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More Value for NY More than 90% of CUNY baccalaureate graduates are employed or pursuing advanced higher education three years after graduation.

More than 80% of all CUNY graduates live or work in New York State 10 years after graduation.

More Student Award Winners Than Ever: Since 2011, 86 Student

Fulbright Award Winners, 81 NSF Fellowships, 12 Goldwater, 5 Soros, 3 Truman Scholarships – and a Pulitzer Prize for poetry.

More Faculty Award Winners Than Ever: Since 2011, 51 Faculty

Fulbrights, Guggenheims, National Book Awards and Pulitzer Prizes.

More than 8 out of 10 CUNY undergraduate students graduate free of federal student-loan debt.

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ith its high-quality academic programs, affordable tuition and student support, including financial aid and privately funded scholarships, The City University of New York plays a vital role in educating more than 500,000 degree-seeking and continuing-education students annually and in contributing to the state’s economic health.

This is the CUNY Value. That value translates into respected, affordable academic and professional credentials for CUNY graduates, an overwhelming majority of whom

remain in New York after college, contributing their knowledge, skills and increased earning power to the state, the city, their neighborhoods and society. To continue CUNY’s historic mission to provide the quality, affordability and access that are the hallmarks of the CUNY Value, it needs the support of the communities it serves. We look forward to working with Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature to Support the CUNY Value.

James B. Milliken CHANCELLOR

Support the CUNY Value

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CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK-1847 HUNTER COLLEGE-1870 BROOKLYN COLLEGE-1930 QUEENS COLLEGE-1937 NYC COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY-1946 COLLEGE OF STATEN ISLAND-1956 BRONX COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1957 QUEENSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1959 CUNY GRADUATE CENTER-1961 BOROUGH OF MANHATTAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1963 KINGSBOROUGH COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1963 JOHN JAY COLLEGE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE-1964 YORK COLLEGE-1966 BARUCH COLLEGE-1968 LAGUARDIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1968 LEHMAN COLLEGE-1968 HOSTOS COMMUNITY COLLEGE-1970 MEDGAR EVERS COLLEGE-1970 CUNY SCHOOL OF LAW-1983 MACAULAY HONORS COLLEGE AT CUNY-2001 CUNY SCHOOL OF PROFESSIONAL STUDIES-2003 CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM-2006 CUNY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HEALTH POLICY-2011 GUTTMAN COMMUNITY COLLEGE-2011 CUNY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE-FALL 2016

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Jon Lentz Senior Editor

As New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio enters the second half of his term, he has tried to play up his victories and downplay his setbacks.

The mayor has fulfilled several key goals: expanding prekindergarten, reducing pedestrian traffic deaths and creating an NYPD inspector general. But that barely scratches the surface of the long list of pledges from his 2013 mayoral campaign.

In this New York City legislative preview, a City & State reporting team led by City Hall reporter Sarina Trangle scrutinized every single pledge. In a sign of how much de Blasio has yet to do in the next two years, fewer than half have been accomplished.

To represent this visually, Creative Director Guillaume Federighi evoked the poster art from “Metropolis,” a pioneering 1927 film that takes place in a dystopian city divided between the wealthy and the workers.

In de Blasio’s Metropolis, can he be the one to bring the classes together?

14. De BLASIO’S PLEDGES 7. INSIDE THE JURY ROOM

NY1 political reporter Zack Fink speaks with one of the jurors on Sheldon Silver’s corruption trial who provides a blow-by-blow account of how 12 of the former speaker’s fellow citizens found him guilty on all counts.

Our dedicated reporters spent weeks poring over the promises Bill de Blasio made on the campaign trail. Two years later, which ones has he kept?

22. NEW YORK CITY LEGISLATIVE DOSSIERS 2016

What are the City Council’s top priorities this year? What will the most contentious issues be?

Who makes the best pizza in New York? Your most pressing questions answered in this year’s City Council dossiers.

38. BACK & FORTH

36. NEW YORK SLANT

Former Assemblyman Michael Benjamin has high hopes that, after a year of personal and professional tragedy, Gov. Andrew Cuomo will regain his missing mojo.

Meanwhile, frustrated with de Blasio’s horse carriage deal, City Councilman Joe Borelli wonders why all this political capital has been spent on a tourist novelty.

We speak with John Browne, the recently retired head of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs’ petroleum products squad, about inspecting gas stations, catching bad guys and being threatened for doing his job.

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MAGAZINE

City & State is the premier multimedia news organization dedicated to covering New York’s local and state politics and policy. Our in-depth, non-partisan coverage serves New York’s leaders every day as a trusted guide to the issues impacting New York. We offer round-the-clock coverage through our weekly publications, daily e-briefs, events, oncamera interviews, weekly podcast and more.

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CITY & STATE MAGAZINE Our award-winning print magazine delivers long-form cover stories, investigative exposés, indepth industry analysis and entertaining features on a weekly basis.

CITY & STATE FIRST READ With over 20,000 subscribers, the free daily First Read e-brief summarizes the top political news, editorials, schedule items and more – all in your inbox before 7 a.m. cityandstateny.com/first-read CITY & STATE INSIDER Insider subscribers receive the weekly magazine, access to all policy events and an exclusive daily email featuring our take on the news and groundbreaking commentary. cityandstateny.com/insider CITY & STATE EVENTS City & State hosts dozens of panel discussions, live Q&As, receptions and more each year featuring powerful politicians, industry leaders and experts from across the state. cityandstateny.com/events CITY & STATE CAREERS City & State Careers connects professionals to career, continuing education, and professional development opportunities in and around New York government, advocacy, business and more. careers.cityandstateny.com

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Assemblyman David Weprin, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce’s Carlo Scissura, and the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s Thomas Grech

Cuomo staffers Tye Woodson, Giovanna Joseph and Carolina Mundela

CSEA’s Steve Madarasz and Emily Cote, and Comptroller DiNapoli

State of the State RECEPTION The evening before Cuomo’s State of the State address, City & State hosted its annual kickoff to the legislative season at the Hollow Bar + Kitchen in Albany. Hundreds of lawmakers, advocates and other New York movers and shakers were in attendance.

Assembly members Ron Kim, Francisco Moya and Marcos Crespo

Thomas McMahon, Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, Timothy Plunkett and Cadillac McMahon

PHOTOS BY SHANNON DECELLE

Although the night was dedicated to state-level politics, the drink specials tipped the hat to a pair of national-level New York natives: the Bernie Bacardi Mojito and the Trump Manhattan. Tasty and topical!

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INSIDE THE JURY ROOM

By ZACK FINK

COURT SKTECHES BY JANE ROSENBERG

How 12 of SHELDON SILVER’S fellow citizens FOUND him GUILTY after JURY DELIBERATIONS that nearly FELL APART

ON THE MORNING of Tuesday, Nov. 24, a jury of eight men and four women began deliberations in the case that would decide the fate of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. As the judge gave her final instructions to the jurors, there was a palpable sense of unease in the courtroom from the defense team. Just a day earlier the lead defense attorney, Steven Molo, had delivered a closing argument in an angry and accusatory tone –

more like he was quickly running out of time, rather than offering a calm and reasoned counter to the government’s case.

Throughout the roughly two-and-a-half-week trial, the defense had seemed cool, even confident, making their closing argument seem even more desperate. When the jury entered their private room in the back of the court, the defense team and even the defendant himself

seemed nervous for the first time.

They had officially put their case in the hands of 12 strangers, each with their own experiences and biases. And as anybody who pays attention to politics can attest, being a politician these days doesn’t engender any sympathy from the average New Yorker.

But regardless of the climate, who exactly sits on a jury matters greatly to the outcome of the trial.

There have been no extended

firsthand accounts of what happened inside the deliberation room during the Silver trial. Until now. City & State spoke exclusively with one of the jurors, who delivered a blow-by-blow account of how the discussions began and ultimately ended with guilty verdicts on all seven counts. Our subject asked that I withhold her name, but she is a married mother of two, and a Manhattan resident with an Ivy League education. For

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the purposes of telling the story, I will call her “Jane.”

Though Jane referred to her fellow jurors by name in interviews, I have opted not to identify them, with the exception of those who have already been named in the press or who chose to speak publicly shortly after the verdict.

Jane told City & State that the prosecution team, led by Carrie Cohen of the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, “laid out the case impeccably.”

That’s an enormous compliment considering how convoluted the evidence seemed at times.

In contrast, Molo made Jane feel uncomfortable – he stared at people perhaps a few seconds too long, rendering the sustained eye contact unsettling. The defense “didn’t present facts,” she told me, and it was aimed at trying to “fool people.”

She concluded that the entire defense presentation seemed phony. “We are not going to fall for that,” she added, with a snap of her head. “Molo talked down to us and insulted our intelligence.”

Pressed for a more introspective assessment of why she came to her conclusions about Silver’s guilt, Jane paused for a minute or so.

“Somebody needs to be made an example of,” she said, finally. “We don’t let people off the hook for crimes they commit because they happen to live in a quote-unquote bad neighborhood. Why would we let him (Silver) off the hook?

He was lying in the press. And he was dishonest in his motives for governing. White collar crime cannot be held to a different standard.”

DAY ONE OF the deliberations began in the late morning on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving.

And while there were only about two and half days of discussion, they were marred by a series of bizarre requests to the judge in the form of handwritten notes.

“When all 12 jurors walked into the room it was split roughly in half between those who felt Silver was guilty and those who did not,”

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Jane recounted.

If instructions were followed, it was the first time the 12 jurors had ever discussed the case. They wrote out each of the seven counts on a large whiteboard in the center of the room, and methodically went around the rectangular table taking input from every juror on each count. After about an hour and half of convincing and cajoling, a woman since identified as Arleen Phillips and another male juror were the only holdouts who did not believe Silver was guilty. The male juror, since identified as Bronx taxi driver Kenneth Graham, said little. And according to Jane, “no one really took him seriously.”

Graham later claimed he had not questioned Silver’s guilt.

“WHY WOULD WE LET HIM (SILVER) OFF THE HOOK? HE WAS LYING IN THE PRESS. AND HE WAS DISHONEST IN HIS MOTIVES FOR GOVERNING. WHITE COLLAR CRIME CANNOT BE HELD TO A DIFFERENT STANDARD.” But as the consensus in the room was building to convict, Phillips refused to acquiesce. And she quickly became the focus of the group’s ire.

“It was getting noisy,” Jane said. “Two jurors seemed to be ganging up on her. One of the jurors kept raising her voice.”

After going around the room again, Phillips shut down. She put on her sunglasses and simply stopped engaging with the other jurors. At about 12:40 p.m. she passed her first note to Judge Valerie Caproni.

“I am wondering if there is any way I can be excused from this case,” Phillips wrote, “because I

have a different opinion/view so far in this case and it is making me feel very, very uncomfortable … I’m feeling pressured, stressed out … told that I’m not using my common sense, my heart is pounding and my head feels weird.

I am so stressed out right now that I can’t even write normally. I don’t feel like I can be myself right now! I need to leave!”

No one else in the room was even aware that Phillips had sent the note, according to Jane.

A short time later, another juror, who was clearly exasperated with Phillips, sent a second note asking for clarification.

“One of the jurors is having difficulty distinguishing whether or not exchanging NYS funds for something in return is illegal,” the juror wrote. “Is there a code of conduct (ethical) which clearly outlines this is this is the case for an Assembly person.”

Outside the jury room in open court, Caproni consulted both the defense and prosecution about how to respond to the notes.

She decided to point the jury toward a portion of the charge that had already been read about what constitutes public duty and official action. After calling the 12 jurors out into the courtroom, she reminded them to listen to one another, and to be respectful as they continued their deliberations.

The jury was then sent back to their room.

What happened over the next few hours was described by Jane as “some progress,” although Phillips still “had doubts” about the scheme involving Silver and Dr. Robert Taub. Initially most of the jury room agreed that Taub was a sympathetic witness and an honest man, according to Jane, but that view changed over the course of discussions.

AT THE CENTER of the government’s case were two alleged corruption schemes. Both were presented as illegal quid pro quos: abuses of public power in exchange for monetary kickbacks.

The first scheme involved Silver’s relationship with the

79-year-old Taub, who ran a Columbia University research center for mesothelioma, a rare cancer often associated with asbestos exposure. Since mesothelioma is so uncommon, securing research dollars can be challenging in a medical field in which other diseases are far more prevalent and attract greater attention and public health resources. According to Taub’s own testimony, only about 100 people are diagnosed with mesothelioma in the New York area annually. By comparison, nearly 14,000 people in New York state are diagnosed with new lung cancer cases in any given year, according to the New York State Department of Health.

Silver knew the bow-tiewearing Taub through the tightly knit Orthodox Jewish community rooted on the Lower East Side.

They first met in 1984, but it was in 2003 that Taub met with Silver and asked him to convince the law firm of Weitz & Luxenberg to donate money toward his mesothelioma research, according to court documents and testimony.

Silver was “working” for Weitz & Luxenberg as “of counsel,” which, in this case, meant that his name was simply associated with the firm. As court testimony later revealed, Silver did very little actual work for the firm, which had long handled personal injury cases. But as the mid-2000s wore on, Weitz & Luxenberg was beginning to develop a specialty niche representing clients who had developed mesothelioma and were now suing the sources of their asbestos exposure. Those lawsuits often resulted in lucrative judgments. The floors at the World Trade Center contained asbestos, so when the towers came down, Lower Manhattan braced for a spike in new mesothelioma cases. Because of a long incubation period, those new cases are expected to peak 10 to 15 years after exposure, which is right about now.

Silver initially turned down Taub’s request for a research donation through Weitz &

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Our Perspective Our Perspective Workers in Retail Workers in Retail Need Need $15 $15 an an Hour Hour to to Survive Survive

By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Retail, Wholesale and Department By Stuart Appelbaum, President, Store Union, RWDSU, UFCW and Department Store Union, Retail, Wholesale RWDSU, UFCW icole Brown, a 32-year-old single mother working in retail, shared her storymother at a press icole Brown, a 32-year-old single conference in Albany this month.

She working in retail, shared her story at aspoke press of working in retail in forAlbany 10 years, struggling to conference this but month.

She spoke payworking the rentinand provide her family.

While to of retail for 10for years, but struggling working, sheand andprovide her daughter been forced to pay the rent for herhave family.

While depend upon foodher stamps and have even been homeless working, she and daughter forced to shelters. depend upon food stamps and even homeless That’s what she has had to do to survive shelters. making underwhat $10she an hour working That’s has had to dointoretail. survive What would make a difference for Brown and thousands of other making under $10 an hour working in retail. retail workers in New York?

What would make a difference for Brown and thousands of other “I fight for hour because it will retail workers in $15 New an York?

An increase in the bring me andfor my$15 daughter that much closer “I fight an hour because it will minimum wage to An increase in the to freedom and bring me and myfinancial daughterindependence,” that much closer $15 an hour needs minimum wage to Brown said.and financial independence,” to freedom to beanunconditional. $15 hour needs Cuomo is working to raise BrownGovernor said. to be unconditional.

New York’s minimum from a to woefully Governor Cuomowage is working raise inadequate $9 per hour to $15 hour, which would give minimum New York’s minimum wage froman a woefully wage workers a chance to provide for themselves andgive theirminimum family, and inadequate $9 per hour to $15 an hour, which would to make up some ground in the fight against economic inequality wage workers a chance to provide for themselves and their family,that andis making life a struggle for too many New Yorkers.

And, he’s taken to make up some ground in the fight against economic inequality that is immediate by ordering $15 an hour for state workers and state making life action a struggle for too many New Yorkers.

And, he’s taken university workers, implementing a plan raiseworkers fast food workers’ immediate action byand ordering $15 an hour fortostate and state pay to $15workers, an hour and as well. university implementing a plan to raise fast food workers’ And, he’s launched a campaign to push pay to $15 an hour as well. for a $15 wage a throughout York And,minimum he’s launched campaignNew to push Retail work can and State. for a $15 minimum wage throughout New York shouldwork support Retail can and State. Cuomo’s campaign is an appropriate familiessupport in New York. should response to a minimum has Cuomo’s campaignwage is anthat appropriate families in New York. stagnated and continued to lose real response to a minimum wage that hasvalue against inflation since thestagnated 1970s. With many retail workers andso continued to lose real earning value minimum wage, this move would help our retail economy and earning against inflation since the 1970s.

Withboost so many workers strengthen our communities.

Retail work canour andeconomy should support minimum wage, this move would help boost and families in New York, and nobody who works New York should strengthen our communities.

Retail work caninand should supportlive in poverty, unfortunately all who too common Hard-working families which in NewisYork, and nobody works in today.

New York should liveNew in Yorkers an hour. all too common today. Hard-working New poverty, deserve which is$15 unfortunately And, an increase the minimum wage to $15 an hour needs to Yorkers deserve $15 aninhour. be unconditional.

During the raise we shouldn’t And, an increase in thecampaign minimum to wage tothe $15wage, an hour needs to allow it to be watered down with any exceptions or givebacks be unconditional. During the campaign to raise the wage, we to shouldn’t industries which have down profited from insufficient minimum to wage in allow it to be watered with anythe exceptions or givebacks New York for decades. industries which have profited from the insufficient minimum wage in Government action leading to an unconditional New York for decades. $15 minimum wageaction can help us realize the promise Government leading to an unconditional of a New York economy everyone. $15 minimum wage canthat helpserves us realize the promise of a New York economy that serves everyone.

N N

“WHEN ALL 12 JURORS WALKED INTO THE ROOM IT WAS SPLIT ROUGHLY IN HALF BETWEEN THOSE WHO FELT SILVER WAS GUILTY AND THOSE WHO DID NOT.”

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Luxenberg, according to testimony, but about two weeks later Silver reached out to Taub to ask for mesothelioma patient referrals. Taub began sending patients, who Silver then passed along to Weitz & Luxenberg. For each referral, Silver received a fee from the firm and was guaranteed a portion of successful civil settlements. According to Taub’s testimony, Silver communicated to him that he was “pleased with the referrals.” Taub remained eager to secure more research dollars, so in 2004 Silver suggested he write a letter to the Assembly office requesting state funding.

In 2005 and 2006 Silver was able to deliver two taxpayerfunded grants of $250,000 each, according to the testimony of more than one witness in court. He secured these funds from the 1996 Health Care Reform Act, which was, in essence, a secret slush fund from which Silver could dole out public money with very little oversight. However, the Budget Reform Act, passed a year later in 2007, took away that ability.

Thereafter, all grants involving public money had to be more fully disclosed.

After the source of the secret money dried up, Taub testified that Silver made a house call to him one afternoon at Columbia.

Claiming he had an appointment in the building, Silver dropped by and explained that he could no longer provide public grants for Taub’s mesothelioma research.

Taub was very short on specifics about this meeting, claiming on the witness stand that he didn’t recall the details of the conversation, but he did walk away with the understanding that the Assembly grants were no longer coming his way. Silver had also told Taub not to tell their mutual friend Daniel Chill about the patient referrals.

Chill has worked on and off for the state Assembly as outside counsel since 1969. He was never called as a witness.

Taub went on to testify that he still wanted to maintain a good relationship with Silver, so he continued the referrals anyway.

He provided the names of roughly 25 patients to Silver over a decade.

During cross-examination, a defense attorney asked Taub, “You did not have an explicit agreement to exchange patients for grants, did you?”

“I did not,” Taub responded.

It didn’t matter. The damage had been done. The government had established an illegal quid pro quo in this scheme – public grant money for patient referrals, which eventually netted Silver more than $3 million.

BACK IN THE jury room during the afternoon of the first day of deliberations, Phillips continued to have her doubts about the Taub angle. Group discussions were continuing, but some jurors were starting to give up on convincing Phillips. Jane described the room as a “cacophony,” and a complete “sensory overload.” Jurors were all talking at once, but Phillips didn’t seem to be listening.

A third note was passed to the judge later that afternoon by a different juror, who asked for clarification of counts 5 and 6, which dealt with extortion. While this indicated that the jurors were making headway in reaching a verdict, Phillips appeared to be moving in the opposite direction.

Just before deliberations broke for the day without a verdict, Phillips passed yet another note to the judge.

“Can I have a meeting with Judge Caproni after everyone is dismissed?” she asked in the note.

Upon receiving the note, Caproni buried her head in her hand in an exaggerated gesture of frustration. After consulting once again with the defense and prosecution, the judge decided to table the request until the next morning. Phillips would not be getting her one-on-one meeting, nor would she be excused. And the next day would bring a whole new round of high drama.

ON WEDNESDAY, NOV. 25, the jury gathered at roughly 9:30 a.m. to resume deliberations. It was the day before Thanksgiving, and

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Caproni had promised the jurors they could call it quits at noon if they wanted. In the morning they informed Caproni that all were present and they wished to leave at noon, an early sign that no verdict would likely be reached on the second day, either. Next on the agenda was to address Phillips’ request for a meeting with the judge from the night before.

Caproni brought the prosecution and defense teams into the courtroom without the jury present and described her concerns aloud. She was not sure if the other jurors even knew Phillips had requested a meeting.

(Indeed, many did not.) Thus, she wanted to respond with caution. Caproni lamented that she was stuck between the 2nd Circuit Court rules governing the sanctity of secrecy during jury deliberations and “a human being who has requested a meeting.”

After both sides had weighed in, Caproni summoned the jury into the courtroom. She told them that no jurors should change their mind just because they may be outnumbered. However, she said she could not meet with any one juror individually since the secrecy of jury deliberations “is the cornerstone of our democracy.”

The jury returned to private deliberations, and as the morning wore on the other jurors were once again becoming particularly annoyed with Phillips. Jane recalled that she then spoke up, arguing that they were “never going to get out of here if they continue to antagonize” the holdout. “So,” she said, “let’s hit the reset button.”

Jane then sat down with Phillips one on one and quietly reviewed all the charges. Periodically, two other jurors would come over and check in, but for the most part it was a two-way conversation.

While Phillips occasionally nodded in agreement, it seemed clear that she “never got it,” Jane said, at least as far as the first scheme involving Taub was concerned. By the time deliberations ended on Wednesday, Phillips had seemed to come around to recognizing

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Silver’s criminal liability when it came to the second scheme, which involved kickbacks to Silver from another law firm in exchange for tax work. At noon, the jurors went their separate ways for the Thanksgiving holiday.

THE SECOND SCHEME laid out by the federal government centered on Silver’s referral of wealthy real estate developers to Goldberg & Iryami, a small downtown Manhattan law firm that specializes in tax certiorari.

Tax certiorari is the legal review of property tax assessments. After a local government assesses a property’s value, developers hire lawyers to try and get the assessed value lowered in order to reduce the tax burden.

Goldberg & Iryami, the firm at the center of the scheme, was founded by Jay Arthur Goldberg, who served on the New York City Tax Commission during the Koch administration. Goldberg, a childhood friend of Silver’s, also had served as Silver’s Assembly counsel.

Silver received roughly $700,000 over more than a decade for tax certiorari work he referred to the Goldberg firm, according to prosecutors. The biggest client he brought in was Glenwood Management Corporation, a major owner and developer of luxury apartment buildings, mostly in Manhattan. Glenwood had also set up limited liability companies for the individual buildings they owned. These LLCs allowed the company to get around the limitations on legal campaign donations that individuals or corporations can make to politicians. Glenwood has donated more than $10 million to state political campaigns over 10 years, more than any other entity. The company also gave Silver plausible deniability because, according to testimony, Silver claimed that he was receiving fees from Goldberg that were generated by the LLCs and not Glenwood itself, which had interests before the state.

Testifying for the government in exchange for immunity was

Dara Iryami, the other half of the Goldberg & Iryami firm.

According to Iryami, Silver received 25 percent of the cut from tax reductions she was able to secure for Glenwood’s LLCs, even though Iryami did all the actual work. Silver never disclosed those fees on his annual Assembly financial disclosure forms.

Elected officials in New York are permitted to earn outside income as long as it is disclosed publicly.

Those laws have been updated several times over the years, and there are still questions about what exactly constitutes “disclosure.”

As Assembly speaker, Silver helped negotiate and write those disclosure rules. And through some tortured logic, he and his attorneys maintained that Silver was in compliance with the letter of that law.

When Glenwood eventually learned of the fees Silver was receiving in 2011, executives were “upset and angry,” testified Richard Runes, a top Glenwood lobbyist. But instead of ending the arrangement, Runes said that it was important to Glenwood to maintain a good relationship with the Assembly speaker, so they devised a way to hide the referral fees. A new retainer agreement was drawn up between Glenwood and Goldberg & Iryami that did not mention Silver. With that retainer came a side letter stipulating Silver’s role. The side letter, which was added in January 2012, did not have to be disclosed publicly.

So, the “quid” in this case was the referral fees or kickbacks and the attempts to cover up those fees.

The “quo” was a series of actions Silver took on behalf of Glenwood in his official capacity as Assembly speaker.

For example, in the spring of 2011 Glenwood requested a meeting with Silver at the state Capitol. A number of issues before the Assembly directly affected Glenwood’s core business interests, including changes to the rent stabilization laws that were set to expire that June. The 421-a tax break for real estate developers was also set to expire. Runes met

with Silver and another Glenwood lobbyist, Brian Meara, at the Capitol on June 6, 2011. According to Runes’ testimony, the Glenwood team made a number of proposals about the housing legislation, although he did not recall them with any specificity. Asked how Silver responded, Runes said, “He didn’t say yes, and he didn’t say no.” However, after all was said and done the final versions of the bills that passed the Legislature and were signed into law left Glenwood “satisfied,” Runes said.

In another instance witnesses testified about the sweetheart loans Glenwood and other developers received through the Public Authorities Control Board, or PACB, which most New Yorkers probably haven’t heard of, even though the board approves hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-exempt bonds for private developers.

The PACB has five representatives, one each from the minority and majority in both the Senate and the Assembly and one from the governor’s office.

All votes by the board must be unanimous. Some of the loans they approved included financing in 2002 of $100 million to build a Glenwood property at 10 Liberty St. in Lower Manhattan. Silver’s proxy on the board signed off on this, in addition to several other Glenwood projects over the years. In fact, from 2000 to 2014 Glenwood received more than $1 billion through the PACB for buildings in New York City.

Compare that astounding windfall to the paltry $10 million in campaign contributions Glenwood made to state leaders over that same period, and the donations are like a drop in the bucket – a mere cost of doing business in New York.

During the trial, prosecutors also played a handful of press interviews in which Silver refused to divulge the sources of his outside income but insisted repeatedly that he never represented clients with business before the state.

This was, of course, completely untrue. And the claims ultimately

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CityAndStateNY.com

“OUR DEFENSE WAS THAT WE DIDN’T DISPUTE THE FACTS. WE DIDN’T DISPUTE THAT HE MADE INTRODUCTIONS, WE JUST SAID IT DIDN’T CONSTITUTE CRIMINAL CONDUCT ...”

helped erode Silver’s credibility with the jury.

During a 2008 radio interview played for the jury, Silver was asked several times about the sources of his outside income.

Silver insisted that he represented average people in personal injury cases, and never anyone who had business before the state.

“Whether it’s an auto accident, an asbestos case,” he told the interviewer, “… not sure how much I’m allowed to say.”

THE ROOTS OF SILVER’S relationship with Glenwood run

deep. In 1997, Brian Meara, the Glenwood lobbyist, introduced Silver to Leonard Litwin, who owned and operated Glenwood Management. Litwin, Silver and Meara would go to Ratner’s, a Jewish deli on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that has since closed. Litwin is now 101 years old, and was unable to testify at Silver’s trial, so his state of mind had to be explained (often times circumstantially) by other witnesses.

The year Silver met Litwin was a significant one in Albany, although Meara claimed under

oath not to remember anything about the 1997 fight over the rent protection laws governing more than a million New York City tenants in rent-stabilized apartments. Tenant advocates, including Michael McKee, the treasurer of the Tenants Political Action Committee, counter that Meara’s claim of not remembering 1997 is “absurd,” since that was the year Silver “sold them out” and “gave away the store.”

In late 1996, Republican state Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno declared that the city’s rent protection laws should be allowed to expire permanently, and his stance made for a contentious session. The way McKee describes it, in exchange for a six-year extension of the rent protections, Silver agreed to a number of provisions that greatly weakened the rent laws and tenant rights going forward, including requiring tenants to pay rent into an escrow account during disputes with landlords and making it easier for landlords to evict tenants. Perhaps most significantly, vacancy deregulation was enshrined permanently in state law. Vacancy deregulation allows owners of rentregulated apartments to charge the market rate when rents rise above a certain threshold and the tenants die or move out. Establishing that kind of deregulation for previously protected apartments was what one Democrat described as the “original sin.”

Limited vacancy decontrol actually began in 1993, before Silver was speaker, but the events of 1997 made it permanent. Rent protections would eventually be phased out – it was just a question of how quickly. It was a huge gift to the real estate industry to even begin deregulating rent stabilized units in New York City, and one of the biggest beneficiaries was Glenwood Management.

But 1997 wasn’t only the year that Silver was accused of selling out the tenants he always claimed to advocate for. At the same time, Litwin began sending tax certiorari work to the law firm of Jay Arthur Goldberg, Silver’s lifelong friend.

This detail was mentioned but not emphasized by prosecutors during the trial, perhaps because Meara claimed not to remember it, or perhaps because Litwin couldn’t testify. But in hindsight, in light of the convictions, they didn’t need to.

ON MONDAY, NOV. 30, after the long Thanksgiving weekend, all the parties in the Silver case reconvened in Caproni’s courtroom just before 9:30 a.m.

The jury went behind closed doors and soon restarted their deliberations. They didn’t get very far. At 9:35 a.m., juror Kenneth Graham, the taxi driver who had also been holding out, asked to be excused.

“To honorary judge: I, juror #11, no longer wish to participate as a juror on this case,” he wrote in a note to the judge. “I believe there is a conflict of interest that I just learned about. Thank you.”

What followed was a roughly two-hour exchange between the judge, prosecutors, Silver’s lawyers and Graham, all behind closed doors. Two reporters were permitted to listen in on those discussions.

Graham explained that the man who owns his taxi medallion has ties to Silver through synagogue, which he had learned from co-workers at his Bronx garage over the weekend. There was no evidence Graham felt threatened, just uncomfortable.

“It could be a hardship,” Graham reportedly said. “Do you want me to tell you everything?

The medallion I lease is from a guy who associates with Silver.

It would not be fair to be on this case.”

Caproni interpreted Graham’s concerns as someone who was worried that if he voted to convict Silver, his leased medallion could be at risk. Graham went on to say that the unnamed medallion owner, who has more than 250 medallions, was a man who he sees at the garage but doesn’t really ever talk to. Caproni explained that the law protects Graham from any kind of retaliation. After the conference was over, Graham

CityAndStateNY.com

reluctantly agreed to go inside and resume deliberations if Caproni was ordering him to do so.

“I’ll do my best or whatever,” Graham said, “but I’d prefer not to hear any more.”

Graham returned to the jury room and initially refused to tell the other jurors why he had disappeared for two hours.

However, he eventually explained everything. He then announced that he was ready to convict Silver on all counts.

Jane said she continued making progress with Phillips, the lone holdout. What ultimately sealed it was looking at Silver’s old financial disclosure forms, which seemed to make clear to Phillips that Silver “was hiding something.” Jane said a stumbling block for everyone in the beginning was whether Silver actually knew “what he was doing was illegal.” The jurors spent the next few hours discussing the evidence that stuck out to them, including Silver’s interviews in the press in which he clearly lied about representing companies with business before the state.

“He was in the press saying something different than what he was doing,” Jane said.

The jury also concluded that another sign of Silver’s guilt was that he stopped making public money available once he had to disclose it. What was he hiding?

They were further swayed by the account of Silver personally visiting Taub when he could no longer make that money available.

Taub testified that he never got a reason why the public funds would be drying up, and jurors found that utterly implausible.

“Taub certainly would have asked why,” Jane said. For some jurors, it was this story that helped seal the entire arrangement between Taub and Silver as something illicit that they both were in on. Why would Silver just show up in person unless he was trying once again to cover his tracks? The jury found Taub’s claims less than credible.

“It’s shady,” Jane concluded.

“Most people in the jury room knew nothing about Albany.

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The thought was that politics in general is corrupt.”

Finally, at about 3 p.m. on that Monday afternoon, Phillips told her fellow jurors, “I’m ready.”

Both Silver and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara were in the courtroom when the verdicts were announced: guilty on all seven counts. The jury’s work was done. In the biggest test so far of Bharara’s strategy of putting Albany on trial, federal prosecutors had successfully proven Silver to be corrupt.

SOME OBSERVERS HAVE suggested that Silver would have been better off with a bench trial before a single judge instead of a jury of 12 strangers, but experts say all parties would have had to agree to that arrangement, and it is unlikely the government would have allowed it. The U.S. Attorney’s office declined to comment for this article, and would not make Bharara or any of the assistant U.S. attorneys who prosecuted the case available to speak, even on background. Bharara spoke exclusively to two media outlets after the conviction, opting not to hold a press conference after the unprecedented corruption convictions of Silver and then former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos two weeks later. Attempts to reach Phillips and Graham were unsuccessful.

Silver will appeal his conviction.

Post-trial motions were due Jan. 18, and the federal government will have 45 days to respond.

Silver’s sentencing date has been set for April 13, and he faces up to 20 years in prison, although he could face more than 100 years if the sentences for each count do not run concurrently. After sentencing, Silver’s appeal can go forward; oral arguments would be heard by a three-judge panel from the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which could be up to a year away.

As for Silver’s chances on appeal, it’s hard to say what will happen. Four of the counts he was convicted on deal with honest

services fraud, which has had mixed results in the courts. To begin with, the statute itself has only been on the books since 1988.

And in 2010 the U.S. Supreme Court narrowed the definition by vacating part of the conviction against Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, the energy company that imploded in 2001.

Bruno, the former state Senate majority leader, had his 2009 corruption convictions, which were based on an honest services fraud, thrown out. He was subsequently retried on two of those counts, only to be acquitted in 2014.

AS REPORTERS RUSHED out of the courtroom to file stories on Silver’s verdict or go live on camera, his defense attorneys asked to speak privately with members of the jury. They spoke to all 12 jurors for roughly an hour afterwards, a meeting described as “highly unusual.”

The defense team had opted not to call any witnesses, an aggressive strategy intended to send a message to the jury that the prosecutors had simply failed to prove their case. In the meeting, the defense asked if anything would have swayed them toward an acquittal. Some jurors responded that they wanted to hear from Silver himself. Others said they had hoped to hear from character witnesses who could attest to Silver’s lifetime of public service.

And at least one juror asked why Silver’s chief of staff in the Assembly, Judy Rapfogel, never testified. Her name was invoked several times during the trial, and she was on the prosecution’s list of potential witnesses, but was never called to the stand.

People close to Silver say the decision not to call character witnesses or put Silver on the stand was strategic.

“Our defense was that we didn’t dispute the facts,” said a person involved with Silver’s defense.

“We didn’t dispute that he made introductions, we just said it didn’t constitute criminal conduct under the law.”

Silver’s team understood that the public is fed up with politicians.

However, they objected to what they saw as the government portraying legal conduct as somehow sinister. Prosecutors kept trying to make an issue out of the sizable contributions Glenwood and other real estate companies made to political campaigns, even though such donations are perfectly legal. Or that the government kept making the point that the grants Silver controlled were never subject to audits or peer review. No grants distributed by state officials are subject to that kind of scrutiny, they argued.

At least one attorney also found it strange that a juror would complain that their arguments insulted their intelligence, countering that “jurors would not have spoken to us for as long as they did as a group if they had really thought that.”

Yet the defense team came closer to avoiding a guilty verdict for their client than anyone outside the jury knew. If Phillips had stood her ground and refused to budge, the judge could have declared a mistrial and the government would have been back to square one.

This is one reason why defense teams hire jury consultants, to help construct snap psychological profiles of the individuals who will be judging their clients. Silver’s team did this, albeit without much success. In the end, the will of one person on a 12-person jury made all the difference in determining the guilt or innocence of Silver, once considered the most powerful man in state government.

The jury understood the facts, in the view of Silver’s defense team, they just didn’t agree about what the outcome should be. As they walked away from their discussion with the jurors, Silver’s attorneys felt that there wasn’t much they could have done differently.

ZACK FINK is a political reporter for NY1. He wrote a cover story for City & State on the relationship between Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie in 2014.

City & State

CityAndStateNY.com

NEW YORK CITY MAYOR’S OFFICE

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TAKING THE PLEDGE

HOW MANY CAMPAIGN PROMISES HAS DE BLASIO KEPT?

By SARINA TRANGLE Research by SARINA TRANGLE, JEREMY UNGER, JEFF COLTIN and GABE PONCE DE LEÓN

DAYS BEFORE NEW YEAR’s Eve, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio assembled a group of reporters around a long, rectangular table in the turquoise Governor’s Room and reeled off a list of statistics printed on laminated notes: under his tenure the city had reached a historical peak of 4.2 million jobs, police recorded a drop in offenses across major crime categories for a second straight year, and workers had patched 447,000 potholes.

Now, with more of his team in place and several major initiatives

underway, he argued that the city was poised to make progress – major progress.

“And we look at the perspective now two years in, these big initiatives have been working,” de Blasio said during the briefing in late December. “Again, remember that to set up things of this magnitude takes a certain amount of lead time – a certain amount of putting the teams together and getting the pieces in place. They really will start to hit their full stride more and more as we go into years three

and four. So, there’s a lot to look forward to.”

Indeed, the mayor has made some progress on the bulk of the pledges listed in the 75-page “One New York, Rising Together” platform he put out as a candidate.

Yet the administration has actually accomplished fewer than half – about 39 percent – of the 153 vows that City & State was able to actually evaluate. Moreover, several housing, environmental and education policies are scheduled to hit their targets beyond the six

CityAndStateNY.com

years that de Blasio could remain in office, leaving many of his campaign promises in the hands of future administrations.

Even in these cases, though, de Blasio has not been shy about updating New Yorkers. He boasted that his team has financed the construction of 13,929 affordable homes and the preservation of another 26,275. But fully assessing his housing agenda will have to wait until 2025, when de Blasio vows to have built or preserved 200,000 such units. In 2013, de Blasio also pledged to work toward a broader successor to the New York-New York agreement, which outlines how the city and state provide homes and services for homeless people with a variety of illnesses and special needs. Talks with the state faltered, and de Blasio pivoted, promising in November to spend $2.6 billion to create 15,000 such units over the next 15 years.

Other de Blasio goals that were updated after he took office have a deadline after 2017, when his first term comes to an end. These include operating 20 express Select Bus Service routes by the end of 2017, ensuring all public high schools offer by fall 2021 at least five of the Advanced Placement courses high schoolers may take to earn college credit, and curbing the level of greenhouse gases emitted in 2005 by 80 percent before 2050.

The mayor did not respond to a request for comment for this story, but administration officials have said such long-term initiatives are a deliberate attempt to institutionalize policies beyond de Blasio’s mayoralty.

HOWEVER, THE ADMINISTRATION has moved quickly to fulfill some headlining campaign pledges. After he failed to convince Albany to raise taxes on wealthier residents for early education funding, de Blasio secured state money to start a universal pre-K program that now enrolls 68,547 children. He has outlined plans to transform 128 struggling schools into community schools with extra social services and wellness programs. City Hall has

surpassed a campaign commitment to take a stab at creating 100 such schools and aims to have 200 by 2017.

As promised, the mayor succeeded in directing police to curtail the use of stop-and-frisk and reduce arrests for marijuana possession by issuing summonses instead of cuffing people found with 25 grams or less of the drug. Meanwhile, most of the city has grown safer, with the NYPD reporting a drop in traffic fatalities and a 5.8 percent decrease in crime across an index of seven major crimes since 2014. Crime in public housing, however, rose less than 1 percent in 2015 from the year before.

De Blasio’s team has created a municipal ID available to undocumented immigrants, as vowed, which is accepted by some banks. The program has attracted 670,000 cardholders. The mayor required more employers to offer paid sick leave and expanded the scope of living wage – a pay floor instituted when businesses receive substantial city subsidies.

Additionally, he granted six weeks of paid parental leave to non-union city employees and outlined plans to ensure all municipal personnel earn at least $15 an hour by the end of 2018.

Yet other commitments have stalled or largely dropped out of the public conversation, such as levying fines and penalties against agencies that regularly duck and delay Freedom of Information Law requests, using public service announcements to combat street harassment, and creating economic development hubs in every neighborhood that would partner with businesses to negotiate lower prices for telecommunication services by collectively buying in bulk.

Other pledges, particularly those pertaining to City Council oversight, also appear to be less of a priority. De Blasio’s office said it “reconsidered” plans to establish an inspector general for the City Council because the legislative body reformed its process for how individual members may allocate discretionary funding.

The administration said these so-

called member items must now go through the budget process or be presented in the Council through a “transparency resolution.” And though de Blasio’s office said he still wants to abolish member items, he has made no discernible progress on a pledge to wield his power during the budget process to replace them with a “merit-based small grants process.”

And, of course, further study revealed some ideas were not prudent. For instance, de Blasio had called for changing tax rates to incentivize building on vacant lots, conducting an annual census of such properties, and creating a land bank to acquire and build affordable housing on them. But his administration said an analysis it conducted during its first year found very few parcels would fall under these policies and that it would

15

be wiser to try other strategies.

Similarly, a vow to redesign the bidding process so local firms get a “second chance” to match winning submissions from outsiders was deemed impermissible under state law.

At the briefing in December, the mayor acknowledged that not all of his ideas advanced as planned, saying that governing involves a certain amount of trial and error.

“I’m sober about the fact that, you know, you try a lot of things in leadership, and you don’t expect every single one of them to work,” de Blasio said. “You just gotta keep learning.”

City & State staff reporter SARINA TRANGLE covers New York City Hall news. strangle@cityandstateny.com Twitter: @SarinaTrangle

BREAKDOWN OF DE BLASIO’S PLEDGES (out of 153 total)

Accomplished: 59 In progress: 58 Under review: 6 Inaction/unclear: 30 See the full breakdown (and how we came to our conclusions) at cityandstateny.com/bdb-pledges

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CityAndStateNY.com

DE BLASIO’S CAMPAIGN PLEDGES Our reporters pored over EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. of de Blasio’s campaign promises and made a call: Has he or hasn’t he delivered?

The following are highlights from the full list. For our complete rundown of 153 of his campaign promises, visit cityandstateny.com/bdb-pledges

ACCOMPLISHED indicates the pledge was mostly or entirely achieved.

IN PROGRESS means that the administration took some steps toward achieving the goal or outlined a plan to do so.

UNDER REVIEW signifies that City Hall is studying the issue.

INACTION/UNCLEAR denotes that a pledge either was not accomplished or there was no evidence, from the administration or other sources, that any steps had been taken to fulfill it. Included in this category are campaign pledges the administration chose not to pursue.

→EDUCATION ENSURE ALL PTA AND CEC MEETINGS ARE STREAMED ONLINE. PTA and CEC meetings are not streamed, though the administration said it is exploring how to put them online.

UNDER REVIEW

IN PROGRESS

INCREASE THE INCOME TAX ON THOSE EARNING MORE THAN $500,000 TO YIELD $530 MILLION IN REVENUE FOR UNIVERSAL PRE-K. Without an income tax hike, de Blasio got additional state funding for a universal pre-K program, which now enrolls 68,547 children.

REQUIRE SCHOOLS TO MAKE FREE BREAKFASTS AVAILABLE IN CLASSROOMS. By the 2017-18 school year, classroom breakfast will be offered in all stand-alone elementary schools, with $92.6 million from several government sources.

ACCOMPLISHED

ED REED FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO

A REPORT CARD

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→JOBS AND DEVELOPMENT EXPAND COVERAGE OF PAID SICK DAYS. The mayor proposed and signed legislation compelling all businesses with five or more employees to offer five paid sick leave days annually.

ADVOCATE FOR ALBANY TO ALLOW THE CITY TO SET ITS MINIMUM WAGE. De Blasio began promoting this at his first State of the City address, and the governor has since raised the minimum wage for some workers. The mayor took steps to ensure all New York City municipal and contracted personnel will earn at least $15 an hour by the end of 2018.

ACCOMPLISHED

INACTION/UNCLEAR

→HOUSING

CREATE A LEGAL SERVICES FUND THAT SUPPORTS LOW-INCOME WORKERS CHALLENGING WAGE THEFT AND EMPLOYMENT VIOLATIONS. The administration did not respond when asked about a specific fund. The mayor has outlined a planned Office of Labor Standards as a step toward enhancing enforcement.

APPLY THE SAME TAX RATE TO BIG, VACANT LOTS AS COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES TO SPUR CONSTRUCTION; CONDUCT AN ANNUAL CENSUS OF VACANT PROPERTIES; AND CREATE A NONPROFIT LAND BANK TO ACQUIRE, WAREHOUSE AND TRANSFER VACANT PROPERTIES TO EXPEDITE AFFORDABLE HOUSING DEVELOPMENT. The administration said an analysis during its first year found very few parcels would be impacted by these policies, and that remediation and other strategies were more likely to accelerate housing construction.

INACTION/UNCLEAR

IN PROGRESS

ACCOMPLISHED

WORK WITH STATE AND FEDERAL PARTNERS TO ESTABLISH A NEW SUPPORTIVE HOUSING PROGRAM FOR FAMILIES AT RISK OF LOSING THEIR HOMES OR THOSE ON THE STREETS. The administration announced plans in 2015 to create 15,000 supportive housing units over 15 years. About $1 billion would come from the city; $380 million has already been budgeted, and the remainder will be “offset” with low-income tax credits and private sources. But this was not crafted with the state or federal government, and in fact was put forward when the mayor and the state could not reach an agreement on a long-standing collaborative approach to supportive housing.

BUILD OR PRESERVE 200,000 UNITS OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING OVER THE NEXT DECADE. The administration financed 13,929 new affordable homes and preserved another 26,275, for a total of 40,204.

IN PROGRESS

▶ Explore the full list at: cityandstateny.com/bdb-pledges

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CityAndStateNY.com

EXPAND ALTERNATIVES TO INCARCERATION, SUCH AS DRUG TREATMENT, MENTAL HEALTH CARE AND COMMUNITY SENTENCING RESTITUTION. Office of Court Administration data shows new admissions to mental health courts declined from 2013 to 2014, as did admissions to drug courts and community service sentences from 2013 to 2015. The city hired two staff members to focus on Alternative to Detention and Alternative to Incarceration programs, which will be evaluated based on data being collected. The administration is tripling the slots for supervised release programs, which, when rolled out citywide in March 2016, will allow more defendants to avoid jail while their court case progresses. And the administration is training police to identify symptoms of mental illness and substance abuse and consider alternatives to arrest for that population. Two clinical drop-in centers are in the works, which will accept people who police don’t think merit an arrest or visit to the emergency room.

ACCOMPLISHED

SIGN LEGISLATION TO END RACIAL PROFILING. Although legislation was not signed by de Blasio, a city law banning bias-based profiling in law enforcement went into effect because the administration dropped a lawsuit brought by the Bloomberg administration.

CREATE AN NYPD INSPECTOR GENERAL WITH AN “INDEPENDENT BUDGET” AND INVESTIGATORY POWERS. The city hired Philip Eure as the NYPD inspector general. The city Department of Investigation set Eure’s office budget in conjunction with the Office of Management and Budget.

ACCOMPLISHED

IN PROGRESS

ACCOMPLISHED

DIRECT THE NYPD TO REDUCE ARRESTS FOR MARIJUANA VIOLATIONS AND PUSH FOR PASSAGE OF GOV. ANDREW CUOMO’S MARIJUANA POSSESSION LAW, WHICH WOULD REMOVE CRIMINAL PENALTIES FOR MARIJUANA POSSESSION UNDER 15 GRAMS. De Blasio supports changing state marijuana policy, but the governor stopped pushing for decriminalization of marijuana possession. The city decided police would issue a criminal court summons for a violation, rather than arrest and charge suspects with a misdemeanor, for possession of 25 grams or less of marijuana. Police officials say the summons will not be part of someone’s rap sheet. At the end of 2015 marijuana arrests were down 38 percent from the year before.

ED REED FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO

→CRIMINAL JUSTICE

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→SUSTAINABILITY AND THE ENVIRONMENT

IN PROGRESS

IMPLEMENT A FIVE-BOROUGH BIOSWALES INITIATIVE TO MINIMIZE THE PRESSURE ON THE WATER AND SEWER SYSTEM. The city says construction of bioswales, or curbside gardens that absorb stormwater, is ongoing, with roughly 1,000 complete and another 1,500 under construction. The city set a goal of 9,000 bioswales by June 2018 in its OneNYC plan. By that point, it also plans to hire 260 maintenance and horticultural workers to monitor storm management tools, including bioswales.

INCLUDE INCENTIVES IN EVERY CITY CONTRACT FOR SANDY RECOVERY TO ENCOURAGE THE HIRING OF LOCAL RESIDENTS FOR UPGRADING AND RETROFITTING INFRASTRUCTURE AND BUILDINGS. It’s unclear if the city’s approach involved incentives, but it announced all contractors, consultants and vendors receiving Sandy recovery funds from the city or from its Build it Back housing rebuilding program would “work with” the city’s Workforce1 job centers on employment requirements. Residents of areas hit by Sandy were given first priority to register for related job opportunities. This approach, coupled with an initiative to provide residents with construction work through a union preapprenticeship program, led to nearly 500 jobs, the city said.

ACCOMPLISHED

→HEALTH

INACTION/UNCLEAR

WORK WITH THE CITY HEALTH AND HOSPITALS CORPORATION TO CREATE OR CONTRACT 20 NEW PRIMARY HEALTH CARE CLINICS TO SERVE CITY EMPLOYEES AT OR CLOSE TO THEIR WORKPLACE. Those familiar with the city’s health system said they had not heard of any plans for primary clinics serving municipal employees, and the administration did not respond when asked.

CREATE AT LEAST 16 NEW COMMUNITY HEALTH CLINICS IN THE COMMUNITIES OF HIGHEST NEED, AND HAVE THE CITY HEALTH CENTERS SERVE 500,000 ADDITIONAL PATIENTS BY 2018.

The city aims to serve an additional 100,000 at as many as 13 new community health centers by the end of 2017, but the administration did not respond when asked if it still sought to expand the system to 16 centers serving 500,000 by 2018. De Blasio detailed plans to set aside $12 million for five new primary care centers in high-needs areas and for expanding services at six existing ones. Another $8 million was reserved for creating or expanding eight centers.

IN PROGRESS

▶ Explore the full list at: cityandstateny.com/bdb-pledges

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CityAndStateNY.com

→GOOD GOVERNMENT PILOT PARTICIPATORY BUDGETING IN BROADER POOLS OF CITY GRANT FUNDING. Asked whether agencies beyond the Council use the technique, the administration pointed out two initiatives that do not appear to involve community voting, a hallmark of participatory budgeting.

INACTION/UNCLEAR

END DISCRETIONARY MEMBER ITEM FUNDING THROUGH USE OF THE MAYOR’S POWER IN THE BUDGET PROCESS AND REPLACE IT WITH A MERIT-BASED GRANT PROCESS. The administration said de Blasio continues to support an end to member items, but did not provide details about any action taken to advance the issue.

INACTION/UNCLEAR

→INCLUSIVITY

ALLOW UNDOCUMENTED NEW YORKERS ACCESS TO DRIVER’S LICENSES BY WORKING TO PASS RELATED STATE LEGISLATION. The administration said IDNYC and President Barack Obama’s administrative relief programs, if successful in court, would “in many ways” meet the goals behind the proposal. But no state action has been taken, and the president’s executive order only accounts for undocumented immigrants who came to the United States before the age of 16 or who have had children born in the U.S.

INACTION/UNCLEAR

ROB BENNETT FOR THE OFFICE OF MAYOR BILL DE BLASIO

INACTION/UNCLEAR

NO PERSON 62 YEARS OF AGE OR OLDER SHOULD BE DENIED OCCUPANCY IN AN APARTMENT BUILDING OR EVICTED ON THE SOLE GROUND THAT HE OR SHE OWNS OR KEEPS A COMMON HOUSEHOLD PET OR PETS. The administration did not respond to a request for information.

CityAndStateNY.com

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→TRANSPORTATION

INACTION/UNCLEAR

LEV RADIN

WORK WITH PUBLIC PENSION TRUSTEES TO INVEST IN LOCAL TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE. The comptroller’s office has not seen any proposals on investing in transit infrastructure.

EXPAND THE BIKE SHARE PROGRAM TO OUTER-BOROUGH NEIGHBORHOODS. Citi Bike has expanded to parts of Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn, but it decided to move into New Jersey before the Bronx, Staten Island and other parts of the city. The administration said the mayor “remains committed to bringing the bike share program to all five boroughs.”

ACCOMPLISHED

IN PROGRESS

HAVE ALL CITY AGENCIES USE “CRASHES” RATHER THAN “ACCIDENTS” BOTH OPERATIONALLY AND IN REPORTS LIKE THE NYPD’S ACCIDENT DATA REPORTS. The NYPD began referring to accidents as “collisions” before de Blasio took office, and now all city agencies follow Vision Zero guidelines that stipulate accidents must be referred to both operationally and in reports as crashes or collisions.

▶ Explore the full list at: cityandstateny.com/bdb-pledges

CityAndStateNY.com

SANGAKU

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NEW YORK CITY

LEGISLATIVE DOSSIERS 2016 New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio will roll out his agenda for 2016 next week, but what are the top legislative priorities of each member of the New York City Council?

And what do the 50 City Council members think will be the most contentious issue? The mayor’s ambitious new zoning plan? The fight over horse carriages? Uber? Or something else entirely?

Even more importantly, where do these legislators go for the best slice of pizza?

To answer all these pressing questions and more, City & State reached out to every single member of the New York City Council over the past few weeks and asked them directly.

We’re pleased to share the results in our latest guide to city lawmakers, the New York City Legislative Dossiers 2016.

CityAndStateNY.com

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THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Intro 261-a, prohibiting discrimination based on consumer credit history.

Jokingly, all of my bills, of course … but in reality, the proposed home rule to restore disability benefits to police and firefighters.

POLICY FOCUS:

Police reform bills and restructuring of NYPD.

POLICY FOCUS:

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

INEZ BARRON BIRTHDAY

February 16 DISTRICT 42 DEMOCRAT

My top priorities will include fighting to freeze tuition increases for CUNY students, increasing the number of Black and Latino faculty members at CUNY colleges and the number on course for tenure, ensuring that Gov. Cuomo funds the CFE lawsuit and fighting to ensure that housing development proposed for my district is affordable to the residents who live there as our AMI is $34,000.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Mayor’s housing plan, ie. Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) and Zoning for Quality and Affordability (ZQA).

JOSEPH BORELLI BIRTHDAY

July 27

DISTRICT 51 REPUBLICAN

Maintaining the quality of life and suburban character of the south shore of Staten Island, and ensuring that taxpayers, homeowners and small-business owners are given a fair shake at city hall.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Opioid abuse, treatment and ensuring a path back to normalcy for addicts.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Mandatory inclusionary housing. It seems many people are in favor of it in theory, but few support it in practice.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Campania in Eltingville, Staten Island.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Take the A train” by Duke Ellington and the Harriet Tubman Statue in Harlem.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Tie between “Gotham: a History of New York City to 1898”

by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace and “The Narrows from Staten Island,” an oil-on-canvas painting by Jasper Francis Cropsey, 1868.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@borellijoe

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

One I’m particularly proud of is my bill, Intro 641, requiring NYCDOT to complete a comprehensive study regarding pedestrian and bicyclist safety on truck routes. Mayor de Blasio signed it into law in June 2015.

Cabrera was the primary sponsor of a 2015 law requiring the retention of data on the open data portal.

POLICY FOCUS:

Cabrera is the chairman of the Juvenile Justice Committee and co-chairman of the Gun Violence Task Force.

POLICY FOCUS:

MARGARET CHIN

Tenant harassment. Together with my Council colleagues and advocates, we will push forward legislation to ensure that landlords think twice before using construction as a way to harass their tenants, and to hold those landlords accountable for their actions.

BIRTHDAY

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

FERNANDO CABRERA BIRTHDAY

April 16

DISTRICT 14 DEMOCRAT

One bill sponsored by Cabrera would require the Corrections and Health and Mental Hygiene departments to report on cases of injuries to inmates and staff in city jails, and to refer such cases to investigative agencies.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@FCabreraNY

May 26

DISTRICT 1 DEMOCRAT

Preserve and grow affordable housing.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

MIH/ZQA. I look forward to working with the community, my Council colleagues and the Mayor to ensure that we can maintain and grow our affordable housing stock.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Any place in Little Italy, of course!

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Any of the offerings at the Flea Theater, SoHo Rep, and other small theater groups downtown.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@CM_MargaretChin Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

24

CityAndStateNY.com

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

A package of bills that addressed the K-2 epidemic that swept New York City over the past year. I was a co-sponsor on all three of the bills, Int. 917, Int. 897, and Int. 885, which together impose tougher penalties on vendors who are caught manufacturing, distributing or selling these synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K-2, which is an unnatural toxic substance with serious health risks.

ANDREW COHEN BIRTHDAY

August 9

DISTRICT 11 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

In 2016 I plan to focus on renewing the Council’s commitment to developing new resources to expand the mental health services available to all New Yorkers.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

In 2015 I introduced a bill that would prohibit the use of allterrain vehicles in the city, Int. 834. It hit the supermajority milestone mark of 34 sponsors and is scheduled for a hearing in March. My top priority is to see this pass unanimously in 2016.

Legislation that will require a cost-benefit analysis of installing geothermal technology when the city undertakes construction or a new building and mandate the clean energy be used if it is cheaper POLICY FOCUS:

COSTA CONSTANTINIDES BIRTHDAY

January 7

DISTRICT 22 DEMOCRAT

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Salvatore’s of Soho on Riverdale Ave. in the Bronx.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@costa4NY

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

The bill I co-sponsored with Councilmember Margaret Chin to create a small-business advocate within the Department of Small Business Services.

Local Law 102 of 2015, which would establish a physical education reporting requirement for all New York City schools, including the frequency students receive PE instruction, all full-time and part-time certified instructors, as well as physical class space. Too many schools are not following state-mandated requirements to hold classes and report on doing so.

POLICY FOCUS:

September 24

DISTRICT 36 DEMOCRAT

ELIZABETH CROWLEY

Enacting anti-harassment protections for commercial tenants via Intro 851.

BIRTHDAY

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Council will soon consider the Mayor’s affordable housing proposals, which have been contentious thus far.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Patsy’s, near the promenade.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Do The Right Thing,” of course.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@robertcornegyjr

I’m sure there will be tough conversations related to for-hire vehicles and others. We’ve never shied away from any tough situations or tough conversations.

If you look at the city’s skyline – that’s a beautiful piece of art right there.

Daniel Hauben is a Bronx artist and also happens to one of my constituents. His depiction of Bronx streets is truly amazing. Many of his pieces are on display across New York City, the country and the world.

BIRTHDAY

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

My top priority is to make New York City greener and more sustainable.

Grand Avenue Pizza, 35th Street and 30th Avenue, Queens

The citywide zoning proposal.

ROBERT CORNEGY

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Working creatively to preserve and create affordable housing opportunities for residents of my district and responding to the needs of mom-and-pop businesses throughout the city.

Ensuring the city meets the mandate of reducing our emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

November 27 DISTRICT 30 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

I will focus on establishing a prevailing wage in projects associated with the Housing Preservation Development.

Prevailing wage ensures projects will be done by trained workers, creating safer sites and better quality construction.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

My proposal for establishing light rail commuter service from Glendale to Long Island City. I believe establishing light rail along a 6-mile stretch of the LIRR Lower Montauk line – currently used to transport freight – is a smart investment for our city. It would ease the burden of my constituents’ dealing with public transportation, bring interborough transit to riders and could be done cost-efficiently.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Rosa’s Pizza on 69th Street and Grand Avenue THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“A Heart in New York” – Simon and Garfunkel TWITTER HANDLE:

@ElizCrowleyNYC

CityAndStateNY.com

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THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Cumbo was the prime sponsor of a bill that would create an emergency mobile text system, which she is continuing to push.

Deutsch voted for a program to reimburse nonpublic schools for the cost of security guard services.

POLICY FOCUS:

Deutsch is the chairman of the Subcommittee on NonPublic Schools.

POLICY FOCUS:

LAURIE CUMBO DISTRICT 35 DEMOCRAT

Cumbo is Chair of the Committee on Women’s Issues and sits on the committees on Finance, Higher Education, Housing, Youth Services, and Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations.

ON GUN CONTROL:

I believe that every Borough should have an office focused specifically on addressing gun violence that deals with mental health services, community outreach, organizing community partners, town hall meetings, 72-hour responders to gun violence throughout the City, school interventions, teen summits, citywide marketing campaigns and art and athletic outlets for our youth. I am committed to working with my colleagues to make this a reality.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

CHAIM DEUTSCH BIRTHDAY

April 15

Deutsch is a sponsor of legislation requiring countdown pedestrian signals at intersections adjacent to schools and parks.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@ChaimDeutsch

DISTRICT 48 DEMOCRAT

TWITTER HANDLE:

@CMLaurieCumbo

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

POLICY FOCUS:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

In 2016 I will be focusing on increasing the level of affordable housing stock to include senior housing and housing for the disabled. I will also be pushing hard for the inclusion of more MWBEs in the City’s contracting process.

Amending the administrative code of the City of New York to require the Department of Education to provide data regarding students receiving special education services.

POLICY FOCUS:

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

The same.

INEZ DICKENS BIRTHDAY

July 15

DISTRICT 9 DEMOCRAT

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

I can see the Mayor’s MIH/ZQA becoming an issue for the Council as you will have some members for it and others against it because it doesn’t fit the needs of their community. I for one know my community and the three Community Boards I represent rejected the plan for various reasons. I can also see education becoming an issue as many minority members of the council try to push for more Gifted and Talented programs for their district. Then there is the issue of how to humanely handle people with mental health issues.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

I normally don’t eat pizza, but when I do I choose any place in Harlem, lol.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Why, anything associated with the Harlem Renaissance of course.

DANIEL DROMM BIRTHDAY

November 27

DISTRICT 25 DEMOCRAT

I will focus my efforts on building new schools to create additional seats in NYC’s most overcrowded school districts, including districts 24 and 30.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

To gain additional funding for the School Construction Authority budget.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The misuse of public dollars to pay for private and religious schools.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Pizza Boy on 37th Avenue and 74th Street in Jackson Heights THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

The documentary “In Jackson Heights,” which won the 2015 best nonfiction film award from the New York Film Critics Circle TWITTER HANDLE:

@Dromm25

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CityAndStateNY.com

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

I’d say the FY16 budget was the best because the City Council was able to increase services on so many levels. In particular, I’m proud to have led the effort to secure $1.5 million in Council funding to support Holocaust survivors.

Eugene was the primary sponsor of a bill that would have created a workplace development program for disconnected youth.

POLICY FOCUS:

POLICY FOCUS:

RAFAEL ESPINAL BIRTHDAY

June 30

DISTRICT 37 DEMOCRAT

All aspects of the East New York rezoning proposal. The policies that stem from it will set the stage for the rest of the city. In addition to ensuring the housing built is affordable to my community, I am working hard to make sure the plan contains policies that support the creation of strong jobs, particularly in the ENY Industrial Business Zone, and secures high-road retailers in the commercial corridors.

MATHIEU EUGENE DISTRICT 40 DEMOCRAT

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

My top priority for 2016 is to ensure the administration’s rezoning proposal for East New York, Cypress Hills and Ocean Hill meets the needs of my community and contains provisions to make sure that the promises made today will be kept in the years to come.

Eugene is Chair of the Committee on Youth Services and sits on the committees on Civil Rights, Fire and Criminal Justice, Health, Immigration, and Small Business.

ON HOUSING:

Having a home is a human right and no one who lives in New York City, which is one of the wealthiest cities in the world, should be without this basic right. Homelessness is an epidemic that is impacting families and individuals in all socioeconomic classes but particularly in working families.

It is our moral obligation as government to provide for the people.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@CMMathieuEugene

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Citywide rezoning proposals, horse carriages and plastic bags.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

I’m biased because I love all pizza, but if I had to sit down somewhere, I’d say Roberta’s.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Mad Men

TWITTER HANDLE:

@RLEspinal

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

The Credit Check Ban. It is breaking the cycle of poverty, eliminating an obstacle to employment for vulnerable communities like victims of domestic violence, low-income households and people of color who are most discriminated against because of financial history.

The Commuter Benefits Law, which I introduced, requires businesses with 20 or more employees to offer their staff the opportunity to use pre-tax earnings on transit, saving the average New Yorker $443 per year. In a city seeking to take aim at inequalities, making transit more affordable is the right focus.

POLICY FOCUS:

JULISSA FERRERAS BIRTHDAY

November 2

DISTRICT 21 DEMOCRAT

I’ll be focusing on improving the lives of New York City’s youth – improving education, improving job opportunities and bringing school restrooms into the 21st century with accessible feminine hygiene products.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Leading a budget process that is fair, inclusive and punctual.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The horse carriage bill, because both the opposition and support are strong.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Corona Pizza, of course!

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Hands down, “Hamilton.” It’s intelligent and refreshing. I’ve seen it three times.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@JulissaFerreras

DANIEL GARODNICK BIRTHDAY

May 5

DISTRICT 4 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

As Chair of the Committee on Economic Development, I am most interested in finding ways to encourage growth, including: providing relief to small businesses by eliminating the Commercial Rent Tax, advocating for prudent budgeting practices and developing creative solutions to untap the economic potential in our commercial districts, just as we did in East Midtown.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Fighting against practices that threaten tenant stability and housing affordability, and finding ways to protect and expand our affordable housing stock.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

It depends – how much longer will Donald Trump be running for president?

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Di Fara

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“New York, New York” from “On the Town” TWITTER HANDLE:

@DanGarodnick

CityAndStateNY.com

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THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

POLICY FOCUS:

POLICY FOCUS:

Legislation passed on the eve of Veterans Day that will launch a new Department of Veterans’ Services.

Int. 730, The Student Safety Act, is integral to changing school climate and ending the school-to-prison pipeline.

Combatting illegal home conversions and including hookah smoke under the Smoke Free Air Act TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

VINCENT GENTILE BIRTHDAY

January 3

DISTRICT 43 DEMOCRAT

I remain committed to improving the quality of life through initiatives and capital projects in District 43.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The 2016 Presidential election – several unique personalities are obviously involved.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Very difficult – there are more qualified candidates than your usual Heisman Trophy nominees. I have to go with Gino’s on 74th Street and 5th Avenue in Bay Ridge.

VANESSA GIBSON BIRTHDAY

March 19

DISTRICT 16 DEMOCRAT

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

The two dignified lions – Patience and Fortitude – that sit in front of the New York Public Library.

Police reform. Ensuring the good work we have done to improve police-community relations is codified into law and outlasts the current administration is critical. While we recognize the good work the NYPD does, it is our job as legislators to put things in to law. I will also continue to focus on reducing gun violence and work with the new Bronx district attorney in projects on Rikers Island.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

District 16’s Jerome Ave. is the second neighborhood to undergo a rezoning and the only area in the Bronx slated to be rezoned at this time. I am committed to making sure Jerome Ave. serves as a model for future rezoning, one that serves the people currently living in the neighborhood and supports commercial and businesses currently operating as well as brings in industry that provides jobs. In service to my District, I will work closely with my colleagues on revisions to MIH and ZQA. MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The zoning text amendments.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@vgentile43

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Giovanni’s in the Bronx

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Empire State of Mind” TWITTER HANDLE:

@vanessalgibson

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Intro 65-a, which provides, for the first time in the history of the city, security for students at non-public schools on a level comparable to that enjoyed by public school students.

I did not take office until the end of 2015.

POLICY FOCUS:

Schools, transportation, parks, libraries and quality-of-life issues

POLICY FOCUS:

DAVID GREENFIELD

DISTRICT 44 DEMOCRAT

As Chair of the Land Use Committee I will be spending the next few months overseeing the resolution of the Mayor’s proposal on Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability. I am also focused on continuing to improve quality of life for the residents of my district through park renovations, neighborhood beautification and qualityof-life legislation that will directly benefit the day-to-day lives of my constituents. Finally, transportation is an important issue to me.

BARRY GRODENCHIK

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

BIRTHDAY

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

DISTRICT 23 DEMOCRAT

Find a way forward on MIH & ZAQ that achieves the Mayor’s goals while protecting the communities that have raised concerns over the proposals.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Mayor’s affordable housing plan as it relates to MIH & ZQA and my bill to cap Uber’s surge pricing.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

I think that everyone agrees that Di Fara in my district is the best pizza in NYC. THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” is on my iTunes playlist.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@NYCgreenfield

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Ensuring the schools in our district remain excellent.

February 12

The Mayor’s rezoning proposal.

Gabby’s Pizza in Queens Village, Queens THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“The Panorama of New York City” at the Queens Museum TWITTER HANDLE:

@BarryGrodenchik

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CityAndStateNY.com

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

A set of improvements that I passed to the School Safety Act with Councilmember Vanessa Gibson. Far too many of our students face severe or degrading punishment for their behavior. This bill makes progress on that front by requiring transparency and rigorous data collection when it comes to disciplinary action in our schools.

Despite receiving hundreds of millions of dollars in tax subsidies, owners of affordable housing have failed to register 50,000-200,000 affordable units. I introduced a bill (Intro 1015) to require all affordable housing to be registered with HPD and to create a universal application system.

POLICY FOCUS:

COREY JOHNSON BIRTHDAY

April 28

DISTRICT 3 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

As Chair of the City Council’s Health Committee, I’ll be fighting hard for legislation I introduced that would create an Office of Comprehensive Community Health Planning, which would identify the health needs of all our city’s communities and marshal the resources we need to meet those demands.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Making sure the public schools in my district have the resources they need to provide a world-class education, and ensuring that the new public middle school at 75 Morton St. is in good shape and on track to open in the fall of 2017.

BEN KALLOS BIRTHDAY

February 5 DISTRICT 5 DEMOCRAT

There should be no wrong door when you go to the government for help. I will work to make government interact with New Yorkers more seamlessly, including by passing my bill (Intro 855) to make government assistance enrollment automatic, closing the 500,000-person gap between those who qualify for SNAP and those who actually get it.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Bringing affordable housing to the Upper East Side and protecting residential neighborhoods from out-of-context superscrapers.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Zoning for Quality and Affordability and Mandatory Inclusionary Housing.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Mayor’s housing plan, Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability, has already stirred up a lot of debate and will continue to do so.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Delizia

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

L&B Spumoni Gardens in Bensonhurst. Best Sicilian around.

“Humans of New York”

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

TWITTER HANDLE:

“New York State of Mind” by Billy Joel

@BenKallos

TWITTER HANDLE:

@CoreyInNYC

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

IDNYC. This municipal ID program has allowed people to engage in my No. 1 message: “People Pay Attention to People Who Participate.” It is an important resource available to all New York City residents, particularly youth, undocumented immigrants, the homeless, and anyone else who typically would have difficulty obtaining official government identification.

ANDY KING BIRTHDAY

March 12

DISTRICT 12 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

I believe the key to a successful person lies behind the door of education, which means creating policies that help youngsters in pre-K, elementary school and college as well as the students who made bad decisions and are rehabilitating themselves.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

To make sure our schools have the resources needed to educate, reeducate and develop our children.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Housing and zoning laws. I think the MIH & ZQA conversations have not been well laid out, which has created an air of confusion in credibility.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Sal’s Pizzeria at 205th St. and Bainbridge Ave. in the Bronx.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Empire State of Mind” by Alicia Keys and Jay-Z. TWITTER HANDLE:

@andykingnyc

Justice for Hit and Run Victims Act. POLICY FOCUS:

PETER KOO BIRTHDAY

September 5

DISTRICT 20 DEMOCRAT

I will be working with City agencies to troubleshoot transportation, small business, sanitation and development concerns in my district. Also, as chair of the Landmarks Committee, I look forward to passing Intro 775 to reform the landmarks process.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to pass Intro 775. I’m also focusing on making sure the Flushing West development will benefit our community.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

I think the mayor’s MIH/ZQA plans will need to be revamped.

I think we can do it, but it will take compromise by the administration. The outer boroughs were not happy with the original plan.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Amore Pizzeria, 3027 Stratton St., Flushing THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Frank Sinatra, “New York, New York” TWITTER HANDLE:

@CMPeterKoo

CityAndStateNY.com

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THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Paid sick leave.

From my perspective as chairman of Courts and Legal Services, Intro. 736, which created the Office of Civil Justice, was a very important step toward improving access to civil legal services.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Focusing on quality-of-life Issues affecting our most vulnerable populations – children and senior citizens.

POLICY FOCUS: MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

KAREN KOSLOWITZ BIRTHDAY

New York City zoning initiatives.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Nick’s Pizza in Forest Hills

March 14

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

DISTRICT 29 DEMOCRAT

TWITTER HANDLE:

“Panorama of the City of New York” at the Queens Museum @CMKoslowitz

RORY LANCMAN BIRTHDAY

March 1

DISTRICT 24 DEMOCRAT

My main focus will be on ensuring a legal system that works for all New Yorkers through criminal and civil justice reform.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

My top priority is to examine speedy trial rules, because justice delayed is justice denied for victims, the public and defendants.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The mayor’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing proposal THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Every pizza place in my district is the best pizza place in New York City.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Sinatra’s “New York, New York” TWITTER HANDLE:

@rorylancman

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Intro 419, which I introduced in partnership with Councilmember Van Bramer, that established New York City’s first ever comprehensive cultural plan. Arts and culture are very important to me and to New York City’s identity, and I was proud to be a part of passing legislation that will make our city more artist-friendly and help showcase the cultural contributions of every borough.

Passing NYC’s new law to ban credit checks as a condition for employment.

POLICY FOCUS:

BRAD LANDER BIRTHDAY

July 8

DISTRICT 39 DEMOCRAT

Supporting and protecting workers in the on-demand economy. I’m also working with Councilmember Corey Johnson on establishing a “drivers’ benefits fund” for taxi and Uber drivers, so they have access to benefits like health care, retirement and sick days that traditional employees have through their jobs. We need to update our Human Rights Law, so it covers independent workers. And finally, we should follow Seattle to establish a way that on-demand workers can have the right to organize and bargain collectively.

STEPHEN LEVIN

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

DISTRICT 33 DEMOCRAT

My first priority will be passing my bill with Councilmember Chin to put a small charge on plastic bags in order to dramatically reduce their use.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Issues of growth, development, preservation and change are always contentious issues in NYC, and they will be again in 2016.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

BIRTHDAY

December 3

POLICY FOCUS:

Continuing to improve our handling of homelessness policy and digging into how we can improve the foster care system and achieve better outcomes for foster youth.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

To continue our oversight of social services in New York City on the General Welfare Committee and look for ways in which we can improve the quality and delivery of services for New Yorkers in need. In addition, I will prioritize continuing to provide effective constituent services for the residents of the 33rd District.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Hard to say – contentious issues have a way of coming out of left field.

My son’s favorite is Di Fara. My daughter’s is Grimaldi’s. As Councilmember for the 39th District, I’m partial to Lucali in Carroll Gardens and Table 87 in Gowanus.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Hamilton” for sure.

“Hard Times in New York Town” by Bob Dylan and “New York’s My Home” by Ray Charles.

TWITTER HANDLE:

TWITTER HANDLE:

@bradlander

Di Fara and Paulie Gee’s

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

@stephenlevin33

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CityAndStateNY.com

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Intro 736, which created the Office of Civil Justice, to oversee growth in free legal services to low-income tenants facing eviction, immigrants facing deportation, parents facing loss of custody of their children and more.

I introduced legislation in relation to transferring the parking violations bureau from the department of finance to the office of administrative trials and hearings. Int. 264-2014 would ensure fair hearings, which every person deserves. This bill is co-sponsored by 18 of my colleague Councilmembers and should be coming up at committee soon.

POLICY FOCUS:

MARK LEVINE BIRTHDAY

April 30

DISTRICT 7 DEMOCRAT

Preserving mom-and-pop businesses, boosting investment in parks in low- and middle-income neighborhoods and expanding foreign language education in public schools.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Strengthening laws to help low- and middle-income New Yorkers remain in their homes.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Neck-and-neck between a horse carriage ban compromise and mandatory inclusionary zoning.

ALAN MAISEL BIRTHDAY

July 25

DISTRICT 46 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

In my district, there are a large number of unmapped streets.

These are streets that are used by the public, but that the city is not responsible for, i.e., maintenance. My legislation would require the department of transportation to create a task force to determine how the city can take ownership of these streets. A second part of this legislation deals with the problems that homeowners have in disputes over their community driveways.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Continuing in my efforts to solve the many quality-oflife issues that my constituents have. In addition, I am committed to the renovation of parks in my district that have yet to receive upgrades.

Koronet Pizza on Broadway and 110th St. Their slices are HUGE! THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

The Broadway show “In the Heights,” by Lin-Manuel Miranda

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Always unpredictable.

TWITTER HANDLE:

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

@marklevinenyc

Pizza D’Amore in Mill Basin, Brooklyn.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“New York, New York” sung by Frank Sinatra

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

MELISSA MARK-VIVERITO SPEAKER

BIRTHDAY

April 1

DISTRICT 8 DEMOCRAT

My colleagues and I are proud of the work this City Council has done to uplift New Yorkers.

Whether it’s bringing much needed regulation to the car wash industry, creating a new Office of Labor Standards, creating the nation’s largest Department of Veterans’ Services or increasing the size of our police force, the Council’s work has touched and improved the lives of New York City residents across the five boroughs. In the year ahead, we look forward to continuing that commitment to making New York City a fairer and better place for all who live here.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Patsy’s for a classic New York slice or Neapolitan Express for a modern twist.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

The incredible murals from the MonumentArt Festival in El Barrio and the South Bronx and “Hamilton.”

TWITTER HANDLE:

@MMViverito

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Intro 0727, which helps thousands of owners of Sandyravaged homes rebuild without being penalized by the “Sandy tax.”

POLICY FOCUS:

STEVEN MATTEO BIRTHDAY

February 18

DISTRICT 50 REPUBLICAN

Making life-saving AEDs more widely available, sensible improvements to roads/transportation, helping more local businesses through private-public partnerships and strengthening and potentially expanding business improvement districts.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Passing my bills requiring AEDs at Little League games, increasing littering fines and pushing for better public transportation options on Staten Island, including a West Shore Light Rail and improved bus service.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Mandatory inclusionary zoning, police reform bills, regulating Uber, horse carriages… Pick one!

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Any pizzeria in Staten Island

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“New York, New York” – the Sinatra version TWITTER HANDLE:

@StevenMatteo

CityAndStateNY.com

31

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

DARLENE MEALY DISTRICT 41 DEMOCRAT

Intro 818, which would amend the attorney’s fees provisions of the city human rights law to include expert fees in attorney’s fees awards and directs courts and the Human Rights Commission to base attorney’s fee awards on the highest prevailing hourly market rate charged by attorneys of similar skill and experience practicing anywhere within NYC. Also the Fair Chance Act, Intro 689 – which requires the HRC to perform a housing discrimination investigation for a period of one year – and Intro 690, which requires the HRC to perform an employment discrimination investigation for a period of one year and report the results to the Council.

POLICY FOCUS:

Housing and employment discrimination.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

To bring additional resources and programs for our youth and seniors, advocate against gentrification and continue to fight for affordable housing in the district.

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Carwash workers and Worker Cooperatives – both very personal to me and our mission to address dignity in our immigrant workforce.

POLICY FOCUS:

CARLOS MENCHACA BIRTHDAY

September 11 DISTRICT 38 DEMOCRAT

“Literacy for All” is a term you will hear very often this year.

The premise is simple: every New Yorker deserves access to adult education classes, to learn English and to get their GED in their neighborhood. To make the most of our work on UPK, we must ensure that our parents have the skillsets to help our students who are now on track to get the education they deserve. This is policy that considers the entire family.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Fully fund the Literacy for All Project.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Council’s interactions with the Mayor’s Affordable Housing Initiatives will be some of the more contentious moments of 2016.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Mayor’s proposal to implement a court system in Brownsville located at 444 Thomas Boyland St. I am in favor of bringing a court system to the district, however I am opposed to this location because it will bring all criminal services within a one-block radius.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Rocky Sullivan’s in Red Hook

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Not Ray’s Pizza on Fulton St.

“Hamilton” on Broadway offers a mix of our geopolitical past and our modern musical tone. It is also written by a very famous Latino New Yorker. I listen to the soundtrack on the subway to work!

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

TWITTER HANDLE:

The mural of Rosetta “Mother” Gaston and Greg “Jocko” Jackson in Brownsville

@NYCCouncil38

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Intro 222, requiring that landlords provide tenants with advance notice for non-emergency repair work that will result in disruptions to building services. After complaints from constituents that they would come home to find basic services interrupted with no warning, the law establishes a general baseline of 24 hours’ advance notice for most work.

ROSIE MENDEZ BIRTHDAY

February 28

DISTRICT 2 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

The focus will be on the biggest problems facing my district, including the lack of affordable and permanent housing at every income level and the proliferation of homelessness.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Passing bills I have been carrying for 10 years, including Asthma Free Housing (Intro 385) and Right to Counsel for Seniors (Intro 96).

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

ZQA and MIH will be contentious depending on changes made to the proposal after feedback from advocates and community boards. Infill or development on public housing would be a big problem for my district as well.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

11B

Fair Chance Act/Ban the Box (Int. 318).

POLICY FOCUS:

We’re going to have to double down and focus on equity: How do we deliver public services and who is providing these services? Are communities receiving their fair share or being called on to provide more than their fair share?

I. DANEEK MILLER BIRTHDAY

November 6

DISTRICT 27 DEMOCRAT

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

The Five E’s of Transportation: 1. Equalize commuter rail fares and eliminate two-fare zones. 2. Enact the Commuter Van Reform Act. 3. Extend express bus service. 4. Expand Vision Zero. 5. Ensure proper transportation funding. This campaign seeks to quickly, efficiently and safely improve transit in transportation deserts throughout the five boroughs. Equally important, we have to discuss methods to promote affordable housing. That includes stabilizing neighborhoods hardest hit by the foreclosure crisis.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Housing, and specifically with respect to providing affordable housing. We must thoroughly think through this process and the impact on indigenous residents, potential displacement issues and the larger framework of our land use process.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

The movie “You’ve Got Mail” is a great movie about New York, gentrification and the social scene in NYC with its farmers’ markets and coffee shops.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@RosieMendez

Margherita Pizza on 163-04 Jamaica Ave. THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Do The Right Thing” – a visionary film.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@IDaneekMiller

32

CityAndStateNY.com

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Palma was the prime sponsor of a bill that would require retailers that sell smartphones in New York City to install theft-deterrance technology.

The Fair Chance Act/Ban the Box. POLICY FOCUS:

ANTONIO REYNOSO

As Chair of the Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, I will continue to focus on creating waste equity in New York City. Three communities of color, North Brooklyn, the South Bronx, and Southeast Queens, process about 80 percent of the waste processed in the city, which has major impacts on public health in those neighborhoods.

Additionally, the commercial waste system is outdated and inefficient.

BIRTHDAY

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

POLICY FOCUS:

ANNABEL PALMA BIRTHDAY

April 3

DISTRICT 18 DEMOCRAT

Palma sits on the committees on Youth Services, General Welfare, Technology, Land Use, Community Development and the Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses.

ON HEALTH CARE:

Access to quality primary health care is the first line of defense in preventing, diagnosing and treating health problems before they become life threatening, causing admission to a hospital emergency room. The most critical step in connecting people to quality health care is through a primary care provider, and for many Bronxites this is an option not readily available.

May 9

DISTRICT 34 DEMOCRAT

Affordable housing. My office has started Housing Task Forces in North Brooklyn and Ridgewood that bring tenant organizers together with City agencies to address buildings where residents are threatened with displacement. They work proactively to ensure that these buildings are repaired and the tenants can stay in their homes.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@PalmaAnnabel

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Police reform. We need to improve the relationship between the NYPD and communities, and how to accomplish that will continue to be a contentious issue in 2016.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Williamsburg Pizza at 265 Union Ave., across the street from my district office.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Bushwick Collective’s street artwork.

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@cmreynoso34

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Updating the Air Code for the first time in about 40 years, which introduced new requirements to limit emissions from certain unregulated sectors, while promoting the adoption of cost-effective air pollution controls. These sectors cause emissions that contain tiny particulates generated by commercial char broilers, fireplaces, food trucks, refrigeration vehicles and buses.

DONOVAN RICHARDS BIRTHDAY

April 9

DISTRICT 31 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

Improving the affordable housing crisis in the city and making sure Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability becomes a plan that works for all communities.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Reforming the Board of Standards and Appeals MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Transit Desert Study.

POLICY FOCUS:

Expanding our public transportation network into areas in need. From bikes, trains, buses and ferries, all systems must relied upon so that New Yorkers can move more safely and efficiently going forward.

YDANIS RODRIGUEZ BIRTHDAY

June 18

DISTRICT 10 DEMOCRAT

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Moving NYC and New Yorkers to more fully realize the importance of public transit and how choosing these options over cars can increase safety, energy efficiency, quality of life, environmental sustainability and public health.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Housing and ZQA and MIH.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Mandatory Inclusionary Housing and Zoning for Quality and Affordability

Johnny’s Pizza on Dyckman St. and Post Ave.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

J & S Pizza on Merrick Boulevard in Rosedale

“Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge” by Hildegarde Swift

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

TWITTER HANDLE:

“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys TWITTER HANDLE:

@DRichards13

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

@Ydanis

CityAndStateNY.com

33

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Among many good pieces of legislation was the Caregiver Discrimination Act, which prohibits employment discrimination based on “caregiver” (family responsibility) status. I believe that no worker should be treated differently – or unfairly – because they are, or are perceived to be, a caretaker of a parent, spouse, child or domestic partner.

DEBORAH ROSE BIRTHDAY

August 21

DISTRICT 49 DEMOCRAT

POLICY FOCUS:

Jumaane’s ban the box bill (Local Law 63 of 2015). It’ll give thousands of New Yorkers a fair chance at getting hired.

POLICY FOCUS:

Protecting and expanding tenants’ rights, especially by preserving affordable housing and empowering tenants who experience harassment from their landlords.

I prioritize ensuring that New Yorkers of all ages and income levels can find housing they can afford, while preserving the character of our neighborhoods.

HELEN ROSENTHAL

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

BIRTHDAY

My priority is to ensure that we have the public transportation, traffic mitigation, school seats, hospital beds, recreation facilities, street lighting and other infrastructure components necessary to support my constituents.

October 24 DISTRICT 6 DEMOCRAT

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Getting my accessibility package through. Over 800,000 NYC residents have a disability, and right now there are too many barriers limiting their participation in civic and cultural life. Twenty-five years after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, that is unacceptable.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The vendor cap legislation and land use rezoning THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Proposed zoning texts proved contentious at the community board and borough board levels. I expect that to continue , though I am optimistic we can come to agreements that benefit all.

Patsy’s with prosciutto

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

Robert Caro’s book on Robert Moses, “The Power Broker.”

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

TWITTER HANDLE:

You can’t ask a Staten Islander to name just one! Nucci’s, Brother’s, and Joe and Pat’s are a few of my favorites.

@HelenRosenthal

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“Empire State of Mind” – Jay-Z and Alicia Keys TWITTER HANDLE:

@CmDebiRose

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

The Carwash Accountability Act, which serves as a precursor to a newly invigorated role for DCA in ensuring responsible business practices in low-wage industries.

Inspired by the logic of the CAA, I am advancing legislation that would empower DCA to clean up the dirty practices of the worst industrial laundry operators.

Treyger was the prime sponsor of a bill that would make building owners provide disabled residents a reasonable alternative when a passenger elevator is out of service for more than 24 hours.

POLICY FOCUS:

POLICY FOCUS:

RITCHIE TORRES

School diversity is, by far, the most morally urgent cause that almost no one in elected office seems to be talking about. The city can and should do more to foster greater diversity in the classroom.

MARK TREYGER

BIRTHDAY

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

BIRTHDAY

March 12

DISTRICT 15 DEMOCRAT

Ensuring NYCHA gets its fair share from the city and state remains a continuing crusade of mine. The next stage in the struggle for NYCHA’s survival is a focus on the Battery Park Authority’s revenues as a funding stream for preserving public housing. Kudos to Scott Stringer and Jeff Klein for pressing the cause.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The Right to Know Act.

March 15

DISTRICT 47 DEMOCRAT

Treyger is Chair of the committee on recovery and resiliency and sits on the committees on Aging, Education, Land Use, and Parks and Recreation, and the Subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions and Concessions.

ON SANDY RECOVERY:

All New York City residents, regardless of their ability to qualify for federal disaster aid programs, deserve safe and humane housing. It is our responsibility as elected officials to ensure that all victims of Superstorm Sandy have the ability to return to their homes.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@MarkTreyger718

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

The restaurants of Arthur Ave., like Zero Otto Nove, have some of the best pizzas.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

My favorite book about the city is “The Power Broker,” which chronicles the infamous life and legacy of Robert Moses. For good and for ill, we all live in a City that he radically reshaped in his own image.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@RitchieTorres

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

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CityAndStateNY.com

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Ulrich was the prime sponsor of a law that created a New York City Department of Veterans’ Services.

Intro 462, my emergency elevator repair bill, which gives the City the authority to repair broken elevators and charge the landlord for the cost in cases where the landlord refuses to make timely repairs.

POLICY FOCUS:

Ulrich is Chair of the Committee on Veterans and sits on the committees on Environmental Protection, Housing and Buildings, Recovery and Resiliency, and Small Business.

ERIC ULRICH BIRTHDAY

February 13 DISTRICT 32 REPUBLICAN

ON HOMELESS VETERANS:

NYC has made great strides in reducing the number of chronically homeless veterans in 2015. Let us resolve to help every homeless veteran in NYC find stable long-term housing in 2016.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@Eric_Ulrich

POLICY FOCUS:

JAMES VACCA BIRTHDAY

March 27

DISTRICT 13 DEMOCRAT

As Chair of the Committee on Technology, I will focus on various tech issues such as the Open Data law, the rollout of the Wi-Fi RFP, and the status of PSCA II. TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Reducing the property tax burden borne by the middle class.

Last year I proposed a property tax rebate that didn’t make the final budget. I will be fighting even harder to save money for hardworking New Yorkers.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Land use rezoning. It will affect every community in the city.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

Emilio’s of Morris Park. Their chicken vodka slice is the best around.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

“The Only Living Boy in New York” by Simon & Garfunkel TWITTER HANDLE:

@jamesvacc13

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Firstly, it was an honor to co-sign the city’s first Department of Veterans Services into law. Secondly, passing a new law restricting commercial traffic on our residential streets is a clear win for the preservation of the quality of life in our community.

Strengthening the Justice for Hit-and-Run Victims Act. TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

Implementing the Cultural Plan.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

Uber bill.

POLICY FOCUS:

PAUL VALLONE BIRTHDAY

June 2

DISTRICT 19 DEMOCRAT

As chair of the Subcommittee on Senior Centers, I believe we must continually increase our focus on policy and budget for our rapidly expanding and critically important senior population in New York City.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

As a result of the historic funding we brought to our district over the last two years, our community can proudly and finally say we are once again a priority as we stand tall in Northeast Queens.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

The upcoming presidential election will be the clear focus of attention for our city, state and country in 2016.

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

There’s nothing better than stopping by for a slice from Graziella Pizzeria & Restaurant in Flushing.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

After celebrating his 100th birthday at City Hall, there is no greater icon than Frank Sinatra and his timeless classic, “New York, New York.”

TWITTER HANDLE:

@PaulVallone

JIMMY VAN BRAMER

THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

BIRTHDAY

TWITTER HANDLE:

August 19

DISTRICT 26 DEMOCRAT

Sunnyside Pizza

@JimmyVanBramer

CityAndStateNY.com

35

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

THE BEST BILL OF 2015:

Passing the Fair Chance Act.

Wills was the primary sponsor of a 2015 law prohibiting the manufacture or sale of synthetic cannabinoids.

POLICY FOCUS:

JUMAANE WILLIAMS BIRTHDAY

May 11

DISTRICT 45 DEMOCRAT

Creating real affordability throughout our city and reducing gun violence in our communities. That means advocating for working families in the MIH/ZQA negotiations; increasing income-targeted, truly affordable housing; expanding the Crisis Management System and pushing for a more holistic approach to decrease gun violence; and creating new employment opportunities for our young people.

TOP PRIORITY FOR 2016:

To ensure all families have safe, stable and affordable neighborhoods where they can put down roots and raise families without fear of eviction or gun violence.

MOST CONTENTIOUS ISSUE FOR LAWMAKERS IN 2016:

POLICY FOCUS:

Wills sits on the Contracts, Economic Development, General Welfare, Land Use, Mental Health, and Small Business committees. He is not a committee chairman.

RUBEN WILLS BIRTHDAY

August 9

DISTRICT 28 DEMOCRAT

ON GUN CONTROL:

Taking guns out of people’s hands and making sure that the beef does not start is not some simple task. But you’ve gone beyond that with showing these young people the same love that the gangs used to show them.

TWITTER HANDLE:

@CM_RubenWills

The Mayor’s housing plan. In particular, zoning changes and MIH. THE BEST SLICE OF PIZZA IN THE CITY:

There are too many great pizza places to choose from, but if you come to District 45, I’ll take you for the best Caribbean food you’ve ever had.

THE BEST PIECE OF ART ABOUT THE CITY:

There’s a painting hanging at Medgar Evers College that holds a special place for me. Growing up, my mom would take me to events at the College and I noticed the painting every time we walked by. It depicts a mother and child and states “nothing is real to us except freedom.”

TWITTER HANDLE:

@JumaaneWilliams

Despite repeated requests, this lawmaker declined to participate.

The above is based on their press releases or previous news reports.

The Must-Read Morning Roundup of New York Politics and Government As an advertiser, an advocacy campaign including City & State First Read provides a targeted way to reach New York State’s most influential leaders and political professionals.

For more information of advertising opportunities and availabilities, please contact Jasmin Freeman at jfreeman@cityandstateny.com or call 646-442-1662

36

NYSlant.com

A new angle on opinions / Edited by NICK POWELL

Cuomo tries to regain his missing mojo

By Michael Benjamin

I COULD SEE THE N E IG H B O R H O O D GUY WHO WOULDN’T BE “PUNKED” ON HIS TURF EMERGING failed to quell Barron,

from behind Cuomo’s eyes. “Oh boy, he’s back,” I mumbled to myself.

For me, 2015 was the year Cuomo lost his mojo. His year was marked by personal and professional tragedy.

Cuomo lost his revered father, former Gov. Mario

Cuomo; his two “amigos” were arrested, charged and convicted of corruption; Sandra Lee, his partner, was diagnosed with and successfully treated for breast cancer; his approval ratings plunged to the lowest levels of his governorship; and, of course, there was a zealous U.S. attorney casting a yearlong shadow over the state Capitol.

Lesser politicians might have hung up their spikes and called it a career. Not so with Andy. Not one to dither or engage in lengthy soliloquy, Cuomo did what he does best: He plunged headlong into the abyss.

Cuomo and Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul toured the state, doling out economic development grants here, there and everywhere. Heading into 2016, Cuomo proved himself a better political tactician than his former aide and now political rival, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Cuomo has so successfully fleeced de Blasio on universal pre-K, the $15-per-hour minimum wage and income inequality that in listening to his State of the State address, one would never know that Cuomo was late to the party on progressive causes. For good measure, the burgeoning homelessness crisis has become another brickbat with which Cuomo is mercilessly pummeling de Blasio, empowering the mayor’s city government rival, Comptroller Scott Stringer, to shut down homeless shelters as he sees fit.

And earlier that week, an unexpected source blew wind into Mr. Cuomo’s political sails. On Monday before the speech, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara tweeted the legal equivalent of “Meh!” regarding his Moreland Commission probe. After months of waiting for other shoe to drop from Cuomo pulling the plug on his Moreland Commission in 2014, it took Bharara’s office fewer than 65 words to declare that there was “insufficient evidence to prove a federal crime.”

Coming as it did just days before his State of the State address must have made Cuomo’s victory lap around the Empire State Plaza Convention Hall that much sweeter. But it took him two hours to finally gloat: “There’s nothing we can’t do as New Yorkers – we never quit, we never say no.”

T R A N S L AT IO N: “IT WAS MY M O R E L A N D CO M MISSION TO CREATE AND TO SHUT DOWN. I DIDN’T

CAVE TO THE NAYSAYERS AND D E T R A C T O R S. WHERE THERE IS A WILL, THERE IS A WAY. I AM THE GOVERNMENT.”

After Barron showed the good sense to leave the hall, Cuomo settled back into his politician’s suit, and I settled back in anticipation of Cuomo’s PowerPoint slides.

However, I was disappointed by the absence of humorous visuals.

Cuomo’s speech hid the fact that his proposed executive budget is screwing New York City. Cuomo reneges on a previous promise to support CUNY and cuts $800 million in state aid. He bangs the city further by increasing its share in shouldering Medicaid costs. As a city resident, I’m more than annoyed that his feud with de Blasio is going to hit me and fellow city taxpayers with additional user fees, higher taxes and cuts in other services.

I think it’s time that de Blasio stop playing patsy and defend his city. He has to recover his own mojo and not abandon the fight to Assemblyman Charles Barron alone.

Michael Benjamin is a former assemblyman who represented parts of the Bronx.

PHILIP KAMRASS/OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR

After starting almost an hour late, the 2016 State of the State address got a needed kick-start when Brooklyn Assemblyman – and professional agitprop pol – Charles Barron got out of his seat to heckle Gov. Andrew Cuomo. When jocularity

NYSlant.com

37

De Blasio’s horse carriage deal is taking NYC for a ride

F11PHOTO

By Joe Borelli

Over 120 years ago, New York found itself embroiled in a controversy over the horse carriage industry far more significant than the one we face today. Unlike now, the problem was real, dangerous and literally wafted in the faces of all New Yorkers.

Over 1,000 tons of manure each day caused pungent odors and filthy streets in our Gilded Age city.

The manure problem was not solved by a political deal. The real savior was the advent of electricity and the automobile. Sadly now, in true hipster irony, the electric car was briefly feted but failed to live up to its historic reputation of mothballing the horse carriage industry.

Instead, the public is now faced with bearing the cost of a political deal that fails to truly satisfy either side of the horse carriage debate. An argument that, in and of itself, few New Yorkers realize will have any appreciable effect on their lives.

Let

me

DON’T HORSE R ACE.

I HAVE A IN THIS

be

clear:

Our priority should be to preserve jobs, but I am neither a patron of nostalgic horse rides nor a card-carrying member of PETA. I am one of the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers who simply can’t seem to understand why all this political capital has been

A TOURIST NOVELTY FEW OF US EVER ENCOUNTER. spent on

The details that have emerged on the horse carriage deal are as follows: 220 animals would be moved out of their West Side stables.

One-third or so would be kept in service and given accommodation in a new publicly funded – but private – stable in Central Park.

It is unclear if all of the

drivers will remain employed.

This deal is problematic in that it does not satisfy the underlying causes for either side. If any driver loses their livelihood, we’ve failed on that front.

Conversely, animal rights activists will not stop until there are no longer horses hauling around tourists on city streets, period.

It’s easy to argue that a hard-line stance in either side’s favor would be better than this proposal. If the city were to continue having horse carriages, life would go on. Millions of travellers from Fresno to France would leave Central Park with their obligatory carriage horse photo and “I Love NY” T-shirt. NYCLASS and others would continue to protest, but this is, after all, New York, and the mayor and City Council cannot be expected to satisfy every interest group.

Here’s a novel concept – let’s just ban horse carriages altogether.

In a city notorious for its prohibitions, horse carriages would simply join the list of things from trans-fats to credit checks that City Hall has restricted. Though I would not support this solution, it does absolve New Yorkers of what is perhaps the most problematic component of this agreement.

If the current iteration of the carriage deal is accepted, the public would be on the hook for the construction of the new stables for these privately owned horses, and face the potential loss of public open space in our most widely used park.

Parks Department projects don’t come cheap, either.

Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver has done an outstanding job streamlining his capital program, but a public bathroom in my district is still in the $10 million

range. The public should know what the cost would be for a facility to house 75 horses.

Factoring the architectural, historic and logistical requirements, we’re talking about a substantial sum of money. By comparison, the new Central Park police precinct costs roughly the same as the new 121st Precinct on Staten Island, despite housing a fraction of the officers.

Not only is the price a concern, but the precedent it would set should raise eyebrows in a legislative body that has long had a habit of regulating business and banning items. If the Council and mayor elect to place a regulatory burden on an industry at some point in the future, will the affected trade organization also expect the taxpayers to pay the cost of complying? For example, could the New York Restaurant Association now expect that if they are vocal enough, the city would cover the cost of building smoking areas or pay for sushi chefs’ rubber gloves?

Hopefully when the details of this agreement are finally released the public will have an opportunity to weigh in. The taxpayers should wonder whether the cost of compromising is worth whatever the perceived benefit of changing this industry would be.

In the end, New Yorkers of today may have something in common with their 19th century ancestors: they may just want to avoid something that stinks.

Joe Borelli is a New York City councilman representing the 51st District on Staten Island.

38

CityAndStateNY.com

GASOLINE GUARDIAN

A LIFETIME PROTECTING NEW YORKERS AT THE PUMP

Previously in this space, City & State has interviewed a prominent figure or celebrity who is involved in New York politics. This week, we’re trying something new: highlighting those who have avoided the limelight, who have worked day in and day out to ensure our city and state run smoothly.

After 30 years of keeping fuel vendors honest, John Browne, the head of the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs’ petroleum products squad, retired in December. City & State’s Jeff Coltin spoke with him just before his retirement about pumping gas, catching bad guys and being threatened out in the field.

The following has been edited for length and clarity.

C&S: Do you check every pump at a gas station? Or is there one specific pump that’s inspected?

JB: Every single device that is dispensing petroleum products is inspected by my men. We do every station at least once during the calendar year. And we return to a station if they ’ve done repair work after we’ve inspected the pumps, making sure the repair work was done properly. We will also return to a station if a consumer files a complaint against a station.

Currently there are eight men on the team, including myself, and a little over 800 gas stations in the city.

C&S: Gas prices are lower than they have been in years. Does that affect the job at all? Are people less appreciative of the job you’re doing when prices are low?

JB: For the most part, people are unaware of the job that we do, since more often than not, when you roll into a gasoline station you’re not going to find either myself or one of my inspectors there.

C&S: You were involved in the recent investigation over heating oil fraud that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is bringing to court. What was your role there?

JB: We came down and assisted in showing the Business Integrity Commission and the district attorney exactly how these systems worked. So we came down with a 200-gallon prover at one location, we were actually diverting the product right there on the spot so they could see exactly how the system was working and what the operator was doing to steal.

C&S: Have any gas station owners not wanted to be inspected?

JB: Oh yeah, we’ve had that. There’s this station on Flatbush Avenue owned by a nice gentleman who was very upset with what was going on, and I was doing this inspection

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS

C&S: What work do you do for the good people of New York City?

JB: By enforcing the state’s quality control program, we make sure that exactly what that pump is listed as selling is what you’re getting. And by using specialized equipment that we bring on to the station, we’re making sure that the quantity that you’re supposed to get is what you’re getting. Because when you roll into a gas station, you’re taking a leap of faith that the nice man who’s operating that station is going to give you what you’re paying for. Well, we make sure it’s not that far of a jump.

on this station and I was training another inspector. There were a couple of violations and we were dealing with those things, and the vendor got upset about the whole thing. He said at the time, “I wouldn’t mind paying the $2,500 to take you out!” Now that really scared the inspector I was with,

but I just looked at the vendor and said, “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme for a dinner and a movie?”

He laughed and said, “You know what, do what you gotta do,” and he walked away.

Visit cityandstateny.com to read the full interview.

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