Christine Quinn

Among the funding requests cut by the Council from its budget was one for the Bronx African American Chamber of Commerce, which was slated to get $10,000 at the request of City Councilman Larry Seabrook. The organization earned some attention when it came out that they never accounted for the ultimate destination of $994,488 they received last year.

After voting in favor of the budget, Seabrook told me, “I didn’t put it in -- that was a mistake on their end,” referring to the Council staff.

A spokesman for the City Council explained the mistake, saying that Seabrook had initially asked for the money but later recsinded the request.  read more »

Even in these days of increased transparency when it comes to the City Council's appropriation of member items, the process remains, unavoidably, one that rewards people who know people.

For example, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, a non-profit group whose executive director, William Rapfogel, is married to the Assembly Speaker's chief of staff, Judy Rapfogel, got $556,250 in member items this year.

The Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center, a group founded and closely associated with Vito Lopez, an Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic County Leader, got $658,089 in member items.

 

In the comments section of my original post on these member items, Mendy points out that Leib Glantz, a politically active Satmar rabbi, is a big winner because his group, UJCare, got a $200,000 member item to fund "a variety of services.  read more »

Before passing last night’s budget, Christine Quinn told reporters at City Hall, “I can assure New Yorkers there are no fictitious organizations in this budget.”

Later, in response to a question, Quinn said groups that were funded last year and don't appear in this years budget weren't necessarily rejected--some Council members give funding for more than one year.

The City Council’s budget negotiating team stayed late last night at City Hall, trying to hammer out a budget before the June 30 deadline. A handshake agreement is expected today or tomorrow.

In the meantime, it's a scene. Lobbyists have been a permanent fixture on the City Hall steps and in the City Hall rotunda for days, if not weeks, hounding lawmakers, staffers, and even reporters for any information.

Yesteday afternoon, I bumped into City Councilman Tony Avella across the street from City Hall. When I asked about the budget, he threw up his hands up--it seems he's waiting for information, just like the rest of us.  read more »

Christine Quinn took a shot at Albany lawmakers (none by name) for passing a bill she says will weaken the city’s soon-to-be enacted law requiring stores to recycle their plastic bags.

“Yet again, it’s Albany taking away our power,” Quinn said in a brief chat with reporters in City Hall. “I fail to understand why the State Legislature wants to make New York City a less green city, and we urge the governor to stop them from doing that.”

It's an opportunity for Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate, to fight on behalf of the city. Likely rival Anthony Weiner has long been seen as more aggressive than Quinn, and another likely rival, Bill Thompson has unloaded a series of audits that are critical of the city on parks and education.  read more »

Later this morning, Christine Quinn will announce that 211,801 households in Brooklyn are eligible for federal food stamps, but aren't enrolled in the program, according to a media advisory from her office. Families in those households will be targeted with fliers and pamphlets encouraging them to sign up.

This comes one day after Quinn traveled to the Bronx and announced 100,000 households in the borough are eligible for food stamps but don't receive them.

It’s all part of Quinn’s citywide push on the issue of hunger, which she discusses in the clip above (from an earlier press conference).

I didn't notice any stories this morning about the announcement in Brooklyn yesterday, and it's safe to say that hunger, as an issue, doesn't draw nearly as much news coverage as some others.  read more »

Earlier today, Christine Quinn gave a press conference on food stamps in the Bronx. I didn't make it, but a few hours later her office sent out to me a video of the event.  read more »

As a meta-news side-note, this is a further bit of evidence of YouTube becoming an important part of local politics. This has already happened at the level of presidential and and high-profile statewide races -- Macaca! -- while lawmakers in the city have generally been slow to adapt.

But it's changing. Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate, has quietly created her own Youtube channel, where her staff uploads videos of her press conferences.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, a former housing advocate, is no fan of the Rent Guidelines Board. The panel convenes every year to set the amount that landlords can raise rents on rent-controlled and rent-stabilized apartment.

The event has been known to draw outrage from critics, but that does little to affect the actual decision-making process.  read more »

Councilman Eric Gioia grilled the city’s budget director about the slush fund scandal during a heated Council hearing in City Hall just now.

Gioia asked, pointedly, whose job is to make sure there are no phony organizations in the city budget and what guarantees exist to ensure there are no fake groups in this year’s budget.

The budget director, Mark Page, said at one point that he felt like he was “being grilled by a local prosecutor.” He added, “I’m not sure this is the forum for you to be asking me these questions.”

When pressed about whose job it was to catch the phony groups, Page said that his agency got a list from the City Council, implicitly laying the blame with the head of the City Council, Christine Quinn. (One of her top aides, Chuck Meara, was sitting in the front row in the City Council chambers during the hearing, taking note of the exchange.)

Page told Gioia, “Your question about assurance from me that there’s nothing fraudulent in the line items [of the budget], logistically, is -- looking backwards -- is a problem for me as to how to do it.”  read more »

Here’s Christine Quinn explaining to reporters yesterday why she thinks the city has to use its newfound surplus to prepay future debt obligations.

At about the 1:30 mark, Quinn says, “Every budget gets judged by the amount of prepayment of bills and debt is the same, greater or less than the year before. And if we pay fewer bills in advance in one year compared to the year before, we will be deemed to be in a structural deficit.”

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn faced some pointed questions at a press conference this afternoon about the timetable by which the City Council voted on a $2.9 billion (upward) adjustment to the city’s current budget.

At the press conference, Quinn said the extra spending is the result of the city taking in more tax revenue than was expected when the current budget was adopted back in June. The chairman of the Council Finance Committee, David Weprin, said that about $1.6 billion of that money was going to pay down the city’s debt obligations and that the rest of the money would go toward prepaying things like transit subsidies and library costs.

Quinn said, “People should not misconstrue that to think that we are flush with money.” She also said, “We desperately need that money to pay the '09 debt and to pay bills and debt in 2010 and to keep us balanced. If we were to spend all of that money in '08, we would put ourselves in a position where we didn’t have enough money to pay our bills, to pay our services we owe New Yorkers next year, and the year after.”  read more »

Here’s a ticket that intern Em Whitney and I scored as a souvenir from last night’s State Democratic Party fund-raiser at 41 Broad Street. Since the event was closed to the press, we didn’t actually make it inside, but we did get to chat with a few people outside about Hillary Clinton‘s presidential campaign and other topics of interest.  read more »

Also at this morning’s breakfast, Christine Quinn didn’t take sides between Michael Bloomberg and Chuck Schumer , who have differing opinions over which major development project should be the city’s top priority. (Schumer favors Moynihan Station, Bloomberg likes Hudson Yards.)
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The video above, courtesy of The Observer's Azi Paybarah, features City Council Speaker Christine Quinn expounding this morning on major development projects like the Javits Center expansion and renovation; the stalled Moynihan Station plan; and the Related Companies' West Side rail yards plans.

"I really see all three of them as critically important," Ms. Quinn said. Of Related's rail yards plan specifically: "Now, yesterday, we had a terrific step forward...  read more »

At a Crain's business breakfast in Midtown this morning, Christine Quinn said she doesn't think her career as City Council speaker will be "defined" by the "problem" the council has in the slush fund scandal.

Quinn said she, and others, will be judged by the solutions they propose to problems as they arise.

It's among the most concise attempts to frame the recent money problems in the Council, and to regain the mantle of reform her prospective candidacy was premised on.

Although it seems like the pressure on Christine Quinn over the problems with City Council's finances has eased, at least one council member is only partially satisfied.

John Liu, who has been one of Quinn's most vocal critics since news of the speaker's slush fund became public, gave an interview to WNBC's News Forum in which he said of her new reforms, "I'm not sure how much good it actually does, but at least they don't do any harm."

He also continued to be critical of her original handling of the problem.

Here's the transcript, which was sent over by the network:  read more »

The City Council announced they will not be funding any initiative in fiscal year '09 that is not already slated to get funded under this year’s city budget.

In a public statement, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, “As we enter more uncertain economic times, we need to set fiscal priorities in the budget,” and added, “Putting a moratorium on new initiatives will allow us to cut back on city spending and to focus on restoring funds to essential services that New Yorker’s already depend on everyday.”  read more »

Here's a debate to watch for as the 2009 mayor's race gets going.

The New York Post editorial board today praised Anthony Weiner's position on the reform of City Council member items, which Weiner recently said he opposes, along with congressional earmarks.  read more »

It seems that Christine Quinn has two important factions to please. On one side are the 50 other members of the City Council. On the other are good-government groups and, particularly, The New York Times editorial board.

When Quinn began discussing the slush fund scandal at the City Council, The Times editorial board--a big voice in Democratic primaries for offices like, say, mayor--held out hope that Quinn could set things straight, writing, "[her] reformist zeal is still needed."

The first package of reforms Quinn announced, on April 11, would have stripped the City Council of the ability to determine how $20 million in discretionary money from the council speaker's office is spent, giving that power instead to the mayor's agencies. The Times called it "sensible" but added, "[S]he must do a lot more."

Then, council members objected. Loudly. Strongly.

So this week, Quinn unveiled another set of reforms that are more palatable to her members.

The major difference between Quinn's old plan and new plan is that the new plan leaves a majority of decision-making power with council members. The Times was not pleased:  read more »

Representative Anthony Weiner, a devout Hillary Clinton supporter, recalls for News Forum host Jay DeDapper what it was like meeting Barack Obama on the floor of Congress the other day:

From a transcript sent over by the studio:  read more »

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Christine Quinn just unveiled her new proposal to reform the way the City Council allocates money to community groups.

Under the old plan, which Quinn announced shortly after news broke about the speaker's slush fund, any nonprofit that wanted money from the speaker's fund would have had to go through a "request for proposal" (R.F.P.) process, which would have been awarded by agencies controlled by the mayor's administration. Many Council members felt it took a great deal of power out of their hands.  read more »

Christine Quinn will unveil her new proposal for reforming the City Council's budget practices, at a 1 p.m. press conference in City Hall.  read more »

Despite the recent acquittal of the three police officers on trial for the death of Sean Bell, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly still leads the pack of potential mayoral contenders, according to a new Quinnipiac poll.

That seems in part due to his name recognition and in part because most voters probably aren't thinking about a race that's still a year and a half away. Considering also that most candidates haven't even declared, the significance of the results are limited.  read more »

“Sometimes government moves slow, but we run sure,” said Hiram Monserrate, councilman from Queens, on Monday afternoon. The Veteran’s Committee, which he chairs, was passing a Berkeley-esque resolution calling (again) for the federal government to repeal the “Don’t ask, don’t tell, don’t pursue” policy and replace it with a policy of equal rights for homosexuals in the military.

Now government is moving slower than ever.

This resolution was introduced by Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was, except for maybe U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, the city’s only solid candidate for mayor next year.  read more »

Two City Council members leaving a meeting in Christine Quinn's office just confirmed that she will drop the proposal from her reform package that would have required groups seeking funding from the city to complete a competitive "request for proposal" process.

According the Council members, under Quinn's new plan, the City Council will get to decide how much money community groups will get, but the vetting and auditing of the groups will be done by mayoral agencies.  read more »

At a press conference in Brooklyn yesterday, I asked Christine Quinn about the Daily News story saying the City Council improperly funneled money to illegitimate charities using “conduit groups.”

At the time, Quinn said the practice was legal, practical, and ongoing for a number of years.

Quinn also said there were a number of inaccuracies in that story. So, after the event I emailed her spokeswoman, Maria Alvarado, to ask specifically what they thought the inaccuracies were.

Alvarado emailed me a point-by-point response later, which rests on the notion the council wasn't trying to hide the practice. Also, they say that city law doesn't require groups receiving taxpayer money to be registered as 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

Here's the email, with the News passages in quotes:  read more »

Unlike Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s reaction to the initial revelation of the Council’s secret discretionary fund -- she denied knowledge that that practice was still going on and then proposed a series of dramatic reforms to the process – she is making no apologies in connection to the latest story accusing the Council of bad financial practices.  read more »

Protesters and politicans plan to rally in Chelsea on Saturday against the displacement of a handful of small businesses on Ninth Avenue by landlord Morris Monian.

Eight stores along what organizers are calling “the last ungentrified block in Chelsea” —including Chelsea Liquors, the Ninth Avenue Gift Shop, Sweet Banana Candy Store, New Barber Shop and Famous Deli—have between three months and two years before their lease expires.

Organizers said the shops cater directly to residents of the Fulton Houses affordable housing complex across the street.  read more »

Technically, Michael Bloomberg’s $59.1 billion budget increases spending -- albeit by one tenth of one percent -- but the loudest critcism it's facing so far is from officials and interest groups that want him to spend more.  read more »

Here’s (a lot of) video from Christine Quinn’s press conference yesterday where she discussed Harlem rezoning and environmental legislation, and then took questions from reporters about the investigation of the City Council.
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Here’s a shot of Manhattan City Councilman Robert Jackson seconds before Christine Quinn ordered the balcony cleared of the boisterous protesters who were yelling about the Harlem rezoning the Council was about to pass.

“Jackson you’re a snake. Jackson, you’re a sellout to your people,” one women yelled down from the balcony. Another man yelled out, “Uncle Tom!”  read more »

In her clearest remarks to date about the slush fund scandal at the City Council, Christine Quinn told reporters today, “I am not a target of the investigation.”

The remark came during a Q&A with reporters following her announcement that legislation would be passed later today in order to rezone Harlem and create a permanent office of long-term sustainability.  read more »

Room 9 reporters have been combing through hundreds of pages of documents submitted by City Council members to the city outlining potential conflicts of interest they may have steering city money to groups in their district.

It seemed like a good opportunity to give readers a chance to go through those documents too.

I sent a Freedom of Information request to the City Council’s records access officer, who responded within minutes with a ton of information.  read more »

A couple of weeks after becoming one of the earliest and loudest critics of Council Speaker Christine Quinn over her proposed member-item reform, John Liu is publicly tweaking another one of his colleagues, this time over a more routine legislative matter.

Here’s a brief clip of Liu during a City Council hearing about biological, chemical and radiological detectors this morning, where he openly questioned the need for the legislation the committee was considering. The bill was introduced by fellow Queens Democrat Peter Vallone, Jr., whose committee meeting Liu was attending.

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I just got back from Michael Bloomberg's press conference at a job center in Jamaica, not far from where Sean Bell was killed in 2006.

Bloomberg said he doesn’t expect any violence in response to today's verdict, and added that there is room for peaceful dissent and possibly legal action.

Also there were Queens Borough President Helen Marshall, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Council members Leroy Comrie and Tom White, and State Senate Democratic leader Malcolm Smith.  read more »

The city will conduct an “intensive, in-depth assessment” of high-risk construction in the city, the Department of Buildings announced Wednesday, one day after commissioner Patricia Lancaster resigned.

"This year, we have seen an increase in accidents and injuries related to high-risk construction activities," acting commissioner Robert LiMandri said in a statement, "and we must make sure that as construction activity in the City continues to increase, the Department’s ability to hold the construction industry to higher safety standards keeps pace."

The department will spend $4 million to bring in outside engineers and others to oversee the review.

Full release after the jump.  read more »

There’s a new system for vetting member items this year, according to an agreement between City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler [clarified].

In a letter dated today, Thompson's says that going forward from now on, he will examine all member items worth at least $5,000 (previously it had to be worth $25,000). The mayor's office of contracts will review member items under $5,000.  read more »

As reported last night, Christine Quinn just hired a new finance director for the City Council, Preston Niblack.

Niblack is coming over from his job as deputy director for the Independent Budget Office.

He starts on May 5 and is arriving here amid the financial scandal that has pre-occupied much of the Council. Talks are already underway on how to overhaul major portions of the discretionary allocations, a vital part of how members shape each year’s city budget.

Niblack is taking over the position once held by Mike Keogh, who left around the time Quinn said she learned that Council staffers for years had been hiding taxpayer money behind phony organizations in order to dispense the money later.

Niblack will be paid $160,000, the same salary Keogh was making when he started.

Here’s the official statement.  read more »

I just got around to listening to the most recent episode of the Perez Notes, where the radio host asked City Councilman Jim Gennaro if he still supports Christine Quinn in her role as council speaker [25:38]. The question, of course, was prompted by questions about the recently discovered financial scandal and her handling of it.

It’s a tough question for most members, but especially so for Gennaro, who is also set to run for State Senate later this year and probably doesn’t want the financial scandal that came to light under Quinn’s watch to seep onto the campaign trail.  read more »

At his press conference in midtown yesterday Michael Bloomberg was asked why one city agency approved a funding application for the Donna Reid Fund after the same group had been denied funding by another agency.

The mayor defended what had happened and added, "In fact, the process worked."

 

Two employees of Councilman Kendall Stewart have now been accused of skimming money off the grants the nonprofit received.

UPDATE: Councilman David Yassky's office released a letter this morning in support of the actions of the first agency to see an application from the Donna Reid Foundation--the Department for the Aging--expressing support and commending the agency for taking the right course of action. In recent days, D.F.T.A. has been blamed for not doing more to expose inconsistencies in the nonprofit's application.

Here's the letter:  read more »

 

David Weprin, the City Council Finance Chairman, emerged from the closed door meeting that members had with Christine Quinn yesterday to discuss the council's accounting problems and and the indictment of two staffers.  read more »

In a bit of interesting timing, Christine Quinn is having a fund-raiser on April 24 in Manhattan at the home of David Durst, a Hillary Clinton contributor.

Quinn, a likely mayoral candidate who shaped her public image as a reformer, has spent the last couple of weeks responding to a budgeting scandal at the City Council.

One of her likely mayoral rivals, Bill Thompson, has been critical of the Council, and by extension, Quinn. The other likely participant in the race, Anthony Weiner, has stayed notably quiet on the matter.

Here's the invitation, which was forwarded to me by a reader who received it yesterday afternoon:  read more »

At a press conference about legislative matters just now, Christine Quinn was asked if the indictment of two Kendall Stewart staffers, who allegedly pocketed taxpayer money, would affect her proposal to give the mayor’s office more authority over local funding requests.

“Obviously there is additional information everybody will get,” she said. “As we look at that, if there are more comments and questions we can answer, we will.”

Quinn is expected to meet with Council members later today behind closed doors.  read more »

Likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner released a summary of his tax returns just now. From his spokesman:

Weiner earned $152,996 of income in the year 2007. He made payments of $13,900 in New York City/State taxes and $24,300 in Federal taxes.

Longshot (but announced!) mayoral candidate Tony Avella already released his, while Bill Thompson and Christine Quinn have not.  read more »

When Council Speaker Christine Quinn showed up for work at City Hall on the afternoon of April 15, she was greeted by the sight of her colleague, Councilman Charles Barron, calling for her head.

“Quinn must go!” he yelled. “Quinn must go!”  read more »

So, many City Council members have strong feelings about the reforms Christine Quinn proposed last week, particularly about the notion that they would lose the ability to fund specific groups through member items. Those groups would instead have to go through a R.F.P. process and be approved by various departments that are administrated by the mayor's side of City Hall.  read more »

 

After the meeting last night between Council members and Christine Quinn, Peter Vallone, Jr. told me that he supports reforms, but not some of the specific ones that Quinn proposed last week. If she takes the advice of the council, Vallone says, “We won’t be giving up any power to the executive branch."  read more »