New DEP Commissioner Named

  Mayor Michael Bloomberg has named Carter Strickland to be the new DEP commissioner. Mr. Strickland served as Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability at DEP and as the Senior Policy Advisor for Air and Water in the Mayor’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability. The mayor writes in a letter that Strickland was key in the making of PlanNYC, and continues that the 6,000 person DEP has risen to new heights with the aid of new commissioner Strickland's leadership. 

  Strickland said that it is an honor to be selected to lead this talented and dedicated agency, and to be able to give back to the city. He added "the work the DEP does on a daily basis is remarkable". He went on to say what a pleasure it has been to serve in the Bloomberg administration.

  There are those of us here in the Northwest Bronx who want to know just how new Commissioner Strickland feels on public access to the Jerome Park Reservoir.

Mayor Bloomberg's Job Approval Rating Hits Lowest Point in Six Years

  According to a New York Times poll Mayor Michael Bloomberg's job approval rating has hit its lowest point in six years. Only 45 percent of New Yorkers approve of the job Bloomberg is doing as mayor, while 43 percent disapprove of the way he is handling the city. 

  Reasons given for Bloombergs low approval numbers are the length in office (the third term blues), and the fact that he is no longer the hot politico to cover now that Governor Andrew Cuomo is the toast of everyone. Other reasons still include last winters snowstorm and increasing fees on almost everything.

  

  You can read the entire Times article here.

Phone in Your Quarter For Parking

  The city is going to make it easier for you to park as a new pilot program of 300 selected muni-meters to allow you to phone in you fee to a preset number. You would have to register your credit card and car information fist as The Daily News Reports here. .

  This was introduced by Mayor Bloomberg in 2009, and as of now no vendor has been chosen. 

BOROUGH PRESIDENT DIAZ ISSUES 

2011 “BACK TO SCHOOL” GUIDE

The office of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. has issued a “Back to School” guide, containing helpful tips for parents regarding the upcoming school year.

The guide, which is available on the borough president’s website and will be issued to schools and community organizations across The Bronx, includes information on registering students for public school, determining a student’s zoned school and finding school transportation, as well as information on programs for special education students and English Language Learners (ELL). The guide is available in both English and Spanish.

“As a parent, I know how stressfull the first few days of school can be, both for the parent and for the student. For that very reasoon my office has put out a ‘Back to School’ guide to help parents navigate the public school system,”said Borough President Diaz.

Borough President Diaz will also be hosting the first ever Education Summit on October 15.  The goal of the summit it to create an agenda for increasing student educational achievement in the Bronx, from the most gifted to the those who need extra help.  This summit will also bring together the best minds on education from not only the Bronx, but also the city and the nation, to discuss the issues facing the education system in the Bronx and potential solutions to them.

For more information about the Education Summit please visit www.bronxeducationsummit.org

To view our “Back to School” guide please visit the sites below:

English: http://bit.ly/ngSdjK

Spanish: http://bit.ly/nvZ8R5

YDANIS CUTS THE RIBBON ON THE NEW HIGHBRIDGE BASEBALL PARK

After providing $1.5 million in funding, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez joined State Senator Adriano Espaillat, State Senator Bill Perkins, Assemblymember Guillermo Linares, the Department of Parks and Recreation and dozens of young baseball players to cut the ribbon on Highbridge Park's new baseball field.

Anyone who grew up playing baseball in Highbridge can remember the poor condition of the field, but after nine months of construction, the field will now have new seating, dugouts, drinking fountains and the field itself will now be completely level.

With a few weeks of summer left before school starts, make sure that you're able to see the beautiful new field for yourself!

Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Disappointed by Public School Sex Ed Agenda

 

Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz Disappointed by Public School Sex Ed Agenda

New York State Senator Reverend Ruben Diaz (D-Bronx) released the following statement in response to the New York City public school system’s sex education mandate:

“I am troubled and dismayed that during his third term as Mayor, Michael Bloomberg intends to completely usurp the role of parents and implement a new sex education curriculum in the public schools.

In matters involving intimacy and human sexuality, parents have the right and the responsibility to be the primary educators.  Many parents teach their children that these are private topics not to be discussed casually or in group settings.

Twenty years ago, a similar mandate was defeated.  At the time, I was honored to stand beside Dr. Irene Impellizzeri when she served as Vice President of what was then the New York City Board of Education.  During that time, there was opportunity for parental input.  The parents were heard and they were respected.  So were the children.

Now there is no formal arena for formal parental input.  There is no opportunity for public hearings.  There are no requirements that these regulations be open to public review and comment.

No accountability to the public, to the parents, and certainly not the children.

How sad for us all.”

 

Should Bert and Ernie Get Married?

   A petition started by Lair Scott, exhorts the makers of Sesame Street to let the two old friends get hitched. Gay marriage became legal in New York this June, increasing the number of states in the country to do so to six. 

  This link http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/10/bert-ernie-gay-marriage_n_923147.html goes into detail as to why over 900 people have signed the petition. Sesame Street since its start in 1969 have had Bert and Ernie living together, and many viewers questioned if the pair were indeed gay. That leads one person to say why stop at Bert and Ernie when Yogi and Boo Boo have lived together even longer.

   What is your opinion, should Bert and Ernie come out of the closet and get married?

  

NEW YORK CITY ANNOUNCES INCREASED ACCESS TO FREE PUBLIC BROADBAND, EXPANSION OF WI-FI IN PUBLIC SPACES, AND ENHANCED TELEVISION SERVICES IN ALL FIVE BOROUGHS OVER NEXT NINE YEARS

Provisions Part of City’s Cable Television Franchise Renewal Agreements with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems

Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) Commissioner Carole Post today announced a range of public benefits, estimated at approximately $60 million, associated with renewal of the City’s cable television franchise contracts with Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems.  The agreements provide for the creation of 40 public computing centers and commercial grade Internet service to public libraries, a $10 million investment in approximately 30 parks and public spaces across the five boroughs for Wi-Fi service, a near doubling of the number of Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels currently available, and approximately $10 million in funding for capital upgrades to NYC Media.  The cable companies have also agreed to provide increased funding grants to the borough-wide community access organizations that operate public access channels in each of the five boroughs.  In addition to paying the City a franchise fee of five percent of the revenues generated in the City from its cable television services – the maximum percentage permitted by Federal law – Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems have also agreed to enhanced customer service protections and to support improvements to the City’s internal telecommunications system.  The franchise contracts, which will run through July 18, 2020, were unanimously approved today by the City’s Franchise and Concession Review Committee.

“We aggressively leveraged the City's franchising authority to negotiate new cable television contracts that are unique and innovative in the benefits they deliver to New Yorkers,” said DoITT Commissioner Carole Post.  “With expanded access to Wi-Fi in parks, new computer centers, broadband expansion to the City’s industrial areas, and new public access channels, these agreements provide New Yorkers the world-class tools, services, and access they need to more fully participate in the digital economy.  I thank the staff who worked so diligently on these efforts, which will benefit the City’s more than two million cable subscribers for years to come.”

As the City’s telecommunications agency, DoITT negotiates and administers franchises with private companies that use the City’s streets and sidewalks to provide public services.  These franchises include contracts for cable television service.  From Time Warner Cable and Cablevision combined, the City collected over $100 million in franchise rent in Fiscal 2011, representing payment for the companies’ use of the City’s streets.  While Federal law caps at 5% the maximum amount of revenue municipalities across the country can receive from cable companies, DoITT has negotiated approximately $60 million in additional commitments from Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems for the following:

Expansion of Broadband in Underserved Communities – Time Warner Cable will create 40 public computer centers, in partnership with local not-for-profit organizations, to provide free broadband access to low-income communities across the City.  Cablevision Systems will provide free, commercial-grade Internet service to all public libraries in its service area.

Expansion Broadband in Underserved/Industrial Areas – The companies will commit to invest nearly $2 million per year to bring communications infrastructure to currently-underserved commercial/industrial/manufacturing locations in support of the City’s economic development initiatives.  In addition, time Warner Cable will provide communications infrastructure to the Brooklyn Navy Yard and substantially expand the reach of its system into non-residential neighborhoods to serve new business customers.

Wi-Fi in City Parks – Together, Time Warner Cable and Cablevision Systems will spend approximately $10 million over the next two years to equip areas within 32 parks across the five boroughs with Wi-Fi service, and will maintain the systems through 2020.  This service will be free to all users for up to 30 minutes a month, with a nominal fee of 99 cents per day thereafter, and free at all times to Time Warner Cable and Cablevision broadband subscribers.

            Provision of Wi-Fi in City parks by the cable companies is in addition to the AT&T-sponsored Wi-Fi service currently being implemented at 26 locations in 20 New York City parks across the five boroughs.

Increased Public, Educational and Government Channel Capacity – The City’s Public, Educational and Government (PEG) channels will be enhanced as follows:

·                     Nine (9) current channels plus eight (8) new channels phased in over next several years

·                     At least one channel will be high-definition

·                     25 hours of video-on-demand for educational/government programming

·                     More than $9 million to fund NYC Media’s capital (plant and equipment) upgrade

·                     Assistance in publicizing NYC Media programs and activities

Strong Customer Service Protections – The customer service protections included in the renewal agreements with Time Warner and Cablevision will build upon and closely mirror the protections incorporated in the Verizon FiOS franchise granted in 2008.  These protections include:

• Online appointment confirmation

·      Ten-day time period for resolution of complaints

·      Telephone answering standards (answer within 30 seconds)

·      Billing dispute resolution procedures

·      Time periods by which outages and services interruptions must be corrected and repairs made

·     Four-hour appointment windows and customer credits for missed appointments and certain outages

·      Upgraded Call Centers and New Service Centers

NYC Media Lab Funding – Time Warner has also agreed to provide more than $1.5 million in funding to support new media research in New York City.

CityNet Funding – Today’s agreements also provide for more than $20 million in new funding for upgrades to Citynet, the City’s institutional fiber network, which provides the communications backbone for dozens of City agencies and more than 300,000 employees.

“Opt-out” provision – As part of today’s agreements, the City also reserves the option to terminate the franchises early if revenues shift significantly toward Internet instead of cable over the term of the contracts.  This innovative provision, believed to be the only one of its kind in the country, helps protect City franchise revenue by enabling the City to renegotiate if there is substantial shift in content delivery from cable to “new” and/or emerging technologies.  This termination option would be triggered by a 22.5% reduction in franchise revenue receipts as compared to the “peak year” of the new agreements.

“Today’s agreement between Cablevision and the City of New York will ensure that Bronxites have the highest quality service possible, new broadband access in many of our public parks, strong customer protections and a vibrant presence on public access television,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.  “This agreement is a win-win for all involved, and I am particularly grateful that Cablevision was willing to come to the table and negotiate a deal that continues their commitment to serve the Bronx as a good corporate citizen.”

“We won a terrific victory for New York’s cable subscribers that will benefit the prosperity and civic life of the City at large,” said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer. “This agreement provides multiple public goods that will translate into increased access to broadband services and information, greater interconnectedness, and will modernize telecommunications in New York City.”

“Time Warner Cable is pleased to confirm that today we’ve reached a new franchise agreement with the City of New York,” said Howard Szarfarc, Regional Vice President for Operations.  “This license to operate enables us to continue connecting New Yorkers and local businesses with the latest information, entertainment and technology. We'll continue to roll-out new convenient and popular services as we've done recently with Start Over, Look Back, Whole House DVR, Wideband and Mobile Internet and our new iPad app for live television.”

               

“We are very pleased to have reached agreement to renew these important franchises with the City of New York,” said Lisa Rosenblum, Cablevision’s executive vice president for government and public affairs.  “Cablevision has been delivering enormous value to residential and business customers through its state-of-the-art telecommunications services in the Bronx and Brooklyn for more than two decades.  Under these franchise agreements, crafted consistent with the competitive environment, Cablevision looks forward to continuing to provide its customers in the Bronx and Brooklyn with award-winning Optimum television, phone and high-speed Internet products for years to come."

Today’s approval of the cable franchise renewal agreements will also help foster a more vibrant marketplace by solidifying long-term, direct competition among the City’s cable television providers for the first time.  This stage was set with the historic citywide cable television franchise the City granted Verizon in 2008. 

Time Warner Cable – was first granted cable television franchises for Northern and Southern Manhattan in 1970, which were renewed in 1990 and again in 1998; the Queens, Staten Island and Western Brooklyn franchises were granted in 1983 and renewed in 1998.

Cablevision Systems – was first granted cable television franchises for the Bronx and the non-Time Warner portion of Brooklyn in 1983, which were renewed in 1998.

The Franchise Concession and Review Committee (FCRC) is comprised of two representatives of the Mayor’s Office, one representative each of the Law Department and the Office of Management and Budget, one representative of the Comptroller, and one representative for each of the five Borough Presidents.

DoITT is the City’s Information Technology (IT) utility, ensuring the sustained, efficient delivery of IT services, infrastructure and telecommunications. DoITT establishes the City’s IT strategic direction, security policies and standards; procures citywide IT services, and evaluates emerging technologies; provides project management, application development and quality assurance services; maintains NYC.gov, and Geographic Information Systems; operates the City’s data center, the dedicated wireless network (NYCWiN), the wired network (CityNet), the Citywide Service Desk, and telecommunications systems; administers telecommunications franchise contracts providing fiber, cable television, pay telephones, and mobile telecom equipment installed on City property and streets; leads CITIServ, the citywide IT infrastructure consolidation program; supports the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, and the Health and Human Services Connect and Accelerator programs; administers 311; and fosters public-private partnerships to improve IT service delivery.