Dinowitz Calls on City to Review Bronx Half Mile of Danger

   Bronx Assemblymember writes to city Department of Transportation urging reexamination of dangerous half-mile stretch of West 230th Street in Kingsbridge, site of 131 independent accidents in 2016

Request follows recent inquiry into traffic conditions at Tibbett Ave and West 230th Street, entry point for nine local schools including 5,000-student John F. Kennedy campus

In response to reports showing a large concentration of accidents along a half-mile stretch of roadway leading to the Major Deegan Expressway in the Kingsbridge section of the Bronx, New York State Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz is calling on the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) to conduct safety studies of the dangerous thoroughfare. This follows a recent request by Dinowitz to install additional traffic lights at an intersection on West 230th Street that serves as an entrance to nine local schools.

"Residents from all over the Bronx use West 230th Street to gain access to the Major Deegan and many of them deal with this hazardous situation daily," said Assemblymember Jeffrey Dinowitz. "With so many accidents happening along this corridor, the city needs to take steps to ensure the safety of drivers and pedestrians."

In a letter this week to DOT Bronx Borough Commissioner Nivardo Lopez, Assemblymember Dinowitz called for a reexamination of West 230th Street between Riverdale and Bailey Avenues on the border between Kingsbridge and Marble Hill. Dinowitz cited data from the NYPD's Vehicle Collision Data Reports showing that 131 independent accidents involving more than 250 vehicles occurred at intersections along the half-mile stretch in 2016. Nearly half of these collisions took place at the intersection of Broadway and West 230th Street, the letter noted.

Dinowitz attributed the statistics at least in part to the opening of the 133,000 square-foot Broadway Plaza mall in 2014. According to Dinowitz, the increased traffic from private motorists and commercial trucks, coupled with confusing street configurations in around the mega-center on Broadway, are adding to congestion on the roadway.

This latest request follows an earlier recent inquiry by Dinowitz into traffic signals at the intersection of West 230th Street and Tibbett Avenue. According to a letter sent to Borough Commissioner Lopez on February 3rd, Dinowitz requested the installation of a left-turn signal to allow westbound vehicles to turn onto Tibbett from West 230th Street.

In making the request, Dinowitz noted that nine schools in the area use Tibbett Avenue as an entry point during the school day. These include In-Tech Academy MS/HS 368, PS/MS 37, and the seven schools on the John F. Kennedy campus, a facility with a joint student population of over five thousand. This prompted parents, faculty and staff to contact Dinowitz's office to make the request for the turn signal. For Dinowitz, both the traffic signal request and the overall review of conditions on West 230th Street are an important part of ensuring the safety of Bronx commuters.

"Our borough is so limited in public transportation options that driving is a fact of life. We need to ensure that commuters can get safely from point A to point B," concluded Dinowitz.

Testimony of Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. Before the City Council Oversight Committee

RE: School Planning and Siting for New Capacity 

February 28, 2017

 

Good morning.

With the formation of a mayoral commission on school overcrowding, we can do a better job at school planning and siting.

The February 2017 proposed capital plan does not fund a sufficient number of seats, and this is a problem for both The Bronx and for New York City. There are thousands of “unfunded seats” in The Bronx alone, a borough with an educational system in need of better solutions. Not only does the number of funded seats not meet the Department of Education  (DOE)’s own stated needs, the methods for assessing need as well as the school siting process must be rectified. The current school planning and siting process is denying our students the opportunity for success they deserve. 

Our educational system is failing our students. Just 37 percent of students citywide graduate on time and meet CUNY college readiness standards in reading and math. 

The graduation rate for The Bronx is only 63 percent. We must seek better methods to educate our youth. One such widely accepted method is reducing class sizes and overcrowding in schools.  To do this, we need to change the School Construction Authority’s (SCA)’s and the DOE process, which has multiple serious flaws.

Overcrowding and too-large classes evince the failure of the current system. 

School overcrowding is a rampant problem.  A recent analysis found the following: School districts 8, 9, 10 and 11 in The Bronx all average over 100 percent capacity while District 12 was at 99 percent, according to the School Construction Authority. 

Many local schools in District 7 were also very overcrowded. P.S. 163 in District 9, with a population of  99 percent free lunch students, 98 percent Black and Latino students, and 33 percent English language learners was at an incredible 213 percent of capacity. 

The School Construction Authority has acknowledged, including before the Bronx Borough Board, that school overcrowding is a pervasive and ongoing problem and that we need to fund substantially more seats. Further, the DOE’s own projected need for seats demonstrates that New York City needs tens of thousands more seats than those approved in the capital plan. Prompt action is needed on this issue, especially in light of the increasing population density in New York City and the City’s affordable housing goals which would further increase density. 

Students are crammed into large classes throughout the city. Notably, an analysis found that more than 55,000 Bronx students were sitting in classes of 30 or more students. We know that smaller class sizes that allow for more individualized attention and participation and more physical space to provide resources makes a difference in educating students.  So, why not make every effort to provide the best education we can in our public schools? 

Bronx schools enroll a disproportionately high number of low-income students, children of color, and recent immigrants to this country.  At the same time, these students are crammed into classes with student-teacher ratios in substantial violation of the current teachers’ contract and into overburdened schools. These conditions make it extremely difficult for teachers to provide students with the close attention and support they need to learn and succeed.

The research is crystal clear that smaller classes are better for our children. They launch students, especially disadvantaged children, on a far better trajectory in life, offering them a significantly higher chance of graduating from high school on time and attending college. Yet, the needed classroom space is lacking.

To address the issues arising from new development, triggers for requirements to build more seats in a given district should better account for the proximity to capacity at which the school already stands. Currently, when rezoning occurs, building a new school in a community only has to be considered when the project is both predicted to increase school overcrowding by at least five percent and when the utilization rate is at or over 100 percent.  

A better approach that should be explored is that when a school has already exceeded capacity, any incremental increase should trigger further review. In other words, thresholds must better account for where a school is with regard to capacity prior to the rezoning. New construction is likely to exacerbate school overcrowding to even more critical levels, especially without a concurrent strategy to address the need to build schools along with new housing.

The current policies and practices with regard to school planning and siting are faulted. 

According to an analysis, the SCA has only three people on staff citywide looking for sites, and only one real estate firm on retainer per borough and fails to “cold call.” This low staffing level and deviation from common real estate practice may be a cause of the lack of alacrity with which they site and build schools. Multiple recent amendments of the five year capital plan were months overdue.

Further evidence of dysfunction is that in February 2014, SCA allocated $490 million to create an additional 4,900 seats under a new “class size reduction” program and took two years to identify any projects for the program. Still, this program has only identified three school expansion projects. We must improve the dilatory practices of the SCA to promote efficiency. 

This August, I wrote a letter to Mayor de Blasio urging him to form a commission on the school planning and siting process to address the aforementioned issues.  We look forward to action on this issue.

I once again urge the formation of a mayoral commission to reform the school planning process, with representation from the Borough Presidents, the City Council, advocates, parents and experts in the areas of school planning and construction.  For the future of The Bronx and the city, we must do better to create optimal learning environments for students. 

The above faults with DOE and SCA’s school planning and siting process underscore the need for the formation of a commission to rectify all the above issues. Together, we can do better at reducing class sizes, eliminating overcrowding, and providing new seats in our schools.

Thank you.

Bronx Borough President

Ruben Diaz Jr.

MAYOR DE BLASIO APPOINTS FREDERICK SCHAFFER AS CHAIR OF THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE BOARD

  Mayor Bill de Blasio today appointed Frederick Schaffer as the chair of the Campaign Finance Board (CFB). Utilizing his years of experience in the government and legal fields, Frederick Schaffer will be responsible for leading the CFB, which monitors City candidates' campaign contributions and expenditures and enforces the City's campaign finance law by providing public funding to candidates who participate in the City's public financing system. The Board also makes public disclosure of the candidates' campaign finances, publishes a non-partisan Voter Guide for each regularly scheduled City election, and administers a mandatory debate program for candidates for public office who seek public funding for their campaigns. This appointment was made in consultation with the City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito.

“The Campaign Finance Board is essential to the City’s electoral system and ensures a level of transparency in electoral proceedings,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We are fortunate to have Frederick Schaffer as the new chair of the board as he demonstrates exactly the kind of intelligent, impartial and independent leadership that the CFB requires. He brings an abundance of experience and knowledge that will help the Board to properly apply the law and ensure the program’s integrity.”

About Frederick Schaffer

Frederick Schaffer most recently served as the General Counsel and Senior Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs at The City University of New York, a position that he held for 16 years. In this position, Schaffer was responsible for providing legal counsel to the Board of Trustees, the Chancellor and the University on a wide range of issues and supervising a legal department of 20 lawyers. Schaffer also served as General Counsel to the CUNY Construction Fund, a public authority that finances capital construction at the University. In addition, Schaffer was President of the CUNY Economic Development Corporation, an affiliated not-for profit corporation that oversees economic development projects at the University.

Prior to holding this position, Frederick Schaffer served for five years as an Assistant US Attorney in the Southern District of New York. He also worked in New York City Government for six years as a Chief Litigating Corporation Counsel and as Counsel to Mayor Ed Koch. Additionally, he served for ten years as a director of The Legal Aid Society, serving as chairman for two years. He has served as the Director of the Board of the Citizens Union since 2010.

Frederick Schaffer is also the recipient of one of the 2011 Awards for Excellence in Public Service from the New York State Bar Association. He graduated with his Bachelor of the Arts degree from Harvard College in 1968 and received his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1973.

A.G. Schneiderman Announces Arrest Of Manhattan Restaurant Owner Who Allegedly Failed To Pay Workers

Defendants Are Charged With Repeatedly Failing To Pay 34 Restaurant Workers

Hundreds Of Thousands In Wages

Schneiderman: My Office Will Take Aggressive Action Against Any Employer Who Breaks The Law By Cheating Their Workers

   Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the arrest and arraignment today of Konstantinos Aronis, owner of K.M.S. Restaurant Corp. (“K.M.S.”), for allegedly failing to pay 34 workers hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages. It is charged that Aronis and K.M.S. stole tips from their employees and did not provide payment for overtime hours, while subsequently filing false documents with New York State in order to hide these violations and avoid the payment of unemployment insurance.

“This alleged scheme was a blatant attempt to steal from hard working New Yorkers, and then cover it up,” Attorney General Schneiderman said. “A worker’s most basic right is the right to be paid for his or her labor, and my office won’t hesitate to take action against any employer who breaks the law by cheating their employees.”

“New York State will not tolerate the mistreatment of workers,” said New York State Labor Commissioner Roberta Reardon. “Under Governor Cuomo’s strong leadership, state agencies, including the New York State Department of Labor, continue to combat worker exploitation and misclassification to make sure all New York State workers are paid and treated fairly. I thank Attorney General Schneiderman and his team for working with us and for bringing Mr. Aronis to justice.”

According to the felony complaint and statements made in court at the arraignment, between May 2012 and May 2016, Aronis and K.M.S. employed workers at three restaurant/deli locations in Manhattan: Nations Café at 875 1st Avenue, Plaza Diner at 1066 2nd Avenue, and Hamilton Deli at 1072 2nd Avenue. The investigation revealed that most of the employees worked more than 60 hours per week -- but Aronis and K.M.S. paid the workers a weekly salary without the required overtime rate for their hours over forty each week, and also took a percentage of the tips that some of the workers earned. By carrying out this scheme, the defendants deprived workers of hundreds of thousands of dollars in wages earned.

In addition to refusing to pay their workers properly, the defendants allegedly created and filed false tax reporting documents.  It is charged that the defendants falsely omitted employees and wages from their New York State Quarterly Combined Withholding, Wage Reporting and Unemployment Insurance Returns and failed to pay the required New York State unemployment insurance contributions for all employees.

The felony complaint, filed in Manhattan Criminal Court, charges Aronis and K.M.S. with one count of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, an E felony; and one count of Failure to Pay Wages in Accordance with the Labor Law, an unclassified misdemeanor.

The defendants were released on their own recognizance. The charges are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. 

The Attorney General thanks the New York State Department of Labor Office of Special Investigations, Labor Standards Division, and Unemployment Insurance Division for their assistance in this investigation and prosecution.

Comptroller Stringer Finds Hundreds of Potentially Dangerous, Recalled Vehicles in City’s Fleet

Audit of Department of Sanitation shows DSNY has kept over 500 vehicles in use despite federal recall orders

With employees at risk, Comptroller Stringer calls for ‘top-to-bottom’ review of the city’s vehicle fleet

   New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer today uncovered that the Department of Sanitation (DSNY) has kept hundreds of federally-recalled, defective cars in use, putting the safety of sanitation workers, drivers, and the public at risk. Despite federal recall orders from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), as recently as January 2017 the DSNY was using 509 cars that may have had dangerous flaws. After discovering these hundreds of recalled vehicles in the DSNY’s fleet alone, Comptroller Stringer called for an immediate top-to-bottom review of the City’s entire fleet of cars to ensure other departments are not utilizing vehicles that have been federally recalled.

The NHTSA issues national recalls only in the most serious cases for vehicles with problems that could cause harm or injury to drivers and passengers. Recalled City-owned vehicles still in use by DSNY during the audit period had various issues, including seatbelt failures, defective brakes, airbags that deploy randomly, and ignitions that continued to run even after the keys were removed. The vehicles included Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Nissan, and Toyota cars and trucks with model years between 1997 and 2015. The oversight was discovered during a routine audit of the City’s Department of Sanitation’s oversight of E-ZPass and parking pass use.

“This should be common sense. It’s almost hard to believe this is happening. Defective seatbelts, broken airbags, and brake failures aren’t minor issues – they’re potentially deadly problems, both to city workers and to everyday New Yorkers on the street,” New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer said. “When a recall occurs, the City needs to act. We uncovered more than 500 recalled vehicles during this audit at just one agency, and there may be more in the City’s fleet at other agencies. City government must do a top-to-bottom inventory to find out how many more recalled vehicles are in use and make sure all of them are fixed.”

According to NHTSA, vehicles that are on the recall list must be repaired and NHTSA must be notified by the manufacturer. As of January 2017, neither DSNY nor the NHTSA were able to provide any evidence the 509 vehicles had been repaired or retired.

BOROUGH PRESIDENTS ADAMS & DIAZ TO HOST ‘GIFTED & TALENTED TASK FORCE’ HEARINGS

   Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. have announced the dates of the upcoming public hearings of their recently announced “Gifted & Talented Task Force,” which will study issues surrounding gifted and talented education in New York City public schools, as well as the admissions process for the city's specialized high schools.

The first public hearing will take place in Brooklyn on Tuesday, March 14, 2017, at Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Plaza, 1368 Fulton Street. The Bronx will host a second hearing on Monday, March 20, 2017, at the Bronx High School of Science, 75 West 205th Street. Both hearings will run from 6:00 p.m.—8:00 p.m.

“I look forward to hearing a diverse set of voices at our gifted and talented education hearings in the Bronx and Brooklyn,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. "This input will be integral to shifting the delivery of specialized instruction in our city, as we push for reforms that gives every child high-quality opportunities in a more equitable and prosperous system.”

“Students all over this city have for too long been denied the opportunities to which they are entitled when it comes to gifted education,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.“Through these hearings, we are hoping to hear directly from parents, educators and other stakeholders about the challenges and successes they have experienced with the public school system, and we will use this information to craft positive changes on gifted education, test prep and other resources that our students deserve to have equal access to.

The task force, which was launched in January, is comprised of government officials, community members and parents who are familiar with the issues gifted students face in New York City schools.  The task force will release a set of recommendations for the future of gifted education in New York City later this year.

Statement from Councilman Eric Ulrich on Mayor de Blasio's Homeless Plan

   "Mayor de Blasio set expectations so incredibly low today that you have to wonder if he was even being serious.  Over the next four years, he aims to move a mere 2,500 people out of the shelter system.  This is an insult to the 60,000 plus New Yorkers who are desperately waiting for permanent housing. 

"Homelessness is at an all-time high. It is a serious issue and deserves serious, thoughtful solutions. Instead of feuding with the Governor, the Mayor should be fighting in Albany to bring back Section 8 vouchers. Instead of building more shelters, the Mayor should be investing in transitional housing programs that actually work by encouraging rehabilitation and upward mobility. The Mayor should also fire his DHS Commissioner, Steven Banks, for doing an abysmal job running this Agency. Until there are real programs, real solutions and real accountability - we will not see real progress or help for the people who need it the most."

ENGEL REMARKS ON ATTENDING THE PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS AND STATEMENT IN RESPONSE

   Representative Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs and a senior member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, today delivered the following remarks in the House of Representatives:

“Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have long prided myself on working across the aisle to get things done for my constituents and all the American people. That’s what most people want: a government that grapples with tough issues in a constructive way. Unfortunately, since January 20th, the new Administration has shown no interest in working with the Congress on both sides to tackle problems, including Russia’s unlawful interference in last year’s election. That’s why I’ve decided not to stand on the aisle of the House chamber to shake the President’s hand during this joint session of Congress, as I have done in the past through Democratic and Republican administrations alike.  This will be the first time during my 29 years in the House that I’ve made this decision.

“I have deep respect for the Presidency, and I will attend the joint session. But that respect between branches must be mutual. The President has attacked the free press by calling it the ‘enemy of the people.’ He’s rejected America’s traditional role welcoming refugees, which have helped to make our country great. He’s cozied up to Vladimir Putin, the strongman who attacks our democracy. He’s moved to gut the Affordable Care Act and looked the other way when threats against the Jewish community have increased in recent year.

“This isn’t part of our normal political discourse.  This goes beyond ideological and political differences. The President needs to work with all people. And therefore, I will listen to what he has to say today, but I will not greet him and shake his hand. Thank you.”

Engel Statement In Response To The President’s Address

Congressman Eliot L. Engel, Ranking Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a leading member on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, issued the following statement in response to the President’s address before a joint session of Congress:

“There were few surprises in President Trump’s speech tonight. I do appreciate that he started his speech by acknowledging the recent spike in anti-Semitic violence in this country, and we all must work together to put a stop to this troubling trend.

“As for the rest of the speech, it was heavy on rhetoric and light on details. It described a country that is both crumbling and prospering, limping along in despair while sprinting to new heights since his election. Sadly, the truth about our country’s true standing was left out, and as a result the American people are no closer to understanding how the President plans to deal with the real issues facing our nation.  

“President Trump’s rhetoric on immigration continues to be deeply troubling. I have spoken out for weeks against his dangerous and unconstitutional policy against Muslims, and tonight he added a troubling new dimension: a plan to publicly highlight crimes committed by immigrants for political purposes. His stories tonight left out any mention of people like Jeanette Vizguerra, a working mother of four from Denver who was called before an ICE hearing this month to await deportation. She’s currently taken sanctuary at a church in Denver and her story, though disheartening, is not unique.

“On health care, President Trump promised a system that will ‘expand choice, increase access, lower costs, and at the same time, provide better health care.’ Yet seconds later, he touted policies that do nothing to achieve those goals.

“We cannot hope to ‘expand treatment for those who have become so badly addicted’ while simultaneously gutting the law that ensures coverage for substance abuse treatment. Defunding an organization that provides comprehensive reproductive health care is antithetical to the goal to ‘invest in women’s health.’ And “access to coverage” for Americans with pre-existing health conditions means nothing without the Affordable Care Act’s protections that keep insurers from charging those consumers more for care. Democrats have long pointed to the problems with such policies. Yet the President and Congressional Republicans remain more concerned with scoring political points than building on the ACA’s progress to address the challenges facing American families.

“President Trump was right to call education a civil rights issue, but the solution he offered only serves to set us backward. His call to take funding away from our public schools and divert it to private, charter, magnet, and religious schools will not lead to greater achievement. As a former public school teacher, I know that vouchers threaten our public schools by diverting valuable resources away from our education system and offer no real ‘choice’ for the overwhelming majority of students. We must continue to invest in public education and ensure that all Americans have access to free, quality schools.

“I’ve always prided myself on working across the aisle, and if there is one thing on which we can all agree it’s that our country faces some real challenges. But tonight’sspeech did little to address those challenges in a meaningful way.”