Mark-Viverito SOTC: The NYPD

In her State of the City address, City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito addressed a topic central to the City’s well-being; the NYPD and its relationship with the citizens of New York.  She noted the reality that all plans for changing and improving New York City depend on a basic underpinning, New York City remaining safe, and that such safety is “ensured by the diverse men and women of the New York City Police Department.”   Mark-Viverito lamented the “senseless murders” of Detectives Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, saying that those murders “left a gaping hole in the hearts of New York.”  She also praised Commissioner Bratton and gave a shoutout to the “wonderful” local precincts.

Mark-Viverito again promised to seek a 1,000 person increase in the NYPD’s headcount and praised the City Council for a program in Mayor de Blasio’s proposed budget to fund replacing aging bullet-resistant vests for the NYPD.

Here’s what she had to say:

Pataki Positions

George Pataki at a Chesire County Republican Committee dinner in Keene, NH.  2/3/15
George Pataki at a Chesire County Republican Committee dinner in Keene, NH. 2/3/15

Here’s a recap of positions that former Governor George Pataki expressed during a recent New Hampshire campaign swing:

  • for reducing the federal workforce by 15%
  • for instant online disclosure of campaign contributions (despite a history of avoiding disclosure)
  • against super PACs (despite having his own)
  • for immediate forceful military action against ISIS
  • against “nation building”
  • against “spending a trillion dollars trying to … create a democracy in a place where none has existed”
  • against the Rev. Al Sharpton
  • against Bill de Blasio
  • for Congressional Republicans presenting an alternative to Obamacare
  • for New Hampshire retail politics
  • against campaigning via pollster-written TV ads
  • for pronouncing New Hampshire beautiful
  • against pronouncing New Hampshire the most beautiful place in America
  • for the Patriots winning the Super Bowl
  • for the Jets, Bills and the AFC
  • for optimism
  • against the sense of uncertainty and doubt about the future created by Obama

Continue reading Pataki Positions

Presidential Itch

George Pataki in Newport, New Hampshire.  2/3/15
George Pataki in Newport, New Hampshire. 2/3/15

George Pataki has an itch and he’s going to scratch it.  A presidential itch, that is.  A veteran of many presidential flirtations, Pataki is running hard in the early rounds of the 2016 presidential race, repeatedly visiting New Hampshire.

His candidacy elicits eye rolls among many New Yorkers, a product of his multiple past unconsummated presidential flirtations, his laconic presence and limited political visibility since leaving office eight years ago.  While his prospects are virtually nil, Pataki’s effort is real and may produce something for him.  It’s hard to predict precisely what that something may be, although it’s not going to be the Republican nomination for president. Continue reading Presidential Itch

Pataki On Sharpton

Former New York Governor George Pataki was asked about the Rev. Al Sharpton while on a campaign visit to New Hampshire.  His reaction, including a reference to New York City’s “terrible mayor”, was, to put it mildly, negative.  Pataki was sitting with a small group in a Newport, New Hampshire pizzeria when one of them posed the question:

Pataki On Silver & NY Legislature

Term limits, a ban on legislators “giving … government money to so-called charitable organizations”, but not a full time legislature.  Those were among the more concrete answers from former Governor George Pataki in discussing the New York State legislature in the wake of criminal charges against former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.  I also asked him about the selection of Carl Heastie as Speaker of the Assembly.

Pataki has a unique perspective on Albany’s governing triumvirate of  “three men in a room”, progressing from the most junior member of the Assembly minority to one of the those proverbial “three men” as governor for 12 years.  (He was also a member of the Senate between his time in the Assembly and becoming governor.)

We spoke during Pataki’s latest campaign visit to New Hampshire.

2014 – Year In Photos

From Bill Clinton swearing in Bill de Blasio on the steps of City Hall as 2014 began

Former President Bill Clinton administers the oath of office to Mayor Bill de Blasio. 1/1/14
Former President Bill Clinton administers the oath of office to Mayor Bill de Blasio. 1/1/14

to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara looking at Andrew Cuomo as 2014 ended

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (back of head to camera) looks toward Governor Andrew Cuomo as the funeral for NYPD Detective Rafael Ramos concludes. 12/27/14
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (back of head to camera) looks toward Governor Andrew Cuomo as the funeral for NYPD Detective Rafael Ramos concludes. 12/27/14

we have a photo gallery of 2014 in New York Politics.

Click here to view it. Continue reading 2014 – Year In Photos

King Day 2015: Cuomo Calls In

Governor Andrew Cuomo called in to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s Martin Luther King Day celebration today.  While other elected officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Tish James and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand joined Sharpton, Cuomo participated by phone.  His call suffered some technical troubles, with a first attempt scrubbed.  Here is his second attempt, which began with technical problems but which eventually worked.

Update: Here are photos from the National Action Network King Day celebration.

King Day 2015: de Blasio & Sharpton

de Blasio Sharpton Hug 1/19/15Mayor Bill de Blasio joined the Rev. Al Sharpton for Sharpton’s annual Martin Luther King Day celebration this afternoon, happily sitting with Sharpton in a duel appearance aimed at rejecting critics of their relationship.  Sharpton’s celebration featured many elected officials but contrary to his typical practice Sharpton initially invited only de Blasio to join him on stage.

Sharpton:

In a lengthy introduction and opening remarks, Sharpton rejected the notion that he is anti-police and the notion that de Blasio’s relationship with him is either unusual or untoward.  After describing his relationships with past mayors and governors, Sharpton said of de Blasio “we didn’t want a flunkie we wanted a mayor, and we got a mayor that will talk to us and respect us.”  Here are his full opening remarks:

de Blasio:

Mayor de Blasio saluted Martin Luther King and praised Sharpton as continuing King’s work.  de Blasio also indirectly rebutted critics, offering praise for police while emphasizing the crime reductions in 2014 under his administration.  He criticized anyone “saying something vicious and vile to a police officer”, saying that anyone doing so is “holding us back.”

Sharpton & Garners Visit Ramos/Liu Site

The Rev. Al Sharpton and members of Eric Garner’s family this afternoon visited the site where NYPD Detectives Rafael Ramon and Wenjian Liu were murdered, placing wreaths in their memory.  Sharpton and the Garner family travelled from the National Action Network’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in a bus caravan with a few hundred supporters.  Sharpton spoke briefly before placing the wreaths:

de Blasio Press Q&A: The Housing Goal Edition

On Thursday Mayor Bill de Blasio continued his efforts at moving past his recent friction with the NYPD and PBA, holding a press conference to tout his administration’s accomplishments in “creating or preserving” affordable housing during 2014.  de Blasio celebrated exceeding his administration’s stated goal of creating or preserving at least 16,000 units of “affordable” housing in calendar year 2014, reporting that it financed the “creation and preservation of” 17,376 “affordable units.”  After several weeks of intense confrontation and conflict with the PBA and many outside critics, de Blasio appeared to relish discussing a subject that he’s long been been deeply interested in and in which his administration has invested substantial energy and effort.

The mayor was joined at Eagle Houses, a co-op in Fort Greene, by Rep. Jose Serrano, Assembly Members Walter Mosely and Joe Lentol, Public Advocate Tish James, Council Members Laurie Cumbo and Jumaane Williams, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, HPD Commissioner Vicki Been and Housing Development Corporation President Gary Rodney.

On Topic Q&A:

On topic questions included whether the administration plans to increase low-income affordable housing production, what actions are required for the administration to count a unit of housing as “preserved”, whether housing built with 421(a) tax credits anywhere in the City should require affordable units, how the de Blasio administration counts housing underway at the end of the Bloomberg administration toward its goal, what was done in this housing complex to “preserve” these units, whether units counted as “preserved” are always on a 30 year agreement, the annual average of 20,000 units created or preserved as set forth in the mayor’s ten year goal of 200,000 such units and how money was spent on the 17,000 units created or preserved in 2014.

Off Topic Q&A:

Off topic questions included a Department of Investigations report detailing problems with corrections officers at Rikers Island, de Blasio’s message to protestors resuming anti-NYPD protests, his relationship with police unions, a call by the head of the Lieutentants Benevolent Association to strengthen laws concerning resisting arrest, an increase in police protection for Jewish organizations and sites and Dov Hikind’s claim of a decrease in police presence, delays in the implementation of the City’s municipal ID card program, his message to PBA members dissatisfied with their union leadership, his position on a city council plan to fund the purchase of additional bullet-proof vests for police officers, whether the Democratic National Committee has expressed concerns around the recent protests as it considers whether to hold the 2016 convention in Brooklyn, whether his “thoughts” on the anti-NYPD protests have “evolved” and whether he will direct the NYPD to change its FOIL request process to accept email or other electronic requests.

de Blasio Press Q&A: The Westchester Square Edition

On Wednesday Mayor Bill de Blasio worked to turn attention away from his troubled relationship with the NYPD and toward one of his successful initiatives, highlighting significant improvements to an historically dangerous intersection with a visit to the redesigned and rebuilt intersection of East Tremont Avenue and Silver Street in the Bronx neighborhood of Westchester Square.  The redesign and rebuild is part of his administration’s Vision Zero initiative.

Joined by DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, Public Advocate Tish James, Assembly Member Luis Sepulveda, Council Member Jimmy Vacca and NYPD Assistant Chief for Transportation Thomas Chan de Blasio then held a lengthy press conference nearby.

On Topic Q&A:

The on topic Q&A included redesign plans for other streets, especially Queens Boulevard, why the administration attributes the reduction in pedestrian fatalities to Vision Zero and not to regular year-to-year variances, how the administration actually knows that driving speeds are reduced, why so few street redesign projects have been done on Staten Island, data for any changes in safety at this E.Tremont/Silver Street intersection, why Commissioner Bratton did not attend, why there are few speeding and failure to yield tickets issued in this (45th) precinct, the negative effect of speed bumps on emergency response vehicles, plans for marking and painting of roads, whether the mayor will seek additional red light camera authorizations from the state legislature, the paucity of criminal prosecutions against drivers who kill pedestrians and an estimate of money received from speed camera tickets.

Off Topic Q&A:

The off topic portion of the press conference substantially focused on de Blasio’s continuing friction with the NYPD and the PBA.  Question topics included the recent rollout of the City’s municipal ID program, an internal PBA meeting reported to have degenerated into yelling and shoving over PBA President Pat Lynch’s demands for an apology from the mayor and whether that provided “consolation” to the mayor, whether he takes comfort from the low number of PBA members reported to have signed “stay away from my funeral” statements, Bratton’s comment that the “well was poisoned” by de Blasio’s bring of former Sharpton aide Rachel Noerdlinger, a potential Teamsters strike at Hunts Point market, Governor Cuomo’s consideration of legislation allowing public access to grand jury minutes, the mayor’s objections to a City Council proposed bill outlawing police use of chokeholds, a reported Cuomo/Lynch meeting and what role the governor should fill in the Lynch/de Blasio dispute, whether the mayor is willing to acknowledge “missteps”, the reports of Legionnaire’s Disease in Co-op City, de Blasio’s reaction to a possible 2016 Mitt Romney candidacy and when he last spoke with the Rev. Al Sharpton.

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