What do snake oil salesmen and the Dept. of Transportation have in common?

When a snake oil salesmen tells you he knows what's good for you, be wary.
When the D.O.T. tells you they are trying out a "pilot program,"  "a trial period", or based on statistics they "will make adjustments" -- don't believe them.

From commuteroutrage.com:

Sadik Khan is revealing more and more of the DOT's actual plans.............. they say they are pilot programs...... then "ooops" she spills the beans............

More from the NY Times on the Times Square lawn chairs:
————————————————————————-
City officials were quick to reiterate that the lawn chairs will be gone by the end of the summer, replaced by sturdier stock.

“As a temporary treatment in a temporary period, I think the chairs do match the atmosphere of the new space, and they reflect the fact that it’s an unofficial kickoff for summer,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissioner. But, she added, “The plan all along is to bring in world-class treatment, and we’ve ordered hundreds of new chairs and tables and umbrellas.”
————————————————————————-

Let me get this straight. At the end of the “trial” the DOT is going to carefully analyze the results to see if the traffic diversion works - but they’ve *already* ordered permanent chairs. Umbrellas too. The pink flamingos will arrive next summer.

Yes, I feel quite confident that Khan’s DOT is keeping an open mind about this.

Full article here

From CCRC:

Community Board 3 formed the Chatham Square Task Force of Community Board 3 - a hastily cobbled group of community activists, stake holders and CB members to address the detailed plans of Chatham Square and come up with some alternative plans with the hopes that community input would be realized through a resolution.
All along the Dept. of Transporation told CB3 and the Chinatown community at large that the deadline for construction was imminent and unchangeable. In reality, the "deadline" was nonexistent and the D.O.T. knew it since they never sent out the bids to construction companies as they said they had back in January, thus setting the entire project back indefinitely. Meanwhile hundreds of hours of analysis by volunteers and community board members as well as a professional traffic engineer (working on funds provided by the Community Board's transportation related American Red Cross grant) was pulled together with the idea that bulldozers were making their way to Chatham Square with a start date of "early July". The convenient excuse for the refusal to entertain logical and practical Task Force solutions to ludicrous and unproven, untested D.O.T. plans was the lack of time necessary to analyze the community plans. Now we know that was a lie.

How can The Department Of Transportation and its Commissioner Sadik Khan expect anyone in New York to believe them after they repeatedly deceive communities this way?  The Bloomberg administration, Sadik Khan and the sheep-followers they brainwash are herded into "plazas" and work in consort to persuade the rest of us to "just believe" that their plans for our City will work.

As Councilman John Liu rightfully points out "where is the accountability"  and where is the transparency in the D.O.T.?

Criticism of the City's self proclaimed "largest real estate developer" Sadik Khan

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz


NYC's DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan may be beloved by cycling enthusiasts for her radical expansion of the city's bike lanes, but to critics like Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, she's "an anti-car extremist. It's kind of easy for Ms. Sadik-Khan to be holier than thou and tell people they have no business driving. She may live down the block from the subway station—but most people don't." And John Liu, the City Council member from Queens who chairs the council’s Transportation Committee, says her agenda comes with "a sense of the elite telling the everyday people what’s good for them, and that’s simply not appreciated. I think it can no longer be ignored, the demographic groups calling for these changes versus the demographic groups that protest." John Del Signore in News on May 18, 2009 11:24 AM

Downtown Express covers the Chatham Square reconstruction delay

Volume 22, Number 05 | The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan | June 12 - 18, 2009

Chinatown happy as traffic plan is stalled for now

By Julie Shapiro

The city will not begin reconstructing Chatham Square this summer, after the unpopular plan drew months of criticism from the community and elected officials.

The city insisted this week that the delay does not mean the $50 million project is shelved, but officials would not say when the work would start. Several Downtown politicians and community leaders said that the project is unlikely to move forward anytime soon.

“I don’t think they’re going to do anything anymore,” said Justin Yu, chairperson of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. Yu met with D.O.T. Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and other high-level D.O.T. staff last week to discuss the Chatham Square plan. “Definitely she said they would reconsider it, review it,” Yu said of Sadik-Khan.

Yu is one of many Chinatown leaders who oppose the city’s proposal for the complicated seven-way intersection. The city wants to realign the streets that feed Chatham Square, connecting East Broadway to Worth St. and the Bowery to St. James Place. The plan would cut Park Row out of the intersection, essentially making permanent the post-9/11 decision to close part of the street to protect One Police Plaza.

Chinatown advocates spoke out against the city’s plan immediately when the city began pushing it late last year. The advocates were concerned that the city’s traffic and pedestrian improvements would be outweighed by the negative impact of the three-year construction on local businesses. When the city decided to move ahead with the reconfiguration anyway, residents and business owners banded together, holding rallies and gathering petition signatures.

“I guess D.O.T. got the message,” Yu said.

This week, the city acknowledged the delay in the project, but denied that anything beside the schedule had changed.

“The project is not suspended or shelved,” said Scott Gastel, D.O.T. spokesperson. “We are working on some timing and coordination issues,” he added in an e-mailed statement.

Gastel would not say when construction contracts would go out to bid or when work would begin.

The city previously said it was essential for construction to begin this summer, so that the intersection would be able to handle an increased flow of cars during Brooklyn Bridge work starting next year. Gastel would not say how the Chatham Square delay would impact the bridge work.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said in a statement that the reason D.O.T. is delaying the start of Chatham Square work is to coordinate it with the Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation.

“I am pleased that the city has finally heeded our call to slow down this project,” Silver said in the statement. “Undertaking any major construction project in this area at this time would have a devastating effect on dozens of small businesses who are struggling during these difficult economic times.”

Since the bulldozers won’t be arriving in Chatham Square anytime soon, Councilmember Alan Gerson said the community now has time to work with D.O.T. on a plan that makes everyone happy.

“It’s a wonderful victory for the community,” said Gerson, who protested the Chatham Square plan last month with Comptroller Bill Thompson. “This gives us a chance to regroup.”

Jan Lee, a Chinatown activist and owner of an antiques store, also was glad the project is on hold, but said it’s important to remain vigilant. Lee heard from a city official that D.O.T. is only delaying the project to avoid widespread protests during election season.

If Mayor Mike Bloomberg gets re-elected in November, “this project starts the day after,” Lee said, based on what the city official told him.

Lee hopes the delay will give the Civic Center Residents Coalition time to build support for their alternate plan, which would leave the intersection largely as is, reducing the project’s scope, cost and duration. The plan, endorsed by Community Board 3, would add a new one-lane road directly connecting St. James Place to East Broadway but would leave Park Row in its central position, in the hope that it will one day reopen.

In a seven-page letter to C.B. 3 last month, Luis Sanchez, D.O.T.’s Lower Manhattan borough commissioner, said the community alternative plan would provide some relief to the traffic that snarls the intersection, but wouldn’t work as well as the city’s plan. Sanchez also said the city’s plan improves pedestrian safety and expands plaza space, while the community’s plan doesn’t.

C.B. 3’s Chatham Square Task Force, which relied on the expertise of traffic consultant Brian Ketcham, also recommended that the city add a second eastbound lane to Worth St.

In his May 1 letter, Sanchez agreed that widening Worth St. would improve traffic flow, and he said the city’s original plan included that. The city also wanted to add a third southbound lane to Bowery.

But the problem is that widening the streets would cut into park space that has both state and city protections, Sanchez wrote. In late 2007, D.O.T. asked elected officials if they would support removing some park space for traffic improvements, and they did not support it, Sanchez said.

Now, redesigning the intersection would require another five to seven months of work, Sanchez wrote.

“It is simply too late to consider such a fundamental change to the design,” he wrote, although his letter was written over a month before the city delayed the project indefinitely.

Gerson said Chatham Square’s current work delay gives the city more than enough time to get approval to remove a small amount of park space and redesign the intersection. Gerson supports demapping the park areas — which are basically concrete-topped plaza spaces — and he expects that it would take no more than a few months to do so, especially since the city is adding more park space in the design.

Silver, who has a large say on whether the park space is demapped, has not seen any specific proposals and has not taken a position, said Caryn Adams, Silver’s spokesperson. In general, D.O.T. should work with the community to reach a consensus for Chatham Square, Silver said in a statement.

Some Chinatown residents would prefer to leave the intersection as is.

Steven Wong, chairperson of the Lin Zexu Foundation, is concerned the construction will hurt his Chatham Square translation business, and he does not want the work to disrupt the central plaza that features a statue of Lin Zexu, a 19th-century Chinese scholar and official.

Before any work starts, Wong wants to see a detailed study of how the plan will improve pedestrian safety, so people “can walk across the street without fear of getting run over by cars,” Wong said.

Julie@DowntownExpress.com
COMMENTS:
Chris Connolly June 11th, 2009 at 7:06 PM

Congratulations to the Chinatown community's effort in beating back the onslaught of the bully boys at DOT and their handlers in Transportation Alternatives and their lackeys on Streetsblog. No one wanted this stupid proposal except DOT commish Sadik-Khan, the chief bully, and her little hipster friends from Brooklyn who control the show at DOT nowadays. Congrats also to the community board for standing by the neighborhood residents and businesses in beating back this assault. You put Sadik-Khan in her place! Let her go back to Times Square and cater to the needs of the tourists there. She and her minions are not welcome downtown.

smallbusinessadvocate June 12th, 2009 at 12:20 AM

in Dec. of 2008 people who did not live in Chinatown, didn't own businesses in Chinatown, and never attended the numerous meetings with the D.O.T. on this subject decided - after seeing the D.O.T. produced drawings of the proposed Chatham Square reconstruction for less than a week to have a "call to arms" for NYC to go against the Chinatown community with a blog posting entitled : "Oppo Expected to Improvements for Chatham Square, Park Row by Brad Aaron on December 1, 2008" justifying the "call to arms" with nothing more than "Unfortunately, the proposal -- a joint project of Parks, City Planning, Design and Construction, and DOT -- is likely to draw opposition from those who consider auto traffic key to Chinatown's prosperity. As always, turnout by livable streets advocates is key.". It is SO sad that this kind of impulse to REACT against communities who are trying to cope with plans that THEY had to fight to get released for review without the AID of a professional engineer. Pedestrian safety was and always has been paramount to the Chinatown community as well as economic viability. ANY time that new comers to NYC decide to have a "call to arms" against the communities of NYC, acting like soldiers of the D.O.T. who have drunk deep of the "green" koolaid, we must rise up against them and remind the public officials , as was done with Chatham Square in this instance, that WE ARE NEW YORK, not these reactionary newbies.

An open letter to Transportation Alternatives to join CCRC in supporting Fast Fleet for NYC

Wiley Norville
Communications Dir.
Transportation Alternatives
127 W 26th St # 1002
New York, NY 10001
(212) 629-8080


We are writing to ask for your support in joining the Civic Center Residents Coalition to ask the New York City government to enact “fast-fleet” (aka Zip Car) technology to its entire fleet of vehicles.
The New York Times reported as far back as 1987 about abuse of parking spaces by NYPD and government vehicles in Chinatown. The Civic Center Residents Coalition, CCRC, is well recognized for having exposed congested streets, dangerous conditions, and loss of revenue due to the abundance of illegally parked government owned and government employee’s commuter vehicles throughout the Chinatown/lower Manhattan area during the last several years.
Recognizing the struggle of Chinatown activists trying to clear its streets of illegally parked government fleet vehicles and privately owned commuter vehicles with agency sanctioned placards, Transportation Alternatives began research on a large scale to further expose the danger, disrespect, and loss and revenue to the City as a result of the abuse.
It is for this reason that we ask you to support for NYC what Washington D.C. has adopted as its answer to reduce its fleet, streamline its finances, and eliminate once and for all abuse of government owned vehicles.
Fast Fleet, Zip Car technology will be launched in 15 cities in the coming years. Currently New York City is not on that list. Fast-Fleet (http://dcfleetshare.fastfleet.net/) is a fully transparent system that continually monitors every vehicle’s use, location, agency, and driver, thereby eliminating the need for placards.
Just as important as the elimination of abuse is the drastic and immediate reduction of the City’s vehicle fleet because fast-fleet is a car SHARING program. Once cars are shared throughout the City and throughout the day, parking spaces for these cars, maintenance, fuel, and emissions are all reduced.
Can we count on Transportation Alternatives to enthusiastically support this twenty first century solution to government waste in vehicle usage which will for generations to come improve the City of New York?

Sincerely
Jan Lee
Danny Chen
Jeanie Chin
John Ost

Bill Thompson "No tolls, not now, not ever" March 2009

Bill Thompson suggests a logical and practical alternative to tolling the East River bridges. Click this link.

Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson blasts Mayor Bloomber - "Back off!" from the community boards!

Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson blasts the Mayor and suggests that the budget cuts to Community Boards is a tactic to lessen their effectiveness and secure their eventual obsolescence.

Rally to STOP community Board budget cuts at city hall steps today

Manhattan CB1 committee chair John Fratta said that the "equal" cuts that Mayor is proposing for the community boards is contrary to what happened when the city budget allowed for increases in all city agencies. He went on to say that community boards never got a budget increase when times were good, and now that times are not too good, the mayor says he has to make "equal" cuts all around.  Fratta: "it's a farce".

NY Post - SLIME SQUARE - SNAFU at Broadway

NY POST
Last updated: 10:17 am
June 9, 2009
Posted: 2:22 am
June 9, 2009

The Crossroads of the World looks more like a city dump these days, thanks to those new pedestrian plazas.

The cheapo tables and chairs set up in the pedestrian-only sections of Times Square have become a magnet for nightcrawler slobs who carelessly toss hot-dog wrappers, empty soda bottles and McDonald's bags on the street.

"Especially speaking of weekends, like Saturday and Sunday morning, it looks like a bomb hit," said Tim Tompkins, the president of Times Square Alliance, the group responsible for keeping the plazas clean.

Officials said they were caught off-guard by the crowds drawn to the newly car-free section of Broadway, and that the trash is one of the growing pains of the setup.

On Saturday night, the Department of Sanitation was called in to do an additional garbage-truck run just to clean out overflowing trash cans, Tompkins said.

The alliance, which gets its funding from business owners to keep the area spruced up, is revamping its cleaning staff's hours to fill a late-night gap in service from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Starting next week, there will be sweepers and garbage collectors on a new 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift, Tompkins said.

"Part of it is, we don't have enough trash cans out. Got a bunch of extra cans from Sanitation, but they're overflowing. We're getting more," Tompkins said.

Yesterday's early-morning mess was mostly the work of crowds that gathered at Duffy Square on Sunday night to watch the Tony Awards on big-screen TVs, officials said.

Business owners said they've seen more trash on the streets in the morning.

"It's starting to be more messy since the plazas came," said Akram Awad, a manager at Roxy Delicatessen.

Tompkins said the mess was likely the work of residents.

"I think tourists sometimes clean up better than New Yorkers do," he said.

But some city dwellers balked at the notion.

"It's tourists. They like to sit out here, but they don't like to clean anything up," said Jason Cruz, 30, from Brooklyn.

Now's your chance to text a thumbs-up -- or -down -- when reviewing the new plazas.

A marketing company yesterday unveiled a Times Square billboard that asks people, "Are you happy with the new Broadway?" and tells them to text "Love it" or "Hate it" to its number.

tom.namako@nypost.com

Thompson said to City Hall in Dec. 2008 "Chatham Square must be delayed"

PR08-12-183

December 16, 2008
Contact: Press Office

(212) 669-3747

THOMPSON TO CITY: CHATHAM SQUARE PROPOSAL MUST BE DELAYED

New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. is expressing deep concerns about the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Chatham Square / Park Row Improvement Program.

In a letter to DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan – which can be viewed at www.comptroller.nyc.gov – Thompson criticized the agency for moving forward with the plan despite overwhelming community opposition from Chinatown and surrounding neighborhoods.

“It’s clear that Chatham Square – with its long crossings and poor pedestrian sight lines – must be rethought, and that he congested traffic on Park Row must be improved,” Thompson said.. “But process matters, and the City has not engaged in sufficient dialogue with community members. As it stands now, neighborhood representatives feel left out of the process.”

Thompson also expressed concern that Community Board 3 is scheduled to vote on the plan tonight, after one hardly-publicized hearing on December 2, 2008.

“As a result, a plan that would completely tear down and redesign a large area of Chinatown may be approved within the span of two weeks,” Thompson added. “Clearly, community members have not been given enough time to respond to the plan nor even comprehend it, as specific details have been perfunctory at best.”

In the letter, Thompson emphasized that DOT cannot guarantee that local small businesses will be supported during the project’s construction phase as a fatal flaw. He also cited DOT’s lack of a specific timeline for the project as problematic, and stressed that the plan does not make clear when, exactly, Park Row will be opened.

“These and other questions must be answered before this ill-conceived plan moves forward,” Thompson said. “For the sake of community members, local businesses, and our City government’s responsibility to operate fairly and transparently, I strongly urge you to delay this proposal and being to address the community’s significant needs and concerns.”

Where'd the "Shoe Guy" go? aka: Bloomberg's determined to bring the suburban experience to Chinatown.

From the Daily News:
Searching for the elusive Shoe Guy in Chinatown

Thursday, June 4th 2009, 4:00 AM
'Shoe Guy' Zhong Wen Qiang has a long history of working in Columbus Park. Hermann for News


Where did the Shoe Guy go?

"Ask the Watch Guy," says a worker in Chinatown's Columbus Park, which for years and years was ringed with fortune-tellers and repairmen plying their crafts, until police ousted them a while back.

"If you find him, let me know."

Found him. The Watch Guy, who fixes timepieces people in other parts of the city throw away, was on Bayard St., hiding behind a tree near his old prime spot near Mulberry.

He used to work side by side with the old cobbler, who'd fix the heels of assistant district attorneys sitting sheepishly in their socks.

Watch Guy pointed to a windblown sign.

"The Shoes Stand have been on Bayard St. for 26 years," it read. "Now it move."

"Police evict everybody," whispered a fortune-teller who looked around nervously as she read a customer's future from a picture card. "They say sidewalk too crowded."

Imagine that: a crowded street in Chinatown!

Who's going to go next - the ladies smoking under their parasols? The circles of men who bet on Chinese chess? Or the brass band that plays funerals, New Orleans-style, right down the block?

They're treating the craftsmen like the criminals who once ruled Five Points, where Columbus Park sits.

Why?

"That, I don't know," said Wee Wong of the Chinese Benevolent Association.

"I am not aware of this," said Susan Stetzer, district manager of Community Board 3.

Whatever.

Off we went, squeezing past deliverymen pushing handcarts, girls sipping from coconuts, florists weaving carnations, the singing dolls and 25-cent toy elephant rides, and there he was - at Elizabeth and Grand - the Shoe Guy.

A line of customers who'd tracked him to this spot stood with their worn and broken shoes - because who can afford to keep buying new?

Zhong Wen Qiang effortlessly sewed a leather sole - his feet bare and the tools of his trade in wood tackle boxes around him.

"The government evicted him, and we don't know why," said Zhong's daughter Sally, a sidewalk beauty under a skyblue Easter hat, who tinkered with her father.

"The police say Big Boss told them, but we don't know who he is. They tell us we have to rent a store and get a license."

Watch Guy snuck back to the more prime location of the park, she's told.

"Police just keep evicting him," she said. At 73, her dad's too old for that.

Police Inspector Gin Yee said Shoe Guy "needs to get a general vendor's license. We had community meetings about this. He had ample warning.

"Everybody else has to get a license, and so does he."

The good news is Zhong does not have to rent a storefront to get a general vendor's license, and it's only 100 bucks, Consumer Affairs Department spokeswoman Beth Miller said.

The bad news is, "the street vendor licenses were capped ... at 853," she said. "There's a waiting list."

Mayor Bloomberg wants to keep the flavor of the city's neighborhoods, so maybe he and his commissioner can grandfather this grandfather in.

At least they should go watch him make old shoes look new.

And gentlemen, bring your wingtips.

jmolloy@nydailynews.com

A lack of hard data is the status quo for D.O.T. - we're unapologetic for not feeling warm and fuzzy over your lawn chairs on Broadway

Daily News:
Broadway tap dance: City Hall has yet to produce data behind Times Square traffic plan

Sunday, May 31st 2009, 6:26 PM


This much we know for sure about the Bloomberg administration's grand experiment to speed traffic by closing Broadway at Times and Herald squares: People who like to sit on beach chairs are thrilled.

All else is unknown, except that cabbies and delivery truck drivers are griping. But hack attacks and trucker truculence are hardly gold standards for judging travel times.

So we again pose the question to Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, whose brainchild the closure is: Will you please explain the scientific method by which you will determine success and failure?

If she has such a method. We've grown skeptical on that point because the yardsticks, while seemingly very basic, have not been forthcoming.

Not that we're traffic engineers, but we would compare vehicular loads and speeds on all the avenues from Fifth Ave. to the Hudson before the closures and after the closures. And we would do the same for all the crosstown streets that could possibly be affected.

Again, that would be loads and speeds before compared with loads and speeds after. How hard could it be to publish those numbers? Not hard at all.

So let's have them.

New Hotel on Mulberry Street - out of character

Ever since the construction began on what used to be the private parking lot at 52 Mulberry St. the community has been wondering "what is going up on that spot"? Well, now that the owners, Marly Corp., have hoisted their banner on the glass clad building we know - it's a hotel.
Marly corp. bought all three adjacent properties (46-52 Mulberry), opened the hugely successful Mama's cafe in one of the them, and YoBerry frozen yogurt in another in preparation for the hotel which was the last piece in the puzzle.
Marly corp. owns several retail hardware stores, construction supply businesses, and a contracting company (or two) in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
UPDATE: Curbed.com has listed this posting on their own blog. curbed.com according the NY Times receives 2 million hits per month.

Sing Tao Newspaper confirms - Chatham Square reconstruction stopped.

Breaking News - Chatham Square Reconstruction put on hold for at least a year.

A CCRC tipster reports today that the D.O.T. Commish had a meeting with the Chinatown Consolidated Benevolent Association board of directors Wednesday to announce that the Chatham Square reconstruction will be delayed for a year. It was noted that no media were invited to attend this meeting.
The D.O.T. stated at the meeting that the reason for the delay was that the D.O.T. had not yet sent out the bids to contractors for the reconstruction, even though at numerous public presentations they claimed bids went out in January of 2009. CCRC was told that the contract review process would be finalized in June of 09, with construction started on the first phase of the project, the water main replacement, in July 09.
Sources tell CCRC that no government contracts have been signed for Chatham Square so it is unlikely that the water main project will start, much less the total reconstruction and reconfiguration.
It is no mistake that the bids were never sent out to contractors because this is, after all a Mayoral election year. Mayor Bloomberg floated many balloons in the area during the last several years trying to access the popularity of such a major undertaking designed to permanently close Park Row. He tried unsuccessfully to strong arm the Chinatown community into swallowing a thinly veiled ploy to keep Park Row from reopening to appease the NYPD Commish.
Continued bad press, protests, press conferences, and exposure on the Park Row and Chatham Square issues finally kept the construction bids from ever seeing the light of day.
It's clear that they Mayor was hedging his bets on whether the pressure would last, why else would he hold up the bidding process? Knowing the project would be met with thousands of protesters as the bulldozers moved into Chatham Square he sensed his ever dwindling popularity slipping further into the abyss.
Perhaps it was seeing his rival, Comptroller Thompson, at the LMDC headquarters supporting CCRC in their plea for the LMDC board to stop all funding for Chatham Square that was the final straw. Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel would prove a formidable force if elected and seeing him supporting Chinatown on this issue probably didn't sit well either.
The only SURE way to keep the D.O.T.'s plans for Chatham Square from moving forward is to vote Mayor Bloomberg OUT OF OFFICE.
CCRC will continue to lobby the LMDC for an opportunity to present the community alternative plans for Chatham Square.
The year long delay will be an opportunity for the rest of NYC and City Council, and D.O.T. to examine the merits of the community plan.

UPDATE: This blog posting has been listed on numerous community blogs throughout lower Manhattan, including www.curbed.com (which receives 2 million hits per month).

Tribeca Trib covers construction woes on Greenwich Street

Greenwich Street Work Brings Pain
By Matt Dunning
UPDATED Jun. 02
Current street work occupies two blocks of Greenwich Street, from Canal to Desbrosses Streets. It will eventually continue onto Hubert Street.
Carl Glassman / Tribeca Trib
Current street work occupies two blocks of Greenwich Street, from Canal to Desbrosses Streets. It will eventually continue down to Hubert Street.
The living is not easy for residents and business owners along a portion of Greenwich Street in Tribeca. Noisy, disruptive street work on just two blocks, between Canal and Desbrosses, has been going on for the past five months.

Worse, it is a sign of what’s in store for many others down the road.

The utility upgrade and street repair work, along the five blocks between Canal and Hubert Streets, is part of a two-year project that also includes sections of Leonard and Harrison Streets. In addition, a separate water main replacement is planned next summer for Hudson Street between Hubert and Laight Streets and including work on Hubert, North Moore, Beach and Franklin Streets.

The Greenwich Street project is slated to continue into the summer of next year. Already it is two months behind schedule due to the removal of the contractor, Felix Construction, for “integrity issues,” according to Matthew Monahan, spokesman for the city’s Department of Design and Construction, the agency in charge of the project.

For those living and working near the street work, the disruption seems to be without end.

As early as 6:30 a.m., the sound of iron plates dropping onto the roadway is a harsh prelude to the cacophony of drills, chainsaws and clanging machinery that fills nearby apartments the rest of the day. Utility shutoffs have left apartments and restaurants without water on four separate days—so far—and without gas during two bone-chilling days in February. Nearby parking has all but vanished, as available spots are occupied with construction equipment during off hours and workers’ vehicles during the day.

“Every neighbor, from here down to Hubert Street, is going to go through this exact same story,” said Jim Conley, as the steady sound of a backhoe’s diesel engine roared beneath his window at 130 Watts St. “If they don’t get a better system in place going forward, it’s going to be a whole lot more of what we’re going through.”

One day last month, residents of Conley’s building discovered their basement flooded with more than a foot of water, damaging or ruining the contents of storage lockers there. Jordan Kurzweil, another resident of the building, rattled off a list of damaged or destroyed possessions now residing in a communal heap in the basement hallway.

“Stereo equipment, artwork, mid-century furniture, my high school yearbook, about 1,000 photos,” he said. “My kids’ toys, my CD collection; there was a lot in there.”

Jim Conley stands beside residents’ belongings ruined when their basement lockers were flooded.
Carl Glassman / Tribeca Trib
Jim Conley stands beside residents’ belongings ruined when their basement lockers were flooded.
Monahan said that a 130-year-old water main had become attached to a slab of underground concrete. As crews contracted by the city were removing the concrete, they accidentally took a piece of the water main with it. He said the city had not determined whether it would take responsibility for the broken pipe and residents are uncertain whether insurance will cover the cleanup.

The basement of a second building, 472 Greenwich Street, was also flooded. Marcy Brafman, the co-op president, said water has been seeping into the basement since the project began. She worries about mold and mildew taking root in the building’s foundation and, like her neighbors, does not know if they will be reimbursed by the city.

“I find it hard to believe that it couldn’t have been avoided or foreseen,” Brafman said. “The city should not be putting us through this. We’re not complainers, but there’s an issue of health and safety here.”

For the past five months, business owners have also contended with dust, debris and shrieking construction equipment. Gary Latawiec, owner of the Spa of Tranquility, said that trying to run a relaxation center near the work site—especially one with “tranquility” in its name—has turned into “a contradiction.” He estimated he has lost more than $45,000 since the project began. After the first few weeks, he stopped asking customers to pay for massages and other services if their sessions were pierced by the racket of jackhammers or chainsaws. When utilities are shut off, his employees cannot give pedicures or facial treatments. Latawiec said his business was hit especially hard during the normally lucrative Tribeca Film Festival.

“People saw all that, they saw the orange fences, and they’d turn around,” he said. “They wouldn’t bother coming up the block.”

“It’s a nightmare,” said Stacey Sosa, owner of Estancia 460, the restaurant next door. “I’m a destination spot, so people come but they see all the barriers and everything, then they decide they’re going to go someplace else.”

On May 21, she and the other business owners on the block were notified that the water would be shut off—for the fourth time—the following day. Her staff would later spend much of the evening filling water jugs and buying bottled water at a nearby grocery in preparation.

“Coupled with the economic downturn,” she said, “it’s another thing I didn’t need.”

Brooklyn Merchants Oppose the BID they are in.

Merchant ‘revolt’ against Fulton Street BID
By Mike McLaughlin
The Brooklyn Paper

The Brooklyn Paper / Allyse Pulliam

Atchudta Barkr, owner of Sisters Community Hardware at the corner of Fulton Street and Washington Avenue, says she doesn’t need a business improvement district to do her sweeping.

Fulton Street merchants launched another assault on Thursday against a tax on property owners that would be allocated to improve the business environment along the thoroughfare in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

Small business owners and neighborhood activists, mostly from the Clinton Hill-side of Fulton Street, delivered a letter of protest with 70 signatures against the newly formed business improvement district to Councilwoman Letitia James (D–Clinton Hill) and the city Department of Finance in the morning, warning that they’d withhold their fees from the controversial measure.

“We won’t pay,” the letter read. “This BID [business improvement district] has left us out. We want a new, democratic vote. Otherwise it’s a battle on Fulton Street.”

Shopkeepers first revolted against the business improvement district prior to its creation in December, but the rebel forces were not large enough to defeat the vote by the 200 property owners to ratify the tax. The opponents have kept up the fight, though, saying that the tax, $80 for every 20 feet of property, is a burden during the recession.

The tax will raise $300,000 per year and its proponents say the money will be spent on security, street lighting and other enhancements between Rockwell Place and Classon Avenue.

But there’s the fear among some entrepreneurs that it will accelerate gentrification and eventually drive them out of business.

James has defended the business improvement district and said that its formation now enables her to funnel city money to the area for other uses that could revitalize the commercial corridor.

Myrtle Avenue has a business improvement district, which has been credited with diversifying the stores along the strip once known as “Murder Avenue.”

The 88th Precinct played a large role in the turnaround, others say.

©2009 The Brooklyn Paper

Norman Siegel is no novice in dealing with the LMDC

Norman Siegel, seen here with Chinatown resident Triple Edwards and Jan Lee of the Civic Center Residents Coalition, explained his past experience in dealing with the LMDC.

Councilman Gerson Delivers over a hundred petitions to LMDC office

At 1:00pm today, NYC Council Member Alan Gerson, NYC Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., public advocate candidate Norman Siegel and residents, community leaders and business owners from Chinatown, rallied at the offices of the Lower Manhattan Development (LMDC) Corporation to demand that LMDC funds allocated for the NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Redesign of Chatham Square be withheld, based on widespread community disapproval of the plan.





Council member Gerson delivered a petition to the LMDC, signed by the boards of directors of several local residential buildings including Chatham Towers, Chatham Green and Southbridge Towers, representing over 5500 residents. Over 140 local businesses also signed the petition demanding the embargo of the funds. The Chatham Square Redesign has been formally rejected by Community Boards 1 & 3, and is “untested, unpopular and unsafe,” according to community leaders, who have created an alternative plan, which was vetted by a professional traffic engineer, Brian Ketcham.



The planning process for Chatham Square was initiated by the LMDC in 2003 to address issues of traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, increasing public space as well as re-establishing the connections that were cut off when Park Row was closed. Subsequently, a sub-recipient agreement allocated $30,690,000 in LMDC funds to the project, none of which has been invoiced yet.



Gerson, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, said “The NYC Department of Transportation must listen to the concerns of the community before it proceeds with major traffic reconfigurations. The Chatham Square area community is united in its opposition to this misguided plan, and we will do everything in our power to stop it from moving forward. The Lower Manhattan Development
Corporation has an excellent track record of stewarding federal funds.

It was demonstrated clearly at a City Council joint hearing that the NYC Department of Transportation is in violation of several community input requirements of the sub-recipient agreement. Therefore, the LMDC has a fiduciary responsibility to demand that the community review process fulfill the contractual agreement before funds are disbursed.”



NYC Council Transportation Committee Chairperson John Liu said, "We convened a joint oversight hearing on February 5 to examine the City's proposed Chatham Square Reconfiguration. Despite substantial objections from area residents and businesses to the plan, including formal resolutions from Manhattan Community Boards 1 and 3 rejecting the plan, the City had indicated the project will move forward. Chairperson Gerson and I had called for a full community review of the DOT's plans, including a six-month breathing-period delay in the plans to commence construction, because little information and opportunity for feedback has been afforded to the community. The City cannot disregard the community objections and outcry formally submitted today by way of petitions."



“I fully support this petition, and hope that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will heed the call by the community and elected officials to reconsider its funding of the Chatham Square / Park Row Improvement Program,” said New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. “This ill-conceived plan, developed by the City, has completely failed to take community concerns into consideration. Furthermore, if it moves forward, small businesses in Chinatown will loose significant amount of business at a time when they can least afford it. If the City will not step in and address these concerns, then I urge LMDC to take immediate action and stop this program from moving forward.”



Community leader Jeannie Chin said, “The LMDC must follow their own charter mandate in considering the tremendous effect that the reconfiguration of Chatham Square would have on the lives of thousands of residents and businesses surrounding Chatham Square and on the thousands more who use this critical major cross-town intersection in Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. With three other nearby cross-town streets shuttered either for reconstruction or permanently -- Fulton Street until 2014 and Park Row/Pearl Streets -- one cannot begin to imagine the traffic congestion, air quality and emergency access issues that our community will face in the next 4-5 years. We challenge the DOT to examine the community alternative and the LMDC to look before funding this white elephant.”



Several other community leaders including Danny Chen, Jan Lee and Margaret Chin also spoke passionately against the proposed traffic plan. Gerson then carried the petitions to the LMDC.

news Coverage of the Parks Department parking on sidewalks

Parks Department - oblivious

A day after Senator Squadron and Borough President Stringer announce a new legislation called the Haley and Diego bill in honor of the two children killed on East Broadway as a result of a commercial van backing into them, the NYC Parks Department continues to threaten the sidewalks around Columbus Park with their OWN vehicles. Almost all of the vehicles have poor rearward visibility due to their size. This is especially troubling considering the considerable usage of the park.
Note the school kids trying to relax next to an idling truck. Would you allow this in your neighborhood?
It's time the parks commissioner reign in his dangerous and disrespectful fleet. This is no way to be "green".

Daniel Squadron and Scott Stringer present new legislation on City Hall Steps today

On the steps of City Hall today Borough President Scott Stringer and Senator Dan Squadron along with Transportation Alternatives Paul White announced newly authored legislation they would like to see passed. Many Chinatown community leaders were also present including CCRC.

According to the Borough President, "The proposed legislation - recognizing the increased risk of injury and death faced by cyclists, pedestrians and other road users traveling outside the protection of an automobile - requires drivers who kill or seriously injure "vulnerable" roadway users to appear before a judge in court, attend driver safety training, and perform up to 60 days of community service. If a convicted driver fails to complete the safety training course or the community service requirement, he or she may also face fines of up to $10,000 and the loss of his or her driver's license."

Some concerns over this legislation, which was not available in print at the press conference for review, are whether or not the motorist would be "run through the system". It was not clear at the press conference about exactly what was to take place in the event of an accident resulting in injury. While it is clear that the onus should not be on the policeman on the scene to determine a driver's guilt or innocence, we are reminded of possible abuses of one's rights if one is run through the system.
We need to have a reasonable balance. CCRC is waiting to see this legislation.

What annoys Mayor Bloomberg? Mention his money.

New York City - Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the question “ridiculous.” A reporter wanted to know whether, in view of the economic adversity facing New York and the nation, he would consider limiting his spending in the coming mayoral campaign.

The Mayor was clearly annoyed.

“I don't understand your question,” he said angrily. “'I am not going to talk about the campaign. I think it's one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard.”

It may not sound so ridiculous to the New Yorkers who are living from paycheck to pay check or those who fear that that might soon be the case. Reportedly, Mike Bloomberg is ready to spend 80 to 100 million dollars to get elected to a third term. He put the heat on the City Council to have the law changed to allow him to run -- even though by referendum the people of New York had already voted twice to limit the number of terms to two.

This mayor is used to getting his own way and he's glad to throw money around to accomplish that goal. The Times carried a story the other day detailing the fat bonuses he's given his closest aides out of his own pocket for their services in furthering his ambitions. His generosity also extends to how he treats them on the road. According to the Times, Bloomberg puts his senior staff members up at the Four Seasons in London [$400 a night], at the Intercontinental in Paris [$320] and at the King David in Israel $345]. And, the Times reports, as he seeks to recruit new members to his staff for the campaign ahead, he makes it clear that they will have a chance to inhabit the Bloomberg world and get handsome bonuses for their efforts.
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One former adviser said he was surprised to find, after the 2001 election, that $25,000 had been added to his bank balance. Bloomberg had bestowed a little gift on him.

“I was shocked,” he said. “I knew big campaign operatives would negotiate bonuses but I was just a policy adviser.”

William Cunningham, an affable man who advised Bloomberg on strategy in the 2001 and 2005 campaigns, was paid about 1.2 million dollars for his work---and, the Times reports, he got bonuses of $300,000 each after each contest. The money enabled him to send his children to college, he said, and to go on pricey vacations with his family. “For that,” Cunningham said, “I am very grateful.”

No one can begrudge anyone a chance to make a good living. And the fault here is hardly on the recipients of Bloomberg largesse.

The problem here falls squarely on Bloomberg's shoulders. New York has a campaign finance law that was devised to make for an equal playing field. In the coming mayoral election, the two major contenders for the Democratic nomination are City Comptroller William Thompson and Congressman Anthony Wiener. Alongside Mike Bloomberg, both are paupers. Financially, he can wipe the floor with them.

Thompson's campaign manger, Eduardo Castell, said: “as he has in the past, the Mayor is buying a campaign.” Speaking of the perks that go to Bloomberg aides, the Mayor's spokesman Stu Loeser said: “These are rare and relatively minor benefits that don't come close to offsetting the workload, especially when you've flown through the night and have to work on both local and New York City time.”

Which gets us back to what the Mayor called a “ridiculous” question.

We're facing tough times. The mayor is a great philanthropist. He's supported many charitable causes. The other day, he promised the bishop of Brooklyn to consider a plan to convert four parochial schools threatened with being closed into public charter schools.

But it is hardly ridiculous to ask whether this man should flaunt his wealth in the political arena. he has done good for the city. He has also exhibited great hubris and if he truly believes in a democratic system, he should be willing to accept legal limits on campaign expenditures.

You have fans out there, Mr. Mayor, and critics. Are you afraid to test your achievements on a level playing field?
Gabe Pressman WNBC Feb. 11th 2009.

Parks Department Vehicles on Columbus Park Sidewalks send a message to Chinatown

Despite the presentation of photos depicting Parks Department vehicles parked on Columbus Park sidewalks at a recent Transportation Town Hall on the L.E.S. the parks department insists on endangering Chinatown kids and seniors who use the park.

Lower Manhattan D.O.T. Commissioner Luis Sanchez expressed to CCRC at the Town Hall that he would be calling Parks Dept. reps to put a stop to this practice, but only three days after the Town Hall the same vans and trucks are back again.

The Parks Dept. can be reached here.

Chinatown working Group - Parking, Transportation, Circulation & Security acts on Zip Car / Fast Fleet momentum

The "Parking, Transportation, Circulation & Security committee" of the Chinatown Working Group agreed last Tuesday to present the Zip Car / Fast Fleet technology idea, currently enjoyed by Washington D.C., to the full Chinatown Working Group at the next full Board meeting.
Washington D.C. is the first City in the country to adopt Fast-fleet.com for its own government fleet of cars, thereby cutting as many as 300 cars from its fleet.

Ever wonder where all the money went? New website will help NY'ers track the $$$

Comptroller Candidate David Yassky created a website for NY'ers to follow the "earmarked cash" (money divvied out by Councilmembers to favorite orgs.)
Although CCRC has not endorsed a candidate for comptroller, we find this website very useful.

Downtown Express and The Villager coverage of the Liu / Gerson Town Hall on Transportation Issues

Volume 21, Number 51 | The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan | May 8 - 14, 2009

Traffic changes driving ’em crazy in L.E.S. and Chinatown

By Albert Amateau

Lower East Side and Chinatown residents braved the rain on Monday to denounce Mayor Bloomberg and the city Department of Transportation over traffic changes the city has made during the past several months and is contemplating for the future for their neighborhoods.

City Councilmember Alan Gerson, who convened the May 4 forum on traffic and parking at P.S. 137 at East Broadway and Grand St., told Transportation officials that what the city thought would be improvements to traffic circulation and pedestrian safety on Grand St. have not worked.

“We get too many complaints that D.O.T. turns a deaf ear to community concerns,” Gerson said. “Traffic on Grand St. is worse. Pedestrian crossings are more dangerous. Critical turns for the Fire Department, ambulances and police have become difficult.”

Neighbors also railed against the recently established Grand St. bike lanes, and denounced bike riders who ride on the sidewalks and ride in the wrong direction when they do use the bike lanes.

Jan Lee, of Mott St., presented photos of Depart-ment of Parks cars and garbage trucks parking in the entrance of Columbus Park in Chinatown.

“It’s a daily occurrence,” he said. “Every weekday between 12 and 2 you’ll see a whole circulation of cars, even though there is curbside parking space reserved for the Parks Department.”

Luis Sanchez, a D.O.T. official at the forum, said the department tries to respond to the needs of pedestrians, drivers and delivery trucks.

“We end up taking from one group and giving to another,” he said. But he promised to call the Parks Department about vehicles in Columbus Park.

Triple Edwards, another Chinatown resident, insisted that the Police Department should be involved in traffic and parking forums.

“They are part of the traffic and parking problem in Chatham Square, and there is no dialogue with N.Y.P.D.,” he said.

Harold “Heshy” Jacob, the manager of the East River Housing Co-ops on Grand St. at the F.D.R. Drive and a director of the Hatzolah volunteer ambulance service, said the Grand St. traffic islands installed last year and the Grand St. bike lanes have interfered with emergency calls and delayed truck deliveries.

“Ambulances can’t get up Grand St.,” Jacob said. “I’ve seen fire engines tied up at Pitt St. Cars can’t move on Essex St.” Jacob recalled that the traffic islands last winter were useless as safety refuges for pedestrians because they were covered with snow and ice. The concrete of at least one island disintegrated over the winter and doesn’t exist any longer, he said.

Jacob also said the Grand St. bike lanes were a menace because they force trucks to park in the middle of the street when making deliveries.

Jacob recalled that Margaret Forgione, D.O.T. Manhattan borough commissioner, told a Lower East Side forum earlier this year that the Grand St. median island was intended to avoid pedestrian deaths on a section of Grand St. where there had been three fatalities. Jacob said he obtained records through a Freedom of Information Law request and found that there were no fatalities at that location, but that there had been one death on Clinton St. after a safety island had been installed at an intersection.

Jacob said there should have been an environmental impact statement done for the Grand St. traffic islands, but there was none.

Sanchez did not respond to Jacob’s comments.

“This is Bloomberg — arrogantly conceived and arrogantly carried out,” said Aaron Mitrani. He recalled pointing out to a construction foreman at one location last year that his crew was building an island next to another that was under construction.

“They made a mistake and they had to take it all down,” he said.

Mitrani noted that north-south traffic, especially along Essex St., is often at a standstill as far as the eye can see. He also condemned cyclists for disobeying traffic rules and riding wherever they pleased.

“It’s time the city licensed bikes so they can track offenders,” he said.

Iris Blutreich was angry about the curbside parking lost because of the bike lanes. She also called for an end to alternate-side-of-the-street parking rules and suggested that new street-cleaning technology could vacuum trash from the gutters. Parking-meter rules on the Jewish Sabbath should also be dropped, Blutreich said.

Darci Kennedy, a resident of Rutgers St. between Madison and Cherry Sts., said two parking lanes leave no room for cars on the street. Fire trucks cannot get to buildings, she said.

Rutgers St. residents called on D.O.T. to change traffic rules in time for the annual Rutgers St. neighborhood stickball game on May 23.

“It’s an important event for us,” Kennedy said.

Morris Faitelewicz also called for licensing bicycles and giving summonses to bike riders who violate traffic rules.

“They must he held accountable,” he said. Motorcycle and motor-scooter riders who remove their license plates and park on sidewalks should also get summonses, he added. Faitelewicz suggested that license identification should be affixed permanently on the vehicles rather than on a removable license plate.

Gerson said he intends to conduct a series of traffic town hall meetings, the next one on May 19 at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Mulberry St. at Prince St.

TRANSPORTATION in the LOWER EAST SIDE - TOWN HALL MEETING - May 4th 6:30PM

Councilmember Alan J. Gerson, District 1

Joined by Councilmember John C. Liu,

Chair of City Council Transportation Committee
Invite you to a

TOWN HALL MEETING

on your

TRAFFIC, PARKING AND

TRANSPORTATION

CONCERNS

(Of the Lower East Side)



MONDAY, MAY 4, 2009



6:30pm

At

Public School 134

293 East Broadway at Grand Street

If you have any questions, please call (212) 788-7722

Department of Transportation invited and expected to attend

When Will NYC Government Go GREEN With Their OWN CARS?!?!?!?!?

On Feb. 13th 2009 CCRC reported on Washington D.C.'s progressive and aggressive approach to curtailing abuse of its government fleet of cars. Washington D.C., like NYC, suffers from a plethora of a good thing gone bad - the "good thing" is about to come to an end for government employees in Washington where tracking, online booking and "zip-car-like" technology is employed to cut the government fleet of cars from 360 to just 60 !!
Washington D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty said that the majority of government cars sit for hours and days unused and the City had to pay for that storage time. A much better solution, according to the Mayor was to make a small amount of cars available on an "as-needed" basis. Like Zip Car rental cars, the user, in this case the government employee would have to go on line to "book" a car with a limited amount of time, after which time the car would have to be returned to its "home base".

Here is another article about Washington D.C.'s approach to their government cars.
New York's own Mayor Bloomberg should take some lessons from Mayor Fente and get serious about his GREEN initiative.

When the D.O.T. and Deputy Mayor Skyler met with members of the Chinatown community, the only community to propose this solution to address ourown placard abuse problems, they were met with this statement from the Deputy Mayor "placards are a perk that we believe we owe our employees since we don't compensate them with very much pay".

Big difference in City governance, don't you think? and don't you think NYC deserves better?

It's not a surprise that the Mayor never considered this solution when he and his "sheep" in the City Council proposed congestion pricing as a solution to reducing the number of cars in Manhattan. The Mayor claims to have done a lot to reduce government car abuse by its own employees, but in reality he has left himself an "out" by never proposing a permanent solution.
Placard reduction can quickly and insidiously become placard "growth" once again.

Tracking and online booking of government vehicles provides a permanent solution. Until the Mayor adopts this 21st solution to abuse that even he admits has gotten out of hand, the citizens of NYC will continue to suffer. Taxing the rest of us is not the solution. This is the start of a solution, the City must consider it.


Monday, April 27, 2009, 1:48pm EDT | Modified: Monday, April 27, 2009, 2:04pm
D.C. launches car program for city workers
Washington Business Journal - by Tierney Plumb Staff Reporter

D.C. has launched a vehicle fleet management program for its government employees through Zipcar’s FastFleet service.

D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and Zipcar chairman and CEO Scott Griffith made the announcement on Monday.

D.C. government employees can access and reserve city vehicles at fast-fleet.com and select a car type and location. Through a city-issued access card and integrated card reader mounted under the windshield, they can drive the car for official business use.

The D.C. government piloted the program last October with 29 vehicles and four sites. Monday’s launch consists of 58 vehicles at eight sites, which includes 56 hybrid and alternative fueled vehicles.

So far, D.C. has cut about 360 vehicles from D.C.’s motor fleet, yielding an estimated savings of $6.6 million over five years.

“D.C. is leading the way for cities to implement cost effective and sustainable solutions for fleet management,” said Griffith. “We are pleased to partner with D.C. to launch our FastFleet solution and bring the benefits of our car sharing technology to governments across the country.”

The program reduces costs by maximizing fleet utilization on an hourly basis, allowing many trips to be supported by a smaller number of cars. Fleet Share cars average as many as 10 drivers for every one car.

Norman Siegel on the campaign trail in Chinatown - Lin Sing hosts the public Advocate Candidate

Norman Siegel was hosted by the 109 year old Lin Sing Association in Chinatown at 49 Mott St. on Saturday the 25th.

Eddie Chiu of Lin Sing hosted two candidates on Saturday, Leslie Crocker Snyder for Manhattan district attorney, and Norman Siegel for public advocate.

The Civic Center Residents coalition introduced Mr. Siegel to Eddie Chiu, a man who has been featured in the New York Times as a political powerhouse in Chinatown.

“He’s becoming a regular kingmaker,” said Mei Hua Ru, the political director for Councilman John Liu of Flushing, Queens. “Whoever he touches gets elected.” - NY Times 10/8/08

Norman's approximately 30 minute presentation touched on subjects that included the role of the Public Advocate, what he would bring to the office, and how the public advocate can negate the need for Business Improvement Districts in Chinatown. He also talked about how he personally objects to the undemocratic nature of BID's as a whole.

He talked about how he would bring public advocate volunteers into each and every neighborhood to hear complaints on a regular basis to report to the public advocate.

"Problems that are systemic, those which affect groups of people, we will take that fight on as well and we'll do it by trying to persuade people but if that doesn't work, then I'll take them to court and sue them FOR the people." said Norman.


Norman spent a few minutes to talk about his objection to the Chatham Square plan presented by the D.O.T. and he presented a letter which he personally wrote. It was addressed to the Lower Manhattan Development Committee (LMDC) who would be responsible for 50% of the funding for the City's Chatham Square project.. Norman knew about the controversy surrounding the Chatham Square project and assured the audience that he agreed with the Chinatown community in asking the LMDC to reconsider funding a project that was so ill conceived and unpopular.

Jan Lee, a Chinatown resident and business owner shared with the audience his own experience as a defendant represented by Norman. Jan's employee was the victim of false arrest and Jan's office was illegally searched by a D.E.P. officer. Jan said that although he possessed a valid license to deal in antique ivory, a D.E.P. officer interrogated his employee for four hours eventually gaining entry to Jan's office where he found ivory pieces. This, according to the officer, was enough to handcuff and process the employee due to the dollar value of the ivory. Jan's employee spent a night in jail after being led out of the store in handcuffs, an embarrassing and traumatic experience.
According to Seigel, although the license in the display case at Jan's store showed an expired date on it, a simple five minute phone call would have revealed that Jan possessed an up to date license, but since Jan was away on business the new document was not yet on display.
Jan explained that had it not been for Norman's notoriety and reputation as a fighter and defender of civil rights, the charges against Jan would not have been dropped. Jan said that Norman would bring his expertise, his notoriety, and his professional career to the office and that Chinatown would benefit greatly from this.

The presentation was attended by approximately 75 Lin Sing members, Chinatown business owners, and residents from the Chinatown and lower East side area. Representatives from Chatham Towers, Chatham Green, and Southbridge Towers were also present.

Norman Siegel's words were punctuated enthusiastically by Eddie Chiu's translation. Mr. Chiu's energetic delivery often times caused raucous applause by the mostly Chinese speaking audience.

After the presentation many audience members clambered to pose for pictures with the candidate, Mr. Siegel obliged while answering questions, even pausing to kiss a woman on the cheek.

Chiu and Siegel stood in the middle of the crowd and discussed Chinatown issues, politics, and the race as Lin Sing members prepared the room for the next order of business , the singing club. Within moments after the picture taking the room broke into Chinese folk songs. Siegel was being guided away from the singers with an audience member as they continued to talk about Chinatown.

Mayor Bloomberg's GREENING of buildings is NOT NEW and NOT his IDEA!! BILL Clinton had suggested this in 2007

Mayor Bloomberg and Christine Quinn are on Charlie Rose tonight proposing the idea of a green initiative and retrofitting buildings as a way to reduce carbon emmissions and to create jobs in NYC.

Bill Clinton suggested this in 2007 as an answer to CONGESTION pricing, a poor excuse to tax drivers.

It's disgraceful that Michael Bloomberg is finally doing something about inefficient buildings in NYC and taking credit for it as though it was his idea. It's clear that he's doing this because he's running again.

Let's give credit where credit is due, Bill Clinton, a much more civic minded individual saw this years ago, and he suggested it to us NY'ers without any election on the horizon.

THIS should have been recommended prior to any suggestion of congestion pricing. Charlie Rose asks this question of "why wasn't this suggested during the congestion pricing discussion?" Mayor Mike dodged that question. Perhaps he was "saving" this suggestion for election time because he knew he'd rewrite the law to suit his run for a third term. This is not leadership.

see below:
June 15, 2007, 8:13 pm
Bill Clinton on Congestion Pricing
By Carolyn Ryan

Is there anyone at this point who hasn’t weighed in on Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s plan to impose weekday traffic fees in Manhattan?

Former President Bill Clinton mentioned Mr. Bloomberg’s congestion pricing proposal today during the annual luncheon of the National Partnership for Women and Families in Washington. Mr. Clinton did not explicitly endorse or criticize the plan, but he suggested that traffic fees would be “slightly regressive for lower-income working people that have no option but to drive.” He focused on the potential for creating jobs by making buildings more environmentally friendly.

An excerpt of Mr. Clinton’s remarks, from a transcript provided by the partnership:

If you just look at New York, where I work now, the mayor has proposed an ambitious plan for fixing the greenhouse-gas emission program in New York, even though we are already more than half as efficient as the average American, mostly because the people who live there are all packed together.

But in New York –- in America, about a third of our emissions come from transportation, a third from manufacturing and electricity generation, and a third from buildings of all kinds. In New York, where there is not much manufacturing anymore, it’s 20 percent from transportation and 80 percent from the buildings and the power needed to heat, cool and light them.

So all of the publicity, for those of you who come from New York, come from the mayor’s proposal for a congestion fee so that we have to pay if we go into Midtown Manhattan, another $8 a car a day. And there is a lot of concerns about it. It’s slightly regressive for lower-income working people that have no option but to drive. On the other hand, if you’ve ever waited an hour in New York City traffic, you pay $80 dollars just to be able to go another block or two.

But 80 percent of the problem is within buildings. Now you just think of how many jobs would be created. There are 950,000 buildings in the city. Let’s just assume 50,000 are maximally efficient, and 50,000 are unfixable. So you had — let’s suppose we said within the next three to four years, we’re going to green 850,000 buildings in that small piece of land. How many jobs would be created putting in all the lights, fixing the insulation, putting in new windows, greening all the roofs? How many manufacturing jobs would be created doing that? How many new small businesses could we create? And these jobs could not be easily outsourceable. You’ve got to be on the roof to green it; you can’t be in India.

As I said, this is not within the direct purview of what you are concerned about as an organization, but it relates to the success of the other policies. I think it is, if we created more jobs, I think we should also look at increasing the wages and the benefits of jobs which cannot be outsourced.

I think it would be a good thing if there were more unionization among public employee workers, hotel and restaurant workers, all the service jobs that cannot be outsourced. Many of us who access those jobs are above average income. I think about it every time I give a speech to a charity banquet in New York City. I think about how wealthy those of us are who are there participating in the charity, and I wonder how much money do people make who have to clean up after us after we leave and who serve and prepare the food while we’re there. So that’s a strategy that we ought to embrace.

And then we need to, finally, get back on this paid leave issue. I think there’s more support for it than ever before, and there’s lots of evidence that it increases productivity. Any time you can create an environment where people at work are not worried sick about their parents or their kids, they’re going to do better at work.

Petition Drive in Chinatown - LMDC funding for Chatham Square must stop now

CCRC has started its petition drive today, Sunday April 19th. The LMDC must understand that the DOT and Mayor's plan for the reconstruction of Chatham Square has no support in Chinatown.
Business leaders, community leaders and organizations will be canvassing the Chinatown area to gather signatures on the petitions shown here.
These petitions may be printed, signed and mailed back to the addresses shown at the top, or dropped off at Lin Sing association at # 49 Mott St. 2nd floor - Attention Eddie Chiu.