Tag Archives: Michael R. Bloomberg

Power to the Beeps?

Posted on March 18, 2010 | Leave a comment

Stephen Fiala. Photo from the SI Advance

On the morning of the 2010 NYC Charter Revision Commission’s first public meeting, Tom Wrobleski’s  coverage is ahead of the game. Wrobleski, writing for the Staten Island Advance, says that commission member Stephen Fiala, Richmond County Clerk, intends to explore the possibility of giving more power to the borough presidents.

Although Fiala is skeptical of his prospects for success, we think an opportunity for greater BP power exists. As we commented to Wrobleski, power comes when one elected official needs the support of another to get his initiatives through. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Charter Revision Commission Announces First Public Meeting

Posted on March 15, 2010 | Leave a comment

Mayor Bloomberg’s 2010 charter revision commission has announced its first public meeting, to be held on Thursday, March 18 at the NYC College of Technology in Brooklyn.

The meeting announcement is posted on the charter commission’s web site. It specifically states that the meeting will not be a public hearing. No public hearing dates are yet available on the web site, which currently features bios of the 2010 commission members and an extensive archive of documents from previous commissions.

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Government 311: How to Improve Complaint Submission

Posted on March 14, 2010 | 1 comment

It’s not the first time that 311 has been used to harass neighbors, but it may be the most egregious. Jim Dwyer, writing in the Metropolitan Section of Sunday’s NY Times, tells of a rash of phony 311 complaints that, Dwyer says, “has put thousands of homeowners in Queens under a state of bureaucratic siege.”

“From September to December, more than 3,000 complaints of illegal [residential] conversions were filed in three Queens neighborhoods — Whitestone, Flushing, and Malba.” The result: Buildings department inspectors repeatedly seeking entry into homes maliciously identified by anonymous complainants. Continue reading →

1 Comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision, Government 101

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Bloomberg/Citizens Union Charter Agenda

Posted on March 9, 2010 | Leave a comment

Mayor Bloomberg’s 2010 charter revision partnership with the Citizens Union showed its face Monday in the form of a comprehensive charter overview by CU panelist Douglas Muzzio, a professor at Baruch College. Here’s some of what Muzzio wrote, with our translations in italics:

Describing the current city charter, Muzzio called it “a large document (currently 356 pages), packed with organizational minutiae, much of which belongs in the Administrative Code.” The Bloomberg commission — with the help of the Citizens Union — will call for “streamlining” the charter by shifting some of its provisions to the Administrative Code. This will make it easier for the mayor and the Council to change those provisions later on, without the public scrutiny that would occur if they remained in the charter.

Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Charter Revision: Whose Rules?

Posted on March 8, 2010 | Leave a comment

Frustration grew to a boil near the end of a March 5 public hearing by the NYS Assembly’s Standing Committee on Cities at 250 Broadway. The committee, chaired by Assemblyman James Brennan (44AD), was hearing comment on proposed bills to amend the State’s Municipal Home Rule Law, which governs how New York’s cities may revise their charters.

Just two days earlier, Mayor Michael Bloomberg had announced the creation of a 2010 charter revision commission for New York City. To the surprise of many, the Bloomberg announcement singled out the Citizens Union, a century-old independent “good-government” reform group, to partner with the charter commission to improve public outreach. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Why Charter Revision Matters: Our Core Principles

Posted on March 5, 2010 | Leave a comment

Some of our readers may wonder why we repeatedly worry about giving the mayor any additional powers. It’s because we believe that our current system of government tends to select city-wide leaders who support the interests of Manhattan’s finance and real estate industries — to the detriment of other boroughs and other industries. As important as finance and real estate are for the city’s financial solvency (right now, they’re still crucial), they don’t tend to create middle-income jobs, which can leave us in a vulnerable place in an economic downturn, as in 2008-2009. Simply put, we’ve placed too many of our eggs in one or two baskets. Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mayor Finally Names 2010 Charter Revision Commission

Posted on March 3, 2010 | 2 comments

Matthew Goldstein

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg finally named CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein to chair his 2010 charter revision commission. Along with Goldstein, the mayor’s press release identified 14 other commission members.

Two of them can be expected to be particularly sensitive to the interests of NYC’s community boards: Anthony Perez Cassino, an attorney who served as Chairman of Bronx Community Board 8 from 2004-2008, and Carlo Scissura, who currently serves as Chief of Staff to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. Continue reading →

2 Comments

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Charter Schools Chief Tells It (sort of) Like It Is

Posted on March 2, 2010 | Leave a comment

Michael Duffy photo: the Lo-Down

In a revealing interview with NYC Department of Education charter schools head Michael Duffy, Ed Litvak of the Lower East Side news blog The Lo-Down questions Duffy about how the NYCDOE used a recent public hearing on the proposed expansion of a Lower East Side charter school. Duffy’s response won’t surprise anyone who has sat through a charter school hearing:

“It definitely provides a forum for people to speak out, and I think that’s a good thing. It helps to get good information out there… I think, for my part, in a couple of hours of comments, I didn’t hear anything new from the public that wasn’t already known prior to the start of the hearing. I know it’s important that people have a chance to speak their mind, but I don’t think there’s anything that wasn’t known to the Department prior to the proposal…” Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in charter schools

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

Charter Commission to be Named

Posted on February 22, 2010 | Leave a comment

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s long-awaited New York City Charter Revision Commission is expected to be named on Tuesday, February 23, 2010. According to a highly-placed source, the commission will be chaired by CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein.

Goldstein, a graduate of City College and former president of Baruch College, Adelphi University, and the Research Foundation of CUNY, was first mentioned as the leading 2010 charter chair candidate by Adam Lisberg, Daily News City Hall Bureau Chief, on February 9. Lisberg’s story cited some insiders’ concerns about Goldstein’s ability to remain free of Mayor Bloomberg’s control, while other sources dismissed this, predicting Goldstein’s independence.

As we’ve said before, a lot depends on who heads the commission’s staff as executive director. More to come after the mayor’s announcement.

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , ,

In Staten Island, Hope Stays Alive

Posted on February 21, 2010 | Leave a comment

Tom Wrobleski reports on Staten Island’s push for full representation on Mayor Bloomberg’s anticipated 2010 charter revision commission.  Wrobleski’s piece in the Advance features leaders who focus on whether Staten Island will get enough seats on the commission to ensure that it will “look at shifting some decision-making away from City Hall and giving the borough more local control, especially over land-use and traffic issues.” Continue reading →

Leave a comment

Posted in 2010 NYC Charter Revision

Tagged , , , , , , , ,