Results tagged “funding”

31% of total traffic deaths in the NYC metropolitan area are pedestrians, but funding for pedestrian and bike infrastructure lags far behind even the meager amount spent in other cities. The conclusion is found a new national report on pedestrian traffic deaths, published by the Transportation for America and Surface Transportation Policy Partnership. Their analysis determined that only 1% of New York State federal transportation funds are spent on pedestrian infrastructure, and the NYC metropolitan area receives only $0.61 per person in federal funds for pedestrian and bike facilities, well below the $1.39 spent per person for metro areas nationwide.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard is getting a green makeover, to the tune of $15 million in state funds; no word on the supermarket, but part of the plan is to install what will be the state's largest solar panel there.

According to the NY Times, "For years, aides to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg routed hundreds of thousands of dollars in city money to at least two politically connected nonprofit groups in violation of government contracting rules, according to records and interviews." See, the mayor's office can only direct money (and in this instance, it was "$1.1 million to Agudath Israel of America Community Services and more than $400,000 to Ohel Children’s Home and Family Services" between 2002 and 2006) when it's requested by a city council member or borough president—but the city council member, who is indicated as the one who requested the funding in documents, says he never asked for the money! City Councilman Simcha Felder (D-Brooklyn) told the Times, "I did not ask for it," while a mayoral spokesman said, "We have no reason to think that the funding analysis contains any errors. And we disagree with the councilman’s recollection." Yet, the Times adds, "The mayor’s office said it had no documentation showing that Mr. Felder had made the requests." And an Agudeth executive said it also went to the mayor's office for help. Last year, the City Council slush fund mess prompted the mayor's office to open up about its own slush fund.

Just yesterday city officials were bitching about how the Justice Department wasn't giving NYC a dime from the $1 billion economic-stimulus money intended to help cities avoid laying off cops. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder explained that, "These officers will go to where they are needed most, based on crime rates, financial need and community policing activities." In other words, crime is relatively low here, and other places (like the mean streets of Caribou, Maine) need help more. Mayor Bloomberg fumed to reporters, "To punish our Police Department because they have driven down crime with fewer resources shows the backwards incentive system that is sometimes at work in Washington."

The against-all-odds LES mainstay, artist collective ABC No Rio, is back on top with news of money coming in for their rebuilding costs. Three years ago the deed of the Rivington Street tenement that's housed the group for 30 years, was sold to them for $1 by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Soon after they were told they'd need about $2.4 million to rebuild what was beyond repiar, and now the NY Times reports that $1.65 million has come in. Last week "the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, and City Councilman Alan J. Gerson allocated $1.65 million for a new building. Mr. Stringer arranged for a capital grant of $750,000, citing ABC No Rio’s resilience and cultural value. The rest of the money came in the form of a grant of $450,000 from Mr. Gerson’s discretionary budget, which was matched with another $450,000 by the City Council. The money will be controlled by the Department of Cultural Affairs." Demolition is slated to begin around next Spring.

A spokesperson for Governor Paterson's office confirmed that talks were ongoing but stressed that no resolution had been reached. Governors Island has become an increasingly popular weekend recreation destination since it was opened to the public in 2003. It's run jointly by the city and state, but Paterson's budget does not include any money for the park this year, and yesterday the Governors Island board of directors imposed an austerity budget of $11.8 million, down from $18.8 million, while acknowledging that the remaining $550,000 in its operating budget will be exhausted by the end of the month.

The Post reports, "Mayor Bloomberg has lowered the budget ax on funding for several community organizations after determining the groups did not meet new standards." City Council members distribute $46 million to various non-profit community groups, but last year it was discovered that money was being left for phantom groups—with the money used by the Council Speaker's office for "future gaps"—so a new review process was put in place. A Bronx community center was disqualified due to "poor performance on past contracts" while four others, including a graffiti removal company, were were deemed to be for-profit. The Post adds, "Hundreds of recipients are still under review and have yet to receive funding."

With the MTA's finances in desperate, dire shape, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has "proposed a compromise on Wednesday that endorses putting tolls on the bridges over the East River and the Harlem River," the NY Times reports. The idea to toll the currently free bridges came up last November, but opposition from drivers has been fierce. Silver offered a compromise to charge $2 tolls to drivers—which is what subway and bus riders pay—and said, Obviously there are some who don’t like the toll. And I put that in the juxtaposition of, ‘Look, this is the only game in town.’” But Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) told the TImes, “Tolling the bridges is just not acceptable to me. Once you cross the Rubicon on tolling bridges the future conversation is merely, ‘How much is the periodic increase going to be?’"

      

Last night, hundreds people crowded a ballroom at the Hilton for the MTA's first public hearing on the proposed fare hikes and service cuts. Leona Adams, an 86-year-old, spoke out against raising Access-a-Ride fares 250% (or higher): "The medical field has extended our lives to whatever age we are...yet if we are not able to continue our active lives that Access-A-Ride allows, then we will become burdens to our family, the city, the state and the nation."

Yesterday there was word of Bronx Zoo funding going the way of the dodo, as Gov. Paterson’s budget proposal promises to eliminate it in two years. The Daily News reports that the cutbacks would also effect "museums across the state — including the New York Botanical Garden and Wave Hill in the Bronx." The Brooklyn Eagle has more today on cutbacks that will hit the borough, where the only good news is that the Prospect Park Zoo won't be effected. The paper reports that with the proposal the BBG's in-house exhibits and educational programs would suffer, and the institute's president said, "We can understand a reasonable reduction, but a 55 percent cut, followed by the elimination of the fund itself, is too much." All in all 76 zoos, botanic gardens and aquariums are on the funding chopping block—and the main problem here is, of course, that “animals don’t stop eating and don’t stop needing care."

Seven major sponsors have dropped out of the always awesome West Village Halloween Parade, and the event's artistic director, Jeanne Fleming, says she's working with half the budget she had last year, leaving a $4,000 deficit. Organizers count on major sponsors to donate $25,000 each to the event, and the tanking economy could make next year a Hollow-een parade. Eh? Fleming tells Craine's, "The Halloween parade is a folk event. We can't just say we won't do it this year. It's what the people need right now." Registration for the parade is higher than ever, and thankfully the decline in funding won't affect this year's most hotly anticipated float: The Ferris Bueller parade reenactment. And here are some stellar photos from last year's parade.

The other day, Senators Chuck Schumer and Hillary Clinton were thrilled with securing $18.55 million in funds to build an Army Reserve Center complex on Staten Island. However, today the Staten Island Advance reports it's improbable the complex will be built on Staten Island: "The Army Corps of Engineers has told the Advance that the three-building training complex for 300 Reservists likely will be built in Caven Point, N.J., in Hudson County, because there wasn't enough federal land available to accommodate the project here." The S.I. site thought to be appropriate turned out to be...a flood plain. Schumer's office "insisted" to the Advance that the center would be built on S.I., since the funding is for S.I. Stay tuned!

Yesterday, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama decided to forgo public financing for his general election campaign, seemingly reneging on his earlier statement that he would receive public financing if the Republican nominee did, too.

It's Fleet Week in NYC, but the city's hometown aircraft carrier Intrepid is having trouble finding its way home. The Intrepid is still in the harbor--docked at a shipyard in Staten Island as it undergoes renovations--but it's uncertain if the fabled craft will be able to make it back to its berth on Manhattan's West Side.

The MTA unveiled its 2008-2013 Capital Plan, which explained almost $30 billion will be needed to improve mass transit and complete projects like the Second Avenue Subway, the East Side Access plan and more by 2030 (many of those projects will also be delayed). Though the current MTA capital plan doesn't expire until next year, the MTA presented this plan because the state congestion pricing legislation required them to present a plan by the end of the first quarter of 2008.