Mayor's Affordable Plan More an Outline Says Many Housing Experts . . .
Wednesday
With Caution, a Poor Corner of Brooklyn Welcomes an Affordable Housing Plan(NYT) The East New York neighborhood could emerge as a centerpiece of the mayor’s 10-year plan, which includes a push for more residential development, , and residents are cautiously welcoming the idea of more development and affordable housing.* Mayor Requests Washington Help With Housing Mayor Bill de Blasio met with top federal lawmakers, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, seeking billions of federal dollars to help finance his affordable housing plan, the New York Post reports: * De Blasio seeks affordable-housing money in Washington(NYP) * Catholic Church will aid Mayor de Blasio's plan to add affordable housing (NYDN)
UFT Health Care Costs Uncertainty * Moody’s weighed in on New York City’s teachers union contract, saying that it “could eliminate” fiscal uncertainty but that it comes at a “large” cost and relies on questionable assumptions, State of Politics reports: * Despite assurances from teachers union leaders that members “should not” have to pay more toward their health insurance as a result of their agreement with the city, it could still happen, Capital New York reports:
Efforts to Make Part of Airbnb Business Legal On the Same Day the Mayor Declares A Housing Shortage That is Pushing Out the Poor and Middle Class
A group of affordable housing advocates, labor unions and tenant associations is opposing a pair of bills in the state Legislature that would loosen restrictions on New Yorkers who use Airbnb.com to rent out their apartments, the Daily News reports
More About Airbnb and Their Lobbyists
More on Gentrification
How NYC is Losing the Middle Class
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed “gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
More on Gentrification and RaceHow NYC is Losing the Middle Class
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed “gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
.
Winning Bid Take Over Long Island College Hospital Falls Apart (10 Days Ago)
Mr. Mayor These Men Mad History Not You
Mr. Mayor These Men Mad History Not You
Big plans, weak foundation (NYDN) De Blasio's troubling pattern of grand pronouncements followed by shakier particulars* "The Statue of Liberty will be showered with one million rose petals for the 70th anniversary of D-Day"
New Landmarks Preservation Commission Mayor Bill de Blasio nominated Meenakshi Srinivan—currently head of the Board of Standards and Appeals—as the next chair of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Observer reports:
De Blasio Chooses a City Planner to Lead Landmarks Preservation(NYT)
Meenakshi Srinivasan, 52, was named on Friday as the mayor’s choice for
chairwoman of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
EXCLUSIVE: Mayor Bill de Blasio's secret appearance at right-leaning pro-Israel lobby angered liberal Jewish supporters (NYT) Groups that usually
back de Blasio were upset to learn Hizzoner had participated in an event
with the hard-line American Israel Public Affairs Committee without
making it public, emails obtained by the Daily News show. State Sen. Liz
Krueger said City Hall admitted it needed to do a better job conveying
de Blasio's feelings about Israel to liberal Jews. “I am actually getting as many angry messages from Jewish non-AIPAC
folks (Pro Israel, J Street and Peace Now Supporters) than I did on the
east side snow problems,” State Sen. Liz Krueger wrote to de Blasio’s
senior aide Emma Wolfe on Jan. 30.
The kind of "bad press" a NYC pol dreams of :
The kind of "bad press" a NYC pol dreams of :
Anthony Weiner
7
de Blasio Has Made Women Equal Partner and More At City Hall?
The Women of
City Hall
City Hall
The Women of New York’s City Hall(NYT) The longtime fraternity of government power — a boys’ club that women
have been admitted to for years but without ever becoming a dominant
force — now resembles a sorority where women are helping set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda, squeezing real estate developers for better deals, and prodding entrenched bureaucrats out of their comfort zones.
“The longtime fraternity of government power … now resembles a sorority where women are helping set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda, squeezing real estate developers for better deals, and prodding entrenched bureaucrats out of their comfort zones. …At meetings at every level throughout City Hall, women now equal or outnumber men.” And even the men in the administration, according to Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, have a different quality than those she’d worked with under previous mayors. “The men in this administration are in touch with their feminine side,” she told the paper. “There’s a gentler group. I’m used to the high masculinity, testosterone-driven group, and they’re not.”
Mayor Moskowitz - January 1, 2018
“The longtime fraternity of government power … now resembles a sorority where women are helping set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda, squeezing real estate developers for better deals, and prodding entrenched bureaucrats out of their comfort zones. …At meetings at every level throughout City Hall, women now equal or outnumber men.” And even the men in the administration, according to Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, have a different quality than those she’d worked with under previous mayors. “The men in this administration are in touch with their feminine side,” she told the paper. “There’s a gentler group. I’m used to the high masculinity, testosterone-driven group, and they’re not.”
Charter school boss Eva Moskowitz: I may run for mayor(NYDN)“I might run for mayor some day,” she said on the John Gambling radio show. “But right now, I’m very, very focused on educating the 10,000 kids that will be with us in 95 business days.”The controversial former City Councilwoman and Success Academy head said she thought she was getting out of politics - but found running schools was no less politically charged.
New Fire Chief Push Diversity . . .
de Blasio Rewards Those That Help Fund His Campaign
* A judge cited a technicality in tossing out a lawsuit that challenged New York City’s charter school co-location process and pitted de Blasio against his progressive allies, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/NB0j2I
* Mayor Bill de Blasio received 2,011 invitations to parties and events during his first 100 days in office, and he RSVPed yes to only 47, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/c9CKsh
ATTN ROOM 9 -- Calling for a revolt -- Gabe Pressman, in the News: “Mayor de Blasio’s printed schedule … shows an abundance of mayoral events with the words “closed press.” That means we are told where the mayor will be but also that we’re not permitted to follow him there. … If, as a group, including both print and broadcast reporters, we refused to abide by the de Blasio administration’s restrictions for one day, I believe the situation would change instantly.” http://goo.gl/0tjUEA
Avowed liberal Mayor de Blasio Wednesday tried to reassure developers and bankers that he's on their team in his quest to solve the city's affordable housing crisis. “We drive a hard bargain, but in exchange we're going to be a partner to move things quickly and efficiently,” he pledged in a speech to the New York State Association of Affordable Housing, the group of developers and bankers that build cheaper housing, usually in exchange for tax breaks and zoning deals.
The Times took a look at Mr. de Blasio’s new status as a “Republican piñata.” “National Republicans, alarmed by the rising influence of activist liberals in government and eager to paint the Democratic Party as captive to its left wing, seem to have settled on an unlikely new nemesis: Bill de Blasio,” they wrote. In the mayor, “Republican leaders see the embodiment of their fears about an empowered New Left.”
De Blasio budgets for accessible taxis(Capital)
Wednesday
Top teachers union officials approved New York City’s new teachers’ union contract, which will be voted on again today by the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly and is expected to be ratified by the full membership of the union, the Daily News writes: * Charter School Leaders Skip Out on Council Hearing(NY1)
* With the state ordering teachers and principals not to disclose any contents of last month’s standardized English tests, 37 New York City principals have spoken bluntly about the design and quality of the tests, the Times’ Jim Dwyer writes: * amNewYork writes that what’s currently on the table about New York City’s deal with the United Federation of Teachers are hard numbers for pay raises but also troublingly murky statements about how they’ll be covered: * Dig into the deal (NYDN ED) We're learning more about the teachers' contract* Moody’s: Jury’s Out On UFT Contract Deal(YNN)
FBI Looking Into Separate Criminal Investigations of the Mayor and Governor On Obstruction of Justice, And the Media Dummies Up . . .
Is This A Joke?
FBI Investigating Illegal Coordinating Between NYCLASS PAC and the de Blasio Campaign
Horse Carriage Politics * More on the Advance Groups Corruption * CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping * The Big 8 Lobbyists * Dark Pool Politics Media Spin Doctors Often Control What the Public Reads in the News and Understands
Gadfly
George Spitz created the Five Borough NYC Marathon, now the most
successful sports event in the city and gets no credit for
his invention. The credit is often given to the Rudin family which funds
the even Yesterday
the media led by the mayor's spin doctors gave the man who was not in
the battle, but marched into town to declare victory for creating the
Innovated Schools Plan. In Las Vegas there is not even a single plaque
naming the man who invented the town mobster Bugsy Siegel. The Mayor of
the City of New York should be big enough to name the Tweed Court House
the Bloomberg Building. The building naming ceremony could be a good
chance for them to catch up and compare notes. De Blasio Counters Charters With His Own ‘Innovation’ Schools(NYO) New York City’s new teacher’s union
contract includes a plan to create up to 200 “innovation” schools that
can bypass usual Department of Education rules, similar to charter
schools. Teachers Question Pay-for-Performance Element in Proposed Contract (NYT) Some say a new agreement that would pay extra to New York teachers who
take on more work is too good to be true, while others welcome the
raises.* I think we got a fair deal, but the devil is in the details:' Teachers cautiously optimistic on new city contract(NYDN) * Mulgrew: Education contract is a good deal, especially for kids(NYDN) * Teachers' unions are planning an onslaught of online advertising to protest the pro-charter 
Easy to Open New Charters New state law changes makes opening charter schools in New York City easier than any other in nation (NYDN) * Schools Chancellor, City's First Lady Participate in Citywide Parent Conference(NY1) * Unions plan pop-up ads for pro-charter conference(Capital)
de Blasio Wins Single Buyer Health Care Saving From the Unions
Still Work Ahead for Other Contract Agreements
* New York City municipal union members could receive a bonus equivalent to 1 percent of their salaries if the city saves more than $3.4 billion in healthcare costs over the next four years, the Journal reports:
Labor leaders back de Blasio health-care overhaul(NYP)The Municipal Labor Council’s steering committee approved the measure, 20 to 2, with only the heads of the detectives and firefighters unions dissenting. The health-care changes — which include centralizing purchases of prescription drugs and medical tests — is expected to save the city $1.3 billion in the new city contract with the teachers union. But opponents say they were rushed into the deal. *Labor Union Council Approves de Blasio's Health Care Savings Deal (DNAINFO) * Labor Leaders Say Mayor Still Has Work Ahead With Settling Contracts(NY1) *NYPD Union Blasts de Blasio Offer of No Retroactive Raises Despite UFT Deal(DNAINFO)Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Pat Lynch blasted the city's offer of no raises.* Two no votes for de Blasio’s health care deal(Capital) * Gonzalez: City union leaders to fund raises with $1 billion transfer from health account(NYDN)
* De Blasio gives away the store in teachers contract(Goodwin, NYP) You don’t have to be a cynic to worry that the bonhomie between the union and the union-backed mayor was sealed with hugs, as de Blasio and Fariña each shared an embrace with Michael Mulgrew, boss of the United Federation of Teachers. But while raises are certain, concessions are elusive. More than $1 billion in savings to the city are claimed through vague changes to health-care programs, but teachers won’t pay anything more toward their premiums, a foolish giveaway on de Blasio’s part that will hobble the budget forever. hat gets to the big problem. Nothing in the contract, and nothing the mayor and Fariña say about it, gives any reason to hope that student performance will improve. That’s no incidental omission. At the same time, they say schools are in a state of “crisis” because so few of the 65 percent of students who get a diploma are prepared for college or a career. To take them at their rhetoric, they are committed to solving that crisis.This contract does not keep faith with that commitment. It doesn’t even try.* Michelle Rhee says the reforms in the deal struck by de Blasio with the UFT aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Tuesday Reaction to the Housing Plan
NYT de Blasio's Housing Plan To the Moon, NYP Higher Renters From Inclusionary Zoning
Mr. de Blasio’s Moon Shot(NYT Ed) If the mayor is going to keep his promise and end the city’s crisis of inequality and housing unaffordability, he must go big. And it looks as if he’s doing so.* Faint housing hope(NYP Ed) Mandating set-aside, as the new housing plan proposes, risks driving development away altogether — a problem that NYU’s Furman Center noted last year, when its director was Vicki Been, whom de Blasio has since named to head the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
In a piece titled “De Blasio’s New Plan to Create or Save 200,000 Cheap Apartments Is Going to Make a Lot of People Angry in Many Neighborhoods”
New York‘s Chris Smith
writes, “But what’s most striking about the plan [is] … that by
launching such a far-reaching program, instead of focusing on a narrower
list of goals, de Blasio has ensured himself hundreds of political
fights trying to make it happen.” * The Daily News
editorial board would likely agree with Mr. Smith’s premise. “City Hall
disingenuously says that it wants to only move to build affordable
housing where communities are demanding it. As de Blasio himself knows
from the Atlantic Yards development, which he rightly backed against
furious neighborhood resistance, there will be fights. Loud ones,” the
tabloid argued.* In a New York Post column, the Manhattan Institute’s Howard Husock
was even more disenchanted. “In short, the de Blasio plan is built on
what has long been the city’s dysfunctional dogma,” he wrote. “A real
free market for the city’s housing market isn’t on the horizon at
present, though. We may have to settle for not strangling private
development altogether.” * The New York Times editorial
board, meanwhile, was more upbeat on the topic: “[I]f Mr. de Blasio
really is going to keep his campaign promise … he is going to have to go
big. And this plan is what big looks like. … The all-important details
have yet to be filled in, but the mayor has locked himself in with a
hard and fast number: 200,000 or bust.” * And here’s video, via NYTrue.com, of Mr. de Blasio taking questions during yesterday’s housing press conference: Expect Homeless Numbers To Go
Mayor's Housing Plan Gives the Homeless Families Priority Jumping the Long Wait List for NYCHA Apartments
An aggressive new effort to move homeless families from shelters into NYCHA apartments is a key part of Mayor de Blasio’s attack on the city’s affordable housing crisis, writes our Greg B. Smith. The Housing Authority’s waiting list has grown dramatically, to 250,000 from 160,000, in a year — and the new policy will allow homeless families to effectively jump the line and grab coveted apartments when they open up. * Priority given to homeless in finding NYCHA apartments(NYDN)
Expensive Bill for de Blasio Progressive Agenda
De Blasio’s policies are driving up the cost of living in New York(Goodwin, NYP)Twice in the last week, the mayor described his ideas as the political equivalent of the Second Coming. First with his deal with the teachers union, and now with his affordable-housing plan, de Blasio promises to drive a stake through the heart of inequality and make the city more affordable.The local tab alone for his progressive vision is a whopping $13.6 billion, give or take. And where will that money come from? Open wide, dear taxpayer.
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed “gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
Harlem Gentification and the Mayor
More on Gentrification and Race
Speaking of Mr. de Blasio’s numbers, his deal with the teachers’ union may be more than meets the eye, Capital New York reports: “Despite assurances from leaders of the city teachers’ union that members ‘should not’ have to pay more toward their health insurance as a result of their agreement with the de Blasio administration, that remains a possibility.”
Will Never Be Royals?
Our Harry Siegel's column: Mayor de Blasio hasn’t done so much yet — give him time! — but he’s sure not shy about trumpeting what he has... Take his long-awaited 115-page affordable housing plan released Monday, which is more outline than roadmap. It’s a plan, the Mayor said, that will “address the crisis in inequality” and “change the face of this city forever, and for the good of our people.”
4) Bloomberg initially pledged to build 92k and preserve 73k; it ended up building ~50k, preserving the rest* .
Norman Oder
More on the HorseGate Investigation
* De Blasio’s daily schedules, obtained by the Daily News using a public records request, give a glimpse into what’s going on in City Hall and show that the mayor met with Cuomo three times in February and March: http://goo.gl/GEAv6q
Jail Shake Up By New Commish . . .
Two city jail officials out as commish shakes things up(NYP)
Details of the Teacher Union Deal
UFT In the Money . . .
UFT and city have AGREED to find $1 billion in healthcare savings. They haven't actually found such savings yet.* See the Outlines of the New Teachers' Contract
When you add up the 18% increase & steps, master teacher
bonuses,
etc. some teachers will earn more than mayor & chancellor.
Farina & de Blasio smartly reframe costly (and needed) teacher
contract deal into public celebration of what they're doing for kids.
Fariña says embedding more time for professional development in school
day = cost savings for principals. Mulgrew, UFT chief, blasts Bloomberg.
"This is a mayor who actually respects the workforce," he says of De
Blasio. * Grace Rauh
@gracerauh Somewhat stunning that no one at this presser can tell us what this deal will cost in its totality.
Wait, is that it? That's all the details about how they get to $1 billion in savings?
City and teachers come to a tentative contract agreement(NYP)The tentative agreement was said to be complicated by health care
savings sought by the administration for all 152 municipal unions
currently working without a contract. It reportedly gives the unions the two years of 4 percent raises that
other unions already received in 2010 and 2011, according to sources –
though it’s not clear whether the back pay would come in one shot.* Gonzalez: City school budget agreement could set pattern for city worker contracts(NYDN) * Teachers union deal could return mothballed teachers to classroom(NDN) The Times’ 
Steven Greenhouse reports
the teachers raises will be “much like” what transit workers recently
got from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Teachers will get 4 percent raises for 2009
and 2010—but it’ll be paid “over many years.” Going forward, teachers
will get average annual raises of 1.5 to 2 percent. How will the raises
be paid for? One possibility, which hasn’t been made public yet, is
cost-savings in the teachers’ health care plan. An earlier report suggested the
teachers deal would “assure de Blasio of labor peace with the teachers
until after his likely re-election bid in 2017.” But the deal may face
some resistance from other unions. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent
Association could oppose it because the raises are too low. And it’s
unclear if the other unions will swallow the health-savings plans the
teachers are apparently agreeing to.* New York Said to Be on Verge of 9-Year Deal With Teachers’ Union(NYT)* Michael Barbaro
@mikiebarb There was a time, pre-financial crisis, when Mike Bloomberg, too, had a warm relationship with the UFT, gave it raises....* De Blasio gives NYC teachers a raise in new contract(NYP)
Mayor Main Focus Building His New Political Machine, For Re-Election
Managing the City?
Mayor de Blasio leads cheers for car wash union drive - NY Daily NewsMayor de Blasio and the city's other top office holders threw the full support of city government behind the effort to unionize car wash workers Wednesday night.De Blasio headlined the Car Wash Workers Assembly hosted by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has own votes to unionize at eight car washes and aims to organize the whole industry.* The Nation reviewed Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s first 100 days in office. “The good news is that city government is controlled by a progressive mayor who is actually sticking to many of his campaign promises,” the publication writes. “Privately, people on the left who have dealt with the administration describe a level of disorganization more typical of campaigns than governments.” * At a Midtown event last night, Mr. de Blasio praised unionization efforts for car wash workers, NY1 reports. “It will be my honor to fight shoulder to shoulder with you,” he said. RWDSU President Stu Appelbaum praised the mayor in turn, declaring, “Our mayor is not just the leader of our city, but the leader of a movement.”* Mayor Shares Support for Campaign to Unionize Car Wash Workers in City(NY1)
HorseGate . . .
EXCLUSIVE:
FBI investigating donations to NYCLASS from men close to Mayor de
Blasio that may have been used toward anti-Christine Quinn campaigners
(NYDN) Two
men with strong ties to Mayor de Blasio donated cash to the NYCLASS
animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. The
animal rights group then donated identical amounts to anti-Christine
Quinn campaigners. The transactions are now under FBI investigation. The
mayoral race had not yet come to a boil, but Democrat Christine Quinn
was already feeling the heat.A political action committee called New
York City Is Not for Sale had
spent most of April and May 2013 bashing Quinn in television ads. Her
poll numbers were sliding, but the anti-Quinn campaign wanted to rough
her up even more. That’s when a curious set of financial transactions
quietly took place —
transactions that are now being investigated by the FBI. On May 21,
lawyer Jay Eisenhofer gave $50,000 to NYCLASS, the animal
rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. Ten days later,
on May 31, NYCLASS gave an equal amount — $50,000, to the anti-Quinn
group. On June 1, NYCLASS received another large donation, this time for
$175,000. It came from UNITE HERE! — a labor union headed by John
Wilhelm. Two days after that, on June 3, NYCLASS sent the same amount,
$175,000, to the anti-Quinn campaign. Both Wilhelm and Eisenhofer have
long-standing ties to Bill de Blasio, one of Quinn’s Democratic rivals
in the mayoral campaign.
Wilhelm is de Blasio’s cousin — and a prolific fund-raiser for him.
Wilhelm raised $6,950 for de Blasio’s 2009 race for public advocate and
$80,000 for de Blasio’s successful campaign for mayor. And Eisenhofer is a top de Blasio fund-raiser as well. He and his law
firm gave de Blasio’s public advocate campaign $18,000 in 2009. He also
raised $82,250 for de Blasio’s mayoral run, making him one of the
campaign’s top “intermediaries.”
Under the law, so-called independent committees like New York City Is Not for Sale are not allowed to coordinate or consult with the campaign of any candidate
Hid the Money
'Had UNITE HERE! and Eisenhofer contributed directly to the free-spending anti-Quinn effort, their involvement would have been made public within weeks because of disclosure rules. But because they contributed directly to NYCLASS, Wilhelm and Eisenhofer were able to enjoy anonymity for months. The trigger for disclosure did not take place until NYCLASS began its own campaign spending, an event that occurred on Sept. 7, three days before the Sept. 10 mayoral primary.
Sal Albanese
@SalAlbaneseNYC FBI investigation of NYCLASS
role in Mayors race is important bc their spending played a major role
in the campaign. It prevented a runoff
After New Contract, Will Bad Teachers Be Fired? . . .
De Blasio said he trusts principals
to decide whether to keep teachers from a pool of rotating substitutes
or send them back, after criticism that a new teachers’ contract would
bring back poor teachersMayor de Blasio Backs Principals on Substitutes(WSJ)
* NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he trusts principals to judge whether to keep teachers assigned from a pool of rotating substitutes or send them back. His comments followed critics’ claims that the tentative city teachers’ contract wouldn’t ensure that the pool’s poor performers would be kept out of classrooms.
de Blasio Lets It Be Known That He is Pushing WFP Activists to Back Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo has spent at least $755,000 so far to air his post-convention ad in NYC,@JessicaAlaimo reports * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking the Working Families Party to back Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s reelection bid after the two held a high-stakes meeting with WFP leaders in Manhattan, the Daily News writes Working Families Party State Director Bill Lipton and Executive Director Dan Cantor - both of whom are believed to be unenthusiastic about Cuomo - took part. A who's who of labor titans also attended, including the leader of the health care workers union, 1199 SEIU President George Gresham; Hotel Trades Council President Peter Ward; building services workers union 32BJ President Hector Figueroa; and Communication Workers of America District 1 Vice President Chris Shelton. They are believed to be supportive of Cuomo’s candidacy.* WFP Convention Keynote To Focus On Income Inequality(Capital) * Working Families Party reaches out to Diane Ravitch for governor run(NYP) * Astorino Expects Senate GOP To Not Back Broader Public Financing Deal(YNN)
* Astorino: ‘We All Know The Rent Is Too Damn High’(YNN) * Astorino: California Rampage Shows ‘Government Failed’(YNN) * Cuomo airs ad touting bipartisanship(Capital) Governor Andrew Cuomo spent $755,100 on four New York City buys * Less than 1% of the $33 million Andrew Cuomo has raised has come from donations of $250 or less. * Cuomo’s rose-colored glasses(NYDN) The governor keeps on the sunny side* * Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino wants to debate Cuomo one-on-one, saying that including third party candidates would allow the governor to avoid answering questions, State of Politics reports: * Astorino renewed his push for term limits, saying it would be the first bill he pushes upon taking office and that eight years is enough for anyone to serve in state government, State of Politics reports: *Hawkins: Ravitch Would Be A ‘Wonderful Addition’ To Race(YNN)
See how Mayor@BilldeBlasio performed on the teachers' contract: http://StudentsFirstNY.org/reportcard
Removing Ineligible Health Care Recipients Part of UFT Agreement
The more the details from the city’s contract with the teachers union emerge — particularly how the “health savings” will be achieved — the fishier it gets. Now we’re told that roughly 12 percent of these savings is to come from purging various employee relatives who enjoy health-insurance benefits for which they are actually ineligible. These ineligible recipients include divorced spouses or children who aged out of parents’ health plans. The city claims eliminating ineligible family plans would save $8,500 per person. Removing from the rolls those who get city-paid benefits even though they are ineligible is a good thing. But why is this action part of a negotiated labor agreement? Shouldn’t rooting out people ineligible for benefits be what the city government does as a matter of course?* The Post calls out Mayor de Blasio and the United Federation of Teachers for the $1 billion in health savings in their contract agreement that will come from removing ineligible relatives from the rolls, arguing that Mayor Bloomberg tried to do the same thing last year and was fought in court by the powerful labor union:
De Blasio Says End Member Items Now . . .
Teachers Contract Voting Contines
As Ballot Count Nears, City’s Teachers Debate Whether to Ratify Contract(NYT)
With less than two weeks before ballots are counted, details about health care and retroactive pay are the biggest concerns among New York City teachers.
Stringer Budget 180: No Deficit Problem After Accounting Correction
Comptroller Scott Stringer pushed back after investment firms cut back on buying municipal bonds, and he pointed to a new teachers contract to show that the city has its finances in order Controller Stringer looks to soothe investor worries over city bonds as deficit is projected to grow to $3.2B(NYDN)
EXCLUSIVE: Mayor de Blasio's deal with labor unions and his housing plan are expected to balloon the city's deficit from $370 million to $3.2 billion, but Controller Scott Stringer hopes to ease Wall Street worries by assuring the city's debt won't be affected. He ruined Mayor de Blasio’s birthday party a couple of weeks ago, but now city Controller Scott Stringer is rushing to Hizzoner’s defense after investment firms cut back on municipal bond buys.* He ruined Mayor de Blasio’s birthday party a couple of weeks ago, but now city Controller Scott Stringer is rushing to Hizzoner’s defense after investment firms cut back on municipal bond buys. Stringer insisted that there’s no reason for anyone to stop investing in city bonds, and pointed to the new United Federation of Teachers deal as proof that New York has its financial house in order. “Bond buyers should be pleased by the fact that the mayor’s labor agreement with the UFT is a major first step in resolving years of expired contracts that had been casting a shadow on the true fiscal picture of the city,” Stringer told the Daily News. Some Wall Street honchos beg to differ.* Budget watchdogs vouch, tentatively, for de Blasio’s U.F.T. deal(Capital)Carol Kellermann, president of the fiscally conservative Citizens Budget Commission, approved of the 10 percent salary increases over seven years the U.F.T. was offered. "The perspective raises are fair and reasonable,” Kellerman said. “Yes, they start to go up in the out years, but even the highest raise is not 4 percent, which is what in the early years of the Bloomberg administration he was giving out.” The former mayor had established a bargaining pattern by giving most unions salary increases of 4 percent a year for two years. That ended when he and the labor leaders stopped negotiating, resulting in all the expired contracts.* The Manhattan Institute’s Nicole Gelinas breaks down the recent revisions to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s budget and the long-term fiscal problems with the United Federation of Teachers’ contract:* New York City’s Independent Budget Office analyzed de Blasio’s executive budget and financial plan and noted that its own watchdog role was “complicated” by the mayor’s “highly complex” agreement with the teachers union: http://goo.gl/6qS5am * City faces larger budget surpluses in next two years than Mayor de Blasio projects: Independent Budget Office(NYDN)* City in better fiscal shape than projected, but union deals could cloud budgets(NYP)
Mayor's Affordable Plan More an Outline Says Many Housing Experts . . .
Wednesday
With Caution, a Poor Corner of Brooklyn Welcomes an Affordable Housing Plan(NYT) The East New York neighborhood could emerge as a centerpiece of the mayor’s 10-year plan, which includes a push for more residential development, , and residents are cautiously welcoming the idea of more development and affordable housing.* Mayor Requests Washington Help With Housing Mayor Bill de Blasio met with top federal lawmakers, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, seeking billions of federal dollars to help finance his affordable housing plan, the New York Post reports: * De Blasio seeks affordable-housing money in Washington(NYP) * Catholic Church will aid Mayor de Blasio's plan to add affordable housing (NYDN)
UFT Health Care Costs Uncertainty * Moody’s weighed in on New York City’s teachers union contract, saying that it “could eliminate” fiscal uncertainty but that it comes at a “large” cost and relies on questionable assumptions, State of Politics reports: * Despite assurances from teachers union leaders that members “should not” have to pay more toward their health insurance as a result of their agreement with the city, it could still happen, Capital New York reports:
Efforts to Make Part of Airbnb Business Legal On the Same Day the Mayor Declares A Housing Shortage That is Pushing Out the Poor and Middle Class
A group of affordable housing advocates, labor unions and tenant associations is opposing a pair of bills in the state Legislature that would loosen restrictions on New Yorkers who use Airbnb.com to rent out their apartments, the Daily News reports
More About Airbnb and Their Lobbyists
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New Landmarks Preservation CommissionMayor Bill de Blasio nominated Meenakshi Srinivan—currently head of the Board of Standards and Appeals—as the next chair of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Observer reports:
De Blasio Chooses a City Planner to Lead Landmarks Preservation(NYT)
de Blasio's Pro-Israel Lobby Meeting Behind Closed Doors . . . .
7
de Blasio Has Made Women Equal Partner and More At City Hall
Charter school boss Eva Moskowitz: I may run for mayor(NYDN)“I might run for mayor some day,” she said on the John Gambling radio show. “But right now, I’m very, very focused on educating the 10,000 kids that will be with us in 95 business days.”The controversial former City Councilwoman and Success Academy head said she thought she was getting out of politics - but found running schools was no less politically charged.
New Fire Chief
Retired FDNY Chief of Department Daniel Nigro emerges as leading candidate for department’s top job: sources (NYDN) Mayor de Blasio is expected to name a new top firefighter any day now and Nigro, who was the top uniformed FDNY officer in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks, is considered the main contender.* Daniel Nigro, a retired fire chief credited with shepherding the FDNY through some of its darkest days on and after Sept. 11, 2001, will return to city government as the new fire commissioner.* Former New York City Fire Department official Daniel Nigro, who took control of rescue operations on Sept. 11 when the chief of the department was killed, is set to be named the department’s commissioner, The New York Times reports: * De Blasio Set to Tap Insider for Fire Post(WSJ)* Councilwoman Crowley Wants Mayor to Add More Women to FDNY(Capital) * .@BilldeBlasio says Nigro spearheaded merger of EMS into the Fire Dept and implementation of CompStat* Cuomo eyes potential new running mates(NYP) * Mayor Bill de Blasio named as fire commissioner Daniel Nigro, a retired FDNY fire chief who led the department after the 9/11 attacks claimed the life of his predecessor, Chief Peter Ganci, CBS New York reports: * City’s New Fire Commissioner Vows a Push for More Minorities in the Department(NYT) * Veteran Firefighter Is New FDNY Chief(WSJ)
de Blasio Rewards Those That Help Fund His Campaign
TAXI FUND-RAISER, NOW REGULATOR(Capital) -- De Blasio aide gets gig at taxi commission -- Capital’s Dana Rubinstein: Izabella Vais been named an assistant commissioner for policy and intergovernmental affairs at the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the agency charged with regulating New York City's fractious, litigious, and monied taxi industry. The mayor raised more than $350,000 from taxi interests, while championing the industry's fight against Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to bring green taxi service to the outer boroughs. Several sources in the taxi industry told Capital that Vais was a point person handling donations.* De Blasio raised prodigious amounts of money from the taxi industry during his run for mayor. Now, one of the consultants who helped him raise money from that industry is helping him regulate it. * Republican Rob Astorino has chosen a little-known upstate sheriff - and a vocal critic of Gov. Cuomo’s gun control law - to be his running mate. Astorino chose Chemung County Sheriff Christopher Moss to run for lieutenant governor, making him the first black candidate to run on the GOP’s statewide ticket.
* A judge cited a technicality in tossing out a lawsuit that challenged New York City’s charter school co-location process and pitted de Blasio against his progressive allies, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/NB0j2I
* Mayor Bill de Blasio received 2,011 invitations to parties and events during his first 100 days in office, and he RSVPed yes to only 47, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/c9CKsh
ATTN ROOM 9 -- Calling for a revolt -- Gabe Pressman, in the News: “Mayor de Blasio’s printed schedule … shows an abundance of mayoral events with the words “closed press.” That means we are told where the mayor will be but also that we’re not permitted to follow him there. … If, as a group, including both print and broadcast reporters, we refused to abide by the de Blasio administration’s restrictions for one day, I believe the situation would change instantly.” http://goo.gl/0tjUEA
Avowed liberal Mayor de Blasio Wednesday tried to reassure developers and bankers that he's on their team in his quest to solve the city's affordable housing crisis. “We drive a hard bargain, but in exchange we're going to be a partner to move things quickly and efficiently,” he pledged in a speech to the New York State Association of Affordable Housing, the group of developers and bankers that build cheaper housing, usually in exchange for tax breaks and zoning deals.
The Times took a look at Mr. de Blasio’s new status as a “Republican piñata.” “National Republicans, alarmed by the rising influence of activist liberals in government and eager to paint the Democratic Party as captive to its left wing, seem to have settled on an unlikely new nemesis: Bill de Blasio,” they wrote. In the mayor, “Republican leaders see the embodiment of their fears about an empowered New Left.”
Wednesday
Top teachers union officials approved New York City’s new teachers’ union contract, which will be voted on again today by the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly and is expected to be ratified by the full membership of the union, the Daily News writes: * Charter School Leaders Skip Out on Council Hearing(NY1)
* With the state ordering teachers and principals not to disclose any contents of last month’s standardized English tests, 37 New York City principals have spoken bluntly about the design and quality of the tests, the Times’ Jim Dwyer writes: * amNewYork writes that what’s currently on the table about New York City’s deal with the United Federation of Teachers are hard numbers for pay raises but also troublingly murky statements about how they’ll be covered: * Dig into the deal (NYDN ED) We're learning more about the teachers' contract* Moody’s: Jury’s Out On UFT Contract Deal(YNN)
Daily News Failed to Report the Illegal Crime That Gave the UFT the Ability to Control Albany
UFT Power in Campaigns is Why the City's Pols Fear the Union
Bad teacher bailout(NYP)
Cuomo calls himself “the students’ lobbyist.” But “teachers’ lobbyist” might be more appropriate, given the legislation he just pushed through. Think of it as the “Bad Teacher Protection Act.”...
Daily News Says Albany Failed the Teacher Evaluation Test
Cuomo and state lawmakers reach a deal on a short-term change to the teacher evaluation law through 2015 that would give poorly rated instructors two ratings—one under the current system, and a new "safety net" rating that excludes the Common Core test scores—and parents will see both, The Wall Street Journal reports: * The president of NYSUT—the statewide teachers union—backed Cuomo’s proposal to delay the impacts of Common Core testing on teacher evaluations, referring to the move as a “pause button,” State of Politics reports: New York is poised to become the latest state to allow medical marijuana, but with a ban on smoking as well as a “fail safe” option that allows the governor to pull the plug based on recommendations from health and law enforcement officials.* NYSUT Backs Evaluation ‘Pause Button’(YNN)* Albany OKs Common Core reprieve for low-rated teachers(NYP)* * The Daily News writes that local tests are set to be the only objective measure in the new teacher evaluation system, meaning a heavy burden will fall on de Blasio and schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to distinguish the best from the worst:*Teacher Contract Teacher Contract Change Is Altering Schools’ Hours(NYT) Because of changes in the new teachers’ contract, a number of schools are moving up the start of the-school day, and more than a few parents are not happy about it.*Failing the evaluation test (NYDN Ed) Albany retreats from rigor in measuring teacher performance*Less School Hours Because the new New York City teachers’ contract requires that time be spent on professional development and communication with parents, some schools are moving up the start and end of their school day, The New York Times writes
Daily News UFT Advance Group Blinders Led to the Pause Button in Teacher Evaluation
If the Daily News is So Worried About Delays in Teacher Evaluations The Must Looking into the Power of the UFT to Control Elections and What They Did to Win Counicl Races In 2013
Daily News
No Right to Cry
The Advance Group also faces a CFB probe into an outside-spending campaign the firm ran on behalf of the United Federation of Teachers under the name "Strategic Consultants, Inc.," and separately, NYCLASS gave donations to the anti-Quinn efforts far above state-imposed limits.United Federation of Teachers' super PAC had paid more than $370,000 to a fictitious political consulting firm "Strategic Consultants Inc.," which was actually the well-known Manhattan consulting firm the Advance Group. Advance Group puts logo on phony firm's invoice( CrainsNY)* The advance group got paid $28,000 by gay city council candidate Yetta Kurland at the same time the firm work for the City Action Coalition PAC, which on its website touts itself as supporting candidates who oppose gay marriage and abortion rights.Advance was on both side of the Kurland race. The firm also secretly worked to have been promot Johnson’s candidacy through an IE paid for by the UFT via a company called Strategic Consultants—apparently a dummy shell corporation set up to obscure the Advance Group’s double-dealing. "Questions Raised Over U.F.T. Campaign Filing" [Beth Fertig]* * UFT under fire for apparently trying to hide identity of consulting firm(NYDN)
FBI Looking Into Separate Criminal Investigations of the Mayor and Governor On Obstruction of Justice, And the Media Dummies Up . . .
Is This A Joke?
Media Spin Doctors Often Control What the Public Reads in the News and Understands
Gadfly George Spitz created the Five Borough NYC Marathon, now the most successful sports event in the city and gets no credit for his invention. The credit is often given to the Rudin family which funds the even Yesterday the media led by the mayor's spin doctors gave the man who was not in the battle, but marched into town to declare victory for creating the Innovated Schools Plan. In Las Vegas there is not even a single plaque naming the man who invented the town mobster Bugsy Siegel. The Mayor of the City of New York should be big enough to name the Tweed Court House the Bloomberg Building. The building naming ceremony could be a good chance for them to catch up and compare notes. De Blasio Counters Charters With His Own ‘Innovation’ Schools(NYO) New York City’s new teacher’s union contract includes a plan to create up to 200 “innovation” schools that can bypass usual Department of Education rules, similar to charter schools. Teachers Question Pay-for-Performance Element in Proposed Contract (NYT) Some say a new agreement that would pay extra to New York teachers who take on more work is too good to be true, while others welcome the raises.* I think we got a fair deal, but the devil is in the details:' Teachers cautiously optimistic on new city contract(NYDN) * Mulgrew: Education contract is a good deal, especially for kids(NYDN) * Teachers' unions are planning an onslaught of online advertising to protest the pro-charter #CampPhilos conference (Capital)
Fieldston and University Heights are in the same borough but worlds apart. How much understanding between their students can a well-told story bring? (NYT) Rich City, Poor City: How it feels to have and have not in NYC
Easy to Open New Charters New state law changes makes opening charter schools in New York City easier than any other in nation (NYDN) * Schools Chancellor, City's First Lady Participate in Citywide Parent Conference(NY1) * Unions plan pop-up ads for pro-charter conference(Capital)
de Blasio Wins Single Buyer Health Care Saving From the Unions
Still Work Ahead for Other Contract Agreements
* New York City municipal union members could receive a bonus equivalent to 1 percent of their salaries if the city saves more than $3.4 billion in healthcare costs over the next four years, the Journal reports:
Labor leaders back de Blasio health-care overhaul(NYP)The Municipal Labor Council’s steering committee approved the measure, 20 to 2, with only the heads of the detectives and firefighters unions dissenting. The health-care changes — which include centralizing purchases of prescription drugs and medical tests — is expected to save the city $1.3 billion in the new city contract with the teachers union. But opponents say they were rushed into the deal. *Labor Union Council Approves de Blasio's Health Care Savings Deal (DNAINFO) * Labor Leaders Say Mayor Still Has Work Ahead With Settling Contracts(NY1) *NYPD Union Blasts de Blasio Offer of No Retroactive Raises Despite UFT Deal(DNAINFO)Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Pat Lynch blasted the city's offer of no raises.* Two no votes for de Blasio’s health care deal(Capital) * Gonzalez: City union leaders to fund raises with $1 billion transfer from health account(NYDN)
Mulgrew boasts of victories in new teachers union contract(NYP)
* De Blasio gives away the store in teachers contract(Goodwin, NYP) You don’t have to be a cynic to worry that the bonhomie between the union and the union-backed mayor was sealed with hugs, as de Blasio and Fariña each shared an embrace with Michael Mulgrew, boss of the United Federation of Teachers. But while raises are certain, concessions are elusive. More than $1 billion in savings to the city are claimed through vague changes to health-care programs, but teachers won’t pay anything more toward their premiums, a foolish giveaway on de Blasio’s part that will hobble the budget forever. hat gets to the big problem. Nothing in the contract, and nothing the mayor and Fariña say about it, gives any reason to hope that student performance will improve. That’s no incidental omission. At the same time, they say schools are in a state of “crisis” because so few of the 65 percent of students who get a diploma are prepared for college or a career. To take them at their rhetoric, they are committed to solving that crisis.This contract does not keep faith with that commitment. It doesn’t even try.* Michelle Rhee says the reforms in the deal struck by de Blasio with the UFT aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Back to the 70's Budget? Where’s Scott?(NYP Ed) Budget watchdogs raise their eyebrows over such things. Remember, borrowing from the future to pay current-day (let alone past) expenses was a chief reason the city nearly went belly-up in the ’70s. You don’t take out a loan to pay the grocery bill.The contract deal with the teachers isn’t exactly the same, of course. In the ’70s, the city routinely assumed debt to cover budget shortfalls; de Blasio hasn’t signaled any intention of doing that. This deal also includes $1 billion in health-care savings, though we don’t yet have the details about how the city will realize those gainsThat’s where Stringer comes in. As city comptroller, Stringer’s job is to look at New York’s financial obligations and sound the alarm if he spots risky moves.* MAYOR’S KUMBAYA UFT DEAL: While New York City’s deal with UFT is sure to guarantee labor peace and loyalty and support for Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017, it might not be all it’s cracked up to be in terms of impact on the city’s coffers, new City & State columnist Gerson Borrero writes: * The Post writes that only an honest and thorough-going analysis of New York City’s labor agreement with the UFT, which Comptroller Scott Stringer said he’ll review in his budget analysis, will re-assure New Yorkers that the city isn’t about to repeat the mistakes of the 1970s: * * Success Academy Leader Eva Moskowitz was noticeably absent from a City Council hearing on charter schools where the issues of purported harsh disciplinary tactics and selective admittance were raised by councilmembers, the Daily News reports:
Tuesday Reaction to the Housing Plan
NYT de Blasio's Housing Plan To the Moon, NYP Higher Renters From Inclusionary Zoning
Mr. de Blasio’s Moon Shot(NYT Ed) If the mayor is going to keep his promise and end the city’s crisis of inequality and housing unaffordability, he must go big. And it looks as if he’s doing so.* Faint housing hope(NYP Ed) Mandating set-aside, as the new housing plan proposes, risks driving development away altogether — a problem that NYU’s Furman Center noted last year, when its director was Vicki Been, whom de Blasio has since named to head the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
A Furman paper observed that “mandatory inclusionary zoning” might “render potential projects less profitable or completely unprofitable,” such that “the development would not be built at all.” In other words, by requiring so much subsidized housing, it could lead developers to drop marginal projects altogether. Furman also warned that developers might “try to pass the added costs on to market-rate tenants and buyers if the market allows it.” In this view, inclusionary zoning could lead to higher overall rents, fueling a need for yet more affordable housing, with the city effectively chasing its own tail. * As de Blasio announces affordable housing plan, Atlantic Yards (delay, modular, lack of neighborhood planning) remains an awkward backdrop(AYR) * Also on Inside City Hall, the city’s top housing officials touted Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s affordable housing plan that was unveiled yesterday. “I think it moves the needle … more than a little bit. It makes a big dent in the affordable housing crisis. But it is certainly not going to solve the housing crisis alone,” said Carl Weisbrod, chair of the city’s Planning Commission. * Bill de Blasio’s Housing Plan Short on Specifics, Experts Say(NYO) * Experts are saying de Blasio’s ambitious, 116-page housing plan is short on specifics, with one former congressman who served as chairman of the House’s housing subcommittee calling it “more of an outline of a plan,” the Observer reports:
In a piece titled “De Blasio’s New Plan to Create or Save 200,000 Cheap Apartments Is Going to Make a Lot of People Angry in Many Neighborhoods”
New York‘s Chris Smith writes, “But what’s most striking about the plan [is] … that by launching such a far-reaching program, instead of focusing on a narrower list of goals, de Blasio has ensured himself hundreds of political fights trying to make it happen.” * The Daily News editorial board would likely agree with Mr. Smith’s premise. “City Hall disingenuously says that it wants to only move to build affordable housing where communities are demanding it. As de Blasio himself knows from the Atlantic Yards development, which he rightly backed against furious neighborhood resistance, there will be fights. Loud ones,” the tabloid argued.* In a New York Post column, the Manhattan Institute’s Howard Husock was even more disenchanted. “In short, the de Blasio plan is built on what has long been the city’s dysfunctional dogma,” he wrote. “A real free market for the city’s housing market isn’t on the horizon at present, though. We may have to settle for not strangling private development altogether.” * The New York Times editorial board, meanwhile, was more upbeat on the topic: “[I]f Mr. de Blasio really is going to keep his campaign promise … he is going to have to go big. And this plan is what big looks like. … The all-important details have yet to be filled in, but the mayor has locked himself in with a hard and fast number: 200,000 or bust.” * And here’s video, via NYTrue.com, of Mr. de Blasio taking questions during yesterday’s housing press conference:
Expect Homeless Numbers To Go
Mayor's Housing Plan Gives the Homeless Families Priority Jumping the Long Wait List for NYCHA Apartments
An aggressive new effort to move homeless families from shelters into NYCHA apartments is a key part of Mayor de Blasio’s attack on the city’s affordable housing crisis, writes our Greg B. Smith. The Housing Authority’s waiting list has grown dramatically, to 250,000 from 160,000, in a year — and the new policy will allow homeless families to effectively jump the line and grab coveted apartments when they open up. * Priority given to homeless in finding NYCHA apartments(NYDN)
He’s right too about needing more units,” the New York Post editorial board writes. “And there’s even a good case to be made for a trade-off he appears willing to accept: higher density and taller buildings coupled with more affordable units. We look forward to the details.”* Of the 200,000 units in @BilldeBlasio'a affordable housing plan, 80k are new. 120k preserved. .@TishJames's comment that affordable housing should be built w/ union labor may alarm some affordable developers, who say it's too costly. .@BPEricAdams on affordable housing: "Build high, build tall. We don't have more land, but we have air rights."* De Blasio now quotes Fiorello LaGuardia, who he calls greatest mayor in city's history, on urgency of building affordable housing. * 22 of 109 units at Lighthouse Point in St. George will be held for those making 60% of the area median income.* "We’re going to take a very hard look at where we’re able to identify sites where we can rezone or upzone," Alicia @DMAliciaGlen says.
Expensive Bill for de Blasio Progressive Agenda
De Blasio’s policies are driving up the cost of living in New York(Goodwin, NYP)Twice in the last week, the mayor described his ideas as the political equivalent of the Second Coming. First with his deal with the teachers union, and now with his affordable-housing plan, de Blasio promises to drive a stake through the heart of inequality and make the city more affordable.The local tab alone for his progressive vision is a whopping $13.6 billion, give or take. And where will that money come from? Open wide, dear taxpayer.
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed“gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
Harlem Gentification and the Mayor
Eviction drama poses thorny issue for ‘progressive’ de Blasio(NYP)A condemnation drama unfolding in East Harlem is presumably not what community residents expected of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s “progressive” agenda. The city is trying to evict a handful of holdout landowners on the block between Second and Third avenues and 125th and 126th streets to make room for an “East Harlem Media, Entertainment and Cultural Center.” The vaguely defined project was trumpeted in 2008 by former Mayor Mike Bloomberg and City Council member Melissa Mark-Viverito, who is now Council speaker. At stake are not merely the property owners’ holdings but the fate of a dozen-odd minority-owned stores and services at the site and their 100-plus employees, who are mostly black and Hispanic.
More on Gentrification and Race
Speaking of Mr. de Blasio’s numbers, his deal with the teachers’ union may be more than meets the eye, Capital New York reports: “Despite assurances from leaders of the city teachers’ union that members ‘should not’ have to pay more toward their health insurance as a result of their agreement with the de Blasio administration, that remains a possibility.”
Will Never Be Royals?
Our Harry Siegel's column: Mayor de Blasio hasn’t done so much yet — give him time! — but he’s sure not shy about trumpeting what he has... Take his long-awaited 115-page affordable housing plan released Monday, which is more outline than roadmap. It’s a plan, the Mayor said, that will “address the crisis in inequality” and “change the face of this city forever, and for the good of our people.”
4) Bloomberg initially pledged to build 92k and preserve 73k; it ended up building ~50k, preserving the rest* .@BilldeBlasio says city will use some NYCHA units to house homeless, but won't be completely overhauling eligibility rules * .@DMAliciaGlen says there will be variety of construction, suggests some will be union & some not.* Large swaths of Staten Island don't want affordable housing - or any increase in housing density, due to poor infrastructure as is.* Planning commissioner Carl Weisbrod says administration may consider re-rezoning areas that Bloomberg admin already rezoned.* De Blasio unveils $41.1B affordable housing plan(NYP)
De Blasio Unveils Plan to Create More Affordable Housing for City(NYT) de Blasio unveiled a 10-year, $41.1 billion housing plan to build and preserve 200,000 affordable housing units, with $8.2 billion from the city and over $30 billion in private funds* Mayor de Blasio unveils $41B proposal to develop 200,000 units of affordable housing(NYDN) * De Blasio Unveils ‘Most Ambitious’ Affordable Housing Plan in Nation(NYO) * .@BilldeBlasio unveils his 10-year, 200K-unit, $41B housing plan: (CrainsNY) The affordable housing community and the real estate industry praised de Blasio’s housing plan, which would allow more density in some areas by allowing bigger and taller buildings, and a streamlined process* Mayor Unveils 'Ambitious' 10-Year Affordable * De Blasio’s New Plan to Create or Save 200,000 Cheap Apartments Is Going to Make a Lot of People Angry (NY Mag) The City Council, for instance, has already beaten back a mayoral attempt to streamline the labyrinthine zoning approval process — because individual council members would have had to surrender power over what gets built in their districts. On the one hand, that’s the kind of grassroots democracy de Blasio celebrates; on the other, it promises headaches when he proposes building specific projects in specific neighborhoods.* De Blasio’s plan anticipates needing an additional $1.9 billion, during the next ten years, primarily from federal and state sources who aren’t exactly flush.* Council Housing Committee Chair Wants a Bolder Plan From City Hall(NYO) * .@BilldeBlasio $41B housing plan to produce 7,100 jobs. That's $5.8 million/job. * No mention of modular housing, no mention of SROs, almost nothing on NYCHA, almost nothing on union labor
#AtlanticYards deception from @BilldeBlasio housing plan: "The City will work with the MTA and other
EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigating donations to NYCLASS from men close to Mayor de Blasio that may have been used toward anti-Christine Quinn campaigners (NYDN) Two men with strong ties to Mayor de Blasio donated cash to the NYCLASS animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. The animal rights group then donated identical amounts to anti-Christine Quinn campaigners. The transactions are now under FBI investigation. The mayoral race had not yet come to a boil, but Democrat Christine Quinn was already feeling the heat.A political action committee called New York City Is Not for Sale had spent most of April and May 2013 bashing Quinn in television ads. Her poll numbers were sliding, but the anti-Quinn campaign wanted to rough her up even more. That’s when a curious set of financial transactions quietly took place — transactions that are now being investigated by the FBI. On May 21, lawyer Jay Eisenhofer gave $50,000 to NYCLASS, the animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. Ten days later, on May 31, NYCLASS gave an equal amount — $50,000, to the anti-Quinn group. On June 1, NYCLASS received another large donation, this time for $175,000. It came from UNITE HERE! — a labor union headed by John Wilhelm. Two days after that, on June 3, NYCLASS sent the same amount, $175,000, to the anti-Quinn campaign. Both Wilhelm and Eisenhofer have long-standing ties to Bill de Blasio, one of Quinn’s Democratic rivals in the mayoral campaign.
More on the HorseGate Investigation
* De Blasio’s daily schedules, obtained by the Daily News using a public records request, give a glimpse into what’s going on in City Hall and show that the mayor met with Cuomo three times in February and March: http://goo.gl/GEAv6q
Jail Shake Up By New Commish . . .
Two city jail officials out as commish shakes things up(NYP)
Details of the Teacher Union Deal
UFT In the Money . . .
* Michael Howard Saul@MichaelHwrdSaul When it comes to cost numbers, when it comes to savings numbers, things grew fuzzy here in the Blue Room. Is BdB saying the extra time for parents and teacher development comes at the expense of instruction?* NYPD Union Blasts @BilldeBlasio @billd Offer of No Retroactive Raises Despite @UFT Deal via @Dnainfo* Michael Howard Saul @MichaelHwrdSaul Wow.The $4 billion figure isn't the actual total package of this deal. It's more. Retroactive raises bleed into 2019, 2020. Not part of $4b. * BdB doesn't answer question when asked what happens if MLC opposes healthcare package. Does UFT still get its salary increases? * Sally Goldenberg @SallyGold UFT deal: Unclear exactly what the city will get in health care savings from teachers. Unclear what this will cost in outyears.* BDB isn't specific on health savings "Everything has to go thru the ratification process but we're v confident of achieving these savings"* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the United Federation of Teachers reached a long-sought contract that includes a retroactive 10 percent raise over the next seven years and a one-time $1,000 cash bonus.
Wait, is that it? That's all the details about how they get to $1 billion in savings?
* Mayor Bill de Blasio announced his contract with the teachers union, granting $3.4 billion in back pay in exchange for a reduction in healthcare costs and a revision of classroom rules that have long frustrated city officials, The New York Times reports:
City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said the contract deal between the teachers union and the city will set the tone for future deals with other unions, 150-plus of which are now expired, the Daily News reports: * Talks between New York City’s police union and the de Blasio administration have stalled after the union filed for an impasse application with the state Public Employment Relations Board, Capital New York reports: * City, Teachers Union Reach Preliminary Contract Agreement(NY1) Farina re new job procedures for finding jobs for faculty in Absent Teacher Reserve: "There will be no forced placement." UFT Pres Mulgrew gives smug answer about getting his troops in line. Sounds like someone who runs his union with an iron fist.* Jill Colvin @colvinj After hour-long presser, we still don't really know how much this whole deal will cost.* Gerson Borrero @GersonBorrero Take away from @NYCMayorsOffice @UFT contract PC: They have no clue how much deal will cost. For sure NY'rs will pay! #smells * How long must a principal try out an ATR teacher still on payroll without permanent job? One day is enough" says Farina @wnyc
Steven Greenhouse reports
the teachers raises will be “much like” what transit workers recently
got from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Teachers will get 4 percent raises for 2009
and 2010—but it’ll be paid “over many years.” Going forward, teachers
will get average annual raises of 1.5 to 2 percent. How will the raises
be paid for? One possibility, which hasn’t been made public yet, is
cost-savings in the teachers’ health care plan. An earlier report suggested the
teachers deal would “assure de Blasio of labor peace with the teachers
until after his likely re-election bid in 2017.” But the deal may face
some resistance from other unions. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent
Association could oppose it because the raises are too low. And it’s
unclear if the other unions will swallow the health-savings plans the
teachers are apparently agreeing to.* New York Said to Be on Verge of 9-Year Deal With Teachers’ Union(NYT)* Michael Barbaro
Mayor Main Focus Building His New Political Machine, For Re-Election
Managing the City?
Mayor de Blasio leads cheers for car wash union drive - NY Daily NewsMayor de Blasio and the city's other top office holders threw the full support of city government behind the effort to unionize car wash workers Wednesday night.De Blasio headlined the Car Wash Workers Assembly hosted by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has own votes to unionize at eight car washes and aims to organize the whole industry.* The Nation reviewed Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s first 100 days in office. “The good news is that city government is controlled by a progressive mayor who is actually sticking to many of his campaign promises,” the publication writes. “Privately, people on the left who have dealt with the administration describe a level of disorganization more typical of campaigns than governments.” * At a Midtown event last night, Mr. de Blasio praised unionization efforts for car wash workers, NY1 reports. “It will be my honor to fight shoulder to shoulder with you,” he said. RWDSU President Stu Appelbaum praised the mayor in turn, declaring, “Our mayor is not just the leader of our city, but the leader of a movement.”* Mayor Shares Support for Campaign to Unionize Car Wash Workers in City(NY1)
HorseGate . . .
FBI Investigating Illegal Coordinating Between NYCLASS PAC and the de Blasio Campaign
Under the law, so-called independent committees like New York City Is Not for Sale are not allowed to coordinate or consult with the campaign of any candidate
Hid the Money
'Had UNITE HERE! and Eisenhofer contributed directly to the free-spending anti-Quinn effort, their involvement would have been made public within weeks because of disclosure rules. But because they contributed directly to NYCLASS, Wilhelm and Eisenhofer were able to enjoy anonymity for months. The trigger for disclosure did not take place until NYCLASS began its own campaign spending, an event that occurred on Sept. 7, three days before the Sept. 10 mayoral primary.
Sal Albanese
After New Contract, Will Bad Teachers Be Fired? . . .
* NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he trusts principals to judge whether to keep teachers assigned from a pool of rotating substitutes or send them back. His comments followed critics’ claims that the tentative city teachers’ contract wouldn’t ensure that the pool’s poor performers would be kept out of classrooms.
The UFT is Not the Democratic Bastion It Claims to Be In fact, until the union jumped on de Blasio's bandwagon in the sure-win race last November, it had not endorsed a Democratic mayoral candidate since 1989 - with the exception of 2001, when it picked three losers, one in the primary (Alan Hevesi), one in the runoff (Ferrer) and one in the general (Mark Green).How can any of this be progressive? It's special interest protectionism and patronage at its worst. The question is not whether these insurmountable layers of teacher insulation are "valuable" to the system. The question is whether they help kids. Isn't that the only truly progressive measure? * The Naked Self-Interest of the Government-Worker Class
A Poll of Two Cities: de Blasio Black and White
De Blasio’s job approval rating is up to 51-28 percent, but the gap between approval by black and white voters persists, a new Q poll found.*De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds(NYT) *Mayor earns 51% approval rating, 66% disapprove of horse ban promise: poll * BILL'S UP: Mayor de Blasio earns 51% approval rating, while 66% disapprove his horse ban promise, poll finds(NYDN) * Poll: De Blasio Approval Rating at 51 %(WSJ) New York City voters approve of Mayor Bill de Blasio's job performance, 51% to 28%, but there's a growing gap between black and white voters' opinion of the new mayor, a poll released Wednesday showed. De Blasio’s rising approval rating includes what Capital’s Dana Rubinstein characterized as a “pronounced racial divide” among the mayor’s supporters. White voters support the mayor 41-42 percent; black voters support him 66-14 percent; Hispanics likewise are overwhelmingly in de Blasio’s corner, 56-17 percent. -- How it played -- Times: “De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds” http://goo.gl/VBJgLM -- DNAinfo: “De Blasio Sees a Bump in Poll Numbers Thanks to Black Voters” http://goo.gl/KzLluA -- CBS New York: “Mayor De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves In New Quinnipiac Poll” http://goo.gl/oi0ENs -- Staten Island Advance: “Mayor Bill de Blasio's approval rating edges up, with gap between white and black voters growing” http://goo.gl/kds0mp -- New York Observer: “New Poll Shows Widening Racial Gap in Bill de Blasio’s Support” http://goo.gl/sdLu52
* Bill de Blasio more popular than ferrets(NY Mag)
De Blasio’s job approval rating is up to 51-28 percent, but the gap between approval by black and white voters persists, a new Q poll found.*De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds(NYT) *Mayor earns 51% approval rating, 66% disapprove of horse ban promise: poll * BILL'S UP: Mayor de Blasio earns 51% approval rating, while 66% disapprove his horse ban promise, poll finds(NYDN) * Poll: De Blasio Approval Rating at 51 %(WSJ) New York City voters approve of Mayor Bill de Blasio's job performance, 51% to 28%, but there's a growing gap between black and white voters' opinion of the new mayor, a poll released Wednesday showed. De Blasio’s rising approval rating includes what Capital’s Dana Rubinstein characterized as a “pronounced racial divide” among the mayor’s supporters. White voters support the mayor 41-42 percent; black voters support him 66-14 percent; Hispanics likewise are overwhelmingly in de Blasio’s corner, 56-17 percent. -- How it played -- Times: “De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves, Poll Finds” http://goo.gl/VBJgLM -- DNAinfo: “De Blasio Sees a Bump in Poll Numbers Thanks to Black Voters” http://goo.gl/KzLluA -- CBS New York: “Mayor De Blasio’s Approval Rating Improves In New Quinnipiac Poll” http://goo.gl/oi0ENs -- Staten Island Advance: “Mayor Bill de Blasio's approval rating edges up, with gap between white and black voters growing” http://goo.gl/kds0mp -- New York Observer: “New Poll Shows Widening Racial Gap in Bill de Blasio’s Support” http://goo.gl/sdLu52
* Bill de Blasio more popular than ferrets(NY Mag)
* The Post writes that a California judge’s ruling to strike down tenure laws has aftershocks felt in New York, where last year just 31 percent of third- to eighth-graders tested proficient, but 91.5 percent of teachers were rated effective or highly effective: http://goo.gl/0xqZTN
Teachers Pact: Key Changes, Consequences(WSJ)
de Blasio Lets It Be Known That He is Pushing WFP Activists to Back Cuomo
Andrew Cuomo has spent at least $755,000 so far to air his post-convention ad in NYC,
* Astorino: ‘We All Know The Rent Is Too Damn High’(YNN) * Astorino: California Rampage Shows ‘Government Failed’(YNN) * Cuomo airs ad touting bipartisanship(Capital) Governor Andrew Cuomo spent $755,100 on four New York City buys * Less than 1% of the $33 million Andrew Cuomo has raised has come from donations of $250 or less. * Cuomo’s rose-colored glasses(NYDN) The governor keeps on the sunny side* * Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob Astorino wants to debate Cuomo one-on-one, saying that including third party candidates would allow the governor to avoid answering questions, State of Politics reports: * Astorino renewed his push for term limits, saying it would be the first bill he pushes upon taking office and that eight years is enough for anyone to serve in state government, State of Politics reports: *Hawkins: Ravitch Would Be A ‘Wonderful Addition’ To Race(YNN)
See how Mayor
StudentsFirstNY Removing Ineligible Health Care Recipients Part of UFT Agreement
The more the details from the city’s contract with the teachers union emerge — particularly how the “health savings” will be achieved — the fishier it gets. Now we’re told that roughly 12 percent of these savings is to come from purging various employee relatives who enjoy health-insurance benefits for which they are actually ineligible. These ineligible recipients include divorced spouses or children who aged out of parents’ health plans. The city claims eliminating ineligible family plans would save $8,500 per person. Removing from the rolls those who get city-paid benefits even though they are ineligible is a good thing. But why is this action part of a negotiated labor agreement? Shouldn’t rooting out people ineligible for benefits be what the city government does as a matter of course?* The Post calls out Mayor de Blasio and the United Federation of Teachers for the $1 billion in health savings in their contract agreement that will come from removing ineligible relatives from the rolls, arguing that Mayor Bloomberg tried to do the same thing last year and was fought in court by the powerful labor union:
De Blasio Says End Member Items Now . . .
Mayor Bill de Blasio today repeated his opposition to City Council member items, setting himself up for a showdown in the coming months with council members, who rely on the millions of dollars to fund senior centers, parks and other projects in their districts, boosting their reputations in the process.
Teachers Contract Voting Contines
As Ballot Count Nears, City’s Teachers Debate Whether to Ratify Contract(NYT)
With less than two weeks before ballots are counted, details about health care and retroactive pay are the biggest concerns among New York City teachers.
Stringer Budget 180: No Deficit Problem After Accounting Correction
Comptroller Scott Stringer pushed back after investment firms cut back on buying municipal bonds, and he pointed to a new teachers contract to show that the city has its finances in order Controller Stringer looks to soothe investor worries over city bonds as deficit is projected to grow to $3.2B(NYDN)
DEB organizes private group to push for his "agenda" I have suggestion do your job, gain trust of NY & they will follow. Stop campaigning
Mayor's Affordable Plan More an Outline Says Many Housing Experts . . .
Wednesday
With Caution, a Poor Corner of Brooklyn Welcomes an Affordable Housing Plan(NYT) The East New York neighborhood could emerge as a centerpiece of the mayor’s 10-year plan, which includes a push for more residential development, , and residents are cautiously welcoming the idea of more development and affordable housing.* Mayor Requests Washington Help With Housing Mayor Bill de Blasio met with top federal lawmakers, including House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, seeking billions of federal dollars to help finance his affordable housing plan, the New York Post reports: * De Blasio seeks affordable-housing money in Washington(NYP) * Catholic Church will aid Mayor de Blasio's plan to add affordable housing (NYDN)
UFT Health Care Costs Uncertainty * Moody’s weighed in on New York City’s teachers union contract, saying that it “could eliminate” fiscal uncertainty but that it comes at a “large” cost and relies on questionable assumptions, State of Politics reports: * Despite assurances from teachers union leaders that members “should not” have to pay more toward their health insurance as a result of their agreement with the city, it could still happen, Capital New York reports:
Efforts to Make Part of Airbnb Business Legal On the Same Day the Mayor Declares A Housing Shortage That is Pushing Out the Poor and Middle Class
A group of affordable housing advocates, labor unions and tenant associations is opposing a pair of bills in the state Legislature that would loosen restrictions on New Yorkers who use Airbnb.com to rent out their apartments, the Daily News reports
More About Airbnb and Their Lobbyists
More on Gentrification
How NYC is Losing the Middle Class
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed“gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
More on Gentrification and RaceHow NYC is Losing the Middle Class
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed“gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
.
Winning Bid Take Over Long Island College Hospital Falls Apart (10 Days Ago)
Mr. Mayor These Men Mad History Not You
Mr. Mayor These Men Mad History Not You
Big plans, weak foundation (NYDN) De Blasio's troubling pattern of grand pronouncements followed by shakier particulars* "The Statue of Liberty will be showered with one million rose petals for the 70th anniversary of D-Day"
New Landmarks Preservation CommissionMayor Bill de Blasio nominated Meenakshi Srinivan—currently head of the Board of Standards and Appeals—as the next chair of the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Observer reports:
De Blasio Chooses a City Planner to Lead Landmarks Preservation(NYT)
Meenakshi Srinivasan, 52, was named on Friday as the mayor’s choice for chairwoman of New York City’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
EXCLUSIVE: Mayor Bill de Blasio's secret appearance at right-leaning pro-Israel lobby angered liberal Jewish supporters (NYT) Groups that usually back de Blasio were upset to learn Hizzoner had participated in an event with the hard-line American Israel Public Affairs Committee without making it public, emails obtained by the Daily News show. State Sen. Liz Krueger said City Hall admitted it needed to do a better job conveying de Blasio's feelings about Israel to liberal Jews. “I am actually getting as many angry messages from Jewish non-AIPAC folks (Pro Israel, J Street and Peace Now Supporters) than I did on the east side snow problems,” State Sen. Liz Krueger wrote to de Blasio’s senior aide Emma Wolfe on Jan. 30.
The kind of "bad press" a NYC pol dreams of :
The kind of "bad press" a NYC pol dreams of :
7
de Blasio Has Made Women Equal Partner and More At City Hall
The Women of
City Hall
City Hall
The Women of New York’s City Hall(NYT) The longtime fraternity of government power — a boys’ club that women have been admitted to for years but without ever becoming a dominant force — now resembles a sorority where women are helping set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda, squeezing real estate developers for better deals, and prodding entrenched bureaucrats out of their comfort zones.
“The longtime fraternity of government power … now resembles a sorority where women are helping set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda, squeezing real estate developers for better deals, and prodding entrenched bureaucrats out of their comfort zones. …At meetings at every level throughout City Hall, women now equal or outnumber men.” And even the men in the administration, according to Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, have a different quality than those she’d worked with under previous mayors. “The men in this administration are in touch with their feminine side,” she told the paper. “There’s a gentler group. I’m used to the high masculinity, testosterone-driven group, and they’re not.”
Mayor Moskowitz - January 1, 2018“The longtime fraternity of government power … now resembles a sorority where women are helping set Mayor Bill de Blasio’s agenda, squeezing real estate developers for better deals, and prodding entrenched bureaucrats out of their comfort zones. …At meetings at every level throughout City Hall, women now equal or outnumber men.” And even the men in the administration, according to Deputy Mayor Lilliam Barrios-Paoli, have a different quality than those she’d worked with under previous mayors. “The men in this administration are in touch with their feminine side,” she told the paper. “There’s a gentler group. I’m used to the high masculinity, testosterone-driven group, and they’re not.”
Charter school boss Eva Moskowitz: I may run for mayor(NYDN)“I might run for mayor some day,” she said on the John Gambling radio show. “But right now, I’m very, very focused on educating the 10,000 kids that will be with us in 95 business days.”The controversial former City Councilwoman and Success Academy head said she thought she was getting out of politics - but found running schools was no less politically charged.
New Fire Chief
de Blasio Rewards Those That Help Fund His Campaign
* A judge cited a technicality in tossing out a lawsuit that challenged New York City’s charter school co-location process and pitted de Blasio against his progressive allies, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/NB0j2I
* Mayor Bill de Blasio received 2,011 invitations to parties and events during his first 100 days in office, and he RSVPed yes to only 47, the Daily News reports: http://goo.gl/c9CKsh
ATTN ROOM 9 -- Calling for a revolt -- Gabe Pressman, in the News: “Mayor de Blasio’s printed schedule … shows an abundance of mayoral events with the words “closed press.” That means we are told where the mayor will be but also that we’re not permitted to follow him there. … If, as a group, including both print and broadcast reporters, we refused to abide by the de Blasio administration’s restrictions for one day, I believe the situation would change instantly.” http://goo.gl/0tjUEA
Avowed liberal Mayor de Blasio Wednesday tried to reassure developers and bankers that he's on their team in his quest to solve the city's affordable housing crisis. “We drive a hard bargain, but in exchange we're going to be a partner to move things quickly and efficiently,” he pledged in a speech to the New York State Association of Affordable Housing, the group of developers and bankers that build cheaper housing, usually in exchange for tax breaks and zoning deals.
The Times took a look at Mr. de Blasio’s new status as a “Republican piñata.” “National Republicans, alarmed by the rising influence of activist liberals in government and eager to paint the Democratic Party as captive to its left wing, seem to have settled on an unlikely new nemesis: Bill de Blasio,” they wrote. In the mayor, “Republican leaders see the embodiment of their fears about an empowered New Left.”
De Blasio budgets for accessible taxis(Capital)
Wednesday
Top teachers union officials approved New York City’s new teachers’ union contract, which will be voted on again today by the United Federation of Teachers’ Delegate Assembly and is expected to be ratified by the full membership of the union, the Daily News writes: * Charter School Leaders Skip Out on Council Hearing(NY1)
* With the state ordering teachers and principals not to disclose any contents of last month’s standardized English tests, 37 New York City principals have spoken bluntly about the design and quality of the tests, the Times’ Jim Dwyer writes: * amNewYork writes that what’s currently on the table about New York City’s deal with the United Federation of Teachers are hard numbers for pay raises but also troublingly murky statements about how they’ll be covered: * Dig into the deal (NYDN ED) We're learning more about the teachers' contract* Moody’s: Jury’s Out On UFT Contract Deal(YNN)
Daily News Failed to Report the Illegal Crime That Gave the UFT the Ability to Control Albany
UFT Power in Campaigns is Why the City's Pols Fear the Union
Bad teacher bailout(NYP)
Cuomo calls himself “the students’ lobbyist.” But “teachers’ lobbyist” might be more appropriate, given the legislation he just pushed through. Think of it as the “Bad Teacher Protection Act.”...
Daily News Says Albany Failed the Teacher Evaluation Test
Cuomo and state lawmakers reach a deal on a short-term change to the teacher evaluation law through 2015 that would give poorly rated instructors two ratings—one under the current system, and a new "safety net" rating that excludes the Common Core test scores—and parents will see both, The Wall Street Journal reports: * The president of NYSUT—the statewide teachers union—backed Cuomo’s proposal to delay the impacts of Common Core testing on teacher evaluations, referring to the move as a “pause button,” State of Politics reports: New York is poised to become the latest state to allow medical marijuana, but with a ban on smoking as well as a “fail safe” option that allows the governor to pull the plug based on recommendations from health and law enforcement officials.* NYSUT Backs Evaluation ‘Pause Button’(YNN)* Albany OKs Common Core reprieve for low-rated teachers(NYP)* * The Daily News writes that local tests are set to be the only objective measure in the new teacher evaluation system, meaning a heavy burden will fall on de Blasio and schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña to distinguish the best from the worst:*Teacher Contract Teacher Contract Change Is Altering Schools’ Hours(NYT) Because of changes in the new teachers’ contract, a number of schools are moving up the start of the-school day, and more than a few parents are not happy about it.*Failing the evaluation test (NYDN Ed) Albany retreats from rigor in measuring teacher performance*Less School Hours Because the new New York City teachers’ contract requires that time be spent on professional development and communication with parents, some schools are moving up the start and end of their school day, The New York Times writes
Daily News UFT Advance Group Blinders Led to the Pause Button in Teacher Evaluation
If the Daily News is So Worried About Delays in Teacher Evaluations The Must Looking into the Power of the UFT to Control Elections and What They Did to Win Counicl Races In 2013
Daily News No Right to Cry
The Advance Group also faces a CFB probe into an outside-spending campaign the firm ran on behalf of the United Federation of Teachers under the name "Strategic Consultants, Inc.," and separately, NYCLASS gave donations to the anti-Quinn efforts far above state-imposed limits.United Federation of Teachers' super PAC had paid more than $370,000 to a fictitious political consulting firm "Strategic Consultants Inc.," which was actually the well-known Manhattan consulting firm the Advance Group. Advance Group puts logo on phony firm's invoice( CrainsNY)* The advance group got paid $28,000 by gay city council candidate Yetta Kurland at the same time the firm work for the City Action Coalition PAC, which on its website touts itself as supporting candidates who oppose gay marriage and abortion rights.Advance was on both side of the Kurland race. The firm also secretly worked to have been promot Johnson’s candidacy through an IE paid for by the UFT via a company called Strategic Consultants—apparently a dummy shell corporation set up to obscure the Advance Group’s double-dealing. "Questions Raised Over U.F.T. Campaign Filing" [Beth Fertig]* * UFT under fire for apparently trying to hide identity of consulting firm(NYDN)
FBI Looking Into Separate Criminal Investigations of the Mayor and Governor On Obstruction of Justice, And the Media Dummies Up . . .
Is This A Joke?
FBI Investigating Illegal Coordinating Between NYCLASS PAC and the de Blasio Campaign
Horse Carriage Politics * More on the Advance Groups Corruption * CrainsNY on the Advance Groups Double Dipping * The Big 8 Lobbyists * Dark Pool Politics Media Spin Doctors Often Control What the Public Reads in the News and Understands
Gadfly George Spitz created the Five Borough NYC Marathon, now the most successful sports event in the city and gets no credit for his invention. The credit is often given to the Rudin family which funds the even Yesterday the media led by the mayor's spin doctors gave the man who was not in the battle, but marched into town to declare victory for creating the Innovated Schools Plan. In Las Vegas there is not even a single plaque naming the man who invented the town mobster Bugsy Siegel. The Mayor of the City of New York should be big enough to name the Tweed Court House the Bloomberg Building. The building naming ceremony could be a good chance for them to catch up and compare notes. De Blasio Counters Charters With His Own ‘Innovation’ Schools(NYO) New York City’s new teacher’s union contract includes a plan to create up to 200 “innovation” schools that can bypass usual Department of Education rules, similar to charter schools. Teachers Question Pay-for-Performance Element in Proposed Contract (NYT) Some say a new agreement that would pay extra to New York teachers who take on more work is too good to be true, while others welcome the raises.* I think we got a fair deal, but the devil is in the details:' Teachers cautiously optimistic on new city contract(NYDN) * Mulgrew: Education contract is a good deal, especially for kids(NYDN) * Teachers' unions are planning an onslaught of online advertising to protest the pro-charter Easy to Open New Charters New state law changes makes opening charter schools in New York City easier than any other in nation (NYDN) * Schools Chancellor, City's First Lady Participate in Citywide Parent Conference(NY1) * Unions plan pop-up ads for pro-charter conference(Capital)
de Blasio Wins Single Buyer Health Care Saving From the Unions
Still Work Ahead for Other Contract Agreements
* New York City municipal union members could receive a bonus equivalent to 1 percent of their salaries if the city saves more than $3.4 billion in healthcare costs over the next four years, the Journal reports:
Labor leaders back de Blasio health-care overhaul(NYP)The Municipal Labor Council’s steering committee approved the measure, 20 to 2, with only the heads of the detectives and firefighters unions dissenting. The health-care changes — which include centralizing purchases of prescription drugs and medical tests — is expected to save the city $1.3 billion in the new city contract with the teachers union. But opponents say they were rushed into the deal. *Labor Union Council Approves de Blasio's Health Care Savings Deal (DNAINFO) * Labor Leaders Say Mayor Still Has Work Ahead With Settling Contracts(NY1) *NYPD Union Blasts de Blasio Offer of No Retroactive Raises Despite UFT Deal(DNAINFO)Patrolmen's Benevolent Association president Pat Lynch blasted the city's offer of no raises.* Two no votes for de Blasio’s health care deal(Capital) * Gonzalez: City union leaders to fund raises with $1 billion transfer from health account(NYDN)
* De Blasio gives away the store in teachers contract(Goodwin, NYP) You don’t have to be a cynic to worry that the bonhomie between the union and the union-backed mayor was sealed with hugs, as de Blasio and Fariña each shared an embrace with Michael Mulgrew, boss of the United Federation of Teachers. But while raises are certain, concessions are elusive. More than $1 billion in savings to the city are claimed through vague changes to health-care programs, but teachers won’t pay anything more toward their premiums, a foolish giveaway on de Blasio’s part that will hobble the budget forever. hat gets to the big problem. Nothing in the contract, and nothing the mayor and Fariña say about it, gives any reason to hope that student performance will improve. That’s no incidental omission. At the same time, they say schools are in a state of “crisis” because so few of the 65 percent of students who get a diploma are prepared for college or a career. To take them at their rhetoric, they are committed to solving that crisis.This contract does not keep faith with that commitment. It doesn’t even try.* Michelle Rhee says the reforms in the deal struck by de Blasio with the UFT aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.
Tuesday Reaction to the Housing Plan
NYT de Blasio's Housing Plan To the Moon, NYP Higher Renters From Inclusionary Zoning
Mr. de Blasio’s Moon Shot(NYT Ed) If the mayor is going to keep his promise and end the city’s crisis of inequality and housing unaffordability, he must go big. And it looks as if he’s doing so.* Faint housing hope(NYP Ed) Mandating set-aside, as the new housing plan proposes, risks driving development away altogether — a problem that NYU’s Furman Center noted last year, when its director was Vicki Been, whom de Blasio has since named to head the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
In a piece titled “De Blasio’s New Plan to Create or Save 200,000 Cheap Apartments Is Going to Make a Lot of People Angry in Many Neighborhoods”
New York‘s Chris Smith writes, “But what’s most striking about the plan [is] … that by launching such a far-reaching program, instead of focusing on a narrower list of goals, de Blasio has ensured himself hundreds of political fights trying to make it happen.” * The Daily News editorial board would likely agree with Mr. Smith’s premise. “City Hall disingenuously says that it wants to only move to build affordable housing where communities are demanding it. As de Blasio himself knows from the Atlantic Yards development, which he rightly backed against furious neighborhood resistance, there will be fights. Loud ones,” the tabloid argued.* In a New York Post column, the Manhattan Institute’s Howard Husock was even more disenchanted. “In short, the de Blasio plan is built on what has long been the city’s dysfunctional dogma,” he wrote. “A real free market for the city’s housing market isn’t on the horizon at present, though. We may have to settle for not strangling private development altogether.” * The New York Times editorial board, meanwhile, was more upbeat on the topic: “[I]f Mr. de Blasio really is going to keep his campaign promise … he is going to have to go big. And this plan is what big looks like. … The all-important details have yet to be filled in, but the mayor has locked himself in with a hard and fast number: 200,000 or bust.” * And here’s video, via NYTrue.com, of Mr. de Blasio taking questions during yesterday’s housing press conference:Expect Homeless Numbers To Go
Mayor's Housing Plan Gives the Homeless Families Priority Jumping the Long Wait List for NYCHA Apartments
An aggressive new effort to move homeless families from shelters into NYCHA apartments is a key part of Mayor de Blasio’s attack on the city’s affordable housing crisis, writes our Greg B. Smith. The Housing Authority’s waiting list has grown dramatically, to 250,000 from 160,000, in a year — and the new policy will allow homeless families to effectively jump the line and grab coveted apartments when they open up. * Priority given to homeless in finding NYCHA apartments(NYDN)
Expensive Bill for de Blasio Progressive Agenda
De Blasio’s policies are driving up the cost of living in New York(Goodwin, NYP)Twice in the last week, the mayor described his ideas as the political equivalent of the Second Coming. First with his deal with the teachers union, and now with his affordable-housing plan, de Blasio promises to drive a stake through the heart of inequality and make the city more affordable.The local tab alone for his progressive vision is a whopping $13.6 billion, give or take. And where will that money come from? Open wide, dear taxpayer.
DE BLASIO’S HOUSING PLAN: After a brief delay, Mayor de Blasio is set to unveil details this morning on how he’ll create 200,000 affordable housing units over the next 10 years. De Blasio has already pushed developers to add more affordable units to their developments, but most of those agreements only added incrementally to deals he inherited from Michael Bloomberg. Today is Bill de Blasio’s first real step toward accomplishing his goal. He’s blamed“gentrification, unscrupulous landlords and the real estate lobby’s hold on government” as factors that led to a lack of affordable housing in New York City. And the plan is expected to take a broad approach, building not on one particular initiative, but many. “De Blasio is right that high rent in New York City squeezes many residents.--THE 116-PAGE PLAN, “Housing New York: A Five-Borough, Ten-Year Plan” PDF
Harlem Gentification and the Mayor
More on Gentrification and Race
Speaking of Mr. de Blasio’s numbers, his deal with the teachers’ union may be more than meets the eye, Capital New York reports: “Despite assurances from leaders of the city teachers’ union that members ‘should not’ have to pay more toward their health insurance as a result of their agreement with the de Blasio administration, that remains a possibility.”
Will Never Be Royals?
Our Harry Siegel's column: Mayor de Blasio hasn’t done so much yet — give him time! — but he’s sure not shy about trumpeting what he has... Take his long-awaited 115-page affordable housing plan released Monday, which is more outline than roadmap. It’s a plan, the Mayor said, that will “address the crisis in inequality” and “change the face of this city forever, and for the good of our people.”
4) Bloomberg initially pledged to build 92k and preserve 73k; it ended up building ~50k, preserving the rest* .
More on the HorseGate Investigation
* De Blasio’s daily schedules, obtained by the Daily News using a public records request, give a glimpse into what’s going on in City Hall and show that the mayor met with Cuomo three times in February and March: http://goo.gl/GEAv6q
Jail Shake Up By New Commish . . .
Two city jail officials out as commish shakes things up(NYP)
Details of the Teacher Union Deal
UFT In the Money . . .
UFT and city have AGREED to find $1 billion in healthcare savings. They haven't actually found such savings yet.* See the Outlines of the New Teachers' Contract When you add up the 18% increase & steps, master teacher bonuses, etc. some teachers will earn more than mayor & chancellor. Farina & de Blasio smartly reframe costly (and needed) teacher contract deal into public celebration of what they're doing for kids. Fariña says embedding more time for professional development in school day = cost savings for principals. Mulgrew, UFT chief, blasts Bloomberg. "This is a mayor who actually respects the workforce," he says of De Blasio. * Grace Rauh@gracerauh Somewhat stunning that no one at this presser can tell us what this deal will cost in its totality.
Wait, is that it? That's all the details about how they get to $1 billion in savings?
City and teachers come to a tentative contract agreement(NYP)The tentative agreement was said to be complicated by health care savings sought by the administration for all 152 municipal unions currently working without a contract. It reportedly gives the unions the two years of 4 percent raises that other unions already received in 2010 and 2011, according to sources – though it’s not clear whether the back pay would come in one shot.* Gonzalez: City school budget agreement could set pattern for city worker contracts(NYDN) * Teachers union deal could return mothballed teachers to classroom(NDN) The Times’ Steven Greenhouse reports the teachers raises will be “much like” what transit workers recently got from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Teachers will get 4 percent raises for 2009 and 2010—but it’ll be paid “over many years.” Going forward, teachers will get average annual raises of 1.5 to 2 percent. How will the raises be paid for? One possibility, which hasn’t been made public yet, is cost-savings in the teachers’ health care plan. An earlier report suggested the teachers deal would “assure de Blasio of labor peace with the teachers until after his likely re-election bid in 2017.” But the deal may face some resistance from other unions. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association could oppose it because the raises are too low. And it’s unclear if the other unions will swallow the health-savings plans the teachers are apparently agreeing to.* New York Said to Be on Verge of 9-Year Deal With Teachers’ Union(NYT)* Michael Barbaro @mikiebarb There was a time, pre-financial crisis, when Mike Bloomberg, too, had a warm relationship with the UFT, gave it raises....* De Blasio gives NYC teachers a raise in new contract(NYP)
Mayor Main Focus Building His New Political Machine, For Re-Election
Managing the City?
Mayor de Blasio leads cheers for car wash union drive - NY Daily NewsMayor de Blasio and the city's other top office holders threw the full support of city government behind the effort to unionize car wash workers Wednesday night.De Blasio headlined the Car Wash Workers Assembly hosted by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has own votes to unionize at eight car washes and aims to organize the whole industry.* The Nation reviewed Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s first 100 days in office. “The good news is that city government is controlled by a progressive mayor who is actually sticking to many of his campaign promises,” the publication writes. “Privately, people on the left who have dealt with the administration describe a level of disorganization more typical of campaigns than governments.” * At a Midtown event last night, Mr. de Blasio praised unionization efforts for car wash workers, NY1 reports. “It will be my honor to fight shoulder to shoulder with you,” he said. RWDSU President Stu Appelbaum praised the mayor in turn, declaring, “Our mayor is not just the leader of our city, but the leader of a movement.”* Mayor Shares Support for Campaign to Unionize Car Wash Workers in City(NY1)
HorseGate . . .
EXCLUSIVE: FBI investigating donations to NYCLASS from men close to Mayor de Blasio that may have been used toward anti-Christine Quinn campaigners (NYDN) Two men with strong ties to Mayor de Blasio donated cash to the NYCLASS animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. The animal rights group then donated identical amounts to anti-Christine Quinn campaigners. The transactions are now under FBI investigation. The mayoral race had not yet come to a boil, but Democrat Christine Quinn was already feeling the heat.A political action committee called New York City Is Not for Sale had spent most of April and May 2013 bashing Quinn in television ads. Her poll numbers were sliding, but the anti-Quinn campaign wanted to rough her up even more. That’s when a curious set of financial transactions quietly took place — transactions that are now being investigated by the FBI. On May 21, lawyer Jay Eisenhofer gave $50,000 to NYCLASS, the animal rights group leading the crusade to ban carriage horses. Ten days later, on May 31, NYCLASS gave an equal amount — $50,000, to the anti-Quinn group. On June 1, NYCLASS received another large donation, this time for $175,000. It came from UNITE HERE! — a labor union headed by John Wilhelm. Two days after that, on June 3, NYCLASS sent the same amount, $175,000, to the anti-Quinn campaign. Both Wilhelm and Eisenhofer have long-standing ties to Bill de Blasio, one of Quinn’s Democratic rivals in the mayoral campaign.
Wilhelm is de Blasio’s cousin — and a prolific fund-raiser for him. Wilhelm raised $6,950 for de Blasio’s 2009 race for public advocate and $80,000 for de Blasio’s successful campaign for mayor. And Eisenhofer is a top de Blasio fund-raiser as well. He and his law firm gave de Blasio’s public advocate campaign $18,000 in 2009. He also raised $82,250 for de Blasio’s mayoral run, making him one of the campaign’s top “intermediaries.”
Under the law, so-called independent committees like New York City Is Not for Sale are not allowed to coordinate or consult with the campaign of any candidate
Hid the Money
'Had UNITE HERE! and Eisenhofer contributed directly to the free-spending anti-Quinn effort, their involvement would have been made public within weeks because of disclosure rules. But because they contributed directly to NYCLASS, Wilhelm and Eisenhofer were able to enjoy anonymity for months. The trigger for disclosure did not take place until NYCLASS began its own campaign spending, an event that occurred on Sept. 7, three days before the Sept. 10 mayoral primary.
Sal Albanese @SalAlbaneseNYC FBI investigation of NYCLASS role in Mayors race is important bc their spending played a major role in the campaign. It prevented a runoff
After New Contract, Will Bad Teachers Be Fired?
De Blasio said he trusts principals to decide whether to keep teachers from a pool of rotating substitutes or send them back, after criticism that a new teachers’ contract would bring back poor teachersMayor de Blasio Backs Principals on Substitutes(WSJ)
* NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he trusts principals to judge whether to keep teachers assigned from a pool of rotating substitutes or send them back. His comments followed critics’ claims that the tentative city teachers’ contract wouldn’t ensure that the pool’s poor performers would be kept out of classrooms.
Nanny de Blasio
Bloomberg’s gross-out anti-obesity TV ads continue(NYDN) Mayor de Blasio has chosen to maintain his predecessor's 'Pouring on the Pounds' anti-obesity campaign, with the Health Department supporting the 'effective' graphic spots.
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Steven Greenhouse reports the teachers raises will be “much like” what transit workers recently got from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Teachers will get 4 percent raises for 2009 and 2010—but it’ll be paid “over many years.” Going forward, teachers will get average annual raises of 1.5 to 2 percent. How will the raises be paid for? One possibility, which hasn’t been made public yet, is cost-savings in the teachers’ health care plan. An earlier report suggested the teachers deal would “assure de Blasio of labor peace with the teachers until after his likely re-election bid in 2017.” But the deal may face some resistance from other unions. The Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association could oppose it because the raises are too low. And it’s unclear if the other unions will swallow the health-savings plans the teachers are apparently agreeing to.* New York Said to Be on Verge of 9-Year Deal With Teachers’ Union(NYT)* Michael Barbaro Mayor Main Focus Building His New Political Machine, For Re-Election
Managing the City?
Mayor de Blasio leads cheers for car wash union drive - NY Daily NewsMayor de Blasio and the city's other top office holders threw the full support of city government behind the effort to unionize car wash workers Wednesday night.De Blasio headlined the Car Wash Workers Assembly hosted by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, which has own votes to unionize at eight car washes and aims to organize the whole industry.* The Nation reviewed Mayor Bill de Blasio‘s first 100 days in office. “The good news is that city government is controlled by a progressive mayor who is actually sticking to many of his campaign promises,” the publication writes. “Privately, people on the left who have dealt with the administration describe a level of disorganization more typical of campaigns than governments.” * At a Midtown event last night, Mr. de Blasio praised unionization efforts for car wash workers, NY1 reports. “It will be my honor to fight shoulder to shoulder with you,” he said. RWDSU President Stu Appelbaum praised the mayor in turn, declaring, “Our mayor is not just the leader of our city, but the leader of a movement.”* Mayor Shares Support for Campaign to Unionize Car Wash Workers in City(NY1)
HorseGate . . .
FBI Investigating Illegal Coordinating Between NYCLASS PAC and the de Blasio Campaign
Under the law, so-called independent committees like New York City Is Not for Sale are not allowed to coordinate or consult with the campaign of any candidate
Hid the Money
'Had UNITE HERE! and Eisenhofer contributed directly to the free-spending anti-Quinn effort, their involvement would have been made public within weeks because of disclosure rules. But because they contributed directly to NYCLASS, Wilhelm and Eisenhofer were able to enjoy anonymity for months. The trigger for disclosure did not take place until NYCLASS began its own campaign spending, an event that occurred on Sept. 7, three days before the Sept. 10 mayoral primary.
Sal Albanese After New Contract, Will Bad Teachers Be Fired?
* NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio says he trusts principals to judge whether to keep teachers assigned from a pool of rotating substitutes or send them back. His comments followed critics’ claims that the tentative city teachers’ contract wouldn’t ensure that the pool’s poor performers would be kept out of classrooms.
Nanny de Blasio
Bloomberg’s gross-out anti-obesity TV ads continue(NYDN) Mayor de Blasio has chosen to maintain his predecessor's 'Pouring on the Pounds' anti-obesity campaign, with the Health Department supporting the 'effective' graphic spots.
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