September 8, 2015
CIT YANDSTATENY.COM
@CIT YANDSTATENY
FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
Michael Gareth Johnson Executive Editor
6. A WORD FROM THE BOROUGH PRESIDENT Gale Brewer on the need for more big ideas in Manhattan 8. PLUSH POLS: WHO’S WHO? Mahna mahna 10. POLITICAL HANGOUTS Where to sip a Manhattan in Manhattan cit yandstateny.com
September 8, 2015
12. REZONING Midtown East plan would trade towers for transit By Jeff Coltin 16. SMALL BUSINESS Protecting mom and pops amid rising rents By Wilder Fleming 19. HARLEM AFTER RANGEL Will the neighborhood remain a political powerhouse? By Sarina Trangle
22. PARKS, THEN AND NOW The evolving urban jungle By Jeremy Unger
30. MANHATTAN PRIDE Visit the landmarks of the gay rights movement By Jeremy Unger
26. SUBWAY RIDERSHIP The happeningest stations in Manhattan
32. VIEWS FROM THE ISLAND Electeds on ways to make Manhattan better
28. CONGESTION PRICING One way to reduce gridlock By Sam Schwartz
50. BACK & FORTH A Q&A with the Naked Cowboy
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city & state — September 8, 2015
Contents
The island of Manhattan is roughly 33 and a half square miles and home to more than 1.6 million people. That makes it one of the most densely populated places in the country – behind a few New Jersey suburbs of the city. So it’s not surprising that elected officials in the borough are concerned about space. Many of the lawmakers who responded to our question asking the one thing that would make the borough better highlighted the lack of open space, the need to rethink land use, and the struggles that come with packing more and more people onto an island with no ability to expand. The challenges are often met with impressive ingenuity. Faced with the lack of space, residents, businesses and political institutions have found ways to best utilize the land without compromising their values. Subways are going deeper. Buildings higher. And that progress often comes with improved quality of life and a focus on affordability. At the same time, there is a push to preserve much of the city. Old skyscrapers are often saved and retrofitted instead of being torn down and replaced with modern structures. The same is true of mass transportation. There’s always a push to create more ways to move about the city, but expansion only comes after carefully studying the impact of every decision. The balance of constant and deliberate growth with the desire to save aging structures makes Manhattan, in many ways, timeless. It’s always changing, but not so much that you don’t recognize the city. You can leave the city for five or 10 years and when you return you are struck with a magical sense that things are new, but also the comforting knowledge that you know where you are. In this special issue we look at the slow changes that are taking place in the borough. Our Sarina Trangle writes about the cultural and demographic changes in northern Manhattan, and in Harlem in particular, and the political implications they could have after veteran lawmaker Charles Rangel retires. We also have a story on the future of rezoning in the city and whether the model proposed for Midtown East is one we could see implemented elsewhere in the borough. And our Wilder Fleming writes about the struggles many small businesses are having securing affordable long-term rent, and the impact it is having on communities. Finally, a note about the cover. When thinking of an art direction for the issue, our editorial team kept coming back to the timelessness of Manhattan. And for us, the Muppets seemed like perfect offbeat way to represent the iconic, energetic borough. Plus, we had a blast turning some of Manhattan’s most prolific politicians into puppets using 3-D illustration. Enjoy.
61 Broadway, Suite 2235 New York, NY 10006 Editorial (212) 894-5417 General (646) 517-2740 Advertising (212) 894-5422 info@cityandstateny.com CITY AND STATE, LLC Chairman Steve Farbman President/CEO Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com PUBLISHING Publisher Andrew A. Holt aholt@cityandstateny.com Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@cityandstateny.com Events Director Jasmin Freeman jfreeman@cityandstateny.com Director of Marketing Samantha Diliberti sdiliberti@cityandstateny.com Business Development Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com EDITORIAL
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Executive Editor Michael Johnson mjohnson@cityandstateny.com Associate Editor / Senior Correspondent Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com Web Editor/Reporter Wilder Fleming wfleming@cityandstateny.com Albany Reporter Ashley Hupfl ahupfl@cityandstateny.com Buffalo Reporter Justin Sondel jsondel@cityandstateny.com Staff Reporter Sarina Trangle strangle@cityandstateny.com Editor-at-Large Gerson Borrero gborrero@cityandstateny.com Copy Editor Ryan Somers rsomers@cityandstateny.com Editorial Assistant Jeremy Unger junger@cityandstateny.com PRODUCTION Creative Director Guillaume Federighi gfederighi@cityandstateny.com Digital Strategist Zanub Saeed zsaeed@cityandstateny.com
city & state — September 8, 2015
Multimedia Director Bryan Terry bterry@cityandstateny.com Senior Designer Michelle Yang myang@cityandstateny.com Marketing Graphic Designer Charles Flores cflores@cityandstateny.com Illustrator Danilo Agutoli Street photography by Dylan Forsberg, Michael Gareth Johnson and Guillaume Federighi. 3-D illustrations by Rémy Trappier City & State is published twice monthly. Copyright ©2015, City and State NY, LLC
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70 years of rent control has not solved New York City’s housing shortage.
Let’s Rethink Housing Affordable Housing means fairness for ALL tenants and owners.
For too long, New Yorkers have lived with a broken housing system. It’s time for stakeholders to come together and reframe the conversation. A clear, workable, and ethical plan is needed to restore an adequate supply of housing so that New Yorkers of all income levels can find and afford quality homes. Contact info@chipnyc.org for more information.
Plotting a course for
MANHATTAN By GALE BREWER
city city & state & state —— September September 8, 2015 8, 2015
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As the steward of our borough’s historical maps, the Manhattan borough president’s office will be teaming up with Open House New York this October to display a rarely seen gem: 92 hand-drawn plots of Manhattan by cartographer John Randel Jr., including the 1811 Commissioner’s Plan that created Manhattan’s street grid from Houston Street to 155th Street. It’s hard to overstate the economic importance of Mayor DeWitt Clinton’s initiative to construct the grid. This was the “big idea” of its time, dwarfed only by Clinton’s visionary project as governor to carve the Erie Canal out of upstate rock and seal New York City’s destiny as the nation’s center of trade and commerce. Other big ideas followed throughout the 19th century, including Central Park, the Brooklyn Bridge, the consolidation of the five boroughs. Although many of these development milestones profited private investors and developers, they also greatly improved the quality of life for all. There’s a sharp contrast between those public projects and today’s tax expenditures, which subsidize private luxury residential construction in the borough – towers that offer little tangible benefit for the public at large. Thinking big is in Manhattan’s DNA, and despite prevailing sentiment that the borough has become affordable only for the rich, I am confident that in the years ahead we can revive this legacy of big ideas that make life better for everyone. For my State of the Borough forum in February, we asked Manhattanites to tweet their vision of Manhattan’s future. Many took to Twitter to articulate not only their aspirations, but fears as well, and the one we heard most often can be summarized thusly: “If we don’t have affordable housing,
we don’t have a city.” One tweet captured the frustration of many in noting how the absence of affordable housing resulted in “working New Yorkers stuck with long subway/bus ride early in the morning and late at night.” A study released this spring by Comptroller Scott Stringer showed that New York City workers have the longest commute times among workers in the 30 largest U.S. cities – an average of 6 hours, 18 minutes per week – and have little flexibility in their schedules. Many who work in Manhattan cannot afford to live there – NYPD officers included – and a teetering transit system is just salt in the wound. At a time when our city’s annual subway ridership has reached its highest point in 65 years, the subways largely operate with an ancient signal system and other outdated capital equipment. Chronic crisis control – whether fighting tooth and nail to preserve existing rent-subsidized apartments or begging the governor for adequate funding to bring the MTA into the 21st century – is no way for Manhattan to be dreaming big in 2015. We need transformative ideas on the order of those that mapped out our island in the early 19th century. The best route to achieving these ideas is for city government to work with nonprofit and corporate partners and with the public at large, especially the volunteer members of Manhattan’s 12 community boards, to widen the whiteboard and find new places where our goals intersect. Ironically, if we really want to emulate the chutzpah of the DeWitt Clinton era, we’ll need to start by going off the grid. Gale Brewer is the Manhattan borough president. cit yandstateny.com
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JOHN MASCIALINO | Chair, NY Government Law & Policy Practice Served as First Deputy Commissioner of the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and as Counsel/ Deputy Chief-of-Staff to the Deputy Mayor for Operations; listed in NY Super Lawyers, 2012-2014 mascialinoj@gtlaw.com | 212.801.9355 ROBERT HARDING | Shareholder Former NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Finance and Former Director of the NYC Office of Management and Budget hardingr@gtlaw.com | 212.801.6750 WILL MACK | Of Counsel Served as Director of the Executive Secretariat in the Office of the United States Trade Representative and as a Deputy Associate Counsel at the White House mackw@gtlaw.com | 212.801.2230
STEPHEN RABINOWITZ | Co-Managing Shareholder, GT NY Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA Guide and Super Lawyers magazine; Member of the Board of Trustees, East Harlem Tutorial Program and Lupus Foundation of America rabinowitzs@gtlaw.com | 212.801.9295
ENVIRONMENTAL STEVEN RUSSO | Chair, NY Environmental Practice Former Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation russos@gtlaw.com | 212.801.9200
DEIRDRE CARSON | Shareholder More than 25 years of land use law experience; named a Real Estate New York “Women of Influence” in 2009; served as an Assistant to Mayor Koch carsond@gtlaw.com | 212.801.6855
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STARRING:
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city & state — September 8, 2015
BOROUGH PRESIDENT
U.S. REP.
GALE BREWER
CAROLYN MALONEY
CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER
CITY COMPTROLLER
MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO
SCOTT STRINGER cit yandstateny.com
9 U.S. REP.
CHARLES RANGEL
U.S. REP.
JERROLD NADLER
and introducing
MAYOR
BILL DE BLASIO cit yandstateny.com
city & state — September 8, 2015
MANHATTAN NEWCOMER...
Political Hangouts
Politicians (and politically minded rabble rousers) have been gathering in Manhattan since before the nation was born. Down on Pearl Street, you can grab a beer and a burger at Fraunces Tavern – now a national historic landmark – where, leading up to the American Revolution, the Sons of Liberty conspired to overthrow the British. It served as Gen. George Washington’s headquarters for a time, and after the war it housed the offices of the federal Foreign Affairs, War and Treasury departments until 1788, when it became a tavern once again. Fast-forward to today. We asked the borough’s elected officials what their favorite political hangouts are. Their answers were a little less revolutionary than ye olde Fraunces Tavern (no more firing at Redcoats), but here’s where Manhattan’s lawmakers participate in America’s grand tradition of mixing politics and pints:
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1. BARLEYCORN 23 Park Place 2. THE BEEKMAN PUB 15 Beekman St. 3. CITY HALL RESTAURANT 131 Duane St. 4. CHURCH PUBLICK
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78 Reade St. 5. COOGAN’S
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4015 Broadway 6. 809 BAR & GRILL 112 Dyckman St.
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7. FORLINI’S
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93 Baxter St. 8. GRAND HYATT NEW YORK
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109 E. 42nd St. at Grand Central Terminal
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9. LOEWS REGENCY NEW YORK HOTEL 540 Park Ave. 10. THE MANSION RESTAURANT 1634 York Ave. 11. MAXWELL’S BAR & RESTAURANT 59 Reade St. 12. RUDY’S BAR & GRILL 627 Ninth Ave.
350 E. 85th St. 14. SIRIO RISTORANTE The Pierre, A Taj Hotel, 795 Fifth Ave. 15. WOOLWORTH TOWER KITCHEN 9 Barclay St. cit yandstateny.com
city & state — September 8, 2015
13. RYAN’S DAUGHTER
Towers for Transit
COULD MIDTOWN EAST’S REZONING PLAN BE THE NEW STANDARD FOR NEW YORK CITY CONSTRUCTION? By JEFF COLTIN
city & state — September 8, 2015
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situation,” explained Rob Byrnes, president of the East Midtown Partnership community group, who sat on the committee. He praised Brewer and Garodnick for not just bringing a proposal to the table, but for “actually being interested in what the players had to say” and adjusting and compromising as needed. The process seems to be a win for the de Blasio administration, which has been accused of failing to live up to its lofty goal of government transparency. Brewer herself praised the participation and dedication of the members of the committee, ranging from real estate interests and business improvement districts to community groups and the Landmarks Preservation Commission. “I believe that almost 100 percent of the membership showed up every single time,” Brewer said. “There was almost no absenteeism for that entire period. People really were engaged.” Even the Real Estate Board of New York is complimenting the proposal’s clarity in specifying expectations for developers building in the area. “I think what’s most important in this initiative is to have certainty and predictability” regarding obligations for builders, said Michael Slattery, senior vice president at REBNY. “I think one of the goals here was to create that kind of certainty from a builder’s point of view, but also there was a concern that the community understood what it was getting by way of the public realm improvement for the additional floor area that projects would be granted.” A new building boom could also bring benefits to landmarked properties in Midtown East. Under the proposal, landmarks can sell their air rights to developers, allowing new buildings to reach higher and bringing cash into the sometimes-struggling properties. “In the case of St. Bartholomew’s (Episcopal Church), they literally have buckets under the roof because they have so much damage to the roof,” Brewer said. “It’s a lot of money. They don’t have enough to fix it. They don’t have a big enough congregation. I want these landmarks to continue.” Some stakeholders say the proposal’s mix of community involvement, transparency, and funding for transit and landmarks should not be limited to Midtown East, and could be a winning formula for rezoning in other Manhattan neighborhoods as well. “What we did in East Midtown was
Whether you’re visiting New York City, working in the area or are a long-time resident, East Midtown Manhattan is your destination for choice, diversity and style. With hundreds of retailers and restaurants and one of the world’s greatest concentrations of home décor showrooms, the East Midtown Partnership is committed to helping our businesses and community grow!
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Visit us at www.EastMidtown.org for more information. city & state — September 8, 2015
A shiny, new skyscraper rising above Grand Central Terminal used to be the stuff of fantasy – literally. The 2012 Hollywood hit “The Avengers” and its sequel featured Tony Stark’s eponymous Stark Tower in place of the MetLife Building – with Iron Man’s soaring penthouse getting at-level views of the Chrysler Building. Now, thanks to a deliberate, 10-month process of meetings and community engagement, such huge new buildings in Midtown East will soon become a reality – and could serve as a template for the future of zoning throughout the city. The East Midtown Rezoning Steering Committee, chaired by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and the area’s city councilman, Dan Garodnick, met every two weeks from September 2014 until June, trying to revive a rezoning proposal that had been killed by the City Council in the final days of the Bloomberg administration. The revitalized proposal would connect public improvements to development: Developers would earn extra floor-area ratio – and therefore be able to construct taller buildings – in exchange for donating to transit improvements in the busy corridor. Although the proposal is being prepared for delivery to the Department of City Planning by the end of summer, the policy has already been implemented in one subsection of the Midtown East study area. Builders will soon begin work on a supertall skyscraper, dubbed One Vanderbilt, at the corner of 42nd and Vanderbilt. Developer SL Green got permission to build the 1,501-foot tower by agreeing to $220 million in public improvements like a pedestrian plaza between the building and Grand Central, as well as extensive improvements to the transit infrastructure that the MTA says will increase efficiency below ground and allow more subways to pass through the busy corridor. “We all know that we need to improve our transit and infrastructure, and we should not lose the opportunity to deliver that when we are doing a significant rezoning,” Garodnick said. “We are unlocking development potential, and we are not giving it for free.” Area stakeholders said the original Bloomberg-era proposal felt like a backroom deal, but this time things were different. The new steering committee, initiated by the de Blasio administration, was an “open-door
planning expert to know that East Midtown was ripe for rezoning – just a subscription to the New York Post and an eye on Steve Cuozzo’s columns describing an “exodus” of premier firms like Twitter, Citigroup and Jones Day from the Grand Central area. Even more troubling is the lack of big-time companies choosing to set up shop in the area, which conjures images of Don Draper riding the Metro-North in from Westchester rather than tech execs pulling up to the office in Teslas. And yet, the bustling neighborhood is far from dead. One can imagine a future 15 years from now when residents of new affordable housing in Cromwell-Jerome or Sunnyside Yards commute in by subway to a gleaming new office tower on 47th and Park. And by then, those neighborhoods could have more in common with East Midtown than just subway lines, having benefitted from a new, collaborative process for rezoning projects born in the shadow of Grand Central. Says REBNY’s Slattery: “I think what’s happened here (in Midtown East) and, I suspect, is happening with the rezonings that the de Blasio administration will be proposing in the future for housing, will have similar kinds of meetings with communities to try to understand their needs, what the concerns are, and how to move forward with a rezoning agenda that balances the equities on all sides.”
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very helpful both for those who appreciate new development and those who are concerned,” Brewer said. She pointed out similarities between the East Midtown process and the committee-based process City Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito is leading for the rezoning of East Harlem to allow for residential development. “We hope that East Midtown will hit the mark, and will serve as a useful precedent for other parts of the borough,” Garodnick said. “The principles can be applied in lots of different contexts. If it’s a residential rezoning and you want infrastructure improvement, you can do that.” REBNY’s Slattery was more skeptical, saying the extensive planning process might not be practical in other neighborhoods. “I don’t know how applicable the scope of this process will be,” he said. “It’s been almost a year of meetings and we’re still six to nine months away from actually having the zoning text drafted. It’s a rather lengthy process.” He was also wary to agree that requiring developers to fund public improvements could be replicated in other neighborhoods. “Each market is different,” he said. “Obviously Midtown is a strong market and what you can do in a strong market may not be greatly applicable to other markets that may not have the same strong economic underpinnings.” Indeed, it does not take an urban
cit yandstateny.com
Thursday, September 24 | BNY Mellon, 101 Barclay St. Sponsored by: Hosted by:
MWBE FORUM
To RSVP visit: www.cityandstateny.com/events
City & State hosts its 4th annual On Diversity event featuring top government officials and MWBE influencers from advocacy and business to discuss the social and economic advantages of promoting diversity in both public and private sectors.
PANEL 1: Diversity Recruitment that Works BRIEF: New York City is famous for its diversity, representing virtually every nation on earth. It’s one thing to acknowledge that diversity adds value to doing business in New York. It’s another thing to make it a reality. City & State convenes a panel of experts to discuss workforce diversity and best practices that will help organizations reach new markets. Panelists: Rose Rodriguez, New York State, Chief Diversity Officer Carra Wallace, Chief Diversity Officer, Office of the NYC Comptroller More panelists TBA
PANEL 2: Contracting with New York State to Build your Business New York State’s 30% MWBE goal is one of the highest in the nation but has yet to be achieved. Opportunities still exist for MWBEs to build and expand their business in New York. Which market sectors have the most opportunity for MWBE participation? How are state agencies promoting new contracting opportunities? Panelists: Ross Holden, General Counsel, NYC School Construction Authority Terrence Clark, President & CEO, NY & NJ Minority Supplier Development Council Gerrard P. Bushell, President & CEO, Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY) Sonia Pichardo, Regional Director, New York State Department of Transportation More panelists TBA
PANEL 3: How to get the Grade BRIEF: In a recent report, Comptroller Stringer gave New York a “D’ for city agencies working with minority and womenowned business enterprises. Only 4% of the city’s procurement comes from MWBEs. City & State and NYS and NYC administration leaders discuss how more MWBEs can gain access to contracts with city agencies. Panelists: Maya Wiley, Counsel to the Mayor Bertha Lewis, Founder and President, The Black Institute More panelists TBA
For more information on sponsorship and visibility opportunities, please contact Jasmin Freeman at jfreeman@cityandstateny.com or call 646-442-1662.
Watching out for Mom and Pop PROPOSALS SEEK TO PROTECT SMALL BUSINESSES AMID SKYROCKETING RENTS By WILDER FLEMING
city & state — September 8, 2015
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Mayor Bill de Blasio’s plan to create or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing in New York City over the next decade is a hallmark of his administration – the cornerstone of his vision for a more equitable city. And while the particulars of the plan are very much up for debate, the largely progressive City Council tends to support the plan’s overall goals. The affordability crisis, they agree, poses a critical threat to the city’s well-being. Yet as the housing crisis commands the attention of both politicians and the public, an unchecked rise in commercial rents has gone comparatively unacknowledged, begging the question of why, when commercial tenants are in fact more vulnerable to abrupt rent increases than their residential counterparts, neither the administration nor the council leadership has seemed to take a strong initiative on the issue.
While de Blasio has recently touted a dramatic drop in the amount of small fines it collects from the small businesses, advocates argue that this fails to address the underlying issue: that as things now stand, commercial tenants have no recourse to mediate disputes with their landlords. Many commercial tenants are stuck with month-to-month leases that can be terminated with only a 30-day notice. The Small Business Congress, an advocacy group in the city, has estimated that hundreds of small businesses close their doors every month. “De Blasio’s big thing has been reducing fines. And look, it’s nice,” said Kirsten Theodos, an organizer for Take Back NYC, a newly formed group lobbying on behalf of small businesses in the city. “But the reality is, businesses aren’t shuttering because of fines. They’re shuttering because of rent
hikes. They’re shuttering because they just got evicted.” No where in the city are small business owners feeling the crunch more than in Manhattan. According to a report from the Real Estate Board of New York, commercial rents increased 15.7 percent on average along major retail corridors around the borough from spring 2014 to spring 2015. Along 125th Street in Harlem, the asking price increased 21 percent during that period. “I have heard, and read, countless stories of small businesses closing solely because they were unable to negotiate a fair lease renewal,” Bronx Councilwoman Annabel Palma said. “Closing of these small businesses has a profound impact on the economic well-being of our neighborhoods. These small businesses produce jobs which often are sourced locally. Low-income
New Yorkers, who heavily rely on the inexpensive local merchants, will now be priced out of their own communities.” The problem isn’t exactly new: Legislation that would give commercial tenants the right to negotiate fair terms on a 10-year lease extension, with recourse to non-binding mediation and binding arbitration as a last resort, has been floating around the City Council since 1985 in the form of the Small Business Jobs Survival Act. But the bill has never gone anywhere, which advocates largely blame on REBNY’s powerful grip on city politics. Now, Take Back NYC and several other groups are looking to breathe fresh life into the bill, known as the SBJSA, which, in its latest version introduced by Palma last year, would also protect against the extortion of immigrant business owners by landlords and prevent landlords from passing on property taxes to their tenants. Take Back NYC has so far garnered over 5,000 signatures on MoveOn.org, and has also lobbied council members to sign on to the bill, which now has 25 sponsors. Still, they face an uphill battle. Former REBNY President Steven Spinola has said the SBJSA has no legal standing – that the mayor does not have the power to “control the leasing of properties” – and that any such law would have to come from the state at the very least. But Theodos says this is just a smokescreen – that in all the time she has spent speaking with council members about the bill, no one has been able to produce evidence that the bill would be unconstitutional. “I always ask any council members that I meet with, ‘Have you seen a legal document? A case law that would prove this is illegal?’ And they tell me ‘No,’” Theodos said. Palma agreed: “This bill has been cit yandstateny.com
Councilwoman Ruth Messinger, in the spring claimed that the bill stands almost no chance of passing and therefore an alternative measure should be sought. “I just know that the one that’s pending, I don’t think it’s either going to stand up legally or politically,” Brewer said. “It’s been around since 1985 and it hasn’t moved.” Brewer’s proposal would require landlords to notify retail storefront tenants of a proposed rent hike six months in advance. If negotiations over the increase fail, non-binding mediation can be requested. If that fails, the tenant would be given a one-year extension on their lease and a 15 percent rent hike, after which time they would have to vacate the premises. While clearly a compromise, Brewer says her plan would force landlords to sit down with their tenants, and at the very least it would give store owners some
“We all want to save the mom and pops – I have the same goals as everyone else – but I’m not interested in another 30 years of discussions. We have to get something done. We’re not going to have anything left in Manhattan.” -Gale Brewer, Manhattan borough president
concerned by the fact that the City Council leadership under Quinn offered no recommendations to amend the bill to satisfy their legal concerns. And while the current council leadership hasn’t explicitly objected to the SBJSA, they have yet to offer any constructive criticism either, over a year since the latest version was introduced. “We would be more than happy to entertain amendments, suggestions, or even a different solution altogether. But none of that has happened. Not from the speaker, not from anybody,” Theodos said. A previous version of the bill, introduced in 2008 by then-Councilman Robert Jackson, was endorsed by thenCouncilman Bill de Blasio, Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito (now the speaker), Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras (who now chairs the finance committee) and then-Councilwoman Gale Brewer. Today, neither Ferreras nor Mark-Viverito have signed on to the legislation or taken a formal stance on it. Brewer, now the Manhattan borough president, has been the only one of this group to take an alternate stance to the SBJSA. Long known for her advocacy for “mom and pops,” Brewer, who worked on the original version of the SBJSA in the ’80s as a staffer to thencit yandstateny.com
time to find a new property. “We all want to save the mom and pops – I have the same goals as everyone else – but I’m not interested in another 30 years of discussions,” Brewer said. “We have to get something done. We’re not going to have anything left in Manhattan.” Brewer’s proposal, which she first set forth in March, is now set to be drafted into a bill by the office of Councilman Robert Cornegy, chairman of the Committee on Small Business. No bill has yet emerged however, and Cornegy’s office could give no timeline on its progress. Theodos, who has said Brewer’s plan fails to address the root of the problem – the inability of commercial tenants to negotiate down skyrocketing rents – says support for the SBJSA is gaining momentum, largely thanks to the Internet and social media. “Our strength is in numbers,” she said. “REBNY has deeper pockets, certainly. But we have a lot more people – New York City residents, merchants, nonprofits, political groups. And it’s not just Manhattan, it’s across all the boroughs.” Take Back NYC will hold the latest in a series of public forums on the issue on Sept. 23 in the Bronx.
Level The Playing Field For Manhattan Businesses Ken Biberaj Chairman of the Board, Manhattan Chamber of Commerce
Mayor de Blasio was right in 2013 when he campaigned on the message of New York being a “Tale of Two Cities.” However, that is not just the case with income inequality, but also with business. If you are looking to start a business in New York, you have lots of options. In fact, you will likely receive an economic incentive if you open in certain neighborhoods or the outer boroughs. However, if you decide to open your business below 96th St in Manhattan and pay over $250,000 per annum in rent, then get ready, you will have to factor in the Commercial Rent Tax (CRT). Over the summer, members of the business community read an interview in Crain’s New York Business featuring Commissioner Jacques Jiha from the Department of Finance and were pleasantly surprised by his comments. When he was asked: “What taxes do you think still need to be changed?” We were elated to see that the Commissioner’s answer was: “The Commercial Rent Tax.” Since the 1960’s, the CRT has been placed on businesses that pay rent over $250,000 per annum. At the time, that really only impacted the largest of companies. But today, when even the smallest of businesses pay very high rents, this tax impacts small mom-and-pop businesses in our City as well as larger companies. City officials rightly decided to eliminate the CRT across the City in the mid-1990’s, but left it in place in Manhattan below 96th St. The time has come for the City to completely eliminate the CRT in Manhattan.
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This is a regressive and unfair tax that blatantly creates a disincentive to opening and operating a business in Manhattan. As Commissioner Jiha noted, “It favors businesses in the outer boroughs [at the expense of] businesses in Manhattan. And it’s also a double tax because businesses pay property tax, and on top of property tax, they have to pay commercial rent tax.” By eliminating CRT and giving businesses tax relief, they will reinvest the monies in their companies and hopefully increase sales and hire more New Yorkers, thus increasing NYC sales taxes and NYC payroll taxes so that the City will be making up some of the costs through growing businesses. Our recommendation to the de Blasio Administration is an immediate increase in the threshold of who is required to pay the CRT. By changing the base tax level from $250,000 in annual rent to $500,000 (without a corresponding increase in the CRT for those who pay more in rent), the City will provide immediate economic benefit and relief to over 2,500 smaller businesses across Manhattan. Next, we suggest a planned phaseout of the entire CRT over a set period of time. It’s time that we level the playing field for all business owners across our City and remove this unnecessary, regressive and unfair tax burden from the backs of Manhattan businesses. Contact the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce if your business wants to get involved in this initiative at 212-473-7875.
city & state — September 8, 2015
around for decades. It has been analyzed by lawyers, debated in a public hearing, and argued about in the press. It is perhaps the most scrutinized bill before the council. But this scrutiny is just what the bill needed because I am confident that we can move forward now with a bill that not only works but is also legally sound.” In 2010, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. hosted a forum to evaluate the legality of the SBJSA. The resulting report, which found the bill to be “fully constitutional and legally sound to withstand likely court challenges,” was largely a rebuttal to objections from the City Council legal staff, working under then-Speaker Christine Quinn, which had effectively blocked a vote on the bill in 2009. Whether or not the SBJSA would actually hold up in a court of law has of course never been tested, but Theodos is
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Harlem after Rangel
WILL THE EVOLVING NEIGHBORHOOD REMAIN A BLACK POLITICAL POWERHOUSE?
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY REP. CHARLES RANGEL’S OFFICE
By SARINA TRANGLE
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When U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel stopped by “Meet the Press” or “Our Voices” to talk about apartheid in South Africa or his latest legislative agenda, it seemed like he was representing advocates and blacks across the globe – at least that’s how Afua Atta-Mensah interpreted it growing up as a child of Ghanaian immigrants in the Bronx. “It was understood – Charlie comes on, and he is speaking for and on behalf of the black world, but also people on social justice issues. That seat has been made larger than the diminishing population,” said AttaMensah, now a housing attorney and a district leader candidate in Harlem. “I hope whoever gets it understands the enormity of what they’re carrying. He or she is carrying us all on their shoulders.” Yet when Rangel’s term ends in cit yandstateny.com
2016, he will not be retiring from the Harlem-centric district that propelled him to Washington, D.C., four and a half decades ago. Younger and more affluent blacks and whites have moved into Harlem, as well as immigrants from West Africa. Redistricting has extended his seat up through northern Manhattan and into Bedford Park, Norwood and other Bronx neighborhoods, giving it a Latino majority. These shifts have accentuated concerns that Harlem’s aging traditional black base lacks successors and is losing influence. Others see an opportunity in the changes to capitalize on Harlem’s identity and the newer black residents it has attracted. While discussing his upcoming retirement, Rangel suggested he may not be the best person to weigh in on who will eventually take the reins
from the mostly older likely candidates vying to represent Harlem – a large group that includes Assemblyman Keith Wright, state Sen. Bill Perkins and Adam Clayton Powell IV. “You don’t expect me, at the age of 85, to answer that question, do you? There are young people all over Harlem,” said Rangel, who was elected to Congress at age 40. “I’m 85, and don’t spend a lot of time concerning myself with political changes and the census.” Harlem’s black political life is likely to be “confused” when Rangel steps down, according to Christina Greer, assistant professor of political science at Fordham University. Generations of Harlemites have been waiting for a chance to pursue an open congressional seat. The political machine limited competition for years, creating somewhat of a vacuum,
Greer said, because Harlem’s leaders, like many of their counterparts, have not taken pains to mentor the next generation of politicians. All of the currently declared candidates are in their 50s or 60s, and competing in an era when “superstars” have emerged out of nowhere, so those pursuing elected office are less inclined to wait their turn. Still, Greer said it is unclear newcomers will be palatable to oldtimers or successful in culling votes from newer and wealthier residents, who have tended to be less loyal voters. “There will be lots of political jockeying for quite some time, especially since Rangel hasn’t really anointed anyone a successor,” she said. “Charlie Rangel also represents, in many ways, the rise of black politics ... so we’re watching the changing of the guard of the first full cycle of the generation into the second full cycle.”
city & state — September 8, 2015
Charles Rangel walks with then-South African President Nelson Mandela and U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.
Rangel meets with President George W. Bush at the White House.
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Rangel himself described his initial ascent to Congress as coming amid a void, too. As an assemblyman, Rangel said he implored then-U.S. Rep. Adam Clayton Powell Jr., in person, to return from the Bahamas, where Powell had camped out while facing a warrant for an unpaid slander settlement. Powell, New York’s first black congressman and the chairman of the Committee on Education, was an unabashed activist when it came to civil rights and empowering African and Asian countries overcoming colonialism. But he began facing criticism for the frequency of his travel, supposedly putting his wife on the payroll, and the slander case. When it became clear Powell would not return, Rangel said he decided to pursue the seat. Rangel rose through the ranks and became the first African-American to lead the Ways and Means Committee. He founded the Congressional Black Caucus, steered millions to Harlem via legislation creating economic empowerment zones, pushed for the low-income housing tax credits and orchestrated a tax policy that compelled several American businesses to pull out of South Africa during apartheid. Back in Harlem, Rangel helped elevate the neighborhood’s voice as part of the so-called “gang of four,” an alliance with Percy Sutton, who became Manhattan borough president; Basil Paterson, who served as New York’s secretary of state; and David Dinkins, who was elected the city’s first black mayor. Even before the quartet hit its prime, Harlem’s Hulan Edwin Jack was voted the first black Manhattan borough president in 1953. Edward Dudley, Sutton, Dinkins and
C. Virginia Fields succeeded him. (By comparison, Queens elected its first black borough president in 2001; Brooklyn in 2013.) LOSS OF LEGACY Three decades ago, historian Michael Henry Adams moved to Harlem because he wanted to be a part of the “African-American cultural capital” he now fears is receding and contributing to the atrophy of its political muscle. He has since written two books about Harlem architecture and design and style. As Adams watches one historic structure after another – Smalls Paradise nightclub, Lenox Lounge, the Renaissance Ballroom and Casino – be replaced, often with condominiums, he says he sees lost legacies contribute to the clip of gentrification. Adams fears this evolution has diluted blacks’ political power. In the 1940s, a more heavily black Harlem afforded Powell an almost “delusional” amount of confidence – as evidenced by him talking about running for president while still a city councilman, Adams said. Rangel was likewise elected with strong black support, but he also enjoyed support from the Puerto Rican community (his father was from Puerto Rico) and from the Jewish community in the Upper West Side. Over the years, his constituency has changed. The last census, taken in 2010, found 38 percent of Harlemites identified as black or African-American, down from 46 percent in 2000; 16 percent identified as white, up from 10 percent in 2000; and 38 percent identified as
Hispanic in 2000 and 2010. And in 2012, the district was extended into the Bronx, giving it a Latino majority. Since then, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, a DominicanAmerican, unsuccessfully challenged Rangel twice and described his campaign as a bid to produce a “Jackie Robinson” for Dominicans in Congress. The primaries were largely seen as a showdown between the electoral might of blacks and Dominicans, with Espaillat sweeping Dominican enclaves in Washington Heights and Inwood and Rangel taking Harlem, according to Steven Romalewski, director of CUNY’s Mapping Service at its Center for Urban Research. Romalewski said it remains to be seen whether any candidates can span both electoral bases, or whether the growing white population, which has so far voted less frequently than other groups in the district, will play more of a role in future primaries. Voting rates aside, Adams, a former Perkins staffer, said changes in Harlem’s congressional district and the relatively unstructured political landscape could mean too many black candidates split the vote and none get elected. “I worry that so many
He stressed he believed it would have been fairer for redistricting to create one majority black district and a second majority Latino district instead of Rangel’s current amalgamation. “Harlem is yet another part of it, as far as I see, where there is an effort made to exclude (blacks) from the process of self-determination.” MIXED BLESSINGS Some longtime Harlemites like City Councilwoman Inez Dickens have a more positive view of the neighborhood’s evolution. Dickens said many were fleeing Harlem in the 1960s, when she grew up avoiding vacant lots and buildings amid prevalent drug use. Her childhood was filled with stories about civil rights movement fights, such as her father, an assemblyman, walking a picket line with Powell and others to pressure Con Edison to hire blacks. Harlem has since grown more stable, Dickens said, and many long-timers appreciate the safer streets and blossoming restaurant scene. Today’s Harlem may spur a return of the city’s black power base, according to Lloyd Williams, the president of the Greater Harlem
Rangel sings with President Bill Clinton, Sen. Charles Schumer and actress Cicely Tyson. African-Americans plotting against each other in the primary could be a repeat of the situation one had when, after C. Virginia Fields had been borough president of Manhattan, you had just a host of African-Americans running for the borough president’s seat,” Adams said. “And when the dust settled, it was a white person.”
Chamber of Commerce. Williams, whose grandparents emigrated from Jamaica, said that Caribbean immigrants once buoyed Harlem’s economic strength because, typically, only those with an education or employment opportunities were able to relocate to New York. As whites fled parts of Brooklyn and cit yandstateny.com
Rangel has an audience with Pope John Paul II. Queens in the 1960s, Williams said, many Caribbean-Americans moved away from Harlem and invested in the apartments and homes they left behind. Today, the neighborhood is growing wealthier again, he said, which means more affluent blacks may return. “A lot of the political strength and economic strength moved to Brooklyn, and then to Queens,” he said. “It will shift again. It’s a cycle.” Still, Dickens said it has been difficult to recruit a new, politically active generation. Rising costs of living and college tuition rates have impeded her and her colleagues’ ability to draft younger party members or hire younger government staffers. (A WNYC analysis of median incomes in Central Harlem determined they grew 6 percent from 2007 to 2012 – though this coincided with an estimated 90 percent jump in rent paid by those who moved to Harlem from 2002-2015, according to the Community Services
Society.) “There has been the problem in minority communities in trying to get younger participation,” she said, noting many in her community have large loans and cannot afford to work for free as a district leader or take lower-paying jobs with the government. “When I went into office in 2006, I started then looking, trying to pull them in. ‘Come in and intern, come in and work, come in to the club … see what it’s about.’ … You know something? I’m still looking.”
do more to reach younger residents. Atta-Mensah said that like generations before her, she moved to Harlem to join a “tradition of black excellence.” She has since noticed little effort to reach out to immigrants from Senegal, Mali and the Ivory Coast, as evidenced by the absence of French speakers in elected officials’ offices. “If African businesses fold, the only thing you’ve got is some bodegas, a liquor store and Make My Cake. African businesses run 116th Street,” Atta-Mensah said. “Assuming they are focusing on courting black votes … it should behoove you to look at the only black vote that’s growing.” The African immigrant population has indeed been growing in Rangel’s district. Recent American Community Survey data estimate 7.3 percent of south Central Harlem residents and 8.1 percent of north Central Harlem residents have sub-Saharan African ancestry. In the Bronx, African immigrants now make up about 10 percent of the population, and they have begun fielding candidates – in 2013, four candidates that identify as African ran against City Councilwoman Vanessa Gibson. A cluster of Ghanaian immigrants near DeWitt Clinton High School in Bedford Park falls inside
Rangel’s district, too. While every subgroup has its own distinct needs, Atta-Mensah said the communities of Harlem face many shared issues. For instance, she said, police wouldn’t halt amid a stop-and-frisk and say, “Oh, you’re from Mali, you’re cool.” Atta-Mensah said she would like to see the predominately older candidates expected to run for Rangel’s seat discuss how they will work with the various ethnic groups and younger generations to preserve Harlem’s political power. Rangel also appears to be looking for a successor who will unite the different groups. The congressman said he hopes to endorse someone who can unify all the communities in Harlem – and his district at large. He listed several potential rivalries – “white against black,” “Caribbean against southern blacks,” “Puerto Ricans against Dominicans” – and said he worked to ensure there was never a “racial fight in my congressional district.” “Therefore, I’ve made it abundantly clear that the candidate that can come up to maintain that coalition, politically, of mutual respect, is where my endorsement will be going,” the congressman said. “That hasn’t been done.”
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CULTIVATING NEWCOMERS Atta-Mensah, the housing attorney running for district leader, is at 35 one of the younger Harlem residents who is politically engaged. She said some of the neighborhood’s political establishment has missed opportunities to court the growing immigrant communities and could
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Main Office 128 Atlantic Ave. Lynbrook, NY 11563
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Queens 25-15 Steinway St. Astoria, NY 11103
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city & state — September 8, 2015
Dedicated to developing support systems for both individuals and their families.
Then & Now
THE EVOLUTION OF MANHATTAN’S PARKS By JEREMY UNGER
Although most people think of skyscrapers when they think of Manhattan’s ever-changing nature, the island’s parks see just as much evolution. From Washington Heights to the Battery, Manhattan’s parks have been altered through politics, economic turmoil and the demands of its vibrant populace.
Highbridge Park
Situated on the eastern bank of the Harlem River in Washington Heights, Highbridge Park was created during the early 1900s next to the park’s namesake bridge, which was originally part of the Old Croton Aqueduct system that terminated at the reservoir in what is now Bryant Park. Its 200-foot-tall tower was part of this system as well, serving as a massive water tank. Although the park was long neglected by the city, advocates and officials have worked on restoring it to its former glory for over a decade, and this year the city reopened the High Bridge to foot traffic for the first time in over 40 years.
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Bryant Park
Bryant Park and its next-door neighbor, the iconic main branch of the New York Public Library, the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, sit on what used to be New York City’s main source of drinking water: the Croton Distributing Reservoir. This massive man-made lake held 20 million gallons of water in a fortress-like granite structure from 1842 until 1900. There was a small park adjacent to it called Reservoir Square. In 1884, as the reservoir’s structure began to near the end of its usefulness, the adjacent square was renamed Bryant Park in honor of New York Evening Post Editor William Cullen Bryant, and in 1934 the park’s signature great lawn was created. cit yandstateny.com
Madison Square Park
The park, which has existed in some form as an urban public space since 1686, has gone through many alterations over the years. At one point, the park bordered the original Madison Square Garden, and a triumphal arch dedicated to George Washington (similar to the one in Washington Square Park today) stood over Fifth Avenue on the park’s western edge. After falling into disrepair in the latter half of the 20th century, the city launched a complete remodel of the park, which today is probably most famous among New Yorkers as the home of the city’s very first Shake Shack.
JAMES SHAUGHNESSY
The High Line
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JOEL STERNFELD
city & state — September 8, 2015
This linear park is one of the newest and most popular in the city, with designers hailing it for its unique repurposing of the existing High Line viaduct rail line as a walkway above the chaos of Manhattan’s streets. The High Line was originally part of the New York Connecting Railroad’s West Side Line, which was used by shipping companies to bring meat and other products to St. John’s Park Terminal at Spring Street, stopping at factories along the way, which had direct connections to the elevated rail line in their buildings. But by 1980, interstate trucking became the preferred transportation method for large-scale shipping, and the High Line’s railway was shut down and fell into disrepair. But the nonprofit group Friends of the High Line helped bring the elevated track back to prominence in the early 2000s by convincing city officials to rebuild the line as a one-of-a-kind public space. It was completed in 2014 and helped turn the neighborhoods around it into some of the most expensive real estate in the city.
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Central Park
The most visited urban park in the United States has a rich history, with its development dating back to the mid-1800s. While the park has seen its ups and downs, one of its most unfortunate moments was during the early 1930s, when a Hooverville shantytown sprung up (which in later years became a historic symbol of the struggles of the Great Depression). Then-Mayor Fiorello La Guardia tasked thenParks Commissioner Robert Moses with cleaning up the park, and not only did Moses accomplish this task, but he fundamentally altered its landscape with new amenities. Moses built 20 playgrounds, the Wollman skating rink and athletic fields and renovated the Central Park Zoo during his time as commissioner. He also raised funds for the construction of a carousel and numerous sculptures.
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Tompkins Square Park This Alphabet City mainstay is known mainly for its history of civil disobedience and as a home for rowdy youths and the homeless. The park was the site of two of the largest riots in the city’s history: the Tompkins Square Riot of 1874, which pit laborers against police in the aftermath of the economic depression known as the Great Panic of 1873, and the Tompkins Square Park Riot of 1988, fought between police enforcing a new nightly park curfew of 1 a.m. and young protesters who saw the curfew as a symbol of gentrification. Decreased crime levels, evictions of the homeless and gentrification in the East Village, as well as the closure and restoration of the park in 1991 and 1992, transformed it into what it is today – as much an attraction for families and tourists as it is for young people and waywards.
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WILLIAM SIMMONS / NYU ARCHIVES
Washington Square Park
Battery Park
Although Battery Park has existed since the creation of a landfill in the area in the mid-1800s, the Battery Park City neighborhood, which is often associated with the park, wasn’t added until the 1970s. Back then the neighborhood was just a landfill created from debris excavated for the neighboring World Trade Center. The trash was subsequently covered with sand, creating what seems unthinkable in today’s Manhattan: a beach. The beach, which hosted numerous art exhibits and protests – including the one of the largest civilian rallies against nuclear power and weapons in history – eventually gave way in the 1980s and ’90s to the buildings and waterfront we see today. cit yandstateny.com
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STEVEN SIEGEL
This park – famous today for being the focal point of the Greenwich Village art scene and as the unofficial campus of New York University – actually used to feature vehicular traffic. Robert Moses attempted to expand roads in and around the park numerous times during the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, but he was met with intense opposition from local residents that actually led to the removal of cars from the park. A total renovation of the park completed in 2014 realigned its signature fountain with Fifth Avenue and added new facilities and a dog run, among other changes.
T IM
R E-42N D S T R A U Q S S E
EE T
204,908
Subway Ridership
GR AND C EN T R A LEE T 42N D S T R
The happeningest stations in Manhattan Manhattan’s subways are packed to bursting. In 2014, riders entered Manhattan turnstiles over 3 million times on the average weekday – more than all the rest of the boroughs combined. The top 12 busiest subway stations in New York City are all in Manhattan.
E T-P EN 3 4T H S T R E 34
Q UA R E
125,355
N S TAT IO
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85,634
T IO P EN N S TA T E E R T S TH
N (1 ,2,3)
E T59 T H S T R E S C IR C O LU M B U
74,572
92,693
T-U N IO N S E E R T S H T 14
Q UA R E
109,472
LEX 53R
70
F U LTO N S
69,444
T R EE T
SOURCE: MTA
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The MTA has several projects in the works to ease the squeeze. The first phase of the Second Avenue Subway plan – variations of which have been in the works on and off since the Roaring ’20s – is on track to be completed next year, and may alleviate some of the congestion on the East Side. But further phases of that project – and others like East Side Access and the 7 train extension – may be stopped in their tracks if the MTA can’t get funding for the rest of its $32 billion capital plan. So in the meantime, prepare to get cozy as you stand clear of the closing doors.
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S -H E R A L D T E E R T S H T
157,899
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O L AT E MOS T DES S TAT IO N : EE T 2 15T H S T R
2,057
EE T
C IR C L E V EN U EA N O T G L E X IN ET 59 T H S T R E
69,332
AV EN U EN O T G IN X LE S T R EE T S 53R D -51S T
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70,606
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0-19,999 riders per average weekday
20,000-39,999 riders per average weekday
40,000+ riders per average weekday
Top 10 busiest subway stations
Total ridership on an average weekday in 2014
Congestion Relief
PRICING PLAN COULD BE THE REMEDY FOR GRIDLOCK By SAM SCHWARTZ
city & state — September 8, 2015
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Congestion in Manhattan has been a problem since at least the mid19th century. In 1865, The New York Times lamented, “It is perfectly certain that there is not room on the surface of the city to accommodate the traffic which its business requires.” This sparked the development of gradeseparated rail transit systems as early as 1868 with Charles T. Harvey’s “el,” which ran on Greenwich Street from the Battery to Cortlandt Street, and Alfred Ely Beach’s short-lived subway, which opened in 1870 opposite City Hall. So if traffic congestion on the island has proliferated for at least 150 years, why be concerned now? Let me give you my history from the past halfcentury. I began my professional transportation career in the late 1960s as a New York City cab driver. After getting my graduate degree in transportation engineering, I joined the city Traffic Department in 1971. The heyday of road building was winding down, Robert Moses had been out of office for two-plus years, and the city had just finished making nearly every avenue on Manhattan a one-way street to accommodate the steady influx of cars. By the time I joined the Traffic Department, our young Mayor John Lindsay had already taken a policy stand that the city would become more transit-, bike- and pedestrian-friendly, based on a commitment to improve the environment. (I still remember his quip: “I don’t trust air I can’t see.”) We closed Central and Prospect parks to cars on weekends and weekdays in the summer. We reserved a lane of traffic on the Long Island Expressway for an exclusive bus lane and even tried an exclusive bus lane on Queens Boulevard that lasted less than an hour, as yellow taxis “captured” buses to protest their exclusion from the bus lanes.
Lindsay also proposed Broadway Plaza after his Madison Avenue mall was shut down. To fight traffic congestion we planned a “red zone” in Midtown banning cars from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays. When that failed politically we worked on tolling the East and Harlem River bridges and got it passed by the city, state and federal governments. Only an act of Congress could stop it – and that’s just what happened when two of our most progressive elected officials, then-Rep. Elizabeth Holtzman and Sen. Daniel Moynihan, effectively blocked the plan. I was a peon in the Lindsay administration but when Ed Koch took over at City Hall, I was elevated to Traffic Commissioner. I hosted Midtown Circulation meetings, which were open to the public and attracted a Columbia University professor named William Vickrey, who introduced me (and the world) to congestion pricing and in 1996 would receive the Nobel Prize in economics. In 1980 there was an 11-day transit strike and I was the chief architect of the city’s highly touted transportation plan. Koch and I thought this gave us wide latitude to change traffic dramatically, which we did by installing dual bus lanes on Madison Avenue, physically separating bike lanes on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh avenues, as well as Broadway, and keeping driveronly cars off the free bridges from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. (They would have to pay a toll at the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority crossings.) The bike lanes were ripped out after less than two months and our congestion pricing plan died after we were sued by the AAA and Garage Board of Trade and a court ruled that only the state, not the city, had the authority to keep driver-only cars off the East River bridges. My long history with congestion cit yandstateny.com
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The bottom line: About $1.3 billion could be raised annually, and if bonded, plug the entire MTA funding gap; it would create more than 30,000 new recurring local jobs that cannot be outsourced anywhere, thus keeping income and spending here in New York. Move NY would also play a significant role in Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero goals: By reducing congestion, especially on Manhattan, Move NY would result in approximately 6,800 fewer reported vehicle crashes annually, including 1,250 fewer crashes
involving injuries. Charles Komanoff, a Harvardtrained economist, modeled traffic flow in the city and predicted about a 20 percent increase in vehicle speeds with a concomitant reduction in air pollution, energy consumed and carbon emissions. The model was independently verified by the engineering firm HNTB. So there would be a significant savings in travel time, especially for those who now drive out of their way to avoid tolls. There is no plan in which everyone perceives themselves as winners, but
with Move NY, well over 90 percent of New Yorkers would see benefits, while even the less than 10 percent who might pay new tolls would have a less burdensome commute. About 50 legislators have now signed on to the plan, and we are getting ready for the big stage. Sam Schwartz is a former New York City traffic commissioner and architect of the Move NY congestion pricing plan. His latest book, “Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and The Fall of Cars” comes out Sept. 8.
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pricing is why I developed the Move NY Fair Tolling plan. The plan is more important now than ever, with traffic speeds dropping precipitously due to the most dramatic changes we’ve seen in transportation since the advent of the subway more than 100 years ago. Transportation network companies (Uber, Lyft and many more in other cities that are heading our way) are adding vehicle miles traveled to city streets at an alarming rate and, worse, many stay in motion or park in the most congested parts of Manhattan. Move NY is a way to keep us mobile even with the added traffic. Here’s why it’s fairer: There are 19 subway lines going from Brooklyn and Queens to Manhattan’s central business district, and 29 “free” car lanes. There are no subways and no free traffic lanes between the Bronx and Queens. So where drivers have good transit options we let them cross bridges for free; where drivers have no good transit options we charge each and every one of them. This is not only unfair, it’s bad policy – we subsidize drivers in the very-congested central business district, but charge an arm and a leg, as a Brooklynite might say, to cross the far less congested areas. This cockamamie policy also incentivizes drivers to “bridge-shop” in search of a crossing with no tolls, intensifying congestion and all its associated ills (i.e., more pollution and collisions) in places leading up to these crossings, like Downtown Brooklyn, East Midtown and Long Island City. In contrast, Move NY proposes to set tolls based on a logical formula: higher tolls where transit options are most available and lower tolls where transit is not easily accessible. This “rationalization” of tolls results in pricing all vehicle trips into or out of the Manhattan central business district, but lowers the price of all MTA bridgelinked trips with non-business district origins or destinations. So every MTAcontrolled bridge (including the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, Throgs Neck Bridge and Bronx-Whitestone Bridge) would have tolls lowered by up to $5 round-trip, while the tolls at the two MTA tunnels (Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and the Queens-Midtown Tunnel) would remain unchanged. The new tolls would be charged electronically “at speed” via E-ZPass or optical license-plate readers. It’s critical that the new tolling scheme not penalize commercial drivers, so tolls for registered commercial vehicles would be capped at one round-trip toll per day.
Manhattan Pride By JEREMY UNGER
Although the country has been celebrating this year’s historic Supreme Court decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, the fight for LGBT equality has always had its roots in the borough of Manhattan. From the bars and meeting halls where the gay-rights movement was born, to the hospitals that led the fight against HIV/ AIDS, Manhattan is filled with some of the most important landmarks in LGBT history.
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STONEWALL INN 53 CHRISTOPHER ST.
OFFICIAL NEW YORK CITY AIDS MEMORIAL AT ST. VINCENT’S TRIANGLE PARK WEST 12TH STREET AND GREENWICH AVENUE
The signature monument of New York’s gay rights movement has recently been the site of celebrations for the legalization of gay marriage in New York state, the end of the federal Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 in California, and this year’s decision by the Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage nationwide. But what gave the landmark its status was the Stonewall Riots, a series of violent clashes there in 1969 between police and the LGBT community over a police raid that is widely considered the beginning of the modern fight for LGBT rights in the U.S. Today, efforts are ongoing to have the park outside the bar designated a National Landmark after the city gave the bar and park that status earlier this year.
When the memorial at this new park – which opened last month – is finished in the spring, it will honor New York’s efforts to combat the disease that ravaged its gay community. The park, which was constructed as part of Rudin Management’s redevelopment of St. Vincent’s Hospital into luxury condominiums, honors both the victims of the disease and the hospital, which housed the first and largest AIDS ward on the East Coast and is often referred to as the “ground zero” of the AIDS epidemic. The memorial will take the form of a triangular steel canopy at the westernmost end of the park, and will include passages from Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” on its floor and a water structure at its center. cit yandstateny.com
THE LESBIAN, GAY, BISEXUAL & TRANSGENDER COMMUNITY CENTER 208 W. 13TH ST. Known simply as “The Center” by New York’s gay community, the LGBT Community Center has been open since 1983, offering the LGBT community access to health and wellness programs, arts, cultural events, recovery and family support services. Some of the most important advocacy groups in the gay community, including Larry Kramer’s AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) were founded at The Center, thanks to its open and safe meeting spaces for LGBT individuals. A 14-month renovation of The Center was completed in January, which provided a number of new and updated facilities, and restored a bathroom in which Keith Haring painted one of the last murals of his life before succumbing to AIDS.
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EDNA ST. VINCENT MILLAY’S HOUSE 75 1/2 BEDFORD ST. The narrowest house in New York City was also once the residence of the Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, who broke ground as an openly bisexual writer and feminist. Millay wrote some of her best work in the 8 ½-foot-wide house, including portions of her famous “Ballad of the Harp-Weaver.” Although Millay only lived in the house for two years, a plaque outside the residence still honors her time there. cit yandstateny.com
While the Stonewall Inn may be the most famous gay bar in New York City, it’s certainly not the oldest. Although Julius’ has not always been welcoming to the LGBT crowd, its opening in 1840 makes it one of the longest-running bars in the city, and it has assumed a number of different roles, including as a speakeasy during Prohibition. But by the 1950s the bar started attracting a gay clientele, which led to clashes between bartenders and gay patrons. On April 26, 1966, four gay activists staged a “sip-in” to challenge the state Liquor Authority’s regulation against bars serving homosexuals. Accompanied by reporters, the group visited a number of bars until they were denied service at Julius’, which eventually led to legal challenges that reversed service bans for LGBT customers. The bar has been a supporter of the gay community ever since.
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JULIUS’ BAR 159 W. 10TH ST.
Views of
Manhattan 32
Nobody has better views than Manhattan. On a clear day, after all, you can see forever. So we reached out to all the elected officials in the borough – the City Council members, Assembly members, state senators – and asked them about THEIR views – specifically, we asked them for the one thing they thought would make Manhattan a better place. Their ideas – from new transit options and rejuvenated waterfronts to ways to make the most of the island’s finite amount of space – were as big and bold as the borough itself.
city & state — September 8, 2015
So read on for their visions for the future of Manhattan.
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Culture
city & state — September 8, 2015
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Jerrold Nadler U.S. Congressman 10th District Democrat
For years, I have worked to curtail tourist helicopter traffic in our city, which poses serious safety and quality-oflife problems while adding little economic benefit to the city. The Downtown Manhattan Heliport at Pier 6 is the only remaining location for tourist helicopter takeoff, and the neighborhoods surrounding the helicopter flight paths continue to be barraged by tourist helicopter flights. Along with my colleagues representing the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfronts, from Red Hook to Washington Heights, I have long called for a complete ban on tourist helicopters from the Downtown Heliport, which would improve the lives of many New York City residents. Additionally, this year, we have seen dramatic strides toward equality for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
community – something I have been proud to work toward for years. New York has a right to be especially proud of these successes, given that the modern LGBT civil rights movement started right here in our backyard with the Stonewall rebellion in 1969. The Stonewall rebellion, and the civil rights struggle it launched, deserves permanent recognition by the federal government as part of our national history, alongside iconic civil rights locations like Seneca Falls and Selma, Alabama. A national monument at Stonewall would be the first in the National Park System dedicated to the history of the LGBT community, and would ensure this important history is preserved and retold for future generations. I support efforts by advocates and the National Park Service to explore the potential of creating such a monument.
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Education
Sheldon Silver
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New residential towers continue to open in Manhattan every month. They bring new children to communities who then need seats at local schools. In my lower Manhattan district, my School Overcrowding Task Force has successfully fought for several new schools to accommodate this kind of population growth. The city should not force communities to beg and fight for needed schools when the population grows and local schools become overcrowded. When a certain number of new residential units are created in a community, and that community does not have unused school seats, that should automatically trigger
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the construction of a new elementary school. Good neighborhood schools probably encourage more families to relocate to a community than anything else. Growing communities increase tax revenues for the city and bring about new services and facilities throughout the city. But we need a fair and sensible system to create schools in growing communities. A plan that triggers the construction of a new school when the population grows would make neighborhoods throughout Manhattan and the entire city more attractive to working families. I would strongly encourage the city to establish such a process.
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Assemblyman 65th District Democrat
Housing / Real Estate
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Margaret Chin
city & state — September 8, 2015
City Councilwoman 1st District Democrat
We should demand that developers who build as-ofright compensate the city for the impact these projects have on our already packed classrooms, parks, streets and sidewalks. Over the past decade, the proliferation of as-of-right development, air rights transfers and conversions of commercial space to residential use have resulted in a population explosion throughout Manhattan and infrastructure development has not kept pace. We need to rethink our approach
to land use and urban planning in this city and create a system in which as-of-right developers are required to mitigate the impact of new development on vital city services by paying for their fair share. Taxpayers already have a stake in the development of our city by funding tax credits and other incentives for developers. The real estate community should return the favor by helping fund the services used by all New Yorkers – including the new residents of the projects they build.
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Simple cell phone videos have recently helped us see the killing of unarmed black men, for no good reason. What’s equally tragic – and somehow unseen – is the loss of an entire generation of black, and other low-income and minority children, because they haven’t been given a quality education. When cell phones capture the brutal mistreatment and killing of black people across the country, from Eric Garner to Freddie Gray – helping fuel the Black Lives Matter movement – they add vital context to the discussion, and lift the veil on injustices that were previously “unseen.” The power of these videos is their objective view of heinous acts. It’s hard to hide from the truth when you can see it every day in hidefinition. Without cell phone video, and now body cameras, we’re left to ask: would we have known about Eric Garner or Freddie Gray? More to the point: would there have been any outcry over their deaths at all? By seeing this injustice, society can, I hope, end it.
Assemblywoman 66th District Democrat
The most pressing problem in Manhattan is the exorbitant cost of space. It’s not just affordable housing, but also storefront space for neighborhood shops, or adequate office space for small businesses. The crisis has affected crucial social services and cultural organizations that are vital to a liveable city, but are challenged to find affordable space to remain in communities they have always served. The most vibrant neighborhoods have always depended on mixed incomes and mixed use. These neighborhoods have been magnets for new arrivals, both young and not so young, and creative folks who bring a new wave of energy to mix with longtime residents and businesses. These neighborhoods are attractive to visitors, and now, a wealthier class that may not even live here full time. As areas become more desirable, prices for space are rising. The rapidly escalating costs
of space erodes mixed-income and mixed-use communities as it affects all aspects of our local economy: Young people can’t afford to live here in a permanent fashion, talented performers and artists are forced out, quaint long-standing shops evaporate, making our neighborhoods more sterile. The services real people need, from dry cleaners to supermarkets and laundromats, are all disappearing, making it even more difficult for average New Yorkers to remain in the communities they have made desirable. This growing transient nature of our communities hollows out the very human capital that spent time organizing block associations and other groups that maintained community spirit. The city needs to address this move away from mixed-income and mixed-use neighborhoods, which is the essence of the diversity that has made Manhattan the special place it is.
We don’t have cell phones and video to find out how our kids are learning, but we do have the state’s assessments and other key reporting to let us know. While not perfect, these are our most objective tools for assessing and addressing the needs of our kids. Without this information, we have a system that simply “isn’t fair” or one that shows us nothing at all. Remember, without assessments we wouldn’t know about the very achievement gaps that we’re working to close. And with the recent release of state test data, and the higher standards they reflect, we see the reforms are starting to work. Gaps need to close faster for our low-income and minority students but Black and Hispanic students – guided by teachers who now have deeper insight and awareness to the growth of their kids – are making progress. Despite this good news, lots of families—predominantly suburban and rural white ones it seems—continue to make a game of the quest for some objectivity in our schools by opting out of the state’s assessments. Convinced nothing will happen to them—and believing the public’s accountability mechanism beneath them—they’ve instead decided to corrupt “objectivity” for everyone. But in a world where kids of color are more likely to attend schools that don’t prepare them for a career it’s only responsible that we have the assessment process so we know what’s going on. No child is better off not knowing how they are doing, just like no person, of any color, is better off when we are policed with no objectivity. Both the rules and the results matter here. Assessments predate body cameras but they should both be here to stay. And the lesson to be learned from both is not just for some of us, but for all of us. We have seen that when we don’t collect data on how law enforcement interacts with society, people can lose their lives. When parents opt their kids out of tests – with the singular goal of tearing the entire system of assessments down – many students who are left can lose their education – and ultimately lose their future. In both of these cases, everyone is better off seeing the problem so we can change the world. Derrell Bradford is Executive Director of the New York Campaign for Achievement Now and a member of the High Achievement New York coalition.
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city & state — September 8, 2015
Deborah Glick
So how do capture the same objective look into our classrooms so we can improve our schools and make sure our kids, particularly kids of color, grow up to be prosperous and free?
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Housing / Real Estate Corey Johnson City Councilman 3rd District Democrat
With unprecedented real estate development happening in our neighborhoods, we have to use every tool at our disposal to preserve affordability – both for tenants and for small businesses. If we don’t, we’ll lose the very things that make New York so special. New York City must reclaim control of its housing laws
from Albany. Lawmakers from hundreds of miles away are in no position to determine the fate of 2.5 million rent-stabilized tenants in the five boroughs. And to keep our mom-and-pop shops afloat, we need to enact policies that will give them a fighting chance against corporate chain stores with unlimited coffers.
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Rebecca Seawright Assemblywoman 76th District Democrat
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are appropriately responsive to seniors. We should consider expanding and reshaping with greater flexibility together with senior-oriented services like Section 202, the main federal housing program for seniors. The larger point here is that most seniors cannot easily afford to grow older in a retirement community. Repaying our seniors this way, in recognition of their service and value, and appreciating the importance of their health and vitality, should be at the heart of our most important big ideas for the future of Manhattan.
José Serrano State Senator 29th District Democrat
Manhattan is a diverse borough with countless cultural and historical attractions, bringing together New Yorkers and tourists from all over the world. As we think about the future of Manhattan, I believe it is imperative that we work to preserve and increase the dwindling stock of affordable housing. We must strengthen our rent regulation laws so that New York City does not become
exclusively for the wealthy, and so the tenants who have helped shape our city can continue to stay in their homes. It is my hope that my colleagues in government and I can work together to pass pro-tenant legislation that allows New Yorkers to stay in their communities now and in the future, which will ensure that New York will continue to be home to a vibrant and culturally diverse population.
city & state — September 8, 2015
Affordable housing would make Manhattan a better place to live. Senior citizens in particular are too often ignored in the hustle and bustle of Manhattan life and services, even in the face of an 8 percent increase boroughwide in nativeborn seniors and a 25 percent increase in foreign-born seniors, according to the 2010 census. We know that in the next two decades, the number of New York City residents 65 and older will increase by 35 percent. So we need a big idea to ensure that federal, state and city affordable housing plans
Housing / Real Estate Mark Levine City Councilman 7th District Democrat
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Linda Rosenthal
city & state — September 8, 2015
Assemblywoman 67th District Democrat
Every week, my office receives at least one eviction case. Right now, we are fighting to prevent seven constituents from being evicted by their landlords, and we are working to restore essential services, like gas and electric, in multiple buildings districtwide. By and large, these constituents are senior citizens who live on meager monthly Social Security checks as their only source of income. These constituents have done everything right; they worked hard when they were young and never expected that in their twilight years they would be unable to afford the explosive rents in Manhattan and would be facing eviction and even homelessness. This is the consequence of a city that is no longer affordable to the people who helped to build it, or to newcomers
wanting to start their lives here. Again and again, opportunities to take action to preserve existing units of rent-regulated housing have been met with resistance. Instead, many have worked to create loopholes large enough to drive a truck through for some greedy landlords to evict their rent-regulated tenants. And those who rent at market rate have no rights whatsoever, including the right to a renewal lease, and they, too, are at the mercy of owners looking to make their next windfall. If we truly care about the city of New York and love all the things that have helped to make it great – its diversity, its opportunity and its grit – then we have a responsibility to protect the hardworking men and women, the senior citizens and middleclass families who have toiled to make it here.
From the reopening of the High Bridge to the first ticker tape parade honoring female athletes in more than 50 years, there’s been much to be excited about this summer in Manhattan. But this is also a time of tremendous challenges for our borough – especially for thousands of mom-and-pop stores which have been a source of vibrancy, character and diversity in our neighborhoods for generations. Tragically, these vital establishments are closing at an alarming rate from one end of Manhattan to another. “Mom and pops” are up against the double-barreled threat of rising rents and mounting competition from chains. Small stores in Manhattan now routinely confront rents which double or triple – or worse – when their lease is up for renewal. Many now must compete against national merchants benefiting from marketing budgets and other resources which a local entrepreneur can only dream of. The result is a wave of closures of flower shops, diners, bodegas, independent pharmacies,
pizzerias, cafes, cleaners and more. Many of these businesses are locally owned. Many have been vehicles for advancement for immigrant entrepreneurs. That is certainly true in my district, where recently in southern Washington Heights nearly an entire block of Latinoowned businesses was evicted. To preserve the small businesses that are so vital to our neighborhoods, we need to act on many fronts. We need stronger laws to prevent harassment of commercial tenants by unscrupulous landlords. We need to give commercial tenants more leverage in lease renewal negotiations. We need zoning laws which favor smaller storefronts and preclude the kind of expansive frontage favored by chains. None of these policies will be easy to achieve, and none will guarantee that every neighborhood store will stay in business. But through action we can give mom and pops a fighting chance. And that, without a doubt, will make our borough stronger.
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Parks / Open Space
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Liz Krueger
city & state — September 8, 2015
State Senator 28Th District Democrat
Manhattan is a great place to live, work and play, but we have our fair share of challenges as well. One of the greatest structural challenges we face on our tiny island is an incredible level of density and a shortage of open space – there are just too many people trying to fit on the head of a pin. In some areas there are too many pedestrians to fit on the sidewalks, and pedestrians, cars and bikes are all vying for the same space on our streets.
I frequently hear complaints from my constituents that there is no place to teach their kids to ride a bike and not enough places to just sit outside and read or think. If I could wave a magic wand to create more breathing room for us all, I certainly would. In the meantime, I think it will always be a struggle for the people of Manhattan and their leaders to carve out every last square foot of open space that we can. cit yandstateny.com
Ben Kallos City Councilman 5th District Democrat
In a crowded borough in desperate need of open space, parks must be a top priority. We can reclaim our waterfront for running, biking and boating with a 30-mile green ring around the perimeter of Manhattan. It would enhance our parkland for families to enjoy, a vision I share with many across the borough. The waterfronts should belong
to everyone. On the East Side, my vision for the esplanade includes thinking big this way, whether it is using public-private partnerships to have hospitals and universities invest in open space, or winning $35 million in city funds to repair the East River Esplanade and ensure it flourishes for generations to come.
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Robert Rodriguez Manhattan would be a better and more equitable borough if the same attention and resources were provided to the East River Esplanade that have been lavished on other waterfronts across the city. The esplanade sections of El Barrio/East Harlem and the Upper East Side have been neglected for decades and cit yandstateny.com
the effects are painfully evident: The roof has collapsed on the pier at 107th street and sinkholes line the esplanade itself. Targeted investment could remove existing safety hazards, increase muchneeded recreational space, and provide East Harlem with a desperately needed connection to the waterfront.
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Assemblyman 68th District Democrat
Transportation
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Daniel Garodnick City Councilman 4th District Democrat
New York’s 24-hour system of mass transit is key to our city’s vibrancy. And yet our ability to grow – and even maintain it – is today in jeopardy. The MTA is facing a $15 billion deficit in its $32 billion capital budget, and without a consistent revenue stream, it will likely be unable to afford basic improvements, let alone a Second Avenue Subway that takes you from 125th Street down to Hanover Square. We have taken matters into our own hands in East Midtown – the city’s commercial core, and the home to many key transit hubs, including Grand Central. At my urging, the City Council recently rezoned Vanderbilt Avenue, and created a framework to deliver private investment in our transit system in connection with commercial development. The immediate result will be $220 million in improvements
to the overcrowded Lexington line and Grand Central, which will, among other things, help move trains more quickly through the system. And every dollar will be paid by SL Green, a private developer, which is required to deliver the improvements before any tenants can occupy its new building at 1 Vanderbilt Ave. In the absence of clear and consistent funding for the MTA, we are going to need to continue to find public-private partnerships like this in order to improve our system. It’s not a cure-all, but it certainly is going to have a real impact on straphangers. Securing the continued speed, reliability and resiliency of our transit system is key to ensuring our future success, and that would certainly help make Manhattan – and all of New York City – a stronger and more livable place. cit yandstateny.com
Dan Quart Assemblyman 73rd District Democrat
I’d love to see more Manhattanites follow the MTA’s recommendations about backpacks. Until we’re able to appropriately fund the MTA,
we’re going to have to get used to crowded trains. Taking off a backpack on a crowded train is an easy way to make room for everyone else.
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Ydanis Rodriguez Congestion pricing. Right now the borough is flooded with drivers clogging our streets, contaminating our air and decreasing the quality of life for Manhattan residents. Corridors like Canal Street have become hotspots for crashes because of heavy freight truck use. By more equitably tolling our bridges we’ll be able to cit yandstateny.com
streamline our road system, decrease congestion and increase the safety and quality of life for Manhattan residents. The leading cause of death for children under 14 isn’t drugs or disease – it’s street violence. By reducing congestion on our roadways we can increase safety and reduce the lives lost to our streets.
city & state — September 8, 2015
City Councilman 10th District Democrat
Transportation
Inez Dickens City Councilwoman 9th District Democrat
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Carolyn Maloney
city & state — September 8, 2015
U.S. Congresswoman 12th District Democrat
There is no doubt in my mind that Manhattan needs the Second Avenue Subway. Since I was first elected to Congress, building the subway has been one of my top priorities. I began a campaign to resuscitate the project after it had lain dormant for decades, and I worked incredibly hard to push through a full funding grant agreement for Phase 1 of the subway and to include $1.3 billion in federal funding for the subway in appropriation bills. Phase 1 will cost approximately $4.4 billion, and all of the funding is already committed, with all of the federal match already appropriated by Congress, but we need to move forward with Phase 2. Our city has been expanding
rapidly, but in over 60 years New York City’s subway system has not increased its capacity. Our subways are hot and overcrowded. The Lexington Avenue line is the most overcrowded subway in the nation and commuters are desperately in need of relief. A subway line on Second Avenue will relieve congestion. Phase 1 is currently over 80 percent completed, and is on track to start receiving passengers by December 2016. I, along with my fellow local electeds, have been keeping a close eye on the progress to ensure that construction remains on schedule. I am greatly looking forward to the day the subway opens and begins servicing over 200,000 people.
One thing that will make northern Manhattan better is improving our city’s transportation infrastructure, which would lessen traffic congestion. 125th Street is a major artery in northern Manhattan that moves and services thousands of people, through four train stops with 10 major lines (1 on Broadway; A, B, C, D on St. Nicholas; 2, 3 on Lenox; and 4, 5, 6 on Lexington), Metro-North, and four MTA buses (M60 SBS, M100, M101, and Bx15). By expanding the Second Avenue Subway into Harlem, it will alleviate congestion and provide another alternative to the riders. The MTA moves New York, and this expansion will help a great percentage of New Yorkers. In addition, reopening the Central Park drive-through to 110th Street during rush hour
will allow northbound cars to get to Harlem faster. When this route was open to drivers, we were able to get to Harlem quicker and it let us enjoy the scenic views that Central Park offers. We were always aware of our surroundings, and drivers as well as pedestrians were cognizant of the traffic laws. Many people argue that Central Park should remain closed to automobiles, but most of them don’t travel uptown and deal with the traffic during rush hour on our highways and local lines. As our city increases in population, it is our job to fortify our infrastructure so our city can handle the increased strain of its numerous commuters. Expanding the Second Avenue Subway and providing another alternative for cars will help congestion and get us around Manhattan, especially northern Manhattan, quicker.
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Transportation Richard Gottfried Assemblyman 75th District Democrat
Helen Rosenthal 48
City Councilwoman 6th District Democrat
ingenious solution: a West Side ferry. In May I joined Rodriguez and our West Side colleagues, Council members Mark Levine and Corey Johnson, to call on the city to fund a ferry that would run along the Hudson, from Inwood to the Financial District. Most of the docking infrastructure is already in place. The ferry would alleviate congestion on our overburdened subway lines, and it would offer another alternative to cars. As the city expands ferry service in the East River from Sound View to South Brooklyn, I hope we can do the same along the Hudson River.
have been considered for years, including the 42nd Street light rail/Vision42 and the onceplanned station at 41st Street and 10th Avenue on the new 7 line subway extension to Hudson Yards. Roads, sidewalks and bridges must be repaired, and “traffic calming” measures expanded, to ensure the safety of all travelers. Outdated infrastructure is not exclusive to Manhattan, and is a growing concern across the U.S. It is unacceptable for a city that so often takes the lead in public policy not to be ahead of the curve on infrastructure. The capital plan should be funded by state, city and federal revenue – not by increasing fares on riders.
city & state — September 8, 2015
While Manhattan’s West Side is well served by the 1, 2, 3, A and C subway lines, these trains can barely hold the number of people who want to ride them. Try catching an express train at 72nd Street at rush hour, and at every train door you’ll see people trying to wedge themselves in, often giving up to try the next train (or the one after that). People complain that a sardine couldn’t squeeze in. According to the MTA, ridership is at record highs for the West Side lines, with over 350,000 people riding them each day. Council Transportation Committee Chairman Ydanis Rodriguez suggested an
Improving transportation – especially mass transit – would benefit all of us. Transit riders (and I’m one of them every day) face long waits for trains and buses, delays and breakdowns, and large stretches of Manhattan (and every borough) are left inaccessible by public transportation. We need to fully fund the MTA’s 2015-19 capital plan, including better Select Bus Service; installation of more station “Help Points,” announcement equipment and arrival time signs; and moving the Second Avenue subway plan forward to phase two. And we need to better serve a rapidly growing West Side by not neglecting projects that
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BACK & FORTH
Long before a multitude of costumed cartoon characters, superheroes and topless, painted women descended on Times Square, the Naked Cowboy was already an institution in the neighborhood. Known for wearing only a cowboy hat, cowboy boots and a guitar strategically held over his briefs, he has been making his rounds for over a decade and a half, giving him a firsthand perspective on the recent controversies surrounding Times Square’s street performers. The Naked Cowboy, whose real name is Robert John Burck, spoke with City & State’s Jon Lentz about the calls to remove him if the topless women are banned, who he’s supporting in the 2016 presidential race, and his recent forays into brassieres.
Baring it All
The following is an edited transcript. City & State: What’s your take on all the hubbub over the topless women in Times Square? Naked Cowboy: They’re naked, I’m naked. I have a hard time having a problem with that.
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C&S: You recently put on a bra. NC: Well, when I wore the bra, a lot of people took it as a critique, as if I was telling them to put on a bra. I was really speaking as a colleague, because I know them. I’ve been here for years. I think it’s more about the fact that it’s been a long, hot summer, and as the summer goes on, homelessness, everything, proliferates. October, they’ll all be gone. I know we’ve had a long summer after a long winter, so I think they’re turning it into de Blasio’s policies and everything else as to why there’s all these people here. I think it’s just the heat. As far as the naked girls here, they’re doing exactly what they’ve been doing for three years. They haven’t been that many, and winter comes and they go away. C&S: You briefly ran for president, and you’re also originally from Ohio, a key swing state. So what do you think of the current crop of presidential candidates? NC: Donald Trump, all the way! He’s a real man. My father’s the pro tem of the Republican Party in Cincinnati, a genealogist 40 years, a volunteer fireman 30 years, city council 30 years, vice mayor and mayor at times. I fight with him my whole life and now I’m just like him.
A Q&A WITH
THE NAKED COWBOY
C&S: Some elected officials have said that if the topless ladies go, you should have to go too. What is your response? NC: Well, try it. That’s the whole problem. Why are we suffering in the financial markets? The Chinese are trying to organize free trade with top-down policies that don’t work. Why don’t they work? Because people at the bottom know that it’s bullshit. People spend the money the way they want to spend it, and top-down doesn’t work. So it’s the same thing. When I read that stuff, I when I’m at home again after 10 hours of work, a little tired, and I think, man, they’re going to get rid of me! But the bottom line is I literally drive in here every day. Everybody sees my car, they know it’s me. I pull in the garage, I’ve been in the same garage 16 years, and they all know it’s me. So if some idiot up in Congress might say, “Oh, well, if this is inappropriate for the girls, it’s inappropriate for the boys” – first they’re just not aware that the girls are not doing what I’m doing. They haven’t put in 16 years, snow, winter, fall, every season. They haven’t been there with the cops watching me freeze my ass off and pick up people and act like I’m totally warm and comfy. All that hubbub about what they’re going to do based on theory, it doesn’t reach the ground. I’ve been here for years. I’m from 47th to 42nd all day long, and I’ll do it every day until I die, and they love me. They care about me. They know I don’t offend anyone. They’ve seen me get slapped in the face and walk away and apologize. I have a long-term perspective. I have a brand. You can’t just turn it into “they’re naked, you’re naked.” Somebody stupider than all of us will come in here and take the pressure off the naked girls, just like the naked girls took the pressure off the characters, who are the biggest, most horrible thing to happen in Times Square, and nobody’s even talked about them, because we’ve got a new enemy.
For the full interview with the Naked Cowboy, including his thoughts on allowing traffic back into Times Square and how he first got into the business, visit www.cityandstateny.com.
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*
This is an invitation to apply (applicants must satisfy certain eligibility requirements) and not an offer or commitment to provide access to capital. Restrictions apply.
** Funding time calculation reflects timing from funding approval to initiation of ACH funds transfer. Settlement of funds to customer’s bank account may take additional time. CAN Capital makes capital available to businesses through its subsidiaries: Merchant Cash Advances by CAN Capital Merchant Services, Inc. (CCMS), and business loans through CAN Capital Asset Servicing, Inc. (CCAS). All business loans obtained through CCAS are made by WebBank, a Utah-chartered Industrial Bank, member FDIC. ©2015 CAN Capital. All rights reserved.