Dems rallying to governor's side
Erik Engquist and Anne Michaud
Gov. Eliot Spitzer has come in for his share of criticism from fellow Democrats amid investigations of whether his aides used the state police to smear Republican State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno. But there are signs that some Democrats are moving to his side.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney last week said it was inappropriate for the state Senate to launch an investigation and that probes should be left to independent bodies. The state Democratic Party hired a public relations firm, BerlinRosen Public Affairs, to distribute positive columns and editorials from around the state. Assemblyman David Valesky, D-Syracuse, said people in his district don't care about the political fighting and want lawmakers to move on.
Nevertheless, many are pushing Mr. Spitzer to find a seasoned political adviser to help him navigate Albany. They point to President Bill Clinton's hiring of David Gergen, who was a journalist and confidant of three Republican presidents before joining the Clinton White House.
There is even a list of candidates including Kenneth Shapiro, managing partner of Wilson Elser Moskowitz & Dicker; William Cunningham, former communications director for Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a senior staff member for Govs. Hugh Carey and Mario Cuomo; Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association and a housing agency chairman during the Pataki administration; and Frederick Jacobs, former counsel to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.
Spitzer gets busy with business bills
Gov.Eliot Spitzer has signed a number of business-friendly bills in the past two weeks and vetoed others that the Business Council of New York State sought to derail. The governor:
--Vetoed a bill that would have allowed plaintiffs in liability suits to determine
the extent of the defendant's insurance coverage before trial. Foes said it
would lead lawyers to ask for bigger judgments.
--Extended the industrial development agencies' financing authority for six
months as the Legislature considers reform. The law would have expired, endangering
$1.37 billion in projects, says the New York State Economic Development Council,
including $190 million for a Yankee Stadium parking garage.
--Approved a bill that streamlines risk allocation for unexplained warehouse
losses.
--Vetoed a bill that would have divested HealthyNY reinsurance funds to union
benefit plans. BCNYS President Ken Adams says the measure would have undermined
the viability of HealthyNY, which is vital to small business owners.
Administration touts housing gains
Mayor Michael Bloomberg's affordable housing plan exceeded its 2006 goal for providing homes for low-income people, according to a report by the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
Of the more than 13,000 units built or preserved in 2006, 75% went to low-income households: families of four making less than $56,700. The mayor had set a goal of 68%.
A spokesman for the department concedes that future units are more likely to serve middle-income families, because most units to date have been preserved rather than new construction, and the older buildings are cheaper.
City prepares residents for exit
Columbia University and the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development are working together to move tenants out of the West Harlem area where the school wants to build a satellite campus. The action comes five months before a City Council vote on Columbia's application for a needed zoning change.
The department met recently with tenants of two of its buildings, 602 W. 132nd St. and 3289 Broadway, to offer a relocation package that insiders say would move tenants 15 blocks north. Columbia and HPD say they are committed to offering displaced tenants residences that are equal to or better than their current ones and to maintaining a program that offers them the chance to become homeowners.
Victoria Theater plan losing steam
An effort to redevelop Harlem's historic Victoria Theater, a vaudeville palace in its heyday, is stalled because of foot-dragging by the Spitzer administration, says Assemblyman Keith Wright, D-Harlem.
The administration waited six months before calling the first meeting of the Harlem Community Development Corp. and still has not named a chairman, Mr. Wright says. Developers who are finalists for the project are growing anxious, he adds. They are Paul Williams, former president of the organization 100 Black Men; and Steven Williams (no relation) of Danforth Development Partners.
Additionally, the plan now faces competition from the W hotel going up at 233 W. 125th St. The vision for the Victoria includes a hotel as well as condominiums and an entertainment complex.
The Empire State Development Corp., parent of the HCDC, says the Victoria Theater delays go back to the previous administration. "We've taken steps to pick up the pace, and now the project is on track," says an ESDC spokesman.