Quinn Won't Support Paid Sick Leave Bill

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced this afternoon that she won't support a controversial bill that would require all businesses to provide paid sick days to their workers. Labor groups and politicians have been rallying for months to get the legislation passed (nearly every Bronx City Council member, and Borough President Diaz, supports it).

Her decision means a probable end for the bill, at least for now, despite the fact that it had the veto-proof support of 35 City Council members. As Council Speaker, Quinn decides what bills come to the floor for a vote--meaning the Paid Sick Leave Act will likely be shelved, as it's been for the past several months.

Quinn said she was concerned that the requirement would be too much for small business owners to take on during a time of recession.

"In an ideal world, we’d be able to provide all benefits to every New Yorker. In a better economy, we might have the financial freedom to both expand benefits and create new jobs. But that’s not the reality we live in," Quinn said in a statement sent out this afternoon. "Now is simply not the right time for a measure that threatens the survival of small business owners."

The Paid Sick Time Act would make all businesses with 20 workers or more provide nine paid sick days, while smaller businesses would have to give five.

Groups in support of the bill are already coming down hard on Quinn, with accusations that she's looking to appease the business community to safeguard potential future plans for a Mayoral run.

"Speaker Quinn's decision not to move forward with this bill is a victory for the fear-mongering tactics of business lobbyists who have opposed every piece of pro-worker legislation from child labor laws to the minimum wage," said  Bob Master, Co-Chairman for the Working Families Party.

Bronx News Roundup, July 20

A 15-year-old Bronx boy was shot and killed in a shooting Monday morning in Brooklyn.

In the wake of this weekend's drownings, the Times takes a closer look at the Bronx River and its re-emergence in the public eye in recent years.

The part of the river where the two teens drowned--near the Bronx Zoo, in West Farms--is a popular swimming spot, according to the Daily News.

Police are looking for a man who raped and assaulted a 79-year-old woman in the elevator of her Westchester Square apartment building. State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. is holding a press conference today at 1 p.m., at Benson Street and East Tremont Avenue, to rally for the community's involvement in catching the assailant, according to press release sent this morning.

Dan Cantor, Executive Director of the Working Families Party, writes that the best way to change Albany is to vote Pedro Espada out of office. His party has already endorsed challenger Gustavo Rivera.

The Daily News Bob Kappstatter has more on this race in his weekly column. We'll be posting more details on some of the candidates today, so check back here for updates.

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is the most marketable player in baseball, pulling in more money for sponsors than any other player, according to a recent survey. 

A gas station attendant came upon a five-foot long snake in Melrose. Police were called to catch the animal and take it to Animal Control. 

A blood drive and baseball game fundraiser are being planned for beloved Throgs Neck little league coach Joe O'Grady, who is battling cancer.

Speaking of noteworthy coaches: Bob Hawthorn, who coached men's tennis and squash at Fordham University for 54 years, retired yesterday.

More Endorsements for Espada Opponent Gustavo Rivera

UPDATE BELOW

The influential and powerful Working Families Party is supporting Gustavo Rivera (pictured) in his effort to unseat State Senator Pedro Espada, Jr.

In a statement, Dan Cantor, the party's executive director, said:

Pedro Espada favors landlord interests over tenants every time. He cast our government into chaos for his own political gain. No Albany politician makes a better case for early retirement.

Gustavo Rivera is a reformer with the smarts, the leadership, and the heart to clean up Albany and stand up for the tens of thousands of tenants in the Bronx. Pedro Espada has bundles of landlord cash, but Gustavo will have a grassroots army and the support of a community that is sick and tired of the status quo.

We have helped progressive challengers before, but never has there been as much at stake for the people of New York.

The Times broke the story of the party's endorsement on Friday.

In more good news for Rivera's campaign, a "key Bronx elected official" has decided to support him, according to a press release from Rivera's campaign.  Rivera will announce who it is at a press conference outside Vladeck Hall, at the Amalgamated Houses, at 2 p.m. this afternoon.  The building's located at 74 Van Cortlandt Park South.

Rivera also has the backing of the New Roosevelt Initiative, and Council members Annabel Palma and Melissa Mark-Viverito, among others.

UPDATE 11 a.m.:  So we heard from Rivera's campaign.  The "key Bronx elected official" is Councilman Oliver Koppell.

WFP endorses Cabrera for City Council

The Working Families Party will support Pastor Fernando Cabrera in September's Democratic primary. Cabrera - and a host of others - are trying to unseat Councilwoman Maria Baez, who is running for a third term.

Espada and the MTA's New Rescue Plan

Whether he actually lives in the Bronx or not, State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. appears to be residing smack in the middle of the state legislature's efforts to avoid the massive fare hikes and service cuts the MTA approved last month.

While adamantly opposed to any tolls on the East and Harlem river bridges, Espada and other politicians began pushing a new rescue plan, proposed by Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (Queens) on Monday, that would include a payroll tax.

In a press release, Espada said:

“By not giving in to the MTA’s threats, demands and fear-mongering, we will achieve the democratization of the agency that allows participation by citizens. We will achieve total transparency and accountability of the MTA, and we will achieve all of this without service cuts and a toll, and with a modest fare increase spread over two years.”

But four senators in nearby suburban counties -- Andrea Stewart-Cousins, Craig Johnson, Brian Foley and Suzi Oppenheimer (the new Gang of Four) -- are opposing the payroll tax as a deal-breaker.

One source who declined to give his name said today that he thought Albany leaders had hammered out a "three-way deal," meaning the Governor, Assembly and Senate, on the rescue plan and it was just a matter of time until its announced. We will not hold our breath.

Meanwhile, advocacy groups like the Working Families Party and Transportation Alternatives are publicly pushing Albany lawmakers to get something, anything, done to prevent these cuts and fare hikes and to do it now. Basically, they're saying that politicians are quick to reject plans, but nobody is willing to actually get anything done.

As Dan Levitan of the Working Families Party said today: "No, is not enough."

Takin' it to Their Streets

A WFP canvasser in Hunts Point soliciting signatures to get Pedro Espada and
Ruben Diaz to support a Democratic majority in the state Senate.

The Working Families Party, a feisty liberal political party that knows how to organize, is collecting petition signatures in the Bronx Senate districts of Senator Ruben Diaz, and Sen.-elect Pedro Espada. They want both Democratic pols, who have been withholding their support from Majority-Leader-in-Waiting Malcolm Smith in hopes of scoring plum leadership assignments, to vote with the Democrats on leadership positions. Smith agreed to, then reneged on, a deal to make Espada the Majority Leader while Smith would retain the superior title of President Pro Tempore.
Liz Benjamin has more on the petition gathering, similar efforts by organized labor, and the little matter of the third holdout senator, Carl Kruger, who Democrats need to keep in the fold, too, if they want to take power of the state Senate for the first time in 40 years.

Obama on WFP Ballot Line, Too

Here's an e-mail we just got from the Working Families Party. They want Obama supporters to vote on the WFP line. (Getting any interesting local election mail/e-mail? Send it our way.)

Good candidates are important, and we have one in Barack Obama.
We hope you're not just voting for him, but doing so enthusiastically on the Working Families ballot line ("Row E").
At least as important as the candidate is the party. Parties allow people to support a set of values, not just a candidate. Voting on the Working Families line on Tuesday counts the same, but it also says "Yes!" to the Working Families view of the world.
You're saying: we can do better than this. We can create a country in which all people have a decent shot at a meaningful, secure life.
It's not pie-in-the-sky. We know how to do it.
Health care for everyone. A decent job with decent wages. A house or an apartment you can afford. A good school with a good teacher. An end to stupid foreign policy adventures. An end to Wall Street rip-off artists.
That's the Working Families Party. We stand with you 365 days a year. Please stand with us tomorrow by voting for the entire Working Families Party ticket.
Learn more at: http://workingfamiliesparty.org/obama
Why is voting Working Families so critical?
Even if Obama and the Democrats sweep into power, our work for a better world only gets more important.
In Washington - and Albany - Democrats will be under extraordinary pressure to play it safe.
America is facing big problems. And with them come big opportunities to create a fairer society. The health care crisis, the mortgage crisis, the crisis on Wall Street, the need for a Green economy - all of these cry out for bold solutions.
If politics teaches us anything, it's the need to keep the pressure on. And votes on the Working Families Party line are a way of doing precisely that. It's a message to the politicians: be bold!
If you haven't already, take a moment to share this message with 5 friends or family who'll be voting for Obama in New York tomorrow.
The more votes cast on the Working Families line, the greater our strength for the fights ahead.

We're going to be covering the election at local polling places tomorrow. If you've got questions about your registration or local polling place, or have problems at the polls tomorrow, check out this information guide from the current issue of the Norwood News.

WFP Targets Foster on Term Limits

The Working Families Party (WFP), which is supported by labor unions and grassroots groups and gives its ballot line to candidates it supports in New York State, opposes Mayor Bloomberg's gambit to extend term limits to three terms.

In the Bronx, Council Members Helen Foster and Maria del Carmen Arroyo, are feeling the heat from the WFP as both have not yet come to a decision on whether they are going to extend the term limits law. On our way down to the Tour de Bronx starting line at the Courthouse on Sunday, we came across this placard at a subway station along the No. 4 line on Jerome Avenue. (It says, "We voted twice for term limits. Call Helen Foster at 718-588-7500 and tell her that should count for something.")

The Working Families Party supported Foster in her last election bid (Arroyo didn't get the WFP nod, however), according to Dan Levitan, a WFP spokesman.

Will candidates who don't vote their way on term limits get the WFP endorsement again?

"It's not going to be the only thing we base our endorsements on, but it's still a pretty big issue for us," Levitan said.

The WFP has a new Web site devoted to this issue and a page that has a rundown on which Council members stand where on the issue.