Prison Closing Praise and Criticism while Cy Vance Struggles

While Manhattan DA Cy Vance seems to be developing a losing streak and facing criticism, our state has decided to close prisons. The losing streak is not leading to fewer prisons, but it does highlight our challenges in criminal justice.

Cy Vance

We endorsed Cy Vance in his 2009 campaign for Manhattan District Attorney, and we continue to expect him to be a very successful leader in Manhattan and beyond. However, he has been surprisingly unsuccessful thus far.  Let us hope and pray that he can fix the problems in his office in short order.

Prison Closings

The Correctional Association of New York, our state's leading voice on prison conditions, is led by a dynamic new Executive Director, Soffiyah Elijah. Her statement regrading our state's decision to close prisons and the state's highly questionable choice of prisons presents a complete and balanced picture. We reprint it below in its entirety:

The Correctional Association of New York applauds Governor Cuomo for his announcement yesterday to close seven prisons, the most significant commitment to prison reduction since the prison building boom of the 1980s. The plan includes four minimum-security facilities for men: Buffalo Work Release; Camp Georgetown; Summit Shock; and Fulton Work Release, in addition to three medium-security facilities for men: Arthur Kill; Mid-Orange; and Oneida. 

Closing prisons is long overdue: New York's prison population has dropped by over 15,500 people in the past decade and the state system has nearly 8,000 empty beds maintained at enormous cost. These closures will eliminate 3,800 empty prison beds and save taxpayers $72 million in 2011-12 and $112 million in 2012-13. 

While we commend the Governor for his commitment to eliminating excess prison beds, we are concerned that approximately 50% of these beds are located in or near New York City, even though New York City prisons only house 25% of the total state prison population. Therefore, the closures affect downstate prisons at a rate three times greater than prisons upstate. More than 60% of the state's prison population is from New York City and its suburbs. Closing downstate prisons will result in incarcerating even more people far from their homes and prevent them from maintaining family and community ties, which lessen the trauma of parental incarceration on children and lead to greater success post-release. The closure of Arthur Kill, an effectively run prison with numerous programs and one of the few facilities where lifers and long termers from New York City can be housed close to their loved ones, is particularly troubling. 

It is also significant that these prison closures will eliminate one-third of the state's work release beds - an already underutilized program. Work release helps people in prison gain critical employment skills to prepare them for a smooth transition back to their communities; however, the number of participants in New York's work release programs has already dropped by over 25,000 over the course of 12 years to only 1,900 in 2010. 

We are hopeful that yesterday's announcement is merely the beginning, and that the Governor will build on these positive steps by further downsizing prison beds in New York State. We urge the Governor to consider the following critical criteria in making future downsizing decisions: (1) the existence and quality of rehabilitative programs and specialized services in the facility; (2) the existence and quality of medical and mental health services in the facility; (3) the proximity of the facility to the geographic area in which the majority of incarcerated people lived prior to their incarceration and where they will likely return; and (4) the ability of the facility to keep incarcerated people and staff safe. We also expect that maximum-security and women's prisons will be included in future closures. 

The Governor can take additional measures to further reduce the prison population without sacrificing public safety, including: diverting some individuals from prison into alternative to incarceration programs; releasing inmates earlier in their sentences after participation in prison programs that have better prepared them for successful reintegration into their communities; and reducing the number of formerly incarcerated individuals who are returned to prison for technical parole violations. 

We commend Governor Cuomo for his dedication to eliminating excess prison capacity, moving away from an unjust overreliance on prisons as fuel for economic growth and ensuring more efficient use of taxpayer funds. We urge the Governor, along with New York State policymakers, to build on these significant steps and further reduce the state's prison population and capacity. By doing so, we can reduce the state's continued costly and misguided overuse of incarceration and free up much-needed funds to support in-prison programs, alternative to incarceration programs and other community-based services that build healthy, safe and productive individuals, families and communities.

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.

Microstamping Needed in New York

We need microstamping for firearms in New York State (especially in New York City), but the Republican Party is thoroughly opposed to using new technology to catch criminal who use guns. Mayor Bloomberg is helping to lead the charge in favor of using microstamping, but he may now regret his earlier support of the Republican Party in New York State Senate races.

Microstamping

Firearm microstamping involves placing microscopic markings inside of a firearm such that the markings are transferred to the cartridges that law enforcement officers typically recover at a crime scene involving the firing of a weapon. Law enforcement professionals are then able to connect the markings of the cartridges to their records of firearms, and a crime solving is enhanced.

As we have noted, a much larger number of murders are going unsolved in New York City, lately. Microstamping would be a key ingredient in the recipe we need in New York City to reverse the trend of criminals literally getting away with murder.

California has already passed a microstamping law; it was signed into law in October 2007. New York would be an excellent place to continue the trend begun by California. Our two large trend-setting states could create enough momentum to result in a national microstamping requirement, which should be the long term goal.

New York's Political Push

New York City's Mayor Bloomberg, NYPD Chief Ray Kelly, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance led a coalition of Mayors, law enforcement organizations, and District Attorneys from all over New York State who lobbied in Albany last week for the passage of a microstamping law. Their logic was undeniable. Microstamping would reduce crime, enhance crime solving, and would not undermine the lawful use of firearms for hunting. In fact, microstamping is expected to add only $12 to the cost of the average firearm, which has a total cost of $450.

Unfortunately, the Republican Party in New York State is focused on maintaining its relationships with the gun manufacturers who do not want their products to cost $12 more. The Republicans are willing to trade lives for the support of the gun manufacturers. The Republicans in the State Senate voted against the legislation and killed it. Only one Republican supported the legislation, and even a former law enforcement officer who is now a Republican State Senator failed to support the legislation and disappeared from the floor of the State Senate during a key moment in the effort to enact this life-saving measure.

Mayor Bloomberg has invested heavily in the Republican State Senate. He has provided them with enormous financial support and been a loyal and consistent opponent of the Democratic Party's efforts to consolidate its influence in Albany. One wonders if Bloomberg now regrets his steadfast support of the Republicans in the State Senate. Without flinching, those Republicans turned against the Mayor and against the Democrats' efforts to make our streets safer. Let's hope that Mayor Bloomberg spends his money more wisely going forward; perhaps he will support the election of individuals who will seek to do what is best for our city and our state rather than continually throwing in weight behind the Republican Party.

Passage Still Possible

The microstamping legislation that was killed last week by a unified Republican Party is likely to be brought back to the floor and voted upon in the coming weeks. The possibility of passage still exists. Your support may make the difference.

Taking On Guns in NYC

New York's City Council is preparing to increase penalties for the sale of toy guns that resemble real guns and to take action against those that make real guns appear to be toys. Their efforts are laudable and should be combined with increased gun buyback activity.

Toy Gun Penalties Likely to Rise

As we begin this new year, an old legislative priority of the New York City Council will return to its agenda. In the closing days of 2009, Brooklyn City Council member Al Vann and Speaker Quinn announced their intention to impose 500% greater fines on vendors who sell toy guns that appear to be real guns. The City Council will address the proposed legislation early this year.

There have been far too many deaths around the US caused by law enforcement officers mistaking toy guns for real guns; in fact, any such deaths are too many. The use of realistic toy guns is also dangerous because it glorifies gun ownership and promotes the glorification of life-ending violence.

While New York City has collected more than 7,000 illegal toy guns and collected nearly $2.5 million in fines since 2002, the new legislation would increase the incentives for retailers to avoid selling illegal toy guns by raising the fines for selling realistic-looking toy guns to $5,000 from $1,000 for a first offense and to $8,000 from $3,000 for additional offenses. It would also allow the city to close stores for five days after three offenses occur within any 3-year period. These are penalties that are easy to avoid - simply refuse to carry toy guns in one's store, and the problem is solved. Bright colored toy guns remain permissible, but that provision creates a new concern.

Brightly colored real guns that appear to be toys are a new threat, and the city council needs to develop aggressive programs to prevent gun owners from coloring them to look like toys. To highlight the dangers of realistic-looking toy guns as well as real guns that are painted to appear like toys, New York City has launched an ad campaign that covers 2,100 subway cars, all 468 subway stations, and more than 5,400 buses.

Gun Buy-Back Programs

Real guns that appear to be real guns are still the largest threat to the safety of New Yorkers and to local law enforcement.

In October 2008, the Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, and the NYPD collaborated on a gun buyback program in Upper Manhattan that resulted in the collection of more than 700 guns by the NYPD. We need to bring back the gun buyback to Upper Manhattan.

The program succeeded because it included Upper Manhattan's churches and because the program did not require those turning in guns to make themselves subject to arrest. The decision to allow guns to be turned in without the threat of arrest or prosecution, and the decision to pay $200 per gun (up to $600 per person) combined to create an explosion of gun collection activity, despite the fact that the guns would be worth far more than $200 in the "street" marketplace that plays such a large role in gun sales in the New York City.

Our new Manhattan District Attorney, Cy Vance, and the NYPD would be smart to initiate another gun buyback program in 2010.

It has been 14 months since the extremely successful buyback day in Upper Manhattan, and we are ready for a new one.

Bloomberg Loses Morgenthau Fight and Sets School Closing Showdown

Mayor Bloomberg was embarrassed by his decision to engage in a feud with the Manhattan District Attorney, and he correctly decided to move the upcoming high school closing showdown meeting from Staten Island to Brooklyn in order to make it accessible to a larger number of New Yorkers.

Poorly Chosen Fight

Mayor Bloomberg picked a fight with retiring Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau earlier this month. Last week, the fight ended with a humiliating defeat for Bloomberg on several fronts. Manhattan Viewpoint endorsed Morgenthau's successor, Cy Vance, and hopes that the incoming District Attorney will be as determined as his legendary predecessor to refuse to be intimidated by the Mayor.

The Mayor demanded that the Manhattan District Attorney provide all of the proceeds of a large recent legal settlement to New York City. Morgenthau had traditionally split the funds 60/40 between NYC and New York State with the City getting the larger portion.

Angered by the Mayor's arrogance (and undoubtedly frustrated that NYC had refused to take responsibility for the deaths of New York City Firefighters that were clearly caused by the City's criminal negligence), Morgenthau guided the New York State Legislature and Governor Paterson to pass a law that would specifically target the large settlement in question and divide the proceeds 50/50 between New York City and the state.

When the settlement was received, the city received $27 million less than it would have received if the 60/40 approach had remained in place. The Mayor's arrogance cost all of us in New York City $27 million.

Bloomberg threatened Morgenthau with a scandal during the fight for the 50/50 legislation, saying that if he continued to push for the 50/50 split, the Mayor would release information showing that Morgenthau had millions of dollars in "secret" accounts. Morgenthau continued to push for the 50/50 split and was hit with the "scandal" of the "secret" accounts, and the Mayor went on the attack against the legendary District Attorney, whose office brought nearly $200 million to New York City in 2009 without including the settlement generated the controversy. But the attack backfired.

There turned out to be more than 2,200 secret accounts within the New York City government, and Morgenthau had 48 such accounts. It turned out that all of the so-called "secret" accounts had been known to New York City for years and that the Mayor was using the idea of the "secret" accounts as a failed attempt to exact revenge.

The Mayor finished the fight embarrassed that he overlooked the "secret" accounts of Morgenthau for years and failed to notice the other 2,100 "secret" accounts within his government. He also lost $27 million in the process.

Brooklyn Showdown on School Closings

New York City is planning to close 20 high schools. While many parents and observers oppose the closings and even suggest that the wrong schools are on the list to be closed for the wrong reasons, the closings are certain to occur because the Mayor controls the Board that will decide whether to approve the City's plan.

Amazingly, the City originally scheduled the first an only public hearing on the issue for a January date in Staten Island despite the fact that most of the schools scheduled for closing are in the Bronx. None of the schools scheduled for closing are in Staten Island. The location was more than a 2 hour trip from the location where the largest number of school closings are proposed, and the length of the trip and the 6pm start time would create a major impediment to attendance by the parents of the students in the schools scheduled for closing.

Thankfully, the meeting has been moved to Brooklyn, which is a long way from the Bronx. But, Brooklyn is not nearly as remote as Staten Island, and Brooklyn is our City's most populous borough. One struggles to criticize the scheduling of any city-wide hearing for a Brooklyn location, even when Brooklyn seems to have been chosen in a cynical effort to select the borough furthest from the Bronx that would not create the obviously sense of bad faith that a Staten Island location suggests.

Feel free to attend the meeting at Brooklyn Technical High School on January 26 at 6pm.

Primary Voting Tomorrow in NYC

Please ensure that everyone you know votes tomorrow in the NYC primary elections. We made the same statement in November 2008, and we repeat it now.

Our Endorsements

We endorsed Cy Vance for Manhattan District Attorney last month, and we are eager to see Bill Thompson win tomorrow's primary election and take on Mayor Bloomberg in November.
With Thompson's likely victory tomorrow, we can only hope that the media will be ready to end its infatuation with Mayor Bloomberg and start to hold him accountable for his administration's policies and failures.

Voting Is A Sacred Activity

As we pointed out previously, voting is a sacred activity:

It has long been a cliché to many, but it is a truth that one cannot ignore. For many of us, our ancestors died to give us the right to vote. To squander that vote or to relinquish it because of inconvenience would be obscene, whether we have faith that our individual votes will shape the outcomes of elections or not. Because the 15th Amendment (1870) and the Voting Rights Act (1965) were victories secured by the blood of our ancestors, every election day is a sacred day, and we show our respect for those who made our votes possible by going to the polls and by encouraging everyone we know to join us in that sacred activity - tomorrow and every election day of any sort.

Remember the Importance of the NYC Mayor

As we have also stated previously, Bloomberg should not be seeking a third term. He should be apologizing for his failed leadership in his second term. In NYC's system, the Mayor has far more power than all other institutions of city government combined. The NYC Mayor's power is far greater than that of all other big city mayors. So, when someone uses that power to abuse NYC's residents, that person must not be permitted to continue that abuse. As we stated in July of this year:

Mayor Bloomberg has surpassed his previous demonstrations of arrogance with his granting of retroactive raises to nearly 7,000 members of his staff. In essence, the Mayor's team will receive bonuses representing the additional earnings they would have received if the raises had begun 16 months ago. They get a 4% raise for all of last year and a 4.16% raise for all of this year. As absurd as the bonuses and raises appear on their face, a broader context illuminates how unacceptable this latest mayoral maneuver really is.

1) The Mayor demanded that City Council change the City Charter to allow him to seek a third consecutive term, despite two referenda in which the people of New York City voted overwhelmingly to disallow Mayors to serve for three consecutive terms. In arguing for the third term, Bloomberg has suggested that the intense economic and fiscal crisis facing New York City requires keeping Bloomberg in power (ignoring the fact that Bloomberg got us into this mess). Bloomberg's answer to the economic and fiscal crisis is to give huge bonuses and raises to his staff. Now, at least one of the Deputy Mayors will have a higher salary than the salary provided to the Mayor's office by law. The third term seems unwise.

2) At Manhattan Viewpoint, we have been highly critical of the Mayor's decision to use sales taxes to balance the city's budget. The Mayor's obsession with protecting high earners from taxation has resulted in a painfully regressive budgetary approach that relies on poor people to pay more taxes to fill in the budget gaps created by the
economic downturn and by the Mayor's unfortunate reliance on Wall Street
revenues during his first 1.5 terms. It is ultra-shameful that a mayor who so
thoroughly believes in regressive taxation would be so generous to his own
senior staff during a fiscal crisis. He is demanding that poor people pay more
so that he can pay his top advisers more.

3) Bloomberg is setting a record pace for stopping and frisking people of color. He has given the crime of "walking while black" the official City Hall stamp of approval, and his administration is retaining all of the personal information of those that are stopped. 90% of those stopped are non-white even though whites who are stopped are 2.5 times more likely to have illegal substances or weapons in their possession. Yet, Bloomberg will stop and frisk more people of color this year than any mayor has ever stopped in New York City.

4) The Mayor chose to reject federal aid from the Obama administration because it would have expanded the availability of food stamps to more poor people.Bloomberg
is demonstrating the type of leadership that suggests he should have had only
one term and should certainly not attempt to impose a third term on our great
city.

Cy Vance for Manhattan DA and Gillibrand Unrivaled

We support the sentiments expressed in the New York Daily News in its endorsement of Cy Vance in the race for the Democratic Party nomintion for Manhattan District Attorney, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand benefitted from the departure from the Senate race of the last remaining potential challenger for the Democratic nomination in the special election in 2010 for the seat Senator Gillibrand now holds.

Cy Vance for Manhattan DA

The New York Daily News endorsed Cy Vance for Manhattan DA yesterday, and Manhattan Viewpoint takes this opportunity to echo that endorsement.

In addition to the views and praise expressed with regard to Cy Vance in the New York Daily News, Manhattan Viewpoint acknowledges Cy Vance's expressed interest in developing a stronger and more impactful presence for the Manhattan District Attorney's office in Upper Manhattan. Cy Vance's views on the death penalty, his commitment to extending the District Attorney's office to help improve lives in Upper Manhattan, his support from the retiring Manhattan District Attorney, Robert Morgenthau, and his record as a prosecutor make him the candidate that Manhattan Viewpoint hopes that you will support in the September 15 primary.

Vance stands well above his rivals in fitness to extend the excellence the city has come to take for granted during Morgenthau's 35 years at the helm. . . Vance built a distinguished career, both as a Morgenthau assistant and as a nationally known big-case defense lawyer. His experience ranges from homicide to white-collar crime to complex corporate litigation. Thanks to the depth of his background, Vance shows a greater understanding than do his two challengers of the missions of the Manhattan district attorney, as they have been elevated by Morgenthau. Those start with prosecution of violent crime and extend to policing Wall Street, busting corrupt politicians, even to stopping the illicit flow of money and weapons technology to regimes like Iran. Vance would build on strengths and address weaknesses. Among them, he would beef up quality-of-life enforcement by fixing a dysfunctional Criminal Court, maintain the DA's gold-standard rackets bureau and create a program to head off recidivism by newly released inmates.

Rivals . . . can't match Vance.

Gillibrand Unrivaled

US Representative Carolyn Maloney, who represents Manhattan's Upper East Side in the US House of Representatives, decided last week not to challenge Senator Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination for the Senate seat that Gillibrand now holds.

At Manhattan Viewpoint, we are relieved. A race between these two great women would have drained them both and left Manhattan less well represented on Capitol Hill, whichever woman had emerged victorious. Maloney's decision to drop out of the race gives us the possibility of having both of these superb public servants representing us for many years to come. Because Carolyn Maloney was the last potential Democratic challenger to Senator Gillibrand, we are now able to use all of our resources on 2010 to defeat Republicans rather than for Democrats to battle against each other.

Our association with Kirsten Gillibrand goes back more than a decade, and we are pleased to see her pathway cleared of potential Democratic challengers. We also acknowledge that Carolyn Maloney is more than qualified to be a US Senator and that we are fortunate to have her in the Manhattan delegation to the US House. Representative Maloney's decision last week to exit the Senate race strengthens the Democratic Party, strengthens Manhattan, and makes us even more proud of the high quality of Manhattan's elected representatives in Washington, DC.