Brian Kavanagh goes Back in the District (Page 11), in Imagemakers, Eldin Villafane, below, gives his take on broadening the appeal of Latino politics and products (Page 27),
Vol. 2, No. 4
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and James Molinaro, above, stays in for his Power Lunch, but takes out the hot sauce (Page 33).
September 2007
RISING
STARS 40 UNDER 40
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The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
INDEX:
Gay Divorce Comes What Became of the Ivan to New York 2 Lafayette Children’s Center? 5
In the Chair: George Winner
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13
Scott Stringer Returns to Washington Heights 28
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SE PTE MBE R 2007
CITY HALL
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Before Gay Marriage, Gay Divorce Comes to New York Manhattan Supreme Court decision may preempt political wrangling over same-sex unions BY LEAH NELSON HOUGH THE DEMOCRATICALLYled Assembly passed a bill authorizing same-sex marriage in June, the bill seems unlikely to pass the Republicandominated Senate to become law. But even though gay marriage may be far off in New York, gay divorce is already here, courtesy of a recent Manhattan Supreme Court decision. And it all revolves around a four-story, eight-room townhouse with four-and-ahalf bathrooms on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Once shared by Yaffa Cheslow and Constance Huttner, the building was sold on August 16. The townhouse’s sale came at the end of a bitter debate like that of many divorcing couples trying to divide their assets. Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Rosalyn Richter’s May 30, 2007 ruling, which drew on partition principle to determine who would get what, was equally unremarkable in the annals of matrimonial law. The remarkable part was that Richter used matrimonial law as the grounds for her decision: Cheslow and Huttner were not married. They could not be, though they had been together as a couple for
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explicitly based her ruling on how Cheslow and Huttner “essentially considered themselves married and operated as a couple,” she wrote. “They held themselves out as, and were, in all respects, a family.” The judge refunded each woman her initial contribution to the down payment and initial costs for the townhouse— about $800,000 for Huttner and $100,000 for Cheslow—because there was written evidence that Cheslow had promised to give back the difference. Though Huttner, a lawyer at an upscale city firm, had been the primary breadwinner while Cheslow, who was younger and earned considerably less in her job as an attorney for a Manhattan hedge fund, Richter split the remaining proceeds evenly between the two—a decision that would be perfectly typical in a divorce action but is unheard of outside of domestic relations law. Some lawyers think the judge may have overstepped her bounds. Bob Cohen, a matrimonial attorney who has advised many same-sex couples on legal issues, said that by accounting for the nature of the women’s relationship, Richter was “going a little farther than standard operating procedure of judges” in partition actions involving unmarried couples.
The First Department first reversed the Hernandez trial judge’s decision that marriage was a basic right belonging to all in December 2005, leading to an appeal and subsequent affirmation of that ruling by the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. If an Appellate Division ruling on the Huttner-Cheslow decision were appealed and the Court of Appeals agreed to hear it, the case would come before the same panel that put the kibosh on samesex marriage in 2006. Huttner’s lawyer filed a notice of appeal on Sept. 4. By the time the Appellate Division hears arguments from both sides and renders its decision, it is likely that at least two years will have passed since it first rejected gay marriage in late 2005. It will be up to the judges of the First Department to determine whether they ruled correctly the first time or to change legal direction on the issue. Regardless of how the decision might ultimately fare on appeal, advocates of the same-sex marriage bill applauded the decision. “I think the Legislature and the judges and administrative agencies ought to do everything they can in New York to recognize same-sex families, and that seems to be what this judge is trying to do,” said Assembly Member Richard Gottfried, who carried the bill legalizing gay marriage for years before ceding it to fellow Manhattan Democrat Daniel O’Donnell. (Separately, Gottfried supported Richter
Even though gay marriage may be far off in New York, gay divorce is already here, courtesy of a recent Manhattan Supreme Court decision. years, because Cheslow and Huttner, both women, are lesbians. Though Cheslow and Huttner were wed in their church and had taken many steps to intertwine themselves legally, officially they were tenants in common at their shared home, just like any other roommates—or business partners, for that matter—would have been. By law, when tenants in common sell a co-owned building, each gets an equal share of the proceeds, unless a judge determines that one has been significantly more responsible, financially or otherwise, for the building. But in this decision, Richter looked beyond the two women’s substantially disparate financial contributions and
“Will it survive appeal? It would be almost impossible to speculate,” said Cohen. “I would hope it would because I think it’s enlightened and progressive, and I think that’s good.” The “elephant in the room,” according to Professor Arthur Leonard of New York Law School, is the Court of Appeals’ 2006 decision in Hernandez v. Robles, which concluded that the fight for same-sex marriage belongs in the Legislature, not the courtroom. Leonard, who is openly gay and a close friend of Richter’s who is herself openly gay, said that the decision might flounder in the Supreme Court Appellate Division of the First Judicial Department, which hears appeals from Manhattan and the Bronx.
when she ran for Supreme Court.) Assembly Member Matthew Titone (D-Staten Island), who is openly gay and another strong proponent of the bill, agreed. “I think it’s commendable that she’s looking to domestic relations law,” he said. According to Titone, Cheslow and Huttner’s situation “seems to underline the need in New York to have marriage equality.” But he does not expect gay marriage opponents will see the decision in the same light. “I don’t think this case will impact Joe Bruno’s decision” not to support the bill when it reaches the State Senate, he said, referring to the chamber’s majority leader. Some have indicated that Richter’s decision could have a negative effect on efforts to legalize same sex marriage. Explaining that he feels “threatened” by Richter’s “overreach,” Assembly Member Brian Kolb (R-Canandaigua), a vocal opponent of same-sex marriage, said that if Richter’s decision were appealed, he would consider introducing to the Assembly an amendment to current domestic relations law specifically disallowing its application to unmarried couples. “I think we’re having this problem on a national level, where judges are being activist and trying to rewrite the law,” said Kolb. “It’s the Legislature’s job to make laws, and it’s the judges’ job to apply them.” leahanelson@yahoo.com Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.
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For 2008, No Bull’s-Eye on Towns’ Back Barron sitting out rematch, no major challengers arise for longtime primary target BY DAN RIVOLI DOLPHUS TOWNS IS NOT ABOUT TO LET 2006 happen all over again. In last year’s Democratic congressional primary, Towns got only 47 percent of the vote, edging out Charles Barron, the combative City Council member, who accused him of being a “Republicrat” for voting with the GOP on labor issues and of ignoring the district. Towns said he underestimated Barron, largely because of his confrontational public persona. “Based on Barron and what he stood for and what he was about, I didn’t take him that seriously,” Towns said. Towns’ 4,000 vote margin of victory in seeking his 13th term made for his tightest election to date. Had Barron captured the more than 6,000 votes that went to thenAssembly Member Roger Green, he would have won. Towns says he learned an important lesson: never take an opponent for granted. He is expecting a challenge next year, and if one does arise, he plans to be greeting voters on street corners, at subway stations and in community meetings. “I didn’t get out there and do the things Ed Towns does in a campaign,” Towns said. “But this time around, whoever it is, I will not take them lightly.” Already, Towns has stepped up his presence in the district, which covers parts of Williamsburg and extends west to East New York. Barron claimed credit for this change. “He’s working harder than he’s ever worked in his life,” Barron said. Last year’s race was not the first time Towns faced a primary challenge supported by prominent Democrats, nor was it the first time that he followed up a narrow victory with a promise to increase his presence in the district. In 1998, a year after Towns endorsed Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) for reelection, former Mayor David Dinkins (D) encouraged Rev. Al Sharpton to run in the primary. Sharpton declined, and Barry Ford, a lawyer and fundraiser, ran as the Democratic Party’s opposition candidate. Kenneth Diamondstone, a community activist, ran as well. Ford got 36 percent of the 1998 vote. Ford ran again in 2000, receiving fewer votes in that race. Towns does not have major opposition for 2008 so far. Looking ahead to next year, Barron has decided to forgo a rematch, instead gearing up for a 2009 run for Brooklyn borough president. Other elected officials who live in the district expect to be sitting out the race as well. State Sen. John Sampson said he is not interested in Congress, and City Council Member Letitia James said she thinks Towns is “a shoo-in for reelection.” Assembly Member William Boyland Jr., meanwhile, said he would not challenge Towns in a primary, but would consider running if the congressman retires. Assembly Member Annette Robinson—who considered running against Towns in 1998—did not return calls placed to her Albany and Brooklyn offices. The only potential challenger to arise so far is Kevin Powell, who first became known as a cast member in the first season of MTV’s The Real World in 1992, and has since worked as an author and public speaker. Powell was briefly in the congressional race in 2006, dropping out last July. In an interview with ColorLines Magazine earlier this year, Powell said he will run for Congress in 2008. He launched a campaign website, www.kevinpowellforcongress.com, on which he wrote that he has “decided
Rep. Edolphus Towns has attracted strong challenges in the past, but he seems set to scare off all opposition in his race for a 14th term in 2008.
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to embark on an amazing personal and political journey. I am running as a Democrat for a seat in the United States Congress in the 10th Congressional District here in Brooklyn, New York. AND I NEED YOUR HELP.” The website accepts online donations and encourages other fundraising and campaign events. But at an August 16 anti-Iraq War rally, Powell would not commit to run. “The website is up,” he said. “That doesn’t mean I’m running.” Powell was a featured speaker at the rally. He criticized the cost of the war in general and its effect on Brooklyn’s 10th Congressional district specifically. But asked if he planned to join the race, he said, “I don’t know. I’m here to talk about the war.” Towns was targeted in part last year because of his record on labor issues, particularly his 2005 vote in favor of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which unions charged would lead to outsourcing of manufacturing jobs. Labor activists vowed to support any candidate who ran against the 15 Democrats who sided with Republicans on the trade bill and gave it the margin to pass. But Towns received almost all the labor money which went into the 2006 race. Barron’s only union political action committee contribution was $2,000 from the Mason Tenders District Council, a construction workers union that was not affected by the trade bill. “It’s kind of a solidarity thing,” said Mike McGuire, director of the Mason Tenders PAC. He called the Barron campaign contribution “a message to Towns.” Green received contributions totaling $500 from various members of 1199 SEIU, the health care union. Union money did pour into the race, however. Towns received almost $16,000 from unions and trade associations. And already for the 2008 election, Towns has amassed $12,000 in labor money. Jonathan Tasini, executive director of the Labor Research Association, said that unions often support Democratic incumbents. “He does not have great love in
the labor movement,” said Tasini about Towns. “But there’s still a long road from the labor movement to say ‘let’s take this guy out.’” Tasini said that Towns has been voting “better” on labor issues. But Towns said critiques of his union record are uninformed. Critics who felt slighted by the CAFTA vote have not done their “research or homework,” he said. “Ed Towns is about labor.” After 24 years in Congress, Towns is not planning a retirement party any time soon. “I’m a young 73,” he said. “I haven’t even thought about retirement.” When the time comes, Towns said that he expects his son, Assembly Member Darryl Towns (D-Brooklyn), to run to succeed him. The younger Towns expressed some interest in going to Washington. “It’s a moot point right now,” he said. “When there is a vacancy, I’ll consider a run for Congress.” The elder Towns said that if and when the time comes for his son to run for his seat, he will take a lesson from the 2006 primary in the neighboring district, formerly represented by Major Owens. Owens’ son, Chris, came in last in that race, which was won by Yvette Clarke. Unlike Chris Owens, Darryl Towns has long been an elected official in his own right, having first been elected to the Assembly in 1992. But Ed Towns does not plan to take any chances. He said he would pull together support from tenant associations, community leaders and the clergy. “I would call them and say to them, ‘Look, this is something that I would like to see happen,’” Towns said. “I don’t think Major did that.” The elder Towns expects his son will be a strong candidate in his own right—so strong, in fact, that the Assemblyman is the only candidate who worries the congressman. “He’s gotta wait,” Towns said, laughing. “I hope he doesn’t decide to run against me.” drivoli@manhattanmedia.com
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SEPTEM B ER 2007
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The Queens State Cash Sinkhole Five years, $300,000 in state money, and $1-million windfall later, Lafayette children’s center site being developed for five private three-family homes BY ADAM PINCUS 2002, THE STATE AGREED TO allocate $1 million toward the construction of a building to be named the Ivan C. Lafayette Children’s Center, in honor of the neighborhood’s long-serving Assembly member. The center, expected to be completed by 2004, would have been across the street from the playground at the northeast corner of Junction Boulevard and 34th Avenue, a hub for families, especially immigrant ones, in Jackson Heights. But the $2.6-million project collapsed and the state lost nearly $300,000. Today, instead of the location being a four-story center with a capacity for 138 children, it is a construction site where developers are preparing to build 15 residential units. Lafayette, who has represented the area for 31 years and also serves as a deputy speaker of the Assembly, is furious at the failure. But he spreads the blame widely. “Am I unhappy that we don’t have something to show and a place for children to go? Yes, I am unhappy. A lot of people who made an effort are disappointed,” he said. Lafayette did not, however, say he was out to get the money back. The history of how the state paid out hundreds of thousands of dollars and in the end received nothing is complex. In 2000, a well-respected Queens nonprofit called the Jackson Heights Community Development Corp. applied for and won a $1-million Childcare Facilities Development Program Grant to build a child care center that would be managed by Queens Child Guidance Center, now known as the Child Center of New York. Two years later, in August 2002, the state Dormitory Authority and the Office of Children and Family Services entered into a grant disbursement agreement with the group. Under the terms, the nonprofit was to request from the state repayment on behalf of a vendor after work had been carried out. A groundbreaking was held in the winter of 2002. The first city construction permits for the building were issued in February 2003. But by the spring of 2004, the Dormitory Authority had become concerned with the progress of the project, state letters reveal. Construction crews had dug a hole and poured the concrete foundation but work never progressed further.
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In January 2005, with the project stalled, Jackson Heights Community Development Corp. wrote in a letter to the state that it did not have the money to complete the project, and consequently wanted to sell the land to a developer, according to a Dormitory Authority letter. That prompted a Dormitory Authority audit that revealed that of the total $398,941 paid to the nonprofit to finance fees for the architect and construction crews, $103,112 was not for proper expenses.
Junction 34 affidavits indicating the center would be built. A few weeks later, Junction 34 bought the parcel for $1.15 million, money which went to paying off debts accumulated during the planning and construction of the facility by the Jackson Heights Community Development Corp. Several weeks later, an attorney for Junction 34, John Tucciarone, sent two checks totaling $103,112 to the Dormitory Authority, along with a note alluding to a deal outside the court order. “Per our agreement … [the Dormitory Authority] has received payment in full for, and releases the purchaser and the premises from, the claim and any and all other claims that it has or may now have against the purchaser and/or the premises.” A review of the documents filed with the court’s order did not turn up mention of such an agreement. The developer would not make an offi-
Assembly Member Ivan Lafayette, center, at the groundbreaking for the Ivan C. Lafayette Children’s Center. In March 2005, the Dormitory Authority requested full repayment if the project failed. But by July, the parties had structured the outlines of a deal to save the facility that involved the sale of the property to a developer with ties to the project’s general contractor. If the developer, known variously as Junction 34 LLC or Jomar Associates N.Y. LLC, would complete the construction of a child care facility, the state would only request repayment of $103,112, according to a Dormitory Authority letter. If not, the July 2005 letter continued, the state wanted the whole $398,941 returned. Because the nonprofit was going to dissolve and sell the bulk of its assets, the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau was required to review the sale, which would also be brought before a state Supreme Court judge for approval. An attorney for the attorney general’s office wrote in an affidavit that the bulk of the money, $295,829, would not have to be paid back because the developer had the resources and intention to build a child care facility. On Nov. 2, 2005, state Supreme Court Justice Orin R. Kitzes approved the sale, which included the Charities Bureau and
The site today, as bulldozers prepare for construction of five three-family homes. The state money to build the children’s center is gone. cial comment on the situation. On Feb. 9, 2007, Junction 34 sold the parcel for $1.95 million, city Department of Finance records show, $800,000 more than it paid for it. Lafayette said the principals of Junction 34 bought the land under the court-approved deal making the “promise” to everyone that they were going to build the child care center. But they did not. Instead, they sold the land to the new developers, who are building the housing. Malcolm Press, the president of the Jackson Heights Community Development Corp., said he was surprised to hear the parcel had been sold to a residential developer. “They had to assure the state at the point of sale that they were going to make that property a day care center, as
far as I recall, that was a prerequisite,” Press said. When first asked, Lafayette put the situation in blunter terms. “He sold it,” Lafayette said, referring to a principal of Junction 34. “He doublecrossed me and double-crossed the community.” Junction 34 did not pay any compensation to the state, people close to the deal said. “They decided to sell to make a fast buck,” Lafayette said later. But he did not think the company did anything illegal in abandoning the project. “I don’t know what their legal obligation was. I think it was more of a moral obligation that they had,” he said. The new developer, Union Street & 34 Avenue Corp. of Flushing, Queens, is building 15 units of residential housing on the parcel, according to plans approved by the Department of Buildings in June and July. Dormitory Authority spokesperson Marc Violette said after the agency recovered the $103,112, it had no obligation to pursue additional funds. “When those monies were recovered by the Authority, that marked the end of the Dormitory Authority’s involvement with that nonprofit and that parcel of land,” Violette said. He said the attorney general’s office, not the Authority, was responsible for recovering the money in such an instance. The attorney general’s office did not respond to requests for comment. Sandra Hagan, the executive director of the Child Center of New York—which was going to lease the building and manage the center—said the construction expenses became prohibitive as the delays continued. “We and the developer came to the conclusion that it was not going to work. We looked at numbers, costs to develop that site and we looked at potential sources of income and together we realize the disparity between costs and funds available,” said Hagan. The attorney general and the Dormitory Authority have records of the project, and could conduct a review if necessary, but Lafayette said he did not have information that would lead him to request that. Ultimately, he pointed to government bureaucracy as the culprit. “I think that the underlying problem,” Lafayette said, “is that it took too long for decisions to be made.” pincus_a@yahoo.com Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.
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SE PTE MBE R 2007
ISSUE FORUM:
CITY HALL
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EDUCATION
Teachers and students returned to their classrooms this month, facing some new issues and some old ones. With the new school year beginning, City Hall asked some of the top education policymakers in the state to share their thoughts about what needs to be done in and for New York schools.
CUNY Has Made Progress, But More Should Be Done BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBER CHARLES BARRON s chair of the City Council’s Higher Education Committee, I have oversight responsibilities for the City University of New York. We have achieved groundbreaking successes over the past few years, but we also have major challenges to conquer. CUNY is the largest urban university in the nation and serves more than 226,000 degree-credit students and 230,000 adult, continuing and professional education students. At least one third of all college educated New Yorkers are CUNY graduates. During the past year, the Higher Education Committee rose to many challenges, particularly in obtaining key budget restorations and enhancements totaling $48.5 million for CUNY. This included baseline funding for community college operational support, which, is an unprecedented success as it represents a more permanent solution to past under funding. It further helps to end the annual “Budget Dance” where the Mayor takes CUNY funding out of the budget only to restore it after passionate negotiations with the City Council.
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Additional restorations championed by the Higher Education committee were the Peter F. Vallone Scholarships. To date, over 116,000 awards have been granted to graduates of New York City high schools who are enrolled in CUNY. Another key budget restoration we fought for and won was the New York City Council Safety Net Program, focused on assisting current and needy community college students who were affected by the recent tuition increase. For the first time in the history of the City of New York, we were able to get the state to match council contributions totaling $604 million in capital funding. In addition, we secured funding for the rebuilding of Fiterman Hall at Borough of Manhattan Community College. The Council funded diversity initiatives include the Dominican Studies Institute, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies and the Black Male Empowerment Initiative (BMI). The BMI was created to address
the disproportionately low percentages of black men pursuing higher education. The BMI, now in several years of operations, was initially piloted at Medgar Evers College. It has proven so successful that the program has been funded to expand to almost all of CUNY’s 17 campuses. The Higher Education Committee also spent the past year addressing vital issues at our monthly hearings held at City Hall. Topics included: Exploring the Physical and Programmatic Accessibility for People with Disabilities at CUNY; Connecting College Students with Health Insurance; Child Care Services on CUNY Campuses; Examining the Relationship Between Student Financial Aid and Consumer Debt; and Intimate Partner Violence: How Colleges Are Equipped to Respond. Another issue that represents our vision for CUNY includes a major focus on
making CUNY leadership including professors, presidents, the CUNY Board of Trustees, the upper echelons of CUNY administration as well as future chancellors more reflective of the diversity of the student body. We can implement this vision by appointing more Black and Latino people in power positions. The makeup of the undergraduate student body is 30 percent African- American, 28 percent White, 27 percent Hispanic and 16 percent Asian, while CUNY leadership and tenured professors are disproportionately a white majority. The time is now to hire and tenure more Black and Latino faculty. I shall continue to champion a movement to return CUNY to a free tuition university. When CUNY was white it was free but as the complexion changed the tuition was imposed and stricter standards were implemented. Let’s play the game by the same set of rules. Remember, the struggle may be long, but our victory is certain!
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Charles Barron is a Democrat representing parts of Brooklyn in the City Council. He is chair of the Council’s Higher Education Committee.
The Challenges Ahead for the Assembly Education Committee BY ASSEMBLY MEMBER CATHERINE NOLAN s millions of New York children all over our state return to school, we ask: Are their schools overcrowded? Are they outdated? What about the right learning approach? Respect—for professional teachers and good administrators as well as for parents and students? Active parents? The right education for special needs children? Sports facilities and physical education? Arts education? Are the basics well taught? Is there too much testing? Too little? Is there a fair distribution of resources? As we examine these and the many other questions that could fill this page, we realize that, in the answers, we see the future for New York, The Assembly Education Committee reviews almost 600 bills during each twoyear legislative term. These bills deal with a wide range of issues—school funding, class size, pre-k and early childhood education, testing, special education, transportation, breakfast and nutrition, health care services, construction and maintenance of school buildings, charter schools, continued issues of mayoral, community and other “controls” of the 700 school districts in our state and
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so much more. There are many “stakeholders,” all with suggestions and opinions. It takes persistence for our committee to establish good public policy. This legislative session, I am pleased to report, the Education Committee held hearings on the needs of English language learners and the State Education Department’s oversight in this area. A priority of mine will be to make sure that English language learners are treated fairly under the federal No Child Left Behind policy. Also, in response to parents of special needs children, I sponsored legislation, now law (Chapter 583 of the Laws of 2007), to make sure that hearings about special education were fair. This is a critically important piece
of legislation for parents of special education children. And, in response to recommendations by Chancellor Joel Klein and parent groups, another new law (Chapter 285 of the Laws of 2007) will make it easier to serve on Community Education Councils. We hope that this new law will prompt the city to finally address the low level of participation on these councils. Schools need to work for our children. My responsibility as committee chair is to try to achieve that goal. I approach the leadership of this committee as a graduate of Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens—a long overcrowded and woefully underserved New York City high school. This high school once served 6,000 students in a school built for 3,000! Sadly, little has changed in 30 years. High schools throughout New York City continue to be very overcrowded with large class sizes. I am also a parent of a New York City public school student who is entering fourth grade this year. Like many New York City parents, I am anxious and concerned about the upcoming middle school years because New York City and its Department of Education have not made much progress in this area, despite
years of mayoral control and the increased state tax dollars which the city school system receives. The problems of class size, lack of focus on middle schools and violence top the list of concerns cited by my constituents and fellow parents. As a longterm member of the state legislature, I pledge my own efforts to deal with these issues, and hope that New York City will try to reach out more to the state legislature as the city “reorganizes” yet again. There is little communication, and I know how frustrated parents can be at the lack of any real support and input in the New York City public schools. New York and its schools will face many challenges in the years to come. The lasting impact of education and the proper policies, legislation and funding are responsibilities that I take with utmost seriousness of purpose. I am optimistic that we will address problems in a comprehensive and ultimately successful way and look forward to working with all New Yorkers to do just that.
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Catherine Nolan is a Democrat representing parts of Queens in the Assembly. She is chair of the Assembly Education Committee.
“I believe all students deserve the chance to excel. My union is N Y S U T .” Marguerite Izzo, 2007 New York State Teacher of the Year
NYSUT represents more than 585,000 professionals in education and health care who are committed to creating a better-educated, healthier New York, and to ensuring equal opportunities for all our children.
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CITY HALL
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SE PTE MBE R 2007
Issue Forum for October:
HEALTH CARE & HOSPITALS
In October, City Hall will ask four of the state's leading figures on health policy to give their prescriptions for the future of health care and hospitals in New York City and State. With perspectives from Albany, New York City and Washington, this issue forum will examine what the government can and should do to improve the health of New Yorkers, which laws and programs need to be adjusted, and how public policy can be best used to address this most vital of topics.
The forum will feature columns by: Assembly Member Richard Gottfried — Chair of the Assembly Health Committee Richard Daines, MD — Gov. Eliot Spitzer's Health Commissioner for New York State City Council Member Joel Rivera — Chair of the City Council Health Committee Rep. Carolyn McCarthy — Chair of the Congressional Subcommittee on Healthy Families and Communities Issue Date is October 15 • Advertising Deadline is October 11
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EDUCATION
Childhood Obesity: Can Schools Reverse the Trend? BY STATE SEN. STEPHEN SALAND o one is surprised to read that childhood obesity has reached crisis levels in the United States. All one needs to do is look around our playgrounds, our schools and our shopping malls. National figures indicate the number of overweight adolescents has tripled since 1980 and the prevalence among younger children has more than doubled. Health professionals are referring to childhood obesity as a national epidemic, warning the public of the detrimental health factors associated with obesity. While schools have been a target, criticized for offering unhealthy choices in their cafeterias and vending machines, it must be acknowledged that most children in New York state consume only one meal a day during the week in schools. Most telling is that before entering school, 8 percent of four- to five-year-old children are overweight, nearly double the percentage of 20 years ago. In addition, a recent study concluded that weight gain among children was most significant in the summer months when children are not in school. That is not to say that schools should not become more responsible. Schools should not be part of the problem but part of the solution. How far can schools go? It is cautioned that children who loathe all things green will not warm up to lima beans just because they are served on a lunch tray. As a society, we need to have reasonable expectations that students who are used to fried mozzarella sticks or pizza everyday for lunch may not be embracing a salad sprinkled with tofu as an alternative. Nutrition experts however, indicate that if taught young with those lessons reinforced at home, children will reach for more fruits and vegetables in their daily diets. The Costs: Any one of us who frequents a grocery store knows that healthier food choices often cost more. School food service programs are designed to be self-sustaining, meaning the program is not supported by the school budget. While the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates the nutritional quality of meals sold as part of the National School Lunch Program, a la carte offerings, snacks and school stores are not. Quite often, the food and beverages competing with the USDA school lunches are those that have high fat and high sugar content. Not surprisingly, these are the money makers in a school cafeteria. While we cannot force a child to choose an apple over a candy bar, we can remove the candy bar as a choice in schools. The question remains: How will
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schools afford to buy and store the healthier alternatives? For the last 25-plus years, the state has subsidized the school lunch program at a mere 5 cents per meal. For starters, the state should recognize that this amount is absurdly inadequate. A higher subsidy linked to stronger nutritional standards will allow schools to invest in better food choices without going into the red. Equally as important, our federal representatives need to work with states to make it easier for school districts to utilize programs like Farm-to-Schools. Promoting fresh produce in schools will benefit the students and our local farmers. Providing stronger school nutritional standards may not be enough. Like many, I subscribe to healthier eating as only part of the solution. Physical activity is also essential in addressing the obesity crisis. The State Education Department provides schools with the minimum number of hours required for physical education and a syllabus to follow. The department should examine the current requirements, which have not been altered in decades. Activities should provide an effective health benefit and hopefully expose children to a sport they will want to engage in beyond the gym class. Making the most of physical education is critical, as for some students this may be their only source of exercise all week. Finally, if students are eating healthier while in school because there is no “junk food” alternative provided and becoming more active in school, will this effort be enough to reduce the trend? Realistically, while it may not resolve the crisis, it is a step in the right direction. Schools can and should do their part. As Chairman of the Senate Education Committee, I hear a strong willingness from school officials to work with state government on reversing the obesity trend, but the bottom line is, they can’t do it alone.
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Stephen Saland is a Republican representing Columbia County and parts of Dutchess County in the State Senate. He is the chair of the State Senate Education Committee.
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There’s been a lot of talk lately about the need for accountability in our public schools. New York City’s teachers couldn’t agree more — we’re fully accountable to the city’s 1.1 million school children who depend on us for a quality education. That’s why our voices deserve to be heard. So when big changes are made in our schools, teachers need to be involved and invested in the plans. We’re already making a difference in the futures of our kids. We can also make a difference in the futures of our schools. All we ask New Yorkers to do is listen.
Randi Weingarten, President
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SEPTEM B ER 2007
11
BACK IN THE DISTRICT
Walking the Lines
Kavanagh introduces himself, and his district, to his constituents BY EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE N SHIRTSLEEVES AND TIE-LESS IN THE HEAT OF A
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“I’d love to come,” Kavanagh says. Scala, who is working the table for the precinct community council, offers him a camouflage NYPD cap. Kavanagh demurs. People from across the asphalt lot flock to him. One wants help navigating the requirements to get the Earned Income Tax Credit. Another complains to him about the way people dress these days. A third wants help siccing As Assembly member Brian Kavanagh looks on, the Better Business Bureau on employees at a camera Helen Grayson leads another senior in a rendition of shop who said they would appraise her husband’s old old jazz standards at a National Night Out Against photography equipment but then told her they lost it. Kavanagh makes his way to the perimeter of the lot, Crime street fair. where people sit with plates of food. He looks for an opening. A group of seniors warmly welcome him. One, Helen Grayson, swings the arms of another woman, who is wheelchair-bound, keeping rhythm as they sing old jazz standards. Kavanagh strains to make out the words. At the end of each song, the women laugh and clap. Grayson, 88, claims to have been the first tenant in Stuyvesant Town. Now she lives in Peter Cooper Village. She is glad to meet Kavanagh. Gerrymandering has made staying in touch with elected officials difficult, she says, and that makes taking on landlords even harder. She wants him to do something about that. Also, she says, the fairs have become too commercialized, she says, with food provided by Outback Steakhouse rather than local merchants. And the music--well, Grayson wants to Kavanagh and his chief of staff, Mary Cooley, left, hear the kind of songs she sings with her friends instead take down information from a constituent looking of the more contemporary tunes currently on the loudto get a tax credit for non-custodial parents. speakers. “The music is terrible,” she says. “The State Assemblyman? Look, I need to talk to you,” Kavanagh nods at each of Grayson’s complaints, as at she says, and launches into a discussion about federal tax each of those he has heard throughout the afternoon, the credits for non-custodial parents. Kavanagh is unfamiliar with the issue, but listens intent- new Assembly member sticks to a standard refrain. “We’ll ly. When the woman pauses, he calls over Mary Cooley, his see what we can do,” he says. Back at his office, in consultation with his staff and colchief of staff, to take down her information. He wants to know her name, her address. They will look into the situa- leagues, he says he will look into all the issues raised during the afternoon. tion for her, he assures the woman. This is all part of learning the new job. And just like that, Kavanagh has a new fan. “There aren’t any great shocks, but obviously, every day Just outside the fence, he stops to swig from a wet bottle of Poland Spring handed to him at the fair. The heat is is new and different,” he reflects. “The learning curve ceroppressive, and he has at least one more speech to make tainly in January and February was steep. It’s still very and many more conversations to have at the 13th Precinct steep. So I’m just working very hard to learn the things that are useful in that system and trying to push the agenda I fair, a mile away. This time, he is able to find a cab. The first people to greet him at this fair are the mem- was elected to push.” The progress may be slight, he knows, and it will rarely bers of the local Republican club, including Frank Scala, who ran against Sanders in 2000, Friedman in the special be swift. But Kavanagh says he can be patient and fight for the small victories when those are all he can get. election and Kavanagh in the general election. “You shoot for the stars,” he says, “and get done what He greets Kavanagh like an old friend, and invites his you can.” former foe to come speak to their club. “We’d love to have you,” Scala says. eidovere@manhattanmedia.com
ANDREW SCHWARTZ PHOTOS
late summer afternoon, Brian Kavanagh (DManhattan) sets out with his full two-person staff on an ambitious agenda. Their mission: in two hours or less, visit four National Night Out Against Crime street fairs scattered across his Manhattan district. At the first, sponsored by the 7th Precinct and held at the intersection of Attorney and Rivington streets, Kavanagh chats with some of the officers as he waits his turn to speak on stage. A retired cop croons gospel music through the loudspeaker. A few minutes pass and Kavanagh assumes that he will not be asked to make a speech, and concentrates his efforts on working the crowd, many of whom approach him. He begins working his way up Rivington, away from the stage. Before he gets too far, Donald West, president of the 7th Precinct Community Council, gets on the microphone to call him back. Kavanagh climbs up the side and takes the microphone. “I see that better men than me have tried to get your attention tonight,” he says, looking out onto a crowd which is more involved with the food and conversation than anything happening on the riser. Kavanagh decides not to wrestle for their attention. “My name is Brian Kavanagh,” he says. “I am the state Assembly member for most of this district.” He rattles off the names of a few nearby housing projects. He makes his obligatory remarks about crime prevention and the importance of community involvement. Then, after a few seconds as the center of attention, Kavanagh encourages the crowd to enjoy the fair and hands back the microphone. Kavanagh sat out the special election to succeed longtime Assembly Member Steve Sanders (D-Manhattan) last February. But two weeks after Sylvia Friedman surprisingly nabbed the Democratic nomination in the race, Kavanagh announced he would challenge her in the primary for the general election that fall. Almost immediately, he started raising money and campaigning on the street. As he had in his 2005 Council race against Rosie Mendez, he faced down the local political establishment. This time—narrowly—he won. In Albany, Kavanagh quickly got to work, introducing more than 70 bills in his first session in the Legislature. That put him upstate nearly four days a week, either in his office or in the little apartment he rented a block and a half from the Capitol. Only since the Assembly session ended in June has he been able to devote most of his time to actually being on the streets and in the buildings of the district that these laws affect. He is still meeting with tenant leaders and principals, introducing himself to many of his constituents, who often stop him, eager to learn who he is, to get a moment of his time. On the walk from one fair to the next, he traces when he is in the district and when he is not. Now at the 9th Precinct fair, he goes through the routine again, including his short speech over the microphone, after Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer (D), followed by three teen amateur rappers. Almost on his way out, a woman bounds up to him. “Is this the Councilman?” she says to one of his staffers, who quietly corrects her. The woman barely pauses.
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CITY HALL
Will Fossella be the Elephant in the Room? Molinari says conservative congressman can win Gracie Mansion in 2009 BY DAN RIVOLI MOLINARI HAS A HISTORY of betting on winners. He was an early backer of Rudolph Giuliani and Michael Bloomberg in their mayoral runs. Now Molinari, the former Staten Island congressman and borough president—and Republican kingmaker—is talking up the Gracie Mansion chances of Rep. Vito Fossella (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn). Fossella is the highest-ranking Republican in the city, and, to Molinari, he is the “logical choice” to be the GOP candidate for mayor in 2009. “I can’t imagine I’d be supporting anyone else,” he said. Molinari has, however, also said positive things about the mayoral prospects of Police Commissioner Ray Kelly. On key issues like unions and abortion rights, Fossella holds more conservative positions than Giuliani or Bloomberg, who together won four mayoral races in a row as Republicans. Fossella’s most recent approval rating from the American Conservative Union is 84 percent. But Molinari is undeterred. He believes Fossella’s proven fundraising prowess will help win over voters who might be skeptical of supporting a conservative candidate. “Would that sell? Not if you can’t win over people,” Molinari said. “Money becomes all essential.” Many insiders are buzzing about a potential Fossella mayoral run. State Sen. Guy Molinari is among those who want Rep. Vito Fossella to try for Gracie Mansion in 2009, but Fossella says he is so far Martin Golden’s (RBrooklyn) name has been resisting the talk. mentioned as well. Thomas Ognibene, the former Council Meanwhile, John Catsimatidis, the owner father held positions in the Koch and candidate. Despite Molinari’s unofficial of Gristedes supermarkets and a major Beame mayoral administrations, and his blessing, the two have not formally dis- minority leader from Queens, agreed. Ognibene said a conservative like uncle Frank was a cussed the idea. Democratic donor, has “I’ve been very privileged to have Guy Fossella is better suited for statewide Democratic City Council been presenting himself Molinari as a friend and mentor, but I office. “I’d much rather see him run for Member. as a possible Republican Fossella has won by have never spoken to him about that,” governor,” Ognibene said. candidate, and starting to Ognibene, a longtime Bloomberg comfortable margins in a dis- Fossella said. attend GOP events. Fossella is focused on winning a sixth opponent, was blocked from challengtrict with more Democrats than “I’ve been asked to meet with ing the mayor in the 2005 GOP primary. Republicans, and on policy issues he full term in Congress. him,” Molinari said. “I’ve refused to do so.” “I’m very happy with what I’m doing. He contended that Bloomberg’s defecThis is not the first time the idea of a has partnered with Democrats, as in his Fossella mayoral candidacy has been dis- recent joint efforts with Reps. Carolyn My eye is on this ball and no other ball,” tion from the GOP in June hurt the chances for Republicans as they look for cussed: some thought he should have Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) and he said. Political strategist Joseph Mercurio a 2009 candidate. mounted a Republican primary challenge to Jerrold Nadler (D-Manhattan/Brooklyn) “The mayor has made it very, very diffito secure federal funds for those who said this was wise, given Fossella’s votBloomberg in 2005. In 2009, Fossella will be a strong candi- worked at the World Trade Center follow- ing history. “It’s very difficult for a more cult for a GOP successor,” he said. “The well conservative Republican to win a city has been poisoned for Republicans.” date, Molinari believes, and one with par- ing the Sept. 11 attacks. Fossella said he had never heard any election in New York,” he said. “It’s as tisan crossover appeal: Fossella comes Direct letters to the editor to from a prominent Democratic family. His talk about himself as a potential mayoral simple as that.” cityhall@manhattanmedia.com. SCOTT WILLIAMS
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SEPTEM B ER 2007
13
IN THE CHAIR
Winner Claims High Profile, Though Unexpected, Role Troopergate thrusts quiet Senate Investigations Committee into the spotlight BY JOHN R.D. CELOCK
S
J ENNA SHEFFLER
SEN. GEORGE WINNER (R-Elmira) has clocked 29 years in Albany, including over a decade at the top of the Assembly Republican hierarchy. But in all those years, he rarely made statewide headlines. He volunteered for his committee post as chair of the Investigations and Operations Committee, figuring his background as a lawyer and decades of experience in Albany would make him a good fit. The committee has operated essentially anonymously for the last decade, and Winner never expected the job would bring him much attention. Then came Troopergate. “I thought my activities in the Assembly and as a fairly outspoken lawyer would be needed if there was a high profile investigation,” Winner said. “Who would have known there would be one?” State Sen. Roy Goodman (RManhattan) founded the committee three decades ago. Under his tenure, the committee focused primarily on taxation issues and the relationship between New York City and the state government. In TATE
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno’s (RRensselaer) use of state vehicles. “It would be irresponsible of the Senate to not make recommendations on this,” Winner said. Winner said his committee’s investigation is aimed at formulating legislative proposals aimed at addressing the use of state aircraft and state investigations. He has proposed banning the use of state aircraft for political purposes and addressing conflicts of interest in the inspector general’s office. He also plans on reviewing the entire inspector general law to see what amendments are needed to address investigations of the governor’s office. He insists the investigations are part of the State Senate’s constitutional role to provide oversight of the executive branch. During his service as chief deputy to four Assembly minority leaders, he notes he was able to develop the state GOP agenda for Pataki’s first year in office and focus on taxes, capital punishment and fiscal restraint. In addition, he worked closely with the Senate on Southern Tier issues. In 14 years as deputy, he only once flirted with a bid for the top GOP Assembly slot—in 1998, when Tom Reynolds (R-Erie) stepped down to run
George Winner says his background as a lawyer and decades of experience in Albany make him a good fit to chair the Investigations Committee.
Democrats, claiming party politics is guiding the investigation and that Winner is doing the bidding of his party leadership rather than calling the shots himself. “He is smart, tough and very partisan. We can really get into it sometimes. I can’t blame George for what is going on, this is Joe Bruno’s show all the way,” said State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan). “Bruno’s back is against the wall, they’ve made the decision to tarnish the governor anyway they can to prevent the Democrats from getting the majority.” As for Winner’s approach to leading the “I thought my activities in the Assembly and as a committee, Schneiderman said there is no mistaking it. fairly outspoken lawyer would be needed if there “He is more of a flamethrower than a was a high profile investigation,” Winner said. sniper,” he said. “Who would have known there would be one?” As for his future, Winner said he has no interest in seeking higher office, notrecent years, the committee has made its for Congress. In the end, he deferred to ing that his predecessor, Randy Kuhl, is still fresh to Congress, and an Elmira mark focusing on the state’s alcohol bev- John Faso (R-Columbia) for the job. “I did not envision the administrative candidate would have trouble winning erage control laws. Winner noted that the committee has a broad jurisdiction end of the minority leader’s post,” Winner statewide office. which allows it to tackle liquor control, said, also noting that serving as leader would not have left him enough time for taxes and the use of state aircraft. Winner acknowledges that Senate his law practice. As a first-term senator, Winner points Republicans unease with investigating the More ACCESS actions of former Gov. George Pataki (R) to three areas where he was able to be kept the committee focused on alcohol, productive. They include writing the including several pieces of legislation reg- state’s law to allow for direct shipment of wine produced in New York, methadone ulating the nightlife industry in the city. But though he admits politics kept the production reform and modifying the committee from looking into the Pataki state’s oil and gas leasing laws. Wine and Administration, Winner denies that politics energy, he noted, are major concerns of are the motivation behind looking into the his constituents. Meanwhile, his commitment to continallegations of misconduct by Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) and his staff regarding keeping ued hearings on the role of Spitzer and his and leaking detailed records of State staff in Troopergate have Winner’s Senate
During the Sept. 6 Investigations Committee hearing, Winner brushed aside any discussion that he is using the hearings to position himself for a run for attorney general, an office which he would like to give more power. Winner has said he would not be a likely statewide candidate, given how hard it is for a Southern Tier candidate to raise the necessary money. The last statewide candidate from the Southern Tier was Lt. Gov. Stan Lundine (D), who did not run independently for the office. Any path for Winner to Congress is blocked by Kuhl. Regardless, Winner said, that he is enjoying the Senate and working on legislative issues. In addition to policy work, Winner said he will work hard to keep the Republican Senate majority, lest the GOP fall behind in seats there. He remembers the secondary status from his days in the Assembly well. “I do not,” Winner said, “relish returning to the minority.” johncelock@aol.com Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.
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SEPTEMBER 2007
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RISING
STARS 40 UNDER 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
In compiling our second annual list of political rising stars, City Hall drew on nominations from across the government and political community living and working throughout New York City and State. Scores of nominations came in for elected officials at every level of government, but scores also came in for the staffers, activists, consultants, lobbyists and many others who power New York’s political world. And these nominations were more than on-the-run Blackberry emails or rushed phone calls. Most nominations were at least effusive, extensive paragraphs. Many were emails that, if printed, would have run over multiple pages. Winnowing these down to just 40 was no easy task. We carefully considered each recommendation we received, basing the final determinations on the sources of the nominations, the number of nominations received, the content of the nominations and our independent evaluation of the nominations from other information available. The criteria came down to two questions: 1) Who are the New Yorkers under 40 involved in government and politics who have had the most impressive professional accomplishments in the past year? 2) Of those, whose professional political ascent seems to have only just begun? Some elected officials from last year’s list reappear this year. Some do not. Those who did were judged in the same pool as all the rest, and we are proud to honor those who earned spots on the list again. All the winners were asked the same three questions about how they got where they are and where they are going. All were asked to select a nickname for themselves. Their answers, as they gave them, are provided with each profile. They were randomly grouped for the photographs, as their schedules allowed. The first nominations for this year’s list came in the day we closed last year’s. Already we have received suggestions for the 2008 rising stars, and we hope we will soon see more. With a likely New York-centric presidential race ahead next year and 2009 promising more local political action than perhaps ever before, the list of rising stars may have to get longer—but whatever happens, we are sure the 40 people in the pages that follow will have increasingly major roles to play as it does.
Profiles by John DeSio, Edward-Isaac Dovere, Matt Elzweig, Andrew Hawkins, Adam Pincus, Dan Rivoli, and Becca Tucker. All photos byAndrew Schwartz.
CITY HALL
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RISING
SEPTEM B ER 2007
Ruben Diaz Jr. Assembly Member (D-Bronx)
STARS 40 UNDER 40
AGE
34
15
Nickname picked:
The President
hile most politicos tend to be very coy about their future plans, Ruben Diaz Jr. is not W shy to tell the world he will be running for Bronx borough president in 2009. A fixture in Bronx politics over the past decade, Diaz rose to prominence as a leader in the
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
protests that followed the 1999 shooting of Amadou Diallo, which took place within his South Bronx district. Now, Diaz hopes to move to an executive position, taking with him all that he has learned in Albany and applying it to his home borough. He has also learned a great deal from his father, State Sen. Rev. Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx), whom he counts not only as a mentor but a traveling companion to the capitol. But though public service runs in his family, Diaz is quick to note that his own accomplishments can easily stand on their own. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It was more my family and our commitment to civic duty that enabled me to run for office and serve the community for the past 11 years.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “That I’ve helped, for 11 years, work on multi-billion dollar budgets for the State of New York.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Unfortunately, we don’t have a borough president’s mansion. I wish we did.”
L. Joy Mitchell Community Associate, City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. (D) Founder, Brooklyn Lives
AGE
27
Nickname picked:
Memo Queen
Joy Mitchell likes to bounce between public service and nonprofit work. Mitchell was . the president of the Brooklyn Young Democrats, campaign manager for Assembly Member Karim Camara (D-Brooklyn) and special assistant to former Council Speaker Gifford Miller (D-Manhattan) before joining the comptroller’s office. She called her position a “little bit of everything rolled into one.” She represents the comptroller at community events and takes note of any trends developing in the city’s community boards. In the nonprofit sector, Mitchell does work for Demos, a voting rights organization, and founded Brooklyn Lives, an AIDS advocacy group. With AIDS spreading throughout central Brooklyn, the organization works with 25 high schools to promote AIDS awareness and prevention.To reach a younger audience, the organization uses peer education and free HIV tests at parties and concerts. Mitchell uses resources from public and private organizations to solve community problems. “Every now and then,” Mitchell said, “you come across particular issues that need more attention than government can provide.”
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Patience with bureaucracy.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I write a lot of memos. And if you don’t read them, you can read them in the paper two weeks afterwards.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “President or CEO.”
José Serrano State Senator (D-Bronx/Manhattan)
Lisa Black New York City Public Affairs Director, State Sen. Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R)
AGE
32
Nickname picked:
Feisty
isa Black is bullish on Republican chances to pick up Senate seats in the New York City area next year. The communications office for Majority Leader Joe Bruno (R), which she opened last, year will help, keeping Republicans in better contact with voters. “We have a head start in knowing the communities’ needs in the five boroughs,” she said. She identified eight local races with Democratic incumbents that are competitive. “It is wonderful. It is exhilarating to be a part of this,” she said. Her inspiration for government work is a grandfather, who was the president of the Suffolk County Association of Retired Firefighters. In the 1980s, he brought her along as he lobbied for greater benefits for his members. However, she insisted, she is not looking to be in the spotlight. “I like being behind the scenes,” she said. “But I am aggressive enough to tell them what to say and when to say it.”
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I learned not to waste anyone’s time—tell it straight, bottom line it and good or bad, sell it at its best.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I’ve worked in government communications for over a decade so don’t worry. I’m well versed in crisis communication.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “(Seeing as Eliot will be out of a job by then): 633 Third Ave., at the office of our next Republican governor.”
AGE
35
Nickname picked:
Marco
tate Sen. Serrano readily admits that he has been inspired by the legislative accomplishments of his father, Rep. José Serrano (D-Bronx). S But he is quick to point out that he is more than just a well-known name, and that his own desire to rebuild the Bronx is what really placed him on the path to public service. The Bronx was indeed burning, Serrano said, and he wanted nothing more than to clear away the rubble and help redevelop his home borough. Getting to do that as an elected official was no easy feat. He was the only challenger to defeat an incumbent for the City Council in 2001, and he faced and defeated longtime State Sen. Olga Mendez to win the State Senate seat representing upper Manhattan and the Bronx three years later. And though he has made no official decision, many believe Serrano might be preparing for another big electoral fight, the 2009 race for Bronx borough president. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Before the City Council, I worked for about six years with the New York Shakespeare Festival. That really gave me an appreciation for what the arts can do for poor communities.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “That I defeated two incumbents, first in the City Council and then on the state level.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Right now, I would love for it to be labeled ‘State Senate Majority Member.’”
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Haile Rivera Community Program Specialist, Food Bank for New York City Blogger, www.HaileRivera.com
CITY HALL
www.cityhallnews.com
SEPTEMBER 2007
AGE
30
Nickname picked:
Mi Líder
aile Rivera has grown from just a tech-savvy commentator on the political world to a H full-time participant. He started by posting his thoughts and opinions on the popular blog Room Eight, discussing not just the state of his native Bronx but the city as a whole, and advocating for new blood in the city’s political spectrum. He gained national attention when Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D) picked him as one of five small donors to have dinner with in July. At that dinner, Rivera discussed a variety of issues with the presidential candidate. He appeared on NBC’s “The Today Show” alongside Obama, and invited the presidential hopeful to visit him in the Bronx. Energized following the meeting, Rivera announced plans to run in 2009 for the Bronx City Council seat currently held by Maria Baez, who will be barred by term limits from seeking reelection. True to his tech roots, Rivera made the announcement not at a press conference, but with a video posted to his website, furthering his desire to bring politics not only to the street but to cyberspace, as well. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “All of my jobs have been in the non-profit, public service field, helping the people directly. They all flow into one another.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “My commitment to helping the people and to helping the community.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “250 Broadway.”
RISING
STARS 40 UNDER 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
Ross Wallenstein Jewish Community Liaison, Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D)
AGE
29
Nickname picked:
Number One Rising Star Under 40
t age 10, Ross Wallenstein was already a spirited debater. In 1988, he A remembers defending Michael Dukakis as the superior presidential candidate during a playground argument. Those early skills served him well at the University of Maryland, helping him get an internship with then-Rep. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) his senior year. After graduation, he briefly worked with Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy (D) on the Senate Labor Committee, chipped in for Mark Green’s (D) 2001 mayoral campaign and ultimately landed at the office of Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-Queens/Nassau). Wallenstein said he was lucky to have a close working relationship with Ackerman, whom he said taught him first and foremost that every elected official must answer to their constituents. Though Wallenstein left Ackerman’s office to become Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s (D) Jewish community liaison, he still takes those words to heart. In his first four months, he focused on reaching out to Jewish New Yorkers in the city and Westchester, and he is looking forward to reaching out to communities further north in the months ahead. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I think especially working for Congressman Ackerman carried a lot of weight. His reputation in the Jewish community is outstanding.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I would relay the accomplishment of representing the governor, not only in the Jewish community but when I meet people on the streets and at functions, and that is a true honor.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I just started this job four months ago. In five years, Spitzer will still be doing his job for the people of New York.”
William Smith Communications Director, for Richmond County District Attorney Dan Donovan (R)
AGE
32
Nickname picked:
Game
ince William Smith, a “dyed-in-the-wool Republican,” was 13, he was interS ested in politics—as a Democrat. He was the youngest president of the Young Democrats of Richmond County and a staff member of then-City Council Member Jerome O’Donovan’s (D) 2001 Staten Island borough president campaign. After the Sept. 11 attacks, Smith became a Republican. He took the position in the district attorney’s office after his contribution to the 2003 campaign. Since the election, Smith said he helped raise Donovan’s public profile from district attorney of a small county to a possible contender for attorney general as Republicans searched for a candidate last year. But though Smith said he would like to see his own name on a campaign button in the future, for now, he said, his focus is on doing his part to get Donovan re-elected. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Although it’s not as true in the public service industry as it is in private, everyone is expendable and you have to make yourself as valuable as possible.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “The press operation for the Staten Island district attorney’s office has been invisible. I think I’ve had a key role in building that operation from the ground up.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Hopefully to the right address. I would not even begin to speculate on that.”
CITY HALL
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Tara Martin
RISING
District Director, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn)
STARS 40 UNDER 40
SEPTEM B ER 2007
AGE
30
17
Nickname picked:
Wonder Woman
rom the very beginning, Tara Martin wanted big things from life. She traces her political F origins to a stint as Staten Island’s north shore liaison for then-State Sen. Vincent Gentile (D).Wanting to delve deeper into the legislative process, she took a position in the office of U.S.
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
Rep. Una Clarke (D-Brooklyn), where she said she learned the “real side of what government does everyday.” Her job in Clarke’s office led to the top position at the New York State Young Democrats, where she really started flexing her muscles. Martin was bothered by a real absence of young people of color active in politics. As the first chair of the organization’s Caucus of Color, she has started to do something to change this. Under her leadership, the Caucus of Color grew from 10 people to almost 300 statewide. And she has continued to have professional success as well, now serving as the district director for Rep.Yvette Clarke, a position that excited Martin because she saw a lot of her mentor Una in Yvette. “She asked me,” Martin said proudly, “to help continue her mother’s work.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Helping young people understand their roles in society was a big motivation for me.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “You have to have a customer service mentality when you are working in government.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I can’t even tell you what I’m doing tonight. I guess helping Yvette get re-elected.”
Michael Rabinowitz New York State Co-Political Director and Executive Assistant to the General President, Unite Here
AGE
29
Nickname picked:
Mike
ike Rabinowitz’s passion for the labor movement started before he was born. Nearly M everyone in his grandparent’s generation was a member of a union or worked for one. “I got from them a deep sense that unions are a key component in making sure that everybody has a chance to share in the immense wealth that their work has created,” Rabinowitz said. He spent five years working for his first boss, Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (DManhattan), getting a taste for government and how it should work, but now he sees himself in the labor movement for the long haul. One of his successes over the past year was helping to bring 200 Unite Here members to lobby in Albany. “Watching people who don’t work in politics realize that elected officials work for us, and therefore, our opinions matter,” he said, “is a pretty transformative experience.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Every job I’ve done has given me skills I am using now—legislative, electoral and organizing.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “If I were looking for another job, I’d stress the fact that I can relate to many different types of people.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Hopefully: Michael Rabinowitz, UNITE HERE, 275 7th Ave., N.Y., N.Y. 10001.”
Kizzy Charles-Guzman Ryan Toohey Principal, Global Strategy Group
AGE
32
Nickname picked:
Fritz
“ ne of the things that my father taught me and practiced was a level of access and openness that I thought was very cool,” Ryan Toohey said, reflecting on growing up the son of the then Assembly parliamentarian Timothy Toohey and godson of Joe Crangle, then the Democratic state chair. Disillusioned with his studies during his first year at Columbia Law,Toohey was encouraged to meet with Eliot Spitzer, then making a second run for attorney general. Spitzer hired Toohey as his body man and driver, provided Toohey pledge to return to Columbia after a year off. He did. After graduating, he worked in consulting, with clients as far flung as Oklahoma and Venezuela. He reconnected with Spitzer in February 2005, hired as the gubernatorial campaign manager. One of the few senior campaign staffers not to follow Spitzer to Albany, Toohey joined Global Strategy Group. He continues to work with Spitzer and other politicians, as well as with corporate clients engaged in “big fights” like Silverstein Properties. He calls it a “Hair Club for Men” transition. “Not only am I partner here,” he said, “I was a client for a long time.”
O
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I hope that Democratic politics becomes increasingly professionalized, and I think corporate life meeting political life should become more common and I hope I’m a good example of that.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I don’t think I’ve ever had a job interview, and I don’t plan on having one in the near future.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “HRH Ryan Toohey.”
Environmental Policy Coordinator, WE ACT for Environmental Justice
AGE
27
Nickname picked:
KCG
izzy Charles-Guzman grew up in Venezuela, where she says it was impossible not K to be conscious of class. “With the whole debate about Chavez, and the economic status of the country, there is a sharp division between the haves and the have-nots, so in that respect I was always very aware,” says Guzman. When she moved to Brooklyn to live with her father’s side of the family before her second year of high school, those divisions were still apparent. But what Guzman was really good at was science. She majored in geology at Carleton College and found herself drawn to environmental science. From there, she was drawn into work issues of racial justice. Her position at WE ACT gave her a career path that merged it all. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I took a year after college to volunteer at two environmental organizations, because I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do policy from a top-down approach versus a bottom-up. One was WE ACT, and they did a lot of grassroots community organizing and mobilizing.” What’s the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “My commitment to carrying out the air quality initiatives I’ve been working on as part of the Bloomberg Administration’s PlaNYC. Air quality is a huge deal in the city, and it’s an issue that disproportionately affects poor people and people of color.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Kizzy Charles-Guzman, Senior Policy Advisor.”
18
J.C. Polanco Director for New York City Regional Office of Assembly Republican Leader James Tedisco
CITY HALL
www.cityhallnews.com
SEPTEMBER 2007
AGE
30
AGE
John Collins Nickname picked:
Teach
o hear him tell it, J.C. Polanco has never had a job he did not love. As a teenager, he was a batboy for the New York Yankees for two seasons, a dream job for any Bronx baseball fan. He gushes about his time as a high school social studies teacher, about how he earned his law degree as a night student from Fordham University and how in 2002 became one of the youngest candidates in state history when he challenged then-Assembly Member Jeff Klein (D-Bronx) at the age of 25. In late August, Polanco was approved by the City Council to serve as the Bronx commissioner for the Board of Elections, which he will do in addition to his work for Tedisco. But what really drives Polanco is his desire not only to strengthen the Assembly’s minority conference, but to work toward rebuilding the struggling Bronx wing of the Republican Party, which has fallen on hard times during the past few years.Things can only get better, said Polanco, and there has never been a better time to reestablish the GOP in the traditionally Democratic borough.
T
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Interestingly, in no way, when you think about it. My work as a teacher did not, at least directly, put me in a position to be where I am today.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I’d make sure they knew that I prepared myself relentlessly for the opportunity to contribute to the team.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “At my home in Morris Park.”
26
Press Secretary, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (D)
Nickname picked:
“John Collins—no one ever uses just my first or last name.”
ohn Collins came to politics by way of Columbia University, where he J studied philosophy. After a very brief and unfulfilling stint as a paralegal, Collins let his hobby in political history (he would analyze past Senate and presidential election results for all 50 states for fun) guide him to a press office job with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in Washington, D.C, where he spent hour after hour pouring through newspapers and the internet for articles of interest. Since his return to the five boroughs, Collins worked on two Senate campaigns, for Jon Cohen’s short-lived campaign for lieutenant governor last year and as a press aide to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (DManhattan) before joining Gotbaum’s office in March. He has been leading the charge to raise Gotbaum’s profile in the outer boroughs, a necessity if she is to move forward with her rumored 2009 mayoral run. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Tell me what job you can’t get when you have to get up at 5:00 a.m. to do the clips.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “Don’t forget radio. The radio guys always get shafted.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “To my East Village home in New York City. I love it there.”
AGE
Jason Weingartner Fundraising Consultant, Cathy Blaney & Associates Former State Chair, New York Young Republicans
32
Nickname picked:
“Gos, an old softball nickname.”
five-year-old Jason Weingartner was already in the thick of it, handing out fliers Ronald Reagan’s presidential bid with his parents in Glendale, Queens. Later on, Ias nforan1980, undergraduate at Fordham College, he volunteered for two big GOP races: Rudy Giuliani’s 1993 mayoral run and George Pataki’s 1994 gubernatorial campaign. All his volunteering eventually paid off: an internship at Friends of Pataki, the former governor’s fund raising arm, turned into a paid job. In 2000, Weingartner joined up with the New York State Young Republicans, a small club which at the time had only 12 members. But by 2004, thanks to Weingartner’s organizing efforts, the club had almost 400 dues-paying members. He was voted president and then state chair of the group.This encouraged him to run for national chair of the Young Republican National Forum this past July.Though he lost, and his term with the state association ended in May,Weingartner said he has stayed involved. “Now I’m sort of an elder statesman, but I’m not that old,” he said laughing. “I have more free time to focus on other things,” he said. “Like softball.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It helped teach me to be more appreciative of volunteers, who are often overlooked.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I would bring up my organizing ability.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I’m not a big fan of titles. ‘Chairman Weingartner’—I’m not a communist dictator!”
Errol Cockfield Press Secretary, Empire State Development Corporation
AGE
Nickname picked:
33
“Wordsmith, because I do slam poetry sometimes.”
rrol Cockfield spent the majority of his professional life covering politics as a journalist, but these days he is working for one of the organizations he used to cover—the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC). “I’m very new to this side of the government aisle,” he said. At age 10, Cockfield immigrated to America from Guyana. After graduating from Stony Brook University and completing a brief journalism training program, he went to work for The Los Angeles Times. But Burbank, Calif. was not as “walk-able” a city as New York, so he returned, first working for The Hartford Courant and then as the Albany bureau chief for Newsday. Cockfield said covering the nuts and bolts of Albany politics for several years has helped him successfully navigate the world of economic development in New York. “It makes me much more aware of the pitfalls of my decision,” he said. Cockfield believes he has grown tremendously since making the leap from journalism to the ESDC, which he refers to as “the real intersection between the public and private sectors.”
E
RISING
STARS 40 UNDER 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “The great benefit of journalism is that it opens all doors.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I would bring up the variety of experiences I’ve had as a journalist.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “1 World Trade Center.”
CITY HALL
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SEPTEM B ER 2007
Eliyanna Kaiser Chief of Staff and Legislative Director, Assembly Member Micah Kellner (D-Manhattan)
AGE
28
19
Nickname picked:
Boss Lady
liyanna Kaiser draws a sharp distinction between politics and government. E Politics are about an individual’s quest for power, while government is about working with everyone toward a common goal. A Canadian by birth, Kaiser began her political career working for Jenny Kwan, a legislative member of the British Columbian Assembly representing Vancouver’s poorest district. Kaiser was inspired by Kwan’s pioneering methods of dealing with drug addiction and disease prevention. After moving to New York, Kaiser took a job in the office of Assembly Member Richard Gottfried (D-Manhattan). She admired the longtime legislator’s commitment to taking on issues “no one else would touch,” such as universal health care, gay marriage and medical marijuana. As chief of staff and legislative director for the freshly-elected Kellner—who gave her the nickname “boss lady”—Kaiser is now working with a legislator in the infancy of his elected career. She has spent much time working to prevent the illegal conversion of apartment buildings into hotels, and now Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) is putting together a legislative package of his own on the issue, and Kaiser has just finished authoring a state bill on the issue. But most of all, she’s proud to be working alongside so many other lesbians in city government, especially Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan), who employs Kaiser’s wife. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My first real job was in a government office. It’s really all I know.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I always like to interview people who interview me.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I really don’t know. I wouldn’t have thought six months ago that I’d be here. “
Andrés Ledesma Legislative Assistant to City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. (D)
AGE
32
Nickname picked:
Bookworm
ndrés Ledesma’s first job in government was as a legislative aide to forA mer City Council Member Martin Dilan (D-Brooklyn). To get the position, Ledesma slipped Dilan his résumé after interviewing the Council
James Van Bramer Director of Government and Community Affairs, Queens Library
AGE
38
Nickname picked:
The Mets Fanatic
mong the many hats he wears—he is also Democratic State Committeeman for the A 37th Assembly District and a member of Queens Community Board 2—James Van Bramer is most proud of the work he has done in his professional capacity for the library this year.The additional $11 million he helped secure is the reason the Queens libraries are starting to open on Saturdays again. He stood on picket lines with his father, a pressman, as a kid, and knew he “was a pro-union Democrat” at a young age. As a gay teenager, he says he early on had “a clear sense of what injustice was.” As for what the future holds, City Council Member Eric Gioia (D-Queens) will be forced out of office by term limits in 2009.Van Bramer, who ran unsuccessfully for Council in 2001, is being discussed as a candidate again.
member for a college journalism class. When Dilan’s son, Erik Martin, was elected to the Council, Ledesma became his chief of staff. After years of helping the two Council members craft legislation, Ledesma joined the comptroller’s office to apply his skills citywide. But as a liaison for the comptroller to the City Council, Ledesma still pays close attention to the bills passed at City Hall. In addition to his duties as the comptroller’s legislative assistant, Ledesma briefs the comptroller on any issues that effect the city, whether national problems like home foreclosure prevention or the funding for baseball fields on Randall’s Island. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I worked for local elected officials, so it’s the same issues just on a smaller scale. It gave me a good foundation to come here.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I’m very focused on making sure that my work has an impact here in the office and that work has an impact on others. It requires me to be very thorough about things.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “How about commissioner? Citywide commissioner.”
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Working for one campaign, volunteering on others and running for City Council in 2001 provided me with a whole range of beneficial experiences.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I live, eat, breathe, sleep, the Queens Library, and will do everything I possibly can to make sure it gets what it needs.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “My partner and I just bought a home in Sunnyside Gardens, so God willing, we’ll be living there for a very long time.”
RISING
STARS 40 UNDER 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
20
Vincent Ignizio City Council Member (R-Staten Island)
CITY HALL
www.cityhallnews.com
SEPTEMBER 2007
AGE
32
RISING
Nickname picked:
STARS 40 UNDER 40
“Everybody calls me Vinny.”
hen Vincent Ignizio first ran for office in 2003, he unseated an Assembly member who held the seat for 24 years. Two years later, Ignizio won a special election to the City Council, a return of sorts: he was once chief of staff to then-member Stephen Fiala (R-Staten Island) and then, briefly, an acting interim-council member when Fiala left the council. Ignizio plans to stay in the Council longer than he did in the Assembly, with his eye on becoming minority leader when James Oddo (R-Staten Island) is forced out by term limits at the end of 2009. Ignizio sits on six committees. He recently added Dennis Gallagher’s (R-Queens) seat on the Finance Committee after Gallagher was indicted on rape charges. “It’s a tall order,” he said. However, he looks forward to Gallagher being vindicated, and taking back his committee assignments. “I hope,” Ignizio said, “that it’s the shortest stint in the Finance Committee that the Council has seen.”
W
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “The chief of staff job is one that’s charged with executing the vision of that member.The minutiae and inner workings of it uniquely prepares you for being a Council member.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “My employers—all 144,000 of them—I will ask them to reelect me for the job and convey what I’ve done.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Minority Leader Vincent M. Ignizio.”
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
AGE
Paul Thomas Assistant Director of Intergovernmental Relations to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D)
29
Nickname picked:
Spartan
aul Thomas attended this year’s New York State Fair in Syracuse for P the first time. Now that Thomas is the attorney general’s intergovernmental liaison to the city and Westchester County, he has the opportunity to see the state as he builds support from the clergy, unions and other community groups. Thomas also briefs Cuomo on the bills passed by politicians on the city, state and federal level. His past employers include Assembly Member Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) and City Council Member Maria Baez (D-Bronx). He also joined former State Comptroller Carl McCall’s (D) 2002 gubernatorial campaign. Thomas helped organize civil rights forums, called “New York, Know Your Rights,” sponsored by the attorney general’s office and held throughout the state from Buffalo to Harlem. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Having an understanding of working with people from different communities, having an understanding of this political apparatus, this understanding that you need to respect people.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “That I am a team player and I have strong leadership capabilities.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I am not a person that is really interested in titles. It would be working for the New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s office.”
Chad Marlow President and Founder, The Public Advocacy Group
AGE
35
Nickname picked:
The Altruistic Advocate
had Marlow put plans to go into public interest law on hold after his father C was hit and severely injured by a drunk driver. To help his family out financially, he spent five years in private practice, while staying politically active as president of the Village Independent Democrats. When he left the firm to found the Public Advocacy Group, he carried the lessons of his experience there with him, aiming to provide “the same quality that a Fortune 500 company would receive at my previous job.” These days, the Drum Major Institute, the Yankees, the Pedicab Owner’s Association and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr.’s (D) campaign committee are just some who have retained him. Meanwhile, he has been very vocal about lobbying reform. “It’s in the public’s best interest,” he said. Noting his firm’s commitment to transparency, he added, “and it’s in ours.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “It taught me how to deliver the very best quality possible.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “If I’m with a client, I’d bring this up: our philosophy is ‘only results matter.’” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “President of the Public Advocacy Group.”
CITY HALL
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SEPTEM B ER 2007
Jarrod Bernstein Deputy Commissioner, Communities Assistance Unit
AGE
21
Nickname picked:
27
The Scrapper
Bernstein was 16 when he got his first taste of retail politics, knocking on doors in Long Island for then-Assembly Member Charles O’Shea (R). J“Iarrod was blown away by his endurance and his command of all the issues,” said Bernstein. “I was like, ‘Wow, this guy is really smart. There must be smart people in government.’” He joined Michael Bloomberg’s mayoral campaign in 2001, while still in college, and served in several capacities. After graduating, he joined Bloomberg’s administration as a deputy press secretary at the Office of Emergency Management (OEM). He was tapped for the top press secretary job just before the 2003 blackout, and he held the post until this March, when he moved to his current position. At nights, he is pursing a law degree at Fordham, but he plans to see Bloomberg’s administration through. “I worked Inaugural Day,” he said, “and hopefully I will be here to turn out the lights when we leave in 2009.” As for what comes after that, he seems to have incorporated Bloomberg’s stress on having experience outside of government. His next job, he said, might be “some time in the private sector. I don't want to get stale.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My time at OEM showed me the best of communities—but also how fragile they can be in the aftermath of a large-scale emergency.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I don’t plan on having a job interview for 854 days.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Mr. Jarrod Kuryk (My wife’s last name—she is much more important than me).”
Karol Sheinin Public Relations Consultant, Karol Sheinin Consulting
AGE
30
Nickname picked:
K
arol Sheinin is no stranger to being on her own. She was the only K Republican in her graduate program in political management at New York University, which she completed in 2004. After working with
Eric Gioia City Council Member (D-Queens)
AGE
34
Nickname picked:
“Eric is fine.”
ric Gioia was a law clerk in the White House under President Bill Clinton (D) and E campaigned with Al Gore in 2000, but his mentor in politics and life is his father, Neil, who owns a flower shop on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens. “He works harder today, day in and day out,” Gioia said. That work ethic stayed with Gioia, whether he was working his way through college as a janitor and doorman, working in the Clinton White House while at Georgetown Law or running an insurgent campaign against the Democratic establishment for City Council in 2001. Gioia ran a grassroots campaign, priding himself on being a “guy from the neighborhood.” Now in the middle of his second term, Gioia has fought for affordable housing and financial services to Long Island City, Queens. He is also raising hundreds of thousands of dollars each filing for a run at some future office, and though he will not say which race he has his eye on, he often speaks about wanting to continue being an advocate for the public.
Republican consulting powerhouse O’Reilly Strategic Communications, the woman famed Republican political consultant Ed Rollins calls “the little right winger” went solo in the spring, forming her own company and taking on her own issue-based clients. Though most of her clients tend to lean toward the right, she will take on any issue if it appeals to her. An avid poker player, she counts a poker firm as one of her first clients. Many of those unfamiliar with her consulting work know her through her writing: since 2003, she has been at the helm of AlarmingNews.com, one of the most popular blogs in the city’s political atmosphere. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “They taught me what I don’t want to be doing. I only do work for clients who I believe in, whose causes I support.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I tend to let the interviewer know about my blog pretty early on. It’s a big part of what I do, and there’s no sense in hiding it, though I feel it’s only helped me.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Since I’m currently working out of my home, I’d like to grow my consulting company and actually have an address by then.”
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Being up at 4 o’clock in the morning cleaning up a high-rise building in Manhattan is harder than what I do today, no matter how many hours I put in.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I plan to continue in public service, I have a lot of job interviews. Every conversation with a New Yorker is a job interview.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “My mail has always been addressed to Eric Gioia, and I don’t see that changing.”
RISING
STARS 40 UNDER 40
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
22
CITY HALL
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SEPTEMBER 2007
Patrick Jenkins Lisa Hernandez Gioia President, The Esler Group
AGE
30
Principal, Kasirer Consulting Nickname picked:
LHG
Gioia grew up in a very political household. Her mother, who arrived here from at age 12, was a City Council member in Washington state. LHerisaCubaHernandez own entry into politics came in 2000, while interning at MTV’s “Choose or Lose” campaign. She was assigned to ask candidates “Where were you at 22?” She left after a month. “The job wasn’t exactly what I moved all the way across the country for,” she said. Instead, she went to the New York offices of Vice President Al Gore’s (D) 2000 presidential campaign. There she met Eric Gioia, who was running the office. Not long after, she was helping run his campaign for Council in 2001. Not long after that, they were engaged and married. Since then, she started her own fundraising firm and helped raise money for a variety of organizations and some of the biggest names in New York politics. One of her clients, Rep. Anthony Weiner (DBrooklyn/Queens) raised $2 million for his 2009 mayoral bid as of the July filing, more than any mayoral candidate in history at such an early stage of the race and twice as much as any of his presumed primary opponents. Her other clients include Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D), Lt. Gov. David Paterson (D), Council Member David Weprin (D-Queens) and her self-described “favorite pro bono client,” her husband. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “One of my first jobs was as a Chiquita Banana girl—that fruit headdress prepares you for anything.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “How much do you want to raise?” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “‘To: The Best Mommy in the whole world’—letter from my daughter.”
AGE
40
Nickname picked:
Obi-Wan
atrick Jenkins got his start as an executive assistant for State P Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), whom he dubs “one of the smartest people I know, despite everything.” His résumé also features a stint working for Rep. Gregory Meeks (DQueens). Last year, he was Eliot Spitzer’s (D) deputy gubernatorial campaign manager. Despite the big shots whom he has worked with over the years, the running theme throughout Jenkins’ political career is tireless advocacy for the people of Queens, he said. “People can lose touch of the political process,” he said. “I’ve lived here all my life. I know what people want.” Jenkins lobbied for the borough and helped shape the party’s agenda while a Democratic Party state committee member before he took the job for Hevesi. For the past eight months, he has done a different kind of lobbying. As a principal at Kasirer Consulting, the city’s top lobbying firm, he represents a diverse array of groups, from T-Mobile to construction firms to the American Cancer Society. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My past jobs have provided me with the foundation to have a greater level of understanding of what’s going on at the local level.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I feel like the luckiest guy in the world sometimes. I’ve learned new things every step of the way. “ Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “My mail comes to my house.”
Rory Lancman Assembly Member (D-Queens)
AGE
38
Nickname picked:
The Busy Bee
ancman first got involved in politics in his teens, when what he says was an unfair L rent increase in the Kew Gardens building where he and his mother lived prompted him to run for and become vice president of their tenants association. He lost a race in 2000 to State Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Queens), but won his first term in the Assembly last year, replacing Brian McLaughlin (D-Queens). Over the past eight months, he said he has been pleasantly surprised to learn that for those who make the effort, there is a lot of “opportunity to have an impact in Albany.” His agenda is driven by his constituents’ concerns, not personal ideology or interests, he says. He has been vocal and active on many issues, including proposing an alternative congestion pricing plan which includes tax breaks for companies that allow telecommuting, creating car pool lanes and reducing or eliminating tolls for delivery trucks. After years working as a private attorney, Lancman said, “to have a seat at the table is an incredible opportunity and something I’m very conscious of.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “My experience as a lawyer representing average people injured on the job or by defective products, or who were discriminated against in the workplace, told voters a lot about my values and my willingness to work for their interests.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “This is my dream job, and my only personal career aspiration right now is getting another twoyear contract next November.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “‘Dad,’ as in, ‘Dear Dad, summer camp is lots of fun,’ signed by my three kids.”
Joel Rivera City Council Member (D-Bronx) New York City Council Majority Leader
AGE
28
Nickname picked:
The Marathon Man
s the chair of the Council’s Health Committee, Joel Rivera has been fighting for the health A and well-being of not just his own constituents but the city as a whole. His proposal to use zoning changes to keep fast food restaurants out of poor neighborhoods drew worldwide media attention last year, and he has introduced legislation that would raise the legal age for smoking to 21. But he is not only concerned about others’ health. Rivera is training to run a marathon, and is logging 30-40 road miles each week, with some runs as long as 18 miles. And there is another race he has his eyes on—the 2009 campaign for Bronx borough president. Rivera has announced that he will be running, and, between his own accomplishments and the backing of his father, Assembly Member and Bronx Democratic boss José Rivera, he is set to be a major contender in the race.
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The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I’ve had the privilege of hands-on-learning from working with other elected officials on the budget, constituent services and a variety of other issues.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “My next interview will be with the 1.4 million people of The Bronx, and I’ll bring up my record and my vision to represent them as borough president.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I’d have to ask my wife first, but I’ll always stay local in The Bronx. We have two bosses in the house.”
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AGE
Bruce Lai Chief of Staff for Chief Information Officer, New York City Board of Education
34
23
Nickname picked:
Mr. Organized
hen he was her chief of staff, Bruce Lai learned a simple lesson about grassroots politics from Council Member Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan): “public W policy should be driven by regular people, not just the smartest,” he said. They held town hall meetings on how to bring new technologies to every economic group, and they passed legislation to create the New York City Broadband Advisory Committee. During that time, Lai also served as policy director for the City Council’s Committee on Technology in Government. During college, the Minnesota native interned for his own state’s senator, Paul Wellstone (D), on Capitol Hill. Lai later studied public policy in graduate school at Harvard. He says there is a great deal of technology in New York City schools, though what is there is haphazard. One of the challenges he faces in his new job is coming up with a vision for integrating technology “into the classroom to improve student achievement.” Just started on the job, he said that possibility excites him. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I learned from Gale that she’s in politics for the right reason. What I learned from her and what I’d like to continue here is ‘how do you make technology work for people?’” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “The ability to think about the big picture, and about how to get something done, and to actually manage the execution.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Begins with ‘Chief’ or ‘Executive.’”
Michael Gianaris Assembly Member (D-Queens)
AGE
37
Nickname picked:
G
been over a year, but Queens legislator Mike Gianaris is still steamIsiontinghasonlyabout Con Edison’s 2006 blackout, and the August Midtown exploincreased his will to push legislation to tame the utility.
Ellie Jurado-Nieves Government Relations Counsel, MetLife
AGE
35
Nickname picked:
Quiet Fire
hese days, Ellie Jurado-Nieves is collecting awards for lobbying on behalf of insurT ance from places as far away as Texas and New Hampshire—a long way from the office of then-Assembly Member Hector Diaz (D), where her mother worked and she volunteered after school. She graduated from Pace Law in 1997. By 1998, she was working on Peter Vallone Sr.’s gubernatorial campaign. By 2000, she was Al Gore’s New York policy director. By 2001, she was Fernando Ferrer’s mayoral campaign manager. Not long after, she joined MetLife, where she is responsible for lobbying on behalf of disability, insurance, dental and the company’s New York City corporate real estate. And though she would like to get involved more directly in politics again, for now, she said, “sometimes it’s just nice to be in the background and still be influential without being right in the mix of things.”
“Right now they are a monopoly, and their franchise is never reviewed,” he said. “With Con Ed there is no mechanism to hold them accountable and they can continue to fail.” One of his bills would change that, and he has others. Challenging the powerful utility will be tough but so was challenging the airlines, which he did successfully last year. Legislation he sponsored takes effect in January and gives airplane passengers some relief when they are delayed on the tarmac. Another high-profile bill he sponsored gives the state oversight over gas pipeline security, a response to the alleged JFK terror plot in early June. Even with these successes in Albany, Gianaris is mulling a job change. He said he is “taking a look at 2009 and the city elections.” But though he has made no decisions, he said “the citywide focus is what I am looking at.” With most of about $2 million in his campaign account left over from his cancelled 2006 bid for attorney general, he could count on a head start in the money race. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “[They] made me realize the importance of public service in my life.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I hope Kevin Burke doesn't work here.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “How about general manager, New York Mets?”
How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I think it’s the insight that I have. Nothing fazes me anymore, and it helps me to really attack a problem or situation wisely.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I think just my successes in general. I started at a young age and I’ve always been able to be rise to the occasion, and I think that would be an asset to any employer.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “The Honorable Ellie Jurado-Nieves.”
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Teri Coaxum Deputy State Director for Sen. Charles Schumer (D)
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AGE
36
RISING
Nickname picked:
STARS 40 UNDER 40
Rising to the Max
eri Coaxum said she would not be where she is today if she had not started out “in the trenches.” Her political career began inauspiciously, stuffing envelopes and answering phones after Marty Needleman of Brooklyn Legal Services introduced her to Assembly Member Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn). Liberated from the office life, she dove headfirst into the community. Coaxum helped create what she calls “youth speak outs,” open forums for kids to talk to adults and each other about domestic violence, safe sex, drugs and other issues. Then she signed on with Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes (D). Her job got a little harder. “It was my job to be the positive face of the Brooklyn D.A.,” she said laughing, recalling her experience fielding tough questions about law enforcement and helping drug addicts avoid jail by getting treatment. She said working for Schumer is something of an aggregate of all her past experiences. She loves how “the Boss” is active, aggressive and on top of all the issues. She takes it upon herself to help him include “a caring touch.”
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Working in grassroots activism helped me look at local issues from a legislative and federal standpoint.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I don’t believe in blind interviews.You need to be clear about the job you’re going for and who was there before you.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Ultimately my goal is to be a Supreme Court Justice. So I guess the Supreme Court.”
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
Hakeem Jeffries Assembly Member (D-Brooklyn)
AGE
37
Nickname picked:
Kool Ha
akeem Jeffries had to overcome a few obstacles to get to the Assembly. H In addition to winning a primary against an incumbent, his home was no longer in the district after the lines were redrawn in 2002. In 2006, when the incumbent, Roger Green (D-Brooklyn) ran for Congress, Jeffries won a three-way primary. This was Jeffries’ first job in politics. He, with several young lawyers in the community, decided to study low-voter turnout and funding in the district. “I knew I wanted to use my law degree in a public-interest capacity,” Jeffries said. Jeffries worked at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP, where Sen. Charles Schumer (D) and Gov. Eliot Spitzer (D) started their legal careers. Jeffries joined the law firm for their pro-bono litigation practice and dedication to public service. Taking after his brother, a history professor at Ohio State University, Jeffries teaches at Brooklyn College when not in Albany. “It’s always been an interest of mine,” he said, “but I never had the opportunity to do it.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Preparation, in terms of a rigorous work ethic. At Paul,Weiss, those attributes were necessary.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I think I would talk about my experience in the Assembly and the multi-disciplinary skills that are required to be an effective legislator.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries.”
Jennifer James Senior Advisor, Kings County Democratic Party
AGE
34
Nickname picked:
Brooklyn Baron
fter majoring in political science in college, Jennifer James was en route to A a law degree. Then she changed course, moving back to her native Brooklyn and starting a career in politics. “This was inevitably more interesting to me because of the effect on people’s everyday lives,” she said. James became a fundraiser for Fernando Ferrer’s 2001 mayoral campaign, H. Carl McCall’s 2002 gubernatorial campaign and Yvette Clarke’s successful 2006 congressional primary. James then ran in the special election to replace Clarke in the City Council, placing second. She did not run in the re-vote prompted by questions about Mathieu Eugene’s residency. At the Kings County Democratic Party since August, James is focusing on the judicial primary and electing a Democratic majority in the State Senate. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I think the obvious is working for Yvette Clarke. It’s central Brooklyn. It’s the heart of where I grew up. It’s politics at its best. I learned an incredible amount on that campaign that I think I would not have in other places.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “That I’m not available 24 hours a day.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “In five years, it’ll say Mrs. instead of Ms.”
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Alexandra Stanton Chief of Staff (Downstate), Empire State Development Corporation
AGE
37
25
Nickname picked:
“Shorty, even though I’m 5’10”.”
s a 19-year-old intern for Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (D), Alexandra A Stanton once slept outside the U.S. Supreme Court, waiting to hear the decision in Webster v. Reproductive Health Services. When it came, she learned that the court’s ruling placed some restrictions on young women’s reproductive rights. “The next day I took a leave from school, dropped out of my internship and started a non-profit organizing students dedicated to women’s reproductive health,” she said. Stanton’s advocacy work in America and overseas started her thinking about governments and the power of politics. She enrolled at Georgetown Law and, after graduating, took a job with the ESDC. A few other stops along the way—including one at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and one as David Paterson’s (D) deputy campaign manager in his race for lieutenant governor—and Stanton was back at the ESDC, as the downstate chief of staff. She said she marvels at how the organization can affect everything from small businesses to arts and culture development. “Economic development,” she said, “is limitless.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “I learned that smart, thoughtful policy is indispensable to good government.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I don’t want to interview for any other job than the one I have now.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Right here at ESDC.”
José Peralta Assembly Member (D-Queens)
AGE
35
Nickname picked:
Jazzy José
hen new lines were drawn for Queens, the 39th Assembly district was W created in 2001, and 30-year-old José Peralta decided to run for the seat after years of involvement in the labor movement and political clubs. “I
Kate Ferranti Deputy Director of Communications, Local 32BJ SEIU
AGE
29
Nickname picked:
Balanced Spice
t a Jesuit school in Connecticut, Kate Ferranti, at the time an aimless English major, got her first taste of injustice. The janitors who cleaned the campus, once treated as direct employees of the university, were outsourced, their salaries and benefits cut. Ferranti got involved in a community awareness campaign that turned into a full-blown union organizing campaign which she says rivals any struggle she has seen since. Ferranti has never been a particularly political person, but she is adamant that “at the end of the day, if you go to work 40 hours a week, and you work hard, and you’re trying, you really shouldn’t have to choose between taking your kid to the doctor and putting a meal on the table.”
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Right after college, I went back to the PR firm where I interned. When you’re at one of the top four or five PR firms in the world, there are just so many resources. So that was a really good education in communications work, how to do public relations, and then the jobs after that have all been a real education in labor. This one I’m enjoying the best, probably because it’s the first time I’ve been part of a local, where there are members, and that part of it is really fun.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “The short stint I did at a corporate PR firm when I first graduated college just didn’t feel good to me. I guess in the future for any job I would want to feel, ‘is this job somehow going to be beneficial to other people? Is there some capacity for being able to do good?’” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Kate Ferranti!”
wanted to run for anything, from dog catcher to you name it,” he said. Peralta, a Dominican, got his first taste of politics at Queens College, where he became the first Latino president of the student government. After graduation, Peralta was hired at the Central Labor Council, eventually becoming director of the Commission on the Dignity of Immigrants, a role which had him working on improving the relationship between immigrants and the labor movement. Before running himself, Peralta joined several local campaigns, including Adriano Espaillat’s (D-Manhattan), the first Dominican elected to the Assembly. But though he has been talked about as a possible candidate for Queens borough president in 2009, Peralta said he is focused on his work in Albany, fighting to improve the quality of life in his district by working on everything from increasing sanitation pick up to deterring gang violence. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Working on campaigns, in terms of making sure that volunteers and anyone you come across on a daily basis that they’re a part of the process.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I’m dedicated. I’m a hard worker, and I’m committed to everything I put my hands on.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I’ll still probably be an Assemblyman. In 10 years, maybe borough president.”
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The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
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Dan Garodnick City Council Member (D-Manhattan)
CITY HALL
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SEPTEMBER 2007
AGE
35
RISING
Nickname picked:
STARS 40 UNDER 40
DG
ome say that the call to public service, like certain dog whistles, is not audible to most people. Dan Garodnick is apparently endowed with very keen hearing. “I’m driven by a very strong desire to help people solve problems in their own lives. I don’t know the source, but it definitely has been present in my life,” says Garodnick. The buzz around political circles is that come 2009, he will be running for Council speaker. He calls that speculation too early. But he does have top-tier role models in former Queens Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, who impressed him by breaking new ground as the first woman nominated by a major U.S. party for vice president, and former Gov. Mario Cuomo (D). Right now, Garodnick is having a good time getting creative with his position. His problem solving has taken unorthodox forms, like raising a $4.5-billion dollar bid to buy Stuyvesant Town on behalf of its tenants, or acting as mediator between an upscale French restaurant in his district and the non-white restaurant workers who filed a discrimination suit against the restaurant. With Garodnick’s help, they eventually won an $80,000 settlement.
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How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Being trained as a litigator certainly helped in preparing me for performing a government oversight role.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “I would bring up a level of commitment and positive thinking.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “Probably the same way it is now.”
The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
Karina Cabrera Special Assistant to City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. (D) Chair, Latina PAC
AGE
28
Nickname picked:
No Excuses
arina Cabrera went from the basement of the San Francisco City KAfter Council to an internship with its speaker. moving back to New York, Cabrera again worked her way to the top. She joined the city Comptroller’s office in labor law and then joined communication relations. After a hiatus spent in Ohio working on Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry’s (D) 2004 presidential campaign, Cabrera joined Thompson’s 2005 reelection campaign. After he won, Thompson hired Cabrera as his special assistant. She balances her job with being the chair of Latina PAC, a group that supports the Latina community and endorses political candidates. If, as widely expected, Thompson runs for mayor in 2009, Cabrera would have to give up her role in Latina PAC to be part of his campaign. But that is a move she is ready and willing to make. How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “In government, it’s about building relationships, and I think all of the previous jobs have taught me how to do that. Campaigning, knocking on people’s doors, introducing myself, getting them to vote.” What is the first thing you would bring up on your next job interview? “My dedication. I’d say my commitment to improving minority communities and the track record that I have.” Five years from now, how is your mail going to be addressed? “I’d have to say senior vice president. I’m thinking of going to Wall Street after this.”
Larry Park Executive Director, New York State Trial Lawyers Association
AGE
37
Nickname picked:
Atticus
arry Park believes an organization should be judged by who its enemies are. L In the case of the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, those would be the tobacco industry, insurance companies, HMOs and a host of big corporations. “People respect the work that trial lawyers do,” said Park. “We’re fighting for the consumers of New York.” Park got his start in 1995 working for the New York Public Interest Research Group’s Straphangers Campaign, a transportation advocacy group. He worked at five different political campaigns, ending up on the team of Charles Schumer’s (D) successful bid for Senate in 1998. Following that, he joined then-Assembly Member Scott Stringer’s (D) 2001 losing campaign for public advocate. That led to a stint as the Trial Lawyers’ political director. He held that position until this past March, when he replaced executive director Dan Feldman, who left to run for a State Supreme Court judgeship in Brooklyn. Park said his favorite part of both jobs was working with trial lawyers from all over the state, whom he called “a very motivated and talented bunch.” How did your past jobs get you to where you are now? “Thinking like an organizer is important. Thinking like a non-profit is too.” What is the first thing you’d bring up at your next job interview? “At the end of the day, I’m taking a good organization and trying to make it better.” Five years from now, how will your mail be addressed? “I’m going to stay in New York. I like it here.”
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Former Carrión aide Eldin Villafane says there is power in numbers BY ELIZABETH KRAUSHAR VILLAFANE IS IN THE BUSINESS of turning politicians into brands. His approach is “not to take away the soul of the person. But any good PR agency that is worth their weight in this game knows that it is similar to selling the hottest business product,” he said recently, sitting on a park bench in a little spot of shade in City Hall Park. Villafane’s first big job in politics was as Adolfo Carrión’s (D) chief of staff when the Bronx borough president was on the City Council in the late 1990s. After Carrión was elected borough-wide in 2001, Villafane helped champion economic development throughout the Bronx. Employment is a top concern for Carrion’s primarily Latino constituents, Villafane said, and The Bronx At Work campaign became a brand for the administration. The Bronx At Work brings business investment to the borough, connecting Latinos to jobs in the region. Villafane oversaw the policy and press operation
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when the project launched in 2004. Last summer, Villafane left Carrión’s office to become a partner at Butler Associates, a public relations firm that focuses on unions, start-up companies and investment bankers. Though he is enjoying life in the private sector, he said he is still getting acclimated to the challenge of constantly seeking out new business while working with his current clients—a big change from his days of being exclusively focused on one politician. “There’s an element of hustling that you have to deal with,” he said. “It can be challenging, exciting and stressful at the same time.” The son of Puerto Rican immigrants, he is bringing his background with Carrión directly to bear on his work at Butler Associates, now focusing on helping businesses and other clients reach the Latino community and the Spanish-language media. He believes Latinos should position their culture and services as a market specialty—as one of his clients, Salsa
BEN NORMAN
Searching for the Brand-Name Latinos
SEPTEM B ER 2007
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each other more than we work alongside each other in trying to push a certain agenda,” said Villafane. “What a Puerto Rican family may be thinking is not necessarily what a Guatemalan family may be thinking.” Villafane said Latinos can learn much from leaders of the black community. He hopes to see Latinos in high profile corporate executive Eldin Villafane says Latino politicians can roles. Most of the icons of and must employ strategies used to market the Latino community, Villafane said, are in enterLatino brands. tainment or sports—such as Caterers, did by organizing events for Boston Red Sox batter David Ortiz. He thinks positioning Latino icons in celebrities like Bill Clinton, and by opening a concession stand at Yankee commercials and at voter registration drives will promote civic activism, pointStadium. Corporations and politicians alike have ing to the model of black actors marching shown a greater interest in appealing to in the front lines of Civil Rights the Latino community, which is growing in Movement protests, attracting media New York and nationwide. And in his time attention. Immigration, he said, is a point away from the Butler Associates office, that rallies Latinos of all backgrounds. Villafane still keeps in close contact with Villafane said there is a deep well of polithis old boss. An unofficial consultant at ical power ready to be tapped by the right the moment, Villafane said his status approach. “Latinos can’t be seen monolithically could change if Carrión does make his because they have a varied approach to expected run for mayor in 2009. “As of now, I’m an informal advisor,” policy. It’s not just liberal, conservative or moderate,” Villafane said, reflecting on he said. Villafane argues the challenge for the task ahead of him. “They’re here. We politicians like Carrión is establishing a have the numbers. How do you communimessage that resonates with the different cate to them?” subcultures of the Latino community. Direct letters to the editor to “We seem to sometimes work against cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.
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BY ELIZABETH KRAUSHAR RESSED IN A CASUAL OPEN necked shirt, Council Member Thomas White (D-Queens) stops in the middle of a thought to greet his suit-andtie wearing colleagues. He likes when they ask him for his “historical perspective” before proposing new policies. White represented Southeast Queens for 10 years, from 1991 to 2001, before term limits forced him out of office. In 2005, he was elected again to the Council, winning a primary against his successor, Allan Jennings, who was engulfed in sexual harassment allegations and investigations. Asked what he did during his four-year hiatus from public life, he becomes reticent. “That’s my private business. Let’s talk about the Council,” White said. In his mind, his crowning accomplishment during his first stretch on the Council was helping to secure over $200 million in economic development money and school initiatives for his district. The Air Train to John F. Kennedy Airport was a crucial part of the changes he helped bring to his district. In the midst of Jennings’ term, in 2003,
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the district lines were redrawn to leave most of the redeveloped area in a different district from the one where he and many of his constituents live. “The new lines really decimated all the hard work I put in,” White said. Without mentioning the role Jennings’ problems played in his political resurrection, White explained that individuals and organizations from the 28th district approached him to run for City Council again because they felt they were not getting their share of the resources he helped bring to the area as a member of the Economic Development Committee. Now that he is chair of the committee, White has worked to bring more money back to his new district, pumping money into projects. Born and raised in South Jamaica, Queens, he views his political career as a natural extension of growing up in a family of social justice advocates. Public service, he argued, is in his blood. An opponent of term limits, he casts his position on the issue in context of his background in the Civil Rights movement. “When you have term limits, what you’ve said to me—and I’ve been in the Civil Rights movement—you don’t have
the right to vote for me. To me, that’s unconstitutional,” White said. He argues that barring people like him even temporarily out of public life has hurt the city, which is more divided than ever into the haves and have-nots. Another change White feels acutely from his first stretch on the Council is the higher public scrutiny elected officials face. In 1995, White was attacked for having the worst attendance record on the Council. Again staying off specifics, he explained that he went through a lot of “procedures” which required taking care of himself first. His critics charged he spent too much time in his position as CEO of J-CAP, an Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center in Queens—a position he still holds, along with another waiver from the Ethics Commission confirming there is no conflict of interest. White, 68, is the only current Queens Council member whom term limits will not force from office in 2009. He insists he is not thinking about his political future, whether it includes a reelection bid, retirement or a run for higher office. “That’s premature,” he said. “I would
BEN NORMAN
The Councilman Who Came Back Carrying institutional memory with him, Thomas White considers the future
When he was last on the Council, Thomas White served on the Economic Development Committee. Now that he has returned, he is the chair. never say yes. I would never say no, because life has strange twists and turns.” Direct letters to the editor to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com.
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there were issues, it could never be racerelated. You learned to negotiate with people who were different from you. And you never, no matter who cheated at the baseball game, what the call was, you never made fun of anyone’s mother. The first time you did that, it was over.” Washington Heights is now populated by a 53-percent majority of families of Dominican descent. The area is nicknamed “Quisqueya Heights,” Quisqueya being a Spanish-language nickname for the Dominican Republic. Stringer, who speaks Spanish “un poco,” said that the “ebb and flow” of the city is what makes it a great place to live. But despite his love of the city’s constant change, Stringer is not a proponent of changing neighborhood names. He said that recent trends of renaming parts of Washington Heights “Hudson Heights” or “Hamilton Heights” can be detrimental. “It’s not my thing,” he said. “This is where I grew up, was born and raised,
really special coming home.” He had a lot of experience campaigning as a child. He remembers placing stickers and posters on the top rungs of street signs and lamp posts with his friends. “There was an art to postering,” he said. “And it really helped if you were a lanky teenager who could climb the post.” He and his friends would compete to see who could get the stickers highest on the posts. “If you’re a teenager, you’re about this high,” he said, gesturing low to the ground, “so it’s easy to get a sticker on the walk sign, but can you get all the way to the top? He and his buddies would roam around the area, pasting stickers. His friend’s parents would call his mother late at night, asking where the children were that late at night. “My mother would be like, ‘No, they’re
Stringer also claims to be the most knowledgeable about the oddly-named street on which he was born and raised, and which provided the inspiration for his old pick-up football team, the Bogardus Bombers. “I even know who Bogardus Place was named after,” he boasted. “It was General Bogardus.” And who was General Bogardus? “Who knows?” Stringer said, laughing and shrugging his shoulders. “I just know he was someone very, very significant.”
2 Walking through the area, Stringer noted the changes in the neighborhood. Banks are popping up where once there were none. Storefronts buzz with activity. His family left the neighborhood in 1980. He moved to the Upper West Side, where
THE STREETS
A trip back to the old block with Scott Stringer
WHERE THEY LIVED
Stringer, age 4, on a Shetland pony. BY CARLA ZANONI SCOTT STRINGER (D), years before he became Manhattan’s borough president, was always right down the block from his apartment at 1 Bogardus Place in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan during the ’60s and ’70s. His playground, school and the local YMCA were all within a block radius. Stringer said he remembers the yard always being packed with children, but he concedes that his memory must be exaggerated. The neighborhood just was not as it is today. “We had all this space to play,” he recalled, pointing to an area now occupied by a new school and its annex. “All of the neighborhood kids would play at the playground at P.S. 152,” Stringer’s childhood grammar school. “Now it’s a whole other school, which shows the whole issue of overcrowding,” he added.
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2 The borough president remembers African-American, Latino, Irish and Jewish kids playing in the yard with him. “You really had to get along,” he said, walking across the street from P.S. 152. “If
COLOR PHOTOS BY EMILY BERL
LAYTIME FOR
Scott Stringer points to his old building, 1 Bogardus Place. and this will always be Washington Heights and Inwood. Changing a name diminishes a society.”
fine, they’re just putting up posters,’ until 2 o’clock in the morning.”
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Getting around Washington Heights can be a challenge. Street names are unusual, avenues and streets bend and intersect at unexpected angles. Stringer likes to think the challenge is one he has conquered. “Very few people who live downtown know how to get to Seaman Avenue, but I’m a walking Mapquest of Washington Heights,” he said. “I know where Seaman is, I know where Payson Avenue is, I know where Ellwood Street is, and I am the only person in the world who knows where Bogardus Place is.”
2 Stringer, now 47, said that although he moved away from the neighborhood nearly 30 years ago, he still feels rooted in the community and visits regularly. When he ran for borough president in 2005, he was at ease campaigning in the old neighborhood. “A lot of people still remember me as a kid campaigning for either Bella Abzug, who was my cousin, or my mother, who was in the City Council back then,” he said. “The people here would say, ‘I remember when you did this for your mother.’ It was
he still lives today, and which he has found to have much in common with his old neighborhood. “A lot of neighborhoods clamor for small-owned stores,” he said, pointing to what he calls “low lying, low-tax” twostory businesses lining Dyckman Street. “These are all small businesses and entrepreneurs. It’s great, because people [are] make a living and it’s for here. They’re not part of a franchise or a big box store. There is something wonderful about people living in the neighborhood and going to work in the morning at their local shop. We’re losing that in so much of the city.” Stringer stressed that maintaining a dynamic community made up of a mix of businesses, cultures and economic backgrounds is also vital to the continued growth and health of a community. He said that Jewish families, young professionals and artists are returning to the community in droves. “For people who love and thirst for diversity,” he said, “it’s such a great neighborhood.” czanoni@manhattanmedia.com
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CITY HALL
www.cityhallnews.com
SEPTEMBER 2007
EDITORIAL
Change Back the Primary www.cityhallnews.com President/CEO: Tom Allon tallon@manhattanmedia.com
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h well. It really was a decent idea. Back in April, Gov. Eliot Spitzer signed legislation which shifted the 2008 New York presidential primary from March 4 to Feb. 5. Spitzer argued that moving the date “will help secure New York’s large and diverse population an influential voice in selecting the 2008 presidential nominees.” There was sense in our leaders trying to better position the state’s primary voters, not to mention the logic behind pushing the date earlier to give a leg up to our hometown frontrunners, Sen. Hillary Clinton (D) and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R). But then California moved its primary to February 5. And so did Arizona, and North Carolina and Connecticut and Oregon and a host of other states. In total, 23 states are planning to pick their delegates more than a week before they pick their valentines. More may join them, and Michigan is already talking about voting in January. Now, rather than making a difference, New York may well get lost in the mix. Of the combined 2,189 Democratic convention delegates which will be handed out
Stephanie Musso
Editor’s note:
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We welcome letters to the editor. All letters must be identified with the author’s full name and, for verification, phone number. Anonymous letters will not be published. Substantive letters addressing politics and policy will receive top priority. Submit your letters by email to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com, or contact our staff writers directly with the email addresses at the ends of their articles.
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ODDS&Ends
based on each state’s primary results that day, only 280 will come from New York. Though the same number of Republican primaries are scheduled, the GOP has fewer convention delegates overall, leaving only 101 from New York out of a total of 1,194. And that does not even factor in the six other states which will have had their primaries or caucuses before then. So much for having a voice. While New York’s will be the second largest group of delegates for both parties, ours will constitute only about a tenth of the super-duper Tuesday delegates. What to do now? We could follow Florida’s lead, and move our primary further back, into January, stern warnings from the parties’ national committees be damned. We could continue this bizarre and democratically-dangerous backward leapfrogging and put our primary even earlier. December is wide open. October and November, too. Or New York could do something different, and put the primary back to March 4, or at least a week or two later than Feb. 5. Given the mess national nominating has so quickly become, this could do the country a great service. Leading by example, we could help reestablish the premium on consideration in our political process, rather than the caricature of democracy the “me first” primary stampede embodies. We could help make the point that New York should be considered the American microcosm. Iowa and South Carolina and all the rest have nothing on New York when it comes to size and diversity representative of our nation as a whole. As the frontrunner status of Clinton and Giuliani in part demonstrates, the presidential candidates who could be appealing
to a majority of New Yorkers are precisely the presidential candidates who could be found appealing nationwide. Urban or rural, native or immigrant, rich or poor, highly educated or vocationally trained, New York is home to every kind of voter in America. And the major concerns of our state—economic redevelopment, mass transportation, sustainability, homeland security, immigration, public schools, health care and population growth—are already the major topics of the campaigns, and are sure to be very much on the mind of the next president. And New York could still have clout with a later primary. Yes, the race by then may be down to a two-way contest for each party. But—especially if the primary races are the close contests some expect them to be—at least we will be able to throw the nomination to the best qualified candidate who remains. Either way, New York’s primary voters are not likely to have a major impact on picking the Republican and Democratic nominees for 2008. But we could set an example for the nation by taking a stand against the frontloaded primary calendar which essentially puts the premium on money and name recognition over policy and substance. By doing this, we could call more attention to ourselves than being one of 23 on Feb. 5 ever could. Clearly, America needs to rethink its whole primary process. Hopefully that will happen once the dust of the 2008 presidential election has settled. In the meantime, though, the states which contributed to the current mess could do their part to help clean some of it up again. As with just about everything, there is no better place to start than New York.
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Who will win the 2008 presidential election? Who will lose? Who will drop out by the end of the month?
*** PRESIDENTIAL*** ***ODDS *** -------------------LAST MONTH----------CURRENTLY CURRENTLY LAST MONTH----PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON DECLARED REPUBLICANS INTRADE LADBROKES INTRADE PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON LADBROKES ODDS ON DECLARED ----------------------------------------------------------INTRADE LADBROKES INTRADE LADBROKES REPUBLICANS
JOHN MCCAIN 15.7 7 TO 1 4.9 12 TO 1 SamRUDOLPH Brownback 1 2 0.4 GIULIANI0.1 25.0 66 to 7 TO 38.0 966 TOto 2 1 TOMMYGiuliani THOMPSON37.90.4 4 to 1N/A 0.3 N/A Rudolph 34.4 4 to 1 DUNCAN HUNTER 3.20.2 5066 TO 1 0.3 66 50 TO 1 Mike Huckabee toTO 1 1 1.1 to 1 MITT ROMNEY 23.3 10 16.0 10 TO 1 Duncan Hunter 0.20.8 6633 toTO 1 1 0.1 to 1 SAM BROWNBACK 0.5 33 66 TO 1 RON PAUL 2.9 50 25 TO 1 John McCain 5 3.0 3340 toTO 1 1 6.4 to 1 1.4 33 40 TO 1 RonMIKE PaulHUCKABEE 4.12.0 4033 toTO 1 1 3.4 to 1 JIM GILMORE 0.1 N/A 0.1 N/A Mitt Romney 24.7 9 to 1 19.5 10 to 1 TOM TANCREDO 0.4 N/A 0.6 N/A Tom---------------------------------------------------------Tancredo 0.1 N/A 0.9 N/A *** DATA OFto JULY Fred Thompson 23 AS100 30 10, 2007*** 0.2 N/A
----------------------------------------------------------
**DATA AS OF SEPTEMBER 10, 2007**
CURRENTLY LAST MONTH --------------------LAST MONTH----------CURRENTLY ----PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON DECLARED PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON DECLARED DEMOCRATS INTRADE INTRADE LADBROKES LADBROKES INTRADE INTRADELADBROKES LADBROKES DEMOCRATS ----------------------------------------------------------HILLARYBiden CLINTON 0.6 52.0 5 TO Joseph 334to 1 43.61.3 5 TO 433 to 1 BARACK OBAMA 27.8 4 TO 1 39.4 4 TO 1 Hillary Clinton 68.9 JOHN EDWARDS 7.3 7 TO51to 6 5.354.2 10 TO 15 to 4 Chris Dodd 0.3 BILL RICHARDSON 2.6 28 TON/A 1 1.90.228 TO 1N/A CHRISEdwards DODD 0.3 N/A 0.57.2 N/A10 to 1 John 7.2 12 to 1 JOSEPH BIDEN 0.6 33 TO 1 0.60.133 TO 1N/A Mike Gravel 0.1 N/A DENNIS KUCINICH 0.1 N/A 0.1 N/A Dennis Kucinich 0.1 N/A MIKE GRAVEL 0.1 N/A 0.20.1 N/AN/A Barack Obama 16.8 5 to 1 31.7 4 to 1 Bill Richardson 1.2 28 to 1 3 28 to 1 --------------------LAST MONTH----------CURRENTLY----PRICE ON ODDS ON PRICE ON ODDS ON POTENTIAL ENTRIES INTRADE PRICE ON LADBROKES ODDS ON INTRADE PRICE ONLADBROKES ODDS ON POTENTIAL ----------------------------------------------------------INTRADE LADBROKES INTRADE LADBROKES ENTRIES
Michael Bloomberg Newt Gingrich Al Gore John Kerry
14.9 3.1 7.1 0.1
18 to 1 N/A 12 to 1 N/A
0.3 3.2 5.7 0.1
18 to 1 N/A 6 to 1 N/A
CITY HALL
www.cityhallnews.com
SEPTEM B ER 2007
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OP-ED
As Population Ages, Revamped Senior Centers Needed BY CITY COUNCIL MEMBER JAMES VACCA s New Yorkers live to be older and many of us baby boomers continue to age, demographics in the next 30 years point to a significant increase in our senior citizen population. With September being Healthy Aging Month, it is appropriate that we highlight the importance that senior centers play in the health of our seniors and identify ways that center services can be improved. As chair of the Senior Center Subcommittee of the New York City Council, my focus has been to plan for the Senior Center of tomorrow and ensure that centers are adequately serving and protecting one of the most vulnerable segments of our population. Based upon a series of hearings and site visits, I must report that we have our work cut out for us in the years ahead. So much of the success of senior centers revolves around leadership at each
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much needed assistance, yet only 23 percent of eligible seniors use senior centers. This has to change. We must provide senior centers with better resources to augment their daily programming so that they can attract new participants. In the FY08 budget, I sponsored the Healthy Aging Initiative, a $1-million dollar program that provides funding to 33 senior centers across the city. These programs will be designed to increase the quality of life for seniors through activities such as strength training to prevent injuries and improve flexibility, early intervention for diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, arthritis and pain management, nutritional education and other programs designed to increase physical activity and exercise. It is this type of new programming that must be made available to seniors in every center so that we can ensure that all seniors enjoy an active and healthy lifestyle. We must overcome the feeling that so
facility. The role of the center director cannot be underestimated, yet most center directors leave their jobs during the first three years, make less than $40,000 and are not eligible for pensions or tuition assistance because they work for nonprofits, instead of the city. We have to seriously encourage stability of leadership at senior centers and provide our center leaders with growth opportunities and learning tools that can evidence itself in daily center life. According to the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2005 American Community Survey, New York City’s elderly poverty rate is 20.2 percent of seniors, compared to 9.9 percent of seniors nationally. The City Planning Department says that New York City’s 60 and over population is expected to increase 46 percent over the next 25 years and will account for 20 percent of the city’s overall population by the year 2030. Centers link seniors with an array of services designed to improve their quality of life and provide them with
BY CITY COMPTROLLER WILLIAM C. THOMPSON JR. ny lingering doubts about the urgency of investing in the maintenance and modernization of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s (MTA) aging system should have disappeared in August when a few inches of rain brought trains across the city to a halt. The MTA has proposed a 2008 fare increase to address the problem, but, with New York City Transit carrying roughly 90 percent of the MTA’s total ridership, basic fairness would dictate that the state instead channel transit dollars to New York City on a level that better reflects our needs. A fare hike runs counter to the logic of congestion-pricing, which is supposed to provide incentives for using public transportation and disincentives for using vehicles that clog our streets, harm our lungs and exacerbate the ongoing global warming crisis. Can the MTA look elsewhere for funds before asking working families to dig deeper into their already overstretched pockets? A new report by my office suggests categorically that it can. Where can the MTA find money? The first place to look is Albany. Section “18b” of the State Transportation law includes an MTA funding formula, using matching state and city monies, based on ridership and miles traveled by the system’s vehicles. The state has capped this funding based on 2001-2 calculations. If the state would simply update this data, the MTA would receive at least $390 million more per year.
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Another important step would be for the governor and Legislature to pay the state’s “18-b” obligations to the MTA out of the general fund. This was standard practice from 1975 until 2002. In 2002, however, Gov. Pataki and the Legislature reduced this funding and instead funneled money out of a regional subsidy fund, known as the Metropolitan Mass Transportation Operating Assistance Fund (MMTOA), which collects business and sales taxes from within the MTA service area. This budgetary slight-of-hand allowed Albany to essentially reduce its financial commitments to downstate public transit, shorting the MTA out of nearly a billion dollars over the past five years. The suburban bus systems have also been hurt by this transfer. Adding insult to injury, Albany has been dipping into the MMTOA fund to finance upstate public transit projects, eating up more than $45 million over the past two years. Bus riders in Albany have not had a fare increase since 2000; most New York City Transit riders have had two. Additional revenue for New York City Transit can be found in the MTA’s Bridges and Tunnels surplus. If the state would update the distribution formula it established in 1968 to adjust for inflation and the disproportionate number of city residents paying these tolls, it would give New York City Transit an extra $83.5 million per year. Two other areas suggest possibilities for further savings. School fare subsidy reimbursements from the city and state fall more than $70 million short of the real annual cost, and the MTA could renegotiate a
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
Instead of Fare Hike, Put Funding Formulas Back on Track
City Council Member James Vacca many have that the senior center is “not for us.” The traditional bingo or shopping trip may now become the technology class, job training for a second career or early morning yoga. Yes, we have to stop thinking about people getting old and start thinking about people with active minds and bodies who want to remain engaged, meet other people, learn new skills and grow professionally and socially well into “old age.” Today’s 75-, 85- and even 95-year-olds are much more active than they were in the past. There must also be a strategic plan that identifies neighborhoods throughout our city where additional senior centers must be opened to meet the projected demand. By opening up new centers in areas where the senior population is expected to increase we will be proactively addressing the looming crisis that New York City’s senior population is facing. By laying the foundation now, we are making sure our city’s growing senior population will have adequate resources in the years ahead.
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Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. $26-million annual payment to the Staten Island Rapid Transit line that was based on a now defunct workforce–forsubsidy swap agreement with the city. Our calculations show that with the implementation of these common sense measures, the MTA could easily receive an additional $728 million per year. This would be more than enough to cover the projected MTA budget gap for 2009, and not one penny would come from fare or toll increases. All of us who live or work in New York City urgently need Albany’s leadership to step up and make sure that the state is fulfilling its financial obligations to the MTA. It’s time we made our transit fare truly fair.
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William C. Thompson Jr., a Democrat, is the comptroller of New York City.
James Vacca is a Democrat representing parts of the Bronx in the City Council. He is the chair of the Council’s Senior Center Subcommittee and previously served 30 years as the president of the Northeast Bronx Senior Citizens’ Center.
welcomes submissions to the op-ed page. A piece should be maximum 650 words long, accompanied by the name and address of the author, and submitted via email to cityhall@manhattanmedia.com to be considered.
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SEPTE M B E R 2007
Wiki Spin Cycle Originating IP addresses 72.43.170.250 24.39.132.26
City Council M ember Hiram Monserrate’s (D-Queens) Wikipedia page ha changed twice s been by critics. Both an anonymous on compared Mon ymous editors serrate to an actual rat. Bot h times, the statements wer e quickly removed.
the office of the An anonymous editor working from king hard to make Senate’s Sergeant-at-Arms is wor es behind former sure we know the full circumstanc at the hands of Sen. Al D’Amato’s (R) 1998 defeat 5, the editor Charles Schumer. On June 2, 200 because moderjust noted that D’Amato lost not r more palatume Sch d ate voters foun the of e aus bec also able, but Rep. of g elin “lab ’s can Republi Originating IP ’ which ad, z-he ‘put a as r ume Sch address means ‘fool’ or ‘penis-head’ in y Yiddish.” The editor noted the iron 156.33.229.65 in with port sup of D’Amato’s past the Jewish community and his own canger at ethnic slurs made in his dire of test the d stoo has ition tion. The add ia entry today. time—it remains in D’Amato’s Wikiped
CITY HALL
Virgil Griffith’s Wikiscanner, which went online in August, has ended the days of anonymously editing Wikipedia by using available data on IP addresses to track who has been making which changes to the online encyclopedia. As a quick perusal of the site shows, government types have been very busy clocking hours on the job to touch up many Wikipedia pages. Congressional computers have been used to make thousands of edits, and, on the local level, hundreds of edits have been made from computers owned by the City Council and the State Legislature. Though telling exactly which office made the edits is so far impossible, knowing the branch of government where the edits originated is not. Here are some of our favorites. editor from a On Aug. 22, 2006, an anonymous tofore unknown here the Congressional IP address added ia entry for the ped yclo enc “Gary Ackerman Song” to the Long Island and ens Que nted Democrat who has represe for the last 24 years. s No music was provided, but the lyric y were: “Gary Ackerman, Gar perfecCongressman/You are your vision’s Originating IP -life, oneness-soul/We rage cou rt, -hea nce tion-plan/O confide address /Gary Ackerman, Gary salute you in your stupendous role 204.97.104.30 uine fans.” Congressman/We are all your gen Though catchy, the lyrics were e removed a short time after they wer rts. cha added. It did not make the Billboard
New York State Senate employees can be mischievous Wikipedia editors. For example, on —Compiled by John DeSio. May 12, 2006, a State Senate computer attempted unsucc jdesio@manhattanmedia.com essfully to link the Wikipedia article about “laxatives” to the name of former Direct letters to the editor to State Sen. Roy Goodman (R-Manh cityhall@manhattanmedia.com. attan) on the page of former State Sen. John Marchi (R-S taten Island). Goodman is the heir to the Ex-Lax fortune. Goodman’s successor, Liz Kruege r (D), has been the beneficiary of a very sym pathetic Wikipedia editor, though not one from a State Senate computer. This editor not only Originating IP continually tweaked Krueger’s page until it looked just address like her official campaign website, but made a negative edit on Feb. 18, 2007 to the page 24.193.60.195 of Andrew Eristoff, Krueger’s 2002 general election opponent. The editor change d Eristoff’s entry to read that rather than leaving his position as Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s city finance commissioner, Eristoff was removed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The edit remains today.
On July 18, 200 6, someone usin g an Assembly rs was doing all they computer posted a paragraph pain Someone in the City Council chambe ting an odd porer Council Speaker Gifford trait of the inner-workings at Ass could on Feb. 23, 2005 to keep form embly Member criticism. At the time, an Adam Bradley’s (D-Westchester) Miller (D-Manhattan) shielded from office: “The ted a New York Observer Assemblyman, however, has bee entry in Miller’s Wikipedia page quo n plagued by pernegatives of Miller’s politisonal difficulties stemming from his article which discussed positives and inate those negatives. elim to cal career. The page was altered abrasive and often counter-produc that the Observer r the changes, one could still learn Afte tive mic ro-m ana as a gem ent style. He Originating IP found Miller to be “widely regarded has had one of the higheststaff ished was van But decent and talented man.” address turnover rates of anyone in the New Miller had d note ch whi article 143.231.249.1 Originating IP the part of the York State Legislature. Furthermore, rsal on his reversal on leadreve his ity: atur 41 shown “signs of imm he is known to yell and curse at special interests; his eageraddress his paint legislation after pressure from wife, Fumiko,” wrote the editor. A 205.247.142.226 ness to spend the city budget surplus to hire teachers, reopen week later, the paragraph was firehouses and cut taxes despite an removed by another Assembly com ” puter. ongoing climate of fiscal uncertainty.
CITY HALL
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SEPTEM B ER 2007
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A Tuna Sandwich (with Hot Sauce) with James Molinaro
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City Hall: What did you get for lunch? James Molinaro: I got tuna fish, whole-wheat roll, with cheese. We’ll put some hot pepper on now, custommade by me. CH: What’s in the hot sauce? JM: It’s my own ingredient. CH: Do you sell it? JM: No. Mayor Bloomberg’s daughter, in his first term, worked with Peter Madonia and they used to come here for lunch quite often also. And she loved it. The last person who tried it was [Deputy Mayor Dan] Doctoroff. There was a fresh jar, exceptionally, exceptionally hot. “Looks pretty good,” he says. So he took a scoop, put it on, bit into it—you should have seen the look on his face. He didn’t let on, though. He withstood it. [Former Transportation Commissioner] Iris Weinshall had a meeting right before she left and said we have to warn her successor about the hot sauce. CH: How’s your health these days? JM: Fine. That one escapade I had, but otherwise I feel fine. CH: Have you changed your diet at all since your heart attack? JM: My diet was acceptable to my physician, and also, just for the record, I had a complete medical check-up a few weeks prior to my attack—a stress test and everything you could possibly think of. Clean bill of health. CH: You are a Lower East Sider by birth. When did you move to Staten Island? JM: A month before the bridge opened, ’64. CH: Do you ever look back? JM: I look back and say I should have purchased one of the old buildings on the Lower East Side. I miss the lifestyle that we had when I lived there growing up. It was great. It’s just kids playing, and you never realized you were poor. Every kid on the block agreed that you wanted to be a ballplayer, you wanted to be a fireman. Good place, good time. Absolutely no narcotics at all. CH: You have been a Conservative since the 1960s. What made you want to join them, instead of the Republican Party? JM: When I registered to vote, I didn’t join a political party. You have to understand that I came from an area that was 10-to-one Democrat. I was very friendly with everybody, but Democrats didn’t offer any solutions that I believed were right, and the Republicans had become Democrats. The Conservative Party started in 1960 and I
followed it very closely. I voted Conservative, but I didn’t join because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t full of rightwing wackos—there were a number of them in there. CH: Today the Conservative Party is rather small. Why not join the Republicans now? Do you still view the party as too liberal? JM: No. Many Republicans are conservatives and many Republicans are liberals and the same with the Democrats. It’s to my advantage and what I believe in to be friendly with both Democrats and Republicans. I don’t believe that a political party is evil. There’s good and evil in every party—there’s good and evil in everything. I think all political parties have the same goals in mind: to do what’s in the best interests of people. Where we separate is, how do you get there? That’s the difference. CH: Who are you backing for president? JM: My candidate right now is Giuliani. You would say, “Now that’s a contradiction of what I believe in.” No, it’s not. I’m pro-life, he’s pro-choice. There’s bigger things. At times, okay, you can have an abortion—but used as a method of birth control, it’s not what civilized people should be doing. CH: What about Michael Bloomberg? Everyone’s talking about him running for president, and you’re a fan, right? JM: Yes, but he’s not running. He says he’s not running— I don’t think he’s lying. CH: What if he were to change his mind? JM: Right now, I’m supporting Giuliani for a number of reasons. I saw what he did. He came into a city that had almost a $5-billion deficit. He came into a city where, you would go into the city and on people’s automobiles you would see a note saying, “No radio.” And instead of surrendering to it, he said, “No, this is not the way we’re going to live.” He applied the broken windows strategy and he turned it around. Of course, at times, being a little tougher than people wanted him to be. CH: Your term is up in 2009. What are you going to do? Have your own TV show? Become a lobbyist? JM: Oh, I don’t know where I’m going to go. In politics, a week’s a lifetime. Look at Spitzer—he had a 76 percent rating. Now he’s down in the 40s—low 40s. Personally, I think he surrounded himself with the wrong people. A lot of times what happens to you is due mostly to the people around you. You can’t keep your hand on everything. I’m fortunate—I’ve got a deputy borough president and a kitchen cabinet of six people that I really honor. They never embarrass me. CH: Do any of them look like potential borough president material? JM: I think my deputy would make a great candidate. I think he would make a great borough president, but that’s not for me to decide. CH: Others are jockeying around for this seat. Do you have feelings about them? JM: There are a lot of people that have not announced they have an interest in it. I don’t know anyone who has announced—Jimmy [Oddo] hasn’t announced. He’s toying with the idea. I know [Michael] McMahon’s toying with the idea. There are always some unknowns that will pop up.
ANDREW SCHWARTZ
n a deviation from City Hall tradition, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro opted to order in at his Borough Hall office. The reason? The popular elected official says he tends to get approached while eating out, making the office a more conducive setting for interviews. Food arrived from Montalbano’s Italian Food Specialties, a nearby eatery with an extensive sandwich menu, and was garnished with the BP’s very own hot sauce, which he dries on top of his water-heater at home. Molinaro sat down to talk about his recent heart attack, who he thinks should succeed him at Borough Hall and what Paris Hilton should be doing with her life. Following is an edited transcript of the interview.
Molinaro makes his own specialty hot sauce and takes his own approach to politics as an avowed member of the Conservative Party. CH: The reason we’re eating in your office today is because you tend to get mobbed when you eat out. JM: That’s right. Always in a nice way. People, they complain sometimes. CH: Do you go out to eat a lot then? JM: No, very seldom. CH: Do you cook? JM: No. Hot sauce: that’s my contribution. CH: If you weren’t in politics, what would you be doing? JM: I have no idea. You know, it’s difficult to answer that question because almost everything interests me. I’m just a curious person. I like challenges and having a meaningful purpose at the end of the day. If someone said, “Stay home tomorrow and we’ll send you a check for $10,000 a week,” it wouldn’t appeal to me. In the six years I’ve been borough president, I don’t think I’ve taken six weeks vacation. I’ve got a beautiful condo in Florida on the Gulf Coast in Sarasota. I go down for three or four days. But I think there’s a purpose why we’re put here. It’s not being like—what’s her name, Hilton, goes around wasting money—that crazy actress— CH: Paris Hilton? JM: Paris Hilton. CH: Didn’t think that would come up during this interview. JM: She has an opportunity, but she’s not-, you can contribute, help so many people that are less fortunate— and still do what you’re doing. ceichna@manhattanmedia.com
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To find out what Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan thought of the hot sauce, the stereotype about Staten Island that really drives Molinaro nuts and what he thinks is the hardest part of his job, go online to www.cityhallnews.com.
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SEPTEMBER 2007
CITY HALL
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Perry in the Race for Brooklyn BP Assembly Member Nick Perry (D), who was briefly in last year’s heated Democratic primary to replace Rep. Major Owens (D-Brooklyn), has his sights set on a new race: the one to succeed Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (D), whom term limits will force from office in 2009. Perry, who said he quit the congressional race because he did not want to give up his safe Assembly seat in the quest for a seat he did not believe he could win, said that the prospect of running in an off-year race was more appealing to him. Plus, he said, he expects the 2009 Brooklyn race to be at least as crowded as the nine-way Manhattan borough president contest in 2005, and believes this will benefit him. Other expected candidates in the race include Council Members Bill de Blasio (D) and Charles Barron (D), who officially announced his candidacy in July. Perry said he expects to do well, by calling on a broad spectrum of support within and beyond Brooklyn’s black voters whom he thinks will shun Barron.
“Barron says if he’s the only black candidate in the race, the black candidate can win,” Perry said. “But if he’s the only black candidate in the race, the black candidate can’t win.”
Jersey City Looking for a Little Bloomberg and Quinn Love Some Jersey City waterfront residents want to know why New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (DManhattan) are not spending more time on Jersey City’s municipal issues. That is the concern of a new committee at Our Lady of Czestochowa Catholic Church in Jersey City. Mark Bonamo, a former political reporter and the committee’s chair, said he would often hear from young professionals moving into the waterfront that they believed the city was part of New York and wanted to know why Bloomberg and Quinn (and fellow Manhattan Democrat, former Speaker Gifford Miller) were not addressing potholes and crime on their side of the Hudson. Bonamo said much of this came because many waterfront residents worked in New York and moved to Jersey City in search of cheaper housing. Bonamo said the church’s voter registration advisory committee will be seeking to register new parishioners as voters in Jersey City, along with providing them information on civic action. This will include meetings with local officials and information on how to address civic issues. He said the committee will not seek to influence the political process but rather to educate parishioners. Bonamo noted that Jersey City already has several wellestablished neighborhood associations and hopes his group will serve as an extension of these. “We want to create a sounding board for people to talk about these issues,” he said. “People want a place to voice their opinions.” For the record, Democrats Jerry Healy and Steve Fulop are Jersey City’s mayor and waterfront councilman respectively.
Little Constituent Services State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (DManhattan/Bronx) could set up a nursery in his office. Three of his aides are spending their offhours helping to raise newborns. From left to right, Miles Meade is held by communications director Michael Meade, Malcolm Ureña is held by constituent services coordinator Quisquella Addison and Sam Poole is held by director of special projects Clifton Poole.
Bye-Bye Bottled Water Assembly Member Robert Sweeney (D-Suffolk) likes New York State’s tap water so much that he is calling for a ban of bottled water in state buildings. The statewide ban would be a first of its extreme in the country, though similar bans have been placed in cities like San Francisco and Salt Lake City. The Container Recycling Institute reported that less than 20 percent of single serving water bottles used in New York are recycled, helping lead Sweeney, the Environmental Committee chair, to declare the ban would make the state government “greener.” Sweeney also noted the ban will conserve oil, which is used to make the plastic and powers the delivery trucks.
Paterson Promotes MWBEs While minority- and women-owned construction businesses are prospering in the private sector, Lt. Gov. David Paterson (D) wants them to receive more public contracts. Paterson delivered the keynote speech at a Sept. 5 panel discussion on the barriers minority- and womenowned construction businesses face in New York State. “We’re not here to correct these historic problems,” Paterson said. “We’re here to ameliorate recent discrimination. Paterson and members of the national Surety & Fidelity Association of America signed a memorandum of understanding stating that both parties will educate and assist minority- and women-owned businesses. “We are not asking for affirmative action or any handout. We’re not even asking for a set-aside,” Paterson said. “We’re asking for business to be done with the standard procedures of standards and merit.”
Mastering Our Domain City Council Member Gale Brewer (D-Manhattan) wants to carve out a corner for New York City. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, known as ICANN, has approved about 271 top level domain names such as .com, .net and .org. But about 250 of those are country suffixes such as .UK for England and .MX for Mexico. In June ICANN is going to hear proposals from groups that want to create new names, such as .Berlin, .Paris and possibly .Google. Queens information technologist Thomas
Lowenhaupt, director of the newly formed Connecting.NYC Inc., wants a .nyc for local stores, government and residents. Brewer, who chairs the Council’s Committee on Technology in Government, likes the idea and is planning to meet with Lowenhaupt and Commissioner Paul Cosgrave of the city Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications, but has not set a date as yet. “I like to buy in New York,” she said, and the .nyc could be used to identify local merchants. “From many perspectives, it makes sense.” However, when it comes to her technological endeavors, Brewer ran into some trouble with her August email newsletter. As she wrote in her September newsletter, “Dear friends, Last month, I included an article ‘AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY’ and it turns out that the article is NOT presented by Johns Hopkins and is a hoax. I apologize…”
Judgment Day Former Gov. George Pataki’s (R) new firm is suing his old lawyer—or, at least, the lawyer who once had to represent him in court, Eliot Spitzer (D). Chadbourne & Parke, the law firm which now calls home, announced a pro-bono lawsuit against Spitzer, the Assembly, the State Senate and the State of New York. The firm is representing four lawyers who not only want to force the state to raise judicial salaries, but want to be awarded back pay through 2000. Will the case prompt a PatakiSpitzer courtroom drama to inspire this generation’s Inherit the Wind? Only time will tell.
Schuler Promoted Thomas Schuler, most recently the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s manager of government affairs, has been promoted to be the institution’s chief government affairs officer. Schuler is a former chief of staff for State Sen. Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan/Bronx), and held positions in the offices of then-City Council Member Thomas Duane (D-Manhattan) and State Sen. Franz Leichter (D-Manhattan/Bronx). —by John R.D. Celock, Edward-Isaac Dovere, Adam Pincus and Dan Rivoli.
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: The Man With Rudy’s Number ike a left-leaning Energizer bunny, Wayne Barrett just keeps going and going. He has outlasted about 18 editors at The Village Voice, where he has been a political reporter for 28 years. Not bad for a guy who went to college on a debating scholarship and expected to follow that up with law school. Instead, he wound up going to the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where today he is an adjunct professor. Barrett is increasingly known as an opinionated talking head on television talk shows, but he has not given up his day job: writing startling, investigative pieces about the city’s cast of political characters. He has also written books about boldfaced names like Ed Koch, Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani—none of which has endeared him to his subjects. What follows is an edited transcript of a conversation with Barrett, who was vacationing at his New Jersey beach house. Or at least, officially vacationing. In Barrett’s case, it was another chance to write and read and talk about city politics.
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CH: Is this passion for work learned behavior? Did your parents have it? WB: First of all, my father was a nuclear physicist, and he certainly worked all the time. I guess it’s probably a little bit learned. But I also like to think it’s because I love the beat so much. It’s just endlessly fascinating, and some of the local characters on my state or local beat are becoming national players. Rudy is endlessly fascinating. I certainly don’t have to force myself to do any of this work. It comes as easily as watching a Red Sox game, which is my other passion. CH: You seem to zig when a lot of other people are zagging. You’re out there finding the next story when others are concentrating on the last one. Was that a conscious decision or is that something you just figured out? WB: I certainly do run counter to the pack much of the time. I don’t know whether I’m ahead of other people. I think right now I’m behind other people [when it comes to the squabbles between Gov. Eliot Spitzer and Sen. Majority Leader Joe Bruno]. I still haven’t written anything about it. I’ve done TV and radio so I’m going to be behind the pack in terms of weighing in on it. And I think I’m going to say many different things from what have been said. I do not trust the stampede, almost ever. I have been a critic of Spitzer’s virtually since he got into office and I wrote about the father’s loans, not just in Democratic primaries but in the general elections … I wrote about them in ’94 and ’98 and I certainly think there was something to all of those stories. I’m not someone who thinks the world of Eliot Spitzer, but I think that this has been one the most over-hyped, over-played—I couldn’t even call it a scandal, so why we’re attaching a “-gate” to this is beyond my understanding.
CH: How have you survived so many different eras at The Village Voice? Has it always been the place that you wanted to work? Wayne Barrett says the media is reluctant to criticize former Mayor WB: I have turned down Rudolph Giuliani, and he does not understand why. better-paying jobs on at least three occasions over the years, so there is a tremen- maybe they are going to do it at the end of the road. dous comfort level that I have at The Voice. It has always Maybe the want a race. This is the thing that could been a writer’s newspaper. By that, I mean a writer bring Rudy down, and if it brings Rudy down, it could decides what he is going to write about, what he is going be a less interesting race. It could be that simple. Obviously the other reason is that the print and the telto say about that subject, and how he is going to say it. I think I’m somewhere around my 18th editor-in-chief, and evision media created this mythology about Rudy not every editor-in-chief has been a complete swing of Giuliani. The television media is very reluctant to give direction, but most of them have been. But I think the thing up a mythology that involves an attack like this. I that all editors like is a hard-working reporter, and that I describe how he walked through the canyons on 9/11 am. I have produced more copy than any writer in the his- as an Iwo Jima visual that hangs in the minds of tory of the paper. Nat Hentoff has been there longer than I Americans this many years later. have, but basically writes a page each time he writes. CH: Do you like the non-writing and non-reporting CH: Some of those stories you’ve written have been part of your job? Do you enjoy the appearances on about former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Do you think NY1? he’s going to be Republican nominee, and what’s WB: Any form of combat… the biggest misconception about him out there in CH: Is okay? America? WB: It’s good that you linked those two questions WB: Is okay. It’s amazing to me how many more people because who is going to stop him? Is Fred Thompson tell you that they saw you on television than ever tell you that they read your story. I’m talking about going to stop him? That’s the only other possibility. And none of us know strangers in the street or even old friends. All of this is how effective a candidate he will be. We know that Rudy a form of expression. I believe I objectively gather Giuliani is an effective candidate. He is effective on the facts. I don’t approach any story as a blank slate. That’s stump. He’s persuasive. He’s telegenic in almost every a result of 30 years on the beat. So I have a frame of way. And he’s a smart campaigner. He’s made some mis- reference. But I believe that I objectively report facts takes on this road, but I certainly think he will be the and I write it after I have objectively done the reportRepublican nominee unless the core rationale of his ing. Going on those shows allows me to express that candidacy is attacked by his rivals or the media or both. point of view—in some cases, to a wider audience. The television media has been totally resistant from the I went to college as a debater on a debating scholarnetworks to the talk shows on the cable channels to an ship. I thought I was going to be a lawyer. I wound up honest analysis of Rudy’s true 9/11 role—any aspect of never applying to law schools at all. I’ve always regardit, whether it’s Ground Zero, whether it’s the bunker, ed it as almost a trade school approach. That’s the whether it’s whether or not he understood the threat of thing that I loved most about it. You really learned the craft by doing it. I think that’s the only way to learn the terrorism. craft. CH: Why do you think the television media is not doing it? —Christopher Moore WB: They love a horse race. All I can tell you is that cmoore@manhattanmedia.com
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ANDREW SCHWARTZ
City Hall: You are doing this interview while on vacation. So the first question is: are you a workaholic? Wayne Barrett: I do work all the time, but I don’t really consider myself a workaholic. I always do a lot of work here, while we’re on vacation. I love the beach, but I never make it out there any earlier than mid-day, and I usually spend the morning on the phone doing business. And then I sit out on the beach and read business. I just got a FedEx delivery from my assistants, so I’m going to take that out on the beach today. I find it relaxing.