September 29, 2004

Great Section 8

Good news came this week that the Department of Housing and Urban Development was backing away from proposed changes to the Section 8 formula.

Section 8 allows low-income tenants to pay 30 percent of their income to rent, with the Federal government providing the remainder up to the fair market rent of the area.

The proposed changes would have averaged rents across the country, effectively merging the high rents of urban areas with the lower rents of suburban areas to create a new average. Since averages are currently calculated based upon rents in specific areas, this new approach would have substantially decreased aid to residents in urban areas.

HUD was promoting this as a new way to calculate “fair-market rents,” but this formula change would have affected 110,000 New Yorkers, dislocating many and possibly even forcing people on the streets.

We think that good public policy doesn’t result in people losing their homes.

HUD will publish a breakdown of fair market rents in different areas around the country on Friday. Let’s hope they stick to their promise and that no New Yorker is forced to confront losing their home.

John Arceci

Director of Policy, E4M

Posted by John at September 29, 2004 2:55 PM

September 23, 2004

On Yom Kippur

This weekend, I, like thousands upon thousands of other New Yorkers, will be celebrating Yom Kippur.

I'll spend the weekend reflecting on my life, so I thought I would take a moment in this space to reflect upon our City's life.

This year has seen some important developments. We've broken new ground at ground zero. The High Line has successfully offered a compelling example of how to adapt our old industrial infrastructure. A tentative deal was reached to begin construction on the 2nd Avenue Subway. Recycling has returned, and been strengthened with a long-term plan. The status quo of deadlock and failed leadership in Albany is beginning to crack, to be replaced by progressive reform.

But so many issues remain unresolved. Our schools are still under-funded by Albany, our teachers are still underpaid, and violence and harassment still occupy the school day for too many students. Our police and firefighters still lack fair contracts. The City continues to push forward an ill-conceived plan for a Jets Stadium on the Far West Side that is bad for the neighborhood, and bad for the borough. We remain largely unprepared to deal with a terrorist attack. We are not doing enough to support the arts, non-profits and entrepreneurial enterprises. Asthma remains an epidemic and crystal use continues to be a stark drug abuse problem; new cases of syphilis and HIV are on the rise.

And the office of the Borough President remains largely out of sight and out of mind for too many of Manhattan's residents.

I am running for this office because I want to help this borough grow sensibly, strongly and in a sustainable manner. I am running because I want to ensure that opportunities I had while growing up here continue to exist for others. And I am running to make this office matter again, to bring a new sense of purpose, drive and direction to the Borough Presidency.

I will bring strong leadership to the office and to the issues that matter to our borough. I believe firmly that this is change that is only going to come from outside the system.

I wish you all the best in this coming year, and look forward to working side-by-side to strengthen the greatest City in the world.

Brian

Posted by John at September 23, 2004 2:56 PM

September 16, 2004

"I" is for Ivan, and for Infrastructure

As each week brings a new raging personality into our lives - personalities like Ivan, and now it seems, Jeanne - our hearts are with the people living in the path of the storm, for whom each week brings new evacuations, damage, and, sadly, a number of deaths.

We had our own taste of hurricane season last week; the flooding of the subways affected millions of people, and we were very lucky that no one was seriously hurt.

We’re also lucky that such heavy rain over such a short amount of time does not happen more frequently here, or we might see a lot more of this flooding. It has to do with our sewer system, which was built many, many years ago, and is what is called a “combined” system, meaning that sanitary sewage and rainwater pass through the system together. This doubling of volume obviously plays a part in the problem, but the main issue is that the system simply can’t handle large volumes. The fact that sewage travels with rainwater means that when the rainwater causes an overflow, the sewage goes with it, causing pollution and sanitary issues.

Right now the City claims that nearly 70% of wet water flows are caught at the City’s treatment plants. That’s a substantial gain in recent years, but is still a lot of sewage seeping into our rivers, and, during flooding, out onto City streets.

We’re on our way to fixing this problem, but need strong leadership that will continue to support the requisite funding and construction to capture 100% of wet water flows.

Unfortunately though, the sewers are just one problematic piece of the City’s infrastructure, and it is a healthy reminder of the numerous improvements the City will need to undertake in the coming years.

From continuing the transit system upgrades, to building new schools, to fixing the tunnels that bring water to our city, to the need for new sources of power there are a lot of competing public works projects which are all essential to daily life in New York.

We can’t undertake all these problems by ourselves. We need strong leadership that will fight for more of our fair share of State and Federal monies which can be used to further these projects, and that will inspire the private sector to action through innovative new partnerships.

It’s not going to happen overnight but Manhattan at the dawn of 21st Century should never be held back because of now insufficient infrastructure from the last century.

The world’s eyes are always on Manhattan, and, though it might not see these pipes, sewers and tunnels, these things are just as important to sustaining New York as the greatest city in the world as are the inspired architecture, beautiful parks and vibrant cultural life.

John Arceci

Director of Policy, E4M

Posted by John at September 16, 2004 2:58 PM

September 8, 2004

Back to School

Yesterday marked the first day back at school for the City's teachers, so Ryan Brack, Director of Operations at E4M, and I spent the morning at a hearing on education reform, sponsored by the current Borough President, C. Virginia Fields.

There was some interesting testimony - including that of United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Jill S. Levy, among others - about the state of New York City's schools.

All in all, and though progress has been made, the state of the City's schools continues to be in disarray. The lack of and professional development for teachers, coupled with salary discrepancies compared to the suburbs leads to attrition rates approaching 50% for new teachers, which is a huge issue that must be addressed now. We end up paying to train new teachers, who then either move to higher paying jobs in the suburbs or who simply leave teaching altogether. This is not in the best interest of teachers or administrators or our children.

Another major issue that the panelists focused on was a lack of transparency within the City's Department of Education ("DOE"). Many panelists cited extreme difficulties getting statistics and other data from the DOE. Democracy, at its heart, is about the accountability of government to the people. But transparency is a precondition of accountability, which will only die behind closed doors. Ellner for Manhattan is committed to full accountability of government, and Brian will work hard to expose instances where the City must be more open.

In other education news, the City's Independent Budget Office released a new study detailing the extreme overcrowding in high schools, calling for at least 43,000 new seats and questioning the viability of the City's DOE's five-year plan to add over 60,000 new seats across the school system because of an assumption that Albany will pay half.

Brian has always stressed the need for more, smaller schools. It's something that he has experience with - during his tenure as President of the District Two School Board, that board created two new small schools - and it is something we are committed to expanding Borough wide.

John Arceci

Director of Policy, Ellner For Manhattan

Posted by John at September 8, 2004 2:59 PM

August 30, 2004

Marching On

I had a wonderful weekend marching in solidarity with hundreds of thousands of residents of, and visitors to, our City.

On Saturday we marched across the Brooklyn Bridge during the March for Women's Lives, advocating a woman's right to choice, sensible sex education in our schools, and funding for global family planning programs.

And on Sunday we joined over half a million people to voice our opposition to the Bush Administration and the disastrous effect its policies have had on New York.

It seems appropriate that on the first day of the Republican convention here in New York that we learn the financing formula for Federal housing funds will be replaced, siphoning tens of millions of dollars from the New York City Housing Authority. While a change to the current formula is mandated by a 1998 Act sponsored by Rep. Rick Lazio and signed by President Clinton, the actual proposed change by the Department of Housing and Urban Development comes during the Bush’s tenure and follows his Administration’s overarching ideology of redirecting Federal funds from urban centers to smaller population locations which already receive a disproportionate amount of Federal aid given what they contribute in taxes. (Unlike New York City which receives back far less than it gives.)

This proposed change will force cuts in housing services here in the City. According to the New York Times, housing authorities across the Northeast will be forced to “lay off security guards, close day care programs or charge tenants for snow removal, air-conditioning and other services.” When combined with the Bush Administration's recent proposal to change the Section 8 voucher program (which provides poor Americans subsidies to afford housing) the changes in housing policy create a dire decrease in federal support for public housing in our City. It is a decrease that cannot be compensated for by the City or State, and yet another example of this Administration's steady march away from the promise of compassionate conservatism and towards a country where the market is all that matters, and corporate profits trump the public good.

Indeed, it is another strong reminder of why we so badly need John Kerry and John Edwards in the White House.

The GOP will ham it up for the cameras while they're here, and proclaim that they will always stand with New Yorkers. But from insufficient homeland security funding to the constant struggle to cut back transportation support to attempted closures of Veterans hospitals to today's news about housing, each day of this convention should remind us that while the GOP may be our guests this week, they are a long way from being our friends.

Brian Ellner

Posted by John at August 30, 2004 3:00 PM

August 24, 2004

Fading Fashions

New York, Milan, Paris. There aren't any other places in the world where
fashion contributes so significantly to a City's economic and cultural life.
New York is the fashion capital of our country, generating over $14 billion
in annual sales here, and setting design trends that are mirrored worldwide. The
industry sustains tens of thousands of jobs in the City, and brings hundreds
of millions of dollars here through conferences, expositions, Fashion Week
and tourism. It is also the largest single contributor to the City's
manufacturing sector.

But manufacturing in New York - and in Manhattan in particular - is fading
fast, and yesterday's New York Times offered a startling example of the
changing face of Manhattan, as exemplified by the decline of the Garment
District.

The industry is hemorrhaging jobs nationwide, and the Garment District has
been losing well over a thousand jobs a year. What once were factories and
showrooms that made the world's fashions are increasingly becoming condos
and Starbucks.

We're reaching a vital turning point in what Manhattan will look like in the
future. Last week came the second quarter stats on the real estate market,
and the average price of condos continues to hold well above $1 million, and
we know that more and more people are being priced out of making their homes
in Manhattan. Rents in the garment district have doubled in the last five
years, and we're really beginning to see just how people's jobs are being
priced off the island as well.

There's a confluence of factors for the manufacturing decline, from
excessive rents to low overseas wages but what it ultimately comes down to
is that we simply haven't done enough to preserve the industry in the City.
Manhattan is the cultural capital of the world, and fashion plays an
enormous role in that. In the same way that the City loses part of its
character when artists and police officers can't afford to live here, we all
lose something if this industry declines any further.

We should support a limited development of the Garment District, protecting
companies and the jobs struggling to survive - from button makers to fabric
cutters to designers - creating new affordable residential and commercial
space and pursuing preservation for the area's rich history. And we need to
find new industries for the thousands of workers who have already lost their
jobs. Fashion manufacturing is one of the main pathways to the middle class
for immigrant workers, and we must ensure that other pathways exist.

For more information on this issue please visit UNITE-HERE.

John Arceci, Director of Policy, E4M

Posted by John at August 24, 2004 3:00 PM

August 11, 2004

Protest in the Park

News came this week, first reported in the Village Voice, that United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) would rescind last week's agreement to hold the August 29 rally against Bush on the West Side Highway, and instead reapply for a permit for a Central Park rally. The permit was, predictably, denied, and now UFPJ is contemplating filing a lawsuit.

The Bloomberg administration has been incredibly firm in their refusal to allow UFPJ, and some other groups, to have a public protest in Central Park. The administration seems completely unwilling to negotiate - which is remarkable, and a mistake.

After being given an ultimatum to either accept the West Side Highway or nothing, UFPJ dropped their campaign for Central Park. But after internal discussions and examinations of the site, the organizers have raised valid concerns about the highway location, from the heat and lack of shade and water to the added cost of infrastructure with people so spread out, and, while the City isn't required to provide these services, it isn’t acceptable to provide an alternative site that severely undermines the organizers' ability to manage a successful event.

At this point, the City needs to let UFPJ and the other groups that have applied for permits rally in the Park - there are too many questions surrounding the secrecy of the decisions and there are far more important matters for the NYPD and the Administration to be focused on leading up to the convention. The issues of safety and security alone should compel the Mayor to let the protestors into the park.

Similarly it would be a sign of good faith for the organizations to offer to assist the City in clean up after the event and potentially even organize volunteers to help the Parks Department staff re-sod the Great Lawn if this is truly necessary as the Mayor claims. I would certainly be willing to give a Saturday afternoon to help in that effort.

But ultimately what this entire controversy exposes is the need for a clear City policy on the use of the park for gatherings. After the convention the Mayor should appoint an independent commission to immediately study the issue and make an assessment of past and future uses of the Park for events.

Nearly 75% of New Yorkers favor having Central Park maintained as a place for protest. But if the facts really show that the City cannot afford the continual upkeep of the Great Lawn after events, then the people of New York will have to decide whether to offset that cost, or alter the uses of the Park.

Its simply bad policy to support Dave Matthews concerts (even if they benefit our schools!) and tell protestors to head down to the highway, when we're talking about similar numbers of people at each event.

Central Park is a special place, with a unique symbolism, and it is pivotal to have a policy on its use that transcends Mayoral administrations and that is not open to such whimsical interpretation.

John Arceci, Director of Policy, E4M

Posted by John at August 11, 2004 3:02 PM