City and State New York 09042017

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September 4, 2017

VOTE “NO” TO A CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION Brothers and Sisters, Union rights to collectively bargain for wages, healthcare and other benefits have been under assault for years around the country.

This time it’s in our own backyard.

In this November’s election, there is a little known ballot provision about whether the state should hold a Constitutional Convention. It sounds harmless enough, but don’t be fooled.

This question is presented to voters every 20 years and for more than half a century voters have REJECTED it.

Voters have repeatedly turned it down because they know the convention process can be hijacked by outside interests looking to strip away our hard-won labor protections.

We have seen what happens in states like Wisconsin and New Jersey when politicians pit the public against unions … we won’t let that happen in New York.

If the convention is approved, there is a huge risk that outside money – from big business, Wall Street, or conservative special interest groups with radical agendas - will flood into New York trying to push anti-union measures.

They will try to strip away our collective bargaining rights on healthcare, take away pensions and undermine workplace protections for current and retired members.

These measures would kill New York’s working middle class. It is why EVERY SINGLE UNION IN NYC IS AGAINST IT. This is a fight that all union members, active AND retired, AND their families and friends must be united on.

SHOW UP ON ELECTION DAY, LOOK FOR THE BALLOT MEASURE AND VOTE NO! It’s time to stand up for unions and the middle class.

Let’s show everyone that New York still supports unions, the backbone of our City and State.

Sincerely,

Harry Nespoli Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, Local 831-IBT, President

City & State New York

September 4, 2017

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EDITOR’S NOTE Looking back on the 2009 state Senate leadership crisis, it’s striking how many of the key players have ended up in legal trouble. Pedro Espada Jr., Carl Kruger, Hiram Monserrate, Dean Skelos and Tom Libous all went on to be convicted of unrelated crimes. Another co-conspirator, George Maziarz, is under indictment. Even Malcolm Smith, who was ousted from power as the chamber plunged into chaos, was later sent to prison.

Now an architect of the coup, G. Steven Pigeon, is taking his turn as a prosecutorial target. The longtime Western New York political operative was hit with state bribery and extortion charges last summer. In April, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman added election law violations to the case, and a federal election law charge was announced a month later. Pigeon’s trial was set to start this week, but a dispute over the admissibility of email evidence has left him in legal limbo.

In this week’s cover story, City & State contributor Justin Sondel chronicles Pigeon’s remarkable career and explores whether he can survive his biggest challenge yet.

JON LENTZ Editor-in-chief

CONTENTS BOCHINCHE & BUZZ ... 6 Gossip on Hiram Monserrate, Francisco Moya and more

SLANT ... 28

NEW YORK NONPROFIT MEDIA ... 26 Deputy Mayor Richard Buery on ThriveNYC

Have we not learned the lessons of Superstorm Sandy?

WINNERS & LOSERS ... 34 Who was up and who was down last week

STEVE PIGEON Has the Western New York political operator been abandoned?

...8

PRIMARY PREVIEW

A look at competitive races in Brooklyn, Buffalo, Albany and more ... 16

BACK TO SCHOOL

The latest on charters, state tests and Cuomo’s free tuition program ... 19

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CityAndStateNY.com

The

September 4, 2017

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE, THERE’S HIGHER PRICES

Latest

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio signed legislation last Monday that restricts the types of stores that sell cigarettes and raised the minimum price of a pack to $13, while adding a 10 percent tax to noncigarette tobacco products, which will go to public housing. The new law prevents pharmacies from selling cigarettes, and cuts the number of retailers licensed to sell them in half. The goal is to have 160,000 fewer smokers in the city by 2020.

HURRICANE HARVEY HITS HOUSTON

COLLINS CAUGHT IN STOCK SCANDAL The House Committee on Ethics confirmed last Monday that it was investigating Rep. Chris Collins due to his controversial investment in and public promotion of Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech company. He is in possible violation of the STOCK Act, which prohibits trading stocks based on insider knowledge of Congress or discussing trades in the House. He was re-elected to the company’s board on Wednesday, a risky move for someone literally under investigation for being too close to a company.

The

Slant podcast

A Q&A with Siena College pollster

Steven Greenberg The

Kicker

C&S: Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s approval numbers have gone down in recent polls. Is there a correlation between the governor’s handling of the transit crisis in New York City and his declining popularity?

SG: Absolutely. In our last Siena poll he dropped eight points on the good side, he went up nine points on the bad side, that’s a 17-point swing in about six weeks. We broke it down – MTA region versus non-MTA region. In the non-MTA region, Cuomo’s job performance rating over those six weeks went down one point. In the MTA region, down 27 points.

C&S: What are some of the challenges that Cuomo will face going into the 2018 gubernatorial election?

SG: If he asked me, “If I wanted to run for president in 2020, should I run for re-election next

SCHNEIDERMAN RAISES THE STAKES – AND HIS PROFILE State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman will be working with special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager. This could help Mueller with his larger probe into the Trump campaign, providing leverage to force Manafort to cooperate in that investigation, as the president cannot issue pardons for state crimes. Cooperating with the special counsel isn’t a bad look for an ambitious attorney general with possible goals for higher office.

year or not?” I would say, “No, don’t. You’re better off running for president without being governor.” Let’s assume that he is running for governor. Before we even get to the November election, he’s got a bigger issue in May and September. In May, the Working Families Party is going to have their convention. Three years ago, Bill de Blasio delivered that endorsement for him. I can’t imagine Bill getting to the front of the line to try and deliver that for Andrew this time. My guess would be that the Working Families Party will endorse whoever the Democratic opponent is to Cuomo. And there absolutely will be, guaranteed. The governor does not want to get a smaller share – does not want his opponent to get a larger share than Zephyr Teachout (did in 2014). What happens if a challenger in the Democratic party gets 40 percent? What does that do to Andrew Cuomo’s future?

“As lifelong NYer w/ NY VALUES I will vote for emergency HARVEY $ for TED CRUZ’S constituents. Above all, TRUE AMERICANS must STAND TOGETHER.”

—Rep. PETER KING, tweeting his support for Texas disaster funding (even though Sen. Ted Cruz and other Texas officials tried to block funds for New York after Sandy), via Newsday Get the kicker every morning in CITY & STATE’S FIRST READ email. Sign up at cityandstateny.com.

TRONG NGUYEN; YAHOO; OFFICE OF ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN; CELESTE SLOMAN

Hurricane Harvey made landfall in Texas, causing devastating flooding in the region and displacing thousands. Houston, America’s fourth-largest city, was hit with 51.9 inches of rain through, a record for rain in the continental U.S. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who weathered Superstorm Sandy in 2012, was quick to offer aid to the affected areas. Cuomo sent more than 100 New York National Guard airmen to Texas and Louisiana. On Tuesday, he announced that additional search and rescue aircraft and pilots would be sent to Texas. Meanwhile, members of New York’s congressional delegation grumbled that some Texas lawmakers delayed legislation for Sandy recovery – but they pledged to aid those affected by this crisis nonetheless.

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Speaking up

THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER CANDIDATES Nearly four years ago, Melissa Mark-Viverito became the first Latina speaker of the New York City Council. She was elevated with the support of Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio and Brooklyn Democratic boss Frank Seddio, who reneged on a pact with Rep. Joseph Crowley, the Queens Democratic leader, and then-Bronx Democratic Party Chairman Carl Heastie to back Manhattan Councilman Dan Garodnick.

This time, at least eight candidates are vying for the post. Will another Manhattanite win as a compromise between Queens and the Bronx? Will Brooklyn be punished for Seddio’s switcheroo? Will minority members, who make up half of the council, elect a speaker of color – especially with white men serving the city as mayor and comptroller? Will the council elect the first African-American, the first Latino male or the first openly gay male speaker? Will the top fundraisers woo enough colleagues with their campaign cash?

We won’t find out until after the elections, but here’s a brief rundown of each contender’s advantages and disadvantages.

ROBERT CORNEGY JR.

be np’s er oat ns nal

Pros: Would be the first African-American speaker … and reportedly has the support of Seddio.

Cons: Represents Brooklyn, which could be shut out by Queens and the Bronx … and lags behind other candidates in fundraising.

Total Contributions:

$114,975

WILLIAM ALATRISTE FOR THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL

TRONG NGUYEN; YAHOO; OFFICE OF ERIC SCHNEIDERMAN; CELESTE SLOMAN

City & State New York

September 4, 2017

YDANIS RODRÍGUEZ

Pros: Represents Manhattan, the traditional home of compromise candidates … and would be the first Latino male as speaker.

Cons: Two front-runners – Johnson and Levine – also represent Manhattan.

Total Contributions:

$248,723

COREY JOHNSON

Pros: Represents Manhattan, the traditional home of compromise candidates … would be the first openly gay man as speaker … and is considered an early front-runner.

Cons: Is white, like de Blasio and City Comptroller Scott Stringer … and like Garodnick, the front-runner doesn’t always win.

Total Contributions:

MARK LEVINE

Pros: Represents Manhattan, the traditional home of compromise candidates … and is considered an early front-runner.

Cons: Is white, like de Blasio and City Comptroller Scott Stringer … and the front-runner doesn’t always win.

Total Contributions:

$406,504

RITCHIE TORRES

Pros: Would be the first Latino male as speaker … and would be the first openly gay man as speaker.

Cons: Represents the Bronx, which has a history of picking a Manhattan compromise candidate … and may not have the support of the Bronx Democratic County Committee.

Total Contributions:

$257,454

$477,627

JIMMY VAN BRAMER JUMAANE WILLIAMS DONOVAN RICHARDS

Pros: Would be the first African-American speaker.

Cons: Represents Queens, which has a history of picking a Manhattan compromise candidate.

Total Contributions:

$130,623

Pros: Would be the first openly gay man as speaker … and is the top fundraiser among the candidates.

Cons: Represents Queens, which has a history of picking a Manhattan compromise candidate.

Total Contributions:

$514,825

Pros: Would be the first Afri-

can-American speaker.

Cons: Represents Brooklyn, which could be shut out by Queens and the Bronx … and in a progressive council, he opposes abortion and same-sex marriage.

Total Contributions:

$207,422

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CityAndStateNY.com

September 4, 2017

Exclusive scoops and insider gossip from

GERSON BORRERO

HOLDING THEIR NOSES IN MONSERRATE VS. MOYA RACE

HIRAM MONSERRATE

FRANCISCO MOYA

Not all Democrats are thrilled with having to choose between Assemblyman Francisco Moya and disgraced former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate in the Sept. 12 primary for the 21st City Council District.

Bochincheros who dislike Moya were asked why they don’t endorse Monserrate: “I like him even less.” In the case of one very direct politician, the language was salty: “I hate that motherfucker.”

Sin embargo – and somewhat surprisingly – there’s concern among many veteran Democrats that the despised and vilified ex-con could very well win the race. One Queens political insider, one of the more confident Moya supporters, hedged his optimism: “Hey, we didn’t think Trump would beat Hillary.”

The establishment is so anti-Monserrate that seven of the City Council speaker wannabes have endorsed Moya.

Knowledgeable bochincheros expect a voter turnout between 5,000 and 8,500 people in the 21st District, with Moya going for the blanco voters and Monserrate focusing on Latino and black voters in the distrito. Last Thursday evening, a Monserrate loyalist elatedly told B&B that the city Campaign Finance Board had finally approved the matching funds for his amigo. This makes the Sept. 6 debate on NY1 even more important for the two disliked políticos who have already taken their gloves off.

Político junkies can’t wait for their fix!

NOT SO FAST WITH THAT UNITED 2018 STATE GOP TICKET “They can spin it all they want in the media. Rob is focused on his re-election.

Once that’s over, he’ll decide what he’s going to do.” That’s what one bochinchero tells me about Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino’s plans for 2018, adding, “Rob is better positioned to challenge Cuomo next year than any of those being talked about.”

A handful of Republican insiders say avoiding a primary for the top of the Republican ticket is wishful thinking at best. “Astorino has made some inroads downstate that are undeniable,” one Republican bochinchero told B&B. He makes the case that if Astorino gets re-elected, he should be handed the nomination for governor: “There are a lot of folks in the five boroughs that are pissed off enough at the governor, and I’m talking about Democrats, who would probably give Astorino their vote in 2018.”

Sounds like a nice trifulca to me!

ROB ASTORINO

City & State New York

September 4, 2017

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A CONSERVATIVE CAUCUS IN THE NYC COUNCIL? OMG! If, as expected, state Sen. Rubén Díaz Sr. wins the Sept. 12 Democratic primary for the 18th City Council District, which in New York City is tantamount to a victory in the general election in November, he’s likely planning to form a conservative caucus in the council.

A well-heeled bochinchero speculates that the polemic Bronx politico is bound to team up with another Bronx council member, Fernando Cabrera, a fellow ordained minister, and possibly join with the three Republicans in the municipal legislative body to form the first conservative caucus. That crew of five out of 51 members would, of course, drive many of Díaz’s fellow Democrats loco and give the next council speaker pesadillas.

Stay tuned, bochincheros!

RUBÉN DÍAZ SR. REMEMBER, GENTE, IT’S ALL BOCHINCHE UNTIL IT’S CONFIRMED.

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CityAndStateNY.com

September 4, 2017

THE

PIGEON STEVE PIGEON built a political career through relationships with the powerful and the wealthy.

But after his indictment, have they all abandoned him?

MIKE GROLL/AP

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By JUSTIN SONDEL

City & State New York

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MIKE GROLL/AP

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September 4, 2017

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CityAndStateNY.com

MORE THAN TWO DOZEN pictures of Gerald Steven Pigeon hang on the walls or rest on the tables and well-stocked bookshelves throughout his lakeside condominium. In most of them he sports a dark suit and brightly colored tie. In many he is standing next to someone of great power or wealth. There are pictures with Bill and Hillary Clinton. Barack Obama.

Billionaire B. Thomas Golisano. Dick Gephardt. Ted Kennedy. Eliot Spitzer.

Charles Schumer. Andrew Cuomo. Even Roger Stone, attending Pigeon’s 50th birthday party.

The only exceptions are family photos, many featuring his young nephews Landen and Grant. Sometimes the two types

September 4, 2017

Heastie and Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown, was more than twice the size of his current place, giving Pigeon far more room to display his photo collection. So, too, has he lost the space that the trappings of his professional life used to offer. He parted ways with the Rochester law firm Underberg & Kessler.

All this unwanted change for Pigeon has come about since 2015, when state and federal law enforcement agents raided his penthouse. His position with the law firm was terminated a few weeks before a search warrant on his home was served in May of that year, ending a professional relationship that had lasted well over a decade.

and spending money on their behalf, despite being barred from doing so as an independent expenditure committee.

A month later, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York brought a charge of soliciting an illegal donation for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2014 re-election bid from a foreign donor.

Pigeon is accused of helping a Canadian client, who was interested in pushing the state to allow online gambling, buy a ticket to a Cuomo fundraiser using a foreign entity, a violation of federal election law.

For Pigeon, the charges threaten the life he has worked tirelessly to build. Long the center of controversy in the often brutal world of Western New York politics,

“THEY REVEL IN HAVING A BOGEYMAN. HERE’S WHY: THEY CAN’T WIN COUNTYWIDE.” collide, like the picture of former President Clinton holding Landen during a Buffalo Sabres game in Golisano’s box – the team’s then-owner and Pigeon’s most reliable employer. Dozens more sit in storage in the basement of the building. Pigeon has no more room for them.

While his current living conditions would be considered luxurious by most, the view of Lake Erie from his new place is partially blocked by the smaller buildings that dot the grounds of the posh, downtown condo community he has called home more than two decades. He now resides on a lower floor in the Pasquale at Waterfront Place, an 11-story building owned by his longtime on-again, off-again buddy, the mercurial Carl Paladino. Pigeon used to occupy the 10th floor penthouse at the neighboring building, Admiral’s Walk.

The penthouse, where he hosted power players such as Assembly Speaker Carl

Just over a year later, state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced a nine-count indictment on charges of bribery and extortion against the power broker. In that set of charges, Pigeon stands accused of providing Sabres tickets and trying to help the son of then-state Supreme Court Justice John Michalek, who resigned after pleading guilty to taking bribes, get a job in exchange for professional favors. Pigeon, an attorney, had business in front of the judge over the time period he is alleged to have been doing Michalek favors.

In April, Schneiderman brought four more counts, accusing Pigeon and two allies of illegally coordinating with candidates in the 2013 election cycle.

According to the court documents, Pigeon, along with Kristy Mazurek and Dave Pfaff, coordinated with candidates, arranged photo shoots and were raising

Pigeon could end up in prison, a fact that is not lost on him. He and his co-defendants have all pleaded not guilty. His attorney persuaded the judge to suppress Pigeon’s emails – which included key evidence in the case – and that ruling has put the trial on hold. But even if he is cleared of all the crimes he allegedly committed – and the rumor mill says there could be more charges coming – the damage has already been done to his reputation. It’s doubtful that officeholders and donors would be eager to immediately work with him again.

As many of the people he has warred with over the years wait to see if these charges will finally end the career of a man who has time and again been accused of playing dirty, Pigeon continues to proclaim his innocence.

“I know I didn’t break the law,” Pigeon told City & State in a recent interview, “and I believe I’ll be exonerated.”

A KATZ, ROB CRANDALL, EVERETT COLLECTION, KRISTA KENNELL, JSTONE/SHUTTERSTOCK

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BILL CLINTON – Pigeon raised money for and worked on his presidential campaigns and introduced he and Hillary Clinton to B. Thomas Golisano, who gave one of the founding gifts for the Clinton Global Initiative in 2005.

A KATZ, ROB CRANDALL, EVERETT COLLECTION, KRISTA KENNELL, JSTONE/SHUTTERSTOCK

HILLARY CLINTON – Pigeon worked on and raised money for her failed 2008 presidential bid, was on her federal health task force when she was first lady and had started to raise money for her 2012 campaign before his legal troubles.

BARACK OBAMA – Pigeon raised money for both of Obama’s presidential runs after he defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary, including securing $1 million for the 2008 Democratic National Convention from Golisano.

TED KENNEDY – Pigeon worked his New Hampshire primary effort, returning to Buffalo to work on the 1980 presidential campaign. In New Hampshire he was one of only a handful of volunteers and met Kennedy a number of times.

CHARLES SCHUMER – Now the most powerful Democrat in America, Schumer likely would not have won his U.S. Senate seat in 1998 without Pigeon’s help. As one of the only county chairs to support Schumer, he helped him win Erie County and defeat incumbent Alfonse D’Amato.

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FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

City & State New York

September 4, 2017

CityAndStateNY.com

ALL OF PIGEON’S problems, he claims, stem from the efforts of his foes in local and state politics to paint him as an enemy of the Democratic Party, only concerned with advancing the interests of his benefactors and willing to eschew ethics and break laws to meet his goals. They have constructed that image of him, Pigeon says, to deflect from their own issues and electoral failures. Over the years, Pigeon has been accused of the normal dirty tricks, nothing new in a city nicknamed “Beirut on the Lake” for its bare-knuckle style of politics. Nasty, sometimes misleading mailers were distributed by Pigeon-led groups. But Pigeon and his candidates have been targets of mudslinging as well.

Pigeon has set up at least a dozen different fundraising organizations that have raised more than $5 million, with much of that activity coming after he lost the Erie County Democratic Committee chairman post in 2002, a major turning point in his political career. His local Democratic rivals have often complained to the state Board of Elections that the complex web of consulting firms and campaign committees were a scheme to obfuscate untoward and illicit paths around election law, an allegation he has always denied.

“They revel in having a bogeyman,” Pigeon said. “Here’s why: They can’t win countywide. They haven’t been able to do what they should be able to do, except in the county executive’s case.”

But Len Lenihan, who succeeded Pigeon as county chairman, said Pigeon was mischaracterizing his relationship with the party and downplaying his own electoral shortcomings. Under Pigeon, the party had become extremely fractured, in part because of Pigeon’s thin skin.

“Steve didn’t really have the temperament to be an effective countywide chairman,” Lenihan said.

There was a time when Pigeon looked likely to end up in some lofty post in the White House or on Capitol Hill. He worked for candidates in every presidential election from 1972 to 2012, starting as a volunteer for George McGovern’s campaign efforts in Buffalo and eventually bundling donations for the Clintons and Obama.

A friend of the Clintons – one of the pictures in his collection shows him with Golisano and Bill Clinton in the driveway of the Clinton’s home in Chappaqua – with connections across the country, he had long sought to move beyond Buffalo. And he did make it to Washington, D.C., serving as an executive assistant to Donna Shalala, who was secretary of the U.S. Department

September 4, 2017

of Health and Human Services under Clinton.

“All this local stuff, to me, was what I did between presidential campaigns,” Pigeon said.

But he never really left. While holding that job, he was also vice chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee.

Despite his aspirations, he never could completely sever himself from the politics back home. It was partly a fondness for his father’s hometown, the place he had lived since the family returned when he was 12 years old. It was partly deep feelings of resentment and anger about being wronged by his rivals and seeking to set things straight. It was partly his feeling of obligation to some of the people he grew to know and love through politics and a desire to help them when they were being attacked because of their association with him.

The party has rejected candidates for posts on boards or other jobs based on their links to Pigeon, not on merit, Pigeon said, including the party’s refusal to endorse a sitting judge like Bob Whelan, and its unsuccessful move to block Frank Sedita III from becoming Erie County district attorney.

“If you’re going to do that, every time you have a race, you’re going to get a primary,” he said. “And, if you get past the primary, the party is going to be split.”

While it’s unclear what role the many primaries between Pigeon-backed candidates and those favored by the party establishment have played in their troubles, Democrats have struggled in recent years to win seats in districts where they hold significant voter registration advantages. Erie County is nearly 2-to-1 Democrats to Republicans, yet Republicans sit in the county comptroller’s office and the county sheriff’s office, and they hold a state Senate seat in a district with a similar partisan composition.

But Pigeon, too, had his own struggles as chairman. He lost the county executive’s office, the sheriff’s office and the majority in the County Legislature.

Pigeon claims he has worked to bring primaries against party candidates because his successors have failed to reach out to him, something he says he was able to do with his predecessor Vincent Sorrentino and tried to do with his longtime foe Joseph Crangle, the county chairman before Sorrentino took over.

As Pigeon sees it, it’s the duty of the county chairman to unify the party.

“My view is bad politics deserves bad outcomes,” he said.

Lenihan insists that he did reach out to Pigeon after becoming chairman, inviting him to the first big fundraising event after he took over.

“He was angry and he never quite got over everybody he was angry at,” Lenihan said.

“My job was to pull the party back together after I became chairman and Steve, he was not interested in those efforts. He was more interested in settling scores with people he felt didn’t treat him fairly.”

It became clear that Pigeon was not interested in reconciliation, running primaries against endorsed candidates and actively supporting Republican candidates, he said.

“I did not reach out to him after that because I viewed him, basically, as adversarial,” Lenihan said.

YOU’D BE HARD-PRESSED to find many people who demonstrated passion, that unyielding, endless curiosity toward their craft, that the young Pigeon did, even before his teenage years. For him, there has been little else besides politics worth his attention since he was 12 years old.

Fresh off a move from Chicago in 1972, the youngster was pouting in his new home in suburban Buffalo – he had not wanted to leave his friends – when his mother made him take a trip with her to the grocery store. On the way, he saw a campaign office. The minute they returned home, he jumped on his bike and peddled back to the headquarters of Vincent Graber, who was running for the Assembly. The new kid in town, he spent the majority of his summer stuffing envelopes and doing literature drops on his bike.

“I spent every day at those headquarters,” he said.

While he had never been so deeply involved in a campaign, this was not new to him. Pigeon is of political stock on his mother’s side, which exercised statewide clout from their suburban St. Louis outpost back in Missouri. One uncle was a leader in the state legislature and a local labor official.

Another served on the state’s highest court.

During summers of his earliest memories, he heard insider politics being discussed at the dinner table and helped with campaigns on trips from Chicago, where his father worked as an air traffic controller.

He and his cousins would wash car windows in parking lots and leave campaign literature under the windshield wipers, letting the owner know which candidate had helped them out.

“By the time I’m 11, 12 years old, I want to be a politician,” he recalled.

DEREK GEE/BUFFALO NEWS

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City & State New York

DEREK GEE/BUFFALO NEWS

September 4, 2017

AS PIGEON REMEMBERS IT, he has been pissing off Western New York politicians since 1972. While working on Graber’s ultimately unsuccessful bid for the Assembly that first summer, he was also doing groundwork for the McGovern campaign. This was his first foray into the fractured and often vindictive world of Buffalo politics. Members of Graber’s team, who were allied with Crangle, grew cold after learning that Pigeon was helping McGovern. Crangle and his people were for Hubert Humphrey.

When he was 16, Pigeon became an intern for state Sen. Jimmy Griffin.

He ended up doing plenty of work on Griffin’s mayoral campaign, though he was supposed to be working on behalf of Griffin’s state Senate district constituents.

The fiery, diminutive politician from South Buffalo was a Democrat but ran on the Conservative line in the 1977 general election for mayor after losing the Democratic primary to Assemblyman Arthur Eve. To Crangle supporters, support for Griffin was anathema. The nice kid from around the way who had helped them run campaigns turned out to be a traitor.

But Pigeon says he was just a kid who wanted to help his state senator become mayor of Buffalo. His English teacher’s husband, Joseph Martin, worked for Griffin and helped him get the internship.

“I wasn’t making a determination at the time of, oh, I want to be against Crangle and the party,” he said.

Having come from St. Louis, with a French Canadian last name and no family ties to the political realm in Western New York, Pigeon never fit into any of the established factions or subfactions. The fact that his mother’s side was heavily Italian didn’t do the trick. Maybe if they had moved to Buffalo’s West Side, but not in Irish and Polish West Seneca. While this proved advantageous in some ways – his base for fundraising was larger because few people were off-limits, he was always able to make new friends, never stuck in a particular pecking order – people were always somewhat suspicious of his intentions, he said.

“You end up being friends with all, trusted by no one,” Pigeon said.

After becoming Erie County Democratic Committee chairman in 1996, his willingness to swim upstream proved helpful on a number of occasions. He was one of the only county chairs across the state to endorse long-shot candidates for U.S. senator and state attorney general

in 1998. Those candidates were Charles Schumer and Eliot Spitzer. They both stand with Pigeon in one of the photos from his collection, shortly after the longshot bets paid off.

But those types of gambles would ultimately play a role in his undoing.

Pigeon was able to hold onto the chairmanship because he had the backing of Erie County Executive Dennis Gorski, whom he had helped to elect. As Pigeon tells it, resentments festered during his tenure.

Crangle loyalists worked to undermine him. Some of the divisions dated back to his decision to back Gorski for county executive in 1987, creating lasting grudges with those who had supported the other Democratic contenders, Assemblyman Robin Schimminger and James Keane, a member of a prominent South Buffalo political family.

Pigeon critics tell a different story. They claim they were fed up with the negative campaign style and fundraising methods that skirted election laws.

“It couldn’t have been just that Pigeon had offended Joe Crangle,” Schimminger said. “It was a combination of other things.”

Schimminger had worked with Pigeon on Gary Hart’s 1984 presidential bid. They had become friendly and Schimminger was expecting his support in the county executive’s race. While they didn’t clash

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the way that Pigeon did with his fiercest enemies, they never made up.

In fact, the assemblyman was part of a task force set up within the county committee with the express purpose of dethroning Pigeon, though he claims it was Pigeon’s fast and loose methods that brought about task force and not any personal grudge.

“There was, among the ranks of the party, disenchantment with Pigeon, and thus was generated in the year 2000 this Task Force to Renew the Democratic Party,” he said. “It really was a grass-roots kind of a movement that organized itself and ran committeemen.”

The task force’s first attempt at replacing Pigeon was unsuccessful. But, by the next reorganization meeting in 2002, Pigeon had given up, choosing not to run again.

He was replaced by Lenihan, a longtime county legislator.

Pigeon says he knew the end was near the minute his one-time friend turned fierce enemy Joel Giambra won the county executive race. Giambra, who had been a Democrat until that campaign, still had many friends in the party who found a common enemy in Pigeon.

“Once Gorski lost, all the knives came out,” he recalled.

TO SAY THAT Steve Pigeon is polarizing is like saying Lake Erie is large.

PIGEON’S ATTORNEY PERSUADED THE JUDGE TO SUPPRESS HIS EMAILS, WHICH INCLUDED KEY EVIDENCE IN HIS CASE. THAT RULING HAS PUT THE TRIAL ON HOLD.

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His friends see him as a deeply loyal servant to his causes who has been villainized by establishment politicos with Buffalo roots and the press that serves them. Those who know him closely note his wit, his love of reading and his ability to mend damaged relationships as the attributes that make him a man worthy of their affection.

Whelan, the retired state Supreme Court justice who was not endorsed for re-election under Lenihan, said that the constant focus on Pigeon’s fundraising and campaign efforts by the state Board of Elections and law enforcement stem from his many rivalries.

“I don’t think he’s doing much different than so many have,” Whelan said. “His disadvantage is that his profile has been much higher than most. As a consequence of that, the people who have antipathy toward him have been able to extend themselves by speaking ill of him in these various contexts.”

The people with whom he has clashed most often view him as someone only concerned with advancing the interests of his allies, even when that means damaging democracy and undermining his own party.

Erie County Democratic Committee Chairman Jeremy Zellner described Pigeon as a person obsessed with running the show, consequences be damned. “It’s all about strengthening himself and it was all about power and control,” Zellner said.

Mark Sacha has been working doggedly for years to bring to light what he argues are a series of underhanded and illegal fundraising techniques Pigeon has deployed over the years. Sacha, who worked for the Erie County District Attorney’s office and investigated complaints about Pigeon before being fired by Sedita in 2009, says he was terminated because his boss didn’t like that he was going after Pigeon, a longtime ally to the DA. The DA’s office said he was let go for misconduct.

After being fired, Sacha continued his quest to expose Pigeon, and in 2013 he lodged a formal complaint with the state’s Moreland Commission to Investigate Public Corruption, shortly before Cuomo dismantled it. His testimony may have been a contributing factor in the decision by law enforcement officials to pursue Pigeon.

In public testimony to the commission in September 2013, Sacha said he outlined deeds such as conspiring to exceed contribution limits, the concealing of donors and making false filings in a 53-

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page memo to Sedita on his investigation into allegations, all of which the district attorney never acted on.

Sedita, though named to Cuomo’s anticorruption panel, was not present for Sacha’s testimony.

“Ladies and gentlemen, prosecuting the powerless is easy,” Sacha told the assembled members of the commission.

“The real test is when you’re asked to prosecute or investigate the powerful.”

ALWAYS NEATLY DRESSED, often in one of his custom dress shirts – G.S.P. stitched into the left cuff – a fine jacket and loafers, his salt and pepper hair carefully parted and looking as though it had just been cut, Pigeon carries himself

As Pigeon has worked to curate his reputation as a man with access, there have been constant efforts to undermine that image. Political insiders, almost always on background, have for years whispered about his propensity for embellishment.

Pigeon, who first started working with Andrew Cuomo doing work for his late father Mario Cuomo, has at least half a dozen pictures with the governor dating back 30 years.

“My impression is, Pigeon sort of overstates his influence in everything, though I’m a little surprised the governor pays as much attention to him as he does,” one unnamed state lawmaker told The Buffalo News in 2013.

“SO I HIRE SOM KNOWS HOW TO AND THAT MAK with a confidence that is present, but not overbearing. His speech demonstrates a clear, sharp intelligence, but has an element of Buffalo Italian that helps him avoid sounding bookish or pedantic.

Friends describe him as charming and funny, attributes they say have been key in his quest to build his network of powerful people.

But there has been some debate about the true scope of his influence.

Undoubtedly, he has managed to get close to powerful people, and not just for photo opportunities. He helped raise millions of dollars for the Clintons over the years – for campaigns and their foundation, the Clinton Global Initiative – and served on Hillary Clinton’s health task force, her major initiative as first lady. He has personally raised more than $60,000 for Cuomo over the years, and was one of the only county chairs to support his unsuccessful 2002 gubernatorial primary bid. He served a series of wealthy benefactors, helping them carry out their business, political and philanthropic agendas.

Cuomo has been working to distance himself from Pigeon in recent years, an effort that has increased in intensity as the allegations and subsequent charges against the operative grew more serious.

Rich Azzopardi, a Cuomo spokesman, said it was a “lie” to call Pigeon a close adviser of the governor in an email to City & State. “The governor hasn’t spoken to him in years and he was last relevant 15 years ago,” when Pigeon backed Cuomo for governor, Azzopardi said.

Hank Sheinkopf, another prominent Democratic consultant who worked on Cuomo’s 2002 and 2014 gubernatorial campaigns, said much of the conflict and work to diminish Pigeon’s stature likely amounts to envy.

“A lot of his enemies are probably jealous,” he said. “His techniques may have been questioned by some, but the influence he exerted was not insignificant.”

To Stone, Pigeon’s ability to get close to people in power has a simple explanation.

It’s something he has worked toward.

“Steve is a guy who works very hard at the networking aspect of politics,” Stone

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said. “Because of that he’s got a lot of wealthy and powerful friends and they appreciate his loyalty.”

IF THERE IS one event that has so far come to define Steve Pigeon it has to be the 2009 state Senate coup. Pigeon, then working as special counsel to the state Legislature, cobbled together a new majority to strip state Senate Democrats of their control of the chamber with the help of George Maziarz, Dean Skelos, Tom Libous and two New York City defectors, Pedro Espada Jr. and Hiram Monserrate.

The move would add to Pigeon’s infamy.

Democrats had just won the upper house for the first time in four decades with the help of Pigeon’s benefactor, Golisano.

they lost power and has had held Pigeon in deep disdain ever since, they say.

Stone was one of the few people to discuss on the record what some describe as Schneiderman’s vendetta against Pigeon.

The operative, who helped President Donald Trump – himself a high-profile target of Schneiderman – get elected, claims there is a direct line between the coup and the Pigeon’s legal troubles. “The proceeding against Steve Pigeon is not a legal proceeding,” he said. “It’s a political proceeding.”

Schneiderman’s office declined to comment on the accusations of politics driving the charges against Pigeon. But, a spokesperson noted that the investigation is a collaboration of multiple law enforcement

OMEBODY WHO TO DO IT BETTER. AKES ME EVIL?” But things had not gone as Golisano and Pigeon planned. Malcolm Smith, the state Senate majority leader they had helped to power, was quick to return to the New York City-centric ways that had frustrated upstate Democrats for years.

Golisano, a Rochester area native, had spent millions helping Democrats regain the state Senate majority with the express purpose of getting upstate concerns to the floor. After a meeting in which Smith was reportedly dismissive of Golisano, eschewing the mogul’s impassioned concerns while looking at his phone, the decision was made to take back the power they had sought.

If Pigeon backers are to be believed, the move may also be a driving factor in the state’s top law enforcement officer pursuing their friend. Pigeon would not discuss the situation, but his friends, most of whom would only discuss the politics of the coup on background, say that Schneiderman, then a state senator from Manhattan, had a substantial amount of influence among state Senate Democrats at the time of the coup. He was livid after

agencies and that the judge presiding over the case has said in court documents that the prosecution has acted in good faith throughout the proceedings.

OF ALL THE reasons Steve Pigeon lists for being the subject of scrutiny and, now, possible punishment, he rarely points the finger at himself.

He blames the press, repeatedly bringing up stories in The Buffalo News, and in particular those from political reporter Bob McCarthy, as actively working to vilify him while describing similar behavior from rival politicians in neutral or even approving terms.

He believes this was, at least in part, because his rivals were willing to speak on background to damage his character, something he says he would not do.

“In the beginning, I probably should have,” Pigeon said. “But I didn’t believe you run to the press. I believe you have the fight on the field. And I certainly didn’t run to DAs, board of elections, like they do every time there’s a campaign.”

So, too, does he regret leaning so hard

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into his rivalry with Crangle as a youngster.

In particular, he was wistful about the presidential campaign in 1984, and his decision to publicly deride Crangle in what became a heated series of exchanges in interviews with print and television reporters, during which he once described the elder statesman as a dinosaur.

“I wish I wouldn’t have done that,” Pigeon said. “As a 23-year-old kid, it was immature.”

But little else from his past seemed to give him pause. People were only mad about negative campaign ads put out by the companies he hired because they were better than their negative advertisements.

His opponents constantly called for investigations into his campaign fundraising and political committee activities because they couldn’t keep up with him.

“So I hire somebody who knows how to do it better,” he said. “And that makes me evil?”

Sitting in his condo, legs folded next to a small, round coffee table, Pigeon reflected on the limitations the charges brought to his formerly fast-paced life.

As someone who prided himself on his work ethic and his avoidance of the press, he now has a great deal of time and reason to spend hours recounting the details of his career. His mind seems like a steel trap for the machinations of politics and he delights in detailing the calculations behind every move, and in relitigating the outcomes.

But there is an uneasiness about him these days, an agitation. He claims to have enough work to keep him busy and his mind off his legal issues, but his demeanor says otherwise.

“I try to deal with it when you have to deal with it, and you let the lawyers do their stuff,” he said.

He’s still working, making regular trips to Rochester to talk with Golisano about his business and philanthropic endeavors.

But he is neutered when it comes to his real passion. No one in politics would dare touch him at this point, an impulse he gets.

“I understand why,” Pigeon said. “If I was advising them, I’d say, ‘You’ve got to back off.’”

At least for the time being, his name is toxic to campaigns. That has left him in a kind of political purgatory. But, to him, it’s been more akin to the first leg of Dante’s epic journey. Being sidelined for this last presidential campaign was particularly painful for Pigeon.

“I’m in hell,” he said. “Because I can’t do what I do.”

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2017 Primary Preview The Sept. 12 primary election is fast approaching, and candidates in contested races are furiously raising funds, knocking on doors and rolling out campaign ads in an attempt to garner the attention of voters. In the following pages, we present a rundown of the key information on each candidate in a handful of competitive races across the state.

Marc Fliedner Cash on hand: $5,462.08 Key endorsements: Activists Nicholas Heyward Sr. and Hertencia Petersen

B R O O K LY N D I S T R I C T AT T O R N E Y

Eric Gonzalez Cash on hand: $789,050.98 Key endorsements: Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, 1199 Service Employees International Union, United Federation of Teachers, 32BJ Service Employees International Union, Transport Workers Union, Working Families Party, Reps. Jerrold Nadler, Nydia Velázquez, Yvette D. Clarke and Hakeem Jeffries, New York City Public Advocate Letitia James and City Comptroller Scott Stringer

Anne Swern Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez was the hand-picked successor Cash on hand: of Ken Thompson, who died from cancer $371,181.91 last year. Gonzalez has emerged as the Key endorsements: establishment candidate, but he will have to Independent Neighborhood Democrats, fight off a crowd of Democratic challengers. Brooklyn Democrats for Change Most of them – Ama Dwimoh, Patricia Gatling, Anne Swern and Marc Fliedner – have experience in the Brooklyn DA’s office. A sixth candidate, New York City Patricia Gatling Councilman Vincent Gentile, previously Cash on hand: worked for the Queens DA. $39,531.02 Key endorsement: Former New York City Mayor David Dinkins

Vincent Gentile Cash on hand: $51,305.34 Key endorsement: Bay Ridge Democrats

Ama Dwimoh Cash on hand: $150,157.80 Key endorsements: Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, NAACP New York State Conference President Hazel Dukes

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Kathy Sheehan Cash on hand: $67,515.05 Key endorsements: U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, Rep. Paul Tonko Poll results: 50%

Carolyn McLaughlin Cash on hand: $14,043.01 Poll results: 13%

A L B A N Y M A Y O R Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan is running for a second four-year term, and she’s expected to win in November if she can defeat her primary rivals this month. She appears to be in a strong position, as Democrats Frank Commisso Jr., an Albany County employee and a member of the Albany Common Council, and Carolyn McLaughlin, the president of the Albany Common Council, both trailed Sheehan in a mid-August Spectrum News/Siena College poll.

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Frank Commisso Jr. Cash on hand: $65,011.12 Key endorsements: Albany County Independence Party, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 1961 and Council 66 Poll results: 20%

Betty Jean Grant Cash on hand: Grant has no filings with the state Board of Elections. She has a GoFundMe page, and her Facebook page requests donations be sent to the Committee to Elect Betty Jean Grant. However, the Committee to Elect Betty Jean Grant is listed on the state Board of Elections website as a committee to elect Grant to the Erie County Legislature. This committee has $11,986 in cash on hand, but it is unclear if this money is intended for Grant’s race for mayor or for the County Legislature.

Poll results: 13%

B U F F A L O M A Y O R Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown is seeking his fourth term after 11 years in office, and he appears likely to defeat his primary challengers and win another four years in the heavily Democratic city. Brown has a 51 percent to 24 percent lead in a Spectrum News/Siena College poll over Democratic rival Mark Schroeder, the city’s comptroller, with a third Democrat, Erie County Legislature Chairwoman Betty Jean Grant, trailing further behind at 13 percent.

Byron Brown

Mark J.F. Schroeder Cash on hand: $130,526.46 Key endorsement: State Reform Party Poll results: 24%

Cash on hand: $582,167.59 Key endorsement: Erie County Democratic Committee Poll results:

51%

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Rachel Barnhart

Lovely Warren

Cash on hand: $12,020.01

Cash on hand: $300,135.32 Key endorsements: Monroe County Democratic Committee, 1199SEIU

ROCHESTER M A Y O R No public polls have been released for the Rochester mayoral race, but it appears that incumbent Mayor Lovely Warren will face a challenge from two Democratic primary opponents, Monroe County Legislator James Sheppard and Rachel Barnhart, the chief development officer of an area nonprofit.

Warren, who is seeking her second fouryear term, has been plagued by accusations of corruption, after it was revealed that her campaign political action committee accepted a donation that far exceeded contribution limits.

James Sheppard Cash on hand: $86,988.05 Key endorsement: Northwest Democratic Committee

S Y R A C U S E M A Y O R Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner is finishing up her last term and considering challenging Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the 2018 gubernatorial election, leaving an open seat in a mayoral race with an uncertain outcome. A Spectrum News/Siena College poll found that former state Department of Labor Regional Director Juanita Perez Williams and Syracuse Common Councilman At Large Joseph Nicoletti are neck and neck in the race, while Syracuse City Auditor Martin Masterpole trails behind with low name recognition.

Martin Masterpole Cash on hand: $28,075.59 Poll results: 8%

Joseph Nicoletti Cash on hand: $73,496.32 Key endorsements: Former Assemblywoman Joan Christensen, Syracuse Common Council President Van Robinson Poll results: 34%

Juanita Perez Williams Cash on hand: $33,210.24 Key endorsements: New York State Public Employees Federation, United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers Local 195, Utica Mayor Robert Palmieri Poll results: 36%

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City & State New York

2017

BaCK 2 SCHooL TEACHERS CALL IT “summer reading,” but for many students, it’s really just “one frantic week of last-minute reading.” So before school starts, we’ve curated a short collection of the most important education news as it intersects with politics.

At the center of it all is state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and state Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa. The state’s top two education officials have been putting together a new plan to comply with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act while trying to put the controversy over the Common Core educational standards behind them. Will the effort at being more open and inclusive curtail the opt-out movement?

And that’s one of any number of education policy issues that have emerged in recent months. The battle over the state’s cap on charter schools has ended, at least for now, but will new training proposals change what it means to be a teacher at some charter schools? And how will students navigate Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s much-ballyhooed new free tuition program as they move up to college?

The school library was closed, but these storylines kept on moving through the summer.

So apply some critical reading skills, and get to it.

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LEAVING BEHIND NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND New York adopts new standards for education under the Every Student Succeeds Act

By GRACE SEGERS

THE MOST CONSEQUENTIAL federal education legislation currently affecting New York was not signed by President Donald Trump, but by his predecessor.

In 2015, President Barack Obama signed the Every Student Succeeds Act, which replaced the George W. Bush-era No Child Left Behind Act. It forbade the federal government from imposing ed-

ucation standards like the controversial Common Core, which provided uniform requirements for students in English and math across the country. ESSA maintains a regimen of standardized testing in those two subjects, but allows states to determine their own performance goals and decide how to deal with schools that fall short.

The state Department of Education published a plan in July based on ESSA guidelines, which includes shortening the number of test days for reading and math, using out-of-school suspensions as a marker for student success and easing testing requirements for students learning English as a second language.

The plan was sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo to review and sign, and a spokesperson for the governor said that he was still reviewing the proposal.

The state Board of Regents is set to vote on the plan at its September meeting.

State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia said her department tried to learn from mistakes made during the widely criticized rollout of the Common Core standards, which spurred many par-

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ents to have their children opt out of the new standardized tests.

“ESSA, I believe, is a game changer,” Elia said, because it focuses on improving education instead of simply identifying problems and closing failing schools in response. Elia also described the deliberative process behind creating the proposal and its provisions.

“They’ve been vetted multiple times.

We’ve gotten feedback from across the state; we’ve slowed it down, we’ve sped it up,” said Elia, who made her remarks during a panel discussion at City & State’s “On Education” event last month. “I spent a lot of time talking to people across the state so we could come up with a plan.”

In contrast, Elia said that the plan written under the new ESSA standards was responsive to “the variety of situations that we face and the incredible challenges and needs of our students.”

Elia noted the importance of equity, and ensuring that the more than 1.1 million students in New York City receive the same quality of education as students in more rural areas.

“Our ESSA plan is an action plan,” added state Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa, who joined Elia in the panel discussion. “We are not going to be creating a plan that just goes right to the middle, but rather it really takes into consideration all aspects of all needs.”

Rosa criticized the Common Core standards for having been developed without input of stakeholders, eventually leading to many students opting out of standardized testing.

“The intent of this may have been noble, but the way it was done – people went into a backroom full of experts with few fingerprints on this process, and you didn’t have the buy-in and the signatures of the common people,” she explained. According to Rosa, this practice of overlooking input from teachers and parents created “potholes” in the rollout of the program. Elia responded that these issues were more akin to “sinkholes.”

Challenges aside, Rosa and Elia think that their new plan can sidestep some of the issues created by the Common Core standards, due to its focus on accountability to teachers and students. They believe ESSA has provided a template to refocus New York’s educational system on student growth as opposed to politics.

“This board and this commissioner are focused on one thing – at the core of all this work, we have the word children,” Rosa said.

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“INSTANT” TEACHER LICENSING IS A THREAT TO CHARTER STUDENTS AND THE TEACHING PROFESSION CHARTER MANAGEMENT IS THE ONLY WINNER

By Michael Mulgrew, President, The United Federation of Teachers New York State requires prospective cosmetologists to receive 1,000 hours of specialized instruction, and real estate brokers to get 120 hours of instruction and two years of field experience.

But new proposed regulations, driven by the powerful charter school lobby, would allow some charter schools to create their own, special teaching license for anyone who finishes 30 hours of instruction (including classes taught by unlicensed charter school administrators) and works 100 hours in a classroom.

That amounts to about 5 days of learning how to teach, and a little more than two weeks of classroom practice.

Fully licensed teachers in traditional public schools must have bachelor’s and master’s degrees from state-approved colleges and universities, pass state certification and content area exams, complete supervised student teaching, and continually update their skills by taking additional professional courses throughout their career.

Why is the charter lobby pushing a watered-down “instant” license that would be worthless at any traditional public school anywhere in the state and would undermine years of efforts to ensure that teachers are trained and treated as professionals?

Because charters don’t want to invest in their teachers.

Charters rely on huge numbers of inexperienced, unlicensed novices who don’t stay in their jobs long enough to become fully licensed.

State figures show that four out of ten charter staffers in 2014 left their schools in 2015 (the equivalent number for city public schools was 14 percent -- itself too high).

Success Academy, Democracy Prep, KIPP and Uncommon schools had the greatest trouble keeping their staff in this recent snapshot.

Supporters claim that New York City charters suffer from a teacher shortage. They don’t. They suffer from bad management. Charter teachers vote with their feet – against teaching from scripts, discriminatory discipline policies and leadership demands to “counsel out” the most vulnerable students if they don’t fit the mold.

Charter school leaders could have chosen to deal with this reality, and revamped their programs so all children are valued and new teachers stay long enough to gain the skills and insight they need to help all children thrive.

Instead, charter backers used their political clout in the final hours of the most recent legislative session -- when it became clear they were not going to get the legislative changes they wanted -- to persuade SUNY’s Charter Schools Committee to push these new regulations.

If adopted, these changes will send a cynical message to charter parents: your children do not deserve a fully qualified teacher.

Rather than letting charters get around current licensing requirements, SUNY should be requiring the charter sector to address its real problem of teacher turnover.

Even a quick review of the proposed regulations reveals that this scheme is on shaky legal ground. When the Legislature in 2016 granted SUNY greater control over the charters it authorizes, legislative leaders specifically stated that the measure did not: “empower SUNY to adopt regulations that are inconsistent with current laws governing charter schools, including but not limited to laws related to teacher certification requirements ...”

The current laws for how one becomes a teacher are there to protect the quality of our children’s education. The fact that some charter chains cannot appropriately staff their schools is no reason for SUNY to backtrack on New York’s decades-long effort to ensure a highly qualified teacher in every classroom.

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SHORTCUT TO CERTIFICATION

Charters rekindle controversy over teacher training requirements

By GRACE SEGERS

THE JUNE AGREEMENT on mayoral control of New York City schools may have settled the controversy over charter school caps for now, but a decision by the Charter School Committee of the State University of New York board of trustees has ensured that charters will remain at the center of the latest state education drama.

On July 6, the committee, which oversees the SUNY Charter School Institute, approved a controversial proposal to allow charters in its network to create their own teacher certification requirements.

The institute is accepting public comment on the plan until Sept. 11, according to spokeswoman Michelle Bianchi.

The proposal would allow a teacher to be certified with only 30 hours of instruction and 100 hours of classroom experience. A

memorandum on the decision, published by the institute, explains that this plan seeks to clear some hurdles to becoming a teacher, making the process easier and encouraging prospective educators.

Despite that intention, the move has been criticized by education leaders. State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia and state Board of Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa voiced their concerns with the proposal at City & State’s “On Education” event on Aug. 16.

“I think it’s insulting,” Rosa said. She explained that the plan indicated to her that teachers were less deserving of rigorous certification than other professionals.

Moreover, she pointed out that teachers who were certified under this program would not necessarily be able to teach at

other public schools or charter schools not run by SUNY. This opinion has also been voiced by New York State United Teachers Executive Vice President Jolene DiBrango, who submitted a formal comment to the SUNY board of trustees in August. NYSUT asserted that the new rules would “significantly undercut the quality of teaching in charter schools by permitting unqualified individuals to educate large numbers of high-needs students.”

Another union leader, United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew, wrote an open letter to Joseph Belluck, the chairman of SUNY’s Charter School Committee, arguing that SUNY is legally incapable of changing the certification requirements for its teachers under New York education law.

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September 4, 2017

Elia similarly did not mince words with her disapproval of the plan at the City & State event.

“I could go into a fast food restaurant and get more training than that,” Elia said about the 30-hour training requirement.

“We can’t put people in front of children anywhere in New York state that aren’t prepared to be great teachers.”

However, representatives from the SUNY Charter Schools Institute have pushed back against these characterizations.

“The proposed regulations reflect the innovation that charter schools are known for,” Bianchi said.

Bianchi also pointed to test scores in charter schools run by SUNY, after the state recently released the 2017 English and math exam results for students in grades three through eight. In math, 40.2 percent of students were proficient statewide, and 39.8 percent received a passing grade in English.

According to Bianchi, students in SUNY charter schools are 57 percent proficient in math and 51 percent proficient in English.

“When compared to their local school districts, over 82 percent of SUNY authorized charter schools outperformed their local district in ELA (English language

arts) and over 87 (percent) outperformed their local district in math,” she said, indicating that SUNY charter schools have already created standards to adequately educate children.

SUNY Charter Schools Institute Executive Director Susie Miller Carello implied that state education officials could learn from charter school regulations, instead of the other way around. “With these results, it’s a mystery why anyone wouldn’t choose great SUNY charters,” she said. “Clearly these teachers ought to be

“I COULD GO INTO A FAST FOOD RESTAURANT AND GET MORE TRAINING THAN THAT.” – state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia

showing other teachers how to produce the same results.”

Belluck also questioned the motives of state officials in criticizing charter schools.

“It is obvious that Chancellor Rosa and Commissioner Elia don’t want charter schools to succeed,” he said. “They are doing everything they can to undermine SUNY charter schools because they are outperforming their schools.”

Clearly, state education officials have a different concept of what will be best for all students.

“I feel very passionate, as I know my commissioner does, about this issue of making sure that we honor this profession in a way that this profession deserves to be honored by having highly qualified teachers,” Rosa said at City & State’s event.

She noted that having adequate training for teachers is the right way “to ensure that our classrooms have the very best.”

The Charter Schools Committee meets again on Oct. 11 to discuss further action, and it remains to be seen whether the time for public comment has changed the mind of any member, or if test results and criticism from state officials and union leaders have hardened the committee’s position.

DREADING YOUR ATR ASSIGNMENT? FEELING CONSTRAINED BY YOUR LENGTHY UNION CONTRACT? TIRED OF CITY HALL BUREAUCRATS DICTATING POLICY IN YOUR SCHOOL BUILDING? Dear talented and committed NYC DOE principals, maybe it’s time to think about starting up your own public charter school.

NYC’s charter sector is one of the best in the country and we’re constantly seeking experienced leaders with a vision and drive for high quality education.

Come start the school of your dreams where YOU decide what’s best for your students.

Learn more at www.nyccharterschools.org/applying

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THE PRICE OF FREE

The Excelsior Scholarship promises free tuition, but may come with a cost

By GRACE SEGERS IN JANUARY, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed the Excelsior Scholarship, which will subsidize tuition for families making $100,000 or less in the 2017-2018 school year, and for families making $125,000 or less by fall 2019. The governor was joined by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at the event announcing the program, with the populist 2016 presidential candidate who championed the idea of free tuition seeming to burnish Cuomo’s progressive cre-

dentials. When the bill was signed into law in April as part of the state budget, the governor was joined by Hillary Clinton. However, the fanfare surrounding the program may obscure some of the complaints about it.

Eligible students attending State University of New York or City University of New York schools could receive up to $5,500 through the scholarship, minus amounts from federal Pell Grants or

the state’s Tuition Assistance Program.

Universities will cover the rest of the costs through tuition credits. There is a minimum academic credit requirement and, in a change sought by state Senate Republicans, students must remain in the state for the same number of years that they received the scholarship.

H. Carl McCall, chairman of the SUNY board of trustees, praised the Excelsior Scholarship. He noted how the

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September 4, 2017

various scholarships available to students Even if the number of students that are would provide coverage tantamount to granted an Excelsior Scholarship exceeds free tuition. He also touted the number 23,000, Assemblyman Ed Ra, a member of students who had applied for the of the Assembly’s Education Committee, scholarship. said the strict requirements for the “Some 70,000 students have applied – Excelsior Scholarship may mean it will 50,000 at SUNY, and I believe 20,000 not extend to many New Yorkers. at CUNY,” McCall said during City & “There are going to be plenty of State’s “On Education” event on Aug. 16. families that struggle to pay for their During the initial Excelsior Scholarship children to go to college that are going application period from June 7 and July to be above the income threshold,” Ra 21, the state said 75,000 students had said at City & State’s education event. applied. “We’ve seen at SUNY 18,000 “I think the real unfortunate thing is as more students enrolling this year than in that budget was adopted, there was also the past and I think this has something to an authorization for a tuition increase,” do with it,” McCall said. he added, referring to the decision by the While high registration numbers SUNY board of trustees in June to raise may be a marker of the new program’s tuition 3.1 percent. success, it also presents some challenges.

Chika Onyejiukwa, chairwoman of the The state previously projected that only CUNY University Student Senate and the 23,000 students can be covered under only student member of the CUNY board the scholarship. A state official said that of trustees, agreed that many students the July 21 deadline had been extended may not end up receiving benefits from into August, so that students who were the Excelsior Scholarship. unaware of certain requirements could “The program creates such stringent update their applications. Updated criteria that many of our students, although numbers for how many students have they have applied, they may not get the applied, and how many will be accepted, opportunity to explore this program,” City andbecome State (half pg).qxp_Layout 1 8/30/17 PM Page 1said. “So what they’re stuck should available after Labor Day. 2:02 Onyejiukwa

25

with is paying their own tuition and then on top of that are tuition hikes.” She added that “the criteria are not there yet” for making the Excelsior Scholarship truly equivalent to free tuition.

With stringent requirements, a hefty price tag for the state and a significant gap between the number of students who applied and the number of students who will receive the scholarship, Cuomo’s plan may be less utopian than it originally appeared. However, as McCall noted, it is a concrete measure toward making higher education more accessible.

“Fifty percent of our resident undergraduates will be able to attend SUNY tuition free,” McCall said. “Now, it’s true, tuition isn’t the only expense, but that is certainly a big difference in terms of affordability and the ability to go to college.”

Onyejiukwa agreed that as an education advocate, and a student, the creation of the Excelsior Scholarship was an important development.

“We are taking a step in the right direction, but at the same time understanding the impact of the program long term,” she said.

Council of School Supervisors & Administrators

LOCAL 1: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS, AFL-CIO 40 RECTOR ST., 12TH FL., NEW YORK, NY 10006 | T: 212 823 2020 | www.csa-nyc.org MARK CANNIZZARO PRESIDENT | HENRY RUBIO EXEC. VP | ROSEMARIE SINCLAIR FIRST VP

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26

CityAndStateNY.com

September 4, 2017

The must-read news source for New York’s nonprofits Edited by AIMÉE SIMPIERRE

SMASHING THE STIGMA Deputy Mayor Richard Buery on ThriveNYC and treating mental health

By DAN ROSENBLUM

I

N NOVEMBER 2015, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office launched a plan called ThriveNYC to treat mental health issues across the city. The plan – estimated to cost $850 million over four years – is being led by first lady Chirlane McCray and Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives Richard

Buery. Before coming to city government, Buery was president and CEO of the Children’s Aid Society, and as deputy mayor he helped to usher in the pre-kindergarten expansion that now serves about 70,000 4-year-olds. He has also placed nonprofits in schools to increase access to social and health services, and encouraged the

spread of after-school programs.

He spoke with NYN Media’s Dan Rosenblum about how the city is rolling out the ThriveNYC program and measuring its outcomes. This interview has been edited and condensed. For the full interview, listen to the podcast at nynmedia.com.

City & State New York

September 4, 2017

ARMAN DZIDZOVIC

NYN: What did New York City’s mental health landscape look like before 2015?

RB: Our experience with ThriveNYC really started with the first lady and the mayor’s experience as parents in New York City. And I’m sure you’ve heard her tell the story before about how one day her daughter came to her and said that she was struggling with substance misuse and addiction and anxiety. And as a mom, that Chirlane didn’t know what to do, didn’t know where to get help, didn’t know what the next steps were. And feeling like that as a well-connected mother, as a wife of a leader in city government and still not knowing where to start, where to look, who to trust for advice, what must other New Yorkers be facing?

And I think that’s really the story about the way mental health is experienced in New York City. It is, in some ways, not a system. It’s hard to find care; it’s hard to find support. And even deeper than that, it’s our biases, our stigma that we have that we associate with mental illness even stops people from looking to get that support.

NYN: What is ThriveNYC doing to streamline the mental health system?

RB: ThriveNYC is a coordinated system of 54 initiatives, so the short answer is, we’re trying to do a lot. But it’s built around certain themes. One of those is around changing the culture. So part of what we’re trying to do is tackle some of the stigma that keeps people from seeking help, or from offering help. Or educating New Yorkers about what mental illness is and how to support those who are suffering. We’re trying to close treatment gaps.

By that, I mean just making it easier to find help, figure out where to go and to do that in ways that are natural and feel comfortable and that are culturally appropriate and accessible. (We’re) very much focused on partnering with communities, by which we mean relying on the experience and the expertise and the knowledge that exists in our communities. We’re very focused on acting early, so focusing on prevention.

Very focused on data, which means trying to promote evidence-based practices, but also just making sure that we’re always researching what works and what doesn’t

work and trying to get all the different parts of a city to use practices that work for people.

NYN: How much of the work is being done by nonprofits?

RB: One of the things we know is that so many of the people who are suffering from mental illness, they may not go to a psychiatrist, they may not go to a mental health professional, they may not feel comfortable doing that. But they will go to their local church or synagogue and talk to their minister. They will go to their kid’s after-school program if they feel comfortable with the counselor there. They will so often go to the institution that they’re already comfortable with, which (oftentimes) in our city are local nonprofit social service organizations, to get help. And a lot of the ini-

27

NYN: Can you talk about how the NYPD is rolling out crisis intervention training?

RB: There’s a lot that we’re doing to give police officers an alternative to the traditional law enforcement response of arrests or taking someone to an emergency room to try to support New Yorkers who are suffering. But one of them is our crisis intervention training, which is really powerful stuff. To this point, we have trained 5,800 police officers, which is ahead of our target. It’s a four-day training, which is really about teaching police officers around communication and empathy and awareness so that they have other responses and learn how to de-escalate situations. It involves role-playing. It engages police officers with those who are experiencing serious mental illness and

“PEOPLE WHO ARE MENTALLY ILL ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE VICTIMS OF VIOLENCE THAN PERPETRATORS OF VIOLENCE.” tiatives in ThriveNYC are about empowering those institutions to do their work more effectively.

NYN: With ThriveNYC, there’s a lot of emphasis on preventive care and reducing stigma. What about those who are severely mentally ill?

RB: Almost everything in ThriveNYC supports the seriously mentally ill. (NYC Well is) a resource not only for those who are suffering, but it’s a resource for friends and family members who may have a family member or loved one who is experiencing schizophrenia or other serious mental illness to get help and counseling. Another big initiative is NYC Safe, where we’re focused on the small, small, small percentage of the mentally ill who also have been involved in violent behavior. We have a very intensive case management approach where we deploy mental health resources to go out and support them.

gives them a chance to hear from people suffering from mental illness.

NYN: How do you know if it’s working?

RB: One of the things that we try to communicate to people is that people who are mentally ill are more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of violence. But nonetheless there’s a small number of New Yorkers who both experience mental illness and who have a history of criminal or violent behavior.

Through NYC Safe, we have about 369 people, I believe, in that program right now. Over 90 percent of the individuals in that program who are not incarcerated or in the hospital – 94 percent of those clients – have not been charged with a violent offense since they joined the program. It’s a really great example of how, if you take the appropriate response and solution to a program, you can get better outcomes.

■

MORE ONLINE • Nancy Miller of Visions/Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired writes about how the AccessibleNYC report on efforts to help residents who are disabled misses an opportunity to be more effective.

• Tax experts from Marks Paneth LLP look at issues in Form 990 that could trigger an audit for being what the IRS considers “high-risk areas of noncompliance.”

To see the full versions of these stories and subscribe to First Read Nonprofit, visit nynmedia.com.

28

NYSlant.com

September 4, 2017

Perspectives & analysis from the people who know New York best/ Edited by Nick Powell

or those of us who experienced Superstorm Sandy in 2012, watching Texas suffer through Hurricane Harvey is like watching a sad sequel to a bad movie.

The suffering and sense of loss can be overwhelming, and the acts of everyday heroism are profoundly inspiring.

As of this writing, the flood waters are beginning to recede in Houston, but tens of thousands remain at risk. Recovery efforts are slowly getting underway and there’s no doubt it will take years to get back to a sense of normalcy.

But there has already been a debate about who should’ve evacuated and when. Let’s be clear: The mass evacuation of an entire city is dangerous and infeasible, but selective evacuation of those most vulnerable is prudent. The U.S. is getting better at responding to these natural disasters and the responses to Harvey and Sandy seemed far better than in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and when Hurricane Rita slammed into the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana and many more died.

Reconstruction from Sandy remains riddled with delays, incompetence and bureaucracy; Harvey gives us an opportunity to do better.

There are several reasons why the intensity and cost of extreme weather events is growing:

• Our population is growing and more people live in the pathways of storms.

• The technology that supports our lifestyle is more extensive and expensive than ever: the vehicles, highways, computers, Wi-Fi, smartphones, air conditioning, electric grid, water, sewage and waste management systems are complex and vulnerable.

• Our patterns of development have placed concrete and other impermeable surfaces over environments that could absorb water and wind.

• A warmer climate is making extreme weather events more dangerous.

Additionally, modern life has created a greater dependence on the collective infrastructure for energy, water, transportation and sanitation services. We need to recognize our greater interdependency and vulnerability and set aside more resources to respond to emergencies and rebuild after they are over.

The political cultures of New York and Texas are as different as night and day.

After Sandy, New York City changed its building code, and began investing in the strength and resilience of the infrastructure on the city’s 600 miles of shoreline.

Developers are moving building utilities out of basements and onto higher floors.

Microgrids are being incorporated into new real estate developments to encour-

By STEVEN COHEN

age renewables and ensure that there is a backup energy source when the grid fails.

Texas didn’t learn the lessons of Sandy, but now they are living through a storm that has caused more damage than the one that hit this region. The emotional wear and tear of an event like Harvey, and the practical necessities of recovery, provide an opportunity for pragmatic problem-solving.

Ideology is a luxury when a community faces the giant task of reconstruction. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas seems to be less interested in limited government than he was a few weeks ago. U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer is by nature a practical problem-solver. Maybe these two guys can cut a deal. In exchange for the billions needed for reconstruction, let’s put in place a permanent funding stream for the National Flood Insurance Program, now $25 billion in debt. Let’s enact a national reconstruction trust fund paid for by (gasp) a new tax on income. This fund would pay for reconstruction and strengthening infrastructure destroyed during natural disasters or ones caused by humans. It would eliminate the need for hard hit areas to beg for money from the federal government.

The criteria for receiving funds and the level of funding available would be clear and set in advance. There would be no political and bureaucratic processes prior

AMFPHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK

A SAD SEQUEL TO SUPERSTORM SANDY

September 4, 2017

City & State New York

29

AMFPHOTOGRAPHY/SHUTTERSTOCK

IDEOLOGY IS A LUXURY WHEN A COMMUNITY FACES THE GIANT TASK OF RECONSTRUCTION.

PROPERTY WAS DEVASTATED BY HURRICANE HARVEY IN ROCKPORT, TEXAS, LAST WEEK.

to funding. The trust fund would be paid into by all Americans and would include enough money to ensure that it never ran out. In this way, all of us share equally in the payment and all of us have the security of knowing that our homes are fully insured.

The idea that people should be discouraged from living by the shore is built on an ill-informed set of assumptions about the housing market and mobility. Most cities are located near water; Houston is far from alone. New York City, Boston, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, New Orleans, Miami and nearly every major American city is located near a body of

water. Where would everyone go? And as a society, is it really more cost-effective to abandon the shorefront and the billions of dollars we’ve invested in infrastructure?

Surely, a more resilient, well-protected community is a better idea than a ghost town. Moreover, what if you moved from the shore only to see your home flooded by a swollen stream? Or destroyed by a tornado or earthquake? Or were the victim of terrorism? Running away is not an option.

One of the lessons of Harvey, Sandy and all the other storms is that these are now regular events and they should probably not be thought of as emergencies.

The lesson we need to learn is to assume these disasters will not go away, and be prepared to respond when they occur and rebuild when they are over.

■

Steven Cohen is the executive director of Columbia University’s Earth Institute and a professor in the practice of public affairs at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

30

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

September 4, 2017 Notice of Formation of EIGHT SPRINGS LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 5/17/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 405 Lexington Ave, NY, NY 10174.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

September 4, 2017

Notice of Qualification of ANBAU ACQUISITIONS, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/27/17. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/25/17.

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

SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 122072543. DE addr. of LLC: 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 Eastside Property 19, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 4/7/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 25 Robert Pitt Dr., Ste 204, Monsey, NY 10952. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is Vcorp Agent Services, Inc., 25 Robert Pitt Dr., Ste 204, Monsey, NY 10952.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of TAH 2017-1 DEPOSITOR LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/24/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 7/19/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Preston Ridge Partners, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/24/17.

Office location: New York Co. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 8/27/13. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of 5175 DEPEW RETAIL OUTPARCEL, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/25/17. Office location: New York Co. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/2/16.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of OM VENTURES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/25/17. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in New Jersey (NJ) on 05/17/16. NYS fictitious name: OM VENTURES USA, LLC. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LLC, 22 W. 48th St., Ste. 405, NY, NY 10036. NJ addr. of LLC: 3114 Tonnelle Ave., N. Bergen, NJ 07047-2312. Cert. of Form. filed with Acting State Treasurer, NJ Div. of Revenue, 33 W. State St., 5th Fl., Trenton, NJ 08608.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Dots Per Inch Music, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/12/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Precision and Flow Health LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) 6/14/17.

Office loc: NY County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process may be served and shall mail copy of process against LLC to princ bus addr: 200 Central Park S, 11J, NY, NY 10019. Purpose: any lawful act.

MERCER ESTATE CAPITAL, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 7/18/17. Office loc: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: The LLC, Erik Coler, 20 River Terrace, Apt.28B, NY, NY 10282.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

MHM Productions LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 7/12/2017. Off. Loc.: Richmond Co. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, 23 Mosel Ave, Staten Island, NY 10304. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of THE GUY’S CLUB, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/28/17. O f f i c e location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 2 Gansevoort St, Fl. 9, NY, NY 10014. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is Lindsay Rosenwald, 2 Gansevoort St, Fl. 9, NY, NY 10014.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of MV VILLAGE HOLDINGS LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/28/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 11 E 44th St, Ste 1001, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of MVANDA 6TH AVENUE LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/2/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 11 E 44th St, Ste 1001, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Cane & Co. Hospitality Group LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 2/22/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 270 1st Ave, Apt 12D, NY, NY 10009.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Quad Management Partners LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/9/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 8/4/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 77 Water St, Fl. 15, NY, NY 10005. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of The Feit Law Firm PLLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 5/30/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of PLLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 444 Madison Ave, FL. 41, NY, NY 10022. Purpose: Law.

Notice of Formation of S3 115 STANWIX LENDER LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/20/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 444 Madison Ave, Fl. 41, NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of CRAIGMINE LLC. Arts. Of Org. filed w/ Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 7/17/17. Office in NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Craig Kallman, 200 E. 62nd St., New York, NY 10065.

Purpose: any lawful act/activity.

Notice of Qualification of HANNON & COMPANY, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 5/30/17.

Office location: New York Co. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/24/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Mint Travel LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) 7/17/17. Office loc: NY County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 7014 13th Ave, Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Princ bus addr of LLC: 303 E. 83rd St. Apt 15D, NY, NY 10028. Purpose: any lawful act or activity .

Notice of Formation of Tabestan, LLC filed with SSNY 7/7/17. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to US Corp Agents 7014 13th Ave, Ste 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228. Princ Bus add: One Madison Ave, 8th Fl, D35Q, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of SOLITA SOHO HOTEL, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 3/26/04. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 202 Centre St, Fl. 6, NY, NY 10013.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

WHIZ REAL ESTATE LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 12/12/2016. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Kanfi, Levinzon, CPAs P.C., 237 West 35th St., Ste 702A, NY, NY 10001.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of CRESCENT SKY LENDING FACILITY – 1 LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/18/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 6/23/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 1745 Broadway, Ste 1736, NY, NY 10019. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

DIDYMA REALTY ASTORIA LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 3/17/2017.

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, 246 E. 44th St., New York, NY 10017. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of Isaac Neaves Designs LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) 6/29/17. Office location: NY County. SSNY is designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 11135 Auburn Glen, San Antonio, TX 78249.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of 58 NEWEL HOLDER, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/21/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 256 W 116th St, NY, NY 10026.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of MMM Capital LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/19/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 1370 Broadway, Fl. 4, NY, NY 10003.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

955 SECOND AVE PARTNERS LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 3/17/2017.

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, 246 E. 44th St., New York, NY 10017. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

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PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

September 4, 2017 Notice of Formation of KOAST LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 12/28/16. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 17-18 201 St, Bayside, NY 11360.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Qualification of HOUND PARTNERS MANAGEMENT, LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/10/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/05/17.

Princ. office of LP: 101 Park Ave., 47th Fl., NY, NY 10178.

Duration of LP is Perpetual.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Hound Partners Management GP, LLC, Attn: Jonathan Auerbach at the princ. office of the LP. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of LP 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 Qualification of CODE EIGHT, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/27/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 3/29/17.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Tuttle & Co. LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/18/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Kettlehole, LLC. Filed with SSNY on 7/14/17. Office: NY County. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail to: 343 E 30th St 8A NY NY 10016. Purpose: any lawful

Notice of Qualification of STANDARD GUADALUPE VENTURE LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/03/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/16/10.

Princ. office of LP: c/o Standard Property Company, Inc., 126 E. 56th St., 19th Fl., Ste. 1910, NY, NY 10022. Duration of LP is Perpetual. SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the LP at the addr. of its princ. office. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o NRAI Services, LLC, 160 Greentree Dr., Ste. 101, Dover, DE 19904. Cert. of LP filed with DE Secy. of State, 401 Federal St., Ste. 3, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of 400 CAPITAL ASSET BASED ONSHORE TERM FUND I LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 07/26/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/22/17.

Duration of LP is Perpetual.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership, 510 Madison Ave., 17th Fl., NY, NY 10022. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Dune Real Estate Fund IV LP. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/01/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/31/17.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Michael D. Sherman, General Counsel, Dune Real Estate Partners LP, 640 Fifth Ave., 17th Fl., NY, NY 10019, also the registered agent upon whom process may be served. Address to be maintained in DE: c/o The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Name/address of genl. ptr. available from SSNY. Cert. of LP filed with DE Secy. of State, DE Division of Corporations, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of Timm & Co. JPM LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/18/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Cummings & Co. LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/18/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Heissen & Co. LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/18/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of Kane & Co. JPM LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/18/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Dune Real Estate Partners IV LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/01/17. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 01/31/17.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Michael D. Sherman, General Counsel, Dune Real Estate Partners LP, 640 Fifth Ave., 17th Fl, NY, NY 10019, also the registered agent upon whom process may be served. Address to be maintained in DE: c/o The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Arts of Org. filed with the DE Secy. of State, DE Division of Corporations, John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St., Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of DIAMETER CAPITAL PARTNERS LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/07/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 11/22/16.

Duration of LP is Perpetual.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership, 24 W. 40th St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10018. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of TSI - LUCILLE ST. NICHOLAS AVENUE, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/1/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/31/17.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity .

Notice of Formation of 10NORTHEAST II LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 5/12/17.

Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 34 Desbrosses St, Apt 915, NY, NY 10013.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

443 WEST 44TH STREET NY 10036, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 07/11/2017.

Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Rainu Mahindra, 4 Talon Way, Dix Hills, NY 11746. Reg Agent: Rainu Mahindra, 4 Talon Way, Dix Hills, NY 11746.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of Quad Multi-Manager LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/9/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 8/4/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 77 Water St, Fl. 15, NY, NY 10005. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of 307 ASSETS LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/27/27. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 11 E 44th St, Ste 1001, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: any lawful activity .

LEGALNOTICES@ CITYANDSTATENY.COM

Notice of Formation of Citywide Hospitality, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/1/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 256 W 116th St, Fl. 2, NY, NY 10026.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of DIAMETER ONSHORE FUND LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/07/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 02/07/17.

Duration of LP is Perpetual.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to the Partnership, 24 W. 40th St., 5th Fl., NY, NY 10018. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: c/o Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808.

Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State of DE, Dept. of State, Div. of Corps., John Townsend Bldg., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity .

NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Family Health Physical Therapy, PLLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) 4/18/17. Office loc: NY County.

SSNY designated agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process against PLLC to: 111 Fulton St, APT 611, NY, NY 10038 Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of 30 Main St. PHA, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 5/9/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 635 20th St, Santa Monica, CA 90402.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of THE EMILIO HOLDINGS LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/28/17. Office location: New York County.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 11 E 44th St, Ste 1001, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of TSI - LUCILLE 42ND STREET, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/31/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/31/17.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

31

MindOpen Learning Strategies LLC Art. Of Org. Filed Sec. of State of NY 5/24/17. Off. Loc.: Richmond Co. SSNY designated agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY to mail copy of process to The LLC, 5 Stone St., SI, NY 10304. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Qualification of Fox/ UTV Holdings, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/7/17. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 10201 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90035. LLC formed in DE on 4/27/01. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served.

DE addr. of LLC: c/o The Corporation Trust Co., 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Qualification of ATW Master Fund II, L.P. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/11/17. Office location: New York County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/2/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 325 5th Ave, Apt 38C, NY, NY 10016.

DE address of LP: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805. Cert. of Limited Partnership filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. List of names and addresses of all general partners available from SSNY. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of ATW Partners GP II, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/10/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/2/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 325 5th Ave, Apt 38C, NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of NY Res REIT LP. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/17/17. Office location: New York County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 4/19/17.

SSNY is designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 555 Madison Ave, FL. 6, NY, NY 10022. DE address of LP: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805. Cert. of Limited Partnership filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. List of names and addresses of all general partners available from SSNY. Purpose: any lawful activity.

32

CityAndStateNY.com / PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES

GHETTO SCHOLAR, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/07/17. 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, 41 Madison Avenue, 33rd Floor, New York, NY 10010, ATTN: Joyce Ketay.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

LU’S ART GALLERY, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 02/13/2017. Office loc: NY County. SSNY has been designated as agent upon whom process against the LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O U.S. Corp. Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Reg Agent: U.S. Corp.

Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Formation of LOGER REALTY LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/03/17. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: the Company, c/o Gallet Dreyer & Berkey LLP, 845 Third Ave., NY, NY 10022, Attn: David I. Faust, Esq. Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of WSP 975 Walton Owner LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/15/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 8/7/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of WK Flat LA Venture, L.L.C. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/10/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 9/4/14. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. The name and address of the Reg. Agent is CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

YEMANY LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 05/10/2016.

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, 122 East 71st St, NY, NY 10021.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qual of Capacity Coverage Company of New Jersey, LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) 8/2/17 operating under the fictitious name of CCC of NJ LLC. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) 1/25/17. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o C T Corporation System, 111 Eighth Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE addr. of LLC: c/o The Corporation Trust Company, 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State of DE, Div. of Corps 401 Federal St, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of VELA NYC, LLC filed with SSNY on 5/1/2017. Office: NY County.

SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: c/o US Corp Agents, 7014 13th Ave, Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228.

Purpose: Lawful activity.

Notice of Auction 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 September 11, 2017 and end on September 20, 2017 at 12:00 p.m. to satisfy unpaid rent and charges on the following accounts: Contents of rooms generally contain misc.

Household goods and other effects. #116 - Santiago Gomez, #1433 & 1518 - Cindy Louis, #4319-1 - Quinsessa Harrison.

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.

Notice of Qualification of Kent Avon LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/25/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Connecticut (CT) on 5/30/14.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 152 W 57th St, Fl. 22, NY, NY 10019.

CT address of LLC: 750 Old Main St, Ste 300, Rocky Hill, CT 06067. Cert. of Formation filed with CT Secy of State, 30 Trinity St, Hartford, CT 06106.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Formation of CHS Marketing Solutions LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) 7/21/17.

Office loc: NY County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of process to: US Corp Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Princ bus addr of LLC: 8 Spruce St., Apt 57H, NY, NY 10038. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

September 4, 2017 Notice of Qualification of ATW Partners II, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/10/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 5/2/17.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 325 5th Ave, Apt 38C, NY, NY 10016. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Gramercy 128-130 West LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/31/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 6/12/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 14 W 23rd St, Fl. 5, NY, NY 10010. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Ridgewood Elmwood Owner, L.L.C. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/11/17. Office location: New York County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 8/10/17.

SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. DE address of LLC: 1209 Orange St, Wilmington, DE 19801.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of NY Residential REIT, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/17/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 12/12/16. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 555 Madison Ave, FL. 6, NY, NY 10022. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805. Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of PB 23rd Street Manager LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 7/31/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 6/12/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 14 W 23rd St, FL. 5, NY, NY 10010. DE address of LLC: 1013 Centre Rd, Ste 403-B, Wilmington, DE 19805.

Cert. of Formation filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

FN3 LLC Filed 12/1/16 Office: New York Co. SSNY designated as agent for process & shall mail t o : 2541 Broadway, New York, NY 10025 Purpose: all lawful Notice of Qualification of CaptionMax LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/02/17. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Minnesota (MN) on 05/04/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 111 Eighth Ave., NY, NY 10011, also the registered agent upon whom process may be served. Address to be maintained in MN: 2438 27th Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55406. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 60 Empire Dr., Ste. 100, St. Paul, MN 55103.

Purpose: any lawful activities .

Notice of Qualification of Corvus Medicine LLC. App for Auth filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) 8/1/17. Office loc: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) 1/20/17. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: Attn: Michael Ventura, 353 W 12 St, NY, NY 10014. DE address of LLC: 300 Delaware Ave, Ste 210A, Wilmington, DE 19801.

Cert of Form filed with DE Secy of State, 401 Federal St. #4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Qualification of Columbia REIT - 149 Madison, LLC. Authority filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/15/17.

Office location: NY County.

Princ. bus. addr.: One Glenlake Pkwy., Ste. 1200, Atlanta, GA 30328. LLC formed in DE on 1/24/17. NY Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave., NY, NY 10011, regd. agent upon whom process may be served. DE addr. of LLC: 1209 Orange St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Sec. of State, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Qualification of AFW ASSOCIATES LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/16/17.

Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 06/19/17. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with DE Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

CITYANDSTATENY.COM

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1304718 FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW 620 VANDERBILT AVE BROOKLYN, NY 11238.

KINGS COUNTY, FOR ONPREMISE CONSUMPTION. CASUAL CAFÉ PARTNERS LLC. NOTICE OF FORMATION OF Karen R Gray, LLC. Arts of Org filed with Secy of State of NY (SSNY) 7/25/17.

Office loc: NY County. SSNY designated agent upon whom process against LLC may be served. SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to: c/o US Corp Agents, Inc. 7014 13th Ave. Ste 202 Brooklyn, NY 11228 Princ bus addr of LLC: 301 W 108th St Apt 9E NY, NY 10025 Purpose: any lawful act or activity CAXTON ATLANTIC LLC Articles of Org. filed NY Sec. of State (SSNY) 8/23/2017.

Office in NY Co. SSNY desig. agent of LLC whom process may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to Citrin Cooperman & Company, LLP, Attn: Jeff Slavet, 529 Fifth Ave., 9th Fl, NY, NY 10017.

Purpose: Any lawful purpose.

Notice of Formation of HIGH VIOLET LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 03/06/17. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 15 Renwick St., Apt. 504, NY, NY 10013. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o U.S. Corp.

Agents, Inc., 7014 13th Ave., Ste. 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228, regd. agent upon whom and at which process may be served.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1304690 FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR

BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW 25-23 PARSONS BLVD FLUSHING, NY 11354.

QUEENS COUNTY, FOR ONPREMISE CONSUMPTION. MANA PIZZA INC.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN THAT A LICENSE, SERIAL # 1304689, FOR WINE & BEER HAS BEEN APPLIED FOR BY THE UNDERSIGNED TO SELL WINE & BEER AT RETAIL UNDER THE ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL LAW 413 TOMPKINS AVE BROOKLYN, NY 11216.

KINGS COUNTY, FOR ONPREMISE CONSUMPTION. BROOKLYN BABY CAKES INC.

Notice of Formation of MAD Creative Production Agency, LLC filed with SSNY 6/23/17.

Office: NY County. SSNY designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail copy of process to LLC: 82 Irving Place, 1B, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: any lawful act or activity.

Notice of Formation of EnSys, LLC. Arts of Org. filed with New York Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/23/17. Office location: New York County. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 W 128th St, Apt 4, NY, NY 10027.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

SIZS REALTY LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/22/2017. 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, 111 Fulton Street, Unit 808, NY, NY 10038. Reg Agent: Suhail Sitaf, 111 Fulton Street, Unit 608, NY, NY 10038.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

Notice of Qualification of MHL Capital Partners LLC. Authority filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/15/17. Office location: NY County.

LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 03/31/16. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: Mortar, 243 W. 30th St., Ste 400, NY, NY 10001.

Address to be maintained in DE: 108 West 13th St., Wilmington, DE 19801. Arts of Org. filed with the Secy. of State, 401 Federal St, Ste 4, Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Qualification of COMMONWEALTH EQUITY SERVICES, LLC. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/21/17. Office location: New York County.

LLC formed in Massachusetts (MA) on 8/1/17. SSNY is designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. MA address of LLC: 29 Sawyer Rd, Waltham, MA 02453. Cert. of Formation filed with MA Secy of State, McCormack Bldg, 1 Ashburton Pl., FL. 17, Boston, MA 02108.

Purpose: any lawful activity.

Notice of Authority of THOMPSON COBURN LLP. Authority filed with NY Secy of State (SSNY) on 8/18/17.

Office location: New York County. LLP formed in Missouri (MO) on 2/23/99. SSNY is designated as agent of LLP upon which process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: C/O CT Corporation System, 111 8th Ave, NY, NY 10011. Princ. Executive Office Add.: 157 E 86th St, Ste 204, NY, NY 10028. Cert. of Registration filed with MO Secy of State, 600 W Main St, Jefferson City, MO 65101. Purpose: Law.

PUBLIC and LEGAL NOTICES / CityAndStateNY.com

September 4, 2017 STORAGE Midtown Moving & Storage Inc. will sell at Public Auction at 810 East 170 Street, Bronx NY 10459 at 6:00 P.M. on SEPTEMBER 12, 2017 for due and unpaid charges by virtue of a 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: -BOYD ELLIOT -CONSI SUZANNE -DEJESUS STEPHANIE/GUZMAN LUIS -FARFAN TEXI -GUY GURD AS ADMINISTRATOR FOR THE ESTATE OF MARIE GURD -GEIGER BARRY -ISSA ZAKAIRA -JOHNSON ERICKA -JULIE MELLONY-FRASIER -JACKSON JOEL -YURY LARGO -MAMBY JULIETTE/ISSA BOUBACAR/JOHN +JANE DOE -MEYERS LYNDA/WILKERSON GERRI BLACK -MURRAY KRITAL -MOLKANOVA MARIA -MARRERO GLENDA -PAWANI BRAD -QUINONES ELBIE -RAMIA MARTHA -REINES SAUNDRA -SOHEN GARTH -STEELE JACQUES/JACQUES AS SURVIVING ISSUE OF ELIZABETH STEELE, DECEASED TENANT OF RECORD -SCIPIO FATIMA -TAPIERO BRAYAN -WOODS STEVENT -ZIMMERMAN DIANE -YU MENGYING -SHAPIRO CARON -SIMONE SACKEY/OHN DOE ; JANE DOE -PERRY LAVON -MORALES JR. JUAN -KENNER SHLOMO -BYRD OVIDA/ABER RICKIE

For more info. please email or call: 212-268-0442, ext. 2039 legalnotices@ cityandstateny.com

Notice of Formation of Cracking Up LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/17/17. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 205 West 76th St. #904, NY, NY 10023.

Purpose: any lawful activities.

Notice of Formation of BUNNY EARS, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/24/17. 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 Franklin, Weinrib, Rudell & Vassallo, P.C., 488 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

EURO TRIBECA LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with the SSNY on 08/28/2017. 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, 718 Thompson Lane, Ste 108256, Nashville, TN 37204.

Purpose: Any Lawful Purpose.

AT&T proposes to collocate antennas (tip heights 66’) on the building at 300 West 72nd St, New York, NY (20170803). Interested parties may contact Scott Horn (856809-1202) (1012 Industrial Dr., West Berlin, NJ 08091) with comments regarding potential effects on historic properties.

Notice of Formation of Slow Design, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State on 8/10/17. Office location: NY County. Princ. bus. addr.: 134 10th Ave., Ste. #2/3, NY, NY 10011. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Michael D. Friedman, c/o Troutman Sanders LLP, 875 Third Ave., NY, NY 10022.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Notice of Formation of HourApp, LLC. Arts. of Org. filed with NY Dept. of State: 8/18/17. Office location: NY Co. Sec. of State designated agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served and shall mail process to: Liana C. Silverstein, 85 East End Ave., Apt. 11JK, NY, NY 10028, principal business address.

Purpose: all lawful purposes.

Gabe’s Maintenance Service, LLC, Arts. of Org. filed with SSNY 8/16/17. Office loc: NY County. SSNY designated as agent upon whom process against LLC may be served.

SSNY shall mail process to: 90 State St, Ste 700, Office 40 Albany, NY 12207. Princ bus addr: 330 E 26th St, Apt 7G, NY, NY 10010. Purpose: Any lawful act or activity.

PUBLIC NOTICE

UNCLAIMED FUNDS? WE CAN PUBLISH! CALL DANIELLE 212-268-0442, EXT 2039 CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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Notice of Qualification of ARNHOLD LP Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 08/24/17. Office location: NY County. LP formed in Delaware (DE) on 07/14/17.

Duration of LP is Perpetual.

SSNY designated as agent of LP upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Arnhold GP LLC, c/o Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Attn: Christian Brockman, 575 Madison Ave., NY, NY 10022. Name and addr. of each general partner are available from SSNY. DE addr. of LP: Corporation Service Co., 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of LP filed with Secy. of State, State of DE, 401 Federal St., Dover, DE 19901.

Purpose: Any lawful activity.

CITYANDSTATENY.COM

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CityAndStateNY.com

September 4, 2017

CITY & STATE NEW YORK MANAGEMENT & PUBLISHING CEO Steve Farbman, President & Publisher Tom Allon tallon@cityandstateny.com, Vice President of Strategy Jasmin Freeman, Comptroller David Pirozzi dpirozzi@cityandstateny.com, Business & Operations Manager Patrea Patterson

Who was up and who was down last week

LOSERS DAVID DINKINS The former mayor’s gift to New York City keeps on giving, as the U.S. Open just set a new opening day attendance record. Despite cries from his baseball-loving successor Rudy Giuliani, Dinkins negotiated a long-term lease in the waning days of his mayoralty to keep the event in Queens. No matter who wins on the court, the city is rolling in the green, with an economic impact of almost $1 billion.

OUR PICK

OUR PICK

WINNERS

There’s a certain style we call “politician storm chic.” De Blasio’s gotten into it with a personalized Department of Sanitation jacket, but the real Storm King of New York is Andrew Cuomo, who rocks oversized polos in the summer and jackets in the fall. But even he was upstaged last week by FLOTUS Melania, who jetted off to Hurricane Harvey in heels. We’ll see who’s laughing when the famously competitive Cuomo tries to tow a car in blue and yellow three-inchers.

PRODUCTION creativedepartment@cityandstateny.com Creative Director Guillaume Federighi, Senior Graphic Designer Alex Law, Graphic Designer Kewen Chen, Junior Graphic Designer Aaron Aniton, Digital Content Coordinator Michael Filippi, Multimedia Director Bryan Terry

TED CRUZ First he blasted a relief package in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Then he took a cheap shot with his remark about “New York values.” So when the Texas senator found himself facing a natural disaster in his own backyard, it’s no surprise that fellow Republicans like Rep. Pete King of New York and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took the opportunity to point out that Cruz is the kind of guy who plays politics while people suffer.

THE BEST OF THE REST

THE REST OF THE WORST

ADRIENNE ADAMS & PETER KOO

CHRIS COLLINS

Cuomo hasn’t offered de Blasio support, but did back two City Council candidates.

RAFAEL ESPINAL

The councilman’s “night mayor” bill is a dream come true for club owners.

When you’re in hot water for connections to a company, don’t run for the board again.

RICHARD LUTHMANN

This Staten Island lawyer allegedly worked with candidate Ron Castorina to make a fake Facebook page to smear an opponent.

SRINI PENUMELLA

SARAH PALIN

STEVE SIGMUND

ED WALSH

His firm raked in $6.1M in contracts – after de Blasio faves Hilltop put in a good word.

More students opting in is great news for HANY and its “say yes to the test” agenda.

EDITORIAL editor@cityandstateny.com Editor-in-Chief Jon Lentz jlentz@cityandstateny.com, Features and Opinions Editor Nick Powell npowell@ cityandstateny.com, Editor-at-Large Gerson Borrero gborrero@cityandstateny.com, New York Nonprofit Media Editor-at-Large Aimée Simpierre asimpierre@nynmedia. com, Managing Editor Ryan Somers, Digital Editorial Director Derek Evers devers@cityandstateny.com, Senior Reporter Frank G. Runyeon frunyeon@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Jeff Coltin jcoltin@cityandstateny.com, Staff Reporter Dan Rosenblum drosenblum@nynmedia.com, Copy Editor Eric Holmberg, Editorial Assistant Grace Segers gsegers@cityandstateny.com

ADVERTISING Vice President of Advertising Jim Katocin jkatocin@ cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Scott Augustine saugustine@cityandstateny.com, Account/Business Development Executive Danielle Mowery dmowery@cityandstateny.com, Sales Associate Cydney McQuillan-Grace cydney@cityandstateny.com EVENTS events@cityandstateny.com Events Manager Lissa Blake, Senior Events Coordinator Alexis Arsenault, Marketing & Events Coordinator Jamie Servidio

Vol. 6 Issue 34 September 4, 2017

CIT YANDSTATENY.COM

@CIT YANDSTATENY

September 4, 2017

Cover by Guillaume Federighi

The former vice presidential candidate lost her libel suit against the Times. Gotcha!

No do-overs – the ex-Suffolk Conservative Party chief has to serve time after all.

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.

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General: (212) 268-0442, info@cityandstateny.com Copyright ©2017, City & State NY, LLC

SAVE THE DATE! Thursday, September 28 8:00am - 12:00pm Museum of Jewish Heritage 36 Battery Pl, New York, NY 10280

Topics Include: Energy-efficient Initiatives to Decrease NY’s Carbon Footprint The Future of Food Sustainability Improving Water Quality and Resiliency Featured Speakers:

Kathryn Garcia

Commissioner New York City Department of Sanitation

Vincent Sapienza

Acting Commissioner NYC Department of Environmental Protection

Mark Chambers Director NYC Mayor’s Office of Sustainability

Gale Brewer

Manhattan Borough President

RSVP at CityAndStateNY.com/Events For more information on programming and sponsorship opportunities, please contact Lissa Blake at lblake@cityandstateny.com

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