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.

Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz is urging Governor Paterson and the state legislature to rekindle discussions about congestion pricing or the commuter tax in an effort to stave off increases to the MTA mobility tax.

The governor’s proposal includes a 60 percent increase in the mobility tax levied on area businesses.  The tax was first enacted last year and is now being expanded to fuel revenues and close the MTA’s massive budget shortfall.

Cymbrowitz says the tax unfairly penalizes employers in the five boroughs, which will be asked to pay .54 percent per $100 of payroll, while suburban businesses get away with paying only .17 percent per $100 of payroll. Currently, inner-city businesses pay .34 percent.

“Pitting New York City’s businesses against suburban firms might make political sense for the governor, but is likely to become an economic calamity. The commuters from Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and the other nine counties that fall under the MTA mobility tax use our mass transit system just as my constituents and other New York City residents do. So, why should businesses in the suburbs have less of a responsibility to the MTA than those in the City?” Cymbrowitz wrote in a press release.

The assemblyman is asking his Albany colleagues to begin debating alternatives – including the commuter tax and congestion pricing – immediately.

Read the assemblyman’s press release

With the influx of Sheepshead’s latest liquor establishments, Sheepshead Bay’s thirst for a frosty brew need not be quenched.

Senators Marty Golden (R) of Bay Ridge (aka the bar capital of Brooklyn) and Sheepshead’s Steven Cymbrowitz (D) fearing the decline of the mom-and-pop liquor store and the heightened teen accessibility to booze, united the unlikely pair in an effort to oppose Governor Paterson’s proposal to “legalize win sales in 19,000 new outlets.”

Although no one can predict how fast the Bay would be running to 7-11 for an ‘85 Merlot, is there any real reason to increase the amount of places one can buy alcohol to begin with? According to the World Health Organization, 1.8 million deaths a year are attributed to alcohol usage, 1/3 of that alone being accidental. That’s not to mention the staggering rates of drunk driving in Sheepshead Bay.

With the State Liquor Authority having “only 38 inspectors statewide regulating 70,000 license holders,” Cymbrowitz notes that “To increase the inspection team’s workload by almost one-third is a recipe for disaster.”

We can already buy beer in corner stores and grocery stores have a less than humble selection of beer and prepackaged frou-frou drinks. Maybe a staggering four blocks seems like a ways away up in Albany, but down by the bay, our cup runneth over. Enough already.

Related articles:
Cymbrowitz Blasts Gov On New Booze Plan
Sheepshead Bay Is Sauced

Councilman Michael C. Nelson is pushing a new bill that would give a free pass to recipients of parking tickets that have wracked up late fees. You can read the press release below.

I’m not a driver, so I don’t have parking tickets. My general reaction to this is that it’s plainly unfair to give forgiveness to people too irresponsible to pay their bills on time. Parking tickets are a problem in this city, for sure, and the city could use the immediate revenues this would produce. But none of this is a real solution. Instead, it seems to me the city should lean on those who haven’t paid and get every penny the taxpayers are owed. Simultaneously, there should be reform in the way parking tickets are given out to reduce excessive and abusive ticketing processes.

But again, I’m not a driver, so maybe it looks different from your side of the windshield. I welcome your opinion.

Here’s the release:

Councilman Nelson Introduces Parking Violations Amnesty Program Legislation

(City Hall) – Council Member Michael C. Nelson proudly announces the introduction of legislation which, if passed into law, will initiate a forgiveness program for parking violation penalties. Introduction 22-2010, which is co-sponsored by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, is modeled after the same concept as the ECB forgiveness program implemented by the Council last year. The ECB bill provided an opportunity for individuals, who were issued violations by various city agencies (Department of Buildings, Consumer Affairs, Sanitation, etc.) and were currently in default to eliminate their debt with the city by paying only the base fine, thereby avoiding all penalties.

Click to keep reading the release

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.”

Manhattan Beach Neighborhood Association has invited principals from the community’s schools to come and speak at tonight’s February meeting about education issues. Those coming are Arthur Forman, principal of P.S. 195; Marie Timo, the principal of Bay Academy; and Joseph Zaza, the principal of Leon Goldstein High School. Though all three schools are in relatively good shape, it’s still a good opportunity to pick the brains of local leaders in education about all the madness our school system is going through, including closures and the rising influence of charters.

When: Tonight, February 1 @ 8 p.m.
Where: P.S. 195 @ 131 Irwin Street