Count Foster in for BP Race

Councilmember Helen Diane Foster told the Highbridge Horizon Friday that she will run for Bronx Borough President.

"I officially decided that I am running for Bronx Borough President," Foster said. "We haven't officially announced it yet, meaning [haven't] done the announcement press conference."

Foster said she expected to hold this press conference within the next 2 or 3 months.

Other topics the councilmember addressed during a nearly hour-long interview today included: police brutality against African-Americans, and the ongoing trial of the NYPD officers who killed Sean Bell; her thoughts on Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion; reactions to recent press that slammed her for missing the congestion pricing vote; and the need for greater public transporation in the Bronx.

Look for the Q+A of today's interview in the April issue of the Highbridge Horizon, which hits the streets April 24.

Congestion Pricing Reaction

Thanks to everyone for writing in and offering your opinion about the failed congestion pricing plan and everything else. This blog was created as a forum for conversation and debate about issues that affect local residents. In an effort to keep that debate going, we thought we'd re-post more prominently the quality discussion going on about congestion pricing. Feel free to keep the discussion going.

Anonymous said...
Thank YOU! At least the government did one thing right! Bloomberg and his rush for personal agenda legislation has been defeated. It's about time!Anonymous said...

Thank you Jeffrey for sticking up for us poor beleaguered Bronxites. We all know that Bloomberg's agenda is to keep out the supposed "riff raff" from Manhattan so the very rich in their limos. don't have to wait so long in traffic. He won't be happy until Manhattan is roped off from anyone making less than $1,000,000 a year.

Anonymous said...

I completely disagree! In fact, this plan would have benefited everyone in the city, as less traffic would mean better air quality. Also, it is the rich who have cars in the first place, with gas prices so high, and the poor are the ones who rely on the subway the most. This proposed plan would have significantly increased the MTA's budget, allowing for better service to all the working class people in all five boroughs, funded by the wealthy who drive their expensive cars. Bloomberg has done such a wonderful job as mayor -- too bad he's not running for president.

G.

Anonymous said...
I'm sure all the people who live near Broadway, the Major Deegan and the Grand Concourse are thanking Dinowitz for heading off an eight percent reduction in the cars traveling through their neighborhoods. What a victory!

Michael Konrad said...
I live in the Northwest Bronx. I'm a working class, union guy making under $40,000 year. I take both the subway and ride a bike to work. I can't afford to drive and wouldn't even if I could. Most New Yorkers use mass transit.

We needed congestion pricing for improvements to the subway system, new Metro-North stations in the Bronx and particularly bus rapid transit (where bus drivers would have the ability to turn the light green in their favor). You can forget about those improvements now.

And now that it's been killed, none of congestion pricing's opponents have put forth any realistic alternatives to funding transit. They've proposed broad-based taxes, which are more regressive than pricing, and leaves no guarantee that the money will actually get spent on transit improvements.

Every complaint against congestion pricing has been addressed, yet our "leaders" still failed us. It was to be a 3 year trial. The poor with no choice but driving were going to receive a credit. The revenue was going into a lock box. We would have received either a portion of the NJ tolls or a lump payment from the Port Authority.

Prepare for a fare hike while the wealthy continue to drive into the central business district and hog public space with their autos while degrading our air. Thanks a lot Dinowitz, Silver and the other State Democrats. I'm a lifelong progressive, and I'll vote Republican before electing you guys again.

Dinowitz Praises Death of Congestion Pricing

Well, it appears the mayor's Congestion Pricing plan ran into a brick wall known as the New York State Assembly, despite all the love from Bronx council members. Here's more on Assembly Majority Leader Sheldon Silver's announcement that “The congestion pricing bill did not have anywhere near a majority of the Democratic conference, and will not be on the floor of the Assembly.”

Democratic Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, who represents the northwest Bronx, was quick to issue a release praising the Assembly's rejection of the plan as a “huge victory for the people of the Bronx and all of New York.”

Dinowitz listed an army of reasons why he didn't support the project, saying, “Aside from disagreeing with the basic concept of congestion pricing, there were many specific aspects of the plan that were unacceptable. It was unfair and outrageous to charge people from the city the $8 but let residents of New Jersey off the hook."

More on congestion pricing. Serrano blasts Yankee Stadium parking "loophole" as counter productive

Now, onto some updates. In our congestion pricing story, we noted that Helen Foster was the only Bronx council member not to vote for the plan because she was absent. Well, it turns out she was in Vegas attending a mysterious "family" event. She meant to get back, she said, but her plane was delayed. It also turns out that she was vehemently against congestion pricing and would have been the only Bronx CM to vote against the plan.

Here's a few snippets from Foster's press release: "It is clear that asthma, traffic pollution, congestion, and transportation infrastructure are problems that need to be addressed...While congestion pricing may help with downtown Manhattan congestion, it may well transfer congestion and higher asthma rates to the South Bronx...I am disappointed that the Council passed congestion pricing, but I am still hoping that the Legislature and the Governor will reject the measure."

Furthermore, Foster says: "Experience shows that asthma and truck traffic did not seem to concern the Mayor and other elected officials when they approved the construction of the new Yankee Stadium."

Speaking of Yankee Stadium, State Senator Jose M. Serrano, who shares constituents with Foster, sent out a letter last night to the Mayor and media saying he supported congestion pricing, but worried that a loophole concerning the new Yankee Stadium parking garages might defeat the whole purpose of congestion pricing -- reducing congestion and pollution from cars commuting into the city.

For now, the stadium's parking garages are only open on game days, 81 days a year. But apparently the Yankees may be able to open up the garages year round, possibly turning it into what Serrano called a "park and ride" for commuters and a parking destination for people working in the South Bronx who normally use mass transit.

"Expanding commuter parking defeats the purpose and spirit of congestion pricing, the whole point of which is to encourage commuters to leave their cars at home and to enhance mass transit. "

Serrano said a decision on the new parking lots will be made by the city in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, the state legislature is wrangling with the congestion pricing beast as we speak. It will be interesting to see if Serrano makes a stand against congestion pricing if the Yankee Stadium loophole remains open.

New in the Norwood News

Ladies and gentleman, the latest issue of the Norwood News is out on Bronx streets and online now. Here's a quick preview, with links to our stories:

Two murders rocked the 52nd Precinct two weekends ago, tripling the total homicides for the year.

Fordham Road's express bus service gets an upgrade.

Anna Rogovin, the 91-year-old Norwood resident hit by a semi a couple of weeks ago, is alert, talkative and upbeat despite having both of her legs severed in the accident. Don't miss this heart-warming personal essay.

Advocates of Williamsbridge Oval Park came out in force last week, demanding safety improvements at the local hub from city agencies.

The Bronx council delegation (almost) unanimously supports the mayor's Congestion Pricing initiative.

Plus, an op-ed about immigration reform...volunteers clean the blighted Aqueduct Walk...an extended online version of Neighborhood Notes...and our local entertainment guide.

Enjoy and give us your feedback! Join the conversation!

Foster Savaged in The Times for "Conspicuous Absence"

In Wednesday's Times, Bronx pol Helen Foster is heavily criticized for failing to attend "perhaps the most important vote of the year for the City Council" - Monday's congestion pricing vote. The other 50 council members showed up.

Foster, who's considering running for borough president, claims she was unable to attend because her flight back from Las Vegas was delayed. Still, it doesn't look good. As reporter Ray Rivera points out, she has one of the worst attendance records in the Council.

Foster tells The Times that, if there, she would have voted against the plan. Her Bronx counterparts, on the other hand, voted unanimously to adopt it, despite the opposition of most Bronx residents. The final vote was 30-20 in favor. See here for a list of who was for and who was against.

Congestion Pricing Deal and Gonzalez Trial Update

In his super-juicy Bronx politics column this week, Bob Kapstatter says Mayor Bloomberg is pushing his Congestion Pricing plan in the borough by dangling transit incentives in exchange for support.

Also, there's an even juicier (in our opinion) little nugget about indicted State Senator Efrain Gonzalez, who is facing federal fraud and corruption charges. Kappy says Gonzalez's lawyer, "Don't Worry" Murray Richman tells him that the embattled senator is fighting to have his trial date pushed back to September.

That would allow Gonzalez to get on the ballot for the Democratic primary.

Now, if Gonzalez is convicted things could get interesting. From what we've been told, if no other Democratic candidates get enough signatures to get on the ballot, the Bronx Democratic Party, headed by Jose Rivera, will choose a replacement candidate.

Rivera is set for a pre-trial hearing on April 7, according to Kapstatter.

Bronx News Roundup Nov. 19

A firefighter was seriously injured yesterday after falling two stories while fighting a fire on Shakespeare Avenue in Highbridge.

News, in the Daily News, of a thriving Bronx business that brings festive cheer to the streets of New York.

James Calderon, a Bronx detective, was arrested last week on charges that he and others ran a drug dealing operation that stretched from the Bronx to Virginia. Cops latched onto Calderon after he tried to retrieve an impounded car from the 44th Precinct in Highbridge. Later, when cops searched the car, they found a kilo of heroin. Now, the Daily News has caught up with an ex-girlfriend who describes Calderon as an abusive drunk. Heroin? Violence? Police corruption? Sounds like something out of Ridley Scott's new flick, American Gangster, much of which, incidentally, while based in Harlem, was actually shot in the west Bronx. (Presumably, Harlem's new condos and upscale coffee joints grated with the gritty 1970s urban landscape Scott was trying to portray.)

According to a new Quinnipiac University poll, 70 percent of Bronxites now oppose the Mayor's congestion pricing plan, against a citywide average of 61 percent.

The Times looks at how City Harvest, an non-profit that combats hunger, is trying to alleviate the city's chronic food shortage. The organization, the paper says, is working with farmers to transport unwanted fresh produce - produce that would otherwise rot in the fields or be ploughed over - to poor city neighborhoods including the South Bronx.

A Bronx View of Congestion Pricing

Miquela Craytor and I have been attacked and defended on Streetsblog for questioning Congestion Pricing in terms of how the money raised will be spent, particularly on improved transit for the Bronx, and how the impact of things like a potential park and ride uses at Yankee stadium will be mitigated. We wondered if there would be any money left over after the City got the #7 line extended in Manhattan and the express to JFK from Wall Street built.

Now comes Crain’s magazine for November 12-18 with a few updates. In The Insider column, Erik Engquist and Anne Michaud write under the headline “Higher tolls may block traffic plan” that “Insiders say the congestion pricing net revenue — money available for transit improvements — is now only $70 million a year” not the $100, $200 or $390 million advertised because toll increases will increase the discount, meaning people using toll bridges to Manhattan will “pay virtually nothing.”

And in a column about a possible fare hike, Greg David offers: “The Partnership for New York City and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff … (and Crain’s) want transit money spent on new projects that boost the economy – principally extending the No. 7 subway line to the West Side and linking downtown to Jamaica and JFK.” Apparently MTA chief Lee Sander would rather spend money on projects that “improve the current system” such as the Second Avenue Subway.

Be that as it may, the list of big ticket projects going forward in Manhattan that are starving the outer boroughs for resources, goes well beyond any of the above. Here’s Henry Stern’s take from a couple of years ago in his New York Civic e-letter:

….On the capital side, however, the MTA is wasteful beyond reckoning, with three unnecessary projects in Lower Manhattan alone. The $450,000,000 South Ferry subway station, replacing a station that has worked well since 1912, is one. The problem here is that you must leave or board the 1 or 9 train on only five cars, because the old station was built in 1912 as a local stop. For access, 10 is better than five, but the difference is not worth half a billion dollars, which is probably less than the sum the reconstruction will end up costing.

The second boondoggle is the Fulton Street station reconstruction. This will take at least a billion dollars, and it is minor rerouting of existing lines, with an arcade to the former World Trade Center. Yes, some work should be done here, but the whole nine yards is unnecessary.

But these exercises in extravagance pale when compared to the two billion dollars that the Port Authority plans to spend on a subway station to replace the one destroyed on 9/11. The station has already been replaced, at a cost of $320 million, and the new station is operating. Now it is to be torn down, and the mother of all subway stations will be built. The architect is Santiago Calatrava, of Spain, who is world-renowned for his work. But if the project is unnecessary, it would not matter if Frank Lloyd Wright himself were exhumed in order to design it …

I must also add to this list the $7 or more billion to build East Side Access for the Long Island Railroad to Grand Central, the howevermanybillion Moynihan Station for NJ Transit and Amtrak and the newly revived $8 billion Access to the Regions Core - building another tunnel from New Jersey.

Congestion pricing promises 21 buses and maybe two or three train stations on the Amtrak line (Coop City, Parkchester and Hunts Point) that we were promised when East Side access took the Highbridge yards (a major potential Bronx waterfront development site) for a big car wash. And yes, the Second Avenue Subway might reduce crowding on the old Lexington IRT helping some Bronxites. But if 1 million more New Yorkers are around by then, with hundreds of thousands of new jobs on the West Side and Downtown, who knows?

Near as we can figure, there are nearly $19 billion dollars in projects in line before anything like that replacement for the Third Avenue el that we were promised when they tore it down in the 1970s.

Report on Last Night's Bronx Congestion Pricing Forum

Here's Streetsblog's take on last night's congestion pricing forum in Riverdale hosted by Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz.

Congestion Pricing Forum

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is hosting a forum on congestion pricing tomorrow night in Rivedale. From his press release ....

The forum will be held at Riverdale Temple, located at Independence Avenue and West 246th Street. Speaking in favor of congestion pricing will be Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO of the Partnership for New York City. Speaking in opposition to congestion pricing will be Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions.

Residents of the Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Van Cortlandt Village, Norwood, Woodlawn and Wakefield communities will be given an opportunity to ask questions and make statements on this important issue. I urge you to participate.

Congestion Pricing Forum

When: Thursday, October 11th – 7:30 p.m.

Where: Riverdale Temple – 4545 Independence Avenue

(Independence Avenue and West 246th Street)

Bronx News Roundup for Sept. 4

In today's Metro, Patrick Arden has the story on how, a full-year after the new Yankee Stadium's groundbreaking ceremony, the non-profit that was supposed to dole out $800,000 to other Bronx non-profits (a kind of compensation package for the borough's loss of parkland), has yet to be set up.

Mayor Bloomberg has announced that all Bronx residential and municipal waste will now leave the Bronx by train not truck. In theory this will improve air quality and traffic congestion.

On Saturday night, a woman and four men died in East Tremont after the SUV they were travelling in crashed and slammed into a lamppost.

There were numerous upbeat back-to-school stories in today's papers. This article in the Daily News paints a darker picture of students' academic futures. Dropping out remains a "persistent and pervasive problem" in much of the Bronx, says the paper.

Also in today's Daily News Bronx Boro section, is this piece about Dominicans leaving Washington Heights for the Bronx. In the past few months there's been several stories about this trend. See here and here. Both examine how high Manhattan rents are responsible for the migration. Today's story says Dominicans are also moving because the Bronx is safer, and because there's a better quality of life on offer.

Again in the Daily News, there's more on the mayor's congestion pricing proposal. Apparently there's been grumblings that the Congestion Pricing Committee doesn't have a single Bronx elected official on it. And here's an opinion piece by Assemblymen Jeffrey Dinowitz on the Croton Filtration plant fiasco.

News Roundup for July 18

Three people were shot yesterday in a bodega on 166th and Summit, across from PS 126, according to Gothamist.

The New York Times has details on the school funding plan released by the Chancellor yesterday. District 14 in Queens would receive the most money of any district under the proposal--$14 million. District 10 in the Bronx also gets a big influx of new funding, almost $9 million. Most of the funds will go to reduce class size.

There's no deal in Albany on Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, and the NY Post speculates that state legislators didn't want to take risks because some of them will face tough races against council members who are termed out in 2009.

Today's rainstorms caused service changes and delays on the Norwood-bound D train and the Metro North trains, the Daily News reports.

The Daily News reported yesterday on an argument between the Comptroller's office and First Tee Metropolitan Golf, which manages the Mosholu Golf Course, over money it owes the city.
In the same issue, the News writes that the New York Junior Tennis League is returning to the Bronx to offer free tennis lessons in Co-op City. The League used to run a summer program in Mullaly Park, but the courts were shut down for the Yankee Stadium construction.

On the NYC Indymedia website, a Local 608 carpenter criticizes the pre-apprenticeship program for the Croton Water Filtration plant and other projects, arguing that it's part of a historic system that keeps people of color from moving up in the union and making living wages.

News Roundup for July 16

The Westchester Journal News reports that since Bee-Line buses started accepting Metrocards in April, a huge number of riders are boarding the buses to commute between Westchester and the Bronx.

The New York Times profiled 1150 Grand Concourse in yesterday's Streetscapes column, describing "Horace Ginsbern’s fantastical but neglected 1937 art moderne essay" as a mosaic that has escaped vandalism and grafitti all these years.

The Times reported Saturday on a rule change for the state's Industrial Development Agency that may threaten funding for the proposed garages at the new Yankee Stadium.

Liz Benjamin analyzes the 11th hour congestion pricing battles in the Daily News.

And the Daily News reports on the last hours of a father who was stabbed to death in University Heights Saturday.

News Roundup for July 9

In the News...

Friday's NY Times checks in with the city's "noise police"--environmental agents and police officers enforcing the new noise code--and the Mr. Softee drivers they're confronting. We'llhave a story in this week's Norwood News about all this.

In a somewhat related story, Dalton Walker looks at an innovative program at Montefiore Medical Center, where they created a quiet floor to reduce patient stress.

Coverage of ESPN's "The Bronx is Burning" miniseries dominates the entertainment sections. The series is based on Jonathan Mahler's book that intertwines the stories of the Yankees, the Son of Sam murders, the hotly contested mayoral race and the massive blackout in the 1977. Here's Newsday's review. Appropriate that this comes out on a day that the Bronx is apparently suffering its second blackout of the summer. We just heard about this from the borough president's office, but we'll get more details on the blog soon.

City Council Education Committee Chair Robert Jackson and education activists said the city's proposal to reduce class sizes by hiring an additional 1,300 teachers is insufficient, according to Metro New York.

And Liz Benjamin examines the heated debate over congestion pricing in the Daily Politics. The post includes a video sent by anti-congestion pricing lobbyists to all 212 state legislators about our overcrowded subways. The editorial in the current issue of the Norwood News makes a similar point.

In the News

The Daily News has a 2-page story on increased school bus breakdowns and smoke/fire incidents aboard NYC school buses. Incidents have more than doubled since 2002.

The News also reports that State Senator Jeff Klein has proposed legislation calling for New York State to divest $12 million of the state's pension funds from companies that do business with countries known to fund terrorism.

The Gotham Gazette reports on the latest round in the garbage wars, describing a protest by Bronx and Brooklyn residents last week at the office of Assemblywoman Deborah Glick over her opposition to the proposed waste transfer station on Manhattan's West side. The protesters say the west-side side would ease the burden on South Bronx waterfront communities.

More Bronx elected officials have endorsed PlaNYC, the Mayor's sustainability plan for the city, but there may be problems with securing federal funding for the congestion pricing initiative, according to WNYC.

News 12 reports the number of weapons confiscated in Bronx and city public schools is down 18 percent from the same time last year.

The Korean Times, via Voices That Must be Heard, reveals that Bronx Koreans are concerned about rising crime. A Norwood News story from a few years back took an in-depth look at the Bedford Park Korean community.

And Comptroller Bill Thompson wrote a letter to Bloomberg and the Rent Guidelines Board calling for a rent freeze, an issue that Bronx residents will be watching closely.

Today's News

Bronx BP Adolfo Carrion is endorsing the mayor's congestion pricing plan, according to the Daily News.

The New York Times reports on a study by the Regional Plan Association that says the cost of operating 55 miles of planned waterfront parks would be $100 million a year — almost one-third of the park department’s budget. The article doesn't mention the planned parks on the Harlem River that were promised as part of the stadium deal, an an ongoing issue covered by the Highbridge Horizon.

In the News...

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion will star in nine TV ads to promote the Bronx (and indirectly his 2009 mayoral campaign), according to the Observer.

Today's New York Times has a feature by Manny Fernandez about Johnny Five, a homeless man living beneath an abandoned train station in Highbridge. It's a fascinating look at his failed transition from the streets to an apartment provided by local community based organizations.

In another Highbridge story, the Metro reported Friday that there's talk of reopening the High Bridge so people don't have to climb across it illegally any more to get to the Manhattan side of High Bridge Park.

Congressman Joseph Crowley weighed in on congestion pricing.

And this week's City Limits features a story on the construction jobs that were promised in connection with the Croton Filtration Plant, now that the first pre-apprenticeship program is underway. The Norwood News ran a story on this in December.