Q&A with David N. Dinkins on September 27, 2013.  (From left to right) Ross Sandler, David N. Dinkins, Anthony Crowell. Image Credit: Sara Tiana Young.

On Friday, September 27, 2013 the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School hosted one of its City Law Breakfasts.  New York Law School and the Center were honored to have Honorable David N. Dinkins, former Mayor of New York City, as the guest speaker.

Mayor Dinkins was introduced by the Founder and Executive Chairman of Barnes and Noble, Leonard Riggio. For the first time in the City Law Breakfast series, the guest speaker was engaged in a question and answering session instead of addressing the audience directly. The Q & A with Mayor Dinkins was led by Ross Sandler, Professor of Law and Director of the Center for NYC Law, and Anthony W.  Crowell, Dean and President of New York Law School.

Mayor Dinkins spoke about his upbringing and education. He reflected fondly back at his time at Howard University, and the influence that his English Professor had on his views on the importance of language. The audience followed him to his journey to Brooklyn Law School and the beginnings of his political career when he first joined a political club. Afterwards, Mayor Dinkins detailed his assent through New York City politics, his race for Manhattan Borough President and election as Mayor of New York City. Mayor Dinkins reflected on his tenure as mayor, his relationship with the media, as well as some of the challenges his administration faced, including the Crown Heights Riots in August 1991. (more…)

Ross Sandler

Join us at the September 27th CityLaw Breakfast, featuring the Hon. David N. Dinkins, former New York City Mayor. This event is sponsored by the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School.  Click here to RSVP.

David N. Dinkins, New York City’s 106th mayor, now 86 years old, tells his story in his newly published autobiography, A Mayor’s Life: Governing New York’s Gorgeous Mosaic (Public Affairs 2013).

Dinkins is justifiably proud of becoming the first African American mayor of New York City, and summarizes his policies as “attacking the problems, not the victims.” He suggests that the public misunderstood his “measured manner and precise diction” as a lack of mayoral fortitude. He says that his administration failed to receive sufficient public credit for the Safe Streets, Safe City crime reduction program, a program which many believe was the foundation for New York City’s stunning decline in crime. He attributes his 1993 reelection loss to Rudolph W. Giuliani to “racism, plain and simple.” Of the falloff of his African American support, he writes that the black community had expectations of him that were “elevated almost to the mythical,” and which could not be met because of economics and the requirement that he be mayor of all New York. (more…)

Ross Sandler

The Bloomberg administration successfully defended the 2013 state law authorizing outer borough street hail taxi service and the sale of additional yellow cab medallions for wheel chair accessible vehicles. The battles over the state law and other taxi policies have left the industry and its TLC regulators deeply divided and distrustful of each other. Divorce is not possible, so the industry and the regulators still have to find ways to achieve the goals they share: a viable, safe and fair yellow cab and car service industry.

The TLC and the industry’s unsuccessful attempts to find a middle ground on key issues led to litigation and delays. The street hail law is a prime example. There are areas outside of Manhattan where street hails make complete economic sense, but there are much larger areas where only base-managed liveries can economically operate. The state law opens all areas for street hails by up to 18,000 cars. Approaches other than the state law would not have been as challenging to the taxi and livery industry. Neither the industry nor the City was well served by the resulting battle.

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Ross Sandler

In the fourteenth century wealthy Tuscan families in San Gimignano built narrow, overly tall towers as a show of economic power and to defend themselves during the wars between the Guelfs and Ghibellines. Today tourists see the towers as curious, oversized stone steles. Were the descendants of those San Gimignano families to tour New York City they would feel at home in some of the new residential towers being built in Manhattan. (more…)

Ross Sandler

The Bloomberg administration will be remembered for, among other initiatives, a major reallocation of public street space for new and innovative uses. Cars and trucks have been joined by a host of new users, most recently by the long anticipated bike share program. Citibike is a worthy experiment.

The City’s Department of Transportation chased vehicular traffic from portions of Times Square, Herald Square and Madison Square and rededicated the space to movable chairs, tables and planters. Formerly clogged streets now serve as parks for sitters, walkers, lunch time breaks and urban star gazing. Along First Avenue, Second Avenue and other thoroughfares, DOT has seized entire lanes and pushed the parking lane away from the curb and out into the street. It then dedicated the former parking lanes to bicycles. These two shifts – pavement parks and protected bike lanes – constitute the largest shift of street space away from motorized vehicles since New York City started paving streets with asphalt.

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