Comptroller Lander Proposes Procurement Reforms to Fight Corruption, Improve Transparency, and Support MWBEs

 

Letter to Mayor Adams urges convening the Procurement Policy Board to close corruption vulnerabilities in the City’s contracting process, increase transparency about compensation and diversity, and raise the MWBE threshold.

In a letter to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, NYC Comptroller Brad Lander requested a convening of the New York City Procurement Policy Board (PPB) to consider changes to the rules of City procurement to fight corruption and enhance fairness. The letter details three areas of suggested reforms:

1. Raising the MWBE small purchase procurement threshold from $500,000 to $1 million, to match new State law, open up new opportunities, and address ongoing disparities.
2. Closing corruption vulnerabilities in the City’s oversight and administration of not-for-profit human service contracts, with stronger rules prohibiting nepotism and related third-party vendors.
3. Increasing compensation and diversity transparency of NYC contractors and subcontractors.

“Procurement policy often falls to the bottom of municipal priority lists, but for so much essential work, from combating homelessness to providing meals to seniors to fixing bridges to responding to disasters, procurement is how city government gets stuff done,” wrote Comptroller Brad Lander to Mayor Adams.

Comptroller Lander continued, “While the vast majority of the City’s nonprofit partners are dedicated public servants who focus on providing high-quality services and make best efforts to administer public funds responsibly, it is critical that the City have robust procedures in place to ensure integrity and safeguard City resources. Bad actors inevitably slip through cracks, mismanaging City funds at the expense of the vulnerable New Yorkers they serve. Those limited, but high-profile scandals erode public trust in City government, its use of tax dollars, and the organizations working hard to serve New Yorkers in need.”

Procurement reform has been a major area of focus and collaboration for the Comptroller and the Mayor since even before taking office. Comptroller Lander and Mayor Adams convened a task force to address longstanding delays in contracting with the city’s nonprofit human service providers starting in December 2021. Their joint “Clear the Backlog” initiative has unlocked over $4 billion of long-overdue payments, and the task force is continuing to aggressively identify ways to reduce the amount of time it takes for the City to contract with and pay its nonprofit partners. Additionally, the Comptroller’s office has been a core participant in the capital projects task force convened by First Deputy Mayor Lorainne Grillo, working to identify ways to address why the City’s infrastructure projects are so often years late and over budget.

Each year, New York City contracts with nonprofit organizations to deliver critical social services to over three million New Yorkers. In Fiscal Year 2021, New York City procured $12 billion in human services, which accounted for approximately 40% of the City’s total contracting portfolio. The vast majority of these contracts are implemented responsibly, providing early childhood education, after-school programs, affordable and supportive housing, senior services, arts and cultural programming, and much more.

However, a small handful of bad actors exploit vulnerabilities in the City’s procurement process. In November, 2021 the NYC Department of Investigation (DOI) published its “Report on Corruption Vulnerabilities in the City’s Oversight and Administration of Not-for-Profit Human Service Contracts,” reviewing its investigations over the prior seven years into corruption, waste, and fraud in nonprofit human services contracts. DOI made a series of recommendations to close corruption vulnerabilities. Comptroller Lander’s letter proposes to implement DOI’s key recommendations.

The Procurement Policy Board, made up of three appointees by the Mayor and two by the Comptroller, sets and enforces rules for how the City procures goods and services from vendors. The Board has not convened since November 21, 2019 .

The Comptroller urged the Mayor to convene the Board to consider the following reforms:

Raising the MWBE small purchase procurement threshold

The Comptroller proposed amending the PPB Rules to raise the non-competitive small purchase threshold for MWBEs to $1,000,000. On October 6, 2022 the Governor signed legislation to amend the §311 of the New York City Charter, which currently allows the PPB to adopt rules for City agencies to procure goods, services and construction not exceeding $500,000 from M/WBE firms without a formal competitive process. This amendment will double the M/WBE procurement threshold to $1,000,000. In doing so, the City will be able to significantly broaden its range of contracts with M/WBE firms.

Closing corruption vulnerabilities in the City’s oversight and administration of not-for-profit human service contracts

The Comptroller proposed incorporating into the procurement process restrictions on third-party contractors/subcontractors so they cannot be owned or controlled by related parties or relatives and adding anti-nepotism provisions to the PPB rules.  These may include but not be limited to disclosures of conflicts of interest and certifications pertaining to the competitive bidding process through which third party subcontractors are selected. These changes would help to ensure that subcontracted expenditures are paid responsibly and without potential for conflicts of interest, which can result in corrupt or otherwise suspect activities.

Increasing compensation and diversity transparency of NYC contractors and subcontractors 

The Comptroller proposed that the PPB require all City contractors and subcontractors, including both for-profit and not-for-profit contractors, to disclose key information regarding compensation and staff and board diversity:

• Compensation paid to the Executive Director, Chief Operating Officer, and/or functional equivalent of either position along with every contract submitted for registration.

• Maximum, median, and minimum compensation paid to workers employed by that contractor during the previous calendar year.
• Their federal EEO-1 reports, if they are required to file them (i.e., if they have over 100 employees, or are a federal contractor with over 50 employees)
• A board matrix, identifying race/ethnicity, and gender information of their board members

“Together, we can build a stronger post-pandemic New York,” the Comptroller’s letter concludes. “One that provides the best possible use of public resources, provides high quality services, expands opportunities, closes corruption loopholes, and strengthens trust in our City government.

MAYOR ADAMS COMMISSIONS DOROTHY DAY STATEN ISLAND FERRY

 

Ferry Named for Renowned Catholic Activist Who Lived and Worked on Staten Island

 

$85 Million State-of-the-Art Ferry to Set Sail Later This Year

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today officially commissioned the Dorothy Day, the third and final new, 4,500-passenger Ollis-class Staten Island Ferry vessel joining the fleet this year. The $85 million, state-of-the-art ferry is named for Day, the legendary 20^th-century Catholic peace activist. The Dorothy Day has completed harbor trials and passed U.S. Coast Guard inspections — and will serve passengers for the first time later this year.

 

“Dorothy Day represents so much of what is great about New Yorkers and our city, and we are proud to honor her by commissioning this Staten Island Ferry,” said Mayor Adams. “Having her name on this boat will remind New Yorkers and visitors alike of her fight for peace and against hunger, fights that we are continuing every day. Thank you to all of those carrying on her legacy.”

 

“The Staten Island Ferry is a staple of life in New York — shepherding almost 10 million people to and from Staten Island every year. It’s only right that we modernize our fleet to ensure the country’s busiest ferry route operates effectively,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “Dorothy Day was an incredible activist and a stalwart New Yorker. I’m glad that we are honoring her memory with our newest ferry. I am grateful to the crews at DOT that tirelessly keep this gateway to our great borough open, and I can’t wait to take a ride on the Dorothy Day.”

 

“We at DOT and the incredible Staten Island Ferry staff are proud to celebrate Dorothy Day today, and we are excited to bring the ferry with her name into service later this year,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “During her life, Day loved riding this ferry — as she knew how a short ferry ride can serve as a peaceful, even meaningful, escape from the hustle and bustle of the life in our city. Best of all, given her lifetime commitment to equity, Day would be thrilled at how DOT is committed to keeping admission to this ferry free for all.”

 

The newest Staten Island Ferry, the Dorothy Day, is preceded by two new ferries this past year, all constructed by Eastern Shipbuilding in Panama City, FL. The Staff Sergeant Michael H. Ollis — named for a war hero from New Dorp killed saving the life of a fellow soldier in Afghanistan — began passenger service in February. The Sandy Ground — the second Ollis-class boat, which honors one of the nation’s first Black settlements that was located on Staten Island’s South Shore and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad — was commissioned by Mayor Adams in February and began regular passenger service in June.

 

The three new Ollis-class ferries commissioned this year come with support from funds provided by a range of federal agencies and elected officials, including U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The new ferries are larger, more modern, and safer in extreme weather than earlier fleets. They feature popular design elements of past Staten Island Ferries, including phone-charging outlets and more comfortable seating, as well as an oval upper-deck promenade that serves, for the first time, as an outdoor “walking track” for riders. 

 

“My grandmother loved the Staten Island Ferry, so what an honor to have one named after her,” said Martha Hennessy, social justice activist and granddaughter of Dorothy Day. “In these days of global instability, let us use this moment to remember her efforts to make peace.”

 

“Dorothy Day is one of the most significant figures in the history of the church in the United States, and we pray she will one day be a saint,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York. “She was also a devoted resident of Staten Island and Manhattan. It is fitting that this ferry will keep her name alive, and, please God, help introduce new generations to her radical love of God and neighbor.”

 

Dorothy Day (1897-1980) was a convert to Catholicism who led the Catholic Worker movement, founded during the Great Depression. As editor of The Catholic Worker newspaper, she maintained the movement’s pacifism even during World War II, while operating soup kitchens, including one on the Lower East Side of Manhattan that remains in operation today. Day was repeatedly arrested for her postwar protests during New York City’s air raid drills, which criticized nuclear war preparation. Hailed by Pope Francis in his speech to the U.S. Congress in 2015, Day has been submitted to the Vatican as a candidate for canonization by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Day regularly rode the Staten Island Ferry to reach her cottage on Staten Island’s South Shore and is buried in Pleasant Plains.

 

BRAC November 2022 Newsletter

BRONX RIVER ART CENTER  Celebrating 35 Years of Bringing Arts & Cultural Programs to the Bronx

NOVEMBER 2022 at BRAC

Education

Image: Kayla Weisdorf instructing teen participants from the local community. Photo: Ukari Bakosi, 2022.

Teen Project Studio, TPS Bio Art & Community Through December 17th

Since mid-October, Teen Project Studio +2.0 has been exploring creatively nature-based solutions to climate change, biodiversity crisis, pollution, environmental shifts. The weekly, hands-on, makers sessions are leading to the production of a collaborative art & science project that addresses and foresees a livable future.  Each week, participants research a range of different solutions, their promises, benefits, and how they have been implemented, developed, and advanced by artists and designers. TPS participants have also been surveying the neighborhood of West Farms and identifying areas that could potentially benefit from a nature-based intervention with the goal of collectively designing and making a bio-artwork piece to contribute to the space. More information, visit TPS Home Page

Exhibitions

Image: Molly Goldfarb, "Santa Hey", 2019. Courtesy of the artist.

KEEP IT IN FICTION A Study of Fictional Narratives and Visual Arts On view from November 3rd to December 10th

Bronx River Art Center is pleased to announce KEEP IT IN FICTION, an exhibition that explores how artists disguise truth with fiction in order to arrive at a number of different conclusions. Through visual explorations artists seek out unlimited possibilities to distort reality in order to cope, reinvent, or escape their daily realities. Through visual arts, featured artists explore to engage in a fictional form of truth. The eleven artists chosen for the exhibition will present narrative inspired work that range in media from paper and book arts, sculpture, prints, paintings and digital media. To expand the exhibition's intent each artist created a narrative excerpt, poem or video to accompany the pieces. Participating artists: Marcy Brafman, Jason Bryant, Jennifer Deppe Parker, Molly Goldfarb, Sally Jerome, Kerry Lessard, Marianne Petit, Zoia Skorodapenko, Mark Torres, Chao Wang, and Natalie Collette Wood. Curated by Stephany Young

BRAC Exhibition Page

Public Programs

Image: Jeanai La Vita, performance of The Séance. Screen Capture. Courtesy of the artist.

THE SÉANCE A Night of Multimedia Theater Performance Friday, November 11th, 2022 at 7pm

Local artist, Jeanai La Vita, brings to BRAC her theatrical concert event The Séance incorporating a hybrid of semi-improvised contemporary classical singing with live music and a film with soundscape created by the artist and Giacomo La Vita. The theatrical concert invites audience members to commune with the performers as they channel stories and messages from beyond. The ensemble of instrumentalists accompanying the performance will create a special live score in reaction to BRAC’s space.

RSVP on Eventbrite

Image: Marianne Petit, "The Story Of Pauline and the Matches", 2011. Photo: Ukari Bakosi, 2022.

IN CONVERSATION Artists featured in KEEP IT IN FICTION Saturday, November 19th, 2022 at 5:30pm

Bronx River Art Center continues with the presentation of the monthly Artist Talk series IN CONVERSATION. For November, Hector Canonge moderates the artist dialogue with the participation of artists featured in the current exhibition, curated by Stephanie Young. The conversation will outline each artist's creative process and their production process in relation the works exploring language and visual aesthetics. IN CONVERSATION is an artist talk program that fosters dialogue, exchange and reflection about Contemporary Art issues by featuring local, national, and international guest artists working in various disciplines and creative practices. The monthly program consists of the presentation of selected works followed by an open forum with attending audience members.

RSVP on Eventbrite

Upcoming

Image: Summer 2022 Student Art Show, held on August 12th. Photo: Ukari Bakosi, 2022.

Fall 2022 Student Art Show Saturday, December 17th, 2022

BRAC will close out the Fall 2022 semester of art classes with an art show exhibiting the work of our students working in different media over the past three months. Join our teaching artists, staff members, students and parents in celebrating the creativity and growth of our students.

Opportunities

Image: Off-site mixed-media art workshop at CREO College Prep taught by Jonathan Berry. Photo: Ukari Bakosi, 2022.

For Artists / Curators / Educators

As part of our commitment to further nurture, support, and encourage the development of artists from the Bronx and New York City at large, BRAC will compile a list of opportunities in the arts and related fields. Artists and organizations are welcome to send us and share their listings and future opportunities.

NYC METRO AREA En Foco Open call to BIPOC photographers The 8th Annual En Foco Photography Fellowship is designed to support New York-based photographers of color who demonstrate the highest quality of work as determined by a photography panel of peers and industry professionals. The deadline for applications is November 11, 2022. Apply  NYC ArtWalk Open call to all visual artists NYC ArtWalk seeks to implement a sustainable model of opportunities that can support the work of artists from all corners of the world. Through art shows that support diversity, inclusion and equity. Apply to have your artwork shown on digital screens in the streets of SoHo (as part of a collaboration with the Climate Museum of New York City) or Times Square (as part of the International Street Art Show). The deadline for SoHo applications is October 10, 2022; the deadline for Times Square applications is November 20, 2022. Apply  Smack Mellon Artist Studio Program The Artist Studio Program was launched in 2000 in response to the crisis of available affordable space for artists living and working in New York City. The program provides six eligible artists working in all visual arts media a free private studio space accessible 24/7 and a fellowship (dependent on funding). The 2032-2024 program begins September 1, 2023 and ends August 15, 2024. The studios are located on the lower level of our building at 92 Plymouth Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn and range in size from 250 to 300 square feet. The program does not provide living space. The deadline to apply is November 23, 2022 11:59pm Apply Site:Brooklyn Gallery Open call to artists Landscape makes the strange familiar and the familiar strange. It asks the viewer to think about the fundamental question: what is the world we inhabit like? Often, artist’s answers have drawn attention to not only the space of the earth, but the passage of time, the rhythm of the seasons, nature’s death and birth, the environments both made and lost by humanity’s interventions, both great and small. Site:Brooklyn’s new show, Landscape: Constructed and Wild is looking for artworks focused on the environment in which we live. The deadline for applications is December 5, 2022. Apply

BRAC COVID-19 Protocols

Proof of vaccination will be required upon entering building for all persons over age 6. Use of masks during classes is required. For general questions about classes, please email education@bronxriverart.org.

STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL ANNOUNCES LAUNCH OF COMPLAINT DASHBOARD AS PART OF TRANSPARENCY COMMITMENT

 

 

New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang announced today the launch of a publicly accessible dashboard containing data about all complaints received by the Offices of the New York State Inspector (OIG) as part of her commitment to improve transparency in state government. Hosted on the state’s Open Data portal, the Inspector General will make available anonymized monthly data about the number, nature and source of all complaints received by the agency, which is comprised of the Offices of the New York State Inspector General (NYSIG), Welfare Inspector General (OWIG), Workers’ Compensation Inspector General (WCIFG), and Gaming Inspector General (OGIG).

 

The first set of data made public today provides information on complaints received by the agency in September 2022. The data will be updated in the middle of each month to include totals from the month prior. Open Data’s interface will empower the public to interpret data on complaints through maneuverable charts and graphs.

 

“We take seriously our responsibility to thoroughly investigate every allegation under our jurisdiction, and to share any substantiated findings with the public,” said Inspector General Lang. “Transparency has been my priority since taking office. It is vital that government clearly communicate about how we are fulfilling our mandate to serve the people of the state. We invite researchers, journalists, and the public to review and analyze our data and help us work towards a more transparent New York.”

 

This effort is the latest in a series of initiatives designed to increase OIG transparency, which has also included the ongoing publication of a decade’s worth of historical letters, daily social media updates and engagement, and a commitment to publish every report and letter detailing the agency’s work addressing complaints of corruption, fraud, criminal activity, conflicts of interest or abuse in state government.

 

View the OIG data portal here: https://data.ny.gov/Transparency/Offices-of-the-Inspector-General-Investigative-Com/m4ux-3xxj