News
from STATE SENATOR
Liz Krueger
New York State Senate, 26th
District
COMMUNITY BULLETIN –
October
2003
Message from Liz . . .
As I continue to explore the different ways in which our state government fails to meet the needs of New Yorkers, I am increasingly focusing on the misuse of state resources through public authorities. One particularly egregious offender is the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the current name for the state authority founded in 1968 as the Urban Development Corporation (UDC). The official version of the mandate of UDC is “to generate industrial, commercial and civic development in distressed urban areas and to create jobs through the construction of low and moderate income housing and the renovation or expansion of industrial and commercial facilities.”
So what do you think
UDC / ESDC has spent most its money building over the last 20 years? Affordable
housing? Industrial and Commercial Development? I suppose it depends on how you
define those categories. Of UDC
outstanding indebtedness, about $3.5 billion is debt incurred to build PRISONS
and youth detention facilities! This
constitutes over 60% of outstanding UDC bonds.
Whatever the policy
merits of prison construction, the redirection of an agency designed to promote
economic development in blighted urban communities is as ironic as it is
outrageous. Instead of investing money
in vulnerable communities, UDC built prisons to remove people from those
communities and lock them up. Upstate
counties in which these prisons were built may argue that the prisons have
provided economic development for them, thus fulfilling the goals of UDC, but
from a policy perspective, relying on prisons to be the economic engine of the
New York State economy is extremely shortsighted from both economic and ethical
perspectives. As the crime rate has
dropped, upstate communities dependent on this “development” model are finding
themselves facing even deeper economic crises, with no real alternatives to
replace the job loss that would result from lower rates of incarceration. Perhaps this perverse economic reality helps
explain the resistance to reform of the Rockefeller Drug Laws.
And how does the UDC
get away with this? Simply put,
authorities can pretty much spend their money however they want. They serve as useful tools for Governors –
Republican or Democratic Governors – who want to accomplish goals for which
they lack public support. UDC bonds
were diverted to prison construction after the public voted down a bond measure
to fund such construction. This bonding
power can also be used on a smaller scale to fund projects that meet immediate
political needs. The end result of all
of this for the state is a larger and larger debt –- the largest of any state
in the union. New York State currently
has $39 billion in State- Supported Debt, of which $35 billion – nearly 90
percent – was incurred by public authorities.
The cost of servicing this debt leaves less and less money available to
pay for the services people need from their government, such as education,
health care, and basic public safety.
Fortunately, there
does seem to be increasing awareness of the abuses that can be perpetrated through
public authorities. The media has run a
number of exposes recently, including stories about the Metropolitan
Transportation Authority (MTA) cost overruns on construction of its
headquarters, the proposal to use ESDC to give huge tax incentives and loan
guarantees to a mall project outside of Syracuse, and, most recently, the
selling of access rights to the Erie Canal by the Canal Corporation for
$30,000. The next step is to see these
abuses by different authorities as part of an underlying problem, rather than
isolated events. If New York State is
ever going to develop a fiscally responsible mode of government, we must
address the underlying need for fundamental reform of our public authorities.
|
Free
Flu Shots and Health Resources Forum Free
Flu Shots for Seniors and others at risk for the Flu – By
appointment only – call 490-9535 for an appointment Date:
Monday, October 20th Time: 10:00am-1:00pm Place: Lenox Hill Senior Center at St.
Peter’s Church 619 Lexington Avenue at 54th Street Call (212) 490-9535 to make an
appointment for a flu shot |
Community
Spotlight
Opposing Plans to Reduce Service on the
M15 Bus Line:
On September 15th,
I submitted testimony to the MTA opposing plans to reduce service on the M15
bus line. The
MTA’s plan involves cutting the number of buses that are dispatched per hour
and will result in 60 percent longer waits in between buses and a significantly
longer journey time. It is clear that
this reduction is related to the introduction of articulated buses on this
line. As I have previously expressed in correspondence with the MTA, I am
concerned that articulated buses, with increased headway, fewer buses being
deployed, and longer journey times, effectively constitutes a reduction in
service for my constituents. While the
MTA contends that more riders will be served by larger buses, I believe the
negative impacts articulated buses will have on service will aggravate my constituents
and result in decreased ridership.
Particularly on the East Side, which lacks adequate subway service, bus
lines are an essential part of our public transportation network. I will continue to fight to convince the MTA
not to implement this ill-advised service reduction.
Report
from Education Town Hall Meeting:
On September 30th, I and other
elected officials co-hosted an Education Town Hall meeting, which offered an
opportunity for parents and other community members to discuss issues of
concern with both elected officials and representatives of the Department of
Education (DOE). Approximately one
hundred Eastside parents and students attended the event to discuss several
issues of importance to the community, including compliance with the federal No
Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandates regarding school transfers and
supplemental tutoring, and the effects of the newly implemented Children First
reforms. In addition to my co-moderator, Councilmember Eva Moskowitz, and
Assemblymember Jonathan Bing, the event featured a distinguished panel of
specialists with a wide range of education expertise including Peter Heaney,
Deputy Superintendent of Region 9; Jackie Kamin, Manhattan representative to
the Panel for Educational Policy; Linda Wernikoff, DOE’s Director of Special
Education Initiatives; Jeremy Lack, DOE’s Director of Strategic Planning; and
Leanne Shimabukuro, DOE’s Director of Parent and Community Engagement.
Both parents and panelists voiced alarm over
the problems of exploding class sizes, school overcrowding, and the effects of
student transfers from schools labeled in need of improvement under the NCLB
act. Several questions focused upon the
adequacy of special education staffing and curriculum changes. Other issues
raised included transportation, math curriculum, access to information,
replacement of community school boards with community district education
councils, high-school admissions and school choice, delays in receiving state
test scores, and the DOE’s commitment to creating charter schools. Of particular concern was the DOE’s failure
on their pledge to re-shape the role of principals as instructional leaders, by
failing to provide the promised administrative supports to effectively manage
schools. I think the forum was an extremely
useful opportunity for parents to get their concerns heard and addressed by the
Department of Education.
Advocating for Better Vendor Laws:
On October 9th, I testified before
the City Council Committee on Consumer Affairs at a hearing on New York street
vendors. State law regulating the
operation of disabled veteran vendors in central business districts expired in
May, which has contributed to an untenable and dangerous situation in certain
areas of the city, such as Times Square, parts of 34th Street, and
86th Street. Renewal of this
law is essential, and I am cautiously optimistic that the legislature will
address this problem in the near future.
In my testimony, I discussed the impacts of this legislation. I also
emphasized the need for city and state to work together to develop a more
rational and comprehensible system of regulations for vendors that both
protects vendors and their customers, while ensuring that vendors to not
negatively impact the health and safety of neighborhoods by overly exacerbating
crowding in New York City’s central business districts.
Walk For Farm Animals this Weekend:
This Saturday,
October 11th, I will be participating in a Walk for Farm Animals,
sponsored by Farm Sanctuary. The March
kicks off at Columbus Circle (59th Street and Central Park West) at
noon. For more information on
participating in the march, contact Farm Sanctuary at (646) 334-9024, or visit
them on the web at www.farmsanctuary.org.
I have also introduced legislation (S.5735) requiring veterinary care or
humane euthanization of sick farm animals, and banning the sale for human
consumption of sick animals.
Walk Against Breast Cancer:
On October 19th,
the American Cancer Society is sponsoring Making Strides Against Breast
Cancer in Central Park. This is the
10th Anniversary of this walk, which raises money for the fight
against breast cancer. For more
information, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or http://www.cancer.org/stridesonline.
Free Wills and Health Care Proxies for
Older New Yorkers:
On Monday, October
20th from 1-4PM, Eviction Intervention Services (EIS) is sponsoring
a clinic where low income New Yorkers can meet with a lawyer who will assist
them with preparing wills and health care proxies. The clinic will take place at EIS offices at 150 East 62nd
Street. Call Glamis at 212-308-2210, x
206 to make an appointment or for more information.
The
Senate returned to Albany for a one-day session and finally addressed a crucial
environmental issue that has been stalled for years – the cleanup of toxic
superfund and brownfields sites. The
Senate had failed to pass the Assembly version of this legislation when the
session ended in June, but on September 16th, passed the bill by a
vote of 51-9. The Brownfields Cleanup Program, S. 5702, will
refinance the State Superfund, which provides $120 million a year for cleaning
up over 800 seriously contaminated sites across the state. The bill maintains the Superfund's stringent
clean-up policy, continues the historic 50/50 split between industry fees and
public funds and provides technical assistance grants of up to $50,000 for
community groups who aid in cleanup activities. In addition, the bill expands
the program to include hazardous substance zones, which are sites where the
waste source cannot be traced back to manufacturing. The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has identified
300 of these zones, which pose a serious threat to public health and the
environment.
This
legislation will create a new statewide brownfields program to clean up and
redevelop contaminated industrial and neighborhood sites for productive
usage. The bill strengthens the
responsibilities of voluntary cleanup by ensuring toxic source removal and
evaluation of remedial alternatives based on stringent health and environmental
criteria. In addition, the legislation
will jump-start the underused brownfield program that was funded in the 1996
Clean Water/Clean Air Bond Act to encourage localities to take advantage of the
$170 million still unspent for brownfield remediation. Municipalities will be able to receive 90%
of eligible cleanup costs and be allowed to keep any profit upon sale realized
above the cost of cleanup. The bill
will further provide for $135 million in tax credits per year for the voluntary
cleanup and redevelopment of certain commercial and industrial sites in the
state.
The
Federal and State Superfund were created as a result of the infamous Love Canal
incidents of the late 1970’s. The
chemical-filled canal was sold to the Niagara Falls Board of Education for $1,
with the intention of building a school and a residential community directly
above the site. Throughout the next
thirty years, residents complained of noxious odors and black sludge bubbling
up in the yards and playgrounds.
Eventually it was discovered that PCB’s, dioxin and other toxic
chemicals were in the air and soil, as well as
the sump pumps of area houses. In 1978,
President Jimmy Carter declared the Love Canal area a federal emergency and
permanently relocated 900 families. The
Love Canal led to a public awareness of the prevalence of toxic chemical
dumping and it potential dangers.
According
to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the definition of a brownfield is
an “abandoned, idled or under-used industrial and commercial site where
expansion or redevelopment is complicated by real or perceived environmental
contamination that can add cost, time or uncertainty to a redevelopment
project.” Before this legislation
passed, New York was the only industrial state in the
Northeast that did not have a law for cleaning up and redeveloping
brownfields. There
are over 14,000 known brownfield sites scattered throughout New York State. In New York City alone, nearly 20% or 4,000
acres of the industrial land is vacant or abandoned and redevelopment is
stymied by contamination. A
superfund site is a contaminated site that poses an immediate threat to human
health and
the
environment because of the presence of one or more hazardous pollutants. The New York State
Superfund Program was created through the 1986 Environmental Quality Bond
Act
and has been utilized to clean up and remediate over 300 Superfund sites since
it inception. Unfortunately, the funds
were exhausted in early 2001, leaving hundreds of known toxic sites untouched.
The
state superfund has been bankrupt for the past two years and I was pleased to
cast my vote in support of refinancing the clean up and redevelopment effort. This bill will set up strong environmental
standards so that thousands of toxic and polluted sites around New York State
can be revitalized. It is important
that we move forward with this issue that is so important to public health and
to the future of the environment.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
District Office: 211
East 43rd Street, Suite 1300, New York NY 10017 (212) 490-9535 Fax:
(212) 490-2151
Albany Office: Room 302, Legislative Office Bldg., Albany
NY 12247 (518) 455-2297 Fax: (518) 426-6874
On the Web at
http://www.lizkrueger.com