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Source: Philip Kamrass / Times Union

The Office For New Americans (ONA), launched by Governor Andrew Cuomo, is a new statewide office whose sole focus is to assist immigrants economically, in learning English and  preparing for the U.S. citizenship exam, according to a report by Voices of New York.

One of the new 27 offices will be located in Midwood, at the FEGS Health & Human Services (938 Kings Highway).

“This office is a good framework for building the capacity we need to offer critical services to immigrants, especially if immigration reform is approved,” said Karen Kaminsky, deputy executive director at NYIC.

The ONA, whose budget will be $3,440,000, will also assist immigrants with starting and growing new businesses and help young people receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, which would allow young immigrants under 16 who have illegally  resided in the United States for some time to be treated with more leniency.

State Senator Marty Golden. Photo By Erica Sherman

State Senator Marty Golden continues to take heat over his opposition to speed enforcement cameras as a group of protesters descended upon his Bay Ridge office at 7408 Fifth Avenue demanding he change his stance on the issue, according to a report by Capital New York.

The protest was organized by Bay Ridge Advocates for Keeping Everyone Safe (BRAKES) this past Friday and was full of people outraged over Golden’s opposition to the cameras.

“The point is you need to be in support of traffic-calming measures,” Maureen Landers, an organizer of today’s demonstration. “And his vote against [speed cameras] shows that clearly he’s not and he has not provided an alternative or a solution or taken any measures to calm traffic.”

It is believed that Golden opposes the cameras due to his ties with the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association (PBA). Golden and the PBA believe that the installation of the cameras might cost policemen jobs. However, last week, we reported that Golden was willing to support the cameras if Mayor Michael Bloomberg or Governor Andrew Cuomo agreed to fund a $5.6 million busing plan for private Yeshiva school students. Golden, along with State Senator Simcha Felder, was turned down by both Bloomberg and Cuomo. Golden, along with Felder, included the funding for the private busing plan in the state budget anyway.

Golden responded to the protest with a statement that called for the placement of more 20 MPH speed zones around schools, a proposal that did little to quell the anger of his critics.

“Marty Golden is completely tone-deaf and oblivious to the impact this technology could have on keeping our streets safer,” Andrew Gounardes told Capital New York. Gounardes is a Bay Ridge attorney who ran and lost against Golden last year and is considering a future rematch.

The Jackie Gleason Bus Depot. Photo by Erica Sherman

THE COMMUTE: Governor Andrew Cuomo, who I once said was “not a friend of public transit“ after he cut MTA funding, now has increased MTA funding by $358 million in the 2013/14 fiscal year budget. The question is what will the MTA do with this money? There are several alternatives. The MTA could:

1. Return subway service crowding guidelines to what they were prior to the 2010 service cuts, thereby increasing subway service and reducing overcrowding.
2. Restore all the 2010 bus service cuts. Some cuts may have been justified, but the MTA data presented at the time never conclusively proved that was the case. Routes with low ridership were eliminated, such as the B71 in Park Slope, when there were no suitable alternatives.
3. Finally restructure the bus system to reflect land use changes made during the past 70 years. In many areas, needed bus route changes were never made because the MTA claimed they could not afford the added operational costs. Changes — such as the ones I mentioned here. I say “claimed,” because the MTA never considered increased revenue that would result from improved services, always assuming that additional service would not result in additional ridership or revenue.
4. Provide new bus routes or extensions at minimal 30-minute service levels, attracting very new few riders.
5. Provide managerial increases to managers who have not received a raise in five years and also not insist on a zero wage increase contract for the TWU.

Continue Reading »

Source: nesnad via wikimedia commons

The fight over speed enforcement cameras is getting nastier. Last week, Mayor Michael Bloomberg personally called out State Senators Marty Golden, Simcha Felder and Dean Skelos for having blood on their hands in refusing to include funding for speed enforcement cameras in the state budget. In response, Senate Democrats are trying to reinvigorate the effort to get the cameras approved. However, in their recap of the week’s events, the New York Times included this interesting tidbit of closed door negotiations between Governor Andrew Cuomo, Bloomberg, Felder and Golden.

Senator Felder, too, has no use for cameras. He represents a district dominated by Orthodox Jewish voters, and his priority this session was to persuade the city and state to foot the bill to bus any child past 4 p.m., which in effect means mostly children who attend yeshivas. Mr. Felder and Mr. Golden succeeded in pushing through this legislation, which will cost the city $5.6 million this year.

As the state senators are not unreasonable men, they even offered to bargain: they might allow speed cameras if Mr. Bloomberg agreed to foot the bill for this busing program.

The mayor said no. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said no. But when his state budget emerged from behind closed doors in Albany it included this new and costly busing program.

The Orthodox, who are adroit at pulling the levers of power, and their political allies claim all children could benefit. But that argument is evidence-starved. The state paid for a pilot program this year, and city school buses have picked up 1,000 children — from 29 yeshivas and one charter school.

Senator Golden, who has charted the growth of the Orthodox population in his district, shrugs off criticism. It is, he said, “the new normal.”

So Golden and Felder would have been happy to approve the funding for speed enforcement cameras as long as yeshiva students who attend private Orthodox schools got free busing? Huh…so, using Golden and Felder’s logic, I guess this means that the safety of responsible motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians is less important than free transportation for private schools provided on the taxpayers’ dime.

It’s the “new normal” after all.

Source: asterix611 via flickr

Mayor Michael Bloomberg directed serious heat towards State Senator Marty Golden and two other senators this week over their opposition to the installation of speed enforcement cameras, according to a report in the New York Times.

The issue of reckless driving and speeding has become an exploding issue across the city as a rash of hit-and-run tragedies have made front-page on an ever increasing basis. According to the Times, 274 people died in traffic fatalities across the city last year, the highest since 2008. To combat the rising tide of blood spilled on the roads, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly and politicians like Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver have sent letters to Governor Andrew Cuomo pleading for room in the state budget to install speed enforcement cameras. According to the New York Daily News, the inclusion of speed enforcement cameras were recently stripped from the state budget by opponents of the measure.

In assigning blame for the exclusion of the cameras in the state’s budget, Bloomberg pointed his finger at Senators Golden, Simcha Felder and GOP Senate leader Dean Skelos, urging their constituents to call these politicians the next time a tragedy occurs.

“Maybe you want to give those phone numbers to the parents of the child when a child is killed,” the Times reported Bloomberg saying. “It would be useful so that the parents can know exactly who’s to blame.”

Golden, a former police officer with strong ties to the police officers’ union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, believes that hiring more police officers is the answer to combat dangerous speeding. He also called the cameras “unreliable,” and suggested that a comprehensive study be done on the cameras before going full steam ahead with a plan to install them.

Bloomberg insisted that in light of all the traffic deaths, waiting was no longer an option.

“We literally are having kids that are getting killed around our schools because people are speeding,” he said. “And they don’t want to let us use cameras to stop people from doing that.”

Senator Diane Savino Source: Thomas Good via Wikimedia Commons

Earlier in the month we reported on State Senator Diane Savino’s plan to introduce a bill that would legalize medical marijuana and, yesterday, Savino, along with Assemblyman Richard Gottfried, made good on her promise, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

With medical marijuana programs being legal in 18 states, Savino thinks it’s time for New Yorkers to decide if legalizing medical pot is right for their state.

“We felt it was important to get the bill in so we could start the discussion,” Savino told the Daily News.

Savino is hoping  a vote on the measure will happen before the end of the legislature’s session in June, though passage of the bill will not be easy.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has gone on record opposing the legislation, expressing fears that the law would be abused.

Attempts to pass the bill in the conservative-leaning Senate have also failed in the past, though it’s unclear how the leadership agreement between the GOP and the more liberal Independent Democratic Caucus may affect a vote.

Source: Eric Houser via Flickr

Still waiting for your Superstorm Sandy insurance check? It might be at the bank. Apparently, major banks have about $41 million worth of Sandy insurance money, but aren’t releasing any of it until they are sure that the money will be spent on repairs, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

The bank taking the most time in issuing insurance money is Selene Finance of Texas. They haven’t issued 71 percent of their Sandy insurance checks. Other offending banks making the list are Capital One, Nationstar, Astoria Federal and Select Portfolio.

Homeowners looking for an ally in this fight to against the delinquent banks have a big one in Governor Andrew Cuomo.

“Some banks have continued to lag especially far behind the rest, and it’s well past time for them to pick up the pace,” Governor Cuomo said, according to the Daily News.

The biggest banks (Citi, Chase, Bank of America) have done a decent job of paying out the much needed insurance money, paying out 89 percent of what is owed.

Here is a list of the 10 slowest banks and how much money they are still holding back.

1. Selene Finance, $1.87 million (71%)

2. Select Portfolio, $4.86 million (56%)

3. Astoria Federal, $3.67 million (48%)

4. Capital One, $3.7 million (45%)

5. Nationstar Mortgage, $6 million (44%)

6. Flagstar, $2.9 million (42%)

7. Specialized Loan, $1.37 million (41%)

8. OneWest Bank, $14.3 million (39%)

9. Sun Trust Mortgage, $712,884 (39%)

10. Mid-Island Mortgage, $1.25 million (38%)

Do you use any of these banks and are still waiting for your insurance check to be approved ? Let us know about it.

Source: Peds.org

Motorists trying to gun it through through the streets of Sheepshead Bay are the second most likely to be caught in all of Brooklyn, according to a report by the New York Daily News.

One hundred ninety-eight speeding tickets were issued by the 61st Precinct, putting Sheepshead Bay in second place overall in Brooklyn, according to statistics released by the NYPD.

Overall, combined with tickets handed out by highway cops, about 15,000 speeding tickets were issued in Brooklyn this past year, far fewer than the 43,920 tickets issued for talking on cell phones while driving or the 37,010 tickets issued for illegally-tinted car windows.

The tracking of speeding tickets has become a hot-button issue in recent months as multiple hit-and-run tragedies have dominated headlines across the city. As we’ve previously reported, State Senator Marty Golden has been at the forefront of trying to stiffen penalties for reckless drivers, and more local politicians are following his lead.

“This data shows that Brooklyn needs more resources and clearer enforcement goals to deal effectively with dangerous drivers,” said state Sen. Eric Adams (D-Crown Heights), a former police captain and frontrunner to become Brooklyn’s next borough president. “Until these speedsters know that they’ll be caught and harshly prosecuted for their reckless behavior, they will continue to put lives at risk on our streets day-in and day-out.”

To fight dangerous speeders, officials and lawmakers have begun pushing for a program that would install speed enforcement cameras.

According to the Daily News, NYPD Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Republican Temporary President and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Senator Jeff Klein all sent nearly identical letters to Governor Andrew Cuomo calling for installation of the cameras.

“Motorists know that there will never be a sufficient number of police officers to catch everyone who violates the traffic laws,” Kelly wrote in a letter to Cuomo, “but the presence of speed cameras can create a strong deterrent effect, serving to reduce speeding and the collision and physical injury that it causes.”

Opponents of speed cameras point to the holes they create in law enforcement such as being able to tell if a driver is drunk, if a driver is unlicensed or if a motorist is carrying weapons while fleeing a crime scene.

Speed enforcement cameras are used in more than 120 cities across the country, but in some instances they’ve prompted lawsuits and efforts by state legislatures to ban them.

The City of Baltimore recently moved to replace its entire network of speed enforcement cameras after an investigation found numerous errors in their speed readings.

A 2011 study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety credited speed enforcement cameras with reducing fatal crashes by 24% in 14 large cities where they were used.

Here is a full breakdown of the tickets issued last year, courtesy of the Daily News via the NYPD:

Top five speeding ticket precincts

94th Precinct (Greenpoint) – 555

61st Precinct (Sheepshead Bay) – 198

62nd Precinct (Bensonhurst) – 182

79th Precinct (Bed-Stuy) – 180

60th Precinct (Coney Island) – 173

Bottom five speeding ticket precincts

83rd Precinct (Bushwick) – 8

67th Precinct (East Flatbush) – 45

88th Precinct (Clinton Hill/Fort Greene) — 46

84th Precinct (Brooklyn Heights) — 48

68th Precinct (Bay Ridge) – 63

Top Brooklyn tickets

Cell phone – 43,920

Safety belt – 37,010

Disobey sign – 29,889

Tinted windows -28,815

Uninsured – 18,954

Brake lights – 9,981

Speeding – 2,873*

(Excluding the 13,535 tickets issued by Highway officers covering the borough and parts of Queens)

Source: Jamie Adams via Wikimedia Commons

It appears the New York State budget will be delivered on time for the third year in a row – a noteworthy accomplishment rising out of Albany’s dysfunction. But, in getting it done, legislators have postponed decision-making on some of the more controversial topics, including an amendment on the expansion of casino gambling that could see one established in Coney Island.

City & State reports:

“I have concern with working toward an on-time budget,” Cuomo said. “We’ve had two on-time budgets. This would be the third on-time budget since about 1984. We have a number of issues on the table that are challenging, that are controversial, so we’re working very hard, and it’s going well, but am I concerned? Yes.”

New York State has a $1.6 billion gap in its $135 billion budget for 2013–14. That amount is far smaller than the $10 billion deficit Cuomo had to tackle in his first year in office, but several thorny policy and spending issues remain.

One of the most pressing issues to complete the budget early, as Cuomo and legislative leaders would like, is finding cuts to healthcare spending after the federal government reduces Medicaid payments to the state this year, as well as finding additional funds to send to the New York City school system if teachers win a reversal of a $240 million budget slash resulting from the failed teacher evaluation talks.

As legislators and the governor mull these issues, they’ve been forced to table some of the governor’s ambitious goals until later in the legislative season, including an expansion of legalized gambling, an increase in minimum wage and immigration reform.

The Assembly is full steam ahead on minimum wage – already passing a bill increasing it to $9.00, but Senate Republicans who share leadership in that house are opposed to it.

Concerns about casinos, though, are more bipartisan, with many legislators demanding that any casino legislation moving forward include locations in the language, something Cuomo is against.

According to the Daily News, the timing of casino rollouts is also in question. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver wants not only siting language included, but a provision to spread out the timetable for casino development. The first phase of casino expansion as outlined by Governor Cuomo would see three casinos established upstate, and Silver wants a waiting period of up to five years before a second round of casinos is launched.

“That way, the governor next year doesn’t say, ‘We need a billion dollars, that’s what someone would bid for a Manhattan casino, let’s do one there,’ ” Silver told the Daily News.

“It would also enhance the value of the (first) three, if you give them exclusivity for five years or some period of time,” he added. “It would make the bidding of the three more valuable (for the state) as well, if [potential operators] know they only have two others to compete with and not one in New York City.”

Silver’s Republican counterpart in the Senate, Dean Skelos, said he wants to keep all options on the table.

Daily News is also reporting that the tide is beginning to turn in both houses, as casino lobbyists up their game.

The industry “is starting to put real pressure and offer up big donations to legislators who would go the other way and support a New York City casino,” the source said. “That’s why you’re starting to see a shift in the Legislature.”

The constitutional amendment would only authorize a number of casinos to be permitted. Separate legislation would be needed to spell out the details.

Silver said lawmakers want a say in what regions are eligible for casinos, but that they do not want to get involved in the bidding process, or where specifically a casino would be located within an agreed-upon region.

The budget is due March 31, making resolution of these thornier issues unlikely until later in the legislative session, which ends in June.

Source: Dank Depot via Flickr

In the 1980s, New York was one of the first states in the nation to legalize medical marijuana, running the program for nearly a decade before it was shut down. State Senator Diane Savino, of Staten Island and Coney Island, plans to introduce a bill to make medical marijuana accessible again for glaucoma and cancer patients, according to a report by Medical Jane.

Sensing a shift in the national mood towards relaxing marijuana laws (its basically been decriminalized in Washington and Colorado) Savino hopes to introduce the bill next week. It’s at least the third year in a row that she has proposed such legislation, as you can see here and here.

Its passage relies on the Governor Cuomo’s willingness to buck traditional convention:

In order for this bill to get passed, it will take the convincing of New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo. The Governor has announced that while he does not favor the idea of a medical marijuana program, he is open to the idea of it. The legal director for the New York branch of NORML said that Cuomo’s disinclination has nothing to do with the science behind medicinal marijuana. “This is purely political… Nobody wants to be the drug governor,” he goes on to say.