Opinion: Money for Neighborhoods, Not for War and Bailouts

Editor's Note: This Op-Ed originally ran in last month's issue of the Tremont Tribune. The author, Heidi Hynes, is executive director of the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center in Crotona.

By HEIDI HYNES 

In September, the City of New York demanded that the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center start paying the Department of Education rent for use of our building on Mapes Avenue. It turns out that the city which is home to Wall Street and an Education Department with a budget larger than some towns, needs the children living in the poorest urban Congressional district in the country to forgo services so that we can pay the City $30,000 per year.

Since that time I have spoken to a priest about the cuts to senior programs at his parish. I’ve been contacted to join an emergency committee of after-school program providers to stop the proposed cut of 17,000 child care vouchers for families on public assistance. I was asked to travel to Albany to testify at a public hearing in opposition to proposed cuts to Medicaid. I was provided a list of elected officials to call in response to cuts proposed for the Health Department. A coworker approached me to find out how she could get involved in any effort to save Head Start. The director of a non-profit housing company predicted that the number of apartment buildings that will go into foreclosure is going to skyrocket. And, like every other public school parent, I’m just waiting to find out how a system that is already struggling is going to handle deep budget cuts.

With all this worry and organizing to stop the cuts, it is easy to think that we are in a budget crisis. There is not enough money to provide social services, we all need to tighten our belts, the trouble is grandma’s pension or public school teachers getting paid to sit in the “rubber room.” That is one load of manure.

Governor Paterson Spreads Message Hope and Frugality in the Bronx

Last night, Governor Paterson came alive on the stage of a Lehman College auditorium during a "Community Conversation," promising a better future for the Bronx while rattling off statistics of how he has improved the borough and the state since he has been in office.

“No one would know the despair of unemployment like the people in the Bronx would,” said Paterson, who said that the Bronx unemployment statistics indicate a state of emergency. However, at the same time, the governor openly admitted that New York is going to have a negative cash balance for the first time in the state’s history. “What we will have to do is tighten our belts,” said Paterson.

Before Paterson took the stage with his double-sided message, Councilman Oliver Koppell (who represents the district that includes Lehman College), Bronx BP Ruben Diaz, Jr., Assemblyman Carl E. Heastie and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz each took a moment to express their support for the governor. Not surprisingly, Diaz came to the stage booming, "Is the Bronx in the house tonight?!" and got the crowd of Bronx residents cheering on their feet.

After Diaz left the stage, the crowd quickly turned more serious. When Paterson arrived, the crowd was clearly happy to see and communicate with such a powerful elected official, but they also wanted answers about how the Bronx is going to survive and earn money in this recession.

The audience was most concerned with the proposed MTA cutbacks. In the most recent proposed cutbacks, the MTA would no longer offer MetroCards to public school students. This has caused a universal outrage throughout the Bronx, where many parents are unable to afford a daily MetroCard for their kids. Single parents, teachers and students all asked the governor about how he plans on dealing with this financial and educational crisis.

“No one should not go to school because they cannot afford to get there,” said Paterson among a wave of applause. “Between now and September I will find a way to make sure the young people will not pay for these MetroCards.”

Bronx residents also hounded Paterson for more money for school programs, small businesses and better insurance policies.

While the governor could not make any definite promises or plans for the future since the state is currently posting a deficit, he did remind the crowd that during his years in office he has fought for and improved minority business ratings and school programs. Still, he will have to cut back a number of programs to get the state out of debt.

"I am not going to let New York State run out of money on my watch," said Paterson.

Bronx News Roundup, April Fool's Day

Not surprisingly, the state government failed to meet it's April 1 budget deadline, passing only one budget bill last night.

However, Bronx State Senator Ruth Hassell-Thompson, provided some drama and heroics when she was rushed to the hospital, diagnosed with walking pneumonia, and then later returned, accompanied by three paramedics to vote on the one budget bill. Her fellow lawmakers gave her a standing ovation.

From now on, we will call Hassell-Thompson the Willis Reed of New York state senators.

And MTA rescue plan, which was reportedly coming together yesterday, was again derailed by a small group of state senators (this time of the upstate variety) who balked at a higher payroll tax.

Two Liberian immigrants who lived in the Bronx and were killed in the former Long Island condo of football player Jonathan Vilma may have been murdered as payback for a counterfeit money scam they concocted.

Yesterday, the Daily News' Bob Kappstatter dished on the vacant county clerkship, Diaz, Jr.'s plans for a swift transition and district leader Kenny Agosto's language skills.

More from the Times on the mishandling of the Yankees community fund money.

Just to flesh this out a little here: Basically, a lawyer hired by the Yankees to oversee the fund filed a lawsuit against Serafin Mariel, who is the chairman of fund, for putting the money into the bank (New York Community Bank) he founded and still works for. The lawyer says this constitutes a conflict of interest. And also, because the money isn't earning any interest, he says it's just irresponsible investment. The lawyer also says the fund hasn't paid him the $35,000 he says the Yankees said he would be paid for overseeing the fund.

Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr. and Councilman Joel Rivera (who helped appoint Mariel) both defended him, but said the matter would be up to the courts to decide. Hope that helps.

Speaking of the Yankees, Metro-North officials say the stop at the new Stadium will open on May 23.

About those budget cuts ...

As politicians from City Hall to Albany ready their budget scalpels -- or more likely, hatchets -- in response to the distrastrous collapse of the financial industry, it would do us all some good to remind ourselves what's likely to happen if we starve our neighborhoods of services. The Daily News' Errol Louis has a thought-provoking column on this today.

Where will we get the money to stave off draconian cuts tosocial and city services? Well, I obviously have a lot more reporting/research to do on this before I can claim to know what I'm talking about, but my first thought is: Is it really so crazy to talk about significant property tax increases? I mean, I pay ridiculously low property taxes on my house in Kingsbridge Heights -- not to mention the $400 rebate check Mayor Bloomberg sends me every year. What's more likely to send property owner scurrying out of the city? A tax increase or a rapid erosion in park maintenance sanitation services, and funding for schools and social programs? I'm just thinking out loud here, people. Just getting the conversation started. What are your ideas? How should our city and state leaders address this crisis?

I didn't live here durig the 1970s fiscal crisis and its disastrous aftermath, but I have a pretty good idea that we don't want to go back there.

I know a lot of elected officials and their staffs read this blog. So, let's get a dialogue going here. We don't expect you to have all the the answers. No one does. We just want to know what you're thinking, because after all, you're the ones in the position to help us get back up on our fiscal feet.

We look forward to hearing from you.

One final note: We'll re-post to the main blog any comments on this issue from elected officials or their staffs who post comments and identify themselves. And we'll also consider re-posting other reader comments if you likewise sign your first and last name.