Behind the frightening rise in NYPD and FDNY response times(NYP) Here’s a new worry: New York police and firefighters are taking longer to get to emergencies. Plus, city numbers “paint a devastatingly inaccurate picture” of FDNY response times, says firefighters-union chief Steve Cassidy. Cops averaged seven minutes, 29 seconds to get to critical “crimes in progress” last year, a jump of 52 seconds from 2013 — despite a drop in calls for crimes. Firefighters averaged five minutes for structural fires, up seven seconds from the year before. And eight minutes, 11 seconds for medical emergencies, a 58-second rise. As Cassidy’s union notes, the city makes FDNY figures look better by not counting time for the 911 call. Only through detective work (tapping an obscure menu item labeled “Local Law 119 Compliance” on the FDNY site) can you learn the truth. What’s driving the longer times? Police-union boss Pat Lynch cites new paperwork that leaves fewer cops available to respond. He also blames a “grossly understaffed” department. Yet last year, the city OK’d hiring 1,300 new cops. and the cops immediately find themselves” filmed on cellphones. John Jay criminal-justice professor Eugene O’Donnell says the anti-police atmosphere leaves cops more hesitant: “Officers arrive on the scene, and people are already yelling at them . . . Cassidy’s union cites a swelling population, more calls, taller buildings and greater traffic congestion: “Traffic speeds have declined over the past two years, which can have a very significant impact on response times.” Blame Mayors Mike Bloomberg and de Blasio for that. New bike lanes and street plazas leave less room for cars — and de Blasio’s rolled back speed limits on most roads to 25 mph. Slower responses put lives at risk. The city needs to figure this one out — and fix it.* New York City officials and union leaders need to figure out why it is taking police and firefighters nearly a minute longer to get to emergencies and fix the problem immediately, because slower response times put lives at risk, the Post writes:
DOI Report: City's Mismanagement and Corrupt Lobbyists Control of Government
"Lobbyists and Consultants Were Allowed to Run Rampant On the 911 Project" Dept of Investigation
Lobbyists George Arzt and Mercury Were Contractor for Hewlett-Packer Which Worked in the Problem Pledged 911 System
Both Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hewlett-Packard which was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. Arzt is also the flack for Excell's One 57 that got tax breaks from Albany to build a 75-story luxury skyscraper. One57 tax break is contributing to pushing the middle class our of Manhattan and raising rents in Brooklyn . Parkside got away with making millions off of the council's member items and slush fund. The Advance Group according to a series written by CrainsNY used its control of PAC to be on more than one side in a race, even working against clients who hired his firm. Berlin Rosen worked for the same client, Bruce Ratner as indicted Melvin Lowe and convicted Kruger flack Richard J Lipsky promising affordable housing where none exists today. * Special interest groups spend $210M lobbying state, local governments (NYDN) Cigarette giant Alria Client Services spend the most- $3 million- in 2013 to fight a tobacco display ban in New York City . At least two Republican-dominated firms with close ties to Democratic Gov. Cuomo experienced booming business in 2013, the lobbying report showed.Park Strategies — headed by former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato — saw its total compensation grew by 61.9% in 2013 over 2012. Mercury Public Affairs, whose partner, Michael McKeon, is a former communications director for ex-Gov. George Pataki and a prominent figure in Republicans for Cuomo, saw a compensation jump of 25% in 2013.
Sad and Sick Family of Ariel Take A Small Settlement for Death Attributed to Corrupt 911 System
In A City That Makes $40 Million Settlement the Daily News Says NYC Robbed the Russo Family Twice
Have a heart, Mayor de Blasio: Crash victim Ariel Russo'sfamily deserves better from the city that failed her (NYDN Ed) New York failed 4-year-old Ariel Russo in the 15 minutes between the time she was crushed by an out-of-control SUV and her death en route to St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital. A well-documented breakdown in the 911 dispatch system delayed by four minutes the arrival of an ambulance that maybe, just maybe, could have saved her. Which makes it painfully hard to understand how Ariel’s family has been forced to settle for $225,000, including just $150,000 from the city. One reason is that Franklin Reyes, the jackass driver who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, is a teenager without significant resources. His father, the SUV’s owner, had the minimum allowable liability insurance. The Russos also ran up against a wise legal principle that shields the city — and taxpayers — from suits based on allegations that efforts to protect public safety have fallen short. Without it, the Fire Department could be endlessly sued when, for example, response times rose. A “special duty” rule says agencies like the NYPD and FDNY are immune unless they talk directly to an individual, specifically promise an action and fail to deliver. For example, cops tell a witness they’ll provide protection and then withdraw the guard, letting the witness be murdered. Because Ariel never got such a promise, the city escaped with a small settlement. In response, two legislators seek to overturn the special duty rule. Rather than expose taxpayers to potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in future claims, they should press Mayor de Blasio for compassion. His administration’s hard line stands in contrast to a generous posture in other cases — including a $41 million settlement with the Central Park Five, despite Corporation Counsel Zachary Carter’s declaration that city personnel “acted reasonably, given the circumstances with which they were confronted” during the discredited prosecution. Okaying the settlement, de Blasio spoke of a “moral obligation to right this injustice.” Ariel Russo deserved the same.
Daily News de Blasio Where is the Moral Obligation to Ariel?
The grieving mother, however, was hopeful the tragedy would bring changes in the system. “I’m not disappointed.” she said. “It’s not about the money, it’s about change, in my daughter’s honor. No amount of money could be more important.”* Family of Ariel Russo gets ROBBED TWICE as city slithers through loophole, settling $40M negligence suit for only $150K(NYDN) In the end, the life of an innocent, precious 4-year-old girl was worth just $150,000 to the city. That’s all the family of Ariel Russo could pry from the city lawyers who used a loophole to turn a $40 million lawsuit into an insult, the Daily News has learned. Ariel was killed in 2013 by an unlicensed driver fleeing from police. City lawyers got a key component of the family’s lawsuit tossed — a negligence claim tied to a four-minute delay in sending an ambulance to the Upper West Side crash scene.* Negligence Claim Tossed in Young Girl's Death (NY1)
Settlement is A Cover Up of the City's Mismanagement and Corrupt Lobbyists Control of Government
Investigation Finds Problems With Work on New York City 911 System (NYT) The city’s Department of Investigation cites mismanagement, overdependence on contractors and tampering with status reports in a new report on a halted project.* City's 911 upgradeis decade behind schedule and nearly $1 billion over budget, a scathing reportby Department of Investigation finds (NYDN) Report shows Bloomberg administration woefully mismanaged overhaul as vendors and consultants ran it with little supervision from City Hall. A scathing report by the city’s Department of Investigation found the Bloomberg administration mismanaged for years the city’s massive overhaul of its 911 communications system. The upgrade is 10 years behind schedule, nearly $1 billion over budget and needlessly slowed down by a persistent battle of the badges between the FDNY and the NYPD, the report shows. * A new investigation has found New York City employees were pressured by supervisors to “‘sanitize,’ ‘soften’ or ‘spin’” failures surrounding the long-delayed, $2 billion upgrade of the city’s 911 system by tampering with color-coded ratings,the Times writes:
DOE Hiring Corrupt IT Contractor
New contract from city's Department of Education toquestionable technology firm does not compute (NYDN)
DOI Makes Fewer Arrest . . . No City Employee Has Been Indicted for IT Corruption Or Political Consultant for Mixing Campaign $$ and PAC $$
The New York City Department of Investigation made fewer arrests and referrals for criminal prosecution at the start of this fiscal year, and some legislators sought an explanation from the agency, the Journal reports: * Crusading US Attorney Preet Bharara, who has been investigating the Cuomo administration, is set to address a conference on corruption that the governor’s Democratic primary foe, Fordham Law Prof. Zephyr Teachout, helped organize.
Kudos to @DanGarodnick for raising ? abt DOI lack of productivity! DOI is fortunate, committee supposed to do oversight is headed by Gentile
The Press Covers-Up the Reason Increase Ambulance Response Time
Closed Hospitals and Problem Plagued 911 Phone System
De Blasio To Allocate $70M Over 5 Years To Cut DownAmbulance Response Times (WCBS) EMS dispatchers and supervisors -- a long-standing request of the dispatchers union -- should also reduce delays during 911 calls, officials said. The EMS ambulance fleet is part of the FDNY and has grown busier in recent years with some hospital closures across the city. For years, EMS ambulances responded to about 60 percent of medical emergencies, while the hospitals' ambulances picked up the other 40 percent, according to FDNY officials. Now EMS handles nearly 70 percent of the calls.* De Blasio Aims toImprove Medical Response Times(NYT) Money to Fix Child Welfare Problem de Blasio is set to announce today a $26.4 million effort to improve handling of child welfare cases after the Administration for Children’s Services was criticized over fatalities, The New York Times reports:
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DOI Report Show How Consultants Lobbyists and Bad City Hall Planning Have Damaged the City 911 System
Investigation Finds Problems With Work on New York City 911 System (NYT) The city’s Department of Investigation cites mismanagement, overdependence on contractors and tampering with status reports in a new report on a halted project.* City's 911 upgradeis decade behind schedule and nearly $1 billion over budget, a scathing reportby Department of Investigation finds (NYDN) Report shows Bloomberg administration woefully mismanaged overhaul as vendors and consultants ran it with little supervision from City Hall. A scathing report by the city’s Department of Investigation found the Bloomberg administration mismanaged for years the city’s massive overhaul of its 911 communications system. The upgrade is 10 years behind schedule, nearly $1 billion over budget and needlessly slowed down by a persistent battle of the badges between the FDNY and the NYPD, the report shows. * A new investigation has found New York City employees were pressured by supervisors to “‘sanitize,’ ‘soften’ or ‘spin’” failures surrounding the long-delayed, $2 billion upgrade of the city’s 911 system by tampering with color-coded ratings,the Times writes: * * The city’s incompetent attempt to modernize the 911 emergency telephone system has now cost taxpayers almost a billion dollars more than expected and will arrive a decade past its original deadline, the Daily News writes:
de Blasio's DOI Dumps On the Bloomberg Administration of Bad Management of the Failed 911 System
The bad blood between de Blasio and his predecessor is flaring up again, this time overthe massive overall of the NYC 911 system, which a new report finds was badly mismanaged by the Bloomberg administration. *The details in the 105-page report are startling: -The overhaul, now scheduled for completion in 2017, has soared in cost by almost $900 million — from $1.3 billion to $2.2 billion. -More than $200 million of those costs were not previously known because Bloomberg aides buried them in the budgets of other agencies. -Officials rewrote the monthly reports of 911 project managers or pressured them to “sanitize” and “soften” negative news so as to “to improve the spin” on its progress. -Multiple layers of private consultants and vendors virtually ran the overhaul with little supervision from city employees. At times, those consultants ended up marking up their bills to the city as much as 600%. -During one 18-month period, City Hall kept cancelling meetings of the interagency city group that was nominally in charge of the project, leading the city’s own quality control consultant, Gartner Group, to complain: “The most senior members of the administration simply failed to pay attention.” * NYC's Emergency Response System & A Tale of Two 911Reports (WNYC) * The Data-Driven Mayor and 911: "The most senior membersof the administration simply failed to pay attention.” (NYDN)* Mayor Bloomberg Christine Quinn Were Alerted by WhistleBlower DOITT Em
Not 1 Government Official Has Been Indicted for the 911 Cover-Up
-City Hall abandoned its original plan to create a single unified dispatch system for police, fire and ambulances due to fierce resistance by the police and fire departments to give up control of their separate computer networks and dispatch systems — a digital age version of the historic battle of the badges. That change occurred despite repeated warnings from Gartner that separate systems would drive up costs and be less efficient. “As a consequence . . . the NYPD’s and FDNY’s upgrades have been managed on different tracks, with the NYPD upgrade completed in May 2013 and the FDNY’s upgrade still not scheduled to be completed for several more years,” DOI Commissioner Mark Peters wrote. “This delay has had serious – potentially life threatening – consequences,” given that the dispatch of firefighters and ambulances is still being done through antiquated computer systems that are decades old. In recent years, several major fatal accidents — including the 2013 death of 4-year-old Ariel Russo — and fires were marked by hair-raising reports of snafus and delays in getting vital information to firefighters and ambulance crews in the field. * DOI Issues Scathing Report on Overbudget 911 Call System (NY1)
Conflict Of Interests On Fire In the Cover-Up of Death of 4 Year Old Ariel Russo
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1. A Reporters for CrainsNY Blocks Ariel's Mother From Asking Manhattan DA A Question About Her Daughter Death. 2. Ariel Russo Mother Lawyer is Sanford Rubenstein in Their $40 Million Lawsuit for Wrongful Death Against the City's Often Failed 911 System 3. Lobbyist Mercury Represent HP A Major Contractor of the City's Failed 911 System 4. de Blasio Appointed HP Lobbyist's Mercury Jonathan Greenspun Who Worked for A Koch Brothers PAC in 2013 Pushing Joe Lhota to the City's Human Rights Commission, A Move Designed to Win Mercury's Support for His 2017 Re-Election. 5. Was Mercury Hiring of Sharpton's Rachel Noerdlinger An Attempt to Influence Rubinstein in Ariel lawsuit? 6. Does DA Vance Decision Not to Send Rubenstein Rape Case to A Grand Jury Call for A Special Prosecutor in the Ariel Russo Case?
Update No Trial No Record For Parents Lawsuit Against the City. . . Judge Block Manhattan DA Cover-Up of 4 Year Olds Death
Teen terror's momexplodes in court after judge yanks plea deal for driver in killing of ArielRusso (NYDN) Franklin Reyes has been arrested three times since the June 2013 incident, including once for assaulting a police officer, and the judge ruled he no longer should be offered youthful offender status. Lilia Reyes was barred from the remaining proceedings after her outburst.
Manhattan Judge Offers Deal to Driver Who Killed Girl, 4(NYT) Justice Gregory Carro offered Franklin Reyes Jr., accused of killing Ariel Russo last year while fleeing the police on the Upper West Side , a lighter sentence in exchange for a guilty plea.GROW UP! Judge pulls ‘youthful offender’ plea deal after teen gets arrested THREE times since mowing down Ariel Russo, 4 (NYDN) Franklin Reyes has been arrested three since the June 2013 incident, including once for assaulting a police officer. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said that while he would not give Reyes — who was 17 and speeding without a license when he killed Russo — the "youthful offender" deal originally offered, he was still weighing his age as a factor. "I am still considering the defendant's age and if the defendant wishes to take responsibility for each one of these cases [he'll get] what would amount to 3-to-9 years as an adult," Carro said at an afternoon hearing. Prosecutors had wanted up to 15 years behind bars for the reckless teenager, who is being held at Rikers Island
Who is Protecting Ariel Russo? DA, Media, Pols or Her Lawyer
Slain toddler’s mom silenced by panel discussing her daughter(NYP)
Lobbyist Mercury Represent HP A Major Contractor of the City's Failed 911 System
No Human Rights for Ariel Russo Who Counted On the 911 Emergency Phone System to Live
de Blasio Names 911 Failed System Lobbyists Greenspun to the Human Rights Commission
Bill de Blasio nameschair for city's Commission on Human Rights, eight new commissioners(NYDN) de Blasio named a chair for the city’s Commission on Human Rights and eight new commissioners to the agency’s board Friday – including a deep-pocketed lobbyist who donated heavily to the mayor in 2013. Brazil native and president of the New York Women’s Foundation, Catherine Albisa, a constitutional and human rights lawyer of Cuban heritage, and East Harlem native Arnaldo Segarra, who is of Puerto Rican descent. .” Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
The Shadow Government Makes Millions Off of Bad 911 Management
Newly appointed Jonathan Greenspun, a Mercury Public Affairs Managing Director and registered lobbyist, bundled $4,075 for de Blasio’s 2013 City Hall campaign, and donated another $23,000 towards his transition, according to campaign finance records. Greenspun, a former community affairs commissioner for ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was apparently hedging his bets during the campaign. He also raised $5,000 for mayoral candidate Bill Thompson – who lost to de Blasio in the primary – and another $400 for failed Republican candidate Joseph Lhota. The mayor, who has been criticized for failing to appoint Hispanics to high-ranking positions, also tapped three Latinos to serve on the board alongside Greenspun. Those three are Ana Oliveira, a
April 2014: de Blasio, Council Promises to Deliver on Ambulance Time
Deadly delays: Mayor de Blasio’s broken promise on ambulances (NYP Ed) It’s been well over a year since Mayor de Blasio announced the city had “identified the problems” with its emergency-response system and committed himself to “taking the necessary corrective action.” But the latest city data show things are still headed in the wrong direction. Back in February, Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro vowed to speed up ambulance responses by 20 seconds this year. And the mayor pledged to hire 149 new EMS dispatchers and add 54 ambulance tours. The exact-reverse results are all too typical of Team de Blasio — where announcing new spending seems to be the last time City Hall pays attention to a problem. Yes, the rising emergency-response times predate de Blasio. Yet he was a big EMS critic while running for mayor — and vowed to make things better. Thing is, making good on such promises requires bird-dogging the issue. And, as Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley (D-Queens), who’s been on top of this issue for years, noted last winter: “There are no changes that the administration has put in place to stop the waste of critical time.” De Blasio is plainly far more interested in big abstractions than in managing daily services like EMS . But he asked for the responsibility, and now he’s got it. Lives are at stake. * The Post writes that de Blasio has not addressed emergency response system problems, and as a result, city paramedic response time is rising despite a drop in the number of medical emergencies: Thursday Update The de Blasio administration is now offering more than $2 billion for the MTA five-year capital plan, ramping up its initial proposal of $657 million – as long as the state meets certain conditions – in an attempt to end a fight that has dragged on for months.Flanagan on mayor's MTA funding demands: "This mightsend (talks) in the opposite way," (NYDN)
Senate Leader John Flanagan on MTA fight: ""We're not going to cede control of the state budget to the mayor of NYC" Friday Update Governor Andrew Cuomo derided the assertion — backed by both the city and transportation advocates — that he has a history of taking money intended for the MTA and redirecting it elsewhere, Politico New York reports: * Elected leaders should come together to choose fair, sufficient and lasting sources of funding for the MTA and support a new generation of transit service in the region, because if they don’t, riders are the ones who will suffer, am New York writes: * Cuomo derided the assertion — backed by both the city and transportation advocates — that he has a history of taking money intended for the MTA and redirecting it elsewhere. “It’s a joke,” the governor “It’s crystal clear.”* The three p’s of the Cuomo-de Blasio fight over MTA funding: Politics, policy, personal. * MTA union emerges as key Cuomo ally in funding fight (PoliticoNY) * The Transport Workers Union has come to serve as Gov. Andrew Cuomo's most prominent validator in his showdown with Mayor Bill de Blasio over Metropolitan Transportation Authority funding, Politico New York writes: * At the heart of the battle over Metropolitan Transportation Authority funding between Cuomo and de Blasio is policy, politics and personal animus, Crain’s writes:
When Aniya and Jai’Launi Tinglin Died In A Rockaway Fire In April 2014 the Pols Promised Shorter Ambulance Response Time
Flashback de Blasio “Rips” Ambulance Response Time To Fatal FireAnd Is Open To Change (April 24, 2014, Social Medic) Newly sworn in New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio made some remarks recently regarding the ambulance response time to a fatal fire that claimed the lives of two 4-year old children in Far Rockaway over the weekend. “I am very, very concerned,” de Blasio told reporters at an impromptu press conference near City Hall. “And if we have to make some changes, we’ll make some changes because when we do this work we have to know that each and every time the ambulance will get there as quickly as humanly possible.” De Blasio said it was unclear if a faster response could have saved the children, but he promised the inquiry launched by Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano into the events would be quick. * Ambulances Were Dispatched Late to Fatal Fire in Queens …(NYT) * FDNY Dispatch System Blamed in Fatal Fire: Report - WSJ * Mayor De Blasio To Bolster Funding To Cut Ambulance … * Longer 911 responsetimes bring dismay to pols at City Council (March 27, 2014, NYDN) Since changing timing methods, longer ambulance response times shake up Thursday's City Council meeting. Newer times better reflect how long it takes for units to show up, Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano said.
April 2014: de Blasio, Council Promises to Deliver on Ambulance Time
Life is Cheap in the Bronx: 14 Minutes to Get Ambulance, No Democratic Right To Pick DA
It takes more than 14 minutes to get an ambulance in the Bronx (NYP) If you’re really sick, avoid The Bronx. City EMTs and paramedics took almost 15 minutes to get to Bronx patients who called 911 this year — four minutes longer than it took in Staten Island , according to city data analyzed by The Post. And despite 21,764 fewer medical emergencies in the city — and the de Blasio administration’s pledge in February to speed up response times — the citywide average so far this year has been 12 minutes, 23 seconds, or 37 seconds slower than it was in the first eight months of 2014. In The Bronx, ambulances arrived at emergencies in an average of 14 minutes, 29 seconds, according to city 911 data. Staten Islanders, by comparison, waited 10 minutes, 26 seconds for an ambulance. * Department of Labor: Bronx unemployment rate is highestin New York State (News12) * Bronx Beep Rubén Díaz Jr. Is in a Hurry to Changethe City’s Poorest Borough (NYO)
Sharpton's Sanford Rubenstein Represents Ariel's Family in 40 Million Dollar Lawsuit Against the City's 911 System
Family of ArielRusso, tot killed by driver fleeing police, will stand by lawyer Sanford Rubensteinr (NYDN, October 16, 2014) Allen and Sofia Russo said they don’t believe Rubenstein is guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in his apartment after the Rev. Al Sharpton’s birthday party last week. Rubenstein is suing the city and driver Franklin Reyes in the death of 4-year-old Ariel. Rubenstein is suing the city and driver Franklin Reyes for wrongful death, and has accompanied the parents to every hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court for the child’s kille.Family of ArielRusso, killed in crash, prepares $40 million suit against city over 911 delay (NYDN June 11, 2013)
It took emergency responders more than 4 minutes to arrive to the scene of the motor vehicle accident that killed Russo. The driver of the SUV was unlicensed. The family of a 4-year-old girl whose death followed the bungling of a 911 call will file a $40 million lawsuit against the city and emergency responders, the Daily News has learned. The complaint by the parents of little Ariel Russo charges the defendants — including the unlicensed driver in the fatal wreck — were careless and negligent in the child’s heartbreaking death on June 4. “It took too long for them to get there,” devastated mom Sofia Russo told The News, referring to a four-minute delay in getting an ambulance to the scene. “No other child should die because it takes too long. The ambulance system has to be fixed for the children of New York .” Notices of claim will be filed Wednesday — two days after innocent Ariel was buried in her ballerina dress, alongside her favorite doll and teddy bear. Family attorneys Sanford Rubenstein and Ira Newman cited the city’s failure to quickly transport the mortally injured girl and her grandmother to a hospital after the crash.
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McCray and Sharpton's Noerdlinger Is A GOP Mercury Lobbyist
Was Mercury Hiring of Sharpton's Rachel Noerdlinger An Attempt to Influence Rubinstein in the Ariel lawsuit?
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The Shadow Government Grows
Rachel Noerdlingerstarts new job at Mercury Public Affairs(NYDN)
The controversialformer chief of staff to the city's first lady has landed a new job. (NY1)New York City 's first lady, announced that she has a new job at Mercury Public Affairs, theAssociated Press reports Update Former New York state Democratic Party executive director/Cuomo running mate Charlie King joins Mercury LLC
Six Degrees of Sanford
Partner of AkaiGurley, the man killed by rookie NYPD cop in Brooklynstairwell, hires law associate of Sanford Rubenstein (NYDN) EXCLUSIVE: Kimberly Ballinger, the mother of Gurley’s 2-year-old daughter, dumped lawyer Jonathan Moore and hired Scott Rynecki. She said Rynecki’s experience handling wrongful shootings by NYPD cops was the reason she switched lawyers. Rynecki is the law partner of Rubenstein.
de Blasio is Trying to Line Up GOP Mercury for His 2017
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ECTP lobbyist namedby de Blasio to city's Commission on Human Rights (Progress Queens) Jonathan Greenspun, a registered lobbyist and managing director atMercury Public Affairs LLC, has been named by Mayor Bill de Blasio(D-New York City) to serve on the New York City Commission on Human Rights, City Hall announced on Friday.
The Sharpton de Blasio Koch Brothers Mercury Connect
More Shadow Government Abusive Conflict Of Interest
Mercury Public Affairs Works for the Right Wing Koch Brothers PAC and For Progressive Council Member Margaret Chin And they Bag Millions from City Contracts
In 2013 Mercury Public Affairs, which was running an independent spending campaign funded by billionaire David Koch and others boosting Mr. de Blasio's general-election opponent, Republican Joseph Lhota.
911 Hate: Operators Attack Cops
DISPATCHERS FROM HELL: As officers lay dying, a shouting match between 911 operators breaks out with one allegedly saying cops 'deserved it' — EXCLUSIVE (NYDN)
HP Settlement What About the Out of Control Lobbyists?
De Blasio administration opposes bill requiring more conflictof interest screening for city contractors (NYDN) Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal introduced the legislation to require all subcontractors to get a background check in the wake of the CityTime scandal. But the director of the Mayor's Office of Contract Services said the requirement was superfluous and would slow down projects.* Suzannah B. Troy artist: Mayor de Blasio Opposes Bill ChecksContractors Despite 911, CityTime, 311, NYCAPS, FDNY Wireless, BoE, etc
No Accountability to For Those Responsible for the Failed 911 System
de Blasio's Own DOI Said Consultant Like Mercury's Greenspun Ran the Failed 911 System 
No Human Rights for Ariel Russo Who Counted On the 911 Emergency Phone System to Live
de Blasio Names 911 Failed System Lobbyists Greenspun to the Human Rights Commission
Bill de Blasio nameschair for city's Commission on Human Rights, eight new commissioners(NYDN) Brazil native and president of the New York Women’s Foundation, Catherine Albisa, a constitutional and human rights lawyer of Cuban heritage, and East Harlem native Arnaldo Segarra, who is of Puerto Rican descent.
Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System . . . Will the Investigators?
Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists. Instead of putting the project back out for bid, DoITT selected HP, which had twice failed to meet the minimum technical score to manage and complete the project, Liu said. HP then hired iXP as a subcontractor on the project, Liu said. Both Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hetwlett-Packard which was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications allowed the company to “drastically mark up” subcontractor bills, with project consultants overbilling the city, it said. Liu said the 911 system’s flaws echo faults in city oversight of an automated Internet-based payroll system called CityTime
A 2 Billion Dollar 911 System and the FDNY Commputers do Not Communicate With the EMS Commputers
Human error and a fire department dispatch system that’s “unduly complicated and unacceptably flawed” delayed the response to a Queens fire in April that took the lives of two 4-year-olds, city investigators found
Kids died in blaze after ‘flawed’ dispatch delayed EMT:report(NYT) The DOI report dinged the city’s “bifurcated computer-aided dispatch system” for not allowing the FDNY and EMS to share the most basic of information — including the borough in which a fire is located.* Editorial: Calling 911 for 911 (NYDN Ed) They vowed it wouldn’t happen again, and it did: The city’s 911 emergency system inexcusably delayed dispatching an ambulance to a fire that took the lives of two children. Ten months after the system lagged by 4 minutes and 18 seconds in sending an ambulance after 4-year-old Ariel Russo was fatally struck by a runaway SUV, a full 21 minutes passed before medical help arrived for Jai’Launi Tinglin and his half sister, Ayina Tinglin. The 911 failures were of a wholly different kind, with an equally outrageous order of magnitude. NYPD 911 operator gets report of fire in Far Rockaway.John Liu asked Cy Vance to review corrupt #ECTP contract forfraud, but nothing happened. (Progress Queens)
A Poorly Designed 911 System Causes Workers Errors . . . Where the $2 Billion Go?
Operator conferences in FDNY dispatcher. Dispatcher enters information into a computer. The data appears on EMS computer screens , but the address doesn’t list the borough. Why not? Because that’s how the system was designed. More, EMS dispatchers have never been trained to use the FDNY computers.* Faulty System and Human Error Delayed Medical Help to KidsWho Died in Queens Fire (Village Voice)* Calling 911 for 911 (NYDN Ed) Investigators detail inexcusable lapses in ambulance dispatches They vowed it wouldn’t happen again, and it did: The city’s 911 emergency system inexcusably delayed dispatching an ambulance to a fire that took the lives of two children. Ten months after the system lagged by 4 minutes and 18 seconds in sending an ambulance after 4-year-old Ariel Russo was fatally struck by a runaway SUV, a full 21 minutes passed before medical help arrived for Jai’Launi Tinglin and his half sister, Ayina Tinglin. The 911 failures were of a wholly different kind, with an equally outrageous order of magnitude. Ariel’s case combined human errors with problems in a high-tech computer-assisted dispatch system that cost tens of millions of dollars to develop and that was supposed to produce seamless communications between the NYPD and the Emergency Medical Service. The case of the Tinglin siblings matched more human errors with Fire Department–EMS procedures that are a throwback and require teamwork by six people.* As deaths under ECTP rise, there's no legal scrutiny of theprogram's negligence(Progressive Queens)
How Many More Must Die Before Their A Criminal Investigation of the 911 System?
Comptroller John Liu Called for A Criminal Investigation of the 911 System in 2012 911 system contractor never should have been hired, city controller says (NYP) Hewlett-Packard overcharging taxpayers, audit finds. City Controller John Liu released a scathing audit of the 911 system overhaul Wednesday, finding a key contractor soaked taxpayers with questionable and inflated bills. Hewlett-Packard overcharged the city by as much as $163 million — and never should have been chosen to spearhead the project that has almost doubled in cost in six years, the audit found. Liu said he is concerned about possible fraud in the bidding and billing process and has asked Manhattan prosecutors to open a criminal review. “Taxpayers should be outraged at the fleecing that transpired under City Hall’s watch,” Liu said.* AS CITY TRAILS STATE, STRINGER SEIZES MWBE ISSUE: New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer said that government contracting opportunities for minority- and women-owned businesses was an income inequality issue, stealing a page from Mayor Bill de Blasio, City & State reports:
Do Lobbyists Have Anything to Do With the City Not Cleaning Up Its Corrupt Commputer Contract System? YOU BET
'Weaknesses' remain in city’s handling of computer contracts, nearly four years after explosive CityTime scandal: investigators(NYDN) The report found that CityTime contractors hired sub-contractors who in turn hired their own sub-contractors, some of whom were unknown to the city. Peterson says all sub-contractors should undergo exhaustive review. The city paid an outside consultant, Mark Mazer, to oversee CityTime, but he wound up masterminding the $500 million fraud. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. DOI says the city must assign a qualified city employee to that role for all future projects. The upgrade started in 2004 and was supposed to take three years and cost $1.3 billion. By 2012 it had grown to $2 billion — and wasn’t complete. Mayor de Blasio halted it in May after dispatchers complained of glitches that regularly delayed emergency response times. And Controller Scott Stringer held up a $6 million settlement with the project’s contractor, Hewlett Packard, due to an earlier audit that found $160 million in possible overbilling. DOI is now trying to determine what went wrong and whether fraud occurred. Peters’ recommendations will likely apply to the ongoing effort to upgrade the 911 system. CityTime Scandal Time Line
More Evidence That Arzt Protects and Causes Bad Government
In 2009 Juan Gonzalez wrote in the Daily News City officials were unhappy with Hewlett Packard Company. By 2006, ECTP was suffering from so many problems that Mayor Bloomberg assigned his chief troubleshooter, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, to supervise it. In 2007 HP hired George Arzt to lobby Skyler on communications. 2013 the family of Ariel Russo, the 4-year-old who was killed by an unlicensed driver is suing the city because they believe a flawed 911 system led to the death of their daughter. The Russo lawsuit says there was a four-minute delay in sending an ambulance to the scene of the crash because of problem with the 911 system. NYC's already beleaguered 911 system crashes again and again — and again(NYDN)
More on Corrupt Lobbyists Arzt
More on Corrupt Lobbyists Arzt
Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System . . . Will the Investigators?
What role did 911 lobbyists play in giving Verzon gifts to NYPD Assistant Chief Charles (Chuck) Dowd? The Death of Ariel Russo Did Not Even Stop the Corruption and Incompetence of the 911 System
Daily News the What Happen But Not the How and Why
Daily News Today Says 911 System Failed Ariel Russo But Do Not Name the Lobbyist for the Contractors or the reasons for NYPD's communication director Dowd being forced out and his aides jumping ship. Former Comptroller Liu said HP overbilled the city for $163 million and didn't properly deliver for years. In 2012 Liu callled for a review of the HP contract by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “because of the possibility of fraud in the solicitation and billing process.”
Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists. Instead of putting the project back out for bid, DoITT selected HP, which had twice failed to meet the minimum technical score to manage and complete the project, Liu said. HP then hired iXP as a subcontractor on the project, Liu said. Both Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hetwlett-Packard which was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications allowed the company to “drastically mark up” subcontractor bills, with project consultants overbilling the city, it said. Liu said the 911 system’s flaws echo faults in city oversight of an automated Internet-based payroll system called CityTime
The Following NYC Public Officials Should Be Asked What Do They Think of Their Political Consultants George Arzt's Involvement in the HP Contract
Queens BP Melinda Katz, Consumer Affairs Commission Judy Menin, Former DA Joe Hynes, Candidate Oliver Koppel, Assemblyman Danny Farrell, Congressman, Congressman Jeffries, Former DA Morgenthal, Senator Carl Kruger (in jail), AG Schneiderman, de Blasio (2009 Public Advocate), Councilman Rubin Wells (Indicted), Comptroller Stringer, John Liu for Mayor 2013, Former Assemblyman Kellner. Melinda Katz Before She Queens BP A Paid Lobbyist For @nypost @FoxNews @newscorp
IT Firm That Got Away With Citytime Corruption Wins Another Contract So Much For Cleaning Up IT Contracts
When It Comes to City IT Contracts Gartner is the Permanent Government
”DCA hired Gartner in 2007 to create an online system for businesses to apply for licenses — a confusing process that was being handled by multiple agencies. The project’s original contract was for $4.5 million and was to take two years. Liu’s auditors found timesheets that appeared as if they had been manufactured after auditors asked for them. The former controller also raised questions about $500,000 in payments on an earlier contract Gartner had overseeing creation of a GPS system to track city garbage trucks. His 2011 audit questioned whether Gartner was billing for items not related to that project. Liu sent his findings to the DOI in February 2013, but they declined to pursue the matter because there were no clear signs of fraud. \Gartner has seen its existing city contracts expanded by the Technology Development Corp., a city-funded nonprofit set up in 2012 by then-Mayor Michael Bloomberg to get control of big tech projects in the wake of CityTime. TDC is able to hire vendors without putting contracts out to bid. TDC does this by claiming the need for consultant work is time-sensitive, then expanding a consultant’s existing city contract with what are called “task orders.”More on the Citytime Cover-Up
So Much for Another Attempt to Clean Up the City's IT Contracts
In 2012, the Comptroller’s Office issued an audit finding that Hewlett-Packard had padded time sheets, reaping millions of unearned dollars on a contract related to the E-911 dispatch system.The audit highlighted how HP and its subcontractors billed the city for work unrelated to the project — even stating on time sheets that workers had spent time killing water bugs in a bathroom and that workers attended meetings when they were clearly taking the day off. It also found that HP had failed to ensure that its consultants and subcontractors were qualified to perform the duties paid for by the city, and that time sheets were sometimes approved more than two years after the work was done.As Federal Judge George Daniels stated in sentencing the con artists behind CityTime, the city’s procurement system is “an invitation for not just waste but corruption and fraud for those who would take advantage of a bureaucratic mess,” and that without significant reform, “criminal prosecutions for fraud against the city will continue to be a routine part of the court’s docket.”
911 Emergency Phone Scandal: The Media Except Daily News Hung Up With Amnesia
de Blasio Has No Skin in the Game . . . Daily News Gets Involved With the Investigation
Troy's Citizens Journalism Exposed the Importance of the Cosgrave Memo
Start with the scathing April 2007 memo by Paul Cosgrave, then the commissioner of the Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications, to Bloomberg’s deputy mayor Ed Skyler.In it, Cosgrave listed dozens of failures by Hewlett Packard, which then held a $380 million contract as the project’s general manager, supervising a half dozen subcontractors, including Verizon, Motorola and Northrop Grumman. HP also had a separate $64 million contract to deliver a new computer-aided dispatch system for the Police Department.
The Following NYC Public Officials Should Be Asked What Do They Think of Their Political Consultants Involvement in the HP Contract
But the company was doing a terrible job with both contracts.“Leadership and staff improvements have not occurred as promised,” Cosgrave wrote. “Deficiencies are not corrected. HP’s staff is not sufficiently skilled to meet program requirements, resulting in a large additional layer of administrative staff to correct mistakes.” Cosgrave found the company was even marking up prices for some products by 50% over their cost.Along with top officials in the police and fire departments, he recommended immediately rebidding the project and getting rid of HP within a year.More than a year later, HP was forced to pay back $32 million for failing to deliver a working dispatch system and replaced on that portion of the project, but it was kept on as the lead contractor for the overall program until early 2011, when City Hall brought in Northrop Grumman to take over, and it continued to do work on the project for several more years.Meanwhile, a 2012 audit by then-Controller John Liu found persistent problems of overbilling. One HP helpdesk operator, for example, was paid $185,000 annually. Some of the company’s unskilled office workers were billing for six-figure consultant salaries. Liu demanded that HP repay $163 million. Bloomberg’s aides ridiculed his audit and commissioned their own. But even their report found more than $24 million in overcharges by HP. Then in his last days in office, Bloomberg quietly reached a settlement for HP to repay taxpayers a paltry $6 million. To his credit, Stringer refused to approve that deal. Still, for all those years the Bloomberg administration kept giving second and third chances to HP and those other big name contractors.
More Evidence That Arzt Protects and Causes Bad Government
In 2009 Juan Gonzalez wrote in the Daily News City officials were unhappy with Hewlett Packard Company. By 2006, ECTP was suffering from so many problems that Mayor Bloomberg assigned his chief troubleshooter, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, to supervise it. In 2007 HP hired George Arzt to lobby Skyler on communications. 2013 the family of Ariel Russo, the 4-year-old who was killed by an unlicensed driver is suing the city because they believe a flawed 911 system led to the death of their daughter. The Russo lawsuit says there was a four-minute delay in sending an ambulance to the scene of the crash because of problem with the 911 system. NYC's already beleaguered 911 system crashes again and again — and again(NYDN)
More on Corrupt Lobbyists Arzt
More on Corrupt Lobbyists Arzt
Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System . . . Will the Investigators?
What role did 911 lobbyists play in giving Verzon gifts to NYPD Assistant Chief Charles (Chuck) Dowd? The Death of Ariel Russo Did Not Even Stop the Corruption and Incompetence of the 911 System
Daily News Today Says 911 System Failed Ariel Russo But Do Not Name the Lobbyist for the Contractors or the reasons for NYPD's communication director Dowd being forced out and his aides jumping ship. Former Comptroller Liu said HP overbilled the city for $163 million and didn't properly deliver for years. In 2012 Liu callled for a review of the HP contract by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. “because of the possibility of fraud in the solicitation and billing process.” Liu’s audit said that Hewlett Packard shouldn’t have been hired for the 911 work because it failed to meet the city’s technical requirements. Among the lobbyists to get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors wLiu also claimed that the city and HP hired unqualified project consultants and overbilled the city by another $50 million.as George Arzt, Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
The 911 Delays Continue to Hurt
Two minutes added to the response time of emergency crews to a fire at St. Joseph Hill Academy convent on Staten Island last fall were likely the result of New York City’s 911 dispatch system, which is now under scrutiny by the de Blasio administration, WNYC reports: * amNewYork writes that Mayor Bill de Blasio is wise to decide to look into New York City’s troubled 911 system upgrade, and the first challenge is to figure out what’s wrong:
De Blasio still weighing whether to hire a chief technology officer http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140522/TECHNOLOGY/140529952/goodbye-silicon-alley-hello-techopolis …
A shocking new audio tape shows how a miscommunication with a 911
operator delayed the emergency response in a fire that torched a Staten
Island convent. In the 911 audiotape,...
911 Contract Scandal: Too Power Connected for A Crime?
911 system screw-up may be related to 'incompetence, misconduct or criminal activity': top city investigator(NYDN)
Department of
Investigation Commissioner Mark Peters said it's too premature to tell
what really happened to overhaul of 911 system that has fallen years
behind schedule and cost almost $1 billion over budget. Mayor de Blasio
ordered the DOI probe and a 60-day halt to the overhaul
of the 911 system, which has fallen years behind schedule and gone
almost $1 billion over budget. Peters said he wants to know why the city
keeps going astray on tech contracts. “The taxpayers’ pockets are not
bottomless, and this appears to be a boondoggle,” said Councilman James
Vacca (D-Bronx)
911 Contract Scandal: Too Power Connected for A Crime?
Is the Corrupt 911 Causing Death?
The fire officers' union blames the 911 system for delaying the response to a Brooklyn fire that killed an officer.(WNYC) "It looks terrible."--
* City Council holds hearings on 911 system (NYDN) *Officials Scrutinize 911 System(WSJ)
NYC IT Incompetence Continues Now With DOE Computers
CityTime, 911 Emergency Phone System
Audit Faults New York Education Dept.'s Management of Computers(NYT) A report by the New York City comptroller’s office found what it called “grossly inaccurate” record keeping at the department, where hundreds of computers and tablets at some locations were either not in use or could not be found.* Alarming DOE auditbeing released by @scottmstringer today: * Audit: Thousands of School Computers Are Missing or Unused * NYC Public SchoolSystem 'Misplaces' 1,800 Computers; 400 Laptops & Tablets Found Unpacked -
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Why is Nobody Talking About Liu Call for A Criminal of the Possible Fraud in Bidding and Billing Process of the 911 Contracts?
Why the City's IT Corruption Continues
Not One City Employee Was Indicted For the Largest Corruption Scandal in City History, CityTime
Ex-911 boss Chuck Dowd's underlings retire ahead of probe *Charles (Chuck) Dowd of Staten Island has left his position as head of the Police Department Communications Division during an on-going probe
of a board he sits on that is building the first nationwide broadband
public safety network for emergency responders, the Daily News said. FlashBack Three men involved in $100 million CityTime fraud sentenced to 20 years in prison.(NYDN)The CityTime Cover Up
The 911 Failed System Scandal Continues
New York City Calls Halt to Overhaul of 911 System(NYT)
The project is hundreds of millions of dollars over budget, years behind schedule and will take at least three more years to complete, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday. * The Daily News writes that New York City First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris was right to freeze the Emergency Communications Technology project for a two-month study of its issues: * Overhaul of 911 System on Hold Pending Review(WSJ)
Do Lobbyists Have Anything to Do With the City Not Cleaning Up Its Corrupt Commputer Contract System? YOU BET
The Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System
Both
Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hewlett-Packard which
was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a
lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old
Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little
girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. Among the lobbyists to
get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors was George Arzt,
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan
Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt
Lobbyists More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
SHOCKING The City's Largest Lobbying Firm Kasirrer Was Deep Into the Corrupt of the Citytime Scandal
The city’s top lobbyist has been retained to restore the battered reputation of a national company at the center of the CityTime scandal, one of the biggest rip-offs in municipal history. Records show that Suri Kasirer, who consistently reports earning more than any lobbyist working in city government, was hired Feb. 15 to work on behalf of Spherion Atlantic Enterprises. The company hired the two computer consultants whom prosecutors charged with pulling off one of the biggest heists ever by embezzling $80 million of the $722 million in spending to build a new timekeeping system. Kasirer Consulting, the firm founded by Suri Kasirer. Her firm raked in about $6 million—about a tenth of all of the city lobbying dollars spent in 2012. The firm also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor. Lobbyists Lined Up To Help Host Million-Dollar Bill de ...(NYDN)Oct 22, 2013 - The host committee of Bill de Blasio's million-dollar Monday-night ... Hospital, and A-list lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who has met with de Blasio on ...
SHOCKING The City's Largest Lobbying Firm Kasirrer Was Deep Into the Corrupt of the Citytime Scandal
The city’s top lobbyist has been retained to restore the battered reputation of a national company at the center of the CityTime scandal, one of the biggest rip-offs in municipal history. Records show that Suri Kasirer, who consistently reports earning more than any lobbyist working in city government, was hired Feb. 15 to work on behalf of Spherion Atlantic Enterprises. The company hired the two computer consultants whom prosecutors charged with pulling off one of the biggest heists ever by embezzling $80 million of the $722 million in spending to build a new timekeeping system. Kasirer Consulting, the firm founded by Suri Kasirer. Her firm raked in about $6 million—about a tenth of all of the city lobbying dollars spent in 2012. The firm also earned nearly twice as much as its nearest competitor. Lobbyists Lined Up To Help Host Million-Dollar Bill de ...(NYDN)Oct 22, 2013 - The host committee of Bill de Blasio's million-dollar Monday-night ... Hospital, and A-list lobbyist Suri Kasirer, who has met with de Blasio on ...
Holtzman Should Give the City Her Lobbying Fees From From the Corrupt Citytime Project
Ms.
Holtzman's lobbying firm was paid $120,000 in 2009, $90,000 in 2010,
and $200,000 in 2011 by SAIC, the maker of CityTime, to lobby New York
City politicians in order to keep NYC.gov paying CityTime's huge cost
overruns. Eventually, it was estimated that SAIC over-billed New York
City by $600 million, and Ms. Holtzman was one of the principal lobbyist
being paid to keep that gravy train rolling. Her lobbying firm was paid
$410,000 to keep the CityTime gravy train rolling into Ms. Holtzman's
station. Holzman lobbied Borough President - Queens, NYC Council
Members. Comptroller's Office, Office of Management & Budget
(OMB), Office of The Mayor (OTM), Office of the Contract Services
DOIT Under Heat From the 911 and CityTime Scandal New Commish. . .
Mayor Bill de Blasio appointed Anne Roest, a 25-year public sector IT director from the Cuomo administration, as his new commissioner of the city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, Crain’s reports * Anne Roest appointed city IT commissioner
Shake Up At the City's Trouble 911 Emergency Phone System . . .
EXCLUSIVE: NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton removes high-ranking cop from heading city's troubled 911 system(NYDN)In March, NYPD Assistant Chief Charles (Chuck) Dowd was removed as head of the 911 operations and transferred to oversee the transit division. It was not immediately clear why he was bounced, but a source said Dowd has put in his papers to retire. The 911 system has been plagued with problems despite a $2 billion overhaul. His removal followed a meeting about the foulups and problems that have been plaguing the system despite the $2 billion and 10 years the Bloomberg administration devoted to overhauling and modernizing the 911 operation.
Ex-911 boss Chuck Dowd's underlings retire ahead of probe(NYDN)
Update Mayor Distancing Himself from 911 Scandal, DOI To Investigate 911 Delay
De Blasio demands answers for FDNY delay in fatal house fire(NYP) * City to probe response to fatal Rockaway fire(Capital) The city's Department of Investigation will launch a formal probe of the emergency response to a fire that killed two children in Far Rockaway late Saturday. The city's emergency response system was also faulted in the death of Ariel Russo, a 4-year-old pedestrian killed when she was crossing the street with her grandmother last year, while the system was undergoing a $2 billion overhaul. In that case, D.O.I. found that human error was to blame for a four-minute delay in answering the call, which delayed the emergency response to the scene of the accident.
Official Says E.M.S. Response to Deadly Fire in the Rockaways Was Delayed(NYT) The New York City fire commissioner said on Monday that ambulances were not immediately dispatched when they should have been to a Queens fire that killed two 4-year-old children and injured three other people late Saturday night.* FDNY admits ambulances were delayed to fatal fire(NYP)
de Blasio to Dump Fire Commission
FDNY Suspends 4Works Following Deadly Fire
Why did the 911 system not default to another worker?
FDNY suspends four following deadly fire(Capital) Four members of the fire department have been suspended without pay for up to 30 days after an investigation found they were too slow to dispatch Emergency Medical Services during a fatal fire in Far Rockaway last weekend. The city Department of Investigation and Fire Department jointly issued a memo on Friday to Mayor Bill de Blasio announcing its ongoing probe found three Queens dispatchers and one supervisor were responsible for a seven-minute delay in notifying E.M.S. after firefighters at the scene requested emergency medical technicians. The two-page letter notes that "some of the four involved in this response" had previous "disciplinary issues … including prior documented instances related to mishandling of fire incidents and a prior documented instance of failure to supervise." But so far the evidence points to human error in the Saturday evening fire that killed two 4-year-old children, who had reportedly been playing with a lighter. "The notification to EMS was not promptly made," reads the background portion of the memo, which was released to the press around 4 p.m.* City Suspends Dispatchers Over Ambulance Delay in Fatal Fire(NYT) Department investigators focus on why dispatchers failed to send ambulances to a home in Far Rockaway when firefighters confirmed a fire. * Man caught on video firing at two others in broad daylight(NYP) * Four Emergency Personnel Disciplined in Fatal Fire(WSJ)
Why Does the Council Ignore the Corrupt 911 Contractors, Lobbyists Who Push Them?
Until last June, response time was calculated from the moment a 911 call was transferred to the appropriate dispatcher. Under that method, ambulance response time was 6 minutes 47 seconds, according to city stats. The city’s new 911 system — which routes all calls through a central set of dispatchers — has drawn fire from critics who say it increases response times and experiences frequent glitches.
Stringer Goes After 911 IT Corruption
Stringer Holding 911 Hewlett-Packer Feet to the Fire New York City Comptroller Scott
Stringer rejected a proposed $6 million Bloomberg administration
settlement with Hewlett-Packard for the company’s overcharging of the
city for modernizing its Gonzalez: Controller Scott Stringer rejects $6M settlement with Hewlett-Packard for 911 overcharging(NYDN) * NYC Rejects $6 Million Settlement With HP Over 911 System Upgrade Council Names A Street for Ariel But Does Not Hold A Hearing to Find Out the Cause of Her Death the Corrupt 911 Contrats
Is the Power of the 911 Lobbyist Over the Council the Reason It Names Street and Does Not Investigate Contractors?
Media Never Names the Lobbyist Who Made Money on the Broken 911 System
Both
Mercury and George Artz have been lobbyists for Hewlett-Packard which
was the main contractor of the city's 911 emergency system that crashes a
lot. The city 911 system is now being sued by the parents of 4-year-old
Ariel Russo who claim she died because an ambulance to take the little
girl to the hospital was delayed by a 911 crash. Among the lobbyists to
get paid by the city’s broken 911 system contractors was George Arzt,
Mercury Public Affairs, LLC, Jennifer Carlson, Peter Barden, Jonathan
Greenspun, Michael McKeon, Kasirer Consulting LLC. More on Corrupt Lobbyists More on Dark Pool Corrupt Lobbyists
For $1.5 Billion, New York Plans a Much-Delayed Overhaul of 911(NYT, 2007)
Hewlett-Packard has been hired as the plan’s technology contractor. Paul J. Cosgrove, the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, said that a second contractor, Gartner, had been hired to monitor the first one. “We are absolutely riding herd on them,” Mr. Cosgrove said.
Dead Girl and Lobbyist Still Rake In 911
For $1.5 Billion, New York Plans a Much-Delayed Overhaul of 911(NYT, 2007)
Hewlett-Packard has been hired as the plan’s technology contractor. Paul J. Cosgrove, the commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, said that a second contractor, Gartner, had been hired to monitor the first one. “We are absolutely riding herd on them,” Mr. Cosgrove said.
City's 911 system upgrade reeks of conflict of interest(NYDN, 2009) Gino Menchini, former commissioner of the Department of Information, Technology and Telecommunications, and his first deputy, Larry Knafo, oversaw in early 2005 the selection of Hewlett-Packard
to spearhead the city's $1.3 billion merger of police, fire and EMS
systems, city documents and interviews with current and former DoITT
employees show. After leaving city government in early 2006, Menchini and Knafo went to
work at separate computer companies. Both then became executives at Northrop Grumman, one of the key subcontractors under HP on the 911 project.
2006, ECTP was suffering from so many problems that Mayor Bloomberg assigned his chief troubleshooter, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, to supervise it.
Dead Girl and Lobbyist Still Rake In 911
Last June 4th year old Ariel Russo died shortly aftergetting hit by an SUV. There had been a
four-minute delay in dispatching the ambulance to take the little girl to the
hospital. The city is blaming 911 operation human errors for the delay. The union leader of the 911 operators is
blaming the new troubled $2 billion dollars upgrade that the city is
installing. The city’s upgrade of the 911 system has not gone very well. It has been hunted by system crashes, wrong
addresses and over a billion and a half dollar cost overrun. It is now up to a jury to find out who is
really at fault for the girls death.
Lobbyist Are So Protected That Can Rake In $$$ While People Get Hurt By Their Handy Work
Even
though the press says HP was replaced on the 911 project John Liu’s report said
that HP was still working on the project and got paid over $300 million in 2012
for their work. In 2010 thru 2011 when
the city council was going after problems in the 911 system, HP hired Kasirer
Consulting LLC and paid them over $200,000 to lobby city hall for the company. Mercury Public Affairs public affairs have
been working on the project for Intergraph Corp since 2007. Before Intergraph hired Sal Salamone as a
lobbyist in 2006 to 2008 ($100,000) Salamone worked for the city on the
Citytime project until he was let go after the corruption and cost overruns
become know on that project, in which Liz Holtzman was one of the lobbyists
that cashed in. It had to get through
the fog surrounding the 911 contracts.
Last month Bloomberg lauded Comptroller 911 audit he once called
'stupid.’ He even said there was nothing
wrong with the Hewlett-Packard contract and the city paid those most of the
money
they requested. The mayor changed
him mind on Comptroller budget to stop a federal audit requested by DC 37’s
Lillian Roberts.* CM to lobbyist: "You're not really focused on safety, but on the perspective of drivers is that fair? Lobbyist: Yes.(WNYC) * In
2013 Mercury Public Affairs, which was running an independent spending
campaign funded by billionaire David Koch and others boosting Mr. de
Blasio's general-election opponent, Republican Joseph Lhota.
Lobbyist Are So Protected That Can Rake In $$$ While People Get Hurt By Their Handy Work
Audit: HP overbilled city for 911 upgrade | Crain's New York Business
they requested. The mayor changed
him mind on Comptroller budget to stop a federal audit requested by DC 37’s
Lillian Roberts.* CM to lobbyist: "You're not really focused on safety, but on the perspective of drivers is that fair? Lobbyist: Yes.(WNYC) * In
2013 Mercury Public Affairs, which was running an independent spending
campaign funded by billionaire David Koch and others boosting Mr. de
Blasio's general-election opponent, Republican Joseph Lhota.
More on the 911 System Failure * Lobbyists the New Permanent Government* Corrupt lobbyist * Corrupt Lobbyists Hank Sheinkopf * Corrupt Lobbyists Stanley Schlein * How Corrupt Parkside Get Away With It
_____________________________________________________________________________The $2 Billion 911 Scandal
3rd day of 911 ‘call waiting’ amid glitches
The city’s brand-new 911 system went down yesterday for a half hour —
the third day in a row it was riddled with glitches. The failure brought
down the EMS computer system, as well as the terminals in the
ambulances, a sourcesaid. “What happens if... * Problems With New Software For NYPD's 911 System Stress Out Operators, Dispatchers * Gonzalez: For third-straight day, city's new 911 system continues to FAIL as records show developer has history of problems(NYDN) * Who does 911 call? (NYDN Ed)
Police Commissioner Kelly must fix bugs in the city's emergency phone system
Should We Forget About the Death of Ariel Russo Also?
(NYDN Ed) 911 Does Not Compute
After insisting the main flaw in the city’s new 911 emergency call system was with the people who dispatched responders, City Hall’s top man on the project admitted that there had been technical glitches. Staffing is in such turmoil that the NYPD will add 150 civilian dispatchers and is considering assigning 300 uniformed cops to dispatch duty. Also, the Department of Investigation is studying the unexplained 4-minute delay in getting an ambulance to Ariel Russo, when the child lay fatally injured after being hit by an SUV.
de Blasio Flip Flops on 911 Dispatch Contract
Intergraph Corp has paid Mercury Public Affairs Over $1,000,000 Dollars
The Mayor's Office of CItywide Emergency Communications (OCEC) intends to enter into a contract with Intergraph Corp. to provide a computerized dispatch system for the FDNY, according to an announcement in the City Record. Intergraph is the same company de Blasio asked the Department of Investigation to probe when he was running for mayor last year after its software used by police dispatchers failed. In a July 2 letter to former Department of Investigation commissioner Rose Gill Hearn, de Blasio cited a Daily News article detailing problems with the Integraph Computer Aided Dispatch (ICAD) system built by Intergraph and used by 911 operators to assign police officers to emergencies.
___________________________________________________________________________________
No Outrage at 911 System Failure
No wonder the city’s new emergency response system is plagued by dangerous delays. Beyond repeated technical glitches, civilian 911 call takers are so overwhelmed by their workload that they’re dropping like flies, breaking down mentally and...
My hell as a 911 operator
(NYP) The city’s new $88 million 911 computer system, part of a $2 billion
overhaul of the emergency- response system, crashed at least nine times
last week and
Stringer Goes After IT Contract Corruption
Stringer to Increase Oversight of New York City’s Computerization Contracts(NYT)The city comptroller, Scott M. Stringer, is issuing a directive that he says will standardize how information technology contracts are handled across all city agencies. Comptroller Scott Stringer is moving to step up oversight of information technology contracts by issuing a directive that he claims will standardize how the contracts are handled across all city agencies
What Happen to the Criminal Investigation of 911 That Liu Called For?
Flashback Bungled 911 Call System Redo Cost Taxpayers Millions, Audit Finds(WNYC) The city’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications bungled the contract with by Hewlett Packard, Liu said, causing the upgrade to incur as much as a $362 million cost overrun over the initial budget for the integration. The comptroller’s report, based on a 15-month review, also found that the department allowed Hewlett Packard to “drastically mark up subcontractor bills resulting in questionable billing. Liu said he referred the audit to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. As reports of problems with the project surfaced, city records show that Hewlett Packard was spending six-figures to registered city lobbyists making the case for HP behind the scenes. HP advocates at the time included Comptroller Liu's campaign spokesman George Arzt , who billed HP $15,000 between 2007 and 2008, attorney Steven Polan and former Republican state legislator John Faso whose lobbying firm charged HP $167,000 for 17 months of procurement work. All three declined to comment.
Fines No Legal Cases Again
Verizon to Pay City for Cost Overruns(NYT)
Verizon has agreed to pay New York City at least $50 million for falling behind schedule in developing software for the new 911 system that then failed to meet city standards. * Bloomberg, Liu agree on $50M Verizon settlement over 911 system work(NYDN)
Liu Still Blocking 911 Contracts
Despite
Controller John Liu's insistence that Verizon will not get their
contract renewed until they pay off a $50 million settlement over the
botched 911 system work, the Bloomberg administration is pushing him to
sign off on it. Liu has rejected two proposed settlements and insisted Verizon not get a contract renewal until it pays up.* Bloomberg shouldn’t use private e-mail for public issues(NYP)
Holtzman Taking CityTime Lobbying Payoffs and Wants Weiner Seat
As reported by City Hall on Friday, the Queens Democratic Party is seriously considering picking former congresswoman Liz Holtzman as the Democratic nominee in the race to replace Weiner. But one big problem for Holtzman could be her recent lobbying work on behalf of the giant defense firm SAIC, the main contractor on the scandal-scarred CityTime project. In the first four months of 2011, Holtzman was paid a whopping $80,000 to lobby the comptroller's office and mayor's office on CityTime.* "Holtzman could likely be trusted not to run against Crowley or Rep. Gary Ackerman." * The Bringing Down of Liz Holtzman * CityTime Payroll Scandal a Cautionary Tale(WNYC) * Elizabeth Holtzman Thinks She’s Ideal for Weiner’s Seat(NYT) * The Special Election Timetable (YNN) * Elizabeth Holtzman Interested in Running for Weiner's Seat(Forward) * NY9: “Whoever wins the seat may have little time to enjoy it.” [Jewish Forward Daily] * Candidates interviewed by the Brooklyn/Queens GOP
As reported by City Hall on Friday, the Queens Democratic Party is seriously considering picking former congresswoman Liz Holtzman as the Democratic nominee in the race to replace Weiner. But one big problem for Holtzman could be her recent lobbying work on behalf of the giant defense firm SAIC, the main contractor on the scandal-scarred CityTime project. In the first four months of 2011, Holtzman was paid a whopping $80,000 to lobby the comptroller's office and mayor's office on CityTime.* "Holtzman could likely be trusted not to run against Crowley or Rep. Gary Ackerman." * The Bringing Down of Liz Holtzman * CityTime Payroll Scandal a Cautionary Tale(WNYC) * Elizabeth Holtzman Thinks She’s Ideal for Weiner’s Seat(NYT) * The Special Election Timetable (YNN) * Elizabeth Holtzman Interested in Running for Weiner's Seat(Forward) * NY9: “Whoever wins the seat may have little time to enjoy it.” [Jewish Forward Daily] * Candidates interviewed by the Brooklyn/Queens GOP
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