BY DR. LESSIE BRANCH
Part of what drives gentrifi
cation is profi t. After all,
the cost of everything goes up
over time. Right?
Unfortunately, rising costs
pit a city’s economic interest
against the economic interests
neighborhoods once
considered uninhabitable by
some, experiencing gentrifi -
cation or turnover.
are now becoming home
priced out of their former
This phenomenon began in
when NYC became the
‘landlord’ of the large stock of
abandoned buildings in Black
and Latino enclaves.
to the Island of Manhattan.
It has made its way
to the outer boroughs of New
York City.
2008 and 2011 reveal
and percentage of minorities
(those identifying as
Black and/or Hispanic) living
in the Bronx.
Manhattan 12.3%, and
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PRIL 12-18, 2019 13
as stated
letters & comments
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of its citizens.
Following the Great Recession,
New York City, is witnessing
The ‘uninhabitable’ neighborhoods
of longterm residents
to the new ‘gentry’ or people
neighborhoods.
earnest in the 1970s, in Manhattan
The spread was not contained
Data from the NYC Housing
and Vacancy Survey between
a decline of 28.4% in the frequency
Brooklyn saw a 13.4% decline,
BTR
Missing details yet to be worked out concerning Congestion Pricing
Dear editor,
The devil is in the missing
details yet to be worked out
concerning passage of Congestion
Pricing. The MTA receives
$1.4 billion in annual assistance
from various Federal
Transit Administration formula
funding grant programs.
For decades, the MTA has distributed
these dollars from
Washington via a formula to
operating agencies. They have
been split between NYC Transit
(75%) Long Island Rail Road
(12.5%) and Metro North Rail
Road (12.5%). It is interesting
that this formula for federal assistance
has been accepted as
fair. A similar formula of 80%
for NYC Transit, 10% LIRR and
10% MNRR was adopted for
distribution of future Congestion
Pricing Revenue. (Perhaps
a great way to obtain support
of suburban state assembly,
state senate and county executives
who use LIRR and Metro
North) Remember a legal challenge
to the non resident commuter
tax resulted in its demise.
Don’t be surprised when
legal challenges are submitted
against Congestion Pricing.
Who knows if it will actually
be implemented by 2021.
Is MTA Bus included under
the 80% for NYC Transit?
In 2005, NYC transferred
management of the seven private
franchised bus operators
(Command Bus, Green Lines,
Jamaica Bus, Triboro Coach,
Queens Surface, NY Bus and
Liberty Lines Bronx Express)
to the MTA. The MTA subsequently
created MTA Bus,
which is a separate from NYC
Transit Bus.
Promised savings by consolidation
of Civil Rights, Engineering,
Legal, Procurement
and other LIRR/Metro North
departments have been periodically
discussed and promised
for decades by different generations
of MTA management and
elected offi cials. This will never
happen due to work rules, seniority
and contracts between
different labor unions representing
employees at LIRR and
Metro North. The same applies
to anticipated savings by contracting
out more work to the
private sector. Project cost containment
along with fast tracking
procurements and contract
change orders for the MTA has
been periodically discussed
and promised for decades by
different generations of MTA
management and elected offi -
cials. It is easier said than done
due to signifi cant obstacles.
‘As Stated’ offers an array
of interesting news breaking
commentary every week. This
edition contains comments by
the New York GOP chairman,
charging Cuomo and company
with Trump Derangement Syndrmone,
the NY Yankees espousing
its support for the UN
Sports for Climate Change Action
Framework and a strong
objection to the anti-vaxxers
comparing their cause to genocide.
Feel free to share your
thoughts about their views offered
in this week’s installment.
A statement from New York
GOP chairman Ed Cox on Albany’s
unconstitutional political
games.....”The Democratic legislature
and Governor Cuomo
are suffering from Trump
Derangement Syndrome and
playing politics at the expense
of doing the people’s business.
No matter how they dress it up
for legal purposes, this unconstitutional
bill of attainder is
aimed at one individual for the
political purpose of re-litigating
the 2016 election. The bill
would set a dangerous precedent
for infringing on the privacy
rights of all citizens.”
Statement from New York
Yankees managing general
partner Hal Steinbrenner on
the Yankees becoming the fi rst
major North American team to
join UN Sports for Climate Action
Framework....“The New
York Yankees are proud to support
the United Nations Sports
for Climate Action Framework.
For many years the Yankees
have been implementing
the type of climate action now
enshrined in the Sports for Climate
Action principles, and
with this pledge the Yankees
commit to continue to work
collaboratively with our sponsors,
fans and other relevant
stakeholders to implement the
UN’s climate action agenda in
sports.”
Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz
issued the following
statement regarding the misappropriation
of Holocaust-era
symbols to promote anti-vaxxer
causes..... “I am truly sickened
by the horrifying rhetoric that
has emerged among anti-vaxxers.
On my own social media
pages, I have received numerous
comments of this highly
offensive nature and I am
grateful to the Anti-Defamation
League for speaking out
against this growing problem.
To compare school vaccine requirements
to genocide is intentionally
infl ammatory and
goes beyond what our society
should be willing to accept in
regular discourse. In fact, it’s
disgusting.
“Six million Jews and millions
of others were killed in
history’s worst genocide. The
false comparison diminishes
the signifi cance of the Holocaust.
The use of Star of David
as a rallying image for antivaxxers
is morally repugnant
and dilutes the signifi cance of
what it means to many people
of Jewish heritage and faith.”
MTA union work rules
sometimes prevent contracting
out work to the private sector.
Third party private contractors
require MTA NYC Transit,
Long Island and Metro North
Rail Roads agency Force Account
(their own employees) to
provide both supervision and
protection. when they work on
or adjacent to active right of
way track. There sometimes
are excessive numbers of MTA
supervisory or employees assigned,
adding to costs.
Will Cuomo and the State
Legislature use Congestion
Pricing revenue as a back door
method to reduce previously
planned anticipated future
contributions to the upcoming
MTA 2020 – 2024 Five Year?
Promised ‘forensic audit’ of
the MTA is a waste of time and
money. How many internal
MTA, MTA Offi ce of Inspector
General, State Comptroller,
City Comptroller, NYC Offi ce
of Management and Budget,
Federal Transit Administration
OIG and other audits have
come and gone. What about
numerous newspaper investigative
reports on waste, fraud
or abuse? Another audit will
not result in any signifi cant
changes. No one will know the
cost of congestion pricing until
it is implemented starting in
2021. Coincidence that members
of the state assembly and
senate will fi rst be reelected
fi rst in 2020 before the price becomes
public? What happened
to promised open transparent
government? Is this what MTA
customers have to look forward
to?. Taxpayers and riders deserve
better.
Larry Penner
letters & comments
Can any good thing come from the Bronx?
Staten Island 12.6%.
Queens was the only outer
borough to see gains in minorities
occupying residential
units at 22.7%. The Bronx
witnessed the greatest decline.
In an era of the post Great
Recession construction boom,
the Bronx, one of the last boroughs
to experience gentrifi -
cation, has some interesting
strategies to stem displacement
of its longtime residents.
Can these strategies be a
model for other cities to strike
a balance between gentrifi cation
and neighborhood revitalization?
The Bronx is not really
one of the celebrated regions
of NYC.
The Bronx borough president
and other elected offi
cials have focused on the
building of affordable housing
units throughout the
Bronx and preserving and
building additional public
housing.
Further, nonprofi t organizations
have partnered with
the Bronx borough president
and the
city to ensure that young
and unemployed residents
are provided with the
necessary skill sets for the
jobs that exist now and in the
future.
Employers have made a
commitment to hiring locally
in partnership with the Bronx
Private Industry
Council.
These efforts will transform
the way in which we
conceptualize the relationship
between business, residents,
and academia.
They also have the potential
to be a game changer for
residents who reside in the
Bronx and allow them the
right to stay in the borough
that they reside in.
For cities going through
post Great Recession construction
booms don’t be so
quick to displace poor longterm
residents.
Everything goes up over
time. The cycle will begin
again, the gentry will be
priced out and leave.
It is those who have stood
the test of time and remained
in places that will continue
to support it and allow it to
thrive.
We are betting on the spirit
and grit of the Bronx.
We bet on the Bronx.
(Dr. Lessie Branch is the
Associate Dean and Associate
Professor in the School
for Business at Metropolitan
College of New York. She is
also a Scholar with Scholars
Strategy Network and a
Fulbright Specialist in Race,
Ethnicity and Religion in
Politics.)
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