SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed until April 19 due to a broken water pipe that has shut down the public school for the evening.

From the Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association:

Town Hall Meeting

Please join us Monday March 1st 2010 @ 8:00pm in Public School 195

As we welcome the newly elected NYC Public Advocate – Mr. Bill de Blasio – to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn.

The Public Advocate has graciously accepted our invitation to conduct a Town Hall Meeting with questions and answers regarding any concerns we have regarding NYC government and it policies and how it affects our neighborhood.

There are numerous concerns that have arisen over the last few months in: crime, public transportation, education, quality of life services, real estate taxes, homeowner insurance terminations, and much more.
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An ABC News investigative report revealed a loophole in campaign contribution regulations that allow millions of dollars to be funneled to legislators in the State Senate. Senator Carl Kruger is one of the chief recipients of the dubious funds, the report indicates.

View a transcript of the video

The investigation, which appeared online this past Monday, shows that Kruger received more than $33,000 from a single real estate developer funneled through nine Manhattan parking garage businesses. Corporate campaign contributions to a single legislator are limited to $5,000 per year, but the developer Leonard Litwin, paid out more than six times that amount to Kruger alone.

ABC News found that soon after our state senator became chair of the powerful finance committee, “the money started rolling in.” Campaign disclosure reports show that in the first six months, he received more than a half-million dollars in contributions, double the donations received in all of the previous year. Kruger’s campaign warchest is by far the largest in the State Senate, with nearly $2.2 million.

The enormous amounts given to Kruger since his reign as finance committee chair reveal a deep weakness in our state system, in which corporate interests are wielding powerful sway over our representative. And from the video, it appears as if our Senator Kruger is only too eager to take his thirty pieces of silver.

Community Board 15 is holding its February meeting tomorrow night at Kingsborough Community College. I’d love to tell you what’s on the agenda, but I never seem to get their mailings on time. Perhaps if they joined their constituents in the modern era it wouldn’t be an issue…

All meetings begin at 7 p.m. and are held at Kingsborough Community College, 2001 Oriental Blvd, Brooklyn, NY 11235, Faculty Dining Room.

Theresa Scavo, Community Board 15 Chairperson

The New York City Community Boards – the 50 member panels forming the hyper-local level of city government – are accepting applications until Monday, February 22. For nearly half a century, the Boards have served as a go-to resource for residents who need help from the city government, and they also serve an advisory role to city decision-making including land use, zoning, and project funding. Though many of their functions have recently been duplicated by the launch of the citywide 311 system, advocates around the city continue to laud local community boards for their personal, human service and their role as the first line of community advocacy – while the 311 system is mired in criticism.

Last week, Sheepshead Bites teamed up with BK Southie to pick the mind of Theresa Scavo, the Chairperson of Board 15 (Sheepshead Bay, Gerritsen Beach, and Manhattan Beach). We discussed the importance of the Boards to the communities they serve, the benefits of community service, and where Boards need to be strengthened. Scavo has been a member of Community Board 15 since the 1990s, and has been the Chair since 2006, a run she described as “sometimes weird but always rewarding.”

If you don’t know what Community Boards are, or you’re interested in getting involved in your community’s future, this interview is the place to start.

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Courtesy of the NYS Senate

Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger is once again getting panned by the city press for his money magic.

Back in November he invited a storm of criticism for holding up the budget process and nearly putting the state in bankruptcy. The Penguin – err, the senator came up with a number of ludicrous schemes to fill state coffers, and more than once insisted that the deficit just didn’t exist.

Well, now the NY Post has caught him spending taxpayer money with one hand while using the other to give the finger to Governor Paterson for not, uh, stopping senators from spending taxpayer money.

Kruger was caught pissing away $31 million in an unfunded entitlement that would cap rent costs for New York City HIV/AIDS victims at 30 percent of their income. A good purpose, for sure, but still a $31 million sinkhole wrought with hypocrisy by our good senator:

But what makes this bit of frivolity especially rich is that only last month, Kruger insisted that Paterson wasn’t going far enough in combating such [unfunded] mandates, saying: “It seems illogical [that] the governor is so unwilling to end unfunded mandates once and for all, and is instead content with a temporary moratorium.”

So how does Kruger square that stance with his support of, well, a new unfunded mandate?

Easy: The bill, he says, won’t cost a dime.

…

[Advocates of the bill say] the entire cost will be offset by money the city and state no longer need to spend relocating HIV/AIDS patients who can’t pay their rent into emergency housing.

Yet, according to OTDA, that sum runs to barely $4 million a year.

Even if that’s a lowball figure, it’s a great deal less than $31 million.

While the aim of the new mandate is inarguably good, our lawmakers are required to figure out fundraising schemes to cover costs. Kruger – one of the most powerful senators as chairman of the Senate Finance Committee – is way too lazy for that. In fact, we can’t figure out how a guy who fails at every turn to think about the economic consequences of his actions and seems to lack any basic math skills became the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee. Kruger’s continued electability (and he’s sure to be reelected) is an ongoing reminder of how truly F’d New York State politics are.

We received this from the offices of Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz:

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn) called the proposed lower Manhattan trial location of the 911 terrorists a plague on all New Yorkers, including those from the outer boroughs.

“This is not a Manhattan issue; this is of extreme concern to all New Yorkers. I represent a district in southern Brooklyn, yet each and every one of my constituents will be adversely affected if this trial is held in lower Manhattan, even though we are over ten miles away,” Cymbrowitz explained. “Because the security required to protect the immediate trial area will be massive, my community, and communities throughout the City, will see fewer police officers to deter crime and to respond to emergencies. Add to this the inconvenience of disrupted subway and bus service and the difficulties of shopping and traveling in and around the trial’s large security zone. Every New Yorker is going to feel the pain of this trial and this doesn’t even take into consideration the heightened threat of generating new terrorist attacks in New York City and the expense that will have to be borne by either the City or Federal government.”

“It is important that all elected officials continue to speak out. Fortunately many have already voiced their opposition to this dangerous and inconvenient idea. I stand ready to fight with them to protect our communities and all of New York City in making sure the 911 terrorists’ trial is not held in our great city,” Cymbrowitz said.

“Justice Department bureaucrats must also know that New Yorkers are united in their opposition to holding this trial in our City and for good reason,” Cymbrowitz added. “They must realize that we will not allow the Federal government to put our lives and economic wellbeing in jeopardy. Now is the time for every New Yorker to let Attorney General Holder and President Barack Obama know that conducting this trial in New York City is the wrong decision.”

From the Manhattan Beach Community Group:

This Wednesday night, December the 2nd, 8 PM at PS 195 (131 Irwin Street), we will be honoring the memory and life of a Manhattan Beach hero, May Link. Proclamations from the Mayor, Sen. Schumer, our Congressman, Assemblyman, Councilman and PS 195 PA will be presented to her son Danny Link (a past MBCG president). Food and good company available. All we ask is for you to attend and bring some neighbors and friends. We want to pack the house. Please do your best to show up and have a good time with us remembering Manhattan Beach through the life of a great woman. Everyone from everywhere invited.

In the 18th Century, Samuel Johnson said, “If you are idle, be not solitary” – and with those words, as if by magic, the New York State Senate was established; and a whole lot of otherwise idle men were grouped together, to be idle, but not solitary.

With the state facing a $3.2 billion budget gap, little has been accomplished except a continuous ticking-off-the-list of things we can’t do to fix the budget. Why can’t we do them? It’s this senator’s pet project, or that senator’s constituency (or, perhaps, campaign contributor). Meanwhile, New York State is just days away from declaring bankruptcy.

And who’s leading the shenanigans? Sheepshead Bay State Senator Carl Kruger. Continue Reading »

Angered by Governor Paterson’s moves to slash spending in education and healthcare, State Senator Carl Kruger proposed an alternative budget and blasted the governor for wantonly depicting a “doomsday scenario.”

From the New York Times:

Despite a deficit of more than $3 billion, Mr. Kruger has threatened to block any significant cuts to health care and education, the biggest spending areas in the budget. He has presented his own budget plan, which has startled even Albany veterans for its reliance on one-time maneuvers and financial gimmickry.

…

Where the governor would cut spending, Mr. Kruger and the Senate prefer one-time measures like restructuring the state’s tobacco bonds, a move that would increase New York’s debt burden. Mr. Kruger would also draw from the treasuries of public authorities to a greater degree than the governor and wants to increase gambling hours at gaming facilities.

And Mr. Kruger believes the state should set up a commission to study ways to make government more efficient, a step that could take years to show gains.

Kruger represents parts of Sheepshead Bay, Homecrest, Gravesend, Midwood, Mill Basin, Flatlands, Manhattan Beach, and Bergen Beach. In a power play over the summer, Kruger joined three other Democratic lawmakers and threatened to caucus with the Republicans, putting the Dems at risk of forfeiting their majority. He came out of the play as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and has raised more than $2.1 million for his 2010 reelection bid – far more than any other state legislator.

Daily News published an editorial Sunday pointing the finger at 46th District City Councilman Lew Fidler for owing taxpayers $88,500. Fidler received the money as part of the city’s public funding system for his campaign against Republican Gene Berardelli, and was widely criticized for taking the maximum amount when his opponent had only raised $2,000.

We, too, were shocked at the amount of money Fidler asked for in his massive 41-page affidavit, which included coverage from Sheepshead Bites as evidence of a competitive race. Fidler told the Daily News, “”If it turns out that I don’t need it, I’ll return it.”

That’s why the day after the election we contacted the councilman to see how much he’d be returning. He wrote:

As of today, I have no clue what we spent and we are still paying bills. I can only GUESS that we will be returning a five figure number, but can’t say for sure.

Clearly he has no intention of meeting Daily News’ demand that he return all $88,500. But campaign funds are given out with the expectation that they’ll be spent, so getting five figures back – if that’s what we get – can be seen by some as a positive step.

What do you think? Should Fidler reimburse the city the entire $88,500? Or was he within his right to spend away?