Sara Gonzalez

Among the funding requests cut by the Council from its budget was one for the Bronx African American Chamber of Commerce, which was slated to get $10,000 at the request of City Councilman Larry Seabrook. The organization earned some attention when it came out that they never accounted for the ultimate destination of $994,488 they received last year.

After voting in favor of the budget, Seabrook told me, “I didn’t put it in -- that was a mistake on their end,” referring to the Council staff.

A spokesman for the City Council explained the mistake, saying that Seabrook had initially asked for the money but later recsinded the request.  read more »

Here's an invitation to City Councilwoman Sara Gonzalez’s November 15th fund-raiser which, interestingly, includes some Republican names: James Oddo, Vinny Ignizio, and Dennis Gallagher (who has recently been in the news for something else entirely).

 

 

 

 

 

 

City Councilman Lew Fidler, a man who lives on the edge (of Brooklyn, that is), submitted a bill this week that calls on Mayor Bloomberg to oppose congestion pricing before he even gets a chance to propose it. So far, six other outer-borough Council members (Melinda Katz, Tony Avella, Sara Gonzalez, Miguel Martinez, Michael Nelson and David Weprin) have signed on.

The bill argues two sides of the same coin: that London's congestion pricing scheme was so ineffective that only 2 percent fewer people entered the city as a result, but that a Manhattan model would be so effective that it would result in a $2.7 billion loss in economic output.

Anti-anti-congestion forces are fighting back: Streetsblog has some data showing that in Mr. Fidler's district, only 25 percent of commuters to Manhattan drive and the rest use mass transit. That factoid, however, does not deter the bill's sponsor.

"It's economically unjust. Only those who can afford it will pay and those who can't, can't," said Mr. Fidler, who added that there is not a single subway stop in his district, which includes Canarsie and Marine Park. "I believe in subsidizing mass transit. I also believe that it is not the only transportation that New Yorkers use, and it cannot be."

He has a more radical solution, at least to the issue of clean air.

"I would have the federal government ban the manufacturing and importation of combustion engines in 10 years or 12 years or something like that," Mr. Fidler said, "and see how quickly they adapt the technology to cleaner air and alternate sources of energy."

- Matthew Schuerman

The Times had it about right this morning on Freddy's retreat to a Rose Garden strategy, which seems to be serving him pretty well for the primary.

One note: It's a heavily, though not exclusively, Hispanic-inflected Rose Garden strategy, an unannounced return to his base. Recent events include a trip to Puerto Rico and walks in the home districts of Sara Gonzalez, Jose Rivera, Peter Rivera, and Jose Peralta.  read more »

But Freddy must read the Times! Tomorrow, expect a "major policy initiative" at the CUNY Grad Center.