Home Blog Page 895

Local Elected Officials Demand Atlantic Yards’ Affordable Housing Now

Mary Alice Miller
-
10

The Incredible Shrinking Promises at Forest City Ratner

By Mary Alice Miller

In response to Forest City Ratner Companies’ (FCRC) announced plan to sell 70% of its Atlantic Yards equity( worth $3 billion) to Greenland Holdings — a Chinese-based developer — city, state and federal elected officials representing the area are calling for Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to defer approval of the equity sale.  “Our state government cannot allow Forest City Ratner to cash out on the Atlantic Yards project before the majority of the public benefits have actually been delivered,” said Michelle de la Uz, Executive Director of the Fifth Avenue Committee.

The elected officials and a coalition of community groups call on Forest City Ratner (FCRC), Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) to accelerate the delivery of the 2,250 units of affordable housing promised at the site and acknowledge in the newly required environmental impact statement, the socioeconomic damage to the community from the delay.

The coalition also presented demands that must be met before FCRC is allowed to sell a majority interest in the project:

1) ESDC defer approval of any sale of Forest City Ratner’s interest in the Atlantic Yards project until after a study of alternatives to expedite construction, consistent with the order from the New York State Supreme Court, has been completed.

2) That ESDC make any sale of Forest City Ratner’s interest contingent upon a written commitment to deliver the affordable apartments planned for the Atlantic Yards project in the time frame in which they were originally promised.

3) That the Governor, ESDC and Forest City Ratner publicly commit to improving the accountability of the Atlantic Yards project to the public, stating their support of legislation to create a dedicated local development corporation to oversee the project until its completion whose board includes directors appointed by the elected representatives of the people of Brooklyn.

“The reason why New Yorkers invested over $700 million in tax subsidies and abatements is because we wanted to build a home court advantage for Brooklynites, men and women who made Brooklyn what it is today,” Assemblyman Walter Mosley said.  Mosley called for real commitments on affordable housing and “remedial measures put in place if those commitments are not met.”

Assemblywoman Joan Millman noted the success of Barclays Arena with the Nets and the Islanders soon to come. But, “The promise of affordable housing convinced many elected officials, including myself, to support the project.” She added, “I can’t imagine what interest Greenland has in low-income working families in Brooklyn. I can’t imagine they have any.”

“In full disclosure, I never was an advocate of this project. I never thought this was going to yield for us as much as we wanted to see come out of a project of this magnitude in terms of jobs and housing, affordable housing. Obviously, the disappointment for me goes very deep,” said State Senator Velmanette Montgomery. She added, “In the beginning, we as a community requested that this project be broken up so we could have a number of developers bidding to create a plan that was commensurate with what the community would like to see. We were not against development, but we were for equitable development so that the entire community’s interests would be realized. That never happened.”

“The governor should consider not-for-profit organizations to build the affordable housing, organizations that have a track record of doing it on time and consistent with the needs of the community,” said City Council member and Public Advocate-elect Letitia James. “It is time that we focus on the needs of the residents of the city of New York. It’s time that we stop appealing to real estate brokers and real estate interests in the city of New York. The people have spoken. They spoke on Election Day loudly and clearly.”

At the time Atlantic Yards was approved in 2006, Forest City Ratner Companies committed to completing its arena and 16 towers with 2,250 affordable apartments by 2016.

However, in 2009, FCRC renegotiated the timetable for the project so that it could delay completion until 2035. A state court ruled that ESDC illegally approved the 2009 change, but construction of affordable housing at Atlantic Yards has continued to languish, with the first units not expected to be occupied before 2015.

Atlantic Yards has received $100 million in state and $236 million in New York City funding to date. Yet, the only promise delivered thus far is the Barclays Arena.

In 2004-06, 15,000 construction jobs were promised. Only 607 were delivered as of September 2013, with 196 hired from Brooklyn. Ten thousand permanent jobs were promised; 1,240 were delivered while 219 were lost. 2,250 units of affordable housing were promised (none have been delivered yet) while 171 were lost.

When the project was approved in December 2006, the arena and 16 buildings were promised for delivery by 2016; at the 2009 project closing the arena and 3 buildings were promised by 2022. Regarding residential units, 6,430 units were promised by 2016, downsized to 1,005 by 2022. Affordable housing units: 300 promised by 2022, down from the 2,250 that were promised by 2016. Initial payment for MTA rail yards was supposed to be $100 million at the 2006 approval; at the 2009 closing, the initial payment decreased to $20 million.

New York City’s direct subsidy was $100 million in 2006; by 2009 closing, it was $236 million. In 2006, 10,000 permanent and 15,000 construction jobs were promised; an annual average of 3,600 is projected for the first 30 years. The projected 10-year construction duration was extended to 25 years with more extensions possible. And the arena economic benefit was projected at $25 million over 30 years but the NYC Independent Budget Office projected a net loss of $8 million over 30 years.

Of the units to be built, only 10 of the 35 affordable 2-bedroom units will be offered to families making an average Brooklyn income. In addition, FCRC has decided to build mostly studios and 1 bedrooms instead of 2 and 3 bedrooms for families.

“The time for promises has ended,” said City Council member and Public Advocate-elect Letitia James. “There will be no new deal without a project agreement with the community that includes a firm timeline.”

 

OUR History

David Mark Greaves
-
4

Our History: William Greaves- Film Maker

Select Bus Service comes To Nostrand Avenue Corridor

Stephen Witt
-
7

New B44 route expected to cut down travel time in underserved subway area

By Stephen Witt

MTA officials said they don’t expect any major fare problems on the B44 Select Bus Service they rolled out this week on Nostrand, Rogers and Bedford Avenues from Sheepshead Bay through the Brooklyn College hub, East Flatbush, Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant and into Williamsburg.

The extra long buses will run express with 17 stops including two stops in Bed-Stuy – on Fulton Street and on Nostrand and Lafayette Avenues. The 9.3-mile route currently serves 40,000 daily passengers with limited and local buses.

However, the B44 select bus will replace the limited bus and comes complete with bus lanes and improved “bus bulb” sidewalk extensions with on-street fare collection machines that allow passengers to pay before they board and transit signal priority to reduce travel times.

Since the fare must be taken in a machine at the bus stop before boarding, some local residents have expressed concern that it could lead to more fare-jumping arrests, particularly in some of the lower-income neighborhoods the B44  transverses.

MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz responded that there will be enforcement agents on some of the buses, but it shouldn’t lead to anymore fare-beating than on trains.

“We have select buses in the Bronx and Manhattan, and this has never been a problem,” Ortiz said.

Their B44 select bus will also come with improved passenger information including way-finding panels displaying real-time bus arrival information and neighborhood maps. In addition, the city and MTA announced installation of neighborhood map posters inside subway stations, unifying the area maps placed near customer service booths with the way-finding maps now used on city streets.

“SBS on the B44 will boost ridership and provide seamless service for our customers in Williamsburg, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush and Sheepshead Bay,” said NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco.  “And with the introduction of offset bus lanes and bus bulbs, customers will have easier access to the buses and we’ll see increased pedestrian circulation space at bus stops throughout the corridor.”

As part of the B44 select bus, Bed-Stuy residents who now see their part of Nostrand Avenue in disarray, were also told the city’s Department of Design and Construction’s ongoing construction between Flushing and Atlantic Avenues is slated for completion by late 2014.

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries Briefs Constituents On Affordable Care Act, Drug Policy Reform, Inmate-Based Gerrymandering, Interfaith Medical Center And More

Editor, Our Time Press
-
6

Our Time Press: There have been a number of glitches in the start-up of the Affordable Care Act.  What is the impact of the act on the African-American community?

Congressman Hakeem Jeffries: There are certainly challenges with the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.  But whenever there are groundbreaking changes in public policy there will be some measure of difficulty in getting things off the ground.   When Social Security and Medicare were first implemented in the 1930’s and 1960’s, respectively, there were issues in terms of initial implementation.  Today, those two programs are an integral part of our social safety net fabric and over time, I believe that will be true of the Affordable Care Act.

In terms of its impact on the African-American community, we suffer disproportionately from a wide variety of diseases, ailments and afflictions.  Therefore, the fact that the Affordable Care Act will provide health coverage to tens of millions of previously uninsured Americans, many of whom are African-American, in and of itself will be a significant advantage.  It is also the case that African-Americans are more likely to be denied health insurance coverage due to a preexisting condition, because of the fact that our community disproportionately suffers from illnesses and ailments.  In that regard, the Affordable Care Act provision barring insurance companies from discriminating against individuals with a preexisting condition  will significantly impact our community.  Thirdly, African-Americans have a more difficult time when they graduate from college in securing employment opportunity.  That is an unfortunate reality we in the Congressional Black Caucus are working to change, nonetheless, it is something we have to deal with in terms of the present landscape.  The ACA allows parents to keep young Americans on their insurance policies through the age of 26.  Those are just three examples of the manner in which the Affordable Care Act impacts African-Americans.

OTP:  What about Drug Policy?  In the Assembly you fought for drug reform, what reforms do you look for on the federal level and what are the chances of achieving them in Obama’s second term?

HJ: Drug Policy reform is one area where there is a great opportunity for Democrats, Republicans and the president to change the criminal justice system in a meaningful way.  I’ve been appointed to both the Judiciary Committee and the House Task Force on Overcriminalization.  Which is a bipartisan effort charged with the responsibility of coming up with proposals that can be enacted into law to improve fairness and equality in the criminal justice system.

On the House Task Force on Overcriminalization, there are 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans spanning the ideological spectrum from progressives to conservatives.  However, there is uniform agreement that there has been an explosion of criminal laws that have created economic difficulties and instances of injustice that have hurt the people of this country.  Attorney General Holder and President Obama earlier this year announced steps toward reforming the manner in which prosecutors charge people with drug offenses.  Based on the recognition that nonviolent drug offenders have been treated unfairly as a result of the out-of-control war on drugs.  That is a narrative that is in many quarters of the Congress  shared by Democrats and Republicans and therefore I think there is further opportunity to further reduce the disparity between crack cocaine and powder cocaine sentencing as well as to increase judicial discretion in that has more nonviolent drug offenders directed away from the criminal justice system and into rehabilitation.

OTP:  You sound very optimistic in terms of working across the aisle.  There seems to be more gridlock facing President Obama in his second term.  What are the House Democrats doing to combat the Tea Party Conservatives?

HJ:  It is clear to me that there are people in Congress who have been determined to prevent Barack Obama from having a successful presidency from the moment he was sworn in in 2009.  In large measure they have failed, but their obstructionist efforts have prevented the Congress and the president from moving forward in a more aggressive way to deal with the problems of the American people. That said, it was important that the Democrats remained unified during the entire duration of the government shutdown and pushback against Tea Party extremism.  By reopening the government and remaining unified behind the position that President Obama took, we defeated the principle of government by extortion that would have been carried out by the Tea Party on issue after issue if we would have allowed them to succeed.  It was important not to negotiate on the Affordable Care Act under the threat of a government shutdown or a default.  Because that would have further emboldened the Tea Party extremists to carry out their archconservative agenda.  Hopefully, we now find ourselves at a moment where Democratic unity can continue on other issues and with a Congress that will no longer be held hostage by a small faction of Tea Party radicals bent on executing their “my way or the highway” government agenda.

OTP: We see you’ve introduced HR1537 regarding prisoner gerrymandering, a fight you waged successfully here on the state level.  What are the prospects of that legislation?

HJ: Inmate-based gerrymandering poisons the integrity of our democracy and I’m determined to obtain a change in law nationally, similar to what we accomplished in New York.  At the present moment there are only two states, New York and Maryland, which count incarcerated individuals as residents of their home communities, as opposed to their counties of incarceration.    It’s important for that change to take place nationally in order to help create a better climate for an active and progressive urban agenda to take hold in the Congress.

The bill has significant support with most members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and I look forward to communicating with other colleagues throughout the Congress in order to gain the support necessary to getting it passed into law.  Given the fact that the next census will not take place until 2020, we have the opportunity to use the time to develop an effective coalition over the next few years where we can eventually get the law enacted in time for it to take effect prior to the next census.

OTP: What do you see as the future of Interfaith Hospital?

HJ: Preventing the closure of Interfaith Medical Center is the most critical issue I’m working on right now as it relates to Bedford-Stuyvesant and the communities of central Brooklyn that I represent in Congress.  Over the last several years, we’ve witnessed an unprecedented assault on health care institutions in communities of color throughout the city of New York that is an assault that we must stop dead in its tracks.  And I’ve made clear at all levels of government that we will not tolerate the contraction of health care services in the Bedford-Stuyvesant community.  Clearly, there are changes that need to be made from a management perspective as it relates to the efficient running of health care at Interfaith Hospital.  I’ve worked closely with members of the congressional delegation, including Congresswoman Yvette Clarke on this issue, we’ve been in constant communication with both the governor’s office and the White House to make sure that we can secure the resources necessary to keep the medical facility alive.  The challenge will be to secure a favorable determination on New York State’s Medicaid Waiver application, which will unlock billions of dollars in resources that can be made available to our state, a significant portion of which could be used to save Interfaith Medical Center.

OTP:  Another issue in the state is hydrofracking and the effect on the environment.   Does that fall under your purview and what is your opinion on that?

HJ: During my time in the state legislature I’ve consistently voted against authorizing hydrofracking from moving forward in New York State given the uncertainty of the environmental impact, particularly on our water supply here in Brooklyn and New York City.  I think we have to proceed with caution until we understand the environmental consequences of hydrofracking.  It is clear that in other states there has been some economic benefits to allow hydrofracking to occur.  And there are many residents in upstate New York who believe that for that reason alone it should be authorized, but as we’ve seen in other contexts, particularly the explosion of prison construction in the 1980’s and 90’s which was done explicitly to help the economy of upstate New York, it also has the effect of increasing criminalization of communities of color in downstate New York to fill those prisons.  In the hydrofracking context, I’m sympathetic to the notion that the upstate economy needs to be revitalized, but it should not be done at the expense of the health well-being and environment consideration of the communities I represent in Brooklyn and Queens.

OTP:  What is your position on the Common Core program?

HJ: I share concerns related to the implementation of the Common Core program as articulated by teachers, educators and parents.  I myself have two children in the public school system, and have a personal interest in making sure that our school system provides all children with a first-rate high-quality education.  For many decades, the public school system has failed many  children in communities throughout central Brooklyn, condemning many to life sentences of disadvantage and despair.  We have to dramatically transform our educational system to help all our children and adequately prepare them for the challenges of the 21st century.  The one thing that is clear is that we have to move away from an overreliance on testing in the public school system and move toward preparing our children to be critical thinkers with a well-rounded education that will best prepare them to go out into the world and be successful.

The other issue that’s important during the time I’ve spent in Congress is trying to deal with the issue of gun violence in our community.  I’ve met with high-level officials of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) in order to discuss ways that agency can be more engaged in preventing the flow of illegal guns into our community.  We know that no guns are manufactured in Brooklyn.  And that the overwhelming majority of guns used to commit criminal offenses in our community come from states like Virginia, Florida, Pennsylvania or other parts of the Deep South.  These illegal guns make their way up the I-95 corridor into our community and then wreak havoc.  We need to improve the quality of the laws nationally in order to prevent the flow of illegal guns into inner-city communities all across the country, including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.  I also thought it was important to figure out ways to have the ATF work closer with law enforcement authorities in New York City to more effectively prevent guns from getting into the hands of those who would do harm to those living in Bedford –Stuyvesant, Coney Island, East New York and Ocean Hill-Brownsville.

Center For Nu-Leadership Confronts Re-Entry Challenges

Mary Alice Miller
-
0

By Mary Alice Miller

One recent evening clergy, elected officials and concerned community activists flocked to Brownsville. Their mission: brainstorm ways to decrease gun violence and crime and heal the community. The event was hosted by the Jericho Task Force, the faith-based arm of the Center for NuLeadership. Rev. Dr. Divine Pryor, executive director of the Center for NuLeadership, announced the task force’s first initiative – a televisitation program to be located in community faith-based institutions where the families of those incarcerated can go to their church and visit their loved one via televisiting.

Dr. Divine Pryor addresses group at Jericho Task Force reentry program.

“We want to connect fathers with sons and mothers with daughters. We want to preserve families. And we understand the challenges that many people in the community have with maintaining frequent regular contact with their loved ones,” said Dr. Pryor. “The televisiting project is going to supplement face-to-face visits.”

Dr. Pryor knows the importance of inmate connection with family from personal experience. For the first 10 years of his incarceration, Dr. Pryor didn’t have visitation with anybody. He saw other inmates who were in the same situation.

Describing the impact of no visitation on an inmate’s development  Dr. Pryor said, “It adds to the dehumanization. The isolation and separation impacts the person’s emotional and psychological state. It creates loneliness and despair. It makes that person’s experience in prison that much more difficult.” He added, “It erodes the connection between that person and their family and leads to family dysfunction and possibly breakup.”

Formerly incarcerated persons face a myriad of issues once they return to their communities.

According to Dr. Pryor, one of the biggest challenges is the restoration of citizenship rights. “Criminal convictions – felony convictions in particular – leads to the loss of citizenship rights. It’s called collateral consequences connected to convictions,” said Dr. Pryor. “In its practical application, the person loses their rights as a citizen.”

Dr. Pryor said voting rights are curtailed temporarily or permanently depending on parole status. But that’s not all. “You can’t serve on a jury. You can’t adopt a child. Any licenses that you had, you’ve lost those licenses,” he said.

The Center for NuLeadership has a contract with the NYS Department of Criminal Justice Services to assist persons applying for their Certificate of Good Conduct (CGC). What the CGC does is restore an individual’s ability to vote and removes barriers to licensing for persons with criminal convictions. NuLeadership is authorized to assist with applying for that certificate.

There are barriers to even obtaining a Certificate of Good Conduct. “An individual cannot apply for a CGC until 3 or 5 years removed from incarceration depending on the severity of their conviction. If it is an A or B felony, the person can’t apply for 5 years,” said Dr. Pryor. And during those 5 years any contact with law enforcement can have a negative impact on the possibility of getting the CGC.

Formerly incarcerated individuals also must produce 3 years of financial activity, including welfare, part-time or full-time jobs, or disability payments.

In addition, in order to get a CGC the individual must first have to have their “rap sheet” cleaned up. “We are authorized to do that as well.  They come in and let us fingerprint them,” said Dr. Pryor. “When the prints come back we look to see if there are any outstanding warrants, any dispositions that have not been closed, and make sure there are no errors.”

There is a cost involved — $60 for the prints and 2-$3 per document that may need to be notarized. For a person on a fixed or low income, that presents a barrier. However, there are ways the Center for NuLeadership can get a waiver…  for instance, if the person is on welfare.

No matter what the barrier is Dr. Pryor said the Center for NuLeadership, through years of research and advocacy, has discovered remedies.

“When we submit the application, there is a 98% chance the person will be awarded the certificate,” he said.

But there is a third obstacle: a major backlog in Albany on these certificates. “We have heard stories where the person waited 6 months, 8 months, a year, 18 months to actually get the certificate in their hand,” Dr. Pryor said.

Employment discrimination is another major challenge. “We have found that institutions of higher learning – SUNY, for example – are actually discriminating against people with criminal convictions. They are literally asking a person (students and prospective employees) to bring in their rap sheets, which is illegal.”

Dr. Pryor gave the common example of someone who is arrested and gets out two days later. If the judge dismisses the charges and they walk, when they report to their parole officer, the parole officer can, and many times does, arrest them and puts them back in prison. “It is a parole violation for you not to report within 24 hours any contact with law enforcement, even if it results in a dismissal. It is not a violation of parole to get arrested while on parole, it is a violation for you not to inform your parole officer within 24 hours that you got arrested,” Dr. Pryor said. “Folk don’t have any sensitivity to these issues.”

He added that “when elected officials get ready to deal with these issues they won’t come to the Center for NuLeadership. They go to the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank.”

Dr. Pryor stressed that it is in the best interest of the public to ensure that every person that returns home from prison has access to stable housing, health care, employment and faith-based communities. “The more resources and services they have at their disposal, the less likely it is they will go back to prison and the more likely they will become contributing, law-abiding residents, making our communities safer places to live,” said Dr. Pryor. “Denying, restricting and putting limitations on individuals even after they have paid their debt in full creates an unsafe environment.”

The Center for NuLeadership is promoting a concept called Human Justice: Human Rights plus Human Development equals Human Justice. “We can’t get to justice if our starting point is criminal,” said Dr. Pryor. “Our starting point has to be human.”

1...894895896...1,292Page 895 of 1,292