Sam Schwartz

This week there has been a renewed interest in Sam Schwartz’s revised congestion pricing plan which is being pushed by a group called Move NY.  Read CityLaw’s great profile on Mr. Schwartz that details his plan.  This was originally published on April 18, 2013.

Sam Schwartz is the president and CEO of Sam Schwartz Engineering, a firm that specializes in transportation planning and engineering. Schwartz’s new congestion pricing proposal, “Move New York,” offers a novel approach to the controversial subject.

Sam Schwartz was born and raised in Brooklyn, attended Brooklyn Technical High School, graduated from Brooklyn College where he majored in physics, and earned a Master of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania. In 1971, Schwartz began working with the City’s Department of Transportation, as a junior engineer. He rose to be DOT’s Chief Engineer and First Deputy Commissioner.

In 1990, Schwartz left the DOT to teach classes at Cooper Union. Schwartz also began writing columns for the Daily News under the pen-name “Gridlock Sam.” In 1995, Schwartz opened his own engineering firm called Sam Schwartz Engineering. The firm is involved in projects throughout the globe, including a revolutionary streetcar system in Aruba, powered solely by battery and hydrogen fuel cells.

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Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky. Image Credit: TLC.

Taxi service in Manhattan has taken on a different look the past few years as the ubiquitous Crown Victoria cabs were gradually replaced by a variety of mostly smaller, sleeker and more efficient vehicles. There’s a new color too, green cabs are now popping up in the outer boroughs of the City. Taxi & Limousine Commissioner David Yassky has been at the helm of the changing taxi service landscape, and at times it has been a rough ride.

Commissioner Yassky is used to bruising battles. He cut his government teeth working on Capitol Hill for Senator Chuck Schumer on such controversial bills as an assault weapons ban and the violence against women’s act. “You can work for Congress for 30 years and never see anything that you worked on actually become law,” said Yassky, “but if you’re working for someone like Chuck Schumer then you can have a role to play.”

Yassky grew up in Rockville Centre on Long Island. In 2001 he won a seat in the City Council from Brooklyn representing an area that was undergoing extensive re-development and reuse: Williamsburg, Boerum Hill, DUMBO, Greenpoint, and Park Slope. After losing a close race for Comptroller in 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2010 appointed Yassky as TLC Commissioner. Yassky’s biggest priority has been expanding taxi service outside of Manhattan. “For Brooklynites, hailing a cab has meant flagging down an illegal taxi for decades,” said Yassky, referring to black car and livery service, which must be pre-arranged. (read more…)

DOI Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn

For anyone considering sticking their hand in the colossal cookie jar that is New York City’s government, Rose Gill Hearn has a message for you: “we are watching.” With her usual stern glance, Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn tells me she demands a “standard of excellence.” In her 12 years at DOI, Gill Hearn has met that standard, amassing arrests and recovering taxpayer dollars in record numbers. When she assumed her office, the ashes were still smoldering up the block from DOI headquarters at Ground Zero. 12 years later, Rose Gill Hearn is the longest serving DOI commissioner in New York City’s history.

A native New Yorker. Born at St. Vincent’s Hospital, she was raised on Long Island, graduated from Marymount Manhattan College and Fordham’s Law School. After spending three years doing white collar defense work at a private firm, she left for the U.S. Attorney’s office, where she would spend ten years and become Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division. For Gill Hearn, being a lawyer was part of her family’s legacy. Her father served as an assistant district attorney for the City.

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Illustration: Jeff Hopkins.

The United States Supreme Court’s June 25, 2013 decision, Shelby County v. Holder, struck down Section 4 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, eliminating a “preclearance” coverage formula that had subjected numerous jurisdictions with checkered voting rights histories to the U.S. Department of Justice’s oversight.  Although the decision allows Congress to create a new coverage formula, in today’s political climate that appears unlikely.   While the preclearance system was often associated with deep Southern states like Alabama and Mississippi, in 1971 three New York City counties – Bronx, Kings and New York – were added as covered jurisdictions, and since then the DOJ has blocked New York voting laws on several occasions to protect the rights of minority voters.  This article examines Shelby County v. Holder, its consequences for minority voting rights across the country, particularly in New York, and possible local remedies in the event of Congressional inaction.

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Illustration: Jeff Hopkins.

Fiscal year 2010 Medicaid spending by the fifty states, excluding administrative costs, exceeded $389 billion dollars.  New York State led the states in total spending at $52 billion dollars. Medicaid costs are now the largest driver of state and local spending in New York State. Recent changes in State law have helped reduce the local costs, but Medicaid continues to dominate State and local expenses.

Congress in 1965 established Medicaid under Title XIX of the Social Security Act to provide health insurance for the nation’s indigent population.  It is an entitlement program, meaning that anyone who meets statutory eligibility requirements is entitled to Medicaid benefits. Over the years Congress has expanded Medicaid eligibility to include working families, primary care, family planning services, hospital services, home health care and related transportation services.  Medicaid filled the void for millions of Americans who did not have access to private health insurance, but did so at great cost to state and local budgets. (read more…)