How The Hunger Games Should Have Ended

NYC Cuts New Deal To Redevelop Willets Point With Mets Owners

New York City has cut a new deal to redevelop Willets Point with the Mets ownership group. Willets Point has long been eyed for redevelopment. It's a neighborhood that is largely off the grid - it lacks sewer hookups and is a warren of junkyards and repair shops in the shadow of the gleaming new CitiField. Since construction got underway to build the stadium a few years back, Mayor Bloomberg had looked to get the redevelopment going.

Those efforts had stalled until now.

A new deal between the Bloomberg administration and a group of developers, including the owners of the Mets, will call for the remediation and redevelopment of a 20-acre area of the blighted neighborhood next to Citi Field, adding retail and ultimately new housing in a time frame that extends past an initial proposed 10-year plan, a person familiar with the agreement told The Associated Press.

The person requested anonymity because the person was not authorized to discuss the matter ahead of an announcement.

Under the agreement, the developers, Related Companies and Sterling Equities, would clean up the area and construct a mall on the west side of the ballpark. A 200-room hotel and “two retail strips” are part of the plan for the opposite end of the stadium, the New York Times reported.

Then, no later than 2025, they would start construction on a mixed-use component that would include housing and measure anywhere from 1.3 million square feet up to 4.5 million square feet. The founders of Sterling Equities are Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, the owners of the Mets.

The redevelopment of the area, currently populated by auto-repair shops and junkyards and lacking infrastructure as basic as sewers, has long been a goal of Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s. In 2007, he announced a 10-year initiative that would bring homes and commercial space to the area.

The new agreement extends past that period, but the person speaking to the AP said that by the original end point of 2017, much would have been done including the vital first step of cleaning the area up and construction of some of the retail spaces.

Sterling Equities is run by Mets owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz, both of whom are embroiled in the ongoing fallout of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors. The Wilpons have been claiming that they were as much victims of the scam as everyone else, but the trustee has targeted funds owned by the Wilpons for reimbursing other victims.

The Mets have had a serious cash crunch for the better part of the past couple of years, and it's limited their ability to field competitive teams. They've also sold off minority ownership shares to investors to help raise funds for operations on and off the field.

So, how is it that the City thinks that Sterling Equities is in a financial position to make any of this happen?

One has to wonder whether they're actually going to be putting up any money of their own and are instead hoping for others to pay the way for them to move ahead on a deal that would benefit them financially in the long run.

Related Companies has deep pockets, and their real estate ventures includes getting another one of Bloomberg's pet redevelopment projects underway - the Hudson Yards. They've got the ability to get this done and they have the experience to build out combined retail and commercial space.

It would be really interesting and insightful to figure out the real working relationship here - and how it is structured.

Despite Bloomberg Saying Nothing Wrong With Stop and Frisk; NYPD Commissioner Kelly Institutes Reforms

It's curious how Mayor Mike Bloomberg can defend stop and frisk as a policy that works on the same day that NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly announces reforms of the program to address community concerns.

In a letter sent earlier today to Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Kelly said top-ranking officials in each police precinct will now be required to audit reports of street stops by officers. This is in addition to a review undertaken at weekly Compstat meetings by the chief of the department, he wrote.

“I believe these measures will help us more closely monitor the daily street encounter activity of precinct personnel,” he wrote.

He also said that the department has republished an order prohibiting racial profiling and has created a new training course that “provides personnel with an additional level of clarity in determining when and how to conduct a lawful stop.”

Quinn, who released Kelly’s letter, said in a statement that the changes announced were “an important step forward” but said more needs to be done to reduce the number of stops and “bridge the divide between the NYPD and the communities they serve.”

A federal judge yesterday granted class-action status to a lawsuit against the city’s stop-and-frisk practices. The lawsuit alleges that the NYPD has systematically targeted blacks and Latinos and trampled on Constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.

Particularly of interest is the fact that Kelly had to reiterate the prohibition of racial profiling and additional training on how to conduct lawful stops. It would seem to be a nod to the fact that the policies that were previously put in place were insufficient or that the cops carrying out the stop and frisk activities need additional training.

Part of the problem with the program as a whole may be diminishing returns on a program that started out with the best of intentions and did take criminals and their weapons off the streets, but which has become a slave to its own statistics as a metric of how much activity beat cops are doing on a regular basis.

Sources Reporting Pedro Espada Legal Fees Being Paid By Charity He Fleeced

This is Pedro Espada we're talking about here. Nothing would be beyond him. After all, he's claimed that the FBI and law enforcement were using black magic to secure convictions against him and his son (the jury did find him guilty on four charges that could send him away for up to 40 years, but mistrials were declared on the remaining counts against him and his son).

Sources are indicating that Soundview Healthcare Network is picking up the legal bill for his defense to the tune of up to $1.5 million.

Not only did convicted ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., treat the Soundview Healthcare Network as his personal piggy bank — he also made the taxpayer-funded clinic pay for his defense team, The Post has learned.

The financially crippled Bronx medical charity that Espada founded — and from which he was convicted this week of stealing nearly $500,000 — has forked over an estimated $1 million to $1.5 million more to pay for the thieving pol’s lawyers, sources told The Post.

“Soundview has been paying for his criminal defense,” a source said of Espada’s fees for his lead defense lawyer, Susan Necheles, and her assistants.

That's at a time when Soundview is turning away more and more of its clients and is finding a cash crunch due to the state and federal government turning off the Medicare spigot.

Normally, Soundview would tap an insurance policy to cover legal suits by its officials, but the insurance company refused to authorize the coverage because of the claims involved so Soundview officials (including Espada's relatives) took it upon themselves to pony up the funds for his defense. Don't count on any of that money getting reimbursed down the road either.

Despite Higher Stop and Frisk Figures, NYPD Ticket Writing Way Down

New York City is busy dealing with the stop and frisk controversy and suits filed against the policy, but a curious statistic was released on another aspect of policing in New York City.

The NYPD is on pace to write more than a quarter million fewer tickets than it did last year, likely as a result of a ticket-fixing scandal last year that led to beat cops not issuing as many tickets as they had been. That has budget ramifications as the tickets translate into revenues.

The city’s revenues from traffic and parking violations could come in under last year’s eight-year low because cops are on track to write nearly 270,000 fewer moving violations, The Post has learned.

Reports from Mayor Bloomberg’s budget office show that 1,262,585 of those violations were recorded in the last fiscal year, while only 744,741 were logged through the first nine months of fiscal 2012.

If that trend continues through June 30, when the fiscal year ends, the final tally will be 992,988 — a stunning reduction of 269,597 summonses.

The Post reported last August that cops upset at new regulations imposed after the Bronx ticket-fixing scandal were engaging in a widespread slowdown.

That includes both parking violations and moving violations, which combined can generate around $500 million annually.

Should the trend continue, expect to watch the City Council increase the fines associated with the various violations even higher than they are already so as to generate the revenues necessary to fund operations.

Are We Overstating the Problems At JP Morgan Chase?

When you take the topline figure that JP Morgan Chase lost $2 billion on a bad hedge position that presented undue risk to the bank, that looks like tremendously bad news. Even the Justice Department is opening investigations into the circumstances behind the loss. The investigation centers on whether the bank was hedging risk or seeking to profit from risky trades (and semantics is what this is all about - there's no hard and fast rule to work with here).

Yet, the bank is still expected to make $4 billion for the quarter.

Let that bit sink in.

The overall health of the bank remains strong, even with the additional losses, and JPMorgan has been able to increase its stock dividend faster than its rivals because of stronger earnings and a more solid capital buffer.

Still, the huge trading losses rocked Wall Street and reignited the debate over how tightly giant financial institutions should be regulated. Bank analysts say that while the bank’s stability is not threatened, if the losses continue to mount, the outlook for the bank’s dividend will grow uncertain.

The bank’s leadership has discussed the impact of the losses on future earnings, although a dividend cut remains highly unlikely for now. In March, the company raised the quarterly dividend by 5 cents, to 30 cents, which will cost the bank about $190 million more this quarter.

A spokeswoman for the bank said a dividend cut has not been discussed internally.

At the bank’s annual meeting in Tampa, Fla., on Tuesday, Mr. Dimon did not definitively rule out cutting the dividend, although he said that he “hoped” it would not be cut.

John Lackey, a shareholder from Richmond, Va., who attended the meeting precisely to ask about the dividend, was not reassured. “That wasn’t a very clear answer,” he said of Mr. Dimon’s response. “I expect that shareholders are going to suffer because of this.”

Analysts expect the bank to earn $4 billion in the second quarter, factoring in the original estimated loss of $2 billion. Even if the additional trading losses were to double, the bank could still earn a profit of $2 billion.

And many analysts and investors remain optimistic about the bank’s long-term prospects.

There are serious concerns as to how and why the bank was able to establish this hedge position and took on more risk than it might otherwise should have.

Yet, the loss - and the resulting hit on the share price - might actually benefit Chase shareholders in the long term because of the decision in March to expand the company's stock buyback program:

The bank is authorized to buy back up to $12 billion in 2012 and another $3 billion through the end of the first quarter of 2013. It expects to buy back at least the same amount of shares it issues for employee stock-based incentive awards.

Dimon said the company intends to repurchase equity only when it is generating more capital than it needs to fund organic growth and when it thinks the investment will provide “excellent value” to existing shareholders.

Cory Booker and Chris Christie Show Off Their Comedy Chops

Every once in a while it's nice to see politicians not taking themselves too seriously and to have some fun with each other. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker put together this video as part of the NJ Press Association Dinner festivities. There's some sly references to Booker's heroic actions of saving neighbors from a fire and a few Seinfeld references as well.

An Iris in Bloom

 

Taken with my trusty Canon 60D with Tamron 28-300 XR Di VR zoom.

Even NYPD Professionals Are Questioning The Scope of Stop and Frisk

The release of data showing just how frequently the NYPD is using Stop and Frisk as a police tactic to reduce crime is staggering with its implications and whether the program is no longer achieving its objectives. It's got top level police officials questioning whether the program has gone off the rails - for performance objectives sake - and ignoring the implications for civil rights and actual crime fighting.

Last Friday, the NYPD revealed they conducted 204,000 "Stop-and-Frisks" in just the first three months of the year, pushing the boundary even further.

How has a police department that was conducting 500,000 stop and frisks a year — or 1,400-a-day — compelled the same number of troops to conduct 200,000 more — or 500 additional stops every day?

And why?

Is it all about fighting crime? Is it about Kelly and Bloomberg’s legacy?
One official offered insight.

He said the department a year or so ago quietly issued "performance standards" that only "put more pressure downward on cops, asking them, 'What did you do this week?'

"And the feeling was, ‘If they were going to break my balls, then I will just do what I know they want and end my problem. Period.'"

This well intentioned program started off well - and it was getting criminals off the street when it was focused on high crime areas, but as the program expanded, it started having unintended consequences. Instead of putting the community and police on the same page as far as fighting criminal elements in the communities, it creates distrust and apprehension.

If police commanders in precincts are encouraged to show results - one way they can do so is by putting more of their beat cops on stop and frisk details, and they can show that they're in the field by reporting on the number of stop and frisks on a daily basis. It's a numbers driven policy that doesn't actually reduce crime and may be taking resources away from those tactics that have been shown to work best.

It's time to put stop and frisk back into its context - to use it in high crime areas. This is one time where the statistics do not back up stop and frisk.

New Jersey Revenues Coming In $300 Million Below Projections

The New Jersey Department of Treasury announced that revenues were coming in about $300 million below projections, which isn't nearly as bad as the Office of Legislative Services estimates, but it still puts a crimp on Gov. Chris Christie's plans for tax relief.

He’s also banking on a huge economic upswing during the budget year that begins on July 1, using that growth to support his “Jersey Comeback” budget and its signature income tax cut.

But if the current trend holds through the end of June, Christie will have to cut spending, dip into surplus or do something else to meet the state constitution's requirement for a balanced budget. The trend could also make it more difficult for the governor, a Republican, to pitch the first phase of his income tax cut proposal or convince Democrats who control the Legislature to enact some other form of a cut – something many expected to occur on Monday.

Instead, an expected deal between the governor and Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, was shelved, and Treasury officials delayed a planned release of the revenue information from Monday until this morning.

That new information on New Jersey revenue shows that tax collections fell short of budget projections by a full 5 percent in April, which is typically a make or break month for state finances every year after annual income tax returns are filed.

The poor April performance leaves New Jersey with $19.3 billion in revenue heading into the last two months of the budget year, according to the data released by Treasury. Christie had projected state tax collections of nearly $19.6 billion.

He's going to have to come up with some kind of compromise plan to achieve tax relief and maintaining a level of services that legislative Democrats will go along with. There have been rumblings of a compromise deal that would provide tax relief, but a presser for yesterday was cancelled - presumably over the fact that the Treasury didn't announce its own figures on which the politicians could work from.

I'm not quite sure why the Record indicates that there's a $230 million gap, when the body of the article indicates that there's $19.3 billion in revenue versus projections of nearly $19.6 billion - that's closer to a gap of $300 million than $230 million. Either way, Trenton has to come up with the difference and balance the budget.

UPDATE:
The Department's press release indicates the $230 million shortfall, which the Record parroted, despite the discrepancies with the numbers they used to describe the budget figures.

The figures also show that there is some strength in the state's economy. Sales tax revenues are up somewhat, but the casino revenue is down significantly (probably due to the vastly expanded competition in both New York and Pennsylvania that are siphoning off gamblers).

The tax revenues from corporate banks and financial institutions is also way off the FY 2011 figures.

Airport Security Theater Takes Turn to the Absurd

For all the talk of improving security and eliminating all manner of holes in security around airplanes and airports, it seems that there was one huge gaping hole at one of the airports from which one of the 9/11 aircraft took off.

A security supervisor at Newark Liberty Airport was using the identification of a dead man for more than 17 years.

Bimbo Olumuyia Oyelwole, a 54-year-old Nigerian national who was in the country illegally, was arrested at his home in Elizabeth this morning and charged with identity theft, said Port Authority spokesman Steve Coleman. He was an employee of FJC Security Services, a company hired by the Port Authority to provide security at some areas of the airport.

The arrest is likely to raise questions about the thoroughness of the background checks airport security personnel are required to undergo.

Oyelwole had passed multiple background checks required by both the Port Authority and federal aviation officials, but it was unclear early Wednesday afternoon how his true identity was not detected. Oyelwole supervised 30 guards and had "air side access," meaning he was able to walk in and out of secure areas. Authorities have no indication that he took on the false identity for any other reason than to remain in the country.

Oyelwole, who entered the country illegally in 1989, had a birth certificate, social security card, and other documents indicating he was Jerry Thomas, a man murdered in Queens in 1992, Coleman said. The investigation was initiated after the Port Authority's Inspector General received an anonymous tip, Coleman said.

"The IG's office is looking into how he obtained the documents to maintain another person's identity," he said, adding that additional charges are pending. Oyelwole is expected to be arraigned in Superior Court in Essex County this afternoon.

Oyelwole worked for four different security companies during his time at Newark, including Lance Security, Gateway Security, and Haynes Security.

The failures here will surely come to light over the next few days and weeks, but suffice to say this mess will not end well for those involved at the Port Authority, TSA, and others responsible for security at the airport.

After all, if the agencies responsible for airport security couldn't vet their own personnel, how exactly can we expect them to do the job of securing the airports from other threats.

And on that point, it seems that the TSA hasn't exactly got a good record either. The TSA is not tracking patterns in security breaches and isn't keeping tabs on security breaches in a way that can reduce their prevalence over time.

Syrian Revolt Spills Into Lebanon Once Again

For the third consecutive day, fighting in Syria has spilled over into Lebanon, and the casualties continue to mount on both sides of the border:

Firing assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, Lebanese gunmen clashed in street battles Monday as sectarian tensions linked to the 14-month-old uprising in Syria bled across the border for a third day.

At least five people have been killed and 100 wounded in Lebanon's second-largest city since the gunbattles erupted late Saturday, security officials said. Residents say differences over Syria are at the root of the fighting, which pits neighbor against neighbor and raises fears of broader unrest that could draw in neighboring countries.

Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which are easily enflamed. Tripoli has seen bouts of sectarian violence in the past, but the fighting has become more frequent as the conflict in Syria worsens.

The battle lines break down along sectarian and political lines. On the one side are Sunni Muslims who support the rebels trying to oust Syrian President Bashar Assad. On the other are members of the tiny Alawite sect, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam who are Assad's most loyal supporters.

The recent clashes were sparked by the arrest of Lebanese national Shadi Mawlawi, an outspoken critic of Assad. The Sunni fighters say the root of the latest conflict in Tripoli is across the border.

"Syria. It wants it this way. It wants to start a battle here so it can say, look, even in Lebanon the Sunnis are killing the Alawites," said Mustafa Nashar, 35, whose family lives in an apartment overlooking Syria Street, which cuts through the overwhelmingly Sunni Bab al-Tabbani neighborhood.

The ceasefire deal that had been brokered by the UN isn't working, and the body count continues rising. Not that there's much else that the UN can do when Russia and China are shielding Bashar al-Assad from any actions stronger than a harshly worded letter.

New Jersey Moving Ahead On Proposals To Revamp Drug Incarcerations

Governor Chris Christie had been calling for a revamping of the state's drug incarceration laws because the criminal justice system simply couldn't afford the costs associated with the incarceration of so many people. He proffered an alternative - drug courts combined with drug treatment in lieu of incarceration and it's something that the state Assembly has taken up.

The Assembly's Judiciary Committee on Monday approved a bill that mandates nonviolent drug offenders receive treatment rather than a jail sentence and creates a two-year pilot program in two counties. The panel also passed a measure that would erase the offenders' criminal records if they successfully complete the treatment program.

Gov. Chris Christie has proposed mandatory drug court statewide for people who qualify. He says it's time to empty prisons of inmates who are drug-dependent but not criminals.

Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, a sponsor of the mandatory treatment legislation, says the governor's program would cost $20 million to implement. But Christie has only budgeted $2.5 million in the coming year.

Coleman says a pilot program also would give authorities a chance to assess the effectiveness of mandatory treatment.

However, the proposal to automatically expunge drug charges from the records of those who complete treatment met with resistance from judiciary officials. They said the courts don't have the capability to carry out the mandate because the records are on paper, not electronic.

Committee Chairman Peter Barnes, though, noted the difficulties that someone with a drug record has in finding a job or housing, even if the charges are more than a decade old.

"In this economy, one small blemish on your record will knock you out of the box," he said. "People make mistakes early on; we're trying to give people a break."

The State Senate has yet to introduce a companion bill, but these are important steps. If the state wants to get the costs for the criminal justice system under control, it has to rationalize the way it handles many of the crimes and sentencing guidelines.

Separately, steps need to be taken to address recidivism among inmates. 60% of those who have been incarcerated end up back in the prison system in New Jersey.

Pedro Espada Found Guilty On Multiple Fraud and Theft Counts

After spending the better part of two weeks deliberating without a verdict and various reports indicating that there was a possibility of a hung jury, the jury came back with a verdict on four of the counts against ex-Democrat ex-State Senator Pedro Espada Jr.

The jury found him guilty of theft and fraud relating to charges incurred by Soundview Healthcare Network, a charitable health care entity that Espada founded and operated for decades:

He faces 10 years in prison for every guilty count.

The jury, after delivering those four "guilty" findings, then resumed deliberating on the remaining four criminal counts against Espada — and the eight remaining counts against his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, who is accused in the same scheme.

The Espadas are accused of looting more than $500,000 from Soundview Healthcare Network by having the federally supported non-profit pay for personal expenses ranging from Puerto Rican vacations to sushi dinners to family birthday parties.

Those expenses were allegedly falsely claimed to be related to legitimate business purposes for Soundview, which is supposed to help poor Bronx residents get quality health care.

Three of today's theft convictions of Espada relate to swindling that occurred from 2005 to 2007, while the fourth conviction was for a combined theft and fraud charge. The convictions mean that Espada faces the potential of at least 40 years behind bars, regardless of the outcome of further deliberations.

The jury had been deadlocked over whether they could find Espada guilty separate from the acts of his son, Pedro G. Espada. They apparently came to a resolution on the father's acts on a number of the allegations, and may well find his son guilty of the same charges.

Espada has been in the news before. He had previously been part of an attempt to shift political control in the State Senate (the coup) when he and fellow Democrat Hiram Monserrate defected to the GOP to try and gain more power for themselves, and has been at odds with Gov. Andrew Cuomo (who initiated the investigation into Soundview while Cuomo was the state's Attorney General).

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

New Jersey Budget Projects Will Hamper Gov. Christie's Chances To Keep Promised Tax Cuts

As I've been warning for quite some time, budget projections have been far too rosy and assuming growth when one should take a far more conservative outlook on the figures.

By assuming growth in excess of what one should reasonably expect, you set up the potential for budget deficits and that's precisely the situation that Gov. Chris Christie is facing in New Jersey. He offered up a more rosy outlook than the state's Office of Legislative Services (OLS), and with the new projection likely coming in even lower than the OLS projections from earlier this year, the budget talks for the upcoming fiscal year are going to focus on just how much money is available for property tax relief - whether in the form of a tax credit or other relief.

Back in March, the OLS had projected that the revenues would be $537 million less than what Gov. Christie had expected. The new figures are going to be announced this week, and it is likely to spur a cut in what kind of tax relief can be offered because revenues simply aren't coming in at levels necessary to fund the property tax relief.

Once again, the state's legislative leaders and governor are playing games with the budget situation and offering up solutions that require revenues that aren't sustainable. They are making promises that they can't or shouldn't be able to keep. Each time they do, it puts the state on an unsustainable level of services; one that would require significant tax hikes or cuts in services to maintain the existing infrastructure.