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Love Your Block Grants
Rep. Hakeem Jeffries 2014 State of the District Address
By: Mary Alice Miller
It was an event full of all the pomp and circumstance attendant with a congressional office. Representative Hakeem Jeffries’ first congressional State of the District Address attracted constituents, elected officials, and youth who filled the auditorium at Boys and Girls high school.
Describing his first year in office month-by-month, Jeffries said he “did everything to make sure that our presence was felt in Washington and here at home.”
Guns are a national problem that requires a sensible solution, said Jeffries. Noting that the majority of youth in our communities are doing the right thing, Jeffries said he would launch an initiative to identify at-risk youth in our community and offer them services.
In recognition of the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty, Jeffries called for investing in the American economy. Jeffries plans to co-sponsor of legislation to increase the minimum wage. He called for strengthening emergency management services and erecting a seawall in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy.
Jeffries called the development of far too many luxury apartments being built that are not accessible to teachers and other civil servants, “economic gentrification.” He called on a moratorium on luxury housing development in outer boroughs. Next month Jeffries pledged to introduce legislation to change 80-20 housing to at least 50% affordable.
After his formal address Jeffries said that 80/20 development started as a positive thing and has worked well in many other parts of the country. “The problem in New York is that in many communities market rate by definition becomes luxury that is unaffordable to working families, moderate and low income folks, senior citizens and young people starting out,” said Jeffries. He called for an additional 30% set aside for moderate income folks added to 20% for low income to create housing that is 50% market rate and 50% affordable.
On making affordability permanent, Jeffries said when a program lapses – if it is connected to tax credits, for instance, after a certain period of time – 15, 20, 30 years –that program should then fall into rent stabilization. In addition, “I don’t believe that you should allow for the privatization or sale of Mitchell Lama units that were created to allow for some affordability but then over time someone is able to take that unit, sell it on the open market, and not allow the affordability in the development to continue,” said Jeffries. “We haven’t had that problem too much in Brooklyn, but it’s a concern and something we need to closely monitor.”
On policing Jeffries said, “I was proud to be there when Mayor de Blasio made the announcement that the lawsuit (regarding Stop and Frisk) would be settled and eventually the appeal will be dropped. That is a significant step in the right direction. In a democracy there has to be a balance between effective law enforcement on the one hand and a healthy respect for civil rights and the constitution on the other. The previous administration did not respect that balance.” He added, “I am pleased the Bill de Blasio and Commissioner Bratton seem to recognize that in order to continue the dramatic decline in crime we’ve got to work closely together with the community as partners.”
While in the assembly Jeffries said he and his colleagues fought to dismantle NYS’s prison industrial complex. “But the gateway,” Jeffries said, “was contact with the police via stop-and-frisk. Hopefully the first step we can take is to reform completely the manner in which the police engages the community, which is why the announcement of the city settling the stop-and-frisk federal lawsuit was so significant. We have to increase the resources available to inner city communities in terms of after school programs, summer enrichment opportunities, STEM training.”
Regarding some police taking innocent citizen’s money and valuables during an unconstitutional encounter then placing that money into the police retirement fund, Rep. Jeffries acknowledged that the policy was initiated to literally remove the financial incentive from illegal activity. “A few years ago a few of us called for a new commission to investigate corruption within the NYPD. This was during the time when there was a particular outbreak of activity: eight undercover narcotics officers and detectives who were convicted of planting drugs on individuals, a few rouge officers convicted of trafficking guns or stolen merchandise. In the past we’ve had the Knapp Commission in the 1970s, the Mullen Commission in the 1990’s. It may be time to look at another commission to investigate issues related to systemic corruption during the previous administration,” said Jeffries. “The majority of officers are hardworking and doing the right thing and are from the community working closely with the community. Bad apples on the police force can be problematic.”
Jeffries added, “In 2014 we have an inspector general, we’ve got an active Dept. of Justice led by Eric Holder, we’ve got a progressive attorney general in Eric Schneiderman. We’ve got some avenues to deal with any outbreak of corruption.”
Congressman Jeffries said that next year constituents can hold him accountable for implementing agenda items outlined in his first congressional State of the District address. “One of the reasons why many of us do these types of addresses in January is to lay out an agenda of things you want to work on,” said Jeffries. “It gives you, your staff and everyone around you a blueprint as to the type of issues you want to tackle, and then you can measure the progress you have been able to make at the end of the year and figure out what else you can work on to complete the things that were started and hopefully be able to point to some of the things that got accomplished.”
President Obama Pledges Action With, or Without, Congress
In the traditional presidential State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama outlined a “plan of action” of what he wanted to accomplish with or without the partnership of a recalcitrant Congress.
The president spoke of how, while the stock market has surged after four years of economic growth, “those at the top have never done better but average wages have barely budged”. Upward mobility has stalled he said and there are “too many working just to get by and too many not working at all”. Stating that the job of his office and the congress is to change that, the president spoke of actions he would take. Among them, acknowledging that Congress is not inclined to increase the minimum wage, the president is issuing an “executive order” that future government contractors will have to pay a minimum wage of $10.10/hr., and that he was committed to creating “new ladders of opportunity into the middle class”, which would include “high-quality pre-K available to every four-year-old”.
The president also introduced MyRA: “It’s a new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg”, and defended the Affordable Care Act, saying “Already, because of the Affordable Care Act, more than three million Americans (under age 26) have gained coverage under their parents’ plans. More than nine million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage”.
Staying with the Affordable Care Act and taking the fight to the Republicans he said “And here’s another number: zero. Because of this law, no American can ever again be dropped or denied coverage for a preexisting condition like asthma, back pain or cancer. No woman can ever be charged more just because she’s a woman. And we did all this while adding years to Medicare’s finances, keeping Medicare premiums flat and lowering prescription costs for millions of seniors”.
Internationally, the president cited that all U.S. troops are out of Iraq and 60,000 were out of Afghanistan. “At the end of this year, America’s longest war will finally be over.” And once again, we heard that the prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed. That one we’ll have to wait and see.
The president also spoke of “reaching out to some of America’s leading foundations and corporations on a new initiative to help more young men of color facing tough odds stay on track and reach their full potential”. There were no details on what that initiative is, but we hope to see them in the days ahead.
By far, the emotional highlight of the speech was when the president spoke of an Army Ranger sitting next to Michelle Obama. “I first met Cory Remsburg, a proud Army Ranger, at Omaha Beach on the 65th Anniversary of D-day. Along with some of his fellow Rangers, he walked me through the program – a strong, impressive young man with an easy manner, sharp as a tack. We joked around and took pictures, and I told him to stay in touch. A few months later, on his tenth deployment, Cory was nearly killed by a massive roadside bomb in Afghanistan. His comrades found him in a canal, facedown, underwater, shrapnel in his brain.
For months, he lay in a coma. The next time I met him, in the hospital, he couldn’t speak; he could barely move. Over the years, he’s endured dozens of surgeries and procedures, and hours of grueling rehab every day.
Even now, Cory is still blind in one eye. He still struggles on his left side. But slowly, steadily, with the support of caregivers like his dad Craig, and the community around him, Cory has grown stronger. Day by day, he’s learned to speak again and stand again and walk again – and he’s working toward the day when he can serve his country again.
“My recovery has not been easy,” he says. “Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy.”
“Cory is here tonight. And like the Army he loves, like the America he serves, Sergeant First Class Cory Remsburg never gives up, and he does not quit.” This was a very special moment in the highly polarized chamber as this young man received a sustained and teary ovation, and we wished it meant the troops would be home earlier.
By David Mark Greaves
What Ever Happened to the Atlantic Yards Community Benefits Agreement?
By Mary Alice Miller
The Atlantic Yards project was sold to Brooklyn as a “Net” win for everybody. Residents and local businesses displaced by eminent domain and job seekers in surrounding communities were told the project would provide 10,000 jobs and affordable housing. A community benefits agreement – NYC’s first – guaranteed public benefits for the largest development project in living memory.
The 2005 Atlantic Yards CBA crafted by eight select organizations made numerous promises to sweeten FCRC’s promised office, residential and retail buildings anchored by the Barclay sports arena. The CBA outlined housing, workforce development, small business development, community facilities and amenities, environmental initiatives, public housing initiatives, faith-based referral services, and educational and related services.
Let’s see how well the CBA has worked so far.
When the CBA was established, an independent compliance monitor was to be hired to ensure all community benefits were met. To this date, no compliance monitor has been named.
The initial scope of the project in 2006 included an office tower – called Miss Brooklyn – which was to provide commercial office space for businesses and employment. By the 2009 closing of the project, Miss Brooklyn was scraped.
BUILD (a signatory to the CBA) was to oversee 35% minority and 10% women construction worker employment on the project. NYC did get a high school for construction management and trades. BUILD is no longer part of the CBA board.
ACORN (another signatory to the CBA) was supposed to oversee the affordable housing component. ACORN no longer exists, although several organizations staffed by previous ACORN employees are said to have taken ACORN’s role. The 2005 CBA called for 50% of the residential units affordable to low and moderate income families. By 2009 closing, 2,250 of 4,500 rental units will be for low and middle-income residents with 10% of these set aside for seniors. An additional 2,000 units will be market rate condos.
The first building (in Phase l) consisting of 363 rental apartments is scheduled to be completed in 2015. But, the original 10 year timeframe for completion of the entire project has been pushed back to 25 years or more. Construction of Phase ll residential buildings, 8 acres of open space accessible to the public and neighborhood retail space will commence only after a new rail yard and station platform is completed for the MTA LIRR. But the actual construction of the MTA platform upon which 6 of the buildings will be constructed in MTA airspace may commence as late at 2025.
With a currently scheduled completion date of 2035 or later, the CBA promises all tenants displaced by the project access to reasonably comparable living space within the project. If no reasonable living space is available within the project, the developer shall pay the difference in rent for a reasonably comparable living space outside the project area.… if they live that long.
Fifty upper bowl tickets, four lower bowl tickets and one suite are aside for community use via a lottery system. A $15 price for promised 2,000 low-priced seats for all regular and post-season games lasted just one year. According to a published report last year, Barclay Center and Brooklyn Nets CEO Brett Yormark said the referred to $15 ticket price was a “sampling opportunity.”
Season 2 has seen low price tickets rise to $25.
The CBA called for an on-site health care center and inter-generational facility consisting of child care, youth and senior centers in one building with common corridors and an atrium. The arena was to be made available to community groups for at least 10 events a year at a reasonable rent.
It was well-known that Rev. Herbert Daughtry advocated for the CBA because the intergenerational component which would include daycare … But last year the Bloomberg administration changed child care RFP guidelines so that Daughtry’s nationally-acclaimed day care service would no longer be eligible to contract with the city. Daughtry’s day care centers are now managed by other service providers. No one knows who will manage Atlantic Yard’s intergenerational program, if it ever materializes.
Based upon the 2013 ranking of top 100 arena venues, the Barclays Center ranks #3 in the world based on concert ticket sales.
Yet, 1,900 of Barclay arena’s 2,000 jobs are part time with no benefits. That’s right: only 100 Barclay arena jobs are fulltime. According to a 2009 NYC Independent Budget Office report, the arena has received $750 million in direct and indirect taxpayer funded subsidies.
Perhaps when the Atlantic Yards project is finally complete someone will be alive to remember what was originally promised as community benefits.
Empire State Development and MTA: Forest City Ratner and Greenland Holding Don't Need Environmental Impact Statement
By Mary Alice Miller
Details of Forest City Ratner’s proposed joint venture with Greenland Holding Group were revealed in an Empire State Development (ESD) memorandum. The proposed transaction with Greenland would transfer FCRC’s interests and obligations in the Land Acquisition Agreement (including property acquired via eminent domain and reduced payments for MTA property) to the joint venture. The ESD memorandum outlines the proposed terms of the joint venture to complete the Atlantic Yards project including the construction of 15 residential buildings, 8 acres of publicly accessible open space, construction of a new LIRR rail yard and a new LIRR entrance on the southeast corner of Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues.
ESD is currently preparing a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to examine the potential impacts of a delay (of up to 25 years) in the construction of Phase ll of the project in compliance with a 2011 NYS Supreme Court order. ESD expects to release that draft of SEIS to the public in the first half of 2014 when it will be subject to a public hearing and comment period after which a final SEIS, with respect to Phase ll, will be prepared.
According to the ESD memorandum, no additional SEIS will be needed to review the impact of the proposed joint venture between FCR and Greenland Holdings, finding that “preparation of an SEIS for the proposed Greenland joint venture is neither appropriate nor in the public interest.” MTA has made the same determination, according to the same ESD memorandum.
In October 2013, Forest City Enterprises (FCE), the parent company of FCRC, filed a notice with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regarding a nonbinding memorandum of understanding for the proposed joint venture between FCRC and Greenland. According to the SEC filing, Greenland would acquire 70% of the development project (excluding the arena), co-develop the project with FCRC and share development costs going forward at the same percentage interest.
Greenland Holding Group is owned primarily by the Government of China with headquarters in Shanghai. The joint venture would be a Delaware limited liability company.
Under the joint venture’s operating agreement, the joint venture will be managed by a 5-person board of managers, three of whom will be appointed by Greenland and will hold the titles of Chairman, CEO and CFO, and two of whom will be appointed by FCRC and will hold the titles of Vice Chairman and President.
According to the ESD memorandum, decisions of particular importance, including decisions about the commencement of construction of a new project building or component, will require a majority vote of the board of managers including a vote of at least one appointee of Greenland and one of FCRC which, in effect, requires that both Greenland and FCRC agree to such decisions.
It cannot be assumed that the 30%-70% division of interests is a permanent arrangement, particularly if there is a deadlock or if a member fails to meet certain obligations.
FCRC would manage day-to-day activities on behalf of the joint venture which would develop the project in accordance with the 2009 approved master plan.
The terms of FCRC’s partnership have not been finalized. In the meantime, FCRC has requested a certificate from ESD verifying that there is no outstanding default on project contracts and is subject to the court-ordered Phase ll SEIS.
In a December letter in which FCRC explains its position that FCRC may transfer its interests in the development project to the joint venture without ESD’s consent. FCRC asserts: “The transaction and documents effectuating the transaction do not (and do not purport to) change the physical components of the project in any way.”
According to the ESD memorandum, the MTA has informed ESD that it intends to impose certain conditions on any consent it may give to FCRC with respect to the assignment of any rights under the MTA agreements to the joint venture. Such conditions include: maintaining the existing FCE rail yard completion guarantee, a required guarantee from a creditworthy Greenland guarantor, restrictions on removal of FCRC as a managing member of the joint venture exercising day-to-day control over the development work prior to the completion of the rail yard and platform, and Greenland and/or FCRC must obtain all required consents and approvals required by the governments of the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
According to the ESD memorandum, the agency has not yet consented to the proposed transactions with the joint venture between Greenland and FCRC, nor has it determined whether such transactions are subject to ESD consent. ESD’s transactional counsel has examined drafts of the joint venture operating agreement that FCRC is negotiating with Greenland. ESD is currently determining whether ESD consent is required.
The Atlantic Yards development agreement allows FCRC to assign its interests under a development lease to another developer (including a joint venture of FCRC and another developer) in order to allow additional capital resources to flow into the development process, subject to certain terms and conditions.
FCRC has notified the MTA that the proposed joint venture with Greenland would transfer to the joint venture agreements between FCRC and the MTA for airspace above the Vanderbilt Yard, yard relocation and construction, and airspace development. According to the previously contracted agreements between the MTA and FCRC outlined in the ESD memorandum, the MTA may terminate FCRC’s right to airspace if the new LIRR rail yard is not completed by 90 days after Sept. 1, 2016, subject to certain extensions and fees. A temporary yard has been built, but the schedule for commencement of the permanent yard has been modified based upon FCRC’s commitment to continue construction of certain rail yard improvements. Project buildings in and above the new rail yard and platform are to commence after construction of the new rail yard.
Financing of the Atlantic Yards project that would require resources from a developer owned by a foreign government was never considered.
According to the ESD memorandum, “In a prior decision relating to the Atlantic Yards project, the Appellate Division held that a ‘financial inquiry’ into aspects of the project of the kind undertaken by the Public Authorities Control Board is not subject to SEQRA, because this ‘financial inquiry would not have been usefully informed by the SEIS’s account of the project’s environmental effect.’ Thus, the SEIS prepared in 2006 properly did not scrutinize the means by which FCRC intended to finance the project, whether through equity capital, borrowing or via joint venture agreements with other developers. Agencies do not examine this sort of information in the SEIS because SEQRA documents examine the environmental impacts of projects, not the means by which they are financed.”