Change for New York: 100 Ideas for a Better City
Available for download in PDFMARK GREEN
August 20, 2009
Campaigns are usually about politics -- about money, polls, endorsements, attacks. Sounds obvious, right?
But ideally -- and certainly during a crisis -- they should be even more about policies and ideas. As figures from Keynes to Galbraith to Gingrich have noted, "ideas matter" -- indeed over the course of history, little else does.
My public life has been about advocating good ideas and then trying to put them into practice. In my work as a public interest lawyer, public official, and author, I successfully initiated 311, reduced tobacco promotions to kids, organized “Kick Butts Day” and “Tuesday Night Out,” prohibited companies from firing domestic violence victims, helped get RU-486 imported into America, got abusive cops punished, enacted the law providing public funds matching small donations, among others.
In this campaign to again become the Public Advocate, I want to focus more on ideas than politics by showing how to put the new back in New York -- how to advocate for fresh ideas to old problems that can be implemented in office. And since I just did this for the Obama Administration in my January book, Change for America: A Progressive Blueprint for the 44th President, today my campaign is releasing Change for New York.
These are not necessarily brand new, unheard of ideas ready to be immediately implemented. That’s not the way government works or solutions get enacted. Rather, these ideas are either novel or tried elsewhere or sitting ignored but, in my view, ready at least for consideration and discussion by either the State legislature, the Mayor, or the City Council. And we'll also put them out for comment on our website so the New Yorkers can provide feedback on what works and what doesn’t. So policies will be drafted, not just by me but by us.
While some of the proposed solutions are one-shots which stand on their own, many are arrayed around two big themes that, in my view, can help steer New York City through its next decade. First, especially because of the decline in the financial services sector here and because New York is a "state of minds" based on our unique concentration of human capital, New York City must become "The Creative City" by focusing economic growth policies on such creative and information sectors as communications, new media, Internet technology, publishing, education, professional services, the creative arts, biotechnology, science, and green and niche manufacturing.
Second, if our private sector can be revitalized in part because of Information Technology, so too should the public sector. As described in our prior paper Government 2.0: New Technology for a New Democracy, City government should harness all the new ways of communicating with citizens that are based on our physical locations (iPhones, Blackberrys) and on our social networks (Facebook, Twitter). As the railroads and telephone were breakthrough technologies that transformed our society in the 19th and 20th centuries, information technology -- grounded in the wiki view that no one of us is as smart as all of us -- has the potential to alter and improve the way government delivers city services in the 21st.
Just as President Obama is bringing progressive change to Washington, all candidates and officials should strive to do the same for New York. His theme of change echoes throughout American history. Jefferson said America needed a revolution once a generation; Lincoln urged Americans to “disenthrall ourselves” to “think anew and act anew;” F.D.R. concluded during the Depression that we had to “boldly experiment” and if something doesn’t work then try something else.
Ultimately, it was the poet of democracy, Brooklyn’s own Walt Whitman, who said it best when he noted that “America is always becoming.” Isn’t that the story of America – and New York too?
I. ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE CREATIVE CITY
1. Stop taxing our poorest New Yorkers by repealing income taxes on low and moderate income households.
2. Spur start ups with $50,000 micro-seed investments.
3. Grow jobs by improving accessibility to economic development programs.
4. Utilize expert retirees to create a "Senior Service Corps" to assist with workforce and business development.
5. Train people who are both unemployed and under employed for jobs that are both high in quality and demand.
6. Make the City’s Job Centers work better for applicants by passing the Ready Access to Assistance Act.
7. Transform the City’s welfare-to-work program to train job seekers in sustainable wage jobs, paying well over the poverty rate.
8. Provide tax incentives for working youth and support for gaining access to those benefits.
9. Lower health care insurance costs by allowing small business to buy into City health insurance plans.
10. Use the New York Cancer Project as a model to launch studies on asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and obesity, harnessing our City’s biotech and hospital resources.
11. Increase access to business and workforce development programs by putting them online.
12. Improve our City's neighborhoods through tax increment financing.
13. Replicate the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center model to retain manufacturing jobs in New York.
14. Grow manufacturing of green, biotechnology and other niche industries through expansion of Industrial Business Zone tax credits.
15. Recover millions in government subsidies to the private sector by including “clawback” provisions.
16. Protect niche manufacturing by amending and better enforcing the zoning code.
17. Attract "creative class" members to join our workforce though targeted tax incentives.
18. Retain "creative class" members and encourage them to build creative communities.
19. Attract small businesses to become a part of "THE Creative City" through targeted tax incentives.
20. Launch "Art for Public's Sake" to make art a part of everyday life in the City by creating a rotating collection of local art and displaying them in public spaces.
21. Increase the number of art and cultural productions in New York City by providing short term loans for exhibits.
II. GREENER CITY
22. Adopt "Green Lighting" for our City's buildings.
23. Reduce government waste by going paperless.
24. Support building more green roofs to capture rain runoff instead of more wastewater treatment plants in our neighborhoods.
25. Reduce frequency of power outages and lower electricity costs by investing in a Smart Grid.
26. Cover the up-front costs of clean energy projects in return for payments over 20 years.
27. Reduce energy costs and usage by requiring the installation of smart meters in new construction and renovation of buildings and the replacement of old equipment.
28. Make recycling a regular part of life for New Yorkers by increasing recycling in public spaces and schools.
29. Improve upon PlaNYC's million trees initiative.
30. Reduce emissions and improve the environment by phasing in congestion pricing.
31. Improve regional public transportation by keeping infrastructure up to date with regional growth.
32. Provide notices regarding traffic delays and service changes.
33. Lower energy costs for New Yorkers by reducing regulatory burdens on alternative energy projects.
III. PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY
34. Implement an Internet emergency broadcast message to provide emergency information over the web.
35. Encourage emergency preparedness by creating a tax holiday on emergency supplies during the month of September.
36. Provide greater information about elevator outages in New York City Housing Authority run buildings and provide better services to those affected.
37. Improve the health of our children by establishing Health Coordinators in school districts.
38. Allow transgender people born in New York City to change their birth certificate without undergoing sex reassignment surgery.
39. Create more Youth Courts throughout the City, letting teenagers hold their peers accountable for misconduct.
40. Support our City’s youth by expanding supervised alternative-to-detention (ATD) instead of incarcerating them.
41. Provide automatic statutory remuneration for anyone detained by the NYPD for more than 24 hours.
42. Empower individuals to file complaints with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
43. Protect good police officers and innocent people from false confessions by videotaping interrogations.
IV. GOVERNMENT 2.0: NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR A NEW DEMOCRACY
44. Establish Universal Internet to provide improved connectivity to all New Yorkers at reduced or no cost.
45. Create an independent budget for the Public Advocate's office.
46. Attempt to do work "in house" before hiring a private contractor.
47. Bring more accountability to the way we provide subsidies and tax breaks to big businesses.
48. Hold agencies accountable for results by expanding the CompStat initiative to all City Agencies.
49. Expand services and information available in multiple languages from City agencies.
50. Create better Internet sites and applications through mandatory beta testing periods on all products for public use.
51. Implement “Open 311” by making information collected on 311 available over the Internet in real time.
52. Adopt local version of "Apps for Democracy" with "Apps for New York City" to develop website and applications with City data.
53. Expand the effectiveness of the Public Advocate's office by deputizing thousands through the use of new technologies like a Twitter Hashtag.
54. Preserve Net Neutrality to ensure that the Internet remains free of censorship.
55. Help New Yorkers of all ages find information on the NYC.GOV website by providing tour guides through 311.
56. Provide a "My.NYC.GOV" portal like My Yahoo to every New Yorker with personalized information on government services and regulations like alternate side of the street parking.
57. Make public meetings more widely known by providing a centralized location aware frame work for public notices.
58. Save money and the environment while making government accessible to the disabled and non-English speaking communities by providing for certain mandatory government notices in optional electronic format and the language of your choice.
59. Give New Yorkers access to the government benefits they deserve by moving away from bureaucracy and providing automatic benefits.
60. Set information free by adopting "Open Data" standards to put complete government data online in real-time so that Internet users can make it usable.
61. Provide a centralized repository for all government information at "Data.NYC.GOV."
62. Improve access to existing government information by requiring government to put any information already requested online for anyone else to download.
63. Make the City budget fully searchable identifying specific programs along with information on populations and geographic areas that will be effected by changes to the budget.
64. Protect funding for our neediest New Yorkers by banning quid pro quo donations from employees and members of the boards of not-for profits that receive member item funding.
65. Increase accountability by making all votes taken by government bodies public and available online in real-time.
66. Empower New Yorkers to help one another by sharing their knowledge and understanding of government services on a "wiki" for NYC.GOV.
67. Put the "public" back in public hearing by expanding times, location and methods of testimony to catch up with the 21st Century.
68. Save money and collaborate with citizens and across government by adopting free or open source software for government computers.
69. Protect voters from losing their right to vote simply because of data entry errors or lost mail by making the registration and absentee ballot process electronic.
70. Bring government into the 21st Century by creating a New York City Chief Information Officer.
71. Unify communities online and help disseminate local information by offering ".nyc" domain to local non-profits and communities.
72. Protect the privacy of every New Yorker by launching a taskforce on privacy and proposing legislation to protect personal identifying information from disclosure.
V. HOUSING & TRANSPORTATION
73. Create an online affordable housing list with a simple unified application.
74. Develop new affordable housing by improving the 421-a tax benefit.
75. Provide homeowners with a new source of income by allowing them to offer affordable housing through a new building code for an "accessory dwelling unit."
76. Protect tenants in rentals facing foreclosure by transforming properties into community assets.
77. Leverage public-private partnerships through an Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH) program to make more affordable housing available.
78. Reduce homelessness by expanding supportive housing.
79. Protect tenant health by passing the "New York City Asthma-Free Housing Act."
80. Prohibit tenant blacklists through the New York City Commission on Human Rights by adding a protected class to New York City Human Rights Law.
81. Empower communities through local neighborhood planning.
82. Ease congestion, improve mobility and expand to under-served areas by implementing a Bus Rapid Transit system.
83. Create a single regional transit pass, joining PATH, Metro-North, the LIRR and the city’s subways and buses.
VI. EDUCATING OUR CITY’S FUTURE
84. Commit to reducing class sizes through a staggered school day.
85. Encourage developers to build new schools by creating a 421-e tax abatement for new construction.
86. Convert millions of square feet of vacant commercial office space into school seats now.
87. Build and fund the construction of new schools by offering an “educational housing” density bonus for developers who to contribute to the local education system.
88. Hold State legislators to their word and ensure that Universal Pre-K is a reality by 2011.
89. Improve education by creating an "Adopt-a-School" program.
90. Increase funding for public schools by establishing alumni associations for each school.
91. Reduce social promotion by creating "Homework Helps" for students who are falling behind their class through free optional after hours tutoring.
92. Keep children off the streets by making parents and students aware of programs for out of school time.
93. Give one laptop per child (OLPC) to public school students to break the chains of social and economic inequity so they may join the information based economy of the 21st century.
94. Reduce disconnected youth populations by expanding Vocational Training and Multiple Pathways to Graduation programs offered by the Department of Education.
95. Educate the next generation of innovative and creative leaders through "Art for Art’s Sake."
96. Create a college technology scholars program.
97. Make high school councils local.
98. Ensure one member of local councils is there to represent special needs children.
99. Improve the health of our children through comprehensive sex and health education.
100. Remove toxic chemicals from the educational environment.
I. ECONOMIC GROWTH: THE CREATIVE CITY
1. Stop taxing our poorest New Yorkers by repealing income taxes on low and moderate income households.
New York City taxes the incomes of almost a quarter million low and moderate income households that the Federal and State governments do not. We join New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and the Drum Major Institute in calling for the repeal of income taxes on households that do not owe Federal or State Income tax or earn less than $40,000 a year. To make up for the $100 million shortfall, we should investigate a miniscule income tax increase of eight and a half one-hundredths of a percent (0.085%) from 3.2% to 3.285% on households earning more than half a million dollars a year. While Mayor Bloomberg has argued that our City’s richest would leave in mass exodus over any increase, many question whether someone earning $600,000 a year would leave over having to pay the $97 more a year in income taxes under the proposed option. (Back to Top)
2. Spur start ups with $50,000 micro-seed investments.
Seed money to build a start-up business usually involves an investment of a quarter million dollars or more. But NYC Seed was recently appropriated only $2 million, which led it to announce that their smallest investment would be $200,000 or more, meaning that only 10 companies or fewer would benefit. In this economic crisis, we should offer micro-seeds of $50,000 or less to as many creative entrepreneurs as possible. Instead of seeding 10 companies, that $2 million would seed 40 companies or more. While $50,000 may not be much for most small businesses, it is just enough for the ICE sector where someone already has a career but might need additional capital to turn their art or website into a full time job and the next big thing. Additionally, micro-seeds would gain access to shared conference rooms and presentation spaces along with technical services for business plans, formation and first round investors. By lowering our initial investment, increasing their number and providing support, New York City is likely to generate many more jobs. (Back to Top)
3. Grow jobs by improving accessibility to economic development programs.
Job and Business Centers can be made more widely available to New Yorkers through a commitment to being multi-lingual, extended hours, expansion of child care availability, and the use of new technology. They should also help applicants gain access to other benefits like a free interview suit offered by a not-for-profit, or pre-kindergarten programs throughout the City to alleviate socioeconomic pressures that might otherwise hinder the jobseeker’s or business’s success. (Back to Top)
4. Utilize expert retirees to create a "Senior Service Corps" to assist with workforce and business development.
Especially in an economic crisis, the City needs all the talent within the five boroughs to spur economic growth. A new “Senior Service Corps” (SSC) is one way to tap into one of our City's major "natural" resources, the hundreds of billions of dollars worth of experience and intelligence held in the brains of the tens of thousands of retired business leaders who could work with City agencies and companies to assist with workforce and business development. Economic development programs like incubators would benefit from the life-long experience of senior business people who volunteer as chief financial officer, accountant, attorney, or other technical advisor, working with the a start-up firm once every week or two. Companies would gain valuable technical services and SSCs would develop a ground floor relationship with what might be the next Google or Amazon. Active SSCs who have become knowledgeable about City, State and Federal programs could be called upon to serve as economic ambassadors to attract or keep talent or companies in the New York City marketplace. (Back to Top)
5. Train people who are both unemployed and under employed for jobs that are both high in quality and demand.
Our workforce development strategy must expand to encompass those who might not be “work-ready” and to help them make a transition away from hourly jobs to high quality jobs that offer a career path, benefits, and a living wage. Training vouchers must be expanded to allow for residents to receive multiple grants over time. Our next workforce training program should more closely collaborate with educational institutions, employers, jobseekers and workers to provide industry-recognized training or certificates for the unemployed and underemployed who are currently actively sought by employers. (Back to Top)
6. Make the City’s Job Centers work better for applicants by passing the Ready Access to Assistance Act.
A 2008 study by the Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum found that the majority of welfare applicants experienced long waits, received misleading information and had to come back multiple times. Let’s reform our Job Centers by (a) ensuring applicants receive clearly written materials on requirements for applications and compliance, (b) reducing wait times and (c) better training workers to improve customer service. The City Council should pass the Ready Access to Assistance Act, to allow applicants to enlist an advocate on their behalf to help them better navigate the system, and to allow non-profits to set up tables in the office’s public areas to better assist applicants. (Back to Top)
7. Transform the City’s welfare-to-work program to train job seekers in sustainable wage jobs, paying well over the poverty rate.
The City’s current welfare-to-work program focuses on getting job seekers into the workforce as soon as possible. Let’s instead focus on education and training, so that welfare recipients get into good paying jobs in which they can build a career. This will improve economic growth and ensure that those passing through the welfare program have the skills needed to compete in the modern economy. The State Legislature should revisit legislation to have welfare offices take steps towards emphasizing nontraditional employment and jobs paying over 185 percent of the poverty rate. (Back to Top)
8. Provide tax incentives for working youth and support for gaining access to those benefits.
Over one thousand youth in New York City age out of our foster care system every year, with thousands more needing to become independent while still in their teens. In order to assist working youth in our City, we should support Assembly Member Susan John's extension of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to young workers ages seventeen to twenty four with increased standard deductions and deductions for student loan interest -- this would make youth eligible for an average benefit of $280. For our part, the New York City education system could integrate tax preparation into its secondary and higher education curriculum where our government should have a duty to help students file taxes and qualify for benefits like a new EITC. (Back to Top)
9. Lower health care insurance costs by allowing small business to buy into City health insurance plans.
New York City health insurance costs have recently risen 13 percent annually, with average monthly family health insurance premiums rising from $3,866 last April to $4,354 this April. For perspective, monthly premiums now exceed the cost of renting a two-bedroom apartment in a building in the Financial District. As a result, healthier and younger New Yorkers drop coverage and leave insurers with an even sicker and costlier client pool. Should an uninsured person get injured and be unable to pay their medical bill, taxpayers must cover the expense. While the Federal government works its way towards universal health care, the City government should also investigate opening its health insurance plans to small businesses, so that (a) the businesses can benefit from increased bargaining power and (b) City benefits from lower rates coming from a larger and healthier risk pool. (Back to Top)
10. Use the New York Cancer Project as a model to launch studies on asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and obesity, harnessing our City’s biotech and hospital resources.
In 1999 the New York Cancer Project -- involving 25 medical schools, academic health centers, and major medical research institutions in New York -- began a 20 year study on New Yorkers to better understand genetic and environmental factors that increase cancer risk. Let’s launch similar initiatives to better understand asthma, diabetes, Alzheimer’s and obesity, using funding from the federal government to build biomedical research capacity, expand local skilled employment, and learn valuable information on diseases that affect numerous New Yorkers. (Back to Top)
11. Increase access to business and workforce development programs by putting them online.
Internet can make our business and workforce development centers and the courses they offer more accessible. The program that we envision would follow the “TED.com: Ideas Worth Spreading” model (the YouTube just for great ideas) by working with our City’s educational institutions to bring innovative and compelling experts to lecture. Speakers would be digitized and accessible with multilingual captions or dubbing for jobseekers and entrepreneurs all over our City to watch from the comfort of their own home. (Back to Top)
12. Improve our City's neighborhoods through tax increment financing.
A good way to generate funds for neighborhood investment is to implement Tax Increment Financing (TIF). Chicago has more than 100 TIF districts, used for the funding of playgrounds, parks, schools and other development projects. TIF allows for the selling of bonds to raise money for projects, paid back with increased tax funds that the project generates in an area. New York City recently used TIF to raise $2 billion for the extension of the 7 line. Currently, however, the State laws on TIFs do not allow for school districts to take part in these programs, weakening the amount of financing TIF can bring. We should support the passage of legislation from Assembly Member Schimminger and Senator Stachowski that would allow school districts the option to participate in TIF projects, and expand the purposes for which TIFs could be used, such as environmental remediation and brownfield redevelopment. (Back to Top)
13. Replicate the Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center model to retain manufacturing jobs in New York.
The Greenpoint Manufacturing and Design Center (GMDC) owns and operates rehabilitated industrial buildings, offering start-up manufacturing firms and artisan tenants below market rents, employing hundreds of people. Especially as commercial rents fall in this economic downturn, let's replicate the GMDC program throughout New York, buying vacated industrial buildings to spur industrial growth in the city. (Back to Top)
14. Grow manufacturing of green, biotechnology and other niche industries through expansion of Industrial Business Zone tax credits.
Industrial Business Zone tax credits should be expanded from simply a relocation benefit to also subsidize conversion of existing manufacturing space to provide affordable biotechnology or green manufacturing spaces to help keep those sectors growing in our City. (Back to Top)
15. Recover millions in government subsidies to the private sector by including “clawback” provisions.
New York City spends millions of dollars a year in subsidies to companies which promise to create jobs and increase economic development. Sometimes, however, few or no jobs are created, or the company leaves the City without repayment. For example, in 2004 Pfizer was granted $10 million in tax breaks in return for increasing employment at its Brooklyn plant. Just three year later and after collecting all of the money Pfizer closed the plant and left the tax payers holding the bag. Minneapolis currently requires that companies that fail to live up to their job creation requirement must repay the funds it received plus pay an additional penalty. Putting similar “clawback” provisions and rules on all new subsidies to the private sector will allow us to recover these valuable tax payer dollars where they fail to create jobs they promised or violate their agreement in bad faith. (Back to Top)
16. Protect niche manufacturing by amending and better enforcing the zoning code.
Manufacturing remains integral to a sustainable and economically diversified City, even one that is post-industrial. While we may not build cars here, we have become a City of intelligent niche manufacturers, who make everything from gloves for entertainers to parts for the Hubble space telescope and military equipment that keeps our soldiers safe abroad, as described in a recent Daily News article. Industrial Business Zones (IBZs) can provide a framework for keeping manufacturing space affordable and increase investment, but will need tougher restrictions to keep higher-rent big-box retail outlets, entertainment, bars and clubs out of designated areas. A codification of the Mayor’s promise not to rezone IBZs to mixed use or residential areas will increase confidence that any future changes would be subject to larger review as well as the political process. (Back to Top)
17. Attract "creative class" members to join our workforce though targeted tax incentives.
Tax incentives like exemptions from Unincorporated Business Tax proposed in my June policy paper "Our Next Economy: THE Creative City," and adopted in the City's most recent budget will provide a less costly environment for Creative Class entrepreneurs to join our City as freelancers while encouraging them to start-up a small business in their own right – or join one. Other related high profile tax incentives that have been prioritized by "creative class" members like Assemblyman Jonathan Bing's and State Senator Daniel Squadron’s "Open Source Tax Credit" should be implemented on a City level to provide developers of open source and free software products with the ability to take deductions in the same way as an incorporated business for developing the very same products. (Back to Top)
18. Retain "creative class" members and encourage them to build creative communities.
We must build creative communities by hosting or funding events for jobseekers, educators, businesses and investors in the sector. “NY Tech Meetup” gathers almost one thousand creative class members into a room on a monthly basis to meet, greet, and share the next big ideas with other entrepreneurs, businesses, investors, and service professionals. Any one of these presenters could be the next YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter, and will generate revenues for whatever location happens to be their host. In building these communities, we can emphasize New York City’s best asset – location, location, location – by sponsoring such events to remind the creative class that this City has the resources and talent pool they need to prosper. (Back to Top)
19. Attract small businesses to become a part of "THE Creative City" through targeted tax incentives.
We can build “THE Creative City” with a strong creative core through a mix of targeted tax incentives, program campaigns, and education. For one example, we should continue tax incentives like the New York City Film Tax credit, expanding it to other creative industries such as the technology sector and then keep it current with competing incentives from other cities. (Back to Top)
20. Launch "Art for Public's Sake" to make art a part of everyday life in the City by creating a rotating collection of local art and displaying them in public spaces.
Let's revitalize New York's connection to the arts, as well as our City's artistic potential and talent, by creating a rotating collection of local art through a private-public partnership fund called "Art for Public's Sake". Artists would be paid very modestly to let their work be displayed in the public areas and government buildings. After a period of time the art would be moved to a new building, for a new set of people to see and appreciate. Every few years we would return the work to the artist and update our collection. (Back to Top)
21. Increase the number of art and cultural productions in New York City by providing short term loans for exhibits.
The combined economic impact of just two 2007 exhibits at the Metropolitan Museum of Art resulted in $377 million in spending by regional, national and foreign tourists, with a direct tax benefit to the City and State from out-of-town visitors totaling $37.7 million. In testimony before the New York State Assembly's Committee on Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development, the Alliance of Resident Theatres/New York (A.R.T./N.Y.) suggested that additional revenues like these could be generated by local cultural institutions if the New York City Economic Development Corp (NYCEDC) created a $20 million fund for cultural institutions that are awaiting funding from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) to provide short term loans for start up costs associated with shows and exhibits. Since the short term loans would only go to cultural institutions already designated for NYSCA funding they could be guaranteed by the NYSCA loans and would get reissued to multiple cultural institutions each year. Through smart investments and loan programs like these we can foster the arts and culture and also generate tax revenue from the creative sector. (Back to Top)
II. GREENER CITY
22. Adopt "Green Lighting" for our City's buildings.
Our City government has an annual $800 million energy bill, which accounts for 6.5 percent of our City’s energy use. Let's save money and the environment by gradually replacing lighting with low-energy and long-life fluorescent, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), and light emitting diodes (LED). “Green Lighting” uses a fraction of the energy and offers 8 to 50 times the lifespan of old lighting, with LED’s lasting over 50,000 hours. Let's also install motion sensor light switches in common public areas to ensure that when our employees go out, so do our lights. (Back to Top)
23. Reduce government waste by going paperless.
Going “paperless” by making more materials publicly available over the Internet and upon request will cut paper, printing and ink costs for the City. Eliminating our practice of printing large quantities of City publications will reduce waste stemming from disposal of outdated materials. For example, the City should enact Introduction Number 702 of 2008 (Lappin) to create electronic pay stubs for City employees, reducing our City’s paper and ink use and saving $2 million each year. A paperless campaign, however, can’t stop at pay stubs, and we must work to expand it to all areas where we find our City government wasting paper. (Back to Top)
24. Support building more green roofs to capture rain runoff instead of more wastewater treatment plants in our neighborhoods.
One-third of New York’s landmass is covered by roofs which, if redesigned, can help to clean our environment. Green roofs hold rainwater which would help prevent subway delays associated with flooding and help stem the 27 billion gallons of untreated wastewater that overflows into nearby waters when our sewer system becomes overburdened. Green roofs cool the air, as water in the plants evaporate when sunlight hits, rather than creating an urban heat island effect from higher temperatures in urban areas. If one half of New York City’s flat roofs were green, City temperatures would fall by 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer, saving $70 million in energy costs and strengthening our energy infrastructure. Green roofs also create open spaces where people can congregate and grow food, cut down on CO2, and generally last about twice as long as normal roofs. Some experts believe that by investing $250 million in green roofs, we can avoid having to spend money on expanding our wastewater treatment capacity to handle overflow due to rainwater, while also receiving the other benefits green roofs bring. (Back to Top)
25. Reduce frequency of power outages and lower electricity costs by investing in a Smart Grid.
A smart grid provides for a more efficient, cost-saving method of moving electricity along major long-distances to the disparate end-users, using computers and sensors to better manage the flow of electricity. While New Yorkers may currently use energy generated on Long Island, a smart grid would allow our energy to come from much farther away, mitigating price hikes. A valuable side effect would be that instead of relying on customers to report power outages, outages would be discovered automatically by a smart grid. We can begin making our grid "smart" by investing funds, requiring ConEd to invest in upgrades and acquiring federal funding allocated towards smart grids. Savings would be found in cheaper electricity and in not having to pay damages to consumers who lose power. In addition, a smart grid would spur development of clean electricity projects for businesses and individuals, who would be able to sell excess power back into the system. (Back to Top)
26. Cover the up-front costs of clean energy projects in return for payments over 20 years.
New York State’s tax incentives for installing solar and wind power lag behind other states and municipalities. One obstacle to the development of this industry is the high upfront costs. While solar and wind energy pay the owner back with energy savings after only a few years, they can cost upwards of $15,000 to install. In some California municipalities, local government pays the upfront costs of the installation of solar panels, and taxes the owner’s use for 20 years. This program would mean home and business owners would see lower energy bills right away, and our government would recoup its investment over time. (Back to Top)
27. Reduce energy costs and usage by requiring the installation of smart meters in new construction and renovation of buildings and the replacement of old equipment.
With most power meters, the electric company comes to read the meter once a month, and then bills the consumer for that usage. A smart meter changes all that by allowing consumers themselves to monitor electricity usage and prices in real time, and adjust their usage accordingly. Smart meters will save New Yorkers money -- repaying the cost of installation after only a few years, strengthening our grid’s reliability by preventing blackouts, and saving the City money by lowering power usage during peak hours, thereby pushing back the need to build new power plants. We should require the replacement of old meters with smart meters with every new renovation; new developments should be required to use smart meters; and we should require ConEd to begin replacing old meters with smart meters. (Back to Top)
28. Make recycling a regular part of life for New Yorkers by increasing recycling in public spaces and schools.
Our current residential recycling goal is 25 percent, although we have only reached 16.5 percent as of 2007. In order to reach or exceed our current goal, we must expand the materials that we recycle, expand availability of recycling receptacles, expand deposits on bottles, establish electronic waste and plastic bag recycling programs, investigate clean waste-to-energy projects and further explore sustainable waste export and transportation. Recycling should become widespread and proliferate throughout our City through reintroducing Introductions 673 (Lappin) and 752 (de Blasio) of 2008, which would have placed recycling bins in City schools and parks. Recycling must be a part of our children’s youth so that they grow up recycling out of habit. While these Introductions in the City Council represent a good first step, recycling should be widespread with recycling receptacles eventually available any place our City maintains a trash receptacle. Through recycling our City can reduce waste, save money, and create jobs. (Back to Top)
29. Improve upon PlaNYC's million trees initiative.
Our City needs more trees, but not at the sake of cutting others down. A large, fully grown tree removes almost 70 times more air pollution than a newly planted tree. PlaNYC’s goal of a million trees in New York must account for trees that are cut down. Tree protection should be part of the approval process for any construction project. We should make it easier for individuals and community groups to plant new trees by streamlining the permit process and providing assistance when needed. We must also seek to lower pollution and corresponding asthma rates in low-income areas by planting trees and building parks there to green our urban environment. We can raise funds for new parks and trees with the selling of naming rights for individual trees, park benches and slabs and through Tax Increment Financing. (Back to Top)
30. Reduce emissions and improve the environment by phasing in congestion pricing.
Phasing in congestion pricing would vastly improve transportation in New York City while we wait for infrastructure improvements to catch up with growth. The Partnership for New York City estimates that eliminating excess traffic congestion would add as much as $4 billion and 52,000 jobs to the regional economy, along with reducing losses of $2 billion in revenue and 8,674 jobs in the manufacturing sector, on an annual basis. Let's renew our effort to bring congestion pricing to New York by allowing Albany legislators greater say in how it is implemented. (Back to Top)
31. Improve regional public transportation by keeping infrastructure up to date with regional growth.
Even with the most recent bailout, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority will face budget shortfalls in the future. Meanwhile, our transit system continues to carry one-third of the nation's transit passengers who, according to NYPIRG, pay nearly twice as high a percentage of system operative costs than the national average. We must (a) base funding decisions on current ridership, future ridership and perspective City growth, (b) create a dedicated funding stream so that money people think is going to infrastructure improvements does not get spent elsewhere, and (c) give the City and State Comptroller the power to do full audits of the MTA's finances and records. (Back to Top)
32. Provide notices regarding traffic delays and service changes.
Transportation 2.0 would use technology to provide commuters and businesses with live information regarding traffic delays and service changes. Bringing technology to our transit stations would provide the added benefit of increasing safety by providing cell service in subways; so in the absence of working pay phones on most platforms, if someone sees something, they can say something. And we may not be able to get the trains to always run on time, but imagine if a train sent you a text message or a visual on-platform message that it was running 15 minutes late – or not at all due to flooding or an accident – you could stay at work generating more revenue for your family, business and the economy. (Back to Top)
33. Lower energy costs for New Yorkers by reducing regulatory burdens on alternative energy projects.
New York State currently gets the bulk of its electricity from natural gas, coal, oil, and nuclear, with only 18% coming from hydroelectric and 2% from renewable sources. With our City’s coming need for an additional 500 megawatts of electricity by 2012, and plans to provide only one-eighth of this new power, we must expand “Alternative Energy” production throughout New York City to avoid this shortfall. Our City’s rules make it difficult to install clean energy, such as windmills and solar panels. Home and business owners wishing to save on energy costs have to jump through hoops to get this done – four separate application processes, three separate inspections and the drawings of a licensed architect. Even the installation of unobtrusive small-scale windmills on rooftops requires the same application process as installing a new roof. Our City needs a streamlined application process for clean energy projects. (Back to Top)
III. PUBLIC HEALTH & SAFETY
34. Implement an Internet emergency broadcast message to provide emergency information over the web.
On 9/11 New York City did not use the emergency broadcast system, but many New Yorkers learned about the crisis and what they should do over the Internet. The New York City Office of Emergency Management should work with local Internet Service Providers to provide an initial landing page like the one you see at a hotel or airport that would appear once in the event of an emergency with an advisory, instructions and links for additional details. (Back to Top)
35. Encourage emergency preparedness by creating a tax holiday on emergency supplies during the month of September.
The New York City Office of Emergency Management recommends that residents prepare for emergencies by buying and storing certain basic emergency supplies as well as creating “Go Bags.” Unfortunately, few have the requisite emergency supplies. Fewer still have heard of a “Go Bag,” which is a collection of items you may need in the event of an emergency packed in an easy to carry container that is accessible in case you need to leave your home in a hurry. By providing an initial New York City sales tax holiday from September 1 through September 11 for individual emergency supplies, with a sales tax holiday for pre-made “Go Bags” for the month of September, we can encourage New Yorkers to begin to be prepared for whatever emergency they may face. New York State Assembly Member Jonathan Bing has introduced legislation on this issue and Florida enacted a similar tax free period aimed at hurricane preparedness in 2006. (Back to Top)
36. Provide greater information about elevator outages in New York City Housing Authority run buildings and provide better services to those affected.
Elevators in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) buildings are plagued by problems, with 75 percent failing routine inspection. Since 2001 about 300 residents have been injured in elevator related accidents in buildings maintained by the City's public housing agency. The elderly and disabled are affected the most, making it hard or impossible to leave their apartment when elevator service is down. This problem can be addressed in the interim by adding transparency and notice while we work to fix the underlying problems. A list of NYCHA elevators and their current status as functioning or in need of repairs must be put online in accordance with open data standards. NYC Alert must be leveraged to alert NYCHA residents when their elevators are out of service through robo-calls, text messages, or emails to prevent deaths or injuries from faulty elevators. NYCHA must work with social service programs such as Meal on Wheels to provide food and medical care to stranded seniors and the disabled. The Public Advocate should write an amicus curiae in support of the current federal lawsuit to compel NYCHA to fix elevators and provide help to disabled residents when elevators are not working. (Back to Top)
37. Improve the health of our children by establishing Health Coordinators in school districts.
Thousands of children across the City suffer from chronic health conditions such as asthma, diabetes, sickle cell anemia, and poor dental or vision care. The City should fund a Health Coordinator in low-income school districts to oversee a team of case managers to work in schools, linking uninsured children and children with chronic illnesses to doctors and other appropriate pediatric resources. Health Coordinators and their staff would also track sick days and new sicknesses, catching problems before they become bigger. By placing information online, and having a phone number to call, the Health Coordinator program would be a place where parents can learn about new threats to their children’s health, such as this year’s Swine Flu, and public health officials can better study trends in children's sicknesses. (Back to Top)
38. Allow transgender people born in New York City to change their birth certificate without undergoing sex reassignment surgery.
Transgender individuals must be able to live with the same freedoms as the non-transgendered without fear of accusal for fraud, harassment, discrimination or rejection for showing identification which displays a gender other than the one they display. In order to avoid such discrimination, we should allow transgender individuals to change the sex on their birth certificate or other standard forms of identification without undergoing sex reassignment surgery, while ensuring that people who wish to conceal their identity cannot take advantage of such a program. (Back to Top)
39. Create more Youth Courts throughout the City, letting teenagers hold their peers accountable for misconduct.
Youth Courts place young offenders in front of people of their own age who decide how offenders will repay the community and their victims. Youth Courts have been shown to be more effective at reducing recidivism than traditional punishment. Red Hook’s youth court, for example, hears an average of 139 cases each year, and more than 90 percent of those who go before the court complete their sanctions -- such as community service, workshops, essays and letters of apology -- as ordered. Crime in Red Hook generally has fallen faster than other neighborhoods in the City and the murder rate has fallen to zero there for several years. Youth courts also teach young people about the justice system, encouraging many to work towards joining a profession in the field. Let’s expand on the success of Youth Courts in New York and create more of them. (Back to Top)
40. Support our City’s youth by expanding supervised alternative-to-detention (ATD) instead of incarcerating them.
Alternative-to-detention (ATD) programs cost about $15,000 per year per youth, compared to more than $200,000 for incarceration in detention facilities, and recurring costs from recidivism. We can expand upon ATD programs by increasing participation, improving educational programs for participants, modifying supervision as an incentive for improved behavior, devising an exit plan with participants upon completing the program, and maintaining data on success rates and techniques to continually improve the program. (Back to Top)
41. Provide automatic statutory remuneration for anyone detained by the NYPD for more than 24 hours.
During the 2004 Republican National Convention, New York City arrested 1,821 protesters and innocent bystanders, holding them in a former bus depot with asbestos fibers and chemical runoff for an average of thirty three hours in violation of the State's requirement that detainees be arraigned within twenty four hours. A 2005 estimate placed the City government's legal exposure at $859 million, with $8.2 million spent on defending eighty seven lawsuits and 557 claims remaining as of 2008. There should be steps in place for our City to automatically compensate individuals whose rights are trampled through statutory damages and a policy of automatic settlement offers. Let's start by paying individuals who are held for more than 24 hours without arraignment $1000 for every additional day they spend in detention. The individual would have the option of taking the settlement sum and forego suing the City in the future. Were this program in place for the 2004 RNC, the City could have minimized its almost billion dollar exposure and would have had incentive not to violate the law. (Back to Top)
42. Empower individuals to file complaints with the Civilian Complaint Review Board.
We must ensure that civilians are aware of their ability to file complaints with the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) and that they are actually able to do so. CCRB information should be pervasive through NYPD materials, appearing on summonses, vehicles (like a “How am I driving?” sticker), literature, infocards and letterheads. Along these lines we must integrate CCRB complaints into 311 so that operators can take complaints over the phone. Community outreach by the Public Advocate and the CCRB would help make the process more approachable for local residents and will help the CCRB to better know each area’s specific problems. Through a commitment to the CCRB, the City can help improve the NYPD and its reputation. (Back to Top)
43. Protect good police officers and innocent people from false confessions by videotaping interrogations.
All five of the suspects – including four juveniles – who faced trial in the Central Park Jogger case spent between 14 to 30 hours in interrogation and ended up confessing to and being convicted of a crime that they did not commit, only to have their convictions vacated twelve years later after DNA evidence was found identifying the true culprit. Many police departments across the nation have adopted the practice of videotaping interrogations while the District of Columbia has passed a law requiring them. We can prevent future miscarriages of justice, protect the innocent as well as good police officers from false allegations by requiring all interrogations be videotaped. (Back to Top)
IV. GOVERNMENT 2.0: NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR A NEW DEMOCRACY
44. Establish Universal Internet to provide improved connectivity to all New Yorkers at reduced or no cost.
Universal Internet is vital for making information accessible for local residents -- became a reality last month with a $500 million high-speed wireless network for all 300+ square miles of New York City. While this network is currently reserved for first responders, we must expand Universal Internet, whether through universal broadband or wireless, to the general public so that everyone in the city has some form of access. New York City as a whole has some of the slowest Internet connections at a higher cost than most other cities in the country, which means jobs lost to more connected cities.
We should work with our phone and cable companies (that exist as limited monopolies which have access to much of our City’s infrastructure at little to no cost) to provide a better Internet at a lower cost. Another benefit to Universal Internet would be added public safety from the ability to display emergency messages to every web browser in the City in the event of another major emergency. Improvements to current commercial Internet connections coupled with cost reductions and the availability of Universal Internet will be one of the major catalysts New York City needs to leap into the twenty-first century as “THE Creative City.” (Back to Top)
45. Create an independent budget for the Public Advocate's office.
It's absurd that the budget for a 178 year old, charter-mandated City office intended to be a watchdog over City Hall is decided by City Hall. For the Office of the Public Advocate to be able to fulfill its charter obligations, the budget for the office must be removed from the political process. Let's create an independent budget for the Public Advocate's office, tying it to the budget of a Mayoral agency or the City Council, similar to how the budgets of Independent Budget Office and Office of Management and Budget are tied together. (Back to Top)
46. Attempt to do work "in house" before hiring a private contractor.
The City's private contracting budget has ballooned in the past four years from $6.7 billion to $9.2 billion. While most of this money is necessary for a well functioning government -- providing services that City workers perhaps cannot -- we shouldn't give in to the notion that private necessarily equals better. By paying civil servants instead to do some of the jobs that private contractors do, we can save money, make government more accountable and raise the morale of the City's workforce.
The municipal union DC 37 has proposed $130 million in savings over eight city agencies simply by cutting down on hiring outside consultants and contractors, and instead letting city employees trained for those tasks do the work. New York State takes a different approach to outside contracting. Under a 2008 executive order, a Task Force was created to monitor outside contracting so that the State can only enter into a contract if it is necessary for public health or safety or if it is more efficient or cheaper than using state employees. We should look to create a similar program in our City. (Back to Top)
47. Bring more accountability to the way we provide subsidies and tax breaks to big businesses.
The City for too long has given tax breaks and subsidies to big businesses which do not live up to their promises and which do not provide economic growth. For example, just in the past few years the City has given hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks to the Mets and Yankees to build stadiums which will not stimulate the economy nor create many jobs. Instead of putting all of our eggs in just a few large, corporate baskets, we should focus on giving tax breaks and subsidies to small businesses, spurring innovation and diversity. We should also hold the New York City Industrial Development Agency and Economic Development Corporation more accountable by forcing them to make available more detailed materials on the promised benefits and potential drawbacks of proposed projects. We should make all future subsidies come with strict rules about complying with promised job creation and retention numbers with oversight as the project develops to ensure that promises are kept and remediation options are available if the promises are not kept. (Back to Top)
48. Hold agencies accountable for results by expanding the CompStat initiative to all City Agencies.
The City of Baltimore has successfully implemented CitiStat, which requires many City agencies to produce regular reports on performance data. This data is then discussed by the mayor and officials from the agency. In addition, the data allows analysts to identify problematic trends and determine geographic areas with the greatest need for City services. CitiStat is similar to the New York Police Department’s CompStat program, which has made it more effective and responsive. While the City currently has NYCStat, which compiles data, reports and statistics on every City agency, we should take the process to the next step by making the underlying data used to generate the statistics available and to use it to improve agencies and hold government accountable. (Back to Top)
49. Expand services and information available in multiple languages from City agencies.
With people from over 200 countries living here, New York City’s diversity is a great asset, economically and culturally. Film-maker Ric Burns, in his public television series "New York," has written that “New York City is a continuing experiment to see if all the peoples of the world can live together in one small place.” Though we may all live together, we don’t all speak the same language. The 1990 census reported that 35 percent of New Yorkers’ native language is not English. City government has an obligation to serve these residents, and should do it in a language they understand. That’s why we must expand the availability of City services and information, both printed and electronic, in multiple languages. (Back to Top)
50. Create better Internet sites and applications through mandatory beta testing periods on all products for public use.
Government often provides for public hearings on many issues -- on pending legislation and regulations, for examples -- because proposals can be improved through the advice and input of the public. Similarly, new software is generally released as "beta" which allows it to undergo usability testing with users who provide feedback so that improvements can be implemented and malfunctions fixed prior to the final version. A prime example of this practice in the marketplace is the word "BETA" under the "Gmail" logo that you may have noticed over the past few years on your Google mail account. Google as a company acknowledges how important the user is in developing usable websites and applications.
Unfortunately, the New York City and State governments often provide its users with new websites and applications as a finished product, rejecting requests for improvement by citing projected cost overruns. Sometimes the websites and applications even turn out not to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
The next Public Advocate should introduce legislation that would provide a mandatory ninety day public beta period on all government funded websites and applications. The public -- who are the ultimate end users -- can provide feedback and suggest improvements that can be integrated as part of the project's original contract price thereby ensuring that future websites and applications are ADA compliant and user friendly. (Back to Top)
51. Implement “Open 311” by making information collected on 311 available over the Internet in real time.
Open 311" would be the next logical step for the 311 by allowing for the open collection and dissemination of information relating to government services over the Internet and other communications methods in real time. The key element would be to allow the vast network of Internet users to develop their own applications for interacting with this important information. The City of Washington, D.C. has already implemented this reform, providing savings through direct input by users, lowering call volume by publishing what’s already been submitted and when, enhancing accountability and transparency by showing when real problems are growing or have been fixed -- and most importantly, it can provide an opportunity for civic participation and building a culture of competition for serving your community.
This “do-gooder one-upsmanship” helps residents to build a reputation and community around accomplishments by allowing “Open 311” participants to be featured in a community created “Top 100” or to post notices of their good deeds on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. Applications produced in the “Apps for Democracy” competitions to make government information useful included “SeeClickFix,” “Easy311,” and “DC311” which provide online, location-aware and social-media based 311 tools that allow people to submit a complaint in seconds and share the complaint online for the world to see. While sites like “SeeClickFix” currently allow people to submit problems anywhere in the world, including New York City, the Internet community is eagerly awaiting our City’s adoption of an “Open 311” platform so that complaints from anyone can be integrated right into the existing 311 system. (Back to Top)
52. Adopt local version of "Apps for Democracy" with "Apps for New York City" to develop website and applications with City data.
Earlier this year President Obama launched DATA.GOV in order to provide the public with increased access to information collected by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Immediately after, the Sunlight Foundation launched “Apps for America: The DATA.GOV Challenge” to encourage the development of dozens of applications for people to use in understanding government information. This was based on a similar model adopted in Washington, D.C. with the "Apps for Democracy" initiative, an open-to-the-public contest for making government information useful, which yielded 47 web, iPhone and Facebook applications and resulted in a $2.3 million value to the City.
In the weeks following our initial proposal of “Open Data” and “Apps for New York City,” as a part of “Our Next Economy: THE Creative City,” Mayor Bloomberg has announced “NYC Big Apps” where members of the public would be encouraged to use 80 data sets from the City to create innovative application for a cash prize, marketing and a dinner with Mayor Bloomberg. While we applaud this effort, it falls short of “Apps for Democracy” by failing to provide the same quality of information that is live or interactive in compliance with “Open Data.” Council Member Gale Brewer has also concluded that “NYC Big Apps” fails to even acknowledge that the “data sets” must also be released as “Open Data” so that contestants and the public – not only government – can decide what information is important and what isn’t as they turn it into something useful. (Back to Top)
53. Expand the effectiveness of the Public Advocate's office by deputizing thousands through the use of new technologies like a Twitter Hashtag.
Many people now tweet. I tweet @Green4NY, the City Council tweets @NYCCouncil, and now 311 does as @311NYC. Twitter is a great way to get a message out to the world in 140 characters or less, recently becoming a major news source in the aftermath of the Iranian Elections. With the launch of @311NYC, the City has pledged to "'tweet' information regularly about such things as alternate side of the street parking status, school closures and information about citywide events." But this fails to take government to Government 2.0 where it is both a source and consumer of information. The true power of Twitter is that it can collect every tweet using a keyword called a hashtag, which is a predetermined keyword starting with the pound sign (#) used to build a community around a specific issue. During the swine flu epidemic, the community adopted the hashtag of #swineflu and for the Iranian elections #iranelection, both of which allowed other users, governments, and the news media to keep track of what was going on. In our City, we should use a hashtag like #NYCWatch or #311NYC for tracking local issues through the Public Advocate's office which will in effect deputize every Twitter user in New York City as we follow, re-tweet, respond, direct message and track new problem trends so that we can solve them. (Back to Top)
54. Preserve Net Neutrality to ensure that the Internet remains free of censorship.
While we build a Universal Internet in New York City, it is also important for elected officials to keep in mind that giving everyone access to the Internet doesn’t matter without “net neutrality,” which protects a person's rights to send and receive any information without limitation, and would prohibit Internet Service Providers, like telephone companies, from telling consumers who they can call and what they can say. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, said, “The neutral communications medium is essential to our society. It is the basis of a fair competitive market economy. It is the basis of democracy, by which a community should decide what to do. It is the basis of science, by which humankind should decide what is true. Let us protect the neutrality of the net.” Neither government nor corporations should censor or restrict free speech and it is only by preserving freedom of speech on the Internet that we can protect this engine of innovation that powers our economy and the wealth of opinions that are integral to a strong democracy and Government 2.0. (Back to Top)
55. Help New Yorkers of all ages find information on the NYC.GOV website by providing tour guides through 311.
Websites can be frustrating and difficult to navigate even if you know what you are looking for. For this very reason many websites offer an option to click a button for a live support person who can help guide you through the website over the phone or answer questions through an online chat. For NYC.GOV, clicking this feature could connect someone with a 311 operator in New York City from anywhere in the world. The operator would know what page the person was viewing and help them navigate the site or address the specific question or problem. NYC.GOV must keep pace with technological innovation, adopting new technologies as they become available. By providing this service, the NYC.GOV website will become more useful and 311 will benefit from lower costs and shorter call times stemming from the ability to direct people to longer, richer answers to their problems. (Back to Top)
56. Provide a "My.NYC.GOV" portal like My Yahoo to every New Yorker with personalized information on government services and regulations like alternate side of the street parking.
We have all become accustomed to web portals, such as AOL, My Yahoo, iGoogle or Windows Live, that allow us to personalize the information provided to us. NYC.GOV should implement “My.NYC.GOV,” as a similar portal to provide New Yorkers with access to local information that they think is important such as alternate side of the street parking, school closures, mass transit service advisories, deadlines for Department of Education school applications, and other desired information. Once New Yorkers are given an account, they should also be able to voice their opinions, create online communities, and interact online with City government. This way New Yorkers can learn and propose solutions and City government officials can listen and learn. (Back to Top)
57. Make public meetings more widely known by providing a centralized location aware frame work for public notices.
We must take full advantage of new technologies to provide location-aware notices to New Yorkers through a centralized public notice framework. This could be accomplished by expanding “Notify NYC,” adding this information to NYC.GOV, allowing for personalized notices through “My.NYC.GOV” or through partnership with sites like “Outside.In” that provides users with location-based news from the Internet. This way New Yorkers could learn about public hearings for a noisy bar that plans to move in downstairs, application deadlines for their neighborhood school, or that a film is being shot on their street that will mean their car is likely to get towed if they don't move it in the next day or two. Location-aware notices provided through an open data centralized public notice framework will help New Yorkers engage their community and learn when and where their voice can be heard. (Back to Top)
58. Save money and the environment while making government accessible to the disabled and non-English speaking communities by providing for certain mandatory government notices in optional electronic format and the language of your choice.
Many of our public notice laws were written generations ago when the best way to share information was through the mail or radio, long before television, the telephone or even the Internet. As new communication technologies have appeared, they have lowered communication costs and improved access to information for non-English speakers and the disabled. Like many of you, my family has opted into getting paperless banking statements, which allows the bank to save on the cost of printing and postage, and the world is a little greener from the reduced waste. But why can't we do the same for City government? New Yorkers should be able to call 311 or go to My.NYC.GOV and sign up to receive certain government notices in the language of their choosing by first class mail, electronic mail, or even over the phone, choosing one, a few, or even all of the options. Many people, including my family, non-English speakers, and many in the disabled community, would prefer to get notices electronically and in our preferred language, saving the City printing and postage costs while creating a Greener City. (Back to Top)
59. Give New Yorkers access to the government benefits they deserve by moving away from bureaucracy and providing automatic benefits.
As outlined in “Our Next Economy: THE Creative City,” government must finally adopt a consumer oriented approach to service delivery and abandon the old method of requiring residents to jump through hoops and deal with bureaucracy in order to qualify for and gain access to benefits that they deserve. One such way would be to screen residents for benefits through routine filings such as their annual tax return. In our new consumer oriented government, taxpayers would receive pre-filled-out applications for benefits such as food stamps, heating assistance, or rent increase exemptions with their tax refunds. While demonstrating leadership on a local level, we should also support Congressman Charlie Rangel’s proposal to do the same on a Federal level. (Back to Top)
60. Set information free by adopting "Open Data" standards to put complete government data online in real-time so that Internet users can make it usable.
This year President Obama launched DATA.GOV in order to provide the public with increased access to information collected by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Following our President's lead, New York City should make government information available in real-time online through a commitment to eight principles of open data written in December of 2007 by thirty open government advocates, including Lawrence Lessig of Stanford University, Micah Sifry of the Sunlight Foundation, who founded the Personal Democracy Forum, David Moore of the Participatory Politics Foundation, Carl Malamud of Public.Resource.org, as well as Google, Yahoo, and O’Reilly Media. The eight principles require data to be (1) complete, (2) primary (with the finest possible granularity), (3) timely, (4) accessible, (5) machine readable, (6) non-discriminatory, (7) non-proprietary (so that no entity has exclusive control), and (8) license free; all of which would require reasonable privacy, security and privilege and full review of compliance.
As Chair of COPIC the Public Advocate would work with City agencies to restore the public trust through the adoption of “Open Data.” We would also support the passage of Council Member Brewer’s Introduction Number 991 of 2009 legislating “Open Data” with certain amendments to include oversight from COPIC, implementation standards, and the automatic waiver of statutory FOIL costs for non-electronic materials produced after July 4, 2010. Whether it is through the passage of new City laws or aggressively using the Public Advocate’s charter powers, “Open Data” can be implemented so that we may soon have a transparent, accountable and open government. (Back to Top)
61. Provide a centralized repository for all government information at "Data.NYC.GOV."
Chapter 47 of the New York City Charter which pertains to Public Access to Meetings and Information specifically provides for a “public data directory” that COPIC must publish annually listing the computerized information maintained by City agencies, with the requirement that the Mayor and agencies provide the information and assistance as required by COPIC. By fully exercising the Public Advocate’s power as Chair of COPIC, we can force the Mayor and our City agencies to help create a list of all available computerized information in a “public data directory” at “Data.NYC.GOV.” (Back to Top)
62. Improve access to existing government information by requiring government to put any information already requested online for anyone else to download.
In 1996, Congress passed what is known as the Electronic Freedom of Information Act (E-FOIA), updating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966, amended in 1974 and 1986, to require Federal agencies to automatically put certain materials online in electronic and usable formats. Until we implement “Open Data” in New York City, following the example of Washington, D.C. and other metropolitan areas, the only tool most City residents, reporters and good government groups have is to use is the New York State Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), requesting access to specific records by onsite inspection or through ordering copies at a statutory cost of twenty five cents per page in a process that is supposed to take from five to twenty business days. However, in the days since FOIL was originally written, most data has become electronic and the cost of scanning documents has dropped to a fraction of a cent per page versus copying which remains costly both for materials such as toner and paper as well as for the environment.
The next Public Advocate should reintroduce Introduction Number 164 of 2006 which would have provided an appeal to COPIC, then the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, for any denial of New York State Freedom of Information Law by a City agency, saving our courts and agencies money in costly litigation fees. This proposal will also include provisions to mirror the E-FOIA, require City agencies to begin complying with “Open Data” for all new records created after July 4, 2010, and require that all City agencies allow for simplified online FOIL with applicable documents scanned instead of copied, delivered electronically to eliminate postage costs, and posted online to avoid future compliance costs. (Back to Top)
63. Make the City budget fully searchable identifying specific programs along with information on populations and geographic areas that will be effected by changes to the budget.
Even with recent improvements by the Independent Budget Office, the New York City budget process still remains opaque as journalists and residents try to understand differences between the Mayor's budget, the City Council budget and the final budget. Details are often presented through press releases that discuss reductions, restorations and other often indecipherable budget lingo. A “User Friendly” budget would list last year’s allocation alongside the allocations by the proposed budgets from the Mayor, City Council and the final budget indicating the number of residents affected and, say, the specific programs to be cut. The next budget should not be released to the public as a PDF, but in compliance with “Open Data,” outlined above, as an Excel or a comma-separated-value (CSV) file so that the information can be easily analyzed. New York City should also follow the example of the Missouri Accountability Portal and put its State’s budget online. The Office of the Mayor’s Budget and the Independent Budget Office should work together with COPIC to make the Budget searchable by keyword, agency, service, borough, community board, zip code, address and even geocode for an iPhone or Blackberry user. This way the information can be understood and is relevant to an average New Yorker along with the elected officials who are responsible for negotiating it. (Back to Top)
64. Protect funding for our neediest New Yorkers by banning quid pro quo donations from employees and members of the boards of not-for profits that receive member item funding.
Member items are supposed to be a way for local elected officials to provide funding to the neediest of their constituents for essential services in their neighborhoods that would otherwise go unfunded. With the recent member item the scandal involving New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's staff and resignation of Council Member Miguel Martinez we've learned that these necessary funds have been misused. In fact, a recent Daily News article shows that member items have become a system of quid pro quo where local non-profits are extorted to provide political donations in exchange for funding. Not only is this bad government practice but it is unfair to the needier non -profits which don't serve constituencies capable of making the necessary political contributions. The New York City Campaign Finance Board currently limits contributions from people doing business with the City of New York. Unlike businesses this money supplements certain essential social services like feeding the elderly, clothing the homeless and providing school supplies to children. We must ban contributions from the boards of directors and employees of non-profits that receive member item funding and put an end to this despicable practice of quid pro quo. (Back to Top)
65. Increase accountability by making all votes taken by government bodies public and available online in real-time.
In July the New York City Council finally made its voting information public subsequent to numerous freedom of information law (FOIL) requests and a lawsuit by the New York Times. As Public Advocate, we will use the position as Chair of COPIC and “Charter Cop” to ensure that future FOIL requests are complied with and that records of public meetings like those of the City Council and other agencies are available to the public over the Internet. (Back to Top)
66. Empower New Yorkers to help one another by sharing their knowledge and understanding of government services on a "wiki" for NYC.GOV.
Wikipedia, founded in 2001, has changed the world by making almost 3 million articles available in a mission to cover all of existing knowledge that is written, edited, and maintained by a self managed volunteer community. This "wiki" technology was also integrated into Google Search last year because they understand that on the Internet, no one of us is smarter than all of us and users can improve search results for all other users by letting them modify results and leave notes for themselves and others on the topic. By creating a "New York City Wiki" or integrating a “wiki” into NYC.GOV, we can allow New Yorkers to help one another navigate and take advantage of City government services by sharing their knowledge with plain English explanations. For instance, a restauranteur could edit the NYC.GOV page where others go to download a complicated license giving plain English instructions and sharing personal experiences to help other restauranteurs fill out the form. Such a method of creating content from users for users on the NYC.GOV site would truly benefit the City community. (Back to Top)
67. Put the "public" back in public hearing by expanding times, location and methods of testimony to catch up with the 21st Century.
A well functioning democracy requires citizen engagement that is best accomplished through open meetings where members of the public have an opportunity to testify. Unfortunately, just in the month of June this year, all of the City Council's public meetings posted on their calendar occurred on weekdays during business hours with only one meeting happening in the community instead of at City Hall or in the adjacent 250 Broadway Hearing Rooms. We can put the "public" back in public hearings by expanding times, location and methods of testimony to catch up with the 21st Century. City agencies should endeavor to have public hearings in the evenings or weekends when residents can participate. Testimony should be accepted in any language and should follow the New York State Senate example of accepting testimony by YouTube and expand it to include phone in, PowerPoint with voice over, Skype, live chat accompanying a streaming broadcast and whatever technology may come up in the near future. Similarly, all hearings should be available on YouTube, PodCast, or electronic transcript so that interested New Yorkers can engage their government on their own terms. (Back to Top)
68. Save money and collaborate with citizens and across government by adopting free or open source software for government computers.
City government spends millions a year on licenses for commercial and proprietary software products like Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Office and others when other less costly software alternatives exist. We must reform government contracting standards to recognize the value of free and open source software (FOSS) by considering its short and long term costs and comparing it to commercial and proprietary software solutions. By adopting FOSS, our City can significantly cut costs. Based on the FOSS model, anytime any agency made an improvement it could immediately benefit every other City agency, as well as the general public, using the same product. (Back to Top)
69. Protect voters from losing their right to vote simply because of data entry errors or lost mail by making the registration and absentee ballot process electronic.
In the months leading up to last year's Presidential Election, the New York City Board of Elections was crushed under hundreds of thousands of voter registration and absentee ballot application forms to enter and absentee ballots to send out in time. However, many voters still reported that their names were not in poll books or that they did not receive their absentee ballots. The Public Advocate is a Commissioner of the Voting Assistance Commission and can advocate for legislation to allow voters to register and request absentee ballots online so we can speed up the registration process, reduce data entry errors and cut down on voters who report on absentee ballots that never arrive or are never counted. (Back to Top)
70. Bring government into the 21st Century by creating a New York City Chief Information Officer.
President Obama recently created the role of Chief Information Officer for the Federal government and appointed Washington, D.C.'s Chief Technology Officer Vivek Kundra to serve our nation. Having a city-wide Chief Technology Officer helped the District of Columbia spur the development of open and crowd-sourced software, cloud-based web applications, and led to the "Apps for Democracy" initiative. By following President Obama’s and Washington, D.C.'s lead, a New York City Chief Information Officer can help focus City Hall to make sure that New York City sees similar advances bringing about a new era of transparency, accountability and openness. (Back to Top)
71. Unify communities online and help disseminate local information by offering ".nyc" domain to local non-profits and communities.
We should use “.nyc” online domains to bring communities together and create a powerful tool for disseminating and aggregating information around a specific area or City topic. The Internet is increasingly central to our City’s civic, commercial, community, and cultural life. While businesses have “.com” and colleges have “.edu” until now New York City has been denied access to its “.nyc” or “dotNYC” (pronounced dot-N-Y-C). But in 2010 “dotNYC” will become available for use by our city’s residents and organizations. Our City should take care to assure that “dotNYC” is used in the public interest to educate and empower City residents and organizations to better connect with one another and the world. For example, by organizing our City’s education resources around the Schools.nyc domain name, we can make our public, private, trade, and professional schools and our universities more accessible to our residents and to the world. ConnectingNYC.org suggests that we also think of “dotNYC” in terms of our neighborhoods, where we can connect with one another using names such as Astoria.nyc, Bensonhurst.nyc, and Chelsea.nyc, using “dotNYC” to build neighborhood identity, trust, and civic pride as residents more easily locate and network with one another to identify issues and organize for their resolution within their dotNeighborhoods. With the lack of significant number of local newspapers, the Internet can be a powerful tool for disseminating local news and opinions. (Back to Top)
72. Protect the privacy of every New Yorker by launching a taskforce on privacy and proposing legislation to protect personal identifying information from disclosure.
As we have grown from a post industrial society to an information economy, “information” itself has become a very valued commodity. On the private side, credit card companies buy and sell your credit reports and magazines share your subscriptions so that others can size you up and market their products to you. On the public side, the government has a long practice of giving information at little to no cost exclusively to special interests and vendors who become the sole source of the information, who hold it as ransom for a windfall when it is licensed. As we seek to free public information from the tight grip of special interests, it is important that the public have an advocate to protect their personal information from exploitation.
The Public Advocate can be your champion for keeping non-private public information free and keeping your personal identifying information protected. We will launch a “Taskforce on Privacy” to work with the public to identify information that will be released in accordance with “Open Data” deciding together what information is too personal or identifying and when information is too important not to share. This way we can work together to create laws to provide certain privacy protections like those found in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) so that all of us are educated about how our personal information will be used. As “Open Data” becomes more widespread, we will work with City agencies to update our government forms to indicate information that will remain private, information that will be shared, and information that will be available only in the form of a statistical total. (Back to Top)
V. HOUSING & TRANSPORTATION
73. Create an online affordable housing list with a simple unified application.
Affordable housing information is currently managed through dozens of federal, state and city agencies each of which have their own affordable housing stock and programs. And getting into affordable housing in New York City often requires people to identify affordable housing projects, inquire into waiting lists, request individual applications, submit individual applications, then wait and wonder whether they will win the affordable housing lottery.
In the new customer service oriented government proposed in the earlier Government 2.0 section, we should create a centralized affordable housing vacancy database and location aware website, so that New Yorkers can easily find affordable housing based on locations and criteria, qualify for and apply online through one application with check offs for the projects that they are interested in. Access to this website would also be made available at any of the participating agency locations through public terminals and the waiting lists would be public information, which would help stop abuses where people have skipped ahead of others. While affordable housing is currently scarce, making it easier to find options and apply would help the crisis immensely and alleviate stress for numerous New Yorkers. (Back to Top)
74. Develop new affordable housing by improving the 421-a tax benefit.
The 421-a tax break costs our City budget almost half a billion dollars a year just to subsidize luxury development. An analysis by the Pratt Center for Community Development analyzed over fifty condos slated to receive the 421-a tax credit and found that of the over 6,100 units created, not one was affordable with a price lower than $350,000, with most priced above $600,000 and some exceeding $2 million, for lifetime costs exceeding another half billion dollars.
We should adopt the reforms to 421-a proposed by “Housing Here and Now” and its coalition of hundreds of community and advocacy groups by defining affordable housing in the context of the neighborhood, creating permanently affordable units on-site, with the requirement that all workers be paid prevailing wage. We should also consider transitioning from a geographic exclusion zone that requires an affordable housing component to a more organic community related index that would trigger affordable housing for any luxury construction. (Back to Top)
75. Provide homeowners with a new source of income by allowing them to offer affordable housing through a new building code for an "accessory dwelling unit."
The Pratt Center for Community Development and Chhaya Community Development Corporation estimate that between 1990 and 2000 New York City gained 114,000 housing units that are not reflected in the number of certificates of occupancy that were granted for new construction or renovation. These units are often unsafe, existing in private homes converted into rooming houses, unauthorized basement apartments, or commercial lofts rented as residences. In the report researchers admit that illegal units are hard to track with landlords unwilling to reveal them for fear of fines and tenants not daring to report unsafe conditions for fear of evictions or worse. While unsafe living conditions for immigrants in New York are as old as the City itself, we should not need the talent of Jacob Riis and a modern “How the Other Half Lives” to usher in reforms. With the 2010 census coming up it is also imperative that we get these units counted so that local residents are provided with the valuable resources they need.
We can follow the lead of Massachusetts, California and seven other states that have adopted an “accessory dwelling unit” (ADU) to provide necessary safety regulation. Tenants would gain safe conditions, regulatory protection and a rent regulated unit; existing landlords would be provided with amnesty and a grace period; both existing and new landlords would be encouraged to build new or improve old units through financial and technical assistance; and the City would gain hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units along with assurance of a more accurate census count. (Back to Top)
76. Protect tenants in rentals facing foreclosure by transforming properties into community assets.
Communities throughout New York are facing foreclosures, with many renters living in affordable housing facing eviction at the hands of banks as a result of foreclosure. However, a vacant building only harms the bank and the community by reducing property value for the unit and the surrounding neighborhood. Rather than having the buildings sit empty, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development should work with non-profit, limited-profit and tenant association organizations and the larger community to acquire the units prior to foreclosure, at foreclosure in bids far below market rate, or after foreclosure while units sit as real estate owned (REO) properties prior to deterioration. The City could provide grants, financing, technical assistance and a framework for tenants and the community to take ownership of these properties in exchange for a promise of continued affordability. (Back to Top)
77. Leverage public-private partnerships through an Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH) program to make more affordable housing available.
Fannie Mae pioneered Employer-Assisted Housing (EAH) which has grown to provide employees with grants or forgivable loans for down payments on closing costs on home purchases, subsidized second mortgages, matched savings programs, below-market interest rate or mortgage guarantees, technical assistance, credit counseling, subsidized rent and utility payments for renters and even participation in construction or rehabilitation of affordable rental or homeownership. Illinois began matching EAH programs dollar for dollar and providing tax credits in 2000 and now has 50 participating employers with 500 employees who have purchased homes and an additional 700 workers who have received credit counseling. The EAH program has grown so successful that New York Congress Member Nydia Velazquez introduced the "Housing America's Workforce Act" (H.R. 3194), which would provide employers with business tax credits to encourage this program. While we wait for this federal legislation to pass, New York City should create a local version to partner with our business community in building more affordable housing. The business community will benefit from the ability to attract talent, employees benefit from affordable housing and the City would benefit from the investment of the business into the local community so that our government dollars go farther towards creating affordable housing. (Back to Top)
78. Reduce homelessness by expanding supportive housing.
Mayor David Dinkins signed the historic “New York/New York Agreement” with then Governor Mario M. Cuomo to help spur the development of over 14,000 units in more than 220 supportive housing residences in the City for formerly homeless and inadequately housed people with a range of disabilities. Supportive housing is a type of affordable housing that provides on-site service to people who may need support to live independently, including formerly homeless families or individuals, people with HIV/AIDS or physical disabilities, ex-offenders, people with mental illness or with histories of substances abuse and young people aging out of foster care who are in danger of joining 220,000 thousand disconnected youth who are not in school or employed. We must expand supportive housing so that we can reduce the growing homeless population and generate an annual savings of $16,282 per person in costs relating to public services such as hospitals, shelters and incarceration. (Back to Top)
79. Protect tenant health by passing the "New York City Asthma-Free Housing Act."
A 2003 study from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) states that children in New York City are nearly twice as likely to have been hospitalized for asthma as kids in the United States as a whole. We must reintroduce Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum’s “New York City Asthma-Free Housing Act,” Introduction 750 of 2008, to require owners of multiple dwellings, where a person with respiratory problems resides, to prevent and immediately remove indoor allergen hazards such as mold, cockroaches, mice, rats, and dust mites. While HPD considers some mold conditions to be a violation of the Housing Maintenance Code, there is currently no established and enforceable protocol for mold assessment and remediation. (Back to Top)
80. Prohibit tenant blacklists through the New York City Commission on Human Rights by adding a protected class to New York City Human Rights Law.
The New York City Housing Court hears over 365,000 cases per year. All of these cases are noted by tenant screening bureaus, resulting in a blacklist for any assertion of legal rights or defenses. Mirroring Assembly Member Bing's State version, this proposal would amend the New York City Human Rights Law to prohibit the use of court records to form blacklists. Tenants could then assert legal rights and remedies without fear of retaliation through the blacklist and the New York City Commission on Human Rights could enforce this new provision without forcing tenants into costly litigation to get off the blacklists. (Back to Top)
81. Empower communities through local neighborhood planning.
In 1975 the City of New York departed from a comprehensive centralized City-wide master plan when it recognized the importance of community planning under Section 197-a, and was further expanded in 1989 when New York City’s 59 Community Boards were empowered to develop local land use development plans and retain professional experts. Unfortunately, Community Board offices are under-funded and under-staffed for the hundreds of thousands of people they represent and are often unable to propose a community 197-a plan, with a price tag of $50,000 to $250,000. Of the nine proposed between 1989 and 2004, only seven were adopted by the City Planning Commission and the City Council. But even the seven adopted have largely gone ignored in favor of development in response to special interests and market forces instead of actual City planning. There are countless stories of abandoned community 197-a plans like Greenpoint and Williamsburg begging for affordable housing and preservation of manufacturing jobs only to be given luxury high-rise condominiums.
Community Boards must be empowered to create their own neighborhood 197-a plans by providing funding, technical resources and staffing for these valuable plans so that we can encourage each board to create a 197-a plan for each of our 59 community districts. The Public Advocate should also work with the Borough Presidents to investigate how often the City Council and Department of City Planning (DCP) abide by the few 197-a plans that have been adopted and ensure that DCP begins giving regular reports on those 197-a plans that have been adopted. (Back to Top)
82. Ease congestion, improve mobility and expand to under-served areas by implementing a Bus Rapid Transit system.
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is an extremely efficient and relatively cheap way to expand our mass transit system, costing only about $10 million per mile compared to the $1 to $2 billion per mile for the Second Avenue Subway. It has worked extremely well in other cities, and the City’s BX12 line in the Bronx, our first BRT line, has been a major success, increasing ridership and decreasing travel time. We should look to barrier-off bus lanes to improve speed and service to the level of the subway system. We must also work to build a BRT system in areas that as of now have few mass transit options, even if it means they will be less crowded. In the long run, it will spur economic growth in the area and ridership will increase. (Back to Top)
83. Create a single regional transit pass, joining PATH, Metro-North, the LIRR and the city’s subways and buses.
It’s time we develop a regional transit pass – a long-delayed proposal that would be a great step toward uniting our disparate transportation systems. The MTA led the way to the introduction of EZ-Pass, and PATH riders between New Jersey and Manhattan can now use a Metrocard or SmartLink cards. We should expand on these successes and create a truly universal regional transit pass, easing congestion and headaches for commuters, both within New York and those commuting into the City. (Back to Top)
VI. EDUCATING OUR CITY’S FUTURE
84. Commit to reducing class sizes through a staggered school day.
Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein have set a goal of 20 students per class from kindergarten through 3rd grade. But they have failed to achieve this limited goal and largely dismissed the importance of class size, with Bloomberg calling it “an interesting number.” Class size in New York City is 10 to 60 percent higher than neighboring suburbs, and higher than anywhere else in the State. Let’s actually achieve our goal of having no more than 20 students per class, rather than focusing on statistics and minor percentage up ticks in less concrete measures of success. One way of reducing class size without extraordinary capital investment is by splitting overcrowded schools into multiple groups with staggered start and end times so that the early schedule starts and ends two hours earlier than the late schedule. All groups would have an eight hour school day with classes that need more individual attention held in these additional time blocks, when there will be more space available.
This solution would allow the Department of Education to tap into the 2,400 teachers without work assignments who remain on payroll, which is has cost the City $200 million in the past three years, to teach the increased number of classes. This model builds on private schools that provide schedules to more closely fit the schedules of parents. Likewise, this program would allow parents to chose from say, dropping their kids off at 7, 8 or 9 o'clock and picking them up at 3, 4, or 5 o'clock, providing greater flexibility, reducing unsupervised time for children and reducing crime among youth. (Back to Top)
85. Encourage developers to build new schools by creating a 421-e tax abatement for new construction.
The 421-a tax incentive for developers who integrate affordable housing within certain exclusion zones has become a new model of success. This same model could be expanded to a 421-e, with an "e" for education, to allow developers an option to gain the same tax incentives for including space for a public school on the site of new construction that is within a school district that is certified as "overcrowded" by the Department of Education. The developer wins by attracting families that might not otherwise be interested in the new development due to overcrowding, the Department of Education wins from new class room seats at low cost in a City without much land, and parents and students win from having smaller class sizes. (Back to Top)
86. Convert millions of square feet of vacant commercial office space into school seats now.
Earlier this year the Metropolitan Life Insurance ("MetLife") Company took a $38 million charge on vacant Manhattan and Queens office space such as 100,000 square feet at 1095 Avenue of the Americas and 180,000 square feet at 27-01 Bride Plaza North in Long Island City -- and MetLife is not alone. As a result of the economic crisis, New York City has millions of square feet of vacant office space. Meanwhile, we don't have enough seats for our public students and nowhere to build new public schools. Perhaps we can find an answer by studying the Millennium High School founded in 2002 and located on the 11th, 12th and 13th floors of a commercial office building. By taking advantage of commercial spaces that are dropping from $40 per square foot to as low as $18, we can create temporary and permanent schools now to alleviate current overcrowding today while we build more schools to keep up with our City’s growing population. (Back to Top)
87. Build and fund the construction of new schools by offering an “educational housing” density bonus for developers who to contribute to the local education system.
New York City has had huge success by offering density bonuses, so that developers can build more units in existing locations in exchange for providing affordable housing or one case funding the rehabilitation of the “High Line Park.” With many of our school districts facing overcrowding, we should create scaled density bonuses for developers who provide permanent funding for the local education district or include space for schools on-site. (Back to Top)
88. Hold State legislators to their word and ensure that Universal Pre-K is a reality by 2011.
The average family spends almost $10,000 a year on child care with child care costs increasing at almost $1000 annually. One way to alleviate this problem is to implement universal pre-K, which costs less than $5,000 per child. Pre-k is not just an education issue but also an economics issue, giving parents greater freedom to work and more money to spend. Universal Pre-k will also decrease day care costs as demand decreases. Child care costs are one of the primary reasons young mothers do not attend college. Studies are unclear about exactly how much of a positive impact pre-k has on students, but even detractors admit that kids have gains over the next few years – which is something educators can build on. Placing children into a program with peers also allows them to develop their social skills early. The State government has been promising universal pre-K since 2002, currently pushed back to 2011. We must hold state legislators to their word and make sure that funds are allocated for universal pre-K by 2011. (Back to Top)
89. Improve education by creating an "Adopt-a-School" program.
Business leaders often know what children need to succeed in the modern economy. In addition, they have knowledge about how to manage institutions, and how to get the most out of each employee and each dollar. Let's create an "adopt-a-school" program, expanding the good work that is done by the not-for-profit PENCIL, for business leaders throughout the City, starting with schools most in need. Each business leader would work with the principal to improve education, and have the option of raising private funds for things such as scholarships, supplies and personnel. A close working relationship with schools would also give students a ground floor to getting a job after graduation or during the summer, and provide internship opportunities during the school year. (Back to Top)
90. Increase funding for public schools by establishing alumni associations for each school.
What makes many academic institutions successful is the strength of their alumni association, which often provides financial support to the institution, mentors and internships to the students, and jobs to graduates. The Bronx High School of Science is one prominent example of a public school that benefits from its strong alumni association, creating unparalleled opportunities for its students and graduates. According to the Fund for Public Schools, a non-profit devoted to raising funds for our City’s public schools, only 18 of our City's 1,615 public schools have an alumni association. The Department of Education should work in partnership with the Fund for Public Schools and the Public Advocate to create alumni associations for as many of our public schools as possible and create targeted giving campaigns. (Back to Top)
91. Reduce social promotion by creating "Homework Helps" for students who are falling behind their class through free optional after hours tutoring.
Many children face challenges keeping up in classes because they have teachers over-burdened with too many students and busy working parents who might be unable to help. Let’s launch a “Homework Helps” program to get these struggling students the help they need by recruiting public High School students with high grades and offering credits or a modest stipend to tutor public middle and grade school students after school. High School students would gain confidence and be instilled with the value of helping out those less fortunate and struggling students would gain a role model and the help they desperately need. This program would institutionalize a culture of students helping students and provide a cost effective way to give extra help to the students who need it. (Back to Top)
92. Keep children off the streets by making parents and students aware of programs for out of school time.
Out of school time programs reduce youth crime by keeping them off the street while expanding children’s potential through diverse programs in the arts, sports and other areas that are not offered during the school day. One example is Asphalt Green’s free learn-to-swim program that offers underprivileged youth courses through its life guarding certificate and serves as a feeder to summer jobs with the Parks Department earning upwards of ten dollars an hour. The City should offer a city-wide list of all Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD), non-profit and for profit out of school time programs, online in print and multiple language so that parents and students can find appropriate programs based on age, cost and qualification. Creating this resource will benefit DYCD, non-profits, and for profit out of school time programs but also benefit our City’s working families by providing safe and supervised activities for children when they are out of school. (Back to Top)
93. Give one laptop per child (OLPC) to public school students to break the chains of social and economic inequity so they may join the information based economy of the 21st century.
New York City currently spends about $14,000 per student. The cost of providing “One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) would be less than 1.5 percent of the cost per student. A $200 netbook buys a student the tools they need to compete in a computer based workforce. This would be coupled with a commitment to universal internet by allowing students on our City’s new wireless system or by asking cable and phone companies to provide public school students with free wireless internet in exchange for their limited monopolies. Give a child a laptop and we break the chains of social and economic inequity so they may join the information based economy of the 21st century. (Back to Top)
94. Reduce disconnected youth populations by expanding Vocational Training and Multiple Pathways to Graduation programs offered by the Department of Education.
Disconnected youth" is a growing problem for New York City with more than 220,000 young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school and are not employed. We currently fail to properly serve nearly half of them who have not completed high school or earned a general equivalency degree (GED). The Department of Small Business Services (SBS) provides workforce programs for New Yorkers over 18, but does not offer Individual Training Accounts (ITAs) for job training to people without a high school diploma or GED. Unfortunately, the Department of Education does not serve youth over 21 years of age, so youth age 22 to 24 are left falling through this gaping hole in workforce development.
By expanding the Department of Education's Multiple Pathways to Graduation programs, a broader range of disconnected youth could gain access to full or part time GED preparation programs as well as job training and placement programs at Young Adult Borough Centers. We can also encourage more youth to stay in school by expanding internship opportunities and vocational training; they would be coordinated by the DYCD’s Summer Youth Employment program and Young Adult Internship Program along with outreach to local employers. Vocational training would allow high school students to take CUNY accredited vocational courses for free or reduced cost onsite in high school as a value added for staying in high school through graduation with the prospect of gaining valuable vocational skills as well as a possible Associates degree. By providing graduates of our public schools with valuable vocational training, certification and on the job experience as interns or employees, we can ensure that they have increased employment opportunities upon graduation. (Back to Top)
95. Educate the next generation of innovative and creative leaders through "Art for Art’s Sake."
Nearly thirty percent of public schools do not have an arts teacher on staff and only eight percent of elementary schools provide mandated arts education. Principles, whose five-figure bonuses are mostly based on test scores and little on the strength of the school's art program - often cut arts programs. In an effort to increase a school's capacity spaces for arts education are often eliminated and replaced with an “art cart.” An art class is a place where a student who has trouble reading finds a unique talent, and a teacher who takes an interest. An art class is a place where a student who feels demoralized by his lack of math skills can foster his own creative way of seeing the world. An art class is a place where a student who is bullied by classmates or lacks a positive parental influence can find a way to express his emotions. Art is not something to be judged based on how well it improves skills in other subjects. Art is, in and of itself, important. Art, more so than math, science or English, is a subject that allows students, and indeed encourages students, to define who they themselves are, bound not by a right or wrong answer, but by the limits of their own imagination. I believe that the future of our City lies in our ability to think creatively and to foster the individualism and entrepreneurship that will spur the innovation that drives our City. Let’s require all schools to provide arts education to help us grow a creative and innovative generation to help maintain New York as “THE Creative City.” (Back to Top)
96. Create a college technology scholars program.
We should provide tuition assistance for New York High School graduates or CUNY college students who wish to earn a degree in the computer and technology field. In return, they will be required to provide technology support in our primary and secondary public schools. Our City would benefit from lower technology costs in our public schools and our "Technology Scholars" would benefit from the training they received along with hands on experience, which would help them find immediate high-paying jobs in the technology sector. Such a program would also and create an army of New Yorkers who are experts in computer technology – an Information Age GI Bill. (Back to Top)
97. Make high school councils local.
Currently the City has only one high school council per borough and one citywide council. This hinders the ability of parents to give meaningful input to decisions that affect their high-school age children’s education. While high school choice has removed high schools from districts, we can still give parents the opportunity to have a say in their high-school age child's education by creating a high school council for each geographic district, or making councils currently there represent students K-12 instead of K-8. This would mean that parents would have a council representing their needs even if they do not live in the district in which their child attends school. (Back to Top)
98. Ensure one member of local councils is there to represent special needs children.
There are more than 180,000 special needs children in our education system who have lower rates of achievement and graduation than anywhere else in the State. Partly this is due to the fact that organization for special needs students is fragmented, with District 75 as well as 18 different entities. There are delays in evaluations, and in the placement of students into programs. Let’s empower the parents of special needs students by requiring that one of the two selections Borough Presidents make for Community Education Councils is a parent of a special needs kid or is there to represent them. (Back to Top)
99. Improve the health of our children through comprehensive sex and health education.
New York City does not require expansive health education that includes sex education in our public schools. Not surprisingly, teen pregnancy rates in New York City are significantly higher than national averages with HIV/AIDS still rampant and over one million young people in the City are overweight with childhood obesity alone costing the State $242 million in public and private medical expenses each year which grows to nearly $6.1 billion for obese adults. In fact, the New York State Comptroller recently found that 20 out of 30 City public schools offered junk food in direct violation of the Chancellor's policies. Similarly, studies show that teen pregnancy is one of the main causes for dropping out of high school. We must educate our children about healthy life choices, like safe sex, exercise, diet while also reducing anti-gay and gender identity-related harassment. We should continue to make condoms available in public schools and make sure to remove junk food from school vending machines while providing healthy alternatives and appetizing lunches with calorie counts posted. (Back to Top)
100. Remove toxic chemicals from the educational environment.
As your Public Advocate, we released "Lead & Kids: Why are 30,000 NYC Children Contaminated?", a detailed study of the deadly impact of lead-based paint in New York City residential housing, schools, and day care centers. While that helped to get the lead out, another contaminant has recently been identified: Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) carcinogens, which can lower IQ scores and cause asthma, and which are common in window and door caulking found in 266 New York City schools built or renovated in the 1960s and 1970s. In uncovering these toxins last year, The Daily News demonstrated that schools had 4 to 4,000 times the legal threshold, with 95 percent of 377 pupils tested having low-level concentrations in their blood. The Environmental Protection Agency listed PCBs as a carcinogen in 1978, imposing a fine of $3,000 and $25,000 per day until toxic materials are removed. We must continue testing this City's schools for harmful chemicals to protect our children and support legislation that would provide funding for this expensive undertaking, including the 21st Century Green High-Performing Public Schools Facilities Act on the Federal level and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal's annual requirement for PCB testing and posting of results by the Department of Education. (Back to Top)
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