City & State New York 092319

COULD NY CRUSH CAR CULTURE? CUOMO’S VAPING BAN WON’T STOP THE CRISIS

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THE WINNERS & LOSERS OF DE BLASIO DROPPING OUT September 23, 2019

Keynote Speakers Include:

September 23, 2019

THE

CELESTE SLOMAN; SUJATHA VEMPATY/SHUTTERSTOCK

EDITOR’S NOTE

BEN ADLER Senior editor

ISSUE

City & State New York

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INFRASTRUCTURE THIS IS CLIMATE WEEK in New York City, pegged to the United Nations General Assembly session and the U.N.’s Climate Action Summit on Monday. Activists, businesses and governments will be hosting events intended to educate the public about the gathering climate crisis. And last Friday, tens of thousands of schoolchildren gathered in lower Manhattan to demand policies to reduce global warming, including a “Green New Deal.”

A Green New Deal would entail overhauling the nation’s infrastructure: replacing its fossil fuel-burning electric plants with cleaner sources of energy, spreading electric vehicle charging stations, train lines and bus stops across the countryside, and weatherizing homes and offices.

So it is fitting that our annual infrastructure issue coincides with Climate Week.

Our stories in this issue analyze policies at the intersection of the environment and transportation infrastructure. Zach Williams’ cover story reports that cities across New York state are beginning to take down highways in favor of pedestrian-friendly roads. Sarah Goodyear’s piece notes that the proposed reauthorization of the federal transportation funding bill making its way through the U.S. Senate would contain a section on climate change, but it would fail to shift transportation spending priorities toward mass transit over personal motor vehicles.

CONTENTS

SO LONG, DE BLASIO … 6

The winners and losers of his ex-presidential candidacy

VAPING … 8

Will Cuomo’s e-cigarette ban do anything to stop the health crisis?

CARS AND THE CLIMATE … 10

Only public transit can slow global warming

TEARING DOWN THE HIGHWAYS … 14 New York is undoing the 20th century’s obsession with the open road MTA CAPITAL PLAN … 20

Experts weigh in on the $51.5 billion proposal

GATEWAY TUNNEL … 26

New York and New Jersey are trying to make it work without Trump

PIPELINES … 30

Is New York powerless to stop them?

WINNERS & LOSERS … 38

Who was up and who was down last week

CityAndStateNY.com

September 16, 2019

heads with Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state Democratic Party and a gubernatorial appointee on the commission, who opposes the practice.

A number of New York City officials – including Comptroller Scott Stringer, Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams – showed up to defend fusion voting.

9/11 REMEMBERED

STATE PUBLIC FINANCING HEARINGS

The commission on statewide public campaign financing held its first two hearings on Tuesday, one for experts to testify and the other for the public. Experts largely

agreed on a matching fund system at a ratio of 6:1, with an independent agency, analogous to New York City’s Campaign Finance Board, overseeing it. Working Families Party representatives defended fusion voting, which lets candidates run on multiple party lines, and butted

Wednesday marked the 18th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. At the annual tribute at ground zero, all 2,977 names of those who died in the attacks were read aloud. New bills were introduced or signed into law in memory of the attacks: Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation making it easier for state employees that volunteered at ground zero in the aftermath of the attacks to file claims for sick leave, while New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio introduced a measure to make families

REMEMBERING 9/11 The Daily News commemorated the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on Wednesday with a depiction of the Tribute in Light, an annual installation featuring two vertical columns of light symbolizing the twin towers rising over lower Manhattan. “It was only yesterday,” the newspaper’s editorial board wrote. “It was so long ago.”

of civilian city employees – like sanitation workers and correction officers – who assisted police and firefighters eligible for health insurance benefits.

“Common sense says if you do not know what you are smoking, don’t smoke it.”

– Gov. Andrew Cuomo, amid the spread of a mysterious illness and deaths tied to vaping, via the Daily News

HELP FOR COPS

Amid a spate of suicides by current and former New York City police officers, Police Commissioner James O’Neill announced that his department would no longer automatically strip officers of their badges for seeking treatment for mental illness. The efforts aim to destigmatize mental health while encouraging cops to get help and open up about their struggles.

The City Council is also considering a bill to require the NYPD to hire clinicians for precincts to provide confidential counseling.

NEVER-ENDING TALE OF TWO CITIES

“I offered my mom to give Sean salsa lessons.”

– Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, who recently hired former White House press secretary Sean Spicer – who recently competed on “Dancing With the Stars” – for her congressional campaign, via the New York Post

Despite de Blasio’s pledge as a mayoral candidate to close the gap between the richest and poorest New Yorkers, a report from the right-leaning Manhattan Institute found the city’s income disparity has remained largely unchanged throughout his time in office. Addressing income inequality – “the tale of two cities” – was a major campaign promise, along with reducing homelessness, a pledge he has similarly been criticized for failing to make good on.

MICHAEL APPLETON/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE; OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR; A KATZ, PAVELKANT/SHUTTERSTOCK

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September 16, 2019

CRACKDOWN ON VAPING

Following the outbreak of a mysterious vapingrelated illness that has led to several deaths around the country, Cuomo announced a state crackdown on e-cigarettes.

He directed the state Department of Health to subpoena companies linked to black market vaping products and to issue a mandate requiring warning signs at shops that sell e-cigarettes. Cuomo also called for legislation to ban the sale of flavored e-cigarettes, which critics say target teenagers.

President Donald Trump also took steps to address the issue, likely making Cuomo’s statewide ban moot. The FDA is outlining a plan to ban flavored e-cigarettes nationwide.

City & State New York

How public is the Public Campaign Financing Commission?

PRIMARY DATES DOA

Cuomo’s proposal to move New York’s presidential primary up to February, instead of in late April as originally planned, appears to be dead on arrival.

The governor reportedly wanted to plug in New York between Iowa and New Hampshire – while moving state legislative primaries to the same date too, instead of in June. But the Democratic National Committee warned that such a move would be “a violation of the DNC timing rules,” while Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie said he and state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins discussed the proposal and that there’s “no indication” they’ll alter the election calendar.

The Public Campaign Financing Commission held two hearings last week, one for expert testimony and one to hear from the public. The commission has until Dec. 1 to present findings to the state Legislature, which will take effect barring immediate action from state lawmakers. Also on the table is fusion voting, which lets candidates appear on multiple ballot lines. It’s primarily used by third parties like the Working Families and Conservative parties to cross-endorse major party candidates.

Agreement on public financing structure Experts agreed that the state should implement a small-dollar public matching fund system for state elections, as opposed to alternatives like candidate vouchers. Experts cited New York City, which has utilized such a system for decades, as a model.

They suggested either a ratio of 6:1 or 8:1 for matching funds; a lower qualifying threshold to participate in the program than Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s original proposal; lower contribution limits across the board, to incentivize candidates to opt in; and an independent campaign finance board. The Republican commissioners took issue with the very concept of public campaign financing. David Previte, state Senate Minority Leader John Flanagan’s appointee, pointedly asked whether the city’s program had eliminated corruption.

Jacobs targets fusion voting Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chairman and a Cuomo appointee on the commission, blasted fusion voting. Jacobs also sought to draw a link between public financing and fusion voting, which he claimed will

THE

WEEK AHEAD

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lead to more contested primaries and therefore would cost more money under a statewide program. But John Nonna, an appointee of state Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, noted the commission hadn’t even decided whether fusion voting falls under its mandate, and that dual lawsuits could make the determination for them.

Earlier in the hearing, a resolution was introduced for the commission to consider fusion voting only in the context of its impact on public campaign finance. The resolution was tabled for future discussion.

Cuomo’s commission?

At the time of the commission’s first public meeting in August, it had no website to provide New Yorkers with easily accessible information and a location to stream hearings. Press releases came directly from Cuomo’s office or the Department of State. A new commission website launched last week is hosted by the state government, not as an independent site, and the commission has no staff, raising concerns about whether it has the resources to perform analysis and research that may be necessary to make informed decisions. Instead, staffers from different departments of the Cuomo administration assisted at the hearing, although Cuomo insisted at an unrelated press conference that he has no sway over the commission.

The new website was riddled with errors, including a hearing missing from its schedule. The website also said that there are 10 commissioners, when there are only nine. Or is there a phantom 10th commissioner who is in fact Cuomo?

TUESDAY 9/17

TUESDAY 9/17

FRIDAY 9/20

The New York City Council hosts a 1 p.m.

City Hall hearing on suicides of police officers. Legislation to be considered after would boost mental health resources for the NYPD.

The state Legislature takes a look at rural broadband access. Oral testimony is by invitation only, but the doors open to all at 11 a.m. in the Legislative Office Building in Albany.

New Yorkers join the Global Climate Strike, a youth-led movement demanding action on climate change. In Manhattan, activist Greta Thunberg will host a noon march to Battery Park.

- Rebecca C. Lewis

INSIDE DOPE

It’s a worldwide movement, but New York City is in the center, with the strike planned ahead of the United Nations Climate Action Summit in Manhattan. Expect local pols to join in.

WINNERS LO & SPECIAL DE BLASIO EDITION 6

CityAndStateNY.com

September 23, 2019

OUR PICK

WINNERS

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s presidential campaign has come to an ignoble end. While Gov. Andrew Cuomo, President Donald Trump and the New York Post bask in schadenfreude, the mayor’s four-month campaign wasn’t just an entertaining sideshow for coastal elites. His exit has created some real winners and losers.

PETER WARD

The New York Hotel and Motel Trades Council was de Blasio’s first and only major labor endorsement, and the union’s president, Peter Ward, seemed to play the game perfectly. The HTC has a number of asks before the mayor, and immediately after endorsing got his support on a major one: requiring a special permit for hotel development.

With de Blasio out early, Ward can turn off his members’ low-dollar fundraising spigot and look for another candidate to soak.

RODNEYSE BICHOTTE & LUIS SEPÚLVEDA

These two de Blasio ride-or-dies were the only local politicians to back his run.

And why not? De Blasio has always been more popular in the assemblywoman’s Central Brooklyn district and the state senator’s Bronx one than the city at large. Their support got them trips to Miami to support BdB at a presidential debate, which sounds nicer than being stuck in a pen with a dozen other politicians at Washington Square Park or crammed into a back room at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

ANDREW YANG

Excelsior! With de Blasio and U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand out of the race, the Schenectady-born Manhattanite is the last New Yorker in the race (other than Bernie, who left 50 years ago). There aren’t many (or … any?) de Blasio voters to win over in the primaries, but at least this leaves Yang as the only candidate in the race talking seriously about robots.

MTA; ASSEMBLY; CJ HANEVY, LEV RADIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE; AMY LOMBARD

Who milked the most out of the mayor’s impossible dream

SERS OUR PICK

LOSERS

September 23, 2019

BILL DE BLASIO

City & State New York

BY JEFF COLTIN

Pick up the needle from your Clash record and drop it on some Green Day, Mr. Mayor – “I hope you had the time of your life.” All signs point to yes, because de Blasio had a skip in his step (and cool new shoes!) on his various national trips. But still … ouch. By most measures, this campaign was a failure, since the mayor had trouble introducing policy proposals, rising in the polls and securing donations. His presidential fundraising highlighted his troubling tendency to take money from people who want something in return, and his middling approval rating bombed in New York City. He’s metaphorically returning to City Hall a weaker man.

DANTE DE BLASIO

It’s OK, kid. A lot of recent college grads get laid off from their first jobs. Your boss owes you a lot, since he couldn’t have gotten here without your help. Nobody expects lightning to strike twice but … come on, a Gen Z Yale grad couldn’t engineer a single viral moment?

COREY JOHNSON

Every party comes to an end – so put the Juul away and start cleaning up.

The New York City Council speaker has always earned the spotlight, but in the past few months, there was more talk around City Hall about “filling a vacuum” than a Dyson infomercial. Now that de Blasio is back full time, Johnson may have to cede a little bit of his negotiating power. And if de Blasio actually starts showing enthusiasm? Corey’s 2021 strategy is screwed.

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Smoke & mirrors Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s vaping ban won’t stop the crisis.

by M A T T I E Q U I N N

G

OV. ANDREW CUOMO recently issued an emergency executive action to ban flavored e-cigarettes, but experts say it has shortcomings: It’s not necessarily legal flavored e-cigarettes that have been linked to deaths; menthol isn’t included among the banned flavors; and medical marijuana users rely on vaping under state law.

Headlines around a handful of deaths and hospitalizations linked to e-cigarettes have created fear around the products.

“Manufacturers of fruit- and candy-flavored e-cigarettes are intentionally and recklessly targeting young people, and today we’re taking action to put an end to it,” Cuomo said in a statement.

State Health Commissioner Howard Zucker held an emergency meeting of the state Public Health and Health Planning Council, which approved the ban, and the state Department of Health will begin enforcing the ban on Oct. 7.

While Cuomo’s quick and decisive action garnered national headlines, there has been some criticism that the ban isn’t actually tackling the root cause of the sudden illnesses, which is most likely black-market vape pens. It also doesn’t ban menthol-flavored e-cigarettes, which public

health experts say should be banned. And medical marijuana advocates say the state’s messaging may confuse legal medical marijuana users.

There have been at least six deaths and 380 cases of lung illness across the country linked to e-cigarette use. Though health officials aren’t exactly sure what’s causing it, early evidence suggests that the dangerous vape cartridges causing deaths are black-market vape pens containing vitamin E acetate, a thickening additive. THC has been linked to cases of severe lung damage, though one particular product hasn’t been singled out. So while the flavored e-cigarette ban is intended to keep young people away from the habit, it doesn’t actually address the cause of the deaths and hospitalizations.

The frenzy has drawn attention to research that found vaping has skyrocketed among teenagers in recent years. According to a December survey by the National Institutes of Health, 37% of 12th graders said they had vaped in the past year, up 10 percentage points from the previous year.

The state Health Department found in 2018 that 27% of New York high schoolers vape. An official with Cuomo’s office, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told City & State that there is a dearth

of data around vaping, and while the ban doesn’t specifically address the recent deaths, it does confront what data does exist – which is that more teens are picking up vaping than ever. Additional executive orders could come out of an investigation by the state Health Department.

This comes as traditional cigarette use among teens is an all-time low, roughly 8%, down from 36% in the late 1990s. So there’s a concern that young people have just traded one unhealthy addiction for another. “We have eroded our progress on this in just two to three years,” said Lisa David, president and CEO of Public Health Solutions.

Evidence shows that vaping is less harmful than traditional cigarettes, mostly because they contain fewer chemicals, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine, however, they are still considered “bad for your health.” David isn’t buying that they are a proper cessation tool from cigarettes.

“If these products were truly successful at smoking cessation, then these companies would do research and submit that to the (Food and Drug Administration). But they haven’t,” she said.

Cuomo is targeting flavored e-cigarettes because they are popular among teenagers, and e-cigarette manufacturers have been accused of marketing particular-

DIN MOHD YAMAN/SHUTTERSTOCK

September 23, 2019

ly to younger people. The ban doesn’t include menthol-flavored e-cigarettes, with state officials citing that menthol flavors are generally used by people trying to kick their cigarette habit. However, Jason Conwall, a Cuomo spokesman, said administration officials “are still considering menthol and may still ban it after review.”

In an interview that took place before Cuomo’s executive order was issued, David agreed with the idea of banning flavored e-cigarettes but said a ban wouldn’t mean much if menthol wasn’t included, as it’s known to be popular with young people. “It’s what young people – particularly young people of color – start with,” David said.

Since the rash of mysterious deaths and illnesses, Cuomo has come out hard against e-cigarettes and vaping. But some health policy experts are concerned that his quick ban on flavored products is a bit misguided, as it isn’t addressing the actual cause of the dramatic illnesses and deaths, and might drive young people deeper into the black market, or to take up traditional cigarettes. “If you have these really young kids and teens getting hooked, then that’s not good. But the first step would be to do some research, have a public hearing, get the best expert evidence that you have,” said Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the Empire Center for

City & State New York

Public Policy. “Instead of reacting to headlines, find out what’s really going on and proceed with proposed regulations.”

Mark Meaney, a lawyer who specializes in e-cigarettes with the Public Health Law Center at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in Saint Paul, Minnesota, said that any ban on flavored tobacco products has to include all flavored tobacco products. “We have to look at this from all angles, because banning one could lead to another kind of addiction,” Meaney said.

Hammond noted that England’s National Health Service tightly regulates e-cigarettes. As a result, the country promotes vaping as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. Brands that promote themselves as an alternative to smoking have to undergo licensure as medical devices. Even those that don’t still have to pass European Union standards for safety and quality. In the United States, there is no federal quality standard for e-cigarettes, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. “This is why there needs to be a regulated market where we can do testing controls,” said David Holland, executive and legal director of Empire State NORML, an advocacy group working to reform marijuana laws.

Cuomo has been vocal against vaping in general, urging all New Yorkers to drop the

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habit. “What we’re saying here is we don’t know what a lot of these substances are.

And you have an alarming rate of illness,” Cuomo said at a Sept. 9 press conference. “And our advice, our recommendation, … (is that) if you don’t know what it is that you are smoking, don’t smoke it.”

This approach to vaping is “throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” Holland said.

The more than 100,000 New Yorkers enrolled in the state’s medical marijuana program are being urged to look for alternatives to vaping if they’re spooked by recent headlines.

However, their options are limited. Other than vaping, the medical marijuana program only allows for ingesting the product orally through tablets, capsules, sprays, or through topical lotions. Smoking marijuana isn’t allowed and smokable marijuana isn’t sold by the state’s licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.

“There have been no adverse events related to vaping among certified patients in this program since this investigation began. However, out of an abundance of caution, we are also urging patients in the medical marijuana program to consult with their health care providers on potential alternatives to vaping products while the investigation continues,” according to a statement from Zucker.

A state official speaking to City & State on background said there is no plan to revise the list of approved medical marijuana products.

“We would have less fear about black-market cartridges if we had some kind of testing protocols and there could be some seal of approval for products in the medical marijuana program,” Holland said.

The state Health Department told City & State in a statement that it doesn’t keep statistics on the number of people who use vaporizers versus creams or capsules. Holland said anecdotally he believes that most people vape, as it’s the best way for people with post-traumatic stress disorder or chronic pain to ingest the product.

New York became the second state to ban flavored e-cigarettes after Michigan. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump also said he plans to explore banning the sale of flavored e-cigarettes.

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Mattie Quinn is a former health reporter for Governing magazine.

Cars are killing the planet COMMENTARY

September 23, 2019

City & State New York

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Global warming will keep wreaking havoc if we don’t expand public transit.

by S A R A H G O O D Y E A R

Y

OU MAY HAVE seen some disturbing videos on your social media feeds at the end of July. The clips showed torrents of water gushing from the melting ice sheets of Greenland.

Scientists estimated that in just one day, more than 12 billion tons of ice melted and flowed into the ocean.

Right around the same time that ancient ice was dissolving into a doomsday cascade, members of the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed America’s Transportation Infrastructure Act, which would appropriate $287 billion over five years to build and maintain the nation’s roads and bridges. That’s a 27% increase over existing funding levels. It was the first step in what will likely be a long legislative road to becoming a major renewal of the law that governs how the vast majority of federal transportation money is disbursed. If the past is any guide, that road will be littered with pork. But, if it passes, it would help keep most Americans moving around with relative ease.

There is something new in this bill, though: a section that addresses climate change with $10 billion. To New Yorkers still shaken by images of subway stations and the West Side Highway being inundated by waters from Superstorm Sandy, that may sound like overdue progress – or it may seem woefully inadequate to a problem that is expected to cost New York many billions of dollars.

Climate change is addressed domestically through adaptation measures that protect infrastructure from future extreme weather events and mitigation policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The new bill’s climate section is more focused on the latter, including incentives for states to build electric charging stations on highways, measures to reduce diesel fuel emissions and research into carbon capture and sequestration.

Those efforts may help cut emissions a tiny bit, but they’re unequal to the magnitude of the changes that will be necessary to meaningfully reduce emissions from America’s transportation system, which is the leading contributor to the nation’s carbon footprint. For legislators to craft a climate component that fails to make a significant push away from personal motor vehicles to public transportation is a little like a doctor delivering a grim cancer diagnosis and prescribing a daily multivitamin as a remedy.

“Though new money for reducing carbon emissions, resilience, alternative fuels, and reducing port emissions are notable,” wrote Beth Osborne, director of the advocacy group Transportation for America, “this approach unfortunately fundamentally fails to recognize that a federal program still focused primarily on delivering high-speed roads guarantees more driving and will undercut the committee’s worthwhile efforts to reduce emissions or stem the tide of climate change.”

For New York, timidity on the climate change front is especially frustrating, because the state could and should be a laboratory for the move away from automobile dependence that will be necessary as the climate emergency unfolds.

New York City has by far the lowest car ownership of any big city in America, at about 45% across the five boroughs (and just 22% in Manhattan). The city’s subways and buses, for all their shortcomings, move millions of riders every day; local and regional rail systems are relatively robust and far-reaching; and even (privately owned) intercity bus networks provide meaningful connections for communities large and

CityAndStateNY.com

September 23, 2019

it. New York City is about to become the first place in the United States to implement congestion pricing for automobiles in its central business district. “Congestion pricing didn’t exist anywhere else in North America,” said Liam Blank, advocacy and policy manager for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which advocates for multimodal transportation in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. “All the examples we could point to were Stockholm, London, Singapore.

Now, all of a sudden, all these other cities – Philadelphia, Boston – are seriously saying, ‘If New York can do this, maybe we can too.’”

Blank welcomes certain Cars were inundated in Brooklyn during Superstorm Sandy. The federal America’s Transportation Infrastructure elements of the nascent Act included $10 billion to address climate change, but climate change mitigation is expected to cost many transportation bill. “We’re billions of dollars in New York alone. particularly supportive of the funding that’s going to What might such a vision look like? As incentivize the building of infrastructure small, upstate and downstate. Nowhere else in the United States is there such a wealth an example, James Aloisi, a former Mas- for electric vehicles,” he said. “But this bill of interconnected public transportation op- sachusetts transportation secretary, has doesn’t go far enough in terms of solving tions, along with another crucial element called on the federal government to allow the region’s most urgent transportation that makes mass transit work: people who states to price roads without restrictions, needs, which require significant investare eager to use it and feel comfortable doing as well as to contribute heavily to the re- ment in mass transit. There’s no incentive so. One could see them as valuable human building and revitalization of intercity rail. for people to be switching to public transit, which is really what we need.” infrastructure.

Theoretically, the bill could evolve Instead of nurturing to include more funding for public these systems – or other transit infrastructure as it makes its transit networks around the way through the legislative process. nation – the federal govBut observers are not optimistic that ernment has systematicalit will become more transit-friendly starved them of funding, ly if it is to pass the Republican-maoften delaying the dispersal jority Senate and signed into law by of what meager allotments President Donald Trump. The bill of dollars get passed. At the doesn’t have a transit section yet. same time, legislators have Even though Trump is from New refused to raise the federal York City, he has shown no interest in gas tax since 1993, allowdefying his party’s antipathy for cities, ing it to drop by more than Democratic-leaning states like New one-third when adjusted York and public transit. Blank cited for inflation and ensuring a the ongoing delays in federal funding constant state of crisis when for the Gateway rail tunnel project – it comes to maintaining the a crucial connection between New nation’s roads and bridges.

York and New Jersey – as an example Climate change and sustainable transportation experts have Aloisi recently argued in The American of how the region’s commuters are held hoslong advocated for the federal government Prospect that “a massive, robust intercity tage to the political process. “It’s being held to rethink how it could direct transpor- rail system that is viably competitive with up out of political spite,” Blank said.

“My feeling is that it’s going to be a big, tation spending toward investments that driving, together with the strategic use of would move people more efficiently and road pricing … can encourage the kind of fat roads bill,” he added. “That’s the only result in fewer cars on the road. While the behavioral changes that are the sine qua way you’re going to get Republican supnew bill includes support for programs non of a sustainable mobility system.” port. They aren’t particularly interested in designed to improve pedestrian safety and There’s no indication that this bill will do funding public transportation, especially in Democratic states. The thing that’s acto incentivize “complete streets,” where anything of that magnitude or vision.

Nonetheless, New York is leading the tually standing in the way of improving people walking and riding bicycles are more put on an even footing with drivers national conversation about what kinds of millions of people’s lives is pettiness.” of cars, it fails to rethink the nation’s mo- dramatic shifts will be necessary to reduce driving and the emissions that stem from Sarah Goodyear is a freelance journalist. bility system at scale.

FOR LEGISLATORS TO CRAFT A CLIMATE COMPONENT THAT FAILS TO PUSH AWAY FROM PERSONAL MOTOR VEHICLES IS LIKE A DOCTOR DELIVERING A CANCER DIAGNOSIS AND PRESCRIBING A DAILY MULTIVITAMIN.

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September 23, 2019

TEARING DOWN

September 23, 2019

City & State New York

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THE HIGHWAY Midcentury America’s love affair with highways decimated cities and made traffic worse. Can New York undo the damage?

by Z A C H W I L L I A M S

ELBUD/SHUTTERSTOCK

T

HE 1.5-MILE STRETCH of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn Heights has seen better days. On the outside, the paint is chipping, the concrete is crumbling and rust is ubiquitous. Inside, the nearly 65-year-old triple-decked section of the highway jutting from the side of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade shows wear and tear of geological proportions: “exposed rebar and stalactites made of calcium leached from the highway by years of salt spreading,” the Brooklyn Daily Eagle wrote in September during a trip inside the highway’s interior vaults. The pothole-laden roadbed is often congested with heavy traffic. Elsewhere, it has split communities like Sunset Park. It is no wonder that The New York Times in 2017 asked if the BQE was “the least-loved highway in America.”

The BQE, which is part of Interstate 278, is not the only highway in New York that has inspired anger and outrage over the years for its disruptive effects on local neighborhoods. The Sheridan, Bruckner and Cross Bronx expressways have been blamed for high asthma levels in the South Bronx. The Interstate 81 viaduct in downtown Syracuse has been called a “segregating wall” that divides poor minority residents from a vibrant university community.

The Kensington Expressway transformed middle-class Buffalo neighborhoods into an isolated pocket of poverty.

How did things get this way? Robert Moses – the legendary master builder who constructed much of New York’s core infrastructure during a mid-20th century reign over the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority and other obscure but influential posts – was famous for his love of highways. Even upstate cities not under his control followed his lead. Despite the controversies that often accompanied their construc-

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tion, many of the public works built in the ’50s and ’60s remain valued across New York. Parks and pools are essential, and public housing has a waiting list in New York City. Bridges have an important role in a city largely made up of islands.

But highways? Their heyday may be ending. Cities across the state face a choice as the highways built 60 or 70 years ago show their age. Some lack the shoulders now required by federal highway standards, while others, like the BQE, are falling apart. These roadways could be rebuilt at great expense, but transportation planners are increasingly choosing to replace them with infrastructure that aims to revitalize urban areas, confront racial inequality – and even alleviate traffic congestion using fewer lanes.

A boulevard lined with new apartment buildings and craft breweries has replaced a section of the Inner Loop in downtown Rochester. Plans are underway to dismantle the Interstate 81 viaduct in Syracuse in order to reinvigorate downtown. The Sheridan Expressway will no longer be a limited-access interstate highway, opening up access to the waterfront in the South Bronx.

“What we are doing is correcting past mistakes,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in 2016 when he removed a two-mile stretch of the Robert Moses Parkway, which was renamed the Niagara Scenic Parkway. The governor’s appetite for tearing down highways has evidently only increased since then, including his Sept. 17 call to remove the Buffalo Skyway.

There was no one moment or individual that changed the trajectory of state transportation planning. Instead, grassroots activists have spurred elected officials like Cuomo, who are eager to promote economic development in the state’s urban areas, to act. “There is a new generation of city and urban planners who are now moving into the upper echelons of government and you have elected officials who understand this too,” said Nick Sifuentes, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit advocacy group dedicated to reducing car dependency.

Transportation planners and elected officials are also now getting ready to drive a stake into the heart of Moses’ highway legacy through a complete rethinking of a key stretch of the BQE. Its fate rests with a panel appointed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio that is expected to release its recommendations later this year. “It’s an extraordinary inflection point right now because the Moses-era (highway) projects are now reaching or are at the end of their functional lives just at the same time that we all know that mobility patterns (and) the technology of how we get around ... is changing so rapidly,” said Regional Plan Association President and CEO Tom Wright, a member of the

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Highways head toward Rochester. The Inner Loop highway encircling downtown Rochester divided the city core from its surroundings, and buildings were condemned as residents fled the area. Dismantling part of the loop has revitalized a portion of downtown.

BQE panel. “Whatever we do with it will set a precedent.”

The section of the BQE that the panel is analyzing is among the busiest stretches of roadway in the state – and the most complex. More than 150,000 vehicles travel through its two levels of traffic each day under the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. A 2016 study commissioned by the city Department of Transportation found that unless this part of the roadway is reconstructed by 2026, more than 15,000 trucks a day might have to be diverted onto local streets because of likely weight restrictions. The

city’s original repair plan was to divert traffic to a temporary six-lane roadway where the promenade now sits while the lower expressway was built anew below. Another option would be to repair the roadway one lane at a time, which would leave the promenade open during construction but would require more time and money to complete, with frequent weekend closures.

Both of these approaches quickly became nonstarters with local community groups and elected officials. Some objected to the closing of the promenade. Others thought the renovation of the BQE provided an op-

September 23, 2019

City & State New York

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FIX ’EM UP OR TAKE ’EM DOWN? Cars are just not getting the love they once did as people turn to public transit, bicycles and old-fashioned shoe leather to get around. City planners in New York are facing a big choice: fix deteriorating Robert Moses-era highways or replace them with more community-friendly infrastructure? Here are roadways in Rochester, Syracuse, Buffalo and New York City facing an uncertain future.

INNER LOOP

Completed in the mid1960s, the below-grade Inner Loop originally surrounded downtown Rochester. A $22 million project, completed in 2017, transformed the eastern third of the roadway into a ground-level boulevard, and the project is credited with resuscitating economic activity in the surrounding area. The city is now looking at doing the same with the northern section.

KENSINGTON EXPRESSWAY

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The conversion of the Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Humboldt Parkway into an expressway helped develop the suburbs of Buffalo while accelerating the decline of the city’s East Side. Now, advocates want to turn

portunity to fix many of the problems that the BQE brought to the neighborhood: traffic, noise, pollution and the loss of the most precious resource in New York City – space.

“This project could be a rare opportunity to not just fix a dilapidated highway, but to reimagine a vital section of our city through an integrated, community-focused process that advances not just a better roadway, but a greener, more vibrant city,” New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer wrote in a March letter to city Transportation Department Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

Just a few weeks later, de Blasio appoint-

the expressway back into a parkway that’s better integrated into the surrounding community.

BUFFALO SKYWAY

Built 100 feet tall over the Buffalo River to accommodate freighters, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a design competition earlier this year to help determine the future of the roadway. Efforts to remove it entirely have yet to gain traction.

INTERSTATE 81 VIADUCT

Construction of this highway divided downtown Syracuse decades ago but the latest plan is to remove it and replace it with a “community grid” approach, which would disperse traffic

ed the panel of experts to study alternatives to the department’s original proposals.

Members of the BQE panel declined to comment on what approach they are leaning toward adopting, but it appears that the days are numbered for the current design.

Panel Chairman Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the New York Building Congress, said at a June meeting that the department’s proposal to use the promenade as a temporary highway “has very little chance of being approved.” In other words, one of Moses’ signature projects is doomed in its current form, but what will replace it?

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through a new urban boulevard, existing city streets or another interstate around the city.

SHERIDAN EXPRESSWAY

The state Department of Transportation is in the midst of converting this South Bronx highway that’s at grade into an urban boulevard that will improve pedestrian access to the Bronx River waterfront.

BROOKLYNQUEENS EXPRESSWAY

A panel appointed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is examining whether to restore or replace a section of the roadway in the northwestern corner of Brooklyn – while at least one pundit called for removing it entirely.

O UNDERSTAND WHAT could happen with the BQE, it’s necessary to understand what highways did to cities across the state.

“Robert Moses shaped a city and its sprawling suburbs,” Robert Caro wrote in his 1974 tome “The Power Broker.” “And to an extent that would have astonished analysts of urban trends had they measured the implications of his decades of handiwork, influenced the destiny of all the cities of twentieth century America.” For upstate cities like Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse, highways accelerated the decline of their

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urban cores, as middle-class, mostly white residents moved to the emerging suburbs.

This sucked much of the tax base out of city governments, which then had less money to serve their remaining residents that were already suffering from the decline of the once-dominant manufacturing sector.

In 1967, the Kensington Expressway opened, replacing Buffalo’s 19th century Humboldt Parkway while providing a new connection to Rochester. State and local officials argued that building the Kensington Expressway through downtown Buffalo would more effectively relieve congestion than an alternate route along the city’s edge, selling the public on a link to the economic heart of the city. “Robert Moses, who has done such an outstanding work in New York City … rejected bypassing expressways around the edge of the city and recommended expressways through the heart of the city, as planned for Buffalo,” Buffalo City Planning Commission Chairman Welles Moot wrote at the time. Along with the construction of another expressway, the Buffalo Skyway, the Kensington Expressway achieved the opposite of its intended effects. In subsequent decades, as wealthier residents fled to the suburbs, what was once a diverse, middle-class neighborhood on what is now called the East Side of Buffalo became a poor, racially segregated enclave of African Americans. Downtown Buffalo meanwhile continued to decline.

The construction of the I-81 viaduct in the 1950s destroyed a tight-knit black community in downtown Syracuse. Now that the 1.4-mile elevated highway is crumbling, there’s an opportunity to undo much of the damage. “There is a widespread understanding now,” Sifuentes said, “that these highways really decimated urban cores and they did a lot to hasten the process of making these communities poor, making these communities polluted and causing undue harm to the people that were removed and the people who were left.” The state Department of Transportation adopted a “community grid” plan as its preferred option in April.

The plan, championed by the New York Civil Liberties Union and other groups, will replace the viaduct with a new urban boulevard along the current route.

The community grid plan would cost about $2 billion – about half of what a tunnel would have cost to replace the viaduct.

What will happen to the 100,000 cars that currently use the viaduct each day? Some local traffic would go through the boulevard, some would use other local streets and through traffic would bypass downtown Syracuse via Interstate 481 on the eastern side of the city. A draft environmental impact study released by the state Transportation Department in the spring

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Ramps lead toward the Cross Bronx Expressway. Experts say that building a highway will often counterintuitively increase the number of cars on the road rather than alleviate traffic, a phenomenon officials are trying to reverse in the Bronx.

concluded that travel times would change very little if the community grid project became reality.

The filling in of the below-grade eastern section of the Inner Loop in downtown Rochester shows what can happen to a downtown area after a city dismantles a highway. For 50 years, the circular freeway divided the city core from its surroundings, leaving anyone who lived on the inside of the loop with few ways out if they did not have a car. Hundreds of buildings were condemned and flattened and many residents moved to other areas of the city or to the newly emerging suburbs. By the end of the 20th century, the city’s population dropped by about a third from its peak of more than 300,000 residents when work on the loop began in the 1950s. “It was actually built to promote economic activity and prosperity,” Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said. “But it really did the opposite.”

It took about 15 years and about $22 million to fill the eastern segment of the loop

with mud dredged from Lake Ontario and build the new four-lane boulevard on top, with traffic signals, pedestrians crossings and lower speed limits. The removal of the highway opened up six acres of undeveloped land, sparking a resurgence in an area that was unattractive to development before the completion of the project in 2017.

New housing developments have gone up to accommodate the influx of 20- and 30-something residents to the area who now frequent new coffee shops and craft breweries. “The development that has taken place and investment is really something to see,” said Robert Duffy, a former lieutenant governor and former Rochester mayor who now serves as president and CEO of the Greater Rochester Chamber of Commerce. “The areas that have been filled in right now, it is almost seamless, you would never know that the Inner Loop East even existed.” The city put out a new request for bids this summer to fill in an additional section of the loop on the northern side of downtown.

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LANS TO DECOMMISSION highways across the state have moved forward in recent months, especially in New York City. The state is already in the midst of converting the Sheridan Expressway – a 1.3-mile stretch connecting the Bruckner Expressway and Cross Bronx Expressway in the South Bronx – into an urban boulevard that would reunite Bronx residents with the waterfront that became inaccessible when the roadway, which was once known as Interstate 895, opened in 1963. “Building the Sheridan Expressway was a mistake,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in 2017.

“All goes back to Robert Moses.”

Originally slated for completion in spring 2019, it is unclear when the Sheridan Expressway project will be completed.

A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation did not provide an expected completion date, but construction is underway on the signalized pedestrian crossings, traffic median and landscaping that will transform the at-grade interstate into an

City & State New York

urban boulevard. Transportation advocates say that more needs to be done to better weave the new roadway into the urban fabric – but it is a start.

Now, attention is also turning toward the BQE as New York City comes to grips with a concept that Moses refused to consider: No matter how many highways a city builds, or how many traffic lanes are built, congestion tends to get worse. This is because of a concept known as “induced demand.” The idea is that the more roadways you build, the more traffic you generate, because drivers will be attracted by the temporary decrease in travel time. The history of traffic mitigation in New York City is a case in point.

Moses proposed his highways and bridges as ways to mitigate traffic congestion. Yet, traffic congestion increased at a much faster rate than the growth of car ownership and the city’s population after he finished major transportation projects, like the Triborough, Queensboro and Bronx-Whitestone bridges, as well as the network of roads he built throughout the downstate region.

The Embarcadero Freeway illustrates the phenomenon. More than 100,000 vehicles used the road in downtown San Francisco each day before the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake put it out of commission. Rather than repair the elevated structure, the city eventually took it down. The move is credited with reviving the nearby waterfront, which includes a new trolley line that now carries 20,000 passengers a day along a boulevard that carries about 50,000 vehicles per day, according to a 2011 study by a University of Connecticut researcher. “Not all ‘lost San Francisco’ monuments are worth remembering,” the San Francisco Chronicle wrote in 2017 of the erstwhile “blight by the bay.”

If the BQE were to lose some traffic capacity, the logic of induced demand suggests that a similar dynamic would play out: fewer people driving and more people turning toward public transportation and walking in a city with better access to the waterfront. Some highway critics cite the Embarcadero as an example of the idea that the best way to deal with a traffic-jammed highway is to just remove it entirely.

One idea for the BQE proposed by Stringer aims to reduce demand by limiting traffic on the lowest deck of the current BQE to commercial trucks – which make up onetenth of the current traffic on this stretch of the BQE – and express buses. The deck above could then be used for pedestrians, bicycles or other uses. The proposal also calls for extending the ban on personal vehicles to an additional stretch of the highway that runs below grade in Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. This segment would then be covered, allowing for the construction of a new two-mile-long park on top of the current roadway from Hamilton Avenue to the Brooklyn Bridge. Through traffic to Queens

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could be rerouted via the Hugh Carey Tunnel and FDR Drive to the north, or the Belt Parkway to the south.

The reduction of traffic due to reduced demand would be aided by congestion pricing, which could charge drivers $12 or so to enter Manhattan below 60th Street starting in 2021. There are currently three routes to drive into Manhattan from western Brooklyn: the Hugh Carey Tunnel, the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan Bridge, all of them reachable via the BQE. About 50% of eastbound drivers on the BQE at peak hours skip the tunnel – which has a toll – in favor of the bridges, which do not, according to the state Department of Transportation.

About 40% of the westbound traffic comes from the bridges in the opposite direction.

Assuming congestion pricing charges drivers the same amount for all three routes, drivers coming from southern Brooklyn and Staten Island will have less incentive to drive on that stretch of the BQE when they can take a shorter route through the tunnel to lower Manhattan. It is also fair to assume that traffic from Brooklyn will drop because some commuters would not want to pay tolls, especially if public transit becomes more attractive as a result of the revenue from congestion pricing.

Another plan, proposed by the Danish architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group, would construct an underground tunnel adjacent to the current BQE, which could be repaired and transformed into parkland, housing or other uses. This approach would also allow the promenade and the two levels of highway below it to remain open during construction.

It would maintain the current capacity of the BQE while improving access between Brooklyn Heights and the waterfront park below – though building traffic tunnels is much more expensive than eliminating traffic lanes. The New York City Council recently announced it would conduct its own study as well.

Given the need for commercial traffic along this route, the panel will likely recommend some type of roadway to replace the current highway. Whether it’s a truck-only route, an underground traffic tunnel or something more like what is already there, each option offers advantages and disadvantages. Given the unlikelihood at this point that the BQE would be simply rehabilitated as is, a future roadway will probably repudiate the Moses approach to city planning, which prioritized the flow of traffic over people.

It is hard to imagine that New York City would ever eliminate the hundreds of miles of highways that crisscross it. Moses wanted it to be that way and used his favorite strategy to complete projects despite opposition.

“Once you sink that first stake, they’ll never make you pull it up,” he was fond of saying.

The removal of highways across the state shows that it is his critics who are getting the last laugh – one expressway at a time.

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Can $51 billion finally fix the subways?

Experts say there’s a lot to like about the MTA’s record-setting capital plan.

But much of it won’t get done in the next five years.

by J O N L E N T Z & R EBECCA C. LEWIS

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HE METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY released the broad strokes of its next five-year capital plan last week. At $51.5 billion, the 2020-2024 plan is the MTA’s most expensive to date, and about $20 billion more than the previous one. Upon revealing the outline of the new plan – the complete version of which is still forthcoming – New York City Transit President Andy Byford said he was “ecstatically happy” about the proposed spending.

Byford’s happiness likely stems from the nearly $40 billion going to New York City’s subways and buses, far more than the $16 billion set aside in the previous capital plan. Among the proposed investments are 70 new accessible subway stations, 1,900 new subway cars, 2,400 new buses and funding for the next phase of the Second Avenue subway, which includes new Metro-North Railroad stations in the Bronx.

The 11-page presentation lacks details that will be part of the full, 200-page document the MTA board will vote on. In this week’s “Ask the Experts” feature, we looked at the initial proposal and what it means for New York’s beleaguered transit systems. Six experts offered their opinions: Rachael Fauss,

senior analyst at Reinvent Albany; Nicole Gelinas, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute; Michael Horodniceanu, civil and urban engineering professor at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering and former president of MTA Capital Construction; Ben Kabak, author of the Second Avenue Sagas blog; Robert Paaswell, distinguished professor of civil engineering at the City College of New York; and Andrew Rein, president of the Citizens Budget Commission. Their answers have been edited for length and clarity.

ing the system to a state of good repair, especially considering significant investment in service expansion.

What is good about the proposal?

ANDREW REIN: The plan is ambitious, which is important since improving the MTA’s infrastructure and service is necessary for New York’s competitiveness and New Yorkers’ quality of life. From the sparse details so far available, the plan appears to target some of the right priorities.

Signal modernization is crucial, and there are a number of projects focused on state of good repair, which must be the top priority if the MTA is to reverse the system’s deterioration and improve service for riders. However, the MTA has yet to make public a comprehensive needs assessment, without which there is no way to determine whether this plan’s investments will be sufficient to maximize progress on bring-

ROBERT PAASWELL: The best part of the plan addresses riders’ highest priority: reliability. And the most critical part of this are the investments in new signals and new track. The plan proposes information-rich rolling stock, similar to advanced subways and buses in Hong Kong and Scandinavia.

For buses, some improvements in the ability to control street movements is positive, but more cooperation with the city is needed. Basically, the MTA has heard the successes of the Subway Action Plan and has programmed – with final approval – money to carry it all the way through. This is the most ambitious capital plan since the (Richard) Ravitch years. Finally, any new additions to the subway map – the next phase of the Second Avenue subway – is a plus.

MICHAEL HORODNICEANU: The proposed $51.5 billion new capital plan for MTA is a terrific thing for the system and therefore for the city and its residents. If properly implemented, it will go a long way in improving our mass transit system by bringing it to the technical standards of the 21st century. Long, long overdue.

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NICOLE GELINAS: What’s good is that we have a capital plan – so far – and that its priorities are – mostly – straight. This time around, subways and buses – which have nearly 93% of MTA ridership, according to the 2018 annual report – are supposed to receive 79% of the funding.

For context, in the current capital plan – the one ending this year – subways and buses are slated to receive 61% of the funding. This allocation could change as the capital plan goes through the political process, now or anytime in the next five years, as it will be subject to amendments even after the MTA board, the state Legislature’s leaders, and the mayor approve it. And much of this change is just because East Side Access, the project to bring Long Island Rail Road trains underneath Grand Central Terminal, is finally winding down. Still, it is a good sign that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for whatever reason, thought that he needed to present an initial plan that favors city riders relative to past plans. That the plan reserves $7.1 billion for aggressive signal-modernization projects, including the Lexington Avenue (No. 4, 5 and 6 lines), and that the subways and bus chief pronounced himself ecstatic rather than resigning, are both good early signs.

City & State New York

RACHAEL FAUSS: We’re calling the outline presented by the MTA the “everyone gets a pony” plan. MTA leaders, elected officials and advocates have been told they will all get their top priorities, ranging from costly expansion projects to new subway and commuter rail cars, buses, signals and elevators. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this huge investment? The problem is that this is not grounded in reality.

BEN KABAK: There’s a lot to like about the proposed capital plan. It’s bold and ambitious. It attacks the root causes of the recent decline in subway service. By promoting an aggressive modernization of the signal systems, the capital proposal puts the MTA on a path toward a true 21st century subway system. The (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessibility upgrades are a big step in ensuring physical limitations aren’t a bar to accessing the subway, and the commitment to phase two of the Second Avenue subway provides much-needed and long-promised subway service to East Harlem. Furthermore, it is a validation of Andy Byford’s work on the Fast Forward plan. When the governor listens to the experts he brings in, good things happen, and he can enjoy the benefits and political praise that come from these good things.

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What is bad about the proposal?

BEN KABAK: Unfortunately, with the good comes the bad. First, the capital plan isn’t even a plan yet. Although the MTA needs its board to approve the plan so it can deliver a document to the state’s Capital Program Review Board, the only document released to the public is an 11-page PDF overview. In the past, the public has seen a full plan months before a vote, rather than days. It is also not clear that the MTA has done enough, or anything, with regard to cost containment. Without massive cost reform, any future attempts at expanding the subway system in any meaningful way will die via sticker shock. Considering the MTA’s recent rhetoric on cost containment, these high price tags are worrisome.

ROBERT PAASWELL: What is lacking is any sense of how the capital plan would be integrated in the proposed MTA reorganization. To operate as a 21st century transit system, the MTA needs to be both data rich and organized in a much more flexible way. Simply, the capital plan, good and needed as it is, reflects the current way of doing business.

But the funding sources are not fixed – too much rests on congestion charges – which may not provide adequate revenue before the transit (system) is improved.

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MICHAEL HORODNICEANU: Part of the funding, approximately 20%, will be provided through additional bonding by the

MTA, which will further exacerbate the burden on the system to repay the debt.

This will probably require additional moneys, most probably raised through taxes to cover the future deficits.

ANDREW REIN: Elements of the financing plan are at risk. The assumed $3 billion in funding from both New York state and New York City are not included in their most recent financial plans. In addition, both have fiscal stress that may impede their ability to contribute. The state still has not contributed over $7 billion of its commitment to the 2015-19 plan.

The plan relies on $9.8 billion in MTAbacked bonds and pay-as-you-go capital, similar to the 2015-19 plan, but supporting this amount may be challenging given the MTA projects cumulative cash shortfalls of $740 million by 2023, assuming

all savings and transformation plans are perfectly executed and delivered. The MTA should update its operating plan and show how this financing will be supported. Federal funding for phase two of the Second Avenue subway has not yet been approved, and the federal transit grant formula funding depends on the next federal transportation bill. Finally, bonding out revenue from the new sales tax intercept and real estate transfer tax expansion means that equivalent funding in subsequent capital plans would require additional revenue increases.

This also reminds us that congestion pricing has yet to be fully designed. While the legislation says the charge should generate funds to back $15 billion of capital in-

er bad thing: The MTA expects that it will cost $6.9 billion to build the next three stations of the Second Avenue subway through Harlem. Even after accounting for inflation, this estimate is about 20% higher than what it cost to build the first three stations. So, we’re not being very aggressive here – to say the least – about cutting costs and thereby building more than three more stations.

Will it get done?

NICOLE GELINAS: Nope – not in five years, anyway. Consider that even though the existing $33.3 billion 2015-2019 capital plan will end this year, the MTA has spent only 37% of the dollars that “belong” to that plan. Modernizing subway signals the right way – that is, shutting down entire lines so that workers can have full-time access to the tracks – could itself require years of coordination between the MTA and the city. But, at the end of five years, if New York has made some significant progress on subway signal modernization, purchased new subway cars and buses, made more stations reliably accessible to people who can’t easily walk up stairs, and made some physical progress on the Second Avenue subway, it will be an accomplishment, although one dearly bought, given our cost and time inefficiencies.

vestment, carve-outs or credits for various constituencies threaten both the congestion impact and the ability to generate revenue.

RACHAEL FAUSS: Unfortunately, the numbers just do not add up. The governor says he wants the MTA’s capital plan to be 70% larger, but the MTA’s capacity to spend that much will not grow nearly as quickly. The MTA spent a record $6.6 billion on all capital projects last year. However, only $4 billion of that was for current projects in the 2015-2019 plan – the other $2.6 billion was spent on previous plans, dating back to 2005. There is at least $20 billion left to spend on the 2015-2019 plan. The MTA simply can’t finish this new plan in five years even if it keeps up the record pace it set last year. This is all while they have a hiring freeze and are reorganizing the MTA’s capital project staff, looking to do even more with even less.

NICOLE GELINAS: What’s bad is – as usual – where is the MTA going to get $9.8 billion? Even with $25 billion that the MTA expects to receive by pledging the next 30 years’ or so worth of congestion pricing and other new tax and fee sources, and even if the federal government provides the $10.7 billion desired – ambitious but not unreasonable – the MTA expects, or is expected, to borrow another $9.8 billion to complete this plan. Yet the MTA faces operating deficits: $740 million worth over the next four years, even without a recession. Long term, the MTA is essentially insolvent, and an opportunity to spend, or “commit,” more than $50 billion in five years won’t come along again soon. Anoth-

ROBERT PAASWELL: The MTA does not always complete its five-year plans in five years – many projects do not get started, and many go well beyond their design periods, causing overspending and project delays. There are too many unknowns in this program, like in the Second Avenue subway’s next phase. What caused delays in the first phase? How were the neighborhoods impacted? Escalators and elevators – when will the current ones be finished?

And how will reorganization impact capital priorities and the new operating needs they create? The MTA should publish a transparent five-year calendar showing when the major components of the capital plan will be started and finished.

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RACHAEL FAUSS: With a plan that can’t possibly be done in five years, what gets done first matters. The slideshow proposes what would be the largest investment in signals for New York City Transit ever of $7.1 billion.

This comes with other large investments for elevators and subway cars, while large expansion projects are continuing, such as East Side Access and Third Track. With limited spending and staff capacity, the MTA will have to choose which projects come first and which come last. Without an implementation plan, we don’t know if they can and will focus on the right things first.

September 23, 2019

Highlights of the new SCA Capital Plan that increases funding by $1 bil ion include: $8 bil ion for nearly 58,000 new seats in fulfil ment of the Mayor’s commitment to reduce overcrowding . · . · _ $750 mi l i o n t o make 50% of el e mentEs ary school buildings partial y or ful y _ · d f i Brr Wi th .accessible, and one-third of all buildings ful y accessible $284 mil ion for electrical work to support air conditioning in all classrooms by 2021, advancing the program by a year $566 mil ion in support of the 3-K and Pre-K for All initiatives $750 mil ion for technology enhancement

The New York City School Construction Authority (SCA) is Always Building

The SCA is dedicated to building and modernizing, and upgrading New York City’s public schools in an environmentally sustainable, cost effective manner while achieving the highest standards of excellence in safety, quality, and integrity. Our current FY 2020-2024 $18 billion Capital Plan gives the SCA the opportunity to provide pre-qualified contractors, vendors, and consultants with opportunities to compete for work on a variety of projects.

If your firm has what it takes to make a dif erence in our students’ lives and communities, visit the SCA website or call today to find out how to get started.

Learn More (working with the SCA) www.nycsca.org Contractor Qualification Hotline (718) 472-8777 Vendor Access System (online Application) https:/ dobusiness.nycsca.org Business Development Certification Hotline (718) 472-8899

CAPACITY PROJECTS Large-scale construction projects that create new classroom seats, typically through construction of new buildings, additions, building out leased spaced, or major modernization work. The estimated construction value of these projects is usually over $20 million.

CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM (CIP) The SCA invests hundreds of millions of capital dollars annually to maintain existing school buildings and upgrading infrastructure and technology. These projects typically involve interior and exterior work (roofs, parapets, windows, as well as upgrades to electrical systems, heating plants, and climate controls. Their estimated construction value is usually under $20 million.

MENTOR AND GRADUATE MENTOR PROGRAMS SCA Mentor and Graduate Mentor Program provided emerging Minority, Women, and Locally- owned Business Enterprises (MWLBE) with contracting opportunities, valuable training, access to bonding and loan programs and capacity building and technical assistance resources. These projects are valued at under $1 million.

Highlights of the new SCA Capital Plan that increases funding by $1 billion include:  $8 billion for nearly 58,000 new seats in fulfillment of the Mayor’s commitment to reduce overcrowding  $750 million to make 50% of elementary school buildings partially or fully accessible, and one-third of all buildings fully accessible  $284 million for electrical work to support air conditioning in all classrooms by 2021, advancing the program by a year  $566 million in support of the 3-K and Pre-K for All initiatives  $750 million for technology enhancement

P.S. 303 Addition in Queens

Exterior Work at Fort Hamilton H.S.

Grow With IDs The SCA has provided over 265,000 new school seats to New York City students, and protected, repaired and upgraded over 1,800 schools in over 1,400 school buildings with over 12,500 capital improvement projects.

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If your firm has what it takes to make a difference in our students’ lives and communities, visit the SCA website or call today to find out how to get started.

School Construction Authority

Learn More (working with the SCA) www.nycsca.org Contractor Qualification Hotline (718) 472-8777 Vendor Access System (online Application) https://dobusiness.nycsca.org Business Development Certification Hotline (718) 472-8899

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24 CityAndStateNY.com

September 23, 2019

RICK COTTON

thority has indicated its preferred route.

And that is based on what is feasible to build and to minimize the impact of the construction of the AirTrain on existing communities. Our preferred route does not require any taking of private residential or commercial property, and it does not go through any built-up communities.

We provided an analysis of alternatives, and the alternatives from western Queens in general have insuperable constructability hurdles, as well as going through built-up communities.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY

IMPROVING LAGUARDIA AIRPORT Before you joined the Port Authority, you were Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s point person for the Second Avenue subway. What did you think of President Donald Trump’s surprise August tweet saying he would help complete the project?

It was definitely a surprise – I think to everyone – because we’ve seen no movement on the part of the federal government on any infrastructure front. But this particular one was extremely surprising because it had no context. (And) as far as I know, those discussions (between New York and Washington) have not progressed to the point where there’s any kind of commitment of federal funding.

A lot of New Yorkers are furious about the plan to connect the proposed LaGuardia AirTrain to Flushing, and

not somewhere in western Queens.

Plus the estimated cost has more than quadrupled, to $2.1 billion. Are there shovels in the ground? Or could the project be reconsidered?

The LaGuardia AirTrain is one of the highest priority projects that the Authority has.

There is full funding provided for in what will be the revised capital plan submitted to the board at the end of September, with public comment on it. The (Federal Aviation Administration) is currently in the midst of its environmental review of the AirTrain. And the final decisions in terms of the route will be made after that environmental review concludes.

In terms of western Queens, the Port Au-

Speaking of LaGuardia, was the potential future annexation of Rikers Island a part of the conversation around the airport’s redevelopment?

The city has declared that it intends to close the Rikers Island facility. But the current debate is on what schedule? The Port Authority made a decision to move forward as quickly as possible, and so delaying the redevelopment of the airport until the resolution of when Rikers Island might become available wasn’t the path that was chosen. Now, if Rikers Island gets resolved, that might be the occasion for another discussion. But certainly in terms of the rebuild of the entire airport, that has simply proceeded on its own schedule.

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PORT AUTHORITY OF NEW YORK AND NEW JERSEY; CELESTE SLOMAN

Marie Therese Dominguez

September 23, 2019

City & State New York

LORRAINE GRILLO PRESIDENT AND CEO, NEW YORK CITY SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION AUTHORITY; COMMISSIONER, NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

GETTING KIDS OUT OF TRAILERS You’ve led two different agencies for about a year now.

How do the jobs overlap?

The SCA does new schools and rehabs existing buildings. The DDC does everything else. On the public buildings side of DDC, it’s very, very similar to the work at SCA. But I am learning a heck of a lot more about combined sewers and water pipes and the like on the infrastructure side.

of his staff had contacted anybody here at the SCA in order to give him some of the reasoning behind some of the things that we do – and to explain to him that the majority of his recommendations are already in effect.

Have you read Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.’s recent report calling to reform the School Construction Authority?

I have to believe that the borough president had good intent in writing this.

However, what would have been really, really helpful would be if he or a member

The No. 1 recommendation is getting all students out of temporary trailers within five years. Is that attainable?

We have been very successful in getting rid of the transportables. But there are children in those transportables. So in order to get rid of them, you have to relocate those kids. It sounds easy,

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but it’s not, particularly in very overcrowded districts. Parents are very clear that if they sent their kid to a particular school, they don’t want to wake up the next morning to find that the kid has been transferred a mile away.

We have done tremendous work.

When we started out, there were 354 transportables out there. We have removed over 200 of them.

We already have plans for another 79 or 80. So you look at that and you say, “Sure, why haven’t you removed those 79 or 80?”

Because we’re either designing a new building or we’re looking for relocation space. So yes, would we love to just wake up one morning and demolish every transportable? Certainly. But I’m not going to displace students.

Is there a plan to get to zero at this point?

Of course. It’s getting lower and lower.

We have about 66 that will be remaining after we have moved all of these. But we’re constantly, constantly looking for ways to eliminate the transportables.

The best way, obviously, is to build new.

And we do that wherever we can.

Light at the end Donald Trump is determined not to fund the Gateway tunnel.

Can New York and New Jersey make it happen anyway?

T

HE GATEWAY PROGRAM, a critical rail infrastructure project under the Hudson River, has been stalled for years by President Donald Trump. But the project, which would add badly needed commuter rail capacity, hasn’t been completely derailed, as its backers have been trimming its price tag, locking in state funding and setting aside federal money that could eventually benefit it.

“In spite of the president’s threats to veto funding legislation that includes any resources for Gateway, I’ve successfully worked with

my partners in Congress … to appropriate billions of dollars to Amtrak and other accounts that can benefit Gateway,” U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer said at an Association for a Better New York event in March. He later added, “With Sen. (Daniel Patrick) Moynihan as my witness up above, I have prioritized Gateway at every step of the process.”

Right now, the existing North River Tunnel, which has two tubes, is the only rail link that connects Penn Station with New Jersey and the rest of the Northeast, resulting in a massive bottleneck at a crucial point in Amtrak’s rail system. The

Gateway Program, first introduced in 2011 to update and improve Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, had envisioned a new, two-tube tunnel to allow for more trains. Damage caused by Superstorm Sandy to the tunnel that opened more than a century ago meant adding those repairs to the Gateway Program and made the construction of a new tunnel even more important.

Before the tunnel project gets moving, a federal environmental impact statement must be approved. The Gateway Program Development Corp., a nonprofit that oversees the $30 billion program, submitted

nd

YINGNA CAI/SHUTTERSTOCK

September 23, 2019

With the new cost estimate, as well as $600 million in additional financial backing from Amtrak announced

by R E B E C C A C . L E W I S at the same time, the Gateway Program Development Corp. is now asking for less federal grant money, reducing its requested share from just shy of 50% down to 44%.

Additionally, the latest grant submission states that the new tunnel is about 30% designed, which Sacr said is a good point to engage with the private sector once the environmental approval is complete.

The Federal Railroad Administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, had expected to finalize and approve the environmental impact statement

by March 30, 2018. But as 2019 draws to a close, that approval has still not happened. When the federal agency missed its original deadline, officials said the project would be approved in the first half of this year. Now, with that decision still pending, Sacr said that getting approval by the end of the year will be crucial to keeping the project on track.

“On both the local side and the federal side, that is sort of the linchpin to a lot of what we’re able to do, because we’re not actually able to do a lot of work without that environmental approval,” Sacr told City & State.

The project has run the final draft of the environmental impact into funding roadblocks, largely stemming statement in February 2018. While wait- from Trump’s feud with Schumer, who has ing on the federal approval, Frank Sacr, the made Gateway one of his biggest priorities. nonprofit’s interim executive director, said In 2018, Trump threatened to veto a major that the project is nonetheless progressing. spending bill if it included any money for It submitted a new federal grant request Gateway, resulting in the loss of $900 milin August with an updated budget that lion for the project that had been part of slashed $1.4 billion from the project’s es- earlier versions of the legislation. Still, timated cost. Originally, the construction Schumer managed to secure $540 million of a new tunnel and rehabilitating the ex- for Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor in that isting one was projected to cost $13 billion. spending bill, money that could eventualNow, thanks to design improvements and ly be used for the Gateway tunnel. Februvarious other reassessments, the price tag ary’s spending bill this year, which funds the government through Sept. 30, included is down to $11.3 billion.

City & State New York

27

another $650 million for the same account.

The $1.2 billion sum is not readily available to the Gateway Program Development Corp., however, since the U.S. Department of Transportation still controls the grants that govern the use of those funds.

But supporters say the money is effectively banked long-term for when the federal government decides to move forward.

Over the past two years, Schumer also secured $280 million in Federal Transit Administration formula funds for New York and New Jersey to use toward the project, which the Department of Transportation can’t delay.

Congress is currently negotiating its next spending bill, although they are expected to pass a stopgap measure ahead of the Sept. 30 deadline to avoid a government shutdown, and then continue broader budget negotiations until November or December. Sources close to Schumer told City & State that the senator is seeking and expects to achieve similar success in securing funding in the upcoming appropriations bill with the help of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Despite Schumer’s work, the Gateway tunnel continues to struggle to get all of the federal funding it needs to in order to proceed. The Obama administration had originally promised to foot half the bill, but Trump reversed that offer and has adamantly opposed any money for the project, saying New York and New Jersey should pay for most of it. For the past two years, the Federal Transit Administration, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation that handles the Gateway grants, has rated the project’s priority as “medium-low.”

Sacr said that he hopes that the updated application, along with reports and analyses about the need to repair and build a new tunnel, will get the rating changed and the grants approved. That determination will likely come in February or March.

Another recent development came from the state governments of New York and New Jersey. Governors from both states signed legislation passed earlier this year to create the Gateway Development Commission, effectively replacing the current Gateway Program Development Corp. The act created a bistate agency, like the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, capable of receiving grant money while also replacing the Port Authority as the sponsor of past grant applications. The new law also reaffirms and makes binding the $5.55 billion in funding already committed by New York, New Jersey and the Port Authority.

“New York and New Jersey stand ready to uphold their commitment to the project,” a Cuomo spokesman said at the time, “and work collaboratively to get the job done.”

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September 23, 2019

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION, NEW YORK CITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP.

DEFENDING THE NEW YORK CITY FERRY The New York City Ferry averages about 18,000 riders per weekday.

How do you justify pouring millions into expanding a transit option that serves so few compared to the city’s subways?

I think it’s really important to explain what our expectations were for the system. The level of ridership has been higher than we projected it to be, and we’ve been actually dealing with meeting the capacity at many times, with the amount of riders that we’ve had. We knew when we sized the amount of riders in our projections – and even with the increased ridership above our projections – we knew we would not be competing with the subway and in no way did we think that we would be solving congestion on the subway.

A recent report found that taxpayers are subsidizing the ferry for more than $10 per ride, more than 10 times the subsidy for a New York City Transit ride. What’s the rationale behind that?

In terms of the subsidy, we see ourselves as a mass transit, a public transit system.

And although we’re on a smaller scale, our goal is to end up with a subsidy that is going to be between $7 and $8 after we launch these next routes, and over the remaining term of the contract. And that’s a subsidy that’s in line with what many other forms of mass transit pay per ride.

New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer recently raised concerns about continued investment and lacking data about utilization rates. Does your organization plan on making more data public?

We are delighted to be very transparent about how our system is being used and who’s using it and how they’re using it. We do publish a quarterly report that goes on our website. We’ve had our differences with the comptroller around this. I think there’s seemingly a longterm disagreement between us, and that happens. But we are very proud of the ridership and the system we’ve set up. We think we’re making decisions that are both financially prudent as well as beneficial to the riders.

Are there data points you want to hit, riders per day a year from now, two years from now?

Yeah, we have a couple. We think we’re going to end up with about an annual ridership of 11 million. That’s after we expand to Throgs Neck, the West Side of Manhattan and Coney Island, as well as going to Staten Island’s North Shore.

NYCEDC, NYSERDA

SETH MYERS

September 23, 2019

City & State New York

ALICIA BARTON

projects. We saw that they were proposing 1,600 new jobs and $3.2 billion in net economic benefits.

PRESIDENT AND CEO, STATE ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

A BIG YEAR FOR OFFSHORE WIND

The state Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act sets up a Climate Action Council to direct its implementation. You’re the co-chairwoman of that, right?

We are looking forward to more appointments being made and formally convening the body, but I can assure you that the staff at NYSERDA have wasted no time trying to get our arms around the work that will be needed to actually implement this law.

What are the right policy mechanisms to help us achieve some of these broadbased goals? Some of these issues are well understood, but there’s not necessarily good models in other places. For example, the requirements that a minimum of 35% of the benefits go to disadvantaged communities in New York state. So we’ve been working hard to think about the timelines for implementation. We’ve been signaling to stakeholders that we’re not going to wait

29

for those deadlines to come. We are already setting our sights on 6,000 megawatts of distributed solar and 9,000 megawatts of offshore wind.

The state recently awarded two contracts for new offshore wind projects. How are they jumpstarting this transition?

What we did in putting out the RFP for these first projects was specifically require developers to provide mitigation plans for environmental impacts and fisheries mitigation plans. We were the first state to require that as part of the energy contract bids. We required that the developers negotiate and seek to negotiate a project labor agreement.

What we saw come forward was I think just an incredibly robust set of economic benefits that were proposed alongside the nation-leading 1,700 megawatts of wind

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What about solar?

For the most recent year, 2018, we have data that New York emerged as the second-largest market nationally for new distributed solar installations. We’ve had a significant effort around a program we call Solar For All, which provides subsidized community solar subscriptions for qualifying low-income New Yorkers, with a total target on that program of serving 10,000 households. We have seen our data for 2019 year to date beat 2018 by a good margin.

How does NYSERDA fit into the mix with natural gas?

We are really focused on scaling energy efficiency, and clean heating and cooling technologies, as part of the solution for long-term greenhouse gas reduction.

When the moratorium in Westchester County was announced, the state announced a multiagency effort to deliver a $250 million clean energy action plan.

NYSERDA played a large part in that by going directly to consumers who might have been impacted by the moratorium.

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30 CityAndStateNY.com

September 23, 2019

IS NEWYORK POW to STOP PI

I

N LATE AUGUST, federal regulators overruled a New York state agency’s decision to block the Constitution Pipeline, a controversial natural gas link from Pennsylvania. But that’s not the final word.

Until recently, there was good reason to believe that a proposed natural gas pipeline linking Schoharie County in the Capitol Region to northern Pennsylvania would never be built. The New York Department of Environmental Conservation had rejected the proposed project in 2016 because of its potential to harm water quality. In 2017, a federal court ruled that the state was within its right to do so under the federal Clean Water Act. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to intervene in the case last year.

Despite these setbacks, Oklahoma-based Williams Cos. never gave up on its effort to build the nearly 125-mile pipeline. It has been helped by the Trump administration, which made several moves this year to weaken the ability of states to block fossil fuel projects, including executive orders and proposed federal

rules changes. “We can’t get energy because New York doesn’t allow the pipelines to go through,” Trump said during a mid-August visit to western Pennsylvania, which has experienced a boom in natural gas production due to the rise of fracking. “The radical left wants to do to America what they’ve done to New York: raise prices, kill jobs and leave our nation less independent and far less secure.” Two weeks later, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, whose members are appointed by the president, issued an Aug. 28 ruling that gave Williams a waiver to override state approval because the state had purportedly taken too much time to make a decision on the company’s original application for a water quality certification.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Sept. 6 that the state will fight back during an interview with WAMC: “We’re looking at our legal rights now, but any way that we can challenge it, we will.”

Three years after the Department of Environmental Conservation rejected the

pipeline, its ultimate fate remains up in the air. There are several avenues by which opponents of the pipeline could ultimately stop it from being built. This includes FERC reversing its decision, a possible rejection by the Army Corps of Engineers or civil disobedience actions that would somehow convince Williams that building the pipeline is not worth the cost.

“There’s a long history of civil disobedience in New York to stop fracked gas infrastructure,” said Lee Ziesche, an organizer with the Sane Energy Project, a grassroots group devoted to replacing fracking infrastructure with renewable energy. “We’ll follow the lead of the local community.”

The more likely route to block the pipeline runs through the federal courts. There are several grounds to challenge FERC’s waiver to Williams, but they all focus on one key provision of the Clean Water Act that gives a state one year to approve or deny a proposed project before that state gives up its right to decide. Typically, the one-year window resets when an application is withdrawn and resubmitted.

LEUNGCHOPAN/SHUTTERSTOCK

New York nixed the Constitution Pipeline. The Trump administration said: Too bad.

September 2, 2019

City & State New York

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rejection of the Constitution Pipeline. The company first applied for a Section 401 permit in 2013 but withdrew and resubmitted its application several times in efforts to satisfy state regulators who requested additional information. The company ultimately did not provide all the information that the state agency requested, which led the department to reject Williams’ application in 2016. After the Hoopa Valley Tribe ruling, Williams appealed to FERC to reexamine its application, and the company received a favorable ruling.

What comes next?

by Z AC H W I L L I A M S

WERLESS IPELINES? But a federal ruling earlier this year could give Williams the ability to upend precedent in a way that would not only allow the company to build the Constitution Pipeline but also make it easier to construct other fossil fuel infrastructure across the country.

The fight over the Constitution Pipeline may take several more years to be resolved in federal court. Here is what you need to know about how the fate of the Constitution Pipeline will be determined by the federal courts.

How did FERC overrule the state’s rejection?

Section 401 of the Clean Water Act allows states to block an interstate project like the Constitution Pipeline due to its effects on water quality. The construction of the pipeline would disrupt the ecosystems of 250 streams and rivers that the pipeline would cross, according to the state. The federal court system has already upheld the state’s reasoning on this point, but another provision in Sec-

tion 401 gives states one year to approve or deny a proposed project.

For decades, this one-year window reset whenever an application was withdrawn and resubmitted. A federal ruling earlier this year – Hoopa Valley Tribe v. FERC – threw out that precedent. The details of the case are complicated, but the ruling affects the Constitution Pipeline because of this one-year window under Section 401.

Basically, a utility company operating existing hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River near the California-Oregon border delayed the FERC approval process for new operating permits for more than 10 years by applying and reapplying for state approvals from both Oregon and California.

The Hoopa Valley Tribe, a local group of Native Americans, sued FERC and argued their right to due process was violated because the company was merely filing and refiling the same application permit without changing anything. Eventually, the tribe won.

The ruling opened the way for Williams to seek its own workaround for New York’s

Before opponents can appeal to the federal courts to stop the project, they have to exhaust their appeals within the federal agency. They have until 5 p.m. on Sept. 27 to file a request for a rehearing with FERC. The agency then has 30 days to respond.

Activists believe FERC will grant the rehearing, but not because it really intends to reexamine the issue. The commission is led

by Neil Chatterjee, a former Republican operative who has been accused of politicizing the traditionally apolitical work of FERC since he became chairman in 2017.

By granting a rehearing, FERC can keep pipeline opponents in limbo as Williams pursues an approval from the Army Corps of Engineers, the final regulatory hurdle in the federal approval process. Opponents, presumably led by the state environmental department, could seek an emergency stay from a federal court, arguing that by delaying its final decision for so long FERC was violating opponents’ right to due process.

So how could the courts get involved?

The state Department of Environmental Conservation and activists could make several arguments that the Hoopa Valley Tribe case should not apply to the Constitution Pipeline. The first would be that the circumstances of the Hoopa Valley Tribe case were fundamentally different when it came to Section 401. For example, whereas the utility company in the Hoopa Valley Tribe case was withdrawing and refiling the same basic application again and again, that did not happen with the pipeline. Williams withdrew its application on several occasions and then refiled with a more robust application. A second argument would be that even if the Hoopa Valley Tribe case applied to a project like the pipeline, the decision can’t be applied retroactively. “You don’t usually go back three years and decide that somebody waived their rights based upon new law that exists three years later,” said Daniel Estrin, general counsel at Waterkeeper Alliance, an environmental advocacy organization that is involved in the case.

32 CityAndStateNY.com

“The delay issue is moot because the decision has been made, (Williams) didn’t challenge it at the time and (the company) shouldn’t be able to hit rewind.”

There is also a legal concept known as “equitable estoppel,” which basically means that someone cannot complain about a process while voluntarily taking part in it, as Williams did with the proposed pipeline. Finally, there is the issue about whether Williams should have petitioned a court first before appealing to FERC for a waiver from New York state’s approval. Section 401 is written into law and federal courts have already upheld the state’s reasoning for rejecting the application. A regulatory agency like FERC should not be allowed to unilaterally upend what the courts decided, according to Anne Marie Garti, an attorney with Stop the Pipeline, a grassroots group in the Catskills. “FERC is basically putting itself in a position of overruling a circuit court decision,” she said.

FERC rejected all of these arguments when it made its ruling, but a federal court might see things differently.

How does this all fit into the big picture?

Environmentalists are pushing the state

September 23, 2019

Department of Environmental Conservation to deny all applications for new fossil fuel infrastructure in order to combat climate change. Instead, they argue, the state should invest in renewable energy projects that would make natural gas pipelines unnecessary. It is important to note that the state agency only has the authority to block such projects because of possible effects on water quality, not because of concerns about climate change. The Constitution Pipeline and the proposed Northeast Supply Enhancement Project, a pipeline that would transport natural gas from New Jersey to Long Island, were rejected on water quality grounds, although Williams was allowed to reapply for a water quality permit and the state has yet to issue a final ruling on that application.

Supporters of the pipelines – including Williams, elected officials and editorial boards – say that natural gas is a necessary fuel in the medium term. (Progressives dispute that premise.) In short, gas shortages could hit consumers hard if these pipelines are not approved, supporters say. “The Constitution project continues to represent much-needed energy infrastructure designed to bring natural gas to a region of the country confronting natural gas supply constraints that have

resulted in some of the highest consumer energy prices in the country,” a spokesman for Williams said in a statement.

National Grid, which would distribute the gas that would flow through the Northeast Supply Enhancement Project pipeline, has already declared a moratorium on new gas hookups on Long Island, the necessity of which Cuomo has ordered the state Department of Public Service to investigate.

But it is all about Section 401 in the end.

Arguments about the necessity of the Constitution Pipeline are legally beside the point. The merits of New York’s rejection have already been litigated all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The only question that matters is whether a federal court ruling on a case involving hydroelectric dams in California and Oregon can apply to a natural gas pipeline case in New York.

FERC has issued a ruling that it is unlikely to reverse. The Army Corps of Engineers will determine the validity of the proposed pipeline on different merits that may or may not block the pipeline. In any case, both sides show no signs of giving up – and that may lead them back to the federal court system.

■

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SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

The post office address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy of any process against the LLC served upon him/her is The LLC 315 Flatbush Avenue, Box 433 Brooklyn, NY, 11217. Purpose/character of LLC: Any Lawful Purpose.

Jeffrey Dinowitz, Esq., Referee Shapiro, DiCaro & Barak, LLC Attorney(s) for the Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester, New York 14624 (877) 430-4792 Dated: July 30, 2019 Notice of Qualification of QMB 3 Energy Storage, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/8/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in DE on 1/25/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc. (CGI), 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: CGI, 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on June 14, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on August 22, 2019 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 1962 Bergen Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 1453 and Lot 18. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 515601/2016.

Leo Salzman, Esq., Referee Berkman, Henoch, Peterson, Peddy & Fenchel, P.C., 100 Garden City Plaza, Garden City, NY 11530, Attorneys for Plaintiff DRIFTWOOD PECONIC BAY LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/07/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Unit First Floor, The Gramercy, 25 East 21st Street, NY, NY 10010.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

LEAGUE REAL ESTATE GROUP LLC, Arts of Org. filed SSNY 08/30/18. Office: NY Co. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process may be served & mail to League Real Estate Group LLC, 261 Madison Ave, 9th Fl, NY, NY 10016. General Purpose.

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Notice of Qualification of Launch Servicing, LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/09/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/27/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 402 West Broadway, 20th Fl., San Diego, CA 92101. Address to be maintained in DE: 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State of DE, 401 Federal St #4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Inbox Collective LLC Arts of Org filed with the SSNY (SSNY) on July 11, 2019.

Office loc: NY Co. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to The LLC, Attn: 400 East 55th Street apt. 12d, New York, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Berger812 LLC. Art. of Org. filed with SSNY 8-1319.

Office Location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC for service of process. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to c/o Dentons US LLP, Attn: Brian E. Rafferty, 1221 6th Ave., NY, NY 10020.

Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of Arrow Payments, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/29/19.

Office location: NY County. LLC organized in IL on 3/6/12. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. IL and principal business address: 20 W. Kinzle St., 17th Fl., Chicago, IL 60654. Cert. of Org. filed with IL Sec. of State, 501 S. 2nd St., Springfield, IL 62756. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

Notice of Qualification of GAMBLIT GAMING, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/25/2019.

Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/06/11.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o CT Corporation, 28 Liberty St., NY, NY 10005. DE addr. of LLC: c/o The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange St, Corp Trust Center, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., P.O. Box 898, Dover, DE 19903. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of 268 East 7th Street Owner LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/13/19.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 64 2nd Ave., 2nd Fl., NY, NY 10003.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of CGS REDMOND TECHNOLOGIES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/25/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/16/06. Princ. office of LLC: 200 Vesey St., NY, NY 10281-1017.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE Auth for Scharff PLLC (formed in AZ 2/9/18) filed w/NYDOS on7/24/19.

Loc:NYCty. SSNY=ProcessAgt & shall mail to 43W.43rdSt #24 NY,NY10036. AZ Addr: 502W.RooseveltSt PhoenixAZ85003.

OrgCertFiled w/AZCC @ 1300W.WashingtonSt Ph o e ni x A Z 8 5 0 0 7. L aw firm.

Notice of Formation of Security Resources NY, LLC n/k/a Security Resources, LLC (through merger). Arts. of Org. filed w/ Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 8/13/19.

Office in NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o CSC, 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207, registered agent upon whom process may be served. Purpose: Any lawful act/activity.

Notice of Qualification of Horizon Big, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 3/20/19.

Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 75 Varick St., NY, NY 10013.

LLC formed in DE on 3/13/19. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Cogency Global Inc., 10 E. 40th St., 10th Fl., NY, NY 10016. DE addr. of LLC: 850 New Burton Rd., Ste. 201, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Hip Hop Ventures, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/26/19.

Office location: NY County. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: 131 W. 35th St., 8th Fl., NY, NY 10001, principal business address. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Diane Nelson CPA LLC Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of New York on 8/19/19. Office location: Kings County, NY. Secretary of State of NY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. Secretary of State shall mail process to : The LLC Attn: Diane Nelson 225 4th Avenue 8a Brooklyn NY 11215 Purpose: Any lawful purpose

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

September 23, 2019

Notice of Formation of FON CONSULTING, LLC filed with SSNY on June 21 2019. Office: Westchester County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 2804 Gateway Oaks Dr # 100 Sacramento, CA 95833. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL NUMBER PENDING, FOR LIQUOR, WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL IN A RESTAURANT UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 380 VAN BRUNT STREET, BROOKLYN, NY 11231, KINGS COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION. SOMTUMDER REDHOOK INC. dba SOMTUM DER Notice of Formation of DROMOS STUDIO LLC, filed with Secretary of State of New York (SSNY) on 08/19/2019. Office location: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Jacqueline Yu-Si Lung, 49 Flatbush Ave, PMB #1091, Brooklyn, NY 11217. Purpose: Any Lawful Act or Activity.

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MNYS 300 GENESEE LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/23/19. Office: New York County. SSNY designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to the LLC, 475 Riverside Drive, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10115. Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT COUNTY OF KINGS, WILMINGTON SAVINGS FUND SOCIETY, FSB, D/B/A CHRISTIANA TRUST, NOT INDIVIDUALLY BUT AS TRUSTEE FOR PRETIUM MORTGAGE ACQUISITION TRUST, Plaintiff, vs. COLLETTE BARHAM, ET AL., Defendant(s).

Pursuant to an Order Amending the Caption, Confirming Referee’s Report and Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale duly filed on July 29, 2019, I, the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction at the Kings County Supreme Court, Room 224, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, NY on October 3, 2019 at 2:30 p.m., premises known as 1055 East 40th Street, Brooklyn, NY. All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, with the buildings and improvements thereon erected, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York, Block 7766 and Lot 38. Approximate amount of judgment is $733,899.10 plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of filed Judgment Index # 15121/2011.

Cheryl J. Kinch, Esq., Referee Knuckles, Komosinski & Manfro, LLP, 565 Taxter Road, Suite 590, Elmsford, NY 10523, Attorneys for Plaintiff Cash will not be accepted.

NOTICE OF SALE SUPREME COURT FOR THE STATE OF NEW YORK, COUNTY OF BROOKLYN CROSBY CAPITAL USA, LLC; Plaintiff v. WAHEED EGBO, et al; Defendants Attorney for Plaintiff: Hasbani & Light, P.C., 450 7th Ave, Suite 1408, NY, NY 10123; (212) 643-6677Pursuant to judgment of foreclosure and sale granted herein on 05/29/19, I will sell at Public Auction to the highest bidder in the Supreme Court of the State Of New York, County of Kings - 360 Adams Street, Room 224, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

On September 26, 2019 at 2:30 pm.

Premises known as 107 Harman Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221, Block: 3275 Lot: 62 All that certain plot, piece or parcel of land, situate, lying and being in the Borough of Brooklyn, County of Kings, City and State of New York.

As more particularly described in the judgment of foreclosure and sale.

Sold subject to all of the terms and conditions contained in said judgment and terms of sale.

Approximate amount of judgment: $963,987.79 plus interest and costs.

Index Number: 502722/2014 Aaron Maslow, Esq., Referee

NOTICE OF FORMATION of 959 PARK STERLING LLC. Art. of Org. filed with the Secy of State of NY (SSNY) on 6/19/19. Off. Loc.: NY County. SSNY has been desig. as agent upon whom process against it may be served. The address to which the SSNY shall mail a copy to is: NRAI, 28 Liberty St, New York, NY 10005. Purpose: Any lawful act Notice of Formation of Salon Nyki Elle, LLC filed with SSNY on 2/28/19. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 229 West 115th St., 1D, New York, NY 10026. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

PROMOTE THE LUV, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 7/24/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: PROMOTE THE LUV, LLC, 337 W. 138th Street, Apt 3G New York, NY 10030. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

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Notice of Qualification of CONSTANTIA VENTURES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/23/19. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/21/19. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 95 Worth Street, Apartment 8E, New York, NY 10013.

DE addr. of LLC: Harvard Business Services, Inc., 16192 Coastal Highway, Lewes, DE 19958. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., 401 Federal Street - Suite 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of CGS REDMOND TECHNOLOGIES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/25/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 10/16/06. Princ. office of LLC: 200 Vesey St., NY, NY 10281-1017.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of The Love Of Flowers NYC LLC, filed with SSNY on August 20th, 2019. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whim process against it may be serve. SSNY shall mail copy of processs to LLC. 27 Maple Street, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

RAUSA RUSSO LAW, PLLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 08/02/2019.

Office loc: NY County.

SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC: 30 Broad Street, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

September 23, 2019

Notice of Formation of THEATRE NERD PRODUCTIONS, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/29/19. Office location: NY County.

Princ. office of LLC: 67 E. 82nd St., NY, NY 10028.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the addr. of its princ. office.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of SARDIS DEVELOPMENTS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/23/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 05/22/19. Princ. office of LLC: 84 Wooster St., Ste. #603, NY, NY 10012. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, Corp. Div., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Investment management.

NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court — County Of Kings US Bank National Association , Plaintiff, vs. Denise Charles, et al, Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on October 25, 2019 at 2:30 P.M.; the premises described as follows: All that parcel of land, being in the County of Kings, City and State of New York; known as 1138 Lafayette Avenue; Block 3273, Lot 21. Approximate amount of lien $715,632.95, plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the Judgment, Index No. 508083-17.

Aaron Tyk. Esq. Referee Shapiro Dicaro & Barak Attorney for Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester NY 14624 585770-2108

Notice of Formation of Salon Nyki Elle, LLC filed with SSNY on 2/28/19. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 229 West 115th St., 1D, New York, NY 10026. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

YOGI TEA BAR LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 7/24/19. Off. Loc. : New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, c/o Gurdip Singh Josan, 193 Fredrick Street, Paramus, NJ 07652. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of WILLIAMSBURG PRESERVATION DEVELOPERS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/26/19.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Omni New York LLC, 909 Third Ave., 21st Fl., NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

BATTERY PARK GOURMET CAFE, LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 5/16/19. Off. Loc. : New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process may be served & shall mail proc.: c/o Gieto Nicaj, 17 Battery Place, New York, NY 10004. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

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FRASHON COMMUNICATIONS LLC filed with SSNY 9/11/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Attn: Vashon Smith 523 West 143rd street Apt 5B New York, NY 10031.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

CARE AND PROTECTION, TERMINATION OF PARENTAL RIGHTS, SUMMONS BY PUBLICATION, DOCKET NUMBER 19CP0164NE Trial Court of Massachusetts, Juvenile Court Department, COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS, Bristol County Juvenile Court, 75 No. Sixth Street, New Bedford, MA 02740 TO: Rose Mary Colon-Rivera: A petition has been presented to this court by DCF (New Bedford), seeking, as to the following child: David Carrasquillo, that said child be found in need of care and protection and committed to the Department of Children and Families. The court may dispense the rights of the person(s) named herein to receive notice of or to consent to any legal proceeding affecting the adoption, custody, or guardianship or any other disposition of the child named herein, if it finds that the child is in need of care and protection and that the best interests of the child would be served by said disposition. You are hereby ORDERED to appear in this court, at the court address set forth above, on the following date and time: 01/16/2020 at 09:00 AM Pre Trial Conference (CR/CV) You may bring an attorney with you. If you have a right to an attorney and if the court determines that you are indigent, the court will appoint an attorney to represent you. If you fail to appear, the court may proceed on that date and any date thereafter with a trial on the merits of the petition and an adjudication of this matter. For further information call the Office of the Clerk-Magistrate at 508-999-9700.

WITNESS: John S. Spinale, FIRST JUSTICE, Roger J. Oliveira, Acting Clerk Magistrate, DATE ISSUED: 09/04/2019 Notice of Formation of Red Arrow Advisors, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/14/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Richard P. Altieri, Carnelutti & Altieri Esposito Minoli PLLC, 551 Madison Ave., Ste. 450, NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of Salon Nyki Elle, LLC filed with SSNY on 2/28/19. Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 229 West 115th St., 1D, New York, NY 10026. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

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JOHN DICHIARA & ASSOCIATES LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 11/01/2018. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Legalinc Corp. Svcs Inc., 1967 Wehrle Dr., Ste 1 #086, Buffalo, NY 14221. Reg Agent: Legalinc Corp.

Svcs Inc., 1967 Wehrle Dr., Ste 1 #086, Buffalo, NY 14221. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

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NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1320782 FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 83 MAIDEN LN NEW YORK, NY 10038. NEW YORK COUNTY, FOR ON-PREMISE CONSUMPTION. PADRE LLC.

Notice of Qualification of JAYADIT BUILDERS LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 06/24/2019. Office location: Richmond County, NY. LLC formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 01/29/2015.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. NJ addr. of LLC: JayAdit Builders, Limited Liability Company, 47 Rosewood Rd, Edison, NJ 08817. Cert. of Form. filed with State Treasurer of the State of NJ, Div. of Revenue and Enterprise Services, 33 W State St, #5th, Trenton, NJ 08608. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Formation of WILLIAMSBURG PRESERVATION DEVELOPERS LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/26/19. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: c/o Omni New York LLC, 909 Third Ave., 21st Fl., NY, NY 10022. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of VIRIDIAN SKYFALL LLC filed with SSNY on July 22, 2019. Office: Richmond County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: Attn: US Corporation Agents, 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.

Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

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NOTICE OF SALE Supreme Court — County Of Kings US Bank National Association , Plaintiff, vs. Denise Charles, et al, Defendant(s). Pursuant to a Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale; the undersigned Referee will sell at public auction in Room 224 of the Kings County Courthouse, 360 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N.Y. on October 25, 2019 at 2:30 P.M.; the premises described as follows: All that parcel of land, being in the County of Kings, City and State of New York; known as 1138 Lafayette Avenue; Block 3273, Lot 21. Approximate amount of lien $715,632.95, plus interest and costs. Premises will be sold subject to provisions of the Judgment, Index No. 508083-17.

Aaron Tyk. Esq. Referee Shapiro Dicaro & Barak Attorney for Plaintiff 175 Mile Crossing Boulevard Rochester NY 14624 585770-2108

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Notice of Qualification of 11 OUNCES, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/19/19. Office location: Kings County. LLC formed in Ohio (OH) on 12/26/18. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to The LLC, c/o Cummins Law LLC, 312 Walnut Street, Suite 1530, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. OH addr. of LLC: 11 Ounces LLC, c/o Cummins Law LLC, 312 Walnut Street, Suite 1530, Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. Copy of Articles of Organization filed with Secy. of State of OH, 180 East Broad Street, 16th Floor, Columbus, OH 43215. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

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CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

STORAGE NOTICE Modern Moving Inc. will sell at Public Auction at 3735 Merritt Avenue, Bronx, NY 10466 At 6:00 P.M. on October 08th, 2019 for due and unpaid charges by virtue of lien in accordance with the provisions of the law and with due notice given all parties claiming an interest therein, the time specified In each notice for payment of said charges having expired household furniture & effects, pianos, trunks, cases, TV’s, radios, hifi’s, refrigerators, sewing machines, washers, air conditioners, household furniture Of all descriptions and the contents thereof, stored under the following names: -TALLEY WHITE NINA -HINES, JACQUELINE STORAGE NOTICE Midtown Moving & Storage Inc. will sell at Public Auction at 810 East 170th Street, Bronx, NY 10459 At 6:00 P.M. on OCTOBER 08th, 2019 for due and unpaid charges by virtue of lien in accordance with the provisions of the law and with due notice given all parties claiming an interest therein, the time specified In each notice for payment of said charges having expired household furniture & effects, pianos, trunks, cases, TV’s, radios, hifi’s, refrigerators, sewing machines, washers, air conditioners, household furniture Of all descriptions and the contents thereof, stored under the following names: -AKMAN, CATHARINE -ANTOINE, PAUL -ADER, ADAM -FAYZULLAEV, JAMSHID -FITZPATRICK, ALETHA -GUTIERREZ, JESSICA -HAULMAN, ISAAC -HERNANDEZ, LUIS/ HERNANDEZ, CESAR -KELLY, KIRK -LITTLE,REGINA/CARR DANIEL -MARTIN, JUDY -MCKAY, XAVIER

-OZELISON EDUARDO/ JHON DOE/JANE DOE -JASHANE, PLOWDEN -PINEDA, CARMEN -QUINONES, SOBEIDA FIGUEROA -RUPINSKI, STEPHEN -ROBLES, FRANCISCO -RODRIGUEZ, LOURDES -STRONG, LOUISE -VELEZ, JUAN -ZAMBOU, CAROLINE -FERN, GIL

Notice of Formation of Plastic Surgery and Skincare NY, PLLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/16/19.

Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Steven Levine, 308 East 72nd St., Apt 8D, NY, NY 10021. Purpose: to practice the profession of Medicine.

Notice of Formation of Amanda Mazin Consultants LLC filed with SSNY on September 11, 2019. Office: Westchester County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: c/o Zachary Mazin, McKool Smith, One Bryant Park, 47th Fl, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

KENT TOWER REALTY LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 8/30/19. Off. Loc. : New York Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, 242 East 74TH Street, New York, NY 10021. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

CLEVENGER BEACH LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/27/2019. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Keith M. Bloomfield C/O Forbes Family Trust, 767 Fifth Ave., 6th Fl, NY, NY 10153. Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

September 23, 2019

Notice of Qualification of COATUE CT 56 LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/20/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/16/19. Princ. office of LLC: 9 W. 57th St., 25th Fl., NY, NY 10019.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, Attn: Philippe Laffont at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T Mobility Services, LLC (AT&T) proposes the modification of an existing AT&T facility installed atop an existing building at 2800 Victory Blvd. in Staten Island, Richmond County, New York (Job #45295).

In accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and the 2005 Nationwide Programmatic Agreement, AT&T is hereby notifying the public of the proposed undertaking and soliciting comments on Historic Properties which may be affected by the proposed undertaking. If you would like to provide specific information regarding potential effects that the proposed undertaking might have to properties that are listed on or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places and located within ½ mile of the site, please submit the comments (with project number) to: RAMAKER, Contractor for AT&T, 855 Community Dr, Sauk City, WI 53583 or via e-mail to history@ramaker.com within 30 days of this notice.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

PUBLIC NOTICE

PUBLIC NOTICE

Notice of Auc-t i o n Sale is herein given that Access Self Storage of Long Island City located at 29-00 Review Avenue, Long Island City, N.Y. 11101 will take place on WWW. STORAGETREASURES. COM Sale by competitive bidding starting on October 4, 2019 and end on October 18, 2019 at 12:00 p.m. to satisfy unpaid rent and charges on the following accounts:

Notice of Auction Sale is herein given that Citiwide Self Storage located at 45-55 Pearson Street, Long Island City, N.Y. 11101 will take place on WWW. STORAGETREASURES. COM Sale by competitive bidding starting on October 4, 2019 and end on October 18, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. to satisfy unpaid rent and charges on the following accounts: Contents of rooms generally contain miscellaneous items: Isaac Sutton#5D08 4-Monitors,fax machine ,boxes, duffle bag, keyboard.

The contents of each unit will be sold as a lot and all items must be removed from the premises within 72 hours. Owners may redeem their goods by paying all rent and charges due at any time before the sale. All sales are held “with reserve”. Owner reserves the right to cancel sale at any time.

Contents of rooms generally contain misc. #139George Anderson; 10 boxes, 16 plastic totes, 4 rolling file cabinets, 1 small refrigerator #230-George M. Laws; 2 black bags, large plastic tote, 1 folding chair,# 1702-Quinsessa Harrison; Bags, boxes, totes, 2 crates with vinyl records.

The contents of each unit will be sold as a lot and all items must be removed from the premises within 72 hours. Owners may redeem their goods by paying all rent and charges due at any time before the sale. All sales are held “with reserve”.

Owner reserves the right to cancel sale at any time.

CAMPANIA BUEL LLC

Notice of Qualification of COATUE CT 55 LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/20/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/16/19. Princ. office of LLC: 9 W. 57th St., 25th Fl., NY, NY 10019.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, Attn: Philippe Laffont at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Lantern Class A Member, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 9/12/19. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 1501 Broadway, 28th Fl., NY, NY 10036. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP, c/o Randi Seigel, 7 Times Square, NY, NY 10036. Purpose: any lawful activity

THE ANNUAL RETURN of Jacques & Natasha Gelman Foundation for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2018 is available at its principal office located at 260 Madison Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10016 for inspection during regular business hours by any citizen who requests it within 180 days hereof.

Principal Manager of the Foundation is Janet C. Neschis.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1320818 FOR LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR

BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL LIQUOR, WINE, & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW AT 1801 HYLAN BLVD STATEN ISLAND, NY 10305. RICHMOND COUNTY, FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION.

Notice of Qualification of COATUE CT 54 LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/20/19. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 08/16/19. Princ. office of LLC: 9 W. 57th St., 25th Fl., NY, NY 10019.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, Attn: Philippe Laffont at the princ. office of the LLC. DE addr. of LLC: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of the State of DE, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., Federal & Duke of York Sts., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE AT&T proposes to modify an existing facility (new tip heights 142’ & 150’) on the building at 127 W 43rd St, New York, NY (20191488).

Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856-8091202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

Notice of Formation of 459 CENTRAL AVE LLC filed with SSNY on September 5, 2019. Office: Kings County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 446 Kent Ave Apt 3B, Brooklyn, NY 11249. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of DINOCORN, LLC filed with SSNY on August 8, 2019. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 12 W 18TH ST, SUITE 4E, NY, NY 10011. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

September 23, 2019

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

NOTICE OF PUBLIC SALE OF A COOPERATIVE APARTMENT PLEASE TAKE NOTICE: By Virtue of a default under a certain Fix/Adjustable Rate Note and Loan Security Agreement, dated November 28, 2006, now held by U.S. Bank National Association (successor to Bank of America, N.A., successor by merger to LaSalle Bank National Association), as Indenture Trustee, on behalf of the holders of the Thornburg Mortgage Securities Trust 2007-1 Mortgage-Backed Notes, Series 2007-1 (“Secured Creditor”), the Secured Creditor will sell at public auction, with reserve, at the Rotunda of the New York County Supreme Courthouse, at 60 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007 at 12:30 p.m. on September 30, 2019, 247 shares of the capital stock of One Carnegie Hill Owners, Inc., issued in the name of Curtis Sliwa and Mary Sliwa, and all right, title and interest in a Proprietary Lease to 217 East 96th Street, Unit 36B, New York, NY 10128 (the “Cooperative Apartment”).

Such auction will be held to enforce rights of U.S. Bank National Association (successor to Bank of America, N.A., successor by merger to LaSalle Bank National Association), as Indenture Trustee, on behalf of the holders of the Thornburg Mortgage Securities Trust 2007-1 Mortgage-Backed Notes, Series 2007-1, as Secured Creditor, who reserves the right to bid. Ten percent (10%) Bank/Certified check payable to Select Portfolio Servicing, Inc. as attorney in fact for Secured Creditor is required at auction. The balance is due at closing within thirty (30) days from the date of the auction. The auctioneer’s fees are required at auction.

The Cooperative Apartment will be sold “AS IS,” and possession is to be obtained by the purchaser(s) and subject to co-op board approval.

Dated: September 19, 2019 McGlinchey Stafford Attorneys for Secured Creditor 112 West 34th Street, Suite 1515 New York, NY 10120 646-362-4000

LEGALNOTICES@CITYANDSTATENY.COM

UNCLAIMED FUNDS! Insurance companies We can publish unclaimed funds for you quickly, easily and efficiently.

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38 CityAndStateNY.com

September 23, 2019

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Comptroller David Pirozzi, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson, Administrative Assistant Lauren Mauro

Who was up and who was down last week

LOSERS

DIGITAL Digital Marketing Director Maria Cruz Lee, Digital Content Coordinator Michael Filippi, Social Media Editor/ Content Producer Amanda Luz Henning Santiago

MICHAEL BLAKE Check the Bible – debt collectors have been among the most hated professions for millennia. So it’s not Good News that Assemblyman and congressional candidate Michael Blake has consulted for one of the worst in the country – and didn’t bother mentioning it on an ethics filing. And that’s on top of the five figures he earned from an “honorary” position with a nonprofit. Apparently “honorary” ≠ “volunteer.”

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

ALESSANDRA BIAGGI & ARAVELLA SIMOTAS

ANDREW CUOMO

No invite to the bill signing, but a longer statute of limitations for certain rape survivors is a legislative win.

ANDY BYFORD

It pays to be on Cuomo’s good side – to the tune of $40B in the MTA capital plan.

MICHAEL CUSICK

The assemblyman-turned-party boss was elected head honcho of the SI Dems.

BRIAN HIGGINS

It’s Skyway or the highway – and the congressman will get the park he wants.

CREATIVE Art Director Andrew Horton, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Event Sponsorship Strategist Danielle Koza dkoza@ cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillanGrace cydney@cityandstateny.com, Junior Sales Executive Caitlin Dorman, Legal Advertising Executive Shakirah Gittens legalnotices@cityandstateny.com, Junior Sales Associate Chris Hogan EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Sales Director Lissa Blake, Events Manager Alexis Arsenault, Event Coordinator Amanda Cortez, Editorial Research Associate Evan Solomon

Vol. 8 Issue 36 September 23, 2019

COULD NY CRUSH CAR CULTURE?

The car guy’s $25 license plate fee backfired, and guv shifted into reverse.

MICHAEL FRENNIER

Stock up on black-market bubblegum Juul pods – flavored e-cigs are banned.

CUOMO’S VAPING BAN WON’T STOP THE CRISIS

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

THE WINNERS & LOSERS OF DE BLASIO DROPPING OUT September 23, 2019

Cover image Matis75/Shutterstock

DAPHNE JORDAN

No gold at the end of this rainbow, just a civil rights complaint, after the lawmaker asked an aide to dress as a leprechaun.

ALEXANDRA ROBINSON

The NYC school bus exec needs to find her way out of a jam after the school bus GPS rollout failed – stranding students.

WINNERS & LOSERS is published every Friday morning in City & State’s First Read email.

Sign up for the email, cast your vote and see who won at cityandstateny.com.

CITY & STATE NEW YORK (ISSN 2474-4107) is published weekly, 48 times a year except for the four weeks containing New Year’s Day, July 4th, Thanksgiving and Christmas by City & State NY, LLC, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices.

POSTMASTER: Send address changes to City & State New York, 61 Broadway, Suite 1315, New York, NY 10006-2763.

General: (212) 268-0442, subscribe@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2019, City & State NY, LLC

JSTONE, A KATZ/SHUTTERSTOCK

ELIZABETH WARREN After solidifying her power in New York with a key endorsement from the Working Families Party, Elizabeth Warren turned Washington Square Park into a sea of supporters, with thousands of enthusiastic young voters showing up for the Massachusetts senator and her bid for the Oval Office. That’s way more New Yorkers than the one (1) New York Democrat that Bill de Blasio got to support him in the last Siena College poll.

OUR PICK

OUR PICK

WINNERS

Bill de Blasio couldn’t dip in the polls when he didn’t have any support to begin with.

But New Yorkers may be able to take a dip in a pool with his support. After nine years of a nonprofit group called Plus Pool’s advocacy, City Hall’s looking at building a floating swimming pool off the Lower East Side. Great news! … for the Midwestern tourists and Instagram influencers willing to wait in a three-hour line. For more patented New York kvetching, here’s are last week’s Winners & Losers.

EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Senior Editor Ben Adler badler@cityandstateny.com, Special Projects Editor Alice Popovici, Copy Editor Eric Holmberg, Staff Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Zach Williams zwilliams@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Rebecca C. Lewis rlewis@cityandstateny.com, Tech & Policy Reporter Annie McDonough amcdonough@ cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Kay Dervishi

85% OF AFRICAN AMERICAN SMOKERS USE MENTHOLS. THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY CALLS THAT EFFECTIVE MARKETING. WE CALL IT RACIAL PROFILING. MENTHOL CIGARETTES ARE MORE ADDICTIVE AND HARDER TO QUIT. STOP TARGETING OUR COMMUNITY.

A W H O L E N E W L AG UA R D I A

SETTING A NEW STANDARD: INVESTING $30 BILLION TO TRANSFORM OUR AIRPORTS INTO WORLD-CLASS GATEWAYS As part of our mission to keep the region moving, we’re committed to turning our airports into state-of-the-art facilities the region deserves. The first new gates are now open as we build a whole new LaGuardia. JFK will be transformed into a unified, 21st century hub with two major new global terminals. And construction of a modern new Terminal One at Newark Liberty is well underway.

Learn more about our progress as well as job and contracting opportunities at ANEWLGA.COM, ANEWJFK.COM and ANEWEWR.COM

TRANSFORMING JFK F O R T H E 2 1 ST C E N T U R Y

N E WA R K L I B E RT Y ’ S NEW TERMINAL ONE