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| UNOFFICIAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS
Public Advocate
(Vote for one)
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Wednesday, February 27, 2019
FEBRUARY 26, 2019 PUBLIC ADVOCATE UNOFFICIAL BOARD OF ELECTIONS RESULT BY BALLOT POSITION
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Public Advocate Candidate Dawn Smalls on the Campaign Trail
Public Advocate candidate Dawn Smalls came to the Riverdale area to campaign outside of PS 81 on Riverdale Avenue. PS 81 is one of the largest poll site in the 81st Assembly District where turnout is normally very heavy. However for this Public Advocate Special Election the turnout is extremely low here and in other poll sites around the city. By 11 AM only 138 people had voted at PS 81 where as in a regular election the total number of votes would be over 600 votes.
Candidate Dawn Smalls removed her hat, and one can see a rainbow of hope above her as she campaigns to be the winner in today's Special Election to be Public Advocate.
Team Blake Election Eve Meeting
As he walked down the long hallway Public Advocate Michael Blake was going to a meeting in Coop-City. There he would meet supporters from the Coop-City area which included State Senator Jamaal Bailey one of Blake's many Bronx Supporters. However missing would be Councilman Andy King who is supporting Public Advocate candidate Jumaane Williams. That is how it is with seventeen candidates in the Public Advocate Special Election local elected officials are split on just who they have endorsed.
Above - State Senator Jamaal Bailey announces the arrival of candidate Michael Blake.
Below - Candidate Blake enters the room pointing to himself when asked who is going to be the next Public Advocate.
Above - It was time to rally the troops as Candidate Blake speaks. He mentioned his brothe and mother who were in the room.
Below - Mama Blake raises her hand when her son mentions her name.
Above - With the troops ready for election day a group photo is taken.
Below - A final photo with the elected officials.
MAYOR DE BLASIO AND GOVERNOR CUOMO ANNOUNCE 10 POINT PLAN TO TRANSFORM AND FUND THE MTA
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a proposal to transform the MTA and create dedicated and sustained funding streams for the agency. The proposal includes the joint endorsement of congestion pricing and a plan to reorganize the MTA.
2 - The MTA Transformation Plan would include a congestion pricing financing model. Electronic tolling devices would be installed on the perimeter of the Central Business District (CBD) defined as streets south of 61st St. in Manhattan. The FDR Drive will not be included in the Central Business District. The electronic tolling system will account for tolls previously paid by drivers entering Manhattan from designated crossings. The system will be installed and operated pursuant to an MOU between the City of New York and the MTA for the purposes of ensuring the timely completion of the installation of congestion infrastructure in order to effectuate a congestion pricing plan, and recognizing the expertise of the TBTA for purposes of running and operating cashless tolling systems and City agencies for purposes of the use and impact of infrastructure installation on City streets. Tolls would be variable providing discounts for off-peak hour travel. Emergency vehicles will be exempt from congestion pricing tolls. Other exemptions or discounts will be provided to a limited group of vehicles entering the CBD including vehicles operated by or transporting people with disabilities and individuals who have an identifiable hardship or limited ability to access medical facilities in the CBD. Congestion pricing tolls would be supplemented with State and City revenue from a fixed amount of the new internet sales tax derived from sales in New York City, with a growth factor, and a percentage of the State and City revenue from the cannabis excise tax. Congestion pricing revenue and these two taxes will be placed in a ‘lockbox’ to provide a funding source necessary to ensure the capital needs of the MTA can be met, with priority given to the subway system, new signaling, new subway cars, track and car repair, accessibility, buses and bus system improvements and further investments in expanding transit availability to areas in the outer boroughs that have limited mass transit options. Tolls will be set once the electronic infrastructure is in place and a Capital Plan is finalized but will in no event be set later than December 2020.
3 - The MTA fares for public mass transportation must be controlled in future years through cost containment actions and improved management. The MTA should be able to operate with mass transit fare increases limited to inflationary increases of 2% per year.
4 - All MTA Board appointments will be modified so that all terms end with the appointing elected official’s tenure.
5 - Partnership between the State and City is necessary to combat fare evasion. We cannot have a voluntary fare system and still maintain a system that ensures operational stability. The State will work with the MTA, City and District Attorneys to develop an enforcement strategy, with both personnel and station design modifications that do not criminalize fare evasion but instead prevent fare evasion, sanction violators and increase enforcement.
6 - The MTA will undergo an independent audit to determine their actual assets and liabilities. The initial audit should be completed no later than January of 2020. The forecasts, projections and capital plans they have put forth strain financial credibility.
7 - The Capital Plan shall be reviewed by a committee of transportation, engineering and government experts who have no existing financial relationship with the MTA (The Regional Transit Committee, “RTC”). The Committee will have appointees by the Governor, Mayor, State Assembly and Senate, and organizations representing subway riders and driving commuters. The RTC will also review the toll and fare increases proposed by the MTA as necessary to fund the Capital Plan.
8 - The MTA will have all major construction projects and planned projects pursued as “design build.” The MTA will do preliminary drawings only to the point necessary for bidding the project in a private sector competition based primarily on cost and timing of the project. Selections will be made with incentives and sanctions for performance. All major construction projects will be reviewed by construction and engineering experts who are not affiliated with the MTA or its consultants. The construction review team will be headed by the Deans of Cornell School of Engineering and Columbia School of Engineering to assure state of the art design and technology is being deployed. This group will also review the plans for signal system upgrade methodology and decide the best system to use, specifically comparing Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) to Ultra-Wide-Band (UWB) technology for safety, timeliness and cost. The MTA will be more aggressive in debarring failed contractors.
9 - The MTA will immediately expedite the completion of the Subway Action Plan including: signal repair; water management; station enhancements; rail welding; friction pad installation; increased refurbishment efforts; and other service improvements.
10 - The Governor and Mayor will work closely with the Legislature to effectuate provisions in this framework.
Monday, February 25, 2019
Press Clips: Public Advocate Special Election, 2/26
L – R, Michael Knobbe (Bronxnet General Manager), Nomiki Konst, Ron Kim, Michael Blake, Anthony Herbert, Host Gary Axelbank, Ydanis Rodriguez, Benjamin Yee, Dawn Smalls, Rafael Espinal, David Eisenbach, and Jared Rich at the recent Public Advocate debate on Bronxnet.
Last month, twenty-three people filed petitions to run for the vacant position of New York City Public Advocate, and seventeen candidates (one suspended her campaign) made it onto Tuesday’s nonpartisan Special Election ballot. Because it is a City Charter-mandated nonpartisan special election candidates will not be running as Democrats, Republicans, Conservative or Green Party. They had to choose independent body names to appear on the ballot under their names. Despite a weather forecast that calls for good weather, voter turnout is expected to be extremely low.
This race can ben divided into three tiers, the top three candidates, where the winner will emerge, a middle tier of credible also-rans, and the bottom seven candidates who won’t factor into the outcome. Those bottom seven include Manny Alicandro, David Eisenbach, Anthony Herbert, Jared Rich, Hetal Sheikh, Benjamin Yee, and Brooklyn Assemblywoman Latrice Walker, who suspended her campaign after failing to withdraw her name from the ballot. These seven candidates plus any write in votes should account to less than five percent of the vote.
The 10 leading Public Advocate candidates in Tuesday’s nonpartisan special election. Credit: Gotham Gazette.
The vote for the seven second-tier candidates should go like this – Nomiki Konst, Ron Kim, Daniel O’Donnell, Rafael Espinal, Ydanis Rodriguez, Melissa Mark-Viverito, and Dawn Smalls each receiving between five and ten percent of the vote. With seventeen candidates in the race, if any of these can go over the ten percent mark they could, but most likely are not going to be the winner.
That leaves Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn), Assemblyman Michael Blake (D-Bronx), and Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Queens), all current elected officials from different boroughs, as the likeliest to be elected on Tuesday night.
While many pundits believe that this is Jumaane Williams’ special election to lose (as he ran a very credible and surprisingly close race for Lt. Governor last September), he like several other candidates comes from Brooklyn. Assemblyman Blake of the Bronx has been campaigning heavily in Brooklyn. Blake hails from a borough where not one favorite son has ever been elected to citywide office. NYU professor and political scientist Mitchell Moss has called The Bronx “a political graveyard.” Also splitting the Brooklyn vote is attorney Dawn Smalls — a political unknown who like Michael Blake worked in the Obama administration — who has come on in this election like a raging forest fire. Although she not in my top tier, Smalls is my dark horse candidate, who either wins or determines just who does win.
Councilman Eric Ulrich is one of only two Republicans (Manny Alicantro is the other GOPer) against fourteen Democrats and, if this were the general election, he would be facing just one or even two Democrats (the second on a minor party line) but not fourteen (Latrice Walker dropped out of the race). While the Democrats are fighting to win the same voter base, Ulrich has the advantage in this race, as all he has to do is coalesce Republican, Conservative and anti-de Blasio independent voters in Queens, Staten Island, and the Bronx. That path to victory taken many years ago by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani — although he only faced incumbent Democrat David Dinkins. It’s important to note that Councilman Ulrich represents a district where the electorate is more than two-thirds Democratic.
Late last week the New York Times endorsed Jumaane Williams, while the New York Post and New York Daily News endorsed Eric Ulrich. It is very likely that none of the top three candidates will break the twenty percent mark. The winner of this special election is going to take office with the lowest percentage of the vote in the history of the Office of Public Advocate. I predict that the winner of this nonpartisan special election for Public Advocate will be Queens Councilman Eric Ulrich who is running on the Common Sense ballot line.
You can reach Robert Press at 100percentbronxnews@gmail.com.
This is reprinted from the Bronx Chronicle February 25, 2019. https://thebronxchronicle.com/2019/02/25/press-clips-public-advocate-special-election/
Councilman, Rubén Díaz Sr. - A FEW THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
By Councilman, Rubén Díaz Sr.
District 18 Bronx County, New York
You should know that given the recent controversy surrounding me and the New York City Council has prompted my “friends” and those that I helped acquire their elected positions turn their backs on me. But I want you to know this is nothing new. Given my past experiences in my life I have develop a thick skin, and grown in my faith to the all mighty.
It is important for you to know that in 1960, during the Vietnam conflict, while many Americans, well connected politicians, and celebrities used their influence to avoid the draft, and others fled to Canada, and other countries I did the opposite. As a young 18 year old kid, I chose to volunteer and serve my country in the United States Army. Which I am proud to say I did honorably.
My basic training was at Fort Jackson South Carolina. Remember this was in the early 1960’s in the Jim Crow South. Never mind that I was a United States Army Soldier, if I wanted a drink of water, I was forced to drink out of the water fountain labeled “Colored”. I was also ordered by those in command to pick up cigarette butts thrown on the sidewalk by White folks.
I can’t help but remember my personal experiences and horrible abuses committed against Black people. Out of many instances one in particular comes to mind. It was during my first pass. I was in the company of my “friends” fellow soldiers who like me were Puerto Rican, one difference though, they were light skin, or should I say White.
I was all decked out, so proud to be dressed in my Army Uniform, going into town with my buddies, my fellow soldiers. We decided to go into a bar and enjoy a couple of beers. When the waiter came to our table he took everyone’s order but not mine. As he turned to walk away I said “hey waiter, you didn’t take my order”. He turned, looked at me and said “Whatever you’re looking for, we haven’t got it.” I looked at my “friends”, my fellow Puerto Ricans, and fellow Soldiers expecting their support, and hoping they would walk out with me, but instead they told me, “looks like you’re going to have to leave.” Realizing I was alone, I quietly left the bar. However, my “friends” stayed and enjoyed their beer.
I completed my tour of duty with an honorable discharge. However, when I returned to my home town in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, my experience in the Segregated, Jim Crow, South nearly destroyed my life. In 1965 I left Puerto Rico and migrated to Brooklyn New York, at Sutter Avenue to be exact.
It was there in Brooklyn NY., that in a small African American Pentecostal church my life took a turn for the better. I converted to Christianity. Based on my faith I don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t dance, and I don’t need any of it to be happy. As a result of my faith, and my thick skin I find happiness inspite of all the attacks, persecution and adversity that may come my way. I am ever so grateful for my many blessings. I have much to be grateful for.
In 1993 I was appointed to serve as a Commissioner, representing the Bronx, on the CCRB, {Civilian Complaint Review Board}. It was here, at a CCRB hearing that a member of the Gay Community attacked me when he violently threw a pitcher of water at me. He then hurled the pitcher hitting me with it. He was not arrested for assault, and I did not press any charges.
My comments and my positions have often been taken out of context. This has resulted in my being called by a very hateful term, a “Homophobe.” Anyone who has dealt with me, and knows me personally knows that this is a false description of who I am. A clear example of this is the position I took regarding The Harvey Milk School.
The HM school was created in New York City exclusively to serve Gay students. It was going to be a high-end school. They boasted it would have the latest in technology, with the best equipment and it would be the best of the best in public schools. My opposition was not the school. It was clearly based on the fact that this “high-end school” was being opened exclusively for Gay students and not to ALL students. Given that tax payer dollars were being used for the creation of this exclusive public school, I opposed its lack of diversity, multi-culturalism, and overall inclusion of other groups.
In certain case’s we demand inclusion for all, and then in some cases we want segregation and exclusivity and demand special treatment for some. We must be sincere when we espouse in favor of equality, inclusion and fair treatment for all. Either we favor inclusion for all or we don’t. My dear reader we cannot have it both ways.
This created a political fire storm for me and again I was branded a “homophobe.” I stood my ground because I felt I was right, so I took my opposition to court. Upon an agreement that the Harvey Milk school would be opened to all students, heterosexuals, Blacks, Latinos and other students I dropped the law suit. But the name calling continued and the true facts of my opposition were ignored.
Throughout the years as a public servant I have been the object of diatribes, numerous death threats, profane, filthy and hateful language has been used to address me. The venom is such that my closest friends and associates, out of fear, abandon and openly reject me. I give you one of the most crystal, clear examples.
Assemblyman Michael Blake, an African American, elected official I called a friend and part of my working community team. He donated $1,000 to my City Council campaign. Someone got to him, and he was forced to publicly denounce me, and request that I return his donation. Which he, unabashedly, asked me to return. Needless to say, I did not.
Others have been forced not to accept my endorsement or else they will face a backlash. Business people have been threatened with negative repercussions if they dare donate to my campaign.
Now we see how far they are willing to go without any regard as to who gets hurt with the actions they take. Recently as you know The City Council voted against the Taxi Industry which will negatively impact the taxi drivers and their lively hood. The majority of the City Council members voted to eliminate/ abolish the committee that exclusively advocates on behalf of Taxi Drivers. The “For Hire Vehicles Committee” helped the taxi industry by monitoring and preventing further injustices, abuses and discriminatory practices that the taxi drivers have been subjected to.
Frankly I don’t understand the City Councils action to eliminate the “For Hire Vehicles Committee”. Removing me from its leadership position is one thing, but abolishing the Committee all together is something else. This hurts the Taxi Drivers. Especially during this time when nine (9) taxi drivers have committed suicide due to years of the abuses inflicted upon them by The NYC Council, its previous speaker, and the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission. They allowed Uber, and other unregulated for hire vehicle companies to destroy the taxi drivers’ investments add to that the abusive astronomical fees and penalties imposed upon them brought them to the brink of bankruptcy.
With the elimination of the “For Hire Vehicles Committee” proper monitoring and advocacy on behalf of the drivers and Taxi industry will suffer. The NYC Council with their vote to eliminate this committee has opened the door for the return of these abuses and this may lead to an end of the yellow taxi and livery Industry. All of that in their senseless quest to persecute and shame me into submission. That’s fine. But the City Council must answer this question, why abolish the committee, why not just appoint someone else to its leadership position?
As for me I will continue to serve in my elected capacity as a Councilman until I am term limited or my constituents decide otherwise. In closing I quote 2nd Corinthians 4:8-9.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;”
This is Councilman Rev. Ruben Diaz, and this is What You Should Know.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
SIX INDICTED FOLLOWING OVER 50 SALES OF NARCOTICS IN HARLEM: TWO HANDGUNS SEIZED
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Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor and New York City Police Commissioner James P. O’Neill announced today the arrest and indictment of six individuals in connection with an investigation that involved more than 50 sales of crack cocaine and heroin in the vicinity of the West 123rd Street and Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard in Harlem.
Each of the six defendants is charged in a separate indictment filed in Manhattan Supreme Court by the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor. The arrests followed a long-term investigation by the New York City Police Department’s (NYPD) Manhattan North Narcotics. Arraignments are scheduled for this afternoon before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Felicia A. Mennin, Part 22, 111 Centre Street. The defendants face charges of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.
The investigation began in response to community complaints about persistent drug trafficking in the vicinity of 225 West 123rd Street. The defendants allegedly congregated in groups to sell narcotics on the block and impeded the ability of passersby, including school children, to safely use the sidewalks. At least five schools are located within a three-block radius of the block. Peak times for conducting drug sales fell between the hours of 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
Beginning in June of 2017, loosely affiliated narcotics dealers allegedly made more than 50 sales of crack cocaine and heroin to an NYPD undercover officer. On some days multiple defendants sold to the undercover officer in rapid succession. In instances when one dealer was low on supply, he would refer customers to another dealer nearby.
During the investigation, defendant NANA POKU allegedly conducted 17 sales of crack cocaine and heroin to the undercover officer, the most of all of the defendants. Defendant GARY REID allegedly served as a heroin supplier for POKU. Aside from POKU and REID, the other defendants exclusively sold crack cocaine to the undercover officer.
In conjunction with the arrests this morning, members of the NYPD’s Manhattan North Narcotics conducted court authorized searches of three apartments, including POKU’s residence at 135 West 123rd Street. POKU was in his bedroom when police arrived. From underneath his mattress, police recovered two handguns. Quantities of suspected crack cocaine were found scattered around the apartment. Defendant DARREN SQUIRE was also arrested inside POKU’s residence.
Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan thanked her office’s Trial Division, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr. and the NYPD’s Manhattan North Narcotics.
“I hope these arrests give relief to the beleaguered residents of West 123rd Street. School children and people on their way home from a long day at work had to push past dealers clogging sidewalks, making them feel uneasy in their own neighborhood,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Brennan. “In search warrants today, we seized crack cocaine alongside firearms, reminding all that violence and drug dealing often go hand in hand. I commend the NYPD’s Manhattan North Narcotics teams for their work and thank the residents of West 123rd Street for their perseverance as we developed evidence in this case.”
The charges and allegations are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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