The Breakfast Club: BCAT Debate

Doug Biviano, Evan Thies, Isaac Abraham, Jo Anne Simon and Steve Levin are trapped at BCAT studios.

The 33rd District City Council campaign has devolved into high school bickering. So much so, that our (Community Newspaper Group's) solution was to round up all the candidates and sequester them in the Brooklyn Community Access Television (BCAT) studios for the entire morning yesterday until they worked out their differences. We also gave them bagels, fresh fruit, and lots of coffee. It didn't work. They're nastier than ever. Below, is a behind-the-scenes look at yesterday's closed-circuited debate, hosted by Brooklyn Independent Television, The Brooklyn Paper, and Courier Life.

Ok, before we go to this, let's settle who's who in this analogy. Steve Levin, who did show up yesterday, is obviously Brian (Anthony Michael Hall), Jo Anne Simon is Claire (Molly Ringwald), Isaac Abraham is Allison (Ally Sheedy), Evan Thies is John (Emilio Estevez), Doug Biviano is Andrew (Judd Nelson), Ken Diamondstone is Richard Vernon (Paul Gleason) and Ken Baer is Carl the Janitor (John Kapelos). They only met eight times, but it changed their lives forever. Wait, does this make Gersh Kuntzman John Hughes? Discuss!

By 9:30 AM, the candidates had swarmed into a small, but cozy green room at BCAT's 57 Rockwell Place studios. Isaac, Evan Thies and his manager Kevin Lawler, Steve Levin's angels (Deb Feinberg and Boerum Hill's own Hope Reichbach; Allison Frost was MIA) were scattered throughout. Members of the Doug "The Biv" Biviano fan club were tucked into the hallway, including a very busy Morgan Pehme wearing Matrix-like sunglasses, discussing last-minute debate strategy, I gathered. Jo Anne Simon arrived a few minutes later, absent her usual body girl, Kelly Donnelly, and The Kens appeared as well, though they did not arrive together. Isaac pulled be aside and corrected an earlier quote of a phrase he made at the last NAG debate. He said, "Life is like a bicycle. In order to stay balanced, you have to keep on moving," not whatevertheheck I wrote in an earlier post. I didn't get to ask him what he thinks about the Kent Avenue bicycle lanes, though he doesn't particuarly like them. The Brooklyn Paper's Ben Muessig, who has a wrap of the event here, stayed in the Green Room to document the hostility. No one was talking to each other, mostly looking down at their blackberries, and no one was eating anything either. I tried to break the ice.

"Who lost money on the Red Sox this weekend?"

"What? What kind of a New Yorker are you?" said Abraham.

"I'm a Red Sox fan..." said Thies, quietly.

Sorry Evan. I may have outed you.

Go Angels, Go!

The debate began close to 10 AM and ran about an hour. Gersh and I moderated, and we covered schools, the Broadway Triangle, Atlantic Yards, government reform, and asked the candidates to ask questions to each other, which is always fun. Most of their positions on projects, particularly development projects, are well known, and Norman's Oder has an extensive round-up of the race so far on his blog, Atlantic Yards Report.

There were some funny exchanges before the debate, such as when one of the BCAT sound guys said Doug Biviano and Ken Baer looked alike (dark suits, white shirts, red ties), Doug told Ken, "What are you doing Ken?", Ken looked at Jo Anne Simon and said "You'd support my disability, right?" and Jo Anne said "Of course I already have, you just don't realize it." We didn't even start yet. Also, everyone was making fun of my bright red socks seconds before we started taping. Guys this isn't Frost/Nixon. This isn't even Wayne's World.

Sadly, I could not take notes during this debate, beyond intermittent scribbles which were likely easily picked up by the tape. During the question-to-question period, Thies' resignation from Community Board 1 came up, as did Levin's associations with Assemblymember Vito Lopez (he is not currently on staff with Lopez as of six weeks ago and has taken an extended leave of absence), and Jo Anne's record, affiliation with Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, and challenging the Kings County Democratic Party leadership. Simon bristled after being targeted by Biviano, Diamondstone, and Baer, though Levin took a fair share of questioning on his positions on Atlantic Yards and the Broadway Triangle. Thies was largely quiet. Baer spoke about how he was not beholden to any special interests... or campaign staff, loved ones, pets, and property... and Biviano made an interesting hand gesture, wiping his fingers together (I assume to indicate ties to special interests), during Diamondstone's closing statements, referring to several other candidates.

Ken Diamondstone must have felt bad for criticizing Jo Anne, because he approached her apologizing that "it wasn't personal" before Jo Anne answered back, "I don't want to hear it." She left quickly, as did several other candidates, though Diamondstone hung around for twenty minutes to talk with The Courier's Tom Tracy (wrap coming shortly) about whether he would run against Senator Daniel Squadron if he didn't happen to win this time around. Sigh. They're at it again tonight at St. Francis College, courtesy of Citizens Union. Why? I have no idea. We're up to 7 now, with two more debates being planned.

More Story of the Month

This story keeps on rolling. Ed Isaac Dovere appears on Brian Lehrer this morning to talk about the big City Hall News story on the Working Families Party.

Campaign Finance and WFP
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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Edward-Isaac Dovere, editor of City Hall, a monthly publication focused on New York politics and policy, talks about his investigative report on the finances of the Working Families Party, followed by Kevin Finnegan, political director for 1199 SEIU and former general counsel of the Working Families Party, responding to the City Hall News report.
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Jumanji!... and other teasers for tomorrow

Jo Anne Simon! Brad Lander! Steve Levin! Josh Skaller! Evan Thies! John Heyer! Doug Biviano! Bob Zuckerman! Ken Diamondstone! Gary Reilly! Kendall Stewart! Isaac Abraham! Jumaane Williams! Other Williamses! ...Ken Baer!... and... hey, is that Kirsten Dunst?

Community News Group (Courier Life and The Brooklyn Paper) joined BRIC at the Brooklyn Community Access Television (Community Access! Yes!) for an all-day closed-circuited debate featuring candidates from the 33rd, 39th, and 45th Districts. We will have a full write-up of the behind-the-scenes machinations, including highlights such as when Isaac Abraham touched every bagel in the Green Room before picking up some cantaloupe, Jo Anne Simon fake-storming out of the room and the Diamondstone camp trying to start a rumor about it, and when Brad Lander ripped his shirt off to reveal lycra tights with a Superman logo on it. Okay, I made those up, but what really happened is even more interesting. Hell, Tom Tracy, above, spent seven hours in the studio! Check back tomorrow!

Story of the month

We can't wait until The Short List for this one. Ed Isaac Dovere at City Hall drops this early Monday and I'll take a closer look at it tonight. It's disconcerting to see Woodhull Hospital's Lynn Schulman, who is mounting an uphill campaign in Forrest Hills Queens, cited here, as well as Public Advocate candidate Bill De Blasio. The fallout with The Working Families Party will be interesting to watch over the next week.

CITY HALL SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORT: Six Council Campaigns, de Blasio Campaign, Discovered Using Working Families Staff, Resources In Test Of City Finance Limits
Inner workings of secretive WFP for-profit company and multiple candidates' operations revealed
Edward-Isaac Dovere
August 9th, 2009
A complicated web of coordinated activities, shared resources and staff, and quiet money transfers between the Working Families Party, a secretive private company called Data and Field Services and at least six current Council campaigns, as well as Bill de Blasio’s campaign for public advocate, appears to have found several ways around the strict city campaign finance laws. Upwards of a million dollars, and possibly more, are involved, with over $1.7 million in matching funds comprised of taxpayer dollars already disbursed and more are potentially at stake. There have long been assumptions and rumors of the collaboration between the Working Families Party (WFP) and its favored candidates, but never before has the scope of or intricate processes behind its joint activity been exposed to the degree made possible by an extensive review of public documents and close to 50 interviews with a range of key players conducted by City Hall over the last few days.

Photos of the Day: Williamsburg Sundays

From East River State Park...


To South 3rd and Hooper Streets

Wine Bars + Williamsburg = Gang Violence

An example of the media spinning stories beyond the reality of what is actually happening...

Last week, I wrote a story about a Community Board 1 Public Safety meeting, which typically features restaurant owners applying for permits and liquor licenses. Two restaurant industry guys (Stefan Mailvaganam and Dan Lathroum) had a proposal to build an upscale wine bar and restaurant (with locally sourced ingredients of course), called Custom, on the corner of Driggs and Metropolitan Avenues. Sounds great, right? Not to the residents of Fillmore Place (Williamsburg's 1st historic district) and the surrounding neighborhoods, who compiled a list of 23! bars within a block radius of the site. So I wrote about it. Neighbors had concerns about some gang activity in the area, though the primary issue was noise and rowdiness coming from a transient community. One feared that drunk people on the corners would not lead to a safe situation, and referenced the gang activity as a recurring problem.

Now... Eater and Gothamist have picked the story up as has Curbed and NBC New York. Naturally they've jumped on the gang activity-wine bar connection without giving enough consideration to the noise angle, which is really more of the issue here. I was also surprised with how rude the tone of the meeting got, though many of the points were vaild and Stefan contacted me to express this as well. Many of the residents also said repeatedly that this fight was not personal and they would actually go to Custom if it were not located in their neighborhood.

Sigh

Damnit.

The Short List: Donut Ice Cream Sandwich edition

Senator Chuck Schumer shows Council candidate Steve Levin "The New Way"

I could be on a bus heading to Monroe, NY for Hasidic Summer Camp, but instead I’m blogging just for you about the week that was and what lies ahead in yet another edition of… The Short List.

This week saw the Borough President preside over the Broadway Triangle (If I cut the triangle in have and give half to each group, everybody's happy, right?), multiple precincts celebrating National Night Out, mayoral control finaaaaaaaaly passing the State Senate, and of course, Chuck Schumer endorsing the man who he thinks should follow in David Yassky's footsteps (of course Chuck hasn't endorsed David Yassky for Comptroller yet, but maybe it's one of those Craigslist Missed Connections things. Hey David, sorry, I missed you at the Israel Day Parade, I've got I have spilchas in my ganechdergezoink, let's catch up over cholent and pastrami omletes at Gottlieb's)

Unfortunately Meserole Street between Gardner and Stewart did not win the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens' Greenest Block in Brooklyn award this year. Sorry John Okun.

But getting back to a big weekend for Senator Chuck. He's gone from bottom Chuck roast to top round sirloin (still big and tough, but leaner and with more flavor, one of the more economical cuts of Senator). On the same day he weighs in the City Council race, he (possibly) elbows out Congresswoman Maloney who halted her bid to challenge Kirsten Gillibrand for Senate in a primary, he gets some buzz for Senate Majority leader, pushes through Cash for Clunkers, and he wins a Peter Pan donut ice cream-eating contest. Ok, I made that last one up, but did you take a look at this sandwich?! Don't you think the Senator could take down thirty of these little guys in ten minutes? The man is unstoppable.

Sen. Chuck Schumer challenges Council candidate Steve Levin to a donut ice cream sandwich-eating contest (donut photo courtesy of New York Shitty). Levin immediately surrenders.

Other news that caught our eye this week include Doug Biviano's radio address on Brooklyn Heights Blog, Tom Tracy's story for The Courier on Eastern District H.S. alums, Gersh Kuntzman on the endorsement, The Greenpoint Gazette welcomes Joann Kim with bees!, Juliet Linderman's businesses in the Broadway Triangle series, Brooklyn Paper's Mike McLaughlin updating Coney Island, and the Politicrasher's roundup of yet another candidates' forum with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce featuring Ferris Bueller's Principal.

Bueller... Bueller...

As for the weekend, BushwickBK's Anna D'Agrossa has Ad Hoc Art's last ever show and lots more, plus a solid round up at The Paper. As for me, I'm trying to figure out how to crash a Transportation Alternatives party, a Moveon.org wedding, and become an honorary Dominican on South 3rd street on Sunday. It's all falling into place.

Introducing Boropolitics.com

Be sure to check out BoroughPolitics.com for Gary Busio's riveting three-part investigation into Mayor Michael Bloomberg eating pizza with a knife and fork. I was there. I saw it.

Comptrollers vs. Yankees vs. Red Sox

These are my options tonight: Comptroller forum with these guys.

Or Yankees versus Red Sox.

Sigh. Will the Momptroller be here tonight?

Mayoral Whatnow?

Well it looks like Mayoral Control is a go, with the Senate approving the bill 47-8 this afternoon. State Senator Dan Squadron (D-Brooklyn) has been in the middle of this, carrying the bill with Senator Frank Padavan (D-Queens) as Senators got a little rude before the vote.

A couple of regular readers have pointed out a Daily News article from earlier this summer on lower test scores, which should be a big issue in the mayoral campaign this fall. Let's run the jump...

Low test standards are a form of social promotion, say experts
BY Rachel Monahan and Meredith Kolodner DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
Wednesday, July 15th 2009, 12:27 PM
Changes in the way the state is grading math and reading tests may have undercut Mayor Bloomberg's controversial decision to end social promotion, test experts say.
The mayor's policy requires that third-, fifth-, seventh- and eighth-graders earn a minimum score on state tests to move on to the next grade.
To earn a promotion this year, however, elementary and middle school students in every grade needed fewer points on both the state math and reading exams than they did in 2006.
"What appears to be happening in the last four years [is] the hurdle is getting lower," said Fred Smith, a Bloomberg administration critic and former testing analyst for the Board of Education.
Smith was was one of the experts who reviewed the numbers and provided results to the Daily News.
In 2006, for example, third-graders had to get 44% of points on the math tests to earn a promotion, compared with 28% this year.
The reading tests show a similar pattern. The number of students who failed to make the cut in reading declined from 46,085 to 11,755 - a 75% drop in just three years.
"I have kids who really struggle as readers," said Claudia de Luna Castro, who teaches fourth and fifth grades at Harlem's Central Park East II and had no students who scored at level one.
"It always makes me wonder when I see data that doesn't match my experience of my kids."
A top Education Department official defended the city's reliance on the state tests.
"The number of points you need to get correct one year to the next is not indicative of an easier or more difficult test," said Jennifer Bell-Ellwanger, a DOE senior adviser.
State officials said that the testing program was crafted by McGraw-Hill and overseen by a panel of experts.
"Students had to get fewer questions right in 2009 than they did in 2006 [to earn the same score]," said state Education Department spokesman Jonathan Burman, "because items on the 2009 test were more difficult than they were in 2006."
The Daily News recently reported the tests may have gotten easier.
State Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch said the tests were not rigorous enough.
"You can equate tests," she said, "but if you're not demanding a high enough standard, what you're equating is a low-level test."
"Ultimately, these children will struggle because they will find themselves in high school or somewhere they are not ready for," said Carol Boyd, a parent leader with the New York City Coalition for Educational Justice. "We're moving them along, but we're setting them up to fail."

Video of the day

To get you revved up for a forthcoming Broadway Triangle: 101 post.

Schumer endorses Levin

The Brooklyn Paper has Senator Chuck Schumer endorsing Steve Levin for City Council on Friday. Interesting. Levin's cousin, Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) is a close ally of Schumer's in the US Senate, so perhaps this isn't a surprise. Chris Bragg at City Hall News had anonymous sources saying that Assemblyman Vito Lopez had two other candidates in mind before Steve declared (or was tapped depending on who you ask) to run for the 33rd City Council district. One of them was (according to my source) Sam Schaeffer, a former Lopez staffer who has been working in Schumer's Manhattan office for several years.

The Schumer-Lopez relationship is fascinating and somewhat underwritten in the media. I have to look to the field of astronomy to explain that relationship, though as far as I know is both men generally tolerate each other. Both men are planets orbitting the sun (President Obama) and once in a while, planets align.

Vito on the Triangle

We just had the ULURP hearing for the Broadway Triangle at Borough President Marty Markowitz's office. It ended at 6. I'll have a run-through tomorrow about it, but in the meantime, check out Assemblyman Vito Lopez's interview with Brian Lehrer this morning where he addresses the issue.

http://www.onthemedia.org./shows/bl/episodes/2009/08/05/segments/138121

Marty Mar

Busy day for Marty Markowitz. First, he's got the City Planning Commission hearing at 22 Reade Street where Marty testified for zoning that allows for more grocery stores providing fresh produce in Brooklyn neighborhoods, then he's at the Greenest Block in Brooklyn celebration at the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens in Park Slope (Congratulations Lincoln Road in Lefferts Gardens!), and finally the ULURP hearing for the Broadway Triangle. I asked Marty if he was looking forward to the ULURP today, which starts at 4:30 PM and could last until tomorrow. He ruffled like a pigeon. I think that was off the record.

Want some ULURP in your coffee?

Kareem's article about the Broadway Triangle finaaaaaaaaaly comes to print in The New York Times. Here's the link.

NAG Forum: My Name is MFS

The world has turned and left me here

Williamsburg- One week after Neighbors Allied for Good Growth's candidate's forum, and only one week until the next 33rd Debate (sponsored by Citizens Union, August 11), we take a look back at the major points of a racously quiet evening with some garage rock analysis. What's the difference between an analysis and a wrap? Analysis is what happens when I file something three days after the event happens. If you're looking for the tasty wraps from last week's 33rd District Candidate Forum, check them out here: with Ben Muessig's post, Talisa Chang from the Greenpoint Gazette, Courtney Gross and Dan Compitello at The Gotham Gazette, Reid Pillifant and PolitickerNY, Brooklyn Heights Blog, and, of course, my wrap at The Courier.
I've thought about this a lot and found some interesting parallels of what was said in the debate with many of the lyrics from Weezer's Blue Album and its cult-hit, Pinkerton. Maybe it's the nostalgia of having my 10-year high school reunion over the weekend (Rivers Cuomo did go to my high school). Maybe it's that Weezer's career after Pinkerton and life after school have both gone precipitously downhill. On to the audio tape!

I'm a lot like you so please/
Hello I'm here I'm waiting
I think I'd be good for you/
And you you'd be good for me
Let's get this out of the way up front. Council candidate Evan Thies is a Board Member of NAG. Forum moderator NAG Co-Chair Susan Albrecht contributed $100 back in June 2008 to the Thies campaign. The other NAG Co-Chair, Michael Freedman Schnapp, said that no candidates raised any objections with the Forum and how it was organized. Nevertheless, this was Evan's crowd: progressive-leaning North Brooklyn residents. Whether Evan's message got drowned out byDoug Biviano's calls for reform is another matter.
What's with these homies, dissing my girl/
Why do they gotta front
What did we ever do to these guys/
That made them so violent
To Jo Anne Simon's supporters: You are the target at this point. Other local publications have suggested that Simon is the frontrunner, though my hunch is that there are high numbers of undecided voters in this race and people are choosing between two or three of their favorite candidates. That means that Simon may get put on the defensive in these events, saying things like "Let me tell you what a democratic district leader does. She works with her community for her constituents. As a community person that is the way I’ve been able to work, because I have not been working for an elected official or pulling strings anywhere.” Being on the defensive does not distinguish candidates from a crowd in a positive way.

I'm going surfin cos I don't like your face/
I'm bailing out because I hate the race
Of rats that run round and round in the maze/
I'm going surfing, I'm going surfing!
Candidate Doug Biviano made the biggest waves during the debate Tuesday night, taking the lede in The Brooklyn Paper, for a newly aggressive tone. Biviano accused Steve Levin, Jo Anne Simon, and Evan Thies of working in a backroom as part of the Democratic machine, and cutting deals with the city. "It’s Democrats like this who make a big show of fighting for the people when their running for office, and then sell out our community as soon as they get elected.” said Biviano in a press release. Many in the crowd, amused by Biviano's performances at previous debates, were surprised by the sudden (other candidates would say negative) change in tone. Much of this is due to the recent hiring of Gary Tilzer and Morgan Pehme, as campaign consultants (the first of two significant points of the night). Both men were hanging out at the BOE, representing candidates such as Gerry Esposito, who is running against Councilmember Diana Reyna and Maritza Davila in the 34th District, Alan Sasson, who is running against Lew Fiddler in the 46th. Both have long been critics of the Kings County Democratic Party and its chair, Vito Lopez, and it appears they are advising The Biv to position himself as a reform-minded candidate. His challenge will be to convince voters that he is the only reform candidate in a race filled with candidates trying to do the exact same thing.

If you want to destroy my sweater/
Hold this thread as I walk away
Watch me unravel, I'll soon be naked/
Lying on the floor, I've come undone
To Steve Levin, who did not attend the NAG forum because of a scheduling conflict. He was helping run a state labor summit in Kingston, NY, where labor leaders did a lot of dishing about the 2010 gubernatorial race. Levin said he would be at the remaining three (!) debates, including the Citizens Union event next week, something NY1 is doing, and... um... I forget the other one. But, really? Eight! By the end of this thing, we will have eight debates in the 33rd and zero (!) in the 34th? Why is no one talking about this!
Back to Steve for a second. An all-around nice guy, Steve is in a tough spot. If he loses, Vito Lopez could blame him for the result, but Steve is easily the hardest working candidate in this race. If he wins, he's going to need to get one of those family plans for his cell phone. Maybe Verizon can offer an Albany-New York long-distance discount! (Updated: A couple of candidates' camps have emailed in, and yes, everyone is working hard at this stage of the campaign. Several candidates have knocked on over 2500 doors and may even reach 4000 by the end of the campaign. The candidates who knock on that many doors are among the favorites to win.)

Let's go away for a while/
You and I, to a strange and distant land
Where they speak no word of truth/
But we don't understand anyway
Isaac Abraham wishes he could take a holiday, along with many of the Hasids in South Williamsburg who are traveling to upstate retreats this week and next. Instead, Isaac must try to hang onto an increasingly restless UJCare coalition and dispell concerns about a campaign fundraiser who was implicated in the New Jersey corruption scandal. With less than six weeks to go in a campaign, you don't want to be answering questions about whether you're associated with rabbis who have been trafficking human organs.
"Life is like riding a bicycle. In order to maintain your balance, you have to keep moving," said Abraham.

And I don't wanna be an old man anymore/
It's been a year or two since I was out on the floor/
Shakin' booty making sweet love all the night/
It's time I got back to the good life
My favorite Weezer lyrics of all-time go to The Kens, who can be hard to distinguish, but at least the effort is there. Memo to the Kens, never start a sentence about transportation at a NAG event with some variation of "This one time I was on the L train..." You can do better.

Say it ain't so/ Your drug is a heartbreaker
Say it ain't so/ My love is a life taker
This is the other big observation of the night. Broadway Triangle Community Coalition members, particularly members of UJCare, the rival service organization to the UJO, may be softening their support for Evan Thies and giving Jo Anne Simon a serious look, after Thies resigned from Community Board 1 right before the Broadway Triangle vote. We'll know more on Wednesday, but Simon may have an opening to pick off some South Williamsburg voters unless Thies can make a good argument to them can win and what he can do for this community. As always, stay tuned.

R-O-C-K in the OSA!

Williamsburg/ Greenpoint- Over the past three weeks, I have been working on a three-part series about the Open Space Alliance, a nonprofit that works closely with the City Parks Department in a public-private partnership, which is at a critical moment. They filed a tax extension for its 2009 financials, because of a sizable increase in revenue from the Pool Parties and other private events. This summer, they are also recruiting community members to join its Community Committee which will serve in an advisory capacity to the OSA Board of Directors. Also, as you may have noticed, the Mayor is running for reelection. The lack of open space on the waterfront coupled with the spread of vacant lots and foreclosed condos is becoming a significant issue in citywide and council campaigns.
The reason I wrote this series was to explore OSA in transition during a difficult fundraising environment, where the city's revenues are declining, smack in the middle of an election year. Many of the promises that the city made in the 2005 Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront rezoning have not been kept and OSA appears to be taking on these responsibilities. OSA is doing this in addition to holding special events like the Pool Parties, and maintaining their existing cadre of North Brooklyn Parks. It's enough to make your head spin. Mine sure did.

Along the way, I made some errors. I regret those, particularly in Part II. The following are links to the three stories from most recent to least, as well as a letter from OSA explaining its accomplishments.

Part III: Mayoral visits raise eyebrows

Part II: Not all in alliance with the OSA

Part I: Open Space Alliance at Crossroads

To the Editor,

We write in response to Aaron Short’s recent article about the Open Space Alliance for North Brooklyn. First, a couple of factual corrections: 1) OSA does indeed have by-laws, which were filed in February 2006, 2) our by-laws and required financial filings are publicly available on the website of the NYS Attorney General, Charities Bureau, and 3) our recent Spring fundraiser, organized by board member volunteers, raised $13,000, not $1,300.

The Board of OSA raises money from public and private sources to improve parks. OSA has a Community Committee that advises the Board about priorities for parks in North Brooklyn. GWAPP, NAG and many other groups participate in the Community Committee, while maintaining their independence and their right to advocate for parks.

OSA empowers local parks advocates by bringing the Parks Commissioner and the Mayor’s office to meet monthly with local parks advocates on the Steering Group of the Community Committee. OSA and NYC Dept. of Parks & Recreation pay the salary of the North Brooklyn Parks Administrator, Stephanie Thayer, who serves as OSA’s Executive Director (To qualify for city health benefits, 51% is paid by Parks). Prior to Stephanie’s appointment, there was no executive with primary responsibility for overseeing parks in North Brooklyn.

Mr. Short and his anonymous source are entitled to their opinion that OSA has a “mixed” record of success. But we would like to give a more complete list of OSA’s accomplishments, in partnership with Parks, since the formal start of operations and hiring of our Parks Administrator/ED last year.

Since then, more parks improvements were made in CB1 than in many, many years combined. Some highlights include:- Transmitter Park site on Greenpoint Ave.: OSA worked with Parks to open this long locked site to the public for picnicking this summer. Regulatory approvals are being finalized for the site to go into construction next year for full renovation.- Manhattan Ave. Greening and Kayak Launch: OSA worked with several City agencies to open the park last month. It had languished in construction for years.- Northside Pier’s waterfront access: Opened to the public for full -time access, with later than standard operating hours.- Commenced a planning study to relocate the MTA and create additional waterfront parkland.- Lights on McCarren’s kickball/baseball field that have not worked for years were repaired this season. So was the soccer turf.- The area behind the Field House of McCarren was re-sodded and re-greened.- A recycling program was implemented for McCarren in the Fall. Additional garbage pick-up times now take place on weekends in response to community requests.- An analysis of traffic patterns was performed to evaluate the potential of turning Union and other streets into additional parkland within McCarren.- More than 100 trees were planted in McCarren, plus additional trees in the community’s neediest areas, adjacent to NYCHA housing. More trees will be planted in Cooper Park this Fall.- A children’s butterfly garden will be planted in Cooper Park with assistance from PS 132 in the Fall.- The Paul Clinton Memorial Garden was planted in McGolrick.- The long awaited comfort station for Greenpoint Playground is in bid now.- A new dog run will be in construction for Sternberg in the Fall.- New fencing was installed in McGolrick dog run as the dog run group requested, with the aid of funding by State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol. When funding was short, OSA donated more than $3,000.00 to close the gap.- OSA supplements the Parks Department’s basic operating needs for maintenance and other supplies, allowing numerous long-standing community requests to be met.- OSA’s Executive Director and Board lobbied for park improvements throughout CB1. Borough President Marty Markowitz allocated $400,000 to the Parks Dept. for southside’s Rodney Park. OSA will hold planning sessions with the residents of Rodney Houses later this year.- OSA is co-sponsoring programming in underserved district parks that have not had programming, including free theater and movies in Sternberg, free movies in McGolrick, as well as new events such children’s crafts in McCarren, and more.

Mr. Short’s article suggests that the City has benefited more from OSA’s activities than have parks in North Brooklyn. This ignores the fact that $50 million of City funding was allocated to reconstruct the McCarren Park Pool; $26.7 million to acquire land between North 9th-10th Streets for Bushwick Inlet Park; $7.1 million for Phase 1 soccer field in the Bushwick Inlet Park; $22.7 million for the Phase 2 field house, and $16.3 million to acquire land between North 11th-12th on the former site of the Dept. of Sanitation.

The article implies a possible conflict of interest of our chairman, Steve Hindy, the founder and president of Brooklyn Brewery, whose beer was offered by some promoters at some Pool events last summer. When the Pool was to undergo renovations, and community surveys demonstrated the popularity of the programming, Mr. Hindy, with the OSA ED, worked hard to convince State Parks to partner with OSA to provide an alternative venue for the programming. The beer concession was awarded to highest bidder Anheuser-Busch, the Belgian-owned conglomerate, and The Brooklyn Brewery is not involved in any concerts scheduled this summer.

The programming that OSA has been instrumental in providing is enjoyed by tens of thousands of people. Programming in parks is a fundamental part of a parks conservancy, and raises awareness of our need for more open space. These events are also source of funding for parks in our community. As a result of last year’s summer concerts, OSA has $75,000.00 ready for new projects – the Steering Group of OSA’s Community Committee apportioned some of these funds to fix district plumbing problems, from non-working spray showers in our children’s’ playgrounds, to repairing waterboxes so that we may later plant gardens.

The concert series this summer (in partnership with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation) will raise money for the East River State Park – a park that had its gates locked for several months this year due to lack of funds.We invite your readers to visit our website: www.osanb.org to keep informed about our progress and to contact us with their comments and concerns.

Regards,

Steve Hindy, Chairman Joe Vance, Treasurer Adam Perlmutter, Secretary

Something for Everyone/ A Public Advocate-Comptroller Tonight!

Nothing with kings, nothing with crowns;
Bring on the lovers, liars and clowns!

Old situations,
New complications,
Nothing portentous or polite;
Tragedy tomorrow,
Comedy tonight!

Something convulsive,
Something repulsive,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

Something aesthetic,
Something frenetic,
Something for everyone:
A comedy tonight!

Nothing with gods, nothing with fate;
Weighty affairs will just have to wait!

Comptrollers and Public Advocates descend upon 180 Remsen Street for a Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Forum! tonight. I'll be stop by briefly, but our man Steve Witt and a whole slew of others are on this too.

Candidate Profile: Evan Thies

To liven things up this August, I'm doing candidate profiles for The Courier. Here's one featuring Evan Thies More to follow...
33rd District Candidate Profile: Evan Thies
By Aaron Short
Friday, July 31, 2009 11:49 AM EDT
The vacant lots, surrounded by cheap spray-painted plywood and corrugated fencing, are a neighborhood nuisance and an intriguing policy opportunity for one City Council candidate.

“I live just one block from a very large vacant lot with a huge pond of standing water in it,” said Williamsburg resident Evan Thies, who is running for Council in the 33rd District. “I noticed mosquitoes for the first time ever in my apartment. My wife won’t let me keep the windows open in the apartment anymore and we know the city just had its first West Nile Virus case.”

Thies, 29, has been monitoring open space and sanitation issues in North Brooklyn for much of the past decade, as a senior staff member for current Councilmember David Yassky and as chair of the Community Board 1 Sanitation and Environment Committee. Born in New York, Thies, a Democrat, grew up in New Hampshire where he learned about political activism firsthand from his grandmother, State Health Commissioner Mary Mongan. After graduating from Syracuse University in 2001 and working briefly as a reporter and in Senator Hillary Clinton’s upstate New York office, he took a job with Councilmember David Yassky in 2002.

Thies has worked on securing more funding for renovations to McCarren Park and represented Yassky during the rezoning negotiations. Since he joined CB1, he has been one of the most vocal critics of the Bloomberg administration’s failures to live up to the open space promises made in the rezoning while witnessing the rise of condominium towers scattered throughout his neighborhood.

“When the credit market dried up, it became difficult for small-time developers to leverage capital to develop on lots across Williamsburg,” said Thies. “There’s been a rush in construction on foundations and pile driving in 2007, but there’s been no further development in the following months. Many lots are overgrown with weeds and pools of water. Standing water breeds insects which are an environmental hazard.”

Thies sees these lots as an opportunity to reverse the negative consequences of the housing crash and development following the waterfront rezoning. He has been speaking with a local attorney, Brooklyn Corporation A’s Marty Needelman, about a city statute that allows city agencies to take over properties from private developers that fall into foreclosure and become hazardous to the neighborhood.

“If your property becomes dangerous and/or you don’t pay your taxes for a year, it can be taken away from you,” Thies said. “A lot of these companies are shells, limited liability corporations that are unconnected to major corporations. When a property is foreclosed upon, it stops existing.”

Thies’ idea is to take these properties and convert them into affordable housing and open space. The foreclosed properties are relatively inexpensive and Thies believes it would be tremendously advantageous for the city to acquire these properties, even in difficult budgetary conditions.

“The number-one cost for affordable housing is cost of land. When we can get it as cheap as we can now, we should jump at the opportunity,” said Thies. “I don’t think the owners of these sites really have much influence. They’re not the perpetual players in the real estate environment.”

The idea may have traction in the City Council, too, as Speaker Christine Quinn noted an interest in converting abandoned lots into affordable housing during her State of the City address earlier this year. Local development corporations and nonprofits, including Rich Mazur’s North Brooklyn Development Corporation, Brooklyn Legal Services, and St. Nicholas Neighborhood Preservation Corp., are also looking into the issue, and a recent barrage of articles from New York Magazine and the Daily News has helped raise awareness about the problems associated with foreclosed condos.

Thies has noticed that while he has been on the campaign trail, old residents and new residents have expressed their anxieties about the vacant lots and empty condos in North Brooklyn. While there’s been little violent crime, neighboring precincts have seen rises in nonviolent crime such as drug use, vagrancy, and grand larceny.

“We need to nip this in the bud before it snowballs into a more serious problem,” said Thies. “People have worked too hard to make this community a safe, desirable place to live. Decades of hard work can be undone by a few years of inattention.”