Last Sunday’s New York Times brought what those who like lots of regulations would have to consider “good” news. The Dance Studio of Park Slope, which has operated in open and notorious violation of the New York City zoning resolution since 1981, has lost its lease and will close in October. Yet somehow, the Times does not report the locals celebrating. “In February, after months of finding only spaces that were too small or too expensive or needed extensive renovations, she wrote a letter to the parents of her students appealing for help. Many of the parents, some of whom have sent a series of children to the studio, and some of whom were students there once themselves, responded by canvassing the neighborhood and telling Ms. Kliegel’s story to merchants, in the hope that someone who owns a suitable space would come forward.” What, you mean they don’t see that businesses like hers shouldn’t be allowed? Or perhaps it is only new businesses like hers that shouldn’t be allowed.
Category: News and Opinion
How to Drive to the Nets Arena
|To judge by the reaction at a recent public meeting, people aren’t going to be driving to the Nets arena on one-way Park Slope avenues anytime soon. So how should they do it? If Brooklyn is going to have a gathering place for 20,000 people, and may I remind the reader that hosting large gatherings has been one of the prime purposes of cities from the beginnings of history, then the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush is the right place to put it — because of transit links to a huge swath of the region, not road capacity. So those who do not live within walking distance to a rail transit station should drive to one, park, and ride the rest of the way in.
Land Near Transit Stations: The New Beachfront Property
|In light of recent land use planning controversies, especially in Brooklyn, city dwellers and transit riders might be interested in a recent article in Multifamily Executive magazine, a publication for those who invest in and develop multi-family housing. According to an expert in the field “development sites in transit zones have become the new beachfront property: prized, scarce footage with scant new supply.” You wouldn’t have heard this 20 years ago, when everyone thought transit was only for those who were too young, old, sick or poor to drive, those left behind as the better off migrated from obsolete, poor urban areas to vibrant, modern, auto-oriented areas. But there has been a sea-change in attitudes and preferences, and developers all across the country are trying to respond.
An Alternative Vision of Education: Forbidden!
|If you downloaded my tabulation of 2006 local government employment data from last week’s post, and saw that New York City had one instructional employee for every 8.9 students, you might have had the following thought: if all of these were teachers, they were with the children all day (like Catholic School teaches are), and if they didn’t take any sick days, New York City could have a class size of NINE. Or, perhaps six for special education, and ten for general education. In that case, teachers could hold class in their living room right in the neighborhood where they and their students lived, like the local home-based child-care provider or piano teacher. Without all the educational overhead, those teachers could then be paid more, and could earn additional money from parents to watch some of the kids after school. You may have thought of this now, but someone else with clout in Albany had thought of it already: state law would make this educational option illegal.
Spitzer: They Can’t Handle the Truth
|In my prior post here, I called for the Governor make the rest of the state face the truth about state education funding over the past 30 years, for him to say the unsayables. That New York City’s share of total education funding, including back door “tax relief” aid, has not only been lower than its number of public school children, and very low considering their relative needs, but also lower than city residents’ share of state income and sales taxes – the state has redistributed education funding AWAY from the city’s poor children. That no matter what happens how, the past cannot be undone, those passing through the city’s schools in the past can never recover, and the effect of past underfunding will linger on for many years. That as long as the city’s share of state education funding is less than its residents’ share of its residents’ state income and sales taxes, the rest of the state is doing absolutely nothing to help the city’s children – at best. And, that the money taken away from the city has been used to pay for extravagantly high spending in the rest of the state. But Spitzer hasn’t said those things, and the budget he has presented, net, hits the city hard. And the State Senate is predictably claiming the rest of the state is being cheated, and demanding that the city be hurt even more.
Tackling The Draft and Other Issues
|As I sit here in limbo pondering my future on the blogs (including Room8/ given that the editors are yet to issue a policy missive), I decided to tackle some issues left outstanding. For example, to the “Draft Rock for the 40th Council seat campaign”, I have to say: thanks, but no thanks. I am not a candidate for this race; neither now (April), nor in September and/or November (primary/general election). I am honored and humbled that some people could think that highly of me to submit my name for a “draft”; but at the present time it would be rather difficult to attempt to undertake a race with this short advance notice. So I will pass.
I must admit though, that something did come out of this “draft” campaign, and that is: I have decided to consider a run for Congress in either 2008 or 2010. I am moved to attempt a true grassroots campaign demonstrating people power; a campaign that will rely more heavily on human involvement than on obscene amounts of cash infusions. Maybe I am naïve, but I still think that this type of effort can be successfully replicated and resurrected. We will see.
Local Government Employment in NYC in 2006: Before Day One, Little Changed
|In my previous post here, I described, and provided in a spreadsheet, my tabulation of 2006 local government and payroll data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which was released on March 5th, and related private-sector employment data. This data show that relative to its population New York City continues to have far more people working in hospitals, both public and private, than the national average, while the rest of New York State has far more people than average working in public schools. One thing that has changed from past years, however, is that New York City’s public schools are not as under-staffed, and its instructional employees as underpaid, as they once were, though the pay level remains below the national average if overall wage levels Downstate are considered.
Campaign Promise
|USA Today reports the following about former Virginia Governor James Gilmore, one of the more obscure candidates for President:
Gilmore, who was governor of Virginia when the Pentagon was attacked on 9/11, appeared to take a swipe at Giuliani when he vowed that he would never send first responders into danger without proper equipment. "When I'm president, the radios are going to work," he said.
I assume nobody asked how he was going to be able to do that as President. Perhaps he will create a new cabinet Department of Appliances?
Making The Same Mistake Twice
|Earlier this month, an article in the New York Observer included the following:
When he ran for Mayor, political opponents called on Mr. Giuliani to account for the firm’s client list—which included the government of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega—and commitment to diversity and public service. As David Margolick wrote in The New York Times: “As far as White & Case’s public image is concerned, Mr. Giuliani has produced far more hail than rain.”
New Public Employment and Payroll Data Shows Spitzer’s Budget the Best of the Three
|The Governments Division of the U.S. Census Bureau has released March 2006 state and local government public employment and payroll data for the United States and the states. I have downloaded this information, have done some calculations to make the data comparable, and have included relevant private-sector data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and New York State and New Jersey Departments of Labor. The results are in the attached spreadsheet, on the two pages that print, and are directly relevant to the budget negotiations ongoing in Albany. Based on what I see there, if I had to choose I've vote for the Governor's budget rather than that passed by the Assembly or State Senate.