Upper Manhattan Congressional District Under Attack

The historic Upper Manhattan Congressional District, which has only had two representatives in its storied history yet has had more impact on Congressional accomplishments than any district in the country, is now facing potential elimination.

New York State Losing 2 Congressional Seats

As we stated in December 2010:

New York State will lose two of its 29 US House seats starting with the 2012 elections based on the 2010 Census. Congressional seats are apportioned amongst the 50 states based on the data from the census that occurs every 10 years. Though New York State gained population during the period from 2000 to 2010, its growth of less than 3% was too slow to keep up with the nearly 10% growth in the US Population since 2000. There are 435 seats in the US House of Representatives because of Federal law, and the faster growing states gain seats while slower growing and shrinking states lose seats. As the US population has moved westward and southward, Nevada, Florida, and other beneficiaries of population movement have gained seats while New York and New Jersey have lost seats. New York's slow growth will result in the loss of two seats in the 2012 elections.

The New York State Legislature will draw new lines for US House districts in 2011. Some other states use commissions, but New York's process is fully political. The apparently-Republican-controlled State Senate, the Democratic-controlled Assembly, and the Democratic Governor will need to agree on the US House lines. It will likely be an ugly and frustrating process as the two parties attempt to gain an advantage versus each other while shrinking our Congressional delegation.

Governor Cuomo has proposed legislation that would create a redistricting commission to decide the new lines instead of the state legislature. Thus far, the Cuomo proposal has not been embraced by the State Senate's Republican leadership, which has suggested that the plan is more appropriate for the redistricting that will occur after the 2020 Census. Former New York City Mayor Ed Koch has been pushing for a non-partisan approach, but his approach has not gained any greater momentum in Albany than the Cuomo plan has.

Potential Threat to Upper Manhattan's District

Reports have emerged suggesting that the New York State Legislature may attempt to redraw the Upper Manhattan Congressional District to pick up large portions of the Bronx and Westchester County. The District would be centered outside of Manhattan, and the history of the District would be undermined.

Because Manhattan benefits from having four Congressional Districts rather than a smaller number, and because the Upper Manhattan District is both historic and has a history of achievement, Manhattan residents should make the effort to keep the Upper Manhattan District a top priority.

As we stated in December 2010:

In Manhattan, where our population has grown, we hope to essentially maintain our current map while the two seats are lost in upstate New York, which was the source of the lost population and slow growth in New York that created the need to reduce our number of US House seats. But, by losing two seats, our State Legislature may be tempted to tamper with the district maps in Manhattan and in the other parts of the New York City metro area. Manhattan residents should work together to discourage major changes to our district maps.

Charlie Rangel's Upper Manhattan seat is historic and must be protected. It has only been help by two people, and it is the first "Black" district to emerge on the national stage. Charlie Rangel and his predecessor, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., have been the most productive and successful legislators in the history of our country. Adam Clayton Powell was the first Black member of Congress from New York State. The people of Upper Manhattan should pro-actively come together to push the State Legislature to make as few changes as possible to Charlie Rangel's historic district in the upcoming redistricting. We cannot imagine a higher priority in the next few months, given that the new district lines will likely be in place for the next 10 years.

Bloomberg Voters' Remorse

Mayor Bloomberg's popularity is declining, according to published polls. The decline seems long overdue, given his administration's fiscal failures, snow clearance failures, repeated demonstrations of enormous incompetence, and shocking race-based policing approach.

Poor Poll Results

Mayor Bloomberg's popularity is as low as it has been since early in his first term eight years ago. A new poll shows that only 39% of New Yorkers approve of the performance of Mayor Bloomberg, while 51% of Mayor Bloomberg's constituents disapprove of his performance.

Eighty-four percent of New York City respondents to the pollsters stated that the Mayor should identify who is in charge of the city when he is out of town (the Mayor makes regular trips to Bermuda on weekends but does not state publicly where he will be or who is leading our city when he is not available).

With the Mayor's popularity plunging, we are compelled to speculate as to the reasons for the decline.

Racism Exhaustion

Perhaps the people of New York City are exhausted with the intensity and the nakedness of the racially discriminatory policies and behaviors of the Bloomberg Administration. The stop and frisk nightmare continues; the Mayor continues to refuse to adopt a non-racist approach to hiring fire department; and the Mayor continues to employ the least diverse administration in a generation.

After nine years, the basic decency of the people of New York City is offended by the behavior of the Mayor as he pursues indefensible approaches to law enforcement and hiring.

Fiscal Mistakes and Incompetence

Mayor Bloomberg's fiscal mistakes and incompetence are likely a major piece of his lack of support from his constituents.

The Mayor mismanaged the city's expenses and attempted to buy political support by spending tax dollars as well as by making charitable donations from his personal funds. His misuse of taxpayer funds to build his political alliances has left our city with an unhealthy imbalance between revenues and expenses as well as a record of stunning growth in the city's expenses.

The Mayor also allowed more than $80 million to be stolen from a $63 million project, and that $63 million project is now expected to cost nearly $1 billion. For a Mayor who based his campaigns on his strength as a manager, the missing $80 million and the nearly $1 billion of cost overruns on one $63 million project tell the real story of the Mayor's competence.

Snow Clearance

Not only did Mayor Bloomberg fail to prepare the city for the snow storm on December 26, 2010 that crippled the city, his decision to organize the city as if snow does not fall in NYC resulted in more than $115 million of city expenses for snow removal - a new record and nearly twice the previous record, even though this season's snow fall was not the largest snow fall on record.

Though the Mayor has been leading City Hall for more than nine years, he organized the snow removal approach of the city to assume that no major snow storm would hit our city. When his risky bet moved against him, our city suffered enormously and had to reach out to expensive private contractors to do the work of the city.

Polls Represent Perception Rather Reality

While Mayor Bloomberg has earned his low poll numbers, his poll numbers were high when he was not succeeding as a leader. We should not assume that his poll numbers are an accurate reflection of his success or failure. We do know that support for racists policing, fiscal irresponsibility, and incompetent snow removal planning are not acceptable realities for a Mayor in our city. The Mayor should change his approach to leading our city or show true leadership by stepping aside to allow others to fix the mess he's creating.

Cremation Trend Costing Jobs in NYC

A growing trend for individuals to choose cremation of their remains instead of burial is causing financial strains at cemeteries in New York City. Also, the Republican effort to cut billions of dollars from Head Start should scare residents of our great city.

Cremation Burns Cemetery Revenues

New York City residents appear to have shifted their final resting place desires sharply in favor of cremation and sharply away from burial over the last two and one-half decades. With burials far more costly and labor-intensive than cremation, cemeteries are facing revenue reductions and looking to reduce headcount to avoid deficits.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the current cost of a grave is more than ten times the cost of cremation. To compare costs fully, one would need to add the cost of opening the grave and the cost of the burial itself, perhaps doubling the total cost of the burial as compared to the cremation and creating a 20 to one cost differential. The costs represent revenues to the cemetery, and those revenues provide jobs for cemetery workers.

The same Wall Street Journal article suggests that New York City cemeteries have seen their ratios go from seven to one in favor of burials over cremations to a ratio of two to one in favor of cremations in twenty five years. The financial impact of that shift is now starting to impact the employment at our city's cemeteries.

In February, cemetery workers and their union protested proposed cuts at the famous Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx. Woodlawn had suggested that it would seek massive lay offs and significant wage reductions. The proposed changes are shocking and may be designed to pressure the union and its members to agree to lesser cuts, but the shifting cremation versus burial ratios create a smaller revenue pie with which to employ cemetery workers.

Because cemeteries are non-profit institutions, there are no owners or shareholders to create wealth from creating profitable revenue. Cemeteries have Board of Directors that work to promote the longevity of those cemeteries and guide them to meet their mission of providing a place for the dead to be remembered and for loved ones to visit to remember and mourn. Boards across our city may seek to reduce their employee headcount figures to avoid having expenses that exceed their revenues, and the reduced headcount will further challenge our city's troubled economy.

Republican Cuts Aimed at Head Start

The Federal Head Start program is once again under attack from Republicans.

President Obama attacked the Republican Party last week for proposing major cuts in Head Start while failing to tackle the largest areas of spending. The Republican Party has been aggressive in defending subsidies for major energy companies and tax breaks for the highest earners in or society, but the dollars spent educating young children are under attack.

Many studies have shown Head Start to be one of the most effective uses of Federal dollars. Participants gain substantial long-term benefits.

Here in New York City, where only 28% of African American males graduate from high school, Head Start is absolutely crucial to efforts to reverse the collapse of the public school system in our city. Sadly, across New York State, only 25% of African American males graduate from high school.

The horrifying failure of the New York City public school system creates a pipeline of young people to fill our jails and prisons. Head Start puts children on a path that steers them away for prison and toward academic success as well as economic opportunity. Therefore, all of us in NYC should be standing up with President Obama to defend the Head Start program and to ensure that the children of New York City are not successfully targeted by the Republican Party as they seek to shift Federal resources away from neighborhoods and communities and toward to pockets of the highest earners and the wealthiest families in our country.

NYC Pays Stop and Frisk Victims

Mayor Bloomberg's racist and disgusting record-setting stop-and-frisk policies are costing taxpayers in our city large amounts of money that we don't have.

Record Setting Stop and Frisk Activity

Mayor Bloomberg has focused his law enforcement strategy on stopping innocent people of color. He has set a new record each year for stop-and-frisk activity, and while approximately 90% of those stopped are completely innocent, approximately 90% of those stopped are people of color. Our city is 53% people of color, but only 10% of our stop-and-frisk victims are white.

Law suits and public criticism of Mayor Bloomberg's racist approach to law enforcement have not stopped to steady growth in the number of victims each year. The Mayor's reaction suggests that the racist policy is one of his most important initiatives.

Many defenders of the Mayor's racist policies have suggested that the racial make-up of the stop-and-frisk victims results from the descriptions provided by crime victims. The records of stop-and-frisk activity in NYC demonstrate that the reason given most often for the stops is that the stop-and-frisk victim was behaving suspiciously. A "fit-the-description" excuse was almost never given for a stop. It turns out that people of color are viewed as suspicious by the NYPD, and their suspicious behavior causes the stops, even though 90% of those stopped are completely innocent.

One can imagine how long a stop-and-frisk policy would last that stopped more than one-third of all of the innocent white people in a white neighborhood every year. In Harlem, more than a third of the residents are stopped each year, yet the policy continues to escalate its abuse of innocent people of color.

Stop-and-Frisk Victim Payouts

NYC has paid approximately $170,000 to victims of the stop-and-frisk abuse that Mayor Bloomberg has insisted on bringing to neighborhoods of color.

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Legal Aid Society filed suit against NYC as a result of the stop-and-frisk abuse occurring in public housing, and the costly settlements may be just the start of the cost of continuing the Mayor's racist and abusive policies.

There are plaintiffs still pursuing litigation against the city for the stop-and-frisk disaster that Mayor Bloomberg continues to force upon us.

If litigation fails to stop the escalating abuse, legislation might be a better path. I hope that the State Legislature and/or the City Council will limit this abuse soon.

Women's Health and Fitness Day at the Intrepid

You don't want to miss Women's Health and Fitness Day on March 13th at the Intrepid near the West Side Highway and 44th Street in Manhattan. It is a full day of health related events, including interactive fitness demonstrations and educational programs.

As we have discussed in the past, improved health in NYC is crucial to our economic future. We are in the midst of a health crisis, and the upcoming Women's Health and Fitness Day is part of overcoming the forced that are robbing residents in NYC of their health and their lives.

Bloomberg Cuts Budgets of Critics and Rivals

Mayor Bloomberg, who gave his own advisors retroactive pay raises, has proposed drastic budget cuts for the other major elected officials in NYC.

Retroactive Raises for Bloomberg Advisors

Mayor Bloomberg quietly provided two years of retroactive pay raises (essentially huge bonuses plus major pay raises) to 7,000 members of his staff in 2009. He made this generous donation to the checkbooks of his advisors during the biggest budget crisis in decades in NYC and during the deepest recession in our country since the Great Depression.

The arrogance was astonishing because he was simultaneously raising sales taxes. His advisors were getting huge bonuses and raises that were paid for by the purchases of poor New Yorkers enduring a regressive tax. Bloomberg refused to raise income taxes (which could have been structured in a progressive manner) while embracing regressive taxation.

As the Mayor proposes layoffs for teachers in NYC and cuts services for our residents, he hasn't asked his own advisors to participate in the pain.

Bloomberg has worked hard to maintain an administration essentially devoid of people of color. He has a smaller percentage of people of color in his administration than even Mayor Giuliani (with all of his venom racist rhetoric and behavior) had. Giuliani refused to meet with any Black elected officials during his time as Mayor, but he had more people of color in his administration than Bloomberg has.

Bloomberg's non-diverse administration has kept its raises and bonuses while everyone else is cut.

Unfair Cuts

Unfairly, Bloomberg has proposed cutting the budgets of the five Borough Presidents and the Public Advocate by up to 36%.

Bloomberg is ensuring that his critics and rivals are crippled by a lack of resources, and he is also sending a message to all elected officials in New York City that he will slash their budgets if they don't support his agenda.

Bloomberg has taken advantage of his power in this way previously. In 2010, Bloomberg took $1mm away from the Borough Presidents without warning, leaving those elected officials scrambling to fill sudden budget gaps in their offices.

Bloomberg Without Checks or Balances

Because Mayor Bloombeg operates without checks and balances, and because he refuses to treat New York City residents fairly, Bloomberg has been able to exclude nearly all people of color from his administration, provide huge raises for his advisors while cutting resources throughout the rest of the government, and abuse other elected officials through the budget process. His arrogant emperor-mindset has never been acceptable, and it is getting worse.

Harlem Heartache on 137th Street and Beyond

Last week gave us a very clear glimpse into the heartache so many face in Harlem due to gang activity, and we also were alerted last week to the challenges Harlem's girls face as they battle for ice-time for figure skating with hockey teams from expensive private schools far from Harlem.

137th Street Drug Gang

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance announced last week that 14 arrests had been made as part of an anti-gang sweep in Harlem. The gang members are accused of operating an intense drug market on 137th Street between 7th Avenue and Lenox Avenue, and nine of the 14 individuals arrested were minors. Cyrus Vance said:

The gang, over years, created an environment where residents lived in a state of fear, waiting for the next gunshot, or the next drug deal, or the next act of
violence.

In the sad reality of life under attack from gangs, the residents of 137th Street have been abused for years. Some of the alleged gang members are also residents of 137th Street, and they have been abusing their neighbors without suffering consequences for years.

One particular young woman from the 137th Street Drug Gang has attracted special attention because she has attended elite high schools. She seemed headed to an Ivy League education when she was derailed by the drug arrest last week. Her current problems are an example of the destructive reality of the drug trade. She was drawn into the 137th Street Drug Gang and has now been drawn out of a promising trajectory.

While Mayor Bloomberg has invested enormous financial resources and political capital in stopping and frisking innocent people of color in record numbers, dangerous criminals have been allowed to terrorize people of color across our city. The 137th Street Drug Gang flourished while 36% of Harlem residents are stopped each year by the Bloomberg stop-and-frisk occupation forces. There is no excuse for the racially discriminatory approach that Bloomberg has taken in his law enforcement strategy: stopping more than a third of the innocent residents in Black neighborhoods while allowing criminals to inflict enormous harm on Black New Yorkers.

The Mayor has engaged in a conspiracy to arrest people of color for marijuana. Since 2002, there have been 350,000 arrests for low-level marijuana possession. Eighty-six percent of those arrested are Black and Latino in a city where 53% of the population is Black and Latino. Studied consistently show that white communities use marijuana far more heavily than Black or Latino neighborhoods, but the Bloomberg Administration focuses on making arrests of Black and Latino New Yorkers rather than on reducing crime.

The 14 arrests related to 137th Street are evidence of efforts aimed at protecting Manhattan residents from crime, while the 600,000 stops of non-whites each year and the 350,000 arrests for marijuana possession since 2002 are evidence of the Mayor's obsession with racial discrimination.

Ice Time In Harlem

Controversy is emerging in Harlem as a result of the lack of ice-time at Riverbank State Park's ice rink for young women who are training in the sport of figure skating. High-priced private schools far from Harlem are using the Harlem ice rink for their hockey teams, and the women are being left out.

We need to remind all of our readers that Riverbank State Park is in Harlem because Harlem residents stood up for themselves when a water treatment plant, with all of its odors, health risks, and annoyances, was planned for their community. Harlem's residents were convinced to accept a bargain: wealthier communities would benefit from the treatment plant while Harlem's residents would endure it, but Harlem residents would get a first-class athletic facility and recreational park. It is ultra-ironic for the park to now be captured and controlled by expensive private schools without any meaningful connection to Harlem.

Riverbank State Park needs to have a preference from community groups from Upper Manhattan rather than a preference for far away private schools. Let us hope that more Harlem girls get to benefit from the ice rink and that the battle for these young women reminds us all not to take for granted the public resources in our community. Other communities will take advantage of the resources in our community if we don't stand up and demand to be able to use them ourselves. In case of the Riverbank State Park rink, the resources have been transferred from Harlem to other communities despite strong objections.

Knicks and Carmelo

The New York Knicks are starting to blame their losses on the rumors that Carmelo Anthony, one of the most talented players in the NBA, might join the Knicks in the near future. Such an excuse is unacceptable. With the February 24 trade deadline approaching, the Knicks need to pray that they can add talent in the coming weeks, but they also must be prepared to go forward without 'Melo.

Carmelo Anthony

The story of Carmelo Anthony begins in New York City and may return there. He loved the Knicks as a child growing up in Brooklyn but moved to Baltimore at age eight. He was initially cut from his high school basketball team but grew five inches in one year to become one of the most sought after players in the country. He led Syracuse to the NCAA title in his freshman year and then entered the NBA, losing out to LeBron James in the Rookie of the Year battle.

'Melo, though young, became a leader on his team as well as a dominating offensive force in the NBA very quickly and was rewarded with large numbers of All-Star votes as well as tremendous success against the elite teams of the Western Conference in the play-offs.

As we fast forward to 2011, Carmelo Anthony stands as one of the three or four most feared offensive threats in the NBA with no signs of slowing down. His defense improves every year, and he has slimmed down in recent years to become a more athletic player in every element of the game.

His team, the Denver Nuggets, has promoted rumors that they are looking to trade 'Melo before the February 24 trade deadline, and the New York Knicks have emerged as one of his potential destinations. The New Jersey Nets, who are slated to move in two years to Carmelo Anthony's birthplace of Brooklyn, have stated that they are no longer part of trade talks with the Denver Nuggets. We don't believe that the Nets are truly out of the running, but only time will tell.

Knicks Excuses

The New York Knicks recent disappointing performance has been blamed (by the Knicks themselves) on the Carmelo Anthony trade rumors and speculation.

The excuses are not acceptable. Professional players need to be professional. They have a responsibility to their employers to provide a full and focused effort and get beyond distractions, whether on or off the court. The 'Melo rumors are not grounded in anything meaningful. The Knicks have the desire and the funds to land Carmelo Anthony, but they do not have the talent to offer Denver in a trade. Therefore, the Knicks are not well positioned to acquire 'Melo and should set aside all speculation and focus on the task at hand - gaining momentum heading into the playoff this year after a decade of being left out of the playoffs by poor performance on the court.

During the off season prior to this NBA season, Carmelo Anthony married a woman from New York, fueling speculation that he might push for a trade to the Knicks or Nets. But, Carmelo has stated emphatically that his wife's geographic connections to New York are not at all affecting his decision-making regarding his future as an NBA player. Nonetheless, the New York Knicks want 'Melo, and 'Melo and his wife are both from New York. The Nets are coming to New York and might be just as attractive geographically, if not as attractive in terms of talent.

Knicks fans want Carmelo to come to NYC (even Knicks fans who play for opposing teams), but no one can name a compelling set of talented Knicks that should go to Denver and satisfy the Nuggets' desire to get better as they lose their best player.

In the end, the Denver Nuggets will need to obtain enough talent from a trade counterparty to make the trade of Carmelo Anthony a wise move in Denver, and that makes the New York Knicks and the Nets unlikely counterparties. Yet, the rumors rage, and now the payers themselves blame the raging rumors for their poor performance. Silly and unacceptable.

Message to the Knicks: Play ball. He's probably not coming here, and if he is, obsessing about his future is not making yours any brighter.

Message to Knicks Fans: Keep praying for 'Melo (and his wife) to make their way to Madison Square Garden. It has been a decade of embarrassment and frustration. Stoudemire has more than lived up to the hype that surrounded his move to New York, and combining his all around effectiveness with the offensive dominance of 'Melo would make the Knicks an elite team (assuming that they learn to play defense). But, there is nothing you can do but pray. February 24th will be here soon.