models on 50 feet high murals (as exist on Houston Street) – in open contravention of the laws, good sense or family values.
Another looming fight, which has been played out numerous times at the Community Board, is the issue of liquor licenses. Currently, the Moondance Diner location is the focus of repeated attempts to bypass the community on the issue of commentary and review – a problem that we are all to familiar with in SoHo (Trump SoHo is a good example).
There is also the larger issue of rampant development allowed by virtue of the fact that SoHo is still considered an M-1, manufacturing district – allowing hotels to be built without any review. Entreaties to place a moratorium on hotels or “hotel-condos” have fallen on deaf ears.
The fact that the liquor license committee chaired by Ray Lee and the Zoning committee chaired by David Reck, both of whom appear to suffer from the Stockholm syndrome, allow applicants to hold the community hostage to their whims. More community-minded professionals, such as Doris Diether, for example, (who formerly chaired Zoning) has been relegated to a back seat because she does not cater to developers' agendas. If the community is against a project, she finds a way to make their voices heard.
After years of complaints, which ultimately resulted in a few Town Hall hearings – we are back to square one with the same leadership issues and the same deaf ears at Community Board #2.
In essence, SoHo has no power over its own future. Special interests control our fate.
We call on our elected officials and Community Board #2 to celebrate art, change the way the media companies have changed our community for the debasing worst, and use some common sense in the treatment of SoHo – if they wish to remain.
-- Henry Kissinger (1923 - )
The recent election, which replaced Alan Gerson with Margaret Chin, comes on the heels of State Senator Squadron’s success in replacing the decades-long incumbency of predecessor Marty Connor. Both Squadron and Chin received strong support from SoHo.
Squadron is now the Social Services Committee Chair in the Senate. While they are all democrats, there are differences even among democrats. Squadron appears to be on a fast track bringing him to statewide and possibly nationwide attention – in part, no doubt, owing to his close relationship with Chuck Schumer. Margaret Chin is a community activist and her City Council membership is too new to evaluate. Both are responsive new leaders.
Community Board #2 is, of course, another matter. For many years it was known as the Greenwich Village board despite the fact that, in theory, it also represents SoHo, Hudson Square, Chinatown and part of Little Italy and the East Village. Its members are appointed by the Borough President and various City Council members. It is certainly not an apolitical entity and is subject to very little scrutiny by the residents of its communities. Yet, it is supposed to be the entry-level forum for local democracy. The current Chair of Community Board #2 is Jo Hamilton.
What we do know is the fact that Marty Connor and Alan Gerson along with some members of the Community Board, which had ignored their base in SoHo -- were removed or were "fired."
From a SoHo perspective, then, the time has come to re-state some issues, which have not been resolved. It is important that we, once again, make those in political power aware of them.
Billboards and Art.
While there has been a recent uproar about a building on 12th street in Greenwich Village (Equinox Fitness Center) that has billboards plastered around its exterior, the decades-long effort to eliminate the unsightly signs in SoHo has been completely ignored. It’s no surprise that the Community Board, whose members are nominated and supported by elected politicians (who receive campaign contributions from the media companies which erect billboards), has dragged its feet.
Speaker Vallone of the City Council pushed through legislation, which called for fines up to $25,000 for illegal billboards and severely restricted them. Of course, the Department of Buildings is a neutered agency and there is no enforcement unit to exercise the mandate – even if there was a will to do so. Which it does not have, courtesy of the Mayor.
SoHo is an area that has thrived due to the history of art. An intelligent media person, a creative Department of Buildings Department manager or a community-minded bureaucrat in the Bloomberg administration – could propose the use of billboards to promote art or even display art.
Protection of the remnants of original community art has always been a dream of many “old-timers” in SoHo.
Attempts to have “Sunflower Park”, the location of the guerilla art sculptures which were unceremoniously ripped out of the asphalt at Broome Street and West Broadway after 40 years, renamed as Bob Bolles Park – has been ignored at all levels from the Community Board to the elected politicians. The art brought condo developments and upscale stores but nothing for its residents that made its place on the international map.
But, artistic minds like don’t exist in City government. Easier to bludgeon the residents into submission with beer ads or scantily clad, anexoric models on 50 feet high murals (as exist on Houston Street) – in open contravention of the laws, good sense or family values.
Another looming fight, which has been played out numerous times at the Community Board, is the issue of liquor licenses. Currently, the Moondance Diner location is the focus of repeated attempts to bypass the community on the issue of commentary and review – a problem that we are all to familiar with in SoHo (Trump SoHo is a good example).
There is also the larger issue of rampant development allowed by virtue of the fact that SoHo is still considered an M-1, manufacturing district – allowing hotels to be built without any review. Entreaties to place a moratorium on hotels or “hotel-condos” have fallen on deaf ears.
The fact that the liquor license committee chaired by Ray Lee and the Zoning committee chaired by David Reck, both of whom appear to suffer from the Stockholm syndrome, allow applicants to hold the community hostage to their whims. More community-minded professionals, such as Doris Diether, for example, (who formerly chaired Zoning) has been relegated to a back seat because she does not cater to developers' agendas. If the community is against a project, she finds a way to make their voices heard.
After years of complaints, which ultimately resulted in a few Town Hall hearings – we are back to square one with the same leadership issues and the same deaf ears at Community Board #2.
In essence, SoHo has no power over its own future. Special interests control our fate.
We call on our elected officials and Community Board #2 to celebrate art, change the way the media companies have changed our community for the debasing worst, and use some common sense in the treatment of SoHo – if they wish to remain.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
SoHo Real Estate
Patriotism is often an arbitrary veneration of real estate above principles.
-- George Jean Nathan (1882 - 1958)
The pace of construction has slowed Downtown. The new projects that are moving forward are primarily hotels. In part, this is due to the fact that little community review is needed when building as-of-right structures in a manufacturing zone. The Trump SoHo project is nearly completed and both the Tunnel Garage and Moondance Diner sites are in final stages of construction.
Tunnel Garage Condo
Moondance Hotel
The condo project at 350 West Broadway is also nearly completed.
Rumors abound as to the success of any of these projects due to the dearth of financing for construction. In the case of Trump SoHo, 350 West Broadway and the Tunnel Garage condo development – the truth about sales is hard to come by. The fact that there is a vacant lot for rent at 100 Varick Street where an eight story rental building had been approved – followed by rumors of yet another hotel – tells the story of commercial real estate and development.
For tenants, the Stuyvesant Town decision at the Court of Appeals is the big story. Tishman-Speyer gambled and lost. Why any company would believe that thousands of rent-stabilized tenants could be forced out of their homes is a serious misunderstanding of a city that is built on landlord-tenant litigation.
Essentially, those landlords who benefitted from J-51 tax abatements are now precluded from using the luxury decontrol option to force stabilized tenants from their homes.
This was a ploy used by many aggressive operators to force tenants out of their homes.
In one case, two real estate newcomers who are also dentists at a Varick Street location in SoHo (actually Hudson Square) have been using this method for many years. Among the many other dubious methods to harass stabilized tenants out of their homes luxury decontrol has been the choice of these characters – with the willing cooperation afforded by DHCR and Department of Buildings. These denuded agencies allow illegally operated buildings to use the courts in furthering landlord plans. The Mayor has intentionally weakened both of these agencies in order to evict legal tenants and further development in Manhattan.
Recent laws regarding harassment and abuse are seldom enforced requiring huge legal fees to be paid by tenants. The $5,000 fines for such behavior enacted by the City Council is not only a joke, but is rarely imposed. In reality, tenant protection is a figment of the City Council’s imagination, in spite of the laudable efforts by Speaker Quinn. If you, as a tenant, pay legal fees and cannot pay rent at the same time – you lose one way or the other.
The Court of Appeals ruling, however, recently eliminated luxury decontrol in any building that was afforded J-51 tax relief for the landlord. Further, current market rate tenants who live in apartments, which formerly were stabilized – and were previously converted to market rate – may now be restored to stabilization. This is true regardless of whether the current market rate tenant occupied the apartment at the time it was converted from a stabilized status. In addition, any rent paid which was higher than what was once the registered stabilized rent – can be retrieved from the landlord (with treble damages) by the tenant.
-- George Jean Nathan (1882 - 1958)
The pace of construction has slowed Downtown. The new projects that are moving forward are primarily hotels. In part, this is due to the fact that little community review is needed when building as-of-right structures in a manufacturing zone. The Trump SoHo project is nearly completed and both the Tunnel Garage and Moondance Diner sites are in final stages of construction.
Tunnel Garage Condo
Moondance Hotel
The condo project at 350 West Broadway is also nearly completed.
Rumors abound as to the success of any of these projects due to the dearth of financing for construction. In the case of Trump SoHo, 350 West Broadway and the Tunnel Garage condo development – the truth about sales is hard to come by. The fact that there is a vacant lot for rent at 100 Varick Street where an eight story rental building had been approved – followed by rumors of yet another hotel – tells the story of commercial real estate and development.
For tenants, the Stuyvesant Town decision at the Court of Appeals is the big story. Tishman-Speyer gambled and lost. Why any company would believe that thousands of rent-stabilized tenants could be forced out of their homes is a serious misunderstanding of a city that is built on landlord-tenant litigation.
Essentially, those landlords who benefitted from J-51 tax abatements are now precluded from using the luxury decontrol option to force stabilized tenants from their homes.
This was a ploy used by many aggressive operators to force tenants out of their homes.
In one case, two real estate newcomers who are also dentists at a Varick Street location in SoHo (actually Hudson Square) have been using this method for many years. Among the many other dubious methods to harass stabilized tenants out of their homes luxury decontrol has been the choice of these characters – with the willing cooperation afforded by DHCR and Department of Buildings. These denuded agencies allow illegally operated buildings to use the courts in furthering landlord plans. The Mayor has intentionally weakened both of these agencies in order to evict legal tenants and further development in Manhattan.
Recent laws regarding harassment and abuse are seldom enforced requiring huge legal fees to be paid by tenants. The $5,000 fines for such behavior enacted by the City Council is not only a joke, but is rarely imposed. In reality, tenant protection is a figment of the City Council’s imagination, in spite of the laudable efforts by Speaker Quinn. If you, as a tenant, pay legal fees and cannot pay rent at the same time – you lose one way or the other.
The Court of Appeals ruling, however, recently eliminated luxury decontrol in any building that was afforded J-51 tax relief for the landlord. Further, current market rate tenants who live in apartments, which formerly were stabilized – and were previously converted to market rate – may now be restored to stabilization. This is true regardless of whether the current market rate tenant occupied the apartment at the time it was converted from a stabilized status. In addition, any rent paid which was higher than what was once the registered stabilized rent – can be retrieved from the landlord (with treble damages) by the tenant.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Political Lessons
Times have changed. It's not like the Old Days, when we can do anything we want. A refusal is not the act of a friend. If Don Corleone had all the judges, and the politicians in New York, then he must share them, or let us others use them. He must let us draw the water from the well. Certainly he can present a bill for such services; after all... we are not Communists.
-- Don Barzini (The Godfather)
With Goldman Sachs bankers reportedly applying for gun permits to protect themselves from an enraged populace, its not surprising that there is some anger associated with playing the game of politics. As JFK once said, “Politics is the only game for adults.”
The game has evolved into a stage from which to pontificate upon “The Truth,” whatever that is. The trial of Joe Bruno, former leader of the State Senate, for example, shows us that retribution is usually is the order of the day – a tragic-comedy replete with rumors of rogue State Police units, political payoffs and favors.
But, what about the game within the game? What about the casino of supporting a politician in hopes of currying favor at some future time? And, what about the obverse of asking for support in order to get elected in the first place?
It’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Few will talk about it on record and those who do, give a stock answer that “You should support and vote for the best candidate, period. That is its own reward. Expect nothing in return. The best person winning, your candidate is the success you should want – and nothing more.”
Okay, that sounds good. It has a good ring to it.
And, in fact, sometimes the success of a particular candidate really is so important that it’s close to the truth.
Downtown, the success of Margaret Chin as City Council Member, and the unexpected victory by Cy Vance as D.A. were two notable examples of people who were critical to a progressive agenda for SoHo and sister communities – as well as Manhattan, in general.
Bloomberg is still a cipher to some – because his skills have been overshadowed by a seemingly dictatorial manner of governing that were only re-emphasized by the term-limits fiasco. However, he is an intelligent and able administrator, who seems more in tune with Aeschylus than Downtown residents. Trump SoHo, the DSNY garage on Spring Street, the overdevelopment, the neutering of the Department of Buildings (no landlord scrutiny and no tenant support), the dangerous and over-the-top bike lanes in SoHo and the failure to reign-in billboard proliferation – are just a few examples of resident dissatisfaction with his Imperial style.
There is no doubt that his friendship will further empower Frank McKay, noted political genius of the Hamptons who heads the Independence Party. That friendship will now be a lot closer – since Thompson clearly would have won the election without McKay’s support, in spite of the $120 million Bloomberg spent.
For others who ran, for those who did not pay enough attention to their base of support, it was a bleak lesson. Alan Gerson, thought of as a “nice guy” (he actually is) counted on Greenwich Village voters but burned his bridges with the Downtown Independent Democrats (SoHo’s powerful political club) -- and was turned out of office. Rumors have it that Gerson angered the President of D.I.D., Sean Sweeney and other important members, by claiming that he no longer needed the club’s support. He was warned by Sweeney that such a point of view would cost him the next election. Despite being an incumbent and having broad community support, as a result of his rejection of D.I.D., Gerson lost his bid for re-election. Activists were so antagonistic towards Gerson that they went so far as to create a website with the slogan ABG – anyone but Gerson. The lesson should not be lost on others.
But, as Monty Python’s famous line goes: 'No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.' Once elected, many politicians have brushed off their former supporters. It is a familiar gripe.
The recent defection by David Reck, Bill Love and Linda Belfer in a bid to form a new political club, followed on he heels of the Gerson loss.
Described by Sweeney as the Downtown United Democrats (DUDS), the success of this, as yet unnamed group, has completed the regeneration of D.I.D. After having foiled an attempted coup by Reck and Community Board #1 Chair Julie Menin to take over the club, the exit of members who opposed Sweeney will now be complete. He described it as excising a malignant tumor without having to operate.
With 200 members, D.I.D. is now poised to become THE downtown political club. The transitional period is underway and new leadership will be reinforcing its image. Jeanne Wilcke, Adam Sivera, Jim Stratton and Pete Gleason will be joining Sweeney.
Jeanne Wilcke
Adam Silvera
Pete Gleason
Sean Sweeney
In this game, politicians need to pay more attention to the desires of leaders who DO speak for the community. Those who work tirelessly for the benefit of others -- as well as themselves -- must now start making the needs of the community much clearer – and holding candidates accountable for their promises AFTER they are elected.
Thus far, that has been conveniently forgotten.
-- Don Barzini (The Godfather)
With Goldman Sachs bankers reportedly applying for gun permits to protect themselves from an enraged populace, its not surprising that there is some anger associated with playing the game of politics. As JFK once said, “Politics is the only game for adults.”
The game has evolved into a stage from which to pontificate upon “The Truth,” whatever that is. The trial of Joe Bruno, former leader of the State Senate, for example, shows us that retribution is usually is the order of the day – a tragic-comedy replete with rumors of rogue State Police units, political payoffs and favors.
But, what about the game within the game? What about the casino of supporting a politician in hopes of currying favor at some future time? And, what about the obverse of asking for support in order to get elected in the first place?
It’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes. Few will talk about it on record and those who do, give a stock answer that “You should support and vote for the best candidate, period. That is its own reward. Expect nothing in return. The best person winning, your candidate is the success you should want – and nothing more.”
Okay, that sounds good. It has a good ring to it.
And, in fact, sometimes the success of a particular candidate really is so important that it’s close to the truth.
Downtown, the success of Margaret Chin as City Council Member, and the unexpected victory by Cy Vance as D.A. were two notable examples of people who were critical to a progressive agenda for SoHo and sister communities – as well as Manhattan, in general.
Bloomberg is still a cipher to some – because his skills have been overshadowed by a seemingly dictatorial manner of governing that were only re-emphasized by the term-limits fiasco. However, he is an intelligent and able administrator, who seems more in tune with Aeschylus than Downtown residents. Trump SoHo, the DSNY garage on Spring Street, the overdevelopment, the neutering of the Department of Buildings (no landlord scrutiny and no tenant support), the dangerous and over-the-top bike lanes in SoHo and the failure to reign-in billboard proliferation – are just a few examples of resident dissatisfaction with his Imperial style.
There is no doubt that his friendship will further empower Frank McKay, noted political genius of the Hamptons who heads the Independence Party. That friendship will now be a lot closer – since Thompson clearly would have won the election without McKay’s support, in spite of the $120 million Bloomberg spent.
For others who ran, for those who did not pay enough attention to their base of support, it was a bleak lesson. Alan Gerson, thought of as a “nice guy” (he actually is) counted on Greenwich Village voters but burned his bridges with the Downtown Independent Democrats (SoHo’s powerful political club) -- and was turned out of office. Rumors have it that Gerson angered the President of D.I.D., Sean Sweeney and other important members, by claiming that he no longer needed the club’s support. He was warned by Sweeney that such a point of view would cost him the next election. Despite being an incumbent and having broad community support, as a result of his rejection of D.I.D., Gerson lost his bid for re-election. Activists were so antagonistic towards Gerson that they went so far as to create a website with the slogan ABG – anyone but Gerson. The lesson should not be lost on others.
But, as Monty Python’s famous line goes: 'No one ever expects the Spanish Inquisition.' Once elected, many politicians have brushed off their former supporters. It is a familiar gripe.
The recent defection by David Reck, Bill Love and Linda Belfer in a bid to form a new political club, followed on he heels of the Gerson loss.
Described by Sweeney as the Downtown United Democrats (DUDS), the success of this, as yet unnamed group, has completed the regeneration of D.I.D. After having foiled an attempted coup by Reck and Community Board #1 Chair Julie Menin to take over the club, the exit of members who opposed Sweeney will now be complete. He described it as excising a malignant tumor without having to operate.
With 200 members, D.I.D. is now poised to become THE downtown political club. The transitional period is underway and new leadership will be reinforcing its image. Jeanne Wilcke, Adam Sivera, Jim Stratton and Pete Gleason will be joining Sweeney.
Jeanne Wilcke
Adam Silvera
Pete Gleason
Sean Sweeney
In this game, politicians need to pay more attention to the desires of leaders who DO speak for the community. Those who work tirelessly for the benefit of others -- as well as themselves -- must now start making the needs of the community much clearer – and holding candidates accountable for their promises AFTER they are elected.
Thus far, that has been conveniently forgotten.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Rumors
In politics, an absurdity is not a handicap.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
Apparently, District Leader David Reck and Linda Belfer along with Bill Love have circulated a memo stating that they intend to form a new political club downtown. Politicians take note. The memo, written ostensibly by Bill Love, states:
“Our new club will have instant credibility with elected officials and other political leaders for several reasons, not the least of which will be the caliber of the people involved, such as you.”
The real reason for this foray is a certain degree of animosity between Reck and D.I.D. President Sean Sweeney, which has evolved over the last couple of years. Neither are low-key individuals and both have supporters as well as detractors among politicians and residents.
The boiling point seems to have been reached during an alleged attempt to pack the club by Reck associates last year – in order to remove Sweeney as President. It was believed that Julie Menin, Chair of Community Board 1, supported this move.
Starting a political club is not all that difficult. It just takes an enormous amount of time, energy and money. Unless, of course, the effort is being bankrolled by others. Maintaining a level of respect, developing a history and managing to be taken seriously by political candidates are the hard part. The notion of “instant credibility,” is a dubious one.
Of course, there is some question as to the validity of political clubs, in general. But, that’s another issue.
Reck is smart and works hard – especially, at petitioning.
Anger management is his Achilles Heel.
No doubt, this decision is due to frustration over Sweeney’s near-impenetrable Presidency at D.I.D. But, strong leaders manage political structures with sometimes-controversial personalities. That applies as much to Sweeney as it does to Reck.
This will play out in one of two ways, however:
D.I.D. might be weakened by a Reck and Belfer departure or, D.I.D. will become stronger as the people who are dissatisfied leave. Betting favors the latter.
It was today reported that Trump SoHo has entered foreclosure. This could not be confirmed but a Community Board member was reported to be the source of this rumor. SoHo Alliance Executive Director, Sean Sweeney who leads a group suing over the project was not aware of this rumor and could not confirm it. So, no dancing in the streets at this point, folks, since it is difficult to tell whether this is wishful thinking for residents of SoHo, or, is indeed a fact.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
Apparently, District Leader David Reck and Linda Belfer along with Bill Love have circulated a memo stating that they intend to form a new political club downtown. Politicians take note. The memo, written ostensibly by Bill Love, states:
“Our new club will have instant credibility with elected officials and other political leaders for several reasons, not the least of which will be the caliber of the people involved, such as you.”
The real reason for this foray is a certain degree of animosity between Reck and D.I.D. President Sean Sweeney, which has evolved over the last couple of years. Neither are low-key individuals and both have supporters as well as detractors among politicians and residents.
The boiling point seems to have been reached during an alleged attempt to pack the club by Reck associates last year – in order to remove Sweeney as President. It was believed that Julie Menin, Chair of Community Board 1, supported this move.
Starting a political club is not all that difficult. It just takes an enormous amount of time, energy and money. Unless, of course, the effort is being bankrolled by others. Maintaining a level of respect, developing a history and managing to be taken seriously by political candidates are the hard part. The notion of “instant credibility,” is a dubious one.
Of course, there is some question as to the validity of political clubs, in general. But, that’s another issue.
Reck is smart and works hard – especially, at petitioning.
Anger management is his Achilles Heel.
No doubt, this decision is due to frustration over Sweeney’s near-impenetrable Presidency at D.I.D. But, strong leaders manage political structures with sometimes-controversial personalities. That applies as much to Sweeney as it does to Reck.
This will play out in one of two ways, however:
D.I.D. might be weakened by a Reck and Belfer departure or, D.I.D. will become stronger as the people who are dissatisfied leave. Betting favors the latter.
It was today reported that Trump SoHo has entered foreclosure. This could not be confirmed but a Community Board member was reported to be the source of this rumor. SoHo Alliance Executive Director, Sean Sweeney who leads a group suing over the project was not aware of this rumor and could not confirm it. So, no dancing in the streets at this point, folks, since it is difficult to tell whether this is wishful thinking for residents of SoHo, or, is indeed a fact.
Monday, November 02, 2009
SoHo Election Views
Voter early and vote often.
-- Al Capone
In SoHo the general election boils down to only the race for Mayor. Chin (City Council 1st District) won the primary, as did Cy Vance (D.A.) and Quinn (City Council 3rd District). In Manhattan, a completely Democratic town, the Primary winner takes the brass ring. The only Republican, in form and function, was Leslie Crocker Snyder for D.A. She lost to Vance who won handily.
Yetta Kurland challenged Christine Quinn for her City Council seat and did surprisingly well since Quinn, the Speaker, came away with only 52% of the vote. Her political acumen may lead her to work more closely with the community but only time will tell. On the horizon for that slot is Kurland, if she runs again, Brad Hoylman (former Chair of Community Board 2) and Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation. The latter has impeccable bona fides.
Margaret Chin will have a lot on her plate since, by all accounts, Alan Gerson was less than a tiger in his City Council position for eight years who, seen in the Village recently, was less than friendly. The tricky problems of vendors who line Canal Street with valises full of fake designer wares, ill-conceived bike lanes on Grand Street and other Village thoroughfares, the assault and harassment on tenants’ rights and trampling of communities by developers – will all be challenging issues facing the new City Council member.
Cy Vance, as the new Manhattan D.A. promises to be a breath of fresh air – taking over from the retiring District Attorney. He promises to build upon the long and successful reign, which was the innovative and progressive career of Bob Morgenthau. While he has the knowledge and compassion of a defense attorney, Vance also has the acumen of a prosecutor whose role it is to protect the citizenry from violent crime.
The Mayoral race between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson is much simpler than it seems for most people. It boils down to the simple matter of whether voters want a benevolent or benign father figure telling them what to do and think – and can buy that role – or, whether voters, as adults are electing their political leaders. The term limits fiasco was foisted upon the public and Thompson has continuously pointed out that the Emperor has no clothes. There is no other issue.
-- Al Capone
In SoHo the general election boils down to only the race for Mayor. Chin (City Council 1st District) won the primary, as did Cy Vance (D.A.) and Quinn (City Council 3rd District). In Manhattan, a completely Democratic town, the Primary winner takes the brass ring. The only Republican, in form and function, was Leslie Crocker Snyder for D.A. She lost to Vance who won handily.
Yetta Kurland challenged Christine Quinn for her City Council seat and did surprisingly well since Quinn, the Speaker, came away with only 52% of the vote. Her political acumen may lead her to work more closely with the community but only time will tell. On the horizon for that slot is Kurland, if she runs again, Brad Hoylman (former Chair of Community Board 2) and Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation. The latter has impeccable bona fides.
Margaret Chin will have a lot on her plate since, by all accounts, Alan Gerson was less than a tiger in his City Council position for eight years who, seen in the Village recently, was less than friendly. The tricky problems of vendors who line Canal Street with valises full of fake designer wares, ill-conceived bike lanes on Grand Street and other Village thoroughfares, the assault and harassment on tenants’ rights and trampling of communities by developers – will all be challenging issues facing the new City Council member.
Cy Vance, as the new Manhattan D.A. promises to be a breath of fresh air – taking over from the retiring District Attorney. He promises to build upon the long and successful reign, which was the innovative and progressive career of Bob Morgenthau. While he has the knowledge and compassion of a defense attorney, Vance also has the acumen of a prosecutor whose role it is to protect the citizenry from violent crime.
The Mayoral race between Mike Bloomberg and Bill Thompson is much simpler than it seems for most people. It boils down to the simple matter of whether voters want a benevolent or benign father figure telling them what to do and think – and can buy that role – or, whether voters, as adults are electing their political leaders. The term limits fiasco was foisted upon the public and Thompson has continuously pointed out that the Emperor has no clothes. There is no other issue.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Eye of the Storm
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
-- Bill Watterson (1958 - )
While the economy is improving according to our dear leaders, ominous signs have appeared to contradict the theory that the worst is over. The only indicators that support improvement are the stock market
and the broad effects of stimulus packages and propped-up consumer spending like the “cash for clunkers” program and tax credit for home buyers. Those programs and the real state of the economy are merely smoke and mirrors. It’s like taking money out of one pocket (taxpayers) and putting it in another (consumers) to show improved economic activity.
Who are we kidding?
As one person commented on a financial site:
When they talk about recovery, they do not mean you me or the average taxpayer. We are only required to pay taxes and suffer in silence.
Recovery is meant for Wall Street, the banksters and their bonuses.
That is what is meant by recovery.
There are a few major components that point to where we are and where we are going. Credit is contracting rapidly and banks lend to each other, or well-connected parties, after borrowing from the Fed. Wall Street has improved its balance sheets (on paper) and has survived with government money and the “carry trade.” Thus, with borrowed money to conduct business – $16 Billion is available at Goldman Sachs – for bonuses.
Banks and Wall Street have also survived the mortgage crisis by selling the toxic paper they needed to pump out for huge fees, to the government, and consequently applying for more Federal money when their balance sheet gets dicey.
One commenter writes about the situation like this:
“Bloomberg reporting that Crooked Timmie's shop, and Give-away Ben's shop, are populated by "advisors" that made millions and millions and millions of dollars from Goldman Sucks, Bank of Criminals, JP Morgan, etc. etc... Obama, just like Bush, and Crooked Timmie, just like Paulson, and Give-away Ben, are working as hard as they can to benefit their buddies on wall street... If they had taken those trillions and given it to main street, the recession would have been over long ago, along with the cancerous vipers on wall street... But the rich take care of the rich... the rest of us can ‘go pound sand’.”
Underlying all of this is massive unemployment. As credit evaporates, companies file for bankruptcy, commercial real estate collapses and people are fired, deflation sets in. Downsized companies need fewer supplies, fewer workers and smaller rental spaces. It is entropy in action.
All of this sets the stage for futile attempts to stop this process but only manages to put a finger in the dike. Even if there is a temporary halt to the process, hyperinflation will set in and create an even bigger bubble than the supposed subprime mortgage fiasco.
What we are facing now is the possibility of a double-dip recession
that might turn into a Depression starting in 2010. No one knows whether that will happen, but a 50% increase in the stock market within 6 months should clue everyone in to the erratic nature of our economic situation. Simultaneously, millions are unemployed (with more on the way), foreclosures are increasing (the so-called “prime” loans), home prices continue to drop, companies file for bankruptcy at an accelerated rate and credit evaporates precipitously.
When 20% of all homeowners who DO pay their mortgage and face possible job loss – and who currently owe more than they are worth (and values are still declining) – the prognosis for stabilization is 5 to 10 years away.
A lot can happen in a decade and much of it is pretty.
If the stock market has another major decline as many are predicting and housing continues to drop in value – coinciding with another modest increase in the price of oil to $100 or $125 per barrel – ALL bets are off.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
The People have Spoken
When the eagles are silent, the parrots begin to jabber.
--Sir Winston Churchill
Last Tuesday’s Primary was an eye-opener for many of us Downtown.
The most watched contests were the CD1, CD3 City Council races and, more important the run for District Attorney.
Margaret Chin, an activist who has supported tenants in their confrontations with landlords and developers, won the CD1 seat handily.
She defeated incumbent Alan Gerson overwhelmingly. While she was not as involved in the heated controversies, as was candidate Pete Gleason, it’s clear that Gerson was damaged by the perception that his campaign had started to lose control. The loss of matching funds, the delays in being listed on the ballot and the overhang from his unpopular support of term-limit extension, were fatal to Gerson’s re-election.
While there was increasing rancor over the perception by many activists that Alan had ignored their community needs, the handling of his campaign was really the nail in his political coffin.
As always, Alan is a “nice guy.” We wish him well.
Pete Gleason always was a stand-up guy in the community. He fought hard and has supported the community as a fireman, police officer and attorney.
We look forward to his next move. For the moment his plans involve a return to his legal practice.
The CD3 race was a tough one for many. Quinn has baggage but is seen as a strong citywide City Council Speaker. Her mistakes lie with how her Downtown district constituents view her efforts for them. There are political moves afoot, however, to remove her Speakership.
Kurland fought a good fight and her challenge to Quinn was a closer call than one would have been expected. The message here is that even a strong Speaker may want to consider community outreach that is perceived as a genuine attempt to mend fences.
Especially, if Quinn plans to run for Mayor. The support of Bloomberg over Thompson (which she has alluded to by her refusal to commit), in light of the negative view of the term-limits fiasco that caused many Council members their seats, is clearly a mistake. Gerson can vouch for that.
Many clubs and Downtown activists supported Richard Aborn for D.A. He is seen as a progressive who wanted to make real changes in the criminal justice system.
Leslie Crocker-Snyder was perceived as a conservative, and despite the fact that she reached out to women (calling on her ostensible strong support) and heavily criticized Vance; it was not good enough to seal the deal. She clearly had the advantage going into the race – especially, on the heels of a better than 40% share of the vote against Morgenthau from 4 years ago.
As Vance pulled up in the polls, the strident content of her message started to scare a few people. Not just the criminals.
Vance will be a breath of fresh air, especially in his desire to build on Morgenthau’s successes and focus on the major problem of recidivism.
Cy Vance’s campaign was handled very well. His momentum grew slowly and his message of change did not criticize Morgenthau but alluded to the fact that he wanted to further expand certain efforts. Of course, it did not hurt that “Morgy” heavily supported him. Or, that the Kennedys endorsed him. Even Gloria Steinem helped get out the vote.
Gradually, the well-placed media blitz garnered endorsements from the NY Times, Daily News and NY Post. Even downtown’s prescient niche publication, The SoHo Journal, featured his images and interview with a Warhol-styled cover reproduction – the magazine’s first cover featuring a politician.
Ultimately, Vance’s easy manner, firm stance on crime and innovative ideas, seeped into the voter’s consciousness and took hold. He was elected in a landslide.
--Sir Winston Churchill
Last Tuesday’s Primary was an eye-opener for many of us Downtown.
The most watched contests were the CD1, CD3 City Council races and, more important the run for District Attorney.
Margaret Chin, an activist who has supported tenants in their confrontations with landlords and developers, won the CD1 seat handily.
She defeated incumbent Alan Gerson overwhelmingly. While she was not as involved in the heated controversies, as was candidate Pete Gleason, it’s clear that Gerson was damaged by the perception that his campaign had started to lose control. The loss of matching funds, the delays in being listed on the ballot and the overhang from his unpopular support of term-limit extension, were fatal to Gerson’s re-election.
While there was increasing rancor over the perception by many activists that Alan had ignored their community needs, the handling of his campaign was really the nail in his political coffin.
As always, Alan is a “nice guy.” We wish him well.
Pete Gleason always was a stand-up guy in the community. He fought hard and has supported the community as a fireman, police officer and attorney.
We look forward to his next move. For the moment his plans involve a return to his legal practice.
The CD3 race was a tough one for many. Quinn has baggage but is seen as a strong citywide City Council Speaker. Her mistakes lie with how her Downtown district constituents view her efforts for them. There are political moves afoot, however, to remove her Speakership.
Kurland fought a good fight and her challenge to Quinn was a closer call than one would have been expected. The message here is that even a strong Speaker may want to consider community outreach that is perceived as a genuine attempt to mend fences.
Especially, if Quinn plans to run for Mayor. The support of Bloomberg over Thompson (which she has alluded to by her refusal to commit), in light of the negative view of the term-limits fiasco that caused many Council members their seats, is clearly a mistake. Gerson can vouch for that.
Many clubs and Downtown activists supported Richard Aborn for D.A. He is seen as a progressive who wanted to make real changes in the criminal justice system.
Leslie Crocker-Snyder was perceived as a conservative, and despite the fact that she reached out to women (calling on her ostensible strong support) and heavily criticized Vance; it was not good enough to seal the deal. She clearly had the advantage going into the race – especially, on the heels of a better than 40% share of the vote against Morgenthau from 4 years ago.
As Vance pulled up in the polls, the strident content of her message started to scare a few people. Not just the criminals.
Vance will be a breath of fresh air, especially in his desire to build on Morgenthau’s successes and focus on the major problem of recidivism.
Cy Vance’s campaign was handled very well. His momentum grew slowly and his message of change did not criticize Morgenthau but alluded to the fact that he wanted to further expand certain efforts. Of course, it did not hurt that “Morgy” heavily supported him. Or, that the Kennedys endorsed him. Even Gloria Steinem helped get out the vote.
Gradually, the well-placed media blitz garnered endorsements from the NY Times, Daily News and NY Post. Even downtown’s prescient niche publication, The SoHo Journal, featured his images and interview with a Warhol-styled cover reproduction – the magazine’s first cover featuring a politician.
Ultimately, Vance’s easy manner, firm stance on crime and innovative ideas, seeped into the voter’s consciousness and took hold. He was elected in a landslide.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Where the Buck Stops
When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
-- Yogi Berra (1925 - )
We have reached the point of no return on the final round of Downtown politics. For a Democratic town, the Primary is THE election. The most relevant for us are the District 1 and District 3 City Council (the two affecting SoHo) and Manhattan District Attorney races.
Essentially, the City Council races are the Gerson/Gleason/Chin contest (CD1), the Quinn/Kurland face-off (CD3) and the Manhattan District Attorney Vance, Aborn, Snyder contest.
Calling any of these races is next to impossible.
Quinn has suffered from some serious mudslinging and rancor from community activists over the DSNY garage, the Trump SoHo behemoth and disaffection from her support of the term-limits rollback. Support of tenants, as a bedrock of her community support has been tepid since she is perceived as someone who has failed to really target the landlord games that still permit stabilized tenants to be evicted using the “lawsuit ploy” and does not at all protect market rate tenants from gouging once their one or two year lease expires. Tenants who complain do not get a lease renewal.
However, Quinn is an able politician who knows how to navigate in a dangerous environment. Despite the accusations regarding “Slushgate” it is a fantasy to suppose that Council funds (or those in any other elected office) are not part of the risk-reward system that politics is about. Running a campaign, not to mention living your life, under possible indictment takes a strong, dedicated person. Toughness counts for something, even if you don’t agree with the person who is running.
Kurland, on the other hand, is untested but has gained substantial support from community activists who want a clean sweep. Her bona fides seem to stem from gay rights and a willingness to confront issues important to the community. Her support has substantially grown in recent weeks and those who have written her off initially are now thinking twice.
The Gerson, Gleason, Chin contest is another race that is impossible to call.
While Gerson is the incumbent, his growing unpopularity has only been upstaged by a badly managed campaign. To have lost matching funds and a place on the ballot for a time shows a massive lack of competence – at least about running a contested election. Gerson, by his decisions, seems to have been massively unprepared for a challenge. Not without basis contenders, such as Pete Gleason, have pointed out that this alone shows that Gerson is not qualified to run again. Most of the verbal fisticuffs have occurred between Gerson and Gleason (who backed away from challenging Alan in the last election) and that has not been lost on the minds of voters in the Village, SoHo and Tribeca. Gleason has confronted the incumbent and there is no question that he has damaged Gerson, whose prior popularity has been based up being known as “a nice guy.”
Margaret Chin really is a “wild” card. While having been criticized as somewhat provincial due to her base in Chinatown, her housing activist background is clearly her community-based “ticket-to-ride.” Chin’s often touted 6000 vote base may, in fact, carry her over the top.
But, this race could go in any direction.
The Power race, of course, is the District Attorney race.
Aborn has been the early favorite Downtown. He is seen as a strong, progressive politician who is attractive and falls on the right side of liberal ideals for what we want in Justice.
Snyder is seen by many who support the “woman” card as a guaranteed winner. She has backed off from her previous position, which seemed to support the death penalty and according to her campaign mentor, Jim McManus, is a tough judge who will win the election. According to him, she got the hard cases from Morgenthau and will be a tough, but fair, D.A.
Cy Vance has been the object of a few jabs by Snyder and his campaign surged within the last several months. His progressive agenda is similar to Aborn’s and is popular Downtown.
The fact that the New York Times, New York Post and Daily News have endorsed him has been something of a surprise.
This race cannot be called, either.
Vote in the Primary on September 15th!
-- Yogi Berra (1925 - )
We have reached the point of no return on the final round of Downtown politics. For a Democratic town, the Primary is THE election. The most relevant for us are the District 1 and District 3 City Council (the two affecting SoHo) and Manhattan District Attorney races.
Essentially, the City Council races are the Gerson/Gleason/Chin contest (CD1), the Quinn/Kurland face-off (CD3) and the Manhattan District Attorney Vance, Aborn, Snyder contest.
Calling any of these races is next to impossible.
Quinn has suffered from some serious mudslinging and rancor from community activists over the DSNY garage, the Trump SoHo behemoth and disaffection from her support of the term-limits rollback. Support of tenants, as a bedrock of her community support has been tepid since she is perceived as someone who has failed to really target the landlord games that still permit stabilized tenants to be evicted using the “lawsuit ploy” and does not at all protect market rate tenants from gouging once their one or two year lease expires. Tenants who complain do not get a lease renewal.
However, Quinn is an able politician who knows how to navigate in a dangerous environment. Despite the accusations regarding “Slushgate” it is a fantasy to suppose that Council funds (or those in any other elected office) are not part of the risk-reward system that politics is about. Running a campaign, not to mention living your life, under possible indictment takes a strong, dedicated person. Toughness counts for something, even if you don’t agree with the person who is running.
Kurland, on the other hand, is untested but has gained substantial support from community activists who want a clean sweep. Her bona fides seem to stem from gay rights and a willingness to confront issues important to the community. Her support has substantially grown in recent weeks and those who have written her off initially are now thinking twice.
The Gerson, Gleason, Chin contest is another race that is impossible to call.
While Gerson is the incumbent, his growing unpopularity has only been upstaged by a badly managed campaign. To have lost matching funds and a place on the ballot for a time shows a massive lack of competence – at least about running a contested election. Gerson, by his decisions, seems to have been massively unprepared for a challenge. Not without basis contenders, such as Pete Gleason, have pointed out that this alone shows that Gerson is not qualified to run again. Most of the verbal fisticuffs have occurred between Gerson and Gleason (who backed away from challenging Alan in the last election) and that has not been lost on the minds of voters in the Village, SoHo and Tribeca. Gleason has confronted the incumbent and there is no question that he has damaged Gerson, whose prior popularity has been based up being known as “a nice guy.”
Margaret Chin really is a “wild” card. While having been criticized as somewhat provincial due to her base in Chinatown, her housing activist background is clearly her community-based “ticket-to-ride.” Chin’s often touted 6000 vote base may, in fact, carry her over the top.
But, this race could go in any direction.
The Power race, of course, is the District Attorney race.
Aborn has been the early favorite Downtown. He is seen as a strong, progressive politician who is attractive and falls on the right side of liberal ideals for what we want in Justice.
Snyder is seen by many who support the “woman” card as a guaranteed winner. She has backed off from her previous position, which seemed to support the death penalty and according to her campaign mentor, Jim McManus, is a tough judge who will win the election. According to him, she got the hard cases from Morgenthau and will be a tough, but fair, D.A.
Cy Vance has been the object of a few jabs by Snyder and his campaign surged within the last several months. His progressive agenda is similar to Aborn’s and is popular Downtown.
The fact that the New York Times, New York Post and Daily News have endorsed him has been something of a surprise.
This race cannot be called, either.
Vote in the Primary on September 15th!
Monday, August 10, 2009
Election Logic
Politics is applesauce.
Will Rogers
You almost need to be a lawyer to figure out what’s going on with the District 1 City Council race. As near as we can figure out the major issue regarding Alan Gerson’s spot on the ballot is that Board of Elections submissions -- which involve the lists of signatures needed in order to be placed on the ballot – are a big deal. There really can’t be any wiggle room. All of the information has to be in a specific form, the “cover sheet” has to be correct, and the verifications, which attest to the correctness of the signature submissions, must conform and be signed off by one person. When details go astray, so goes the logic, many more sub Rosa problems may lie beneath. Almost no one thinks that Alan Gerson has supplied false documents.
The dilemma, which the Gerson campaign currently is dealing with, is the fact that a series of errors – not seemingly egregious to the layman – has placed his submission of signatures in jeopardy. The courts are likely to rule in Gerson’s favor due to the fact that he is an incumbent and, popular or not, the mistakes do not appear to be critical. The whole process was sloppy and it was compounded by mistake after mistake.
Both Margaret Chin and Pete Gleason have understandably made an issue of the sloppiness – which, if you are trying to make a political point – underscores a certain inattention to detail at the very least.
Pete Gleason has come out swinging on this issue because he himself has been held up to a high standard of professionalism and this issue has proven his issue with Gerson’s candidacy. His criticism of Gerson has, among other things, pointed to a lack of detail, clarity, interest consistency and follow through – in representing District 1.
That’s political speak for Gerson having let down SoHo.
Will Rogers
You almost need to be a lawyer to figure out what’s going on with the District 1 City Council race. As near as we can figure out the major issue regarding Alan Gerson’s spot on the ballot is that Board of Elections submissions -- which involve the lists of signatures needed in order to be placed on the ballot – are a big deal. There really can’t be any wiggle room. All of the information has to be in a specific form, the “cover sheet” has to be correct, and the verifications, which attest to the correctness of the signature submissions, must conform and be signed off by one person. When details go astray, so goes the logic, many more sub Rosa problems may lie beneath. Almost no one thinks that Alan Gerson has supplied false documents.
The dilemma, which the Gerson campaign currently is dealing with, is the fact that a series of errors – not seemingly egregious to the layman – has placed his submission of signatures in jeopardy. The courts are likely to rule in Gerson’s favor due to the fact that he is an incumbent and, popular or not, the mistakes do not appear to be critical. The whole process was sloppy and it was compounded by mistake after mistake.
Both Margaret Chin and Pete Gleason have understandably made an issue of the sloppiness – which, if you are trying to make a political point – underscores a certain inattention to detail at the very least.
Pete Gleason has come out swinging on this issue because he himself has been held up to a high standard of professionalism and this issue has proven his issue with Gerson’s candidacy. His criticism of Gerson has, among other things, pointed to a lack of detail, clarity, interest consistency and follow through – in representing District 1.
That’s political speak for Gerson having let down SoHo.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
City Council Heat
In politics, absurdity is not a handicap.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
The City Council races for Downtown continue to heat up. Christine Quinn appears to be on track to be re-elected in her district while Alan Gerson is having his problems. Among the contestants in District 1 are incumbent Alan Gerson, Pete Gleason and Margaret Chin. While speculation has the contest in a three-way tie, Gerson is losing ground in the Village, SoHo and Tribeca to Gleason and in Chinatown to Chin.
It’s difficult to make a prediction but the latest technical difficulty on Gerson’s part is the fact that the Board of Election has removed him from the ballot for the upcoming Primary due to questionable signatures. It is likely that these are just technical problems that will be overcome but it indicates, if nothing else, a certain lack of attention to details.
Gleason lost no time in making comments on the situation.
-- Napoleon Bonaparte (1769 - 1821)
The City Council races for Downtown continue to heat up. Christine Quinn appears to be on track to be re-elected in her district while Alan Gerson is having his problems. Among the contestants in District 1 are incumbent Alan Gerson, Pete Gleason and Margaret Chin. While speculation has the contest in a three-way tie, Gerson is losing ground in the Village, SoHo and Tribeca to Gleason and in Chinatown to Chin.
It’s difficult to make a prediction but the latest technical difficulty on Gerson’s part is the fact that the Board of Election has removed him from the ballot for the upcoming Primary due to questionable signatures. It is likely that these are just technical problems that will be overcome but it indicates, if nothing else, a certain lack of attention to details.
Gleason lost no time in making comments on the situation.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
Political Reflections
Don't ask me nothin' about nothin', I just might tell you the truth.
-- Bob Dylan, "Outlaw Blues," 1965
The races which are generating the most heat are City Council districts one and three, District Attorney, and Mayor.
Tony Avella and Bill Thompson are both running against the proverbial 1000 lb. gorilla – Michael ($20 Billion) Bloomberg.
While there is a lot to say, term-limits and cash, carry most of the weight in terms of who wins. Avella has come out on the right side of many community issues and has manned the barricades with activists. Thompson has waged a tireless and consistent campaign to make a difference between a city government that takes residents for granted and a populist style of governing. An upset victory is NOT impossible.
The District Attorney race has Leslie Crocker Snyder on one side of the fence – a conservative who previously supported the death sentence but who now rejects it. She is running based upon her experience as a judge. Running against her is Cyrus Vance, Jr. and Richard Aborn, a liberal and a progressive candidate.
While this race is over a very powerful position, thus far it has not generated the kind of enthusiasm one would have expected. They may soon change, however.
Jim McManus, recently split with Carlos Manzano on ideological grounds, heavily supports Snyder – to the chagrin of Bob Morgenthau, the current D.A. Morgenthau is believed to support Vance and is miffed about McManus’s endorsement. But, politics is both practical and ideological. Remember, McManus supported Suozzi over Spitzer and enjoyed the last laugh when he abdicated.
Aborn has gotten the support of downtown’s D.I.D., which came out strongly in favor of his candidacy – twice the vote earned by either Snyder or Vance. Yet, Vance has recently begun to make his voice heard in a barrage of press releases.
The City Council races are a study in pure political gamesmanship. A great deal of animosity still follows Chris Quinn around over what is perceived as her rejection of the community – over such issues as the term-limits debacle, Trump SoHo and the Sanitation Garage. While she is a superb politician, the danger is that she may be viewed as narcissistically self-involved rather than the shrewd operative whose expertise inures to the interests of the community. A little better PR and a few overtures in a less defensive way would, without doubt, give her the race. Right now, Yetta Kurland is pulling up strongly behind her and has a vociferous following.
McManus supports Quinn partly because he handed her the Speakership, and partly because he thinks she will be the winner. D.I.D. chose Kurland – but originally chose Quinn, only to lose to Kurland in a second vote. Kurland’s second vote support came from cross endorsements from other candidates (notably Derr) who could not win and threw their support to her.
The real danger here, for Quinn, is that losing popular support while winning most of the clubs is a tricky road to success. Kurland is seen as inexperienced while Quinn is seen as aloof within her own district.
The Gerson, Gleason, Chin race is another kind of race entirely.
The incumbent, Alan Gerson, has been seen as coasting for the last 8 years, having frittered away the opportunity to benefit from the 9-11 momentum for downtown, and having learned to rally forces only when faced with the prospect of being out of a job. Even his support of term-limits has not earned him the benefit of a Bloomberg windfall. After nearly losing his own club’s endorsement, he managed to lose the D.I.D. endorsement to Pete Gleason, a former firefighter, police officer and attorney.
Between pushing and shoving, charges of an absentee performance, numerous ploys that allegedly involved stacking D.I.D. and rumors of helping to arrange shills to split the primary vote – Gerson’s re-election attempt is generating more heat than anyone expected.
As of this point, Margaret Chin (who has been suspiciously thwarted in getting media coverage in lower Manhattan weeklies) claims to already have several thousand votes and is already over the top with regard to qualifying for matching funds. With an expected turnout of less than 15,000 voters, a woman with strong community support and growing non-Asian interest is potentially formidable.
Pete Gleason has pulled up strongly and generated new support in the Village, SoHo and Tribeca, which formerly went to Gerson. Interesting letters have been popping up like crossed swords in the campaign controversy over qualifications and background – ergo suitability for this job. The Downtown Express published a missive from Mr. Love (scroll to bottom of link page), a Gerson supporter and Jeanne Wilcke as well as others, have answered it.
We’re in for a hot summer!
-- Bob Dylan, "Outlaw Blues," 1965
The races which are generating the most heat are City Council districts one and three, District Attorney, and Mayor.
Tony Avella and Bill Thompson are both running against the proverbial 1000 lb. gorilla – Michael ($20 Billion) Bloomberg.
While there is a lot to say, term-limits and cash, carry most of the weight in terms of who wins. Avella has come out on the right side of many community issues and has manned the barricades with activists. Thompson has waged a tireless and consistent campaign to make a difference between a city government that takes residents for granted and a populist style of governing. An upset victory is NOT impossible.
The District Attorney race has Leslie Crocker Snyder on one side of the fence – a conservative who previously supported the death sentence but who now rejects it. She is running based upon her experience as a judge. Running against her is Cyrus Vance, Jr. and Richard Aborn, a liberal and a progressive candidate.
While this race is over a very powerful position, thus far it has not generated the kind of enthusiasm one would have expected. They may soon change, however.
Jim McManus, recently split with Carlos Manzano on ideological grounds, heavily supports Snyder – to the chagrin of Bob Morgenthau, the current D.A. Morgenthau is believed to support Vance and is miffed about McManus’s endorsement. But, politics is both practical and ideological. Remember, McManus supported Suozzi over Spitzer and enjoyed the last laugh when he abdicated.
Aborn has gotten the support of downtown’s D.I.D., which came out strongly in favor of his candidacy – twice the vote earned by either Snyder or Vance. Yet, Vance has recently begun to make his voice heard in a barrage of press releases.
The City Council races are a study in pure political gamesmanship. A great deal of animosity still follows Chris Quinn around over what is perceived as her rejection of the community – over such issues as the term-limits debacle, Trump SoHo and the Sanitation Garage. While she is a superb politician, the danger is that she may be viewed as narcissistically self-involved rather than the shrewd operative whose expertise inures to the interests of the community. A little better PR and a few overtures in a less defensive way would, without doubt, give her the race. Right now, Yetta Kurland is pulling up strongly behind her and has a vociferous following.
McManus supports Quinn partly because he handed her the Speakership, and partly because he thinks she will be the winner. D.I.D. chose Kurland – but originally chose Quinn, only to lose to Kurland in a second vote. Kurland’s second vote support came from cross endorsements from other candidates (notably Derr) who could not win and threw their support to her.
The real danger here, for Quinn, is that losing popular support while winning most of the clubs is a tricky road to success. Kurland is seen as inexperienced while Quinn is seen as aloof within her own district.
The Gerson, Gleason, Chin race is another kind of race entirely.
The incumbent, Alan Gerson, has been seen as coasting for the last 8 years, having frittered away the opportunity to benefit from the 9-11 momentum for downtown, and having learned to rally forces only when faced with the prospect of being out of a job. Even his support of term-limits has not earned him the benefit of a Bloomberg windfall. After nearly losing his own club’s endorsement, he managed to lose the D.I.D. endorsement to Pete Gleason, a former firefighter, police officer and attorney.
Between pushing and shoving, charges of an absentee performance, numerous ploys that allegedly involved stacking D.I.D. and rumors of helping to arrange shills to split the primary vote – Gerson’s re-election attempt is generating more heat than anyone expected.
As of this point, Margaret Chin (who has been suspiciously thwarted in getting media coverage in lower Manhattan weeklies) claims to already have several thousand votes and is already over the top with regard to qualifying for matching funds. With an expected turnout of less than 15,000 voters, a woman with strong community support and growing non-Asian interest is potentially formidable.
Pete Gleason has pulled up strongly and generated new support in the Village, SoHo and Tribeca, which formerly went to Gerson. Interesting letters have been popping up like crossed swords in the campaign controversy over qualifications and background – ergo suitability for this job. The Downtown Express published a missive from Mr. Love (scroll to bottom of link page), a Gerson supporter and Jeanne Wilcke as well as others, have answered it.
We’re in for a hot summer!
Thursday, July 02, 2009
The Changing of the Guard
If we don't change direction soon, we'll end up where we're going.
-- Professor Irwin Corey (1914 - )
Last month Community Board #2 held an election for its new leadership. Brad Hoylman relinquished his post as Chair of the Board and mostly new leadership has taken over. Actually, a few existing members of the Board simply move over a seat and increase their visibility as well as their stature. There were no floor fights and the slate was elected without a negative murmur. It’s a far cry from some of the contentious, dirty tricks, anonymous-letter, days of the past at CB2. While it’s probably a good thing, it does take just a little of the excitement out of community politics. But, so be it.
The slate is as follows:
Jo Hamilton - Chair
Bo Riccobono - First Vice-chair
Sheelah Feinberg - Second Vice-chair
Susan Kent - Secretary
Elaine Young - Assistant Secretary
Amanda Kahn Fried – Treasurer
All are qualified and well-intentioned members of the community and will no doubt do an excellent job. At one point, Jo Hamilton had stated that she was committed to carrying on the work that Hoylman had been doing. Nothing she has said recently has indicated anything different in her attitude.
To the extent that Community Boards are relevant to the wishes and needs of the community’s residents – and, not simply a political reward for knowing the right people – we can hope that CB2 moves in the direction of greater cooperation with Boards #1, #3 and #4 on a number of issues – not the least of which is greater protection from pollution, removal of unwanted billboards, protection from traffic in our crosswalks, better control over Con Ed and maintenance repairs during evening hours, and a more assertive stance to protect tenants from landlord harassment. Not only do rent controlled and stabilized tenants suffer – but, market-rate tenants suffer a great deal as well. When you have a two-year lease and pay high rent and yet you cannot complain about such things as lack of heat or mold growing in your bedroom, the fear of not having your lease renewed is a serious problem. The silent tenant is often an abused tenant. And, abuse of tenants is a growing problem in New York City.
The Community Boards need to recognize that there are problems that they need to solve by working together.
-- Professor Irwin Corey (1914 - )
Last month Community Board #2 held an election for its new leadership. Brad Hoylman relinquished his post as Chair of the Board and mostly new leadership has taken over. Actually, a few existing members of the Board simply move over a seat and increase their visibility as well as their stature. There were no floor fights and the slate was elected without a negative murmur. It’s a far cry from some of the contentious, dirty tricks, anonymous-letter, days of the past at CB2. While it’s probably a good thing, it does take just a little of the excitement out of community politics. But, so be it.
The slate is as follows:
Jo Hamilton - Chair
Bo Riccobono - First Vice-chair
Sheelah Feinberg - Second Vice-chair
Susan Kent - Secretary
Elaine Young - Assistant Secretary
Amanda Kahn Fried – Treasurer
All are qualified and well-intentioned members of the community and will no doubt do an excellent job. At one point, Jo Hamilton had stated that she was committed to carrying on the work that Hoylman had been doing. Nothing she has said recently has indicated anything different in her attitude.
To the extent that Community Boards are relevant to the wishes and needs of the community’s residents – and, not simply a political reward for knowing the right people – we can hope that CB2 moves in the direction of greater cooperation with Boards #1, #3 and #4 on a number of issues – not the least of which is greater protection from pollution, removal of unwanted billboards, protection from traffic in our crosswalks, better control over Con Ed and maintenance repairs during evening hours, and a more assertive stance to protect tenants from landlord harassment. Not only do rent controlled and stabilized tenants suffer – but, market-rate tenants suffer a great deal as well. When you have a two-year lease and pay high rent and yet you cannot complain about such things as lack of heat or mold growing in your bedroom, the fear of not having your lease renewed is a serious problem. The silent tenant is often an abused tenant. And, abuse of tenants is a growing problem in New York City.
The Community Boards need to recognize that there are problems that they need to solve by working together.
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
The Upset
If you’re going through Hell, keep going.
--Winston Churchill
In a stunning upset endorsement vote, D.I.D. chose Pete Gleason for the 1st Council District candidate Tuesday night.
In a vote that initially gave Gleason the endorsement by only 2 votes, after a recount he clearly won by 64-52. This places him in a position to seriously challenge Alan Gerson’s bid for a third City Council term despite numerous speakers touting his record. Apparently, that support for Gerson fell on deaf ears.
And, there was a subtext to two other races which were initiated against two of D.I.D.’s popular District Leaders, Adam Silvera and Jean Grillo. Both were easily re-elected despite attempts at club stacking and political threats. While David Reck was also re-elected, he received a very high number of "No-endorsement" votes, despite the fact that he had no opponent.
The other contentious races had Yetta Kurland seriously challenging Speaker Chris Quinn. Quinn lost in a second vote for the City Council seat, bolstered by 11th hour maneuvers by Derr and Fouratt who spoke during the re-vote from the floor. Since Quinn actually won the vote but wanted a greater clarification of support, the real question is why Fouratt (who essentially did no campaigning according to Sweeney) received 10 votes -- and why both he and Derr threw their votes to Kurland in tendem so expeditiously. So, while Quinn actually won the endorsement vote, the re-vote (which Quinn pressed for) was changed by multiple last minute endorsements for Kurland. There have been rumors that this was engineered and augmented through the use of palm cards and a previous strategy by anti-Quinn forces. Hey, that's politics! Kurland is now the D.I.D. candidate. However, Quinn did garner the outright endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club.
Cy Vance with 17 votes and Leslie Crocker Snyder with 18 votes were both heavily outvoted by Richard Aborn for District Attorney. While Vance has had some campaign mis-steps, the Snyder results were surprising to some in view of her strong showing in the last general election when she ran against Morgenthau. While Vance consented to be interviewed in the SoHo Journal, Snyder declined the invitation citing legal complications. Aborn has not yet responded to a request.
--Winston Churchill
In a stunning upset endorsement vote, D.I.D. chose Pete Gleason for the 1st Council District candidate Tuesday night.
In a vote that initially gave Gleason the endorsement by only 2 votes, after a recount he clearly won by 64-52. This places him in a position to seriously challenge Alan Gerson’s bid for a third City Council term despite numerous speakers touting his record. Apparently, that support for Gerson fell on deaf ears.
And, there was a subtext to two other races which were initiated against two of D.I.D.’s popular District Leaders, Adam Silvera and Jean Grillo. Both were easily re-elected despite attempts at club stacking and political threats. While David Reck was also re-elected, he received a very high number of "No-endorsement" votes, despite the fact that he had no opponent.
The other contentious races had Yetta Kurland seriously challenging Speaker Chris Quinn. Quinn lost in a second vote for the City Council seat, bolstered by 11th hour maneuvers by Derr and Fouratt who spoke during the re-vote from the floor. Since Quinn actually won the vote but wanted a greater clarification of support, the real question is why Fouratt (who essentially did no campaigning according to Sweeney) received 10 votes -- and why both he and Derr threw their votes to Kurland in tendem so expeditiously. So, while Quinn actually won the endorsement vote, the re-vote (which Quinn pressed for) was changed by multiple last minute endorsements for Kurland. There have been rumors that this was engineered and augmented through the use of palm cards and a previous strategy by anti-Quinn forces. Hey, that's politics! Kurland is now the D.I.D. candidate. However, Quinn did garner the outright endorsement of the Stonewall Democratic Club.
Cy Vance with 17 votes and Leslie Crocker Snyder with 18 votes were both heavily outvoted by Richard Aborn for District Attorney. While Vance has had some campaign mis-steps, the Snyder results were surprising to some in view of her strong showing in the last general election when she ran against Morgenthau. While Vance consented to be interviewed in the SoHo Journal, Snyder declined the invitation citing legal complications. Aborn has not yet responded to a request.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The Hot Seat
I do not care to belong to a club that accepts people like me as members.
-- Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)
The major candidates have been making the rounds downtown and of the offices that are up for grabs, only the District one City Council seat is hot and about to get much hotter.
Alan Gerson is running again since term-limits were extended, allowing Bloomberg to again run for Mayor. More than a few people had difficulty trying to figure out why Mike did not simply hold another referendum considering the fact that he really had the support of many New Yorkers.
The politics of the decision to take the City Council route to approve his third term run may never be fully understood – given the fact that his very well paid campaign staff had to have known that this method of succeeding opened a chasm between the Mayor and the people, perhaps unnecessarily.
The real damage, however, was done to politicians who were supporters of the Bloomberg plan and which also benefited themselves. The Mayor will survive very well, thank you. That’s not necessarily true for those who supported the plan in the City Council against the wishes of many in the community.
This brings us to the City Council seat race, which Gerson currently holds. The main challengers to Gerson are Pete Gleason and Margaret Chin. Chin is an activist whose greatest support comes from the Chinatown community and Gleason’s strength is stronger with unions, firefighters, police as well as growing sections of Greenwich Village and SoHo.
What is significant is that Gerson only narrowly won the support of VRDC, his own Democratic Club on a second ballot. For a challenger, Gleason clearly has turned the tables on Gerson and the upcoming D.I.D. vote may be a significant indicator of which direction this race may go.
Chin needs to break out of the perception of provincialism and Gleason needs to raise a lot more cash. If these things occur, it may become a wide-open 3-way Council race.
-- Groucho Marx (1890 - 1977)
The major candidates have been making the rounds downtown and of the offices that are up for grabs, only the District one City Council seat is hot and about to get much hotter.
Alan Gerson is running again since term-limits were extended, allowing Bloomberg to again run for Mayor. More than a few people had difficulty trying to figure out why Mike did not simply hold another referendum considering the fact that he really had the support of many New Yorkers.
The politics of the decision to take the City Council route to approve his third term run may never be fully understood – given the fact that his very well paid campaign staff had to have known that this method of succeeding opened a chasm between the Mayor and the people, perhaps unnecessarily.
The real damage, however, was done to politicians who were supporters of the Bloomberg plan and which also benefited themselves. The Mayor will survive very well, thank you. That’s not necessarily true for those who supported the plan in the City Council against the wishes of many in the community.
This brings us to the City Council seat race, which Gerson currently holds. The main challengers to Gerson are Pete Gleason and Margaret Chin. Chin is an activist whose greatest support comes from the Chinatown community and Gleason’s strength is stronger with unions, firefighters, police as well as growing sections of Greenwich Village and SoHo.
What is significant is that Gerson only narrowly won the support of VRDC, his own Democratic Club on a second ballot. For a challenger, Gleason clearly has turned the tables on Gerson and the upcoming D.I.D. vote may be a significant indicator of which direction this race may go.
Chin needs to break out of the perception of provincialism and Gleason needs to raise a lot more cash. If these things occur, it may become a wide-open 3-way Council race.
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