Uptown Radio

Nat Herz brings us the news at 4:00.

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The commuter tax will have to be approved by the State Legislature before going into effect.

Nearly 1 million people live outside of New York and commute to the city each day.

Now, Manhattan Borough President and potential mayoral candidate Scott Stringer is calling for the reinstatement of a commuter tax, which was repealed in 1999.

This tax has a long, contentious history here: it existed for more than 30 years.

Bringing it back could be just as fraught.

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HOST INTRO: This week, State Senator Adriano Espaillat announced he’s running for a U.S. Congressional seat in northern Manhattan and the Bronx.

If elected, Espaillat—a Democrat–would become the first Dominican-American in the House of Representatives.

His biggest obstacle is incumbent Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel, who’s had the seat for more than four decades.

Now Rangels’ district been redrawn to include heavily Latino neighborhoods—setting up a new contest between two of the city’s largest constituencies: Latinos and African Americans.

Nat Herz has this report.

–

SOUND: Fade in track meet ambi.

NAR: This past Sunday afternoon, State Senator Adriano Espaillat was getting a warm welcome at a track meet he helped organize in Washington Heights.

The stocky, energetic 57-year-old dished out handshakes, gave a quick speech, and posed for a photo-op with a giant tiger mascot. And for one last day, he dodged questions about his political future.

ESPAILLAT 1:
IC: “No, no no…
OC: “…Tomorrow, I’ll answer you that.”

NAR: Espaillat’s run for Congress was one of the worst-kept secrets in New York City. He announced it the very next morning.

Voters have sent Espaillat to Albany for the last 15 years—first as an assemblyman, and then as a state senator. He’s championed a bill on rent regulation, chaired a committee on small business, and pulled in money to his district for legal assistance.

All that has earned him the loyalty of voters like Louis Ramos, a Dominican-American from Washington Heights who was at the track watching his daughter. Ramos says he knows Espaillat personally.

RAMOS 1:
IC: “He helped me out pretty good…”
OC: “…so he got my vote.”

NAR: Espaillat appears to be the strongest of four new challengers for the Congressional seat in New York’s 13th district. Other contenders include Clyde Williams, the former Democratic National Committee political director, and longtime activist and politician Joyce Johnson.

But there’s one gigantic obstacle for all of them. That’s Rangel, who’s been in office since 1971—three years before Espaillat graduated from Bishop Dubois High School…in Harlem.

Rangel is known as ‘the Lion of Harlem.’ And despite a series of ethics problems over the last few years, he’s still popular.

DIALLO 1:
IC: “He was even chairman…”
OC: “…of the Ways and Means Committee!”

NAR: That’s Mamadou Diallo, a taxi driver who says he has voted for Rangel before, and will again. He thinks Rangel deserves credit for consistently delivering to the area in the 23 years Diallo has lived there—and he has specific examples.

DIALLO 2:
IC: “There were no banks in Harlem…”
OC: “…Particularly during the Clinton years, a lot happened around here.”

SOUND: Fade out track meet ambi.

NAR: For Espaillat to get elected, he’ll have to win over longtime Rangel constituents like Diallo.

In an e-mailed statement, a Rangel spokesman said that the Congressman “firmly believes, as he did 21 times before, that he is the best candidate to make a difference in the community.”

The re-drawn district is now more than half Latino—up some 10 percent from the last election.

Technically, that should make things easier for Espaillat. But he’s still on Rangel’s turf.

During his 40 years in office, the incumbent has developed strong ties with a number of Latino leaders. And it doesn’t hurt Rangel that his father is Puerto Rican.

FALCON 1:
IC: “Who knows?! You call him Charlie Rangel…”
OC: “…he may call himself Carlos Rang-GELL.”

Angelo Falcon is president of the National Institute for Latino Policy, which is based in New York.

He says that Latinos won’t just vote as one big group.

The new district has a significant Puerto Rican population, and a number of local leaders have already thrown Rangel their endorsements.

In theory, Espaillat should get strong support from Dominicans. But Falcon says that group lacks clout when it heads to the polls.

FALCON 2:
IC: “There are age, citizenship issues…
OC: “…So it’s not a slam dunk, by any means.”

NAR: Espaillat and the other challengers will square off in the Democratic primary on June 26.

Nat Herz, Columbia Radio News.

State Senator Adriano Espaillat and City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez pose with a masked constituent at a track meet on Sunday.

New York City Council members observe the debate on term limits at City Hall. Photo by Frank Franklin II/AP

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BY NATHANIEL HERZ

HOST INTRO: New York’s next elections for mayor and city council are still a year and a half away. But last week, the city Campaign Finance Board passed a new set of rules that could have a big impact on how those races are run. Nat Herz has the story.

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NAT: You know that Supreme Court decision, Citizens United? The one that has turned the presidential election upside down by loosening federal campaign finance laws? Well, up until last week, some of New York City’s laws were even looser.
Here’s city Campaign Finance Board Spokesman Eric Friedman.

FRIEDMAN 1:
IC: “There was no requirement at all at the city level…”
OC: “…for outside parties to disclose what they’re spending in city elections.”
Time: 0:08

NAT: At the federal level, groups supporting a candidate generally have to say where they’re getting their cash, and how much they’re spending on ads and mailings. That’s never been the case in New York. To put it another way, says Laurence Laufer, former counsel for the city’s Campaign Finance Board, New York had a loophole that doesn’t exist at the federal level.

LAUFER 1:
IC: “New York City has had a campaign finance law for 25 years…”
OC: “…those were simply outside of the disclosure regime.”
Time: 0:12

NAT: The disclosure gap applied to any so-called independent efforts, which could be backed by labor unions, corporations, even wealthy individuals.  Groups didn’t have to say who they got their money from, or where it was going. For example, several 2009 city council races were influenced by a $500,000 independent campaign backed by real estate companies. Only after the race did citizens get the details—too late to inform decisions at the polls. Voters passed new disclosure rules in a citywide ballot measure in 2010. After revisions and public comments, they were approved by the Campaign Finance Board last week. Friedman says the rules are an improvement.

FRIEDMAN 2:
IC: “We have the disclosure so that voters…”
OC: “…going to help them determine who they vote for.”
Time: 0:08

NAT: In recent mayoral races, independent money has played only a small role.  Laufer, the campaign lawyer, says that’s because of the unique situation of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has bankrolled his own campaigns.
LAUFER 2:
IC: “The story of the last decade has been spending…”
OC: “…who’s going to do something similar.”
Time: 0:13

NAT: Bloomberg’s absence will likely increase the clout of the independent groups in November, 2013. In both city and federal races, there are rules forbidding coordination with a candidate’s campaign. In national elections, though, groups like Super PACs have a lot of leeway. It’s a point driven home by satirist Steven Colbert, who has been running for presidential.

COLBERT 1:
IC: “Nation, so much to get to tonight…”
OC: “…if in any way those ads can be traced back to me.”
Time: 0:20

NAT: The Federal Election Commission hasn’t gone after Colbert for those shenanigans. But it’s unlikely he could get away with it in New York—the city’s definition of coordination is more expansive. That means that independent groups will have to tread carefully if they opt to spend in the 2013 elections. Something for Colbert to keep in mind if his presidential bid flops and he decides to run for mayor.

Nat Herz, Columbia Radio News.

New York State senators at the Capitol in Albany. Photo by Hans Pennink, AP.

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BY NATHANIEL HERZ

Every 10 years, each state must redraw the boundaries between its legislative and congressional districts. That’s to account for population changes reflected in the U.S. Census. New York is currently mired in the process, which is known as redistricting.

Photo by Ed Yourdon on Flickr

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BY NATHANIEL HERZ

For runners and cyclists, exercising in New York City can sometimes devolve into war, with dog-walkers and taxi drivers for enemies. Nat Herz recounts his battles in Central Park.

New York City Comptroller John Liu, left, chats with then-governor David Paterson at an event in 2010. Photo by Kathy Willens, AP.

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BY NATHANIEL HERZ

HOST: City comptroller and mayoral candidate John Liu has had a rough week. On Tuesday, federal agents arrested his campaign treasurer and charged her with violating campaign finance law. Since then, he’s faced questions about the future of his mayoral bid, and about whether he can even hold on to his position as comptroller.

This morning, Nat Herz took a trip to Liu’s home neighborhood of Flushing, in Queens, to see how residents are taking the news.

NARRATION: Politicians and pundits have been talking about John Liu all week. But some people in Flushing, 10 miles from city hall, don’t even know who he is.

HERZ: Do you know John Liu? The Comptroller?

MAN: John Liu? No, sorry!

NARRATION: Liu lives in Flushing. It’s at the center of the city council district where voters first elected him in 2002. Liu was born in Taiwan; he enjoys strong support among Flushing’s residents, two-thirds of whom are of Asian descent. News broke last fall that the FBI was investigating Liu’s fundraising machine. On Tuesday, his campaign treasurer Jenny Hou was arrested and charged with two counts of wire fraud and one count of obstruction of justice in a scheme that involved donations that exceeded legal limits. The government alleges that the money was later split up and attributed to other donors, a violation of New York’s campaign finance laws. The 24-page complaint suggests that Liu may have been complicit. But in Flushing, residents are still giving him the benefit of the doubt. Chris Lee, a waiter, said that he doubted Liu was responsible.

LEE: He’s not the mastermind. Somebody—his assistant did all that…I don’t think it will happen again, because he’s a very conscious guy.

NARRATION: Down the street, a print shop employee who would only give his name as Robert said that he wasn’t making any judgments yet.

ROBERT: If there’s no proof, what can you say? Unless all the things are on the table, black and white, okay, then he’s doing something wrong. I wouldn’t say anything at the present moment, unless all the proof are there.

NARRATION: There’s still more than a year to go until the Democratic mayoral primary. Veteran Queens political consultant Lois Marbach said that in politics, anything can happen in a year.

MARBACH: Who knows—something happens with his opponents…Or if all this gets cleared up and it’s determined that he had no knowledge of it or whatever.

NARRATION: Marbach also said that the details of the case may be too complicated for voters to follow.

MARBACH: Most people don’t even understand the rules of campaign finance for one thing. The second thing is, when you’re running a citywide race, it’s almost impossible for you to know every contributor and what they’ve done…So, knowing that, the voters can keep an open mind.

NARRATION: Liu maintains that none of the allegations have been proven, and he says that his campaign is moving forward. Nat Herz, Columbia Radio News.

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There are an estimated 345,000 homes in foreclosure or delinquent status in New York State alone. But a new $25 million dollar settlement between federal and state governments and five major banks  could provide mortgage relief to many of these home owners, if they can figure out how to get it.

BY NAT HERZ

The week long February school break came to an abrupt end today for a large group of New York City public school teachers. After much anticipation and controversy, the city released the individual ratings of about 18,000 teachers to the public.

The teacher data reports were released at noon today and show what is called a “value added” rating of fourth through eighth grade language arts and math teachers from three separate school years. A formula was used to calculate a score between 0 and 99 based on the predicted standardized test scores of students, the actual scores, and factors such as whether the student is economically disadvantaged or disabled. Teacher Tristan Schwartzman says that it makes sense to compare teachers at a school level, but the ratings should not be used to compare teachers in general. “Where a teacher teaches at a school where students come in already possessing the skills they need to pass an exam like that- their students all pass that exam, versus where my students, 40 percent is solid. I’m happy with forty percent,” he said.

Schwartzman has been teaching for six years at an alternative program for high school students who need to retake earlier grades or classes that they have failed. He isn’t planning on looking at his score if it is published, but he says there may be value to releasing the scores. “It really does reflect on our performance as teachers,” he said, adding, “basically all we’re doing is trying to push them through those exams .So it is of value to know how successful we are.”

Some teachers and activists question the value of the scores. Independent experts say that the relatively small sample size has created an enormous margin of error.  For example, a math teacher could have a 35-point discrepancy in their score. That means a rating of 60 could actually be as low as 25, or as high as 95. The scores are from 2007 to 2010 and the state has admitted that some scores were inflated or contained factual errors. The United Federation of Teachers tried unsuccessfully to block the release of the scores in 2010 but was overruled and lost an appeal with a state court last week. UFT President Michael Mulgrew said that the data should not be used against teachers. “When you are saying that this is a judgment of people, you have to say what is reliable and what is not and these scores are just wrong and misleading,” Mulgrew said.

Many parents responded to news of the release by posting comments on media website. Reactions were mostly against the release of the data, although some parents expressed interest in the information. Elizabeth Weiss is a clinical social worker with a daughter in 3rd grade at the Lower Lab School in Manhattan. She says she would probably be curious by the information, and thinks that there a lot of parents may want to see it. “I think a lot of New York City parents are obsessed with this sort of thing because it reflects on their children,” Weiss said.

Weiss says that she trusts her daughter’s current teachers and most likely won’t look up their data, but may be tempted when shopping for middle schools. She says that while she’s glad the information is out there, it should be looked at in context of the whole school and it doesn’t reflect all aspects of a teacher. “If for example teachers get poor ratings because of these scores- is that a direct reflection on them or a lack of support they’re getting from their school, or parents, or the city?” Weiss asked. She says the individual ratings won’t weight too much for her.

New York City stopped producing the ratings after 2010 and adopted a new evaluation system last week that includes test scores, but also classroom observations and other factors. In response to the city’s actions today, the UFT kicked of a newspaper advertising campaign featuring the slogan “This Is No Way to Rate a Teacher” above a complex mathematical formula intended to highlight what they say is a problematic way to rate teachers.