MTA TO RAISE FARES
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority unanimously voted to raise fares on the city’s trains, buses, bridges and tunnels last Wednesday, Dec. 19. The new rates, which will go into effect in March, include a 25-cent increase on base subway and bus fares (up to $2.50), an $8 spike on 30-day MetroCards (to $112) and an extra $1 for a seven day pass (to $30).

Bridge and tunnel tolls all will increase, many by 53 cents to $5.33 for E-ZPass holders and by $1 to $7.50 for cash users. Metro-North and Long Island Railroad fares, which vary by time and distance, will go up on average 8.19 to 9.31 percent per ticket.

The bonus on pay-per-ride MetroCards also will decrease to 5 percent from 7 percent. A bonus will be applied to purchases of $5 or more, however, instead of the current $10 minimum.

To determine the fare changes, MTA accepted feedback from customers on four different proposals for increases earlier in the year. The price hike is the authority’s fourth in five years, and it is expected to generate $450 million annually.

CITY SEEKS TO EXTEND EAST RIVER FERRY SERVICE
Major Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and NYC Economic Development Corp. President Seth Pinsky announced their search for a long-term operator for the East River Ferry service. Launched in June 2011, the ferry this year already surpassed its projected 1.3 million passengers for the entirety of its three-year pilot program.

According to Bloomberg, “We now have the opportunity to build upon this success and sustain this essential part of our transportation vision well into the future. Expanding transportation options along the waterfront will better serve communities and spur new housing and economic development.”

A major success of this service was proven in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, in that it was one of the first forms of mass transportation that got back on its feet.

“This ferry has not only proved to be a reliable and efficient form of transportation in a time of crisis, but New Yorkers also really love taking it the rest of the year,” Quinn said.

BillyBey Ferry Co. operated the ferry for the pilot program, which will expire in June 2014. The new Request for Proposals seeks an operator to maintain, improve and possibly expand this system for the following five years. Responses to the request will be collected through March 2013.

KRUEGER ENDORSES LAPPIN FOR BOROUGH PRESIDENT
Last week, state Sen. Liz Krueger has announced her endorsement of Jessica Lappin in the Democratic primary of Manhattan borough president for next year. Krueger, who noted that she had worked with Lappin for almost 10 years, said she had no doubt about Lappin’s ability to lead and make a difference.

“She shares my commitment to reform and has a proven record getting results for all New Yorkers,” Krueger said, listing results such as limited power of big money, three new Manhattan waterfronts, regulation of crisis pregnancy centers and the building of additional schools.

Lappin, in turn, praised Krueger for her tenacity. “I am equal parts excited and honored to have Liz’s support in my campaign for borough president,” she said. “No one has done more to advance the cause of reform and good government in New York over the past decade than she has.”

RED HOOK WORKERS STAFF NEW FAIRWAY IN KIPS BAY
Workers from the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged branch of Fairway Market in Red Hook relocated to Manhattan last week to staff the company’s newly opened grocery store in Kips Bay. The Red Hook branch, which is right on the water in Brooklyn, remains temporarily closed, and the company has been working to place workers in its other locations and provide free shuttle services to transport them there. The new 40,119-square-foot branch, located in the Kips Bay Shopping Center at 550 Second Ave. (at East 30th Street), is the market’s fourth Manhattan store, and 12th overall. The market has opened nine of its locations in the past six years.

“I have only heard praise from the people she is elected to serve,” said Maloney, a veteran politician representing Manhattan’s East Side who has worked with Lappin on issues like school overcrowding, and whom Lappin claimed as a mentor.

Maloney described Lappin as a champion of progressive reform, capable of cutting through political rhetoric to bring about lasting change. “If you want to see what a person will do, ask them what they have done,” she said, citing Lappin’s role in bringing Cornell’s future tech center to Roosevelt Island, fighting against the proposed waste transfer station by Asphalt Green and authoring a law to regulate pro-life crisis pregnancy centers in the city.

Maloney also listed Lappin’s accomplishments in education, which include supporting the opening of three elementary schools in her district and securing 20,000 additional public school seats across the city. Lappin herself attended Stuyvesant High School and has a child in a public school in the city. “If we aren’t reforming schools, we’re going backwards,” Maloney said.

Lappin promised to continue to support education, affordable housing and senior programs as borough president, and noted the importance of the position in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. “We are clearly in a rebuilding phase in our city, and that demands strong and effective leadership on all levels of government, and leaders who believe in the power and responsibility of government to do for us what we cannot always do for ourselves,” she said. “The next borough president has to be deeply involved in how and where we rebuild. We are going to get billions of dollars in aid, and we have to spend that money wisely. I want to help the borough grow and remain competitive, yet still retain what makes us unique.”

After her speech, Lappin said working in her district had prepared her well for the role of borough president: “What I’ve learned is that there aren’t issues that are ‘Upper East Side problems.’ You go neighborhood to neighborhood across the borough, and you hear the same issues: affordable housing, public schools, jobs and quality of life concerns.”

Lappin was first elected to the City Council in 2005. She chairs the council’s Committee on Aging and co-chairs its Women’s Caucus, and is a member of the district’s Education, Transportation, Cultural Affairs and Land Use committees.

“The results are there,” Kellner said in his endorsement. “Jessica has not only done things for our community, but borough-wide and citywide already as a member of the City Council.”
“I can’t imagine anyone more vested in the future of Manhattan,” Quart said.

Supporters from the neighborhood gathered around Lappin with campaign signs and led cheers as she spoke. They also spoke highly of her. “I think that she’s actually fearless,” said Rita Popper, a member of Community Board 8. “She has conviction. She has passion. We need that, especially when we’re battling something like the marine transfer station, especially after Hurricane Sandy.”
“I don’t know anything about the others running against her,” admitted Lorraine Johnson, another supporter. “At this point, I don’t even want to know anything about the other people. From her experience and everything she’s done over the years, there just couldn’t be anybody better than that.”

Other contenders in the 2013 election include former Community Board 1 Chairperson Julie Menin and City Council Members Gale Brewer and Robert Jackson.

On Monday, Dec. 3, 11 students locked themselves in the Peter Cooper Suite at the top of the school’s Foundation Building. They originally intended to remain there (fueled by food, water, a bathroom and laptops) until three major demands were met: Free education must remain, a stronger democratic decision-making process must be implemented, and the current president, Jamshed Bharucha, must resign.

The administration remained tight-lipped throughout the ordeal, issuing a single statement: “The 11 art students who have locked themselves in the Peter Cooper Suite do not reflect the views of a student population of approximately 1,000 architects, artists and engineers.”

On Monday, Dec. 10, the students ended the stand-off, citing the media attention and large turnout at a rally held on Saturday in Cooper Square, and telling reporters that they felt their stunt had made enough of a differene to possibly affect the school’s tuition decision. Cooper Union administration issued no statement.

Menin Seeks Borough President’s Seat
Julie Menin, former chair of Community Board 1 in Lower Manhattan, has officially announced her candidacy for the Democratic nomination for Manhattan borough president, following months of buzz about her potential run. Menin said in a statement that she is “running for borough president because I believe my strong track record of leadership and solution-driven approach is what is needed in the challenging times our borough faces.”

She also cited a desire to guarantee the opportunity of great schools, parks and playgrounds to all families and give a stronger voice to the average New Yorker.

Her leadership and practical-solution approaches have lead her to many successes as a lawyer, owner of a small business and community leader. Her track record includes helping with downtown’s post-9/11 revival, attaining three new K-8 public schools in Lower Manhattan and working with the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to allocate over $200 million to job-creating infrastructure projects.

Menin, a mother of three, has already finished her fundraising for the 2013 race and has picked up endorsements from over 200 grassroots community leaders all over Manhattan, including from judges, CEOs, activists and former elected officials.

Although Menin has been the first to formally announce her campaign, other candidates in the sure-to-be competitive race are expected to include Council Members Gale Brewer (Upper West Side), Robert Jackson (Washington Heights) and Jessica Lappin (Upper East Side). As in many Manhattan races, the likely contenders are all Democrats and no Republican challenger is imminent, so the winner of the party primary can expect an easy ascendency to the position in November, forcing the real battle to play out earlier in the year.

Menin has announced that she will be spending her campaign time meeting with potential constituents around the borough to garner support.

Compiled by Jessica Mastronardi

Members of the City Planning Commission approved the Riverside Center development at a meeting Oct. 27, praising the project as vibrant and beneficial addition to the Upper West Side.

The commission came to a near unanimous 12 to one vote in favor of the five-building, 3 million square-foot residential and commercial development planned for West 59th Street to West 72nd Street from West End Avenue to the river.

The site of the proposed Riverside Center development.

“This is a unique opportunity to re-envision and reshape a bleak, eight-acre parking lot and former rail yard into an exciting addition and major amenity to this thriving West Side neighborhood,” said Amanda Burden, the chair of the planning commission.

Other planning commissioners touted the project’s public space, new commercial businesses and new affordable units.

Though critics of the proposal believe Riverside Center would violate the blue print for the area drafted in 1992—known as a restrictive declaration—Nathan Leventhal, a commissioner and West Side resident, believes the project is appropriate for the neighborhood today.

“If someone who lived here in 1992 left that day and came back this morning, they would probably not recognize what they see on the West Side between 59th and 72nd,” Leventhal said. “Just as our Constitution changes, as do most of our views to reflect current reality, so should our views of what’s right for a particular area.”

Anna Levin was the lone dissenter on the City Planning Commission and voted against modifying the 1992 restrictive declaration that would allow the development to be built. Levin was concerned with density and the unsettled issue of funding and building a new 150,000 square-foot school.

Levin believes the issues will be addressed as negotiations continue at the City Council, but, she added, “They haven’t been addressed yet.”

Karen Phillips, who “reluctantly” voted in favor of the project, wanted additional on-site affordable housing and a better design.

“I feel that there is more that could be done to optimize this opportunity, which is one of the last large-scale sights for the city and this neighborhood,” Phillips said. “But I want to have an affirmative vote today but one that says, I don’t think it’s done yet.”

This is the first affirmative vote on a project since the developer Extell started the public review process. Community Board 7 was the first to weigh in with an advisory opinion and panned the project. The board members felt Riverside Center was too dense, the designed open space was uninviting to the public and that the developer should fund construction of the new school.

Borough President Scott Stringer echoed those concerns in his own advisory opinion.

Despite the Planning Commission’s accolades for the project there were commissioners that had reservations.

There is another opportunity for changes to Riverside Center. Now that the City Planning Commission has approved the project, the City Council must ultimately sign off.

George Arzt, the spokesperson for the developer, released a statement saying that Extell was “immensely gratified” by the vote.

“We are equally thankful for the laudatory words of support from Commission members,” Arzt said in the statement. “We look forward to proceeding with the Land Use process and continuing to work collaboratively with Community Board members and elected officials.”

The program pairs urban planning students with understaffed Manhattan community boards to assist with land use applications. The students get a $5,000 stipend culled from philanthropic organizations.

Stringer’s fellowship will now be extended to the city’s community boards through Hunter College’s Department of Urban Affairs and Planning.

“[The fellowship program] has also helped shift the focus of a new generation of professional urban planners toward a real understanding of how community members, local government and land use experts interact and engage in discussions about the future shape of our city,” Stringer said in a statement.

Stringer first announced the program’s expansion in his February State of the Borough address. The citywide fellowship will have a presence in all five boroughs. Each year, the program will grow to eventually place an urban planning fellow in each of the city’s 59 community boards.

David Casavis
Candidate for Manhattan Borough President