Councilman Speaks Up For Queens Against Con Ed

Councilman Calls On Con Ed To Sell Queens Property, Not Hike Rates

A Queens City Councilman called on Con Edison Sunday to sell what he says is an expensive piece of waterfront property, instead of having customers foot the bill for rising costs.

In the wake of a five percent rate hike and another increase potentially on the way, Councilman Eric Gioia said the company should sell its 11-acre property in Long Island City, estimated to be worth a half-billion dollars.

"New Yorkers right now are tightening their belts, trying desperately to make ends meet, the price of food has gone up, the price of gas, and now the price of our utilities,” said Gioia. “Con Edison should be asked to make to run their company more efficiency before they look to New Yorkers to ask us once again to pay more for really lousy service."

The property is currently used as a parking lot, office space, and a training center for Con Ed workers.

Finally a Councilman doing what he/she is supposed to be doing.

The Day Congestion Pricing Died

Congestion Pricing Dies in Albany

Denied the opportunity to vote on the proposal, congestion pricing was killed in Albany this week to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s chagrin.

The State Assembly never voted on the controversial plan that would charge drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street and the state has now forfeited some $350 million in federal transportation funds for system improvements.


City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), Chairman of the City Council Transportation Committee, was a leading proponent and voted for congestion pricing. He said in statement, “This defeat is disappointing to transportation advocates, environmental advocates, community activists and business leaders alike. However, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Even without congestion pricing, we still need to reduce the extreme congestion that has a chokehold on our economy as well as on our environment.”

He was also critical of the mayor’s political strategy, implying that his administration failed to build a consensus around the plan.

“The Mayor’s people forgot to understand the legislative process. A high-and-almighty approach supplanted what should have been a collaborative process. The worst part of the Administration’s approach was that the City Council was pawned off in the process.”

There go my hopes of better transit. I think the Manhattanites would have benefited, the everyday traffic and everything that goes along with it would have been greatly affected.

$17 Million Funneled into Faticious Organizations

$17M Go To Fake Groups

Approximately $17.4 million has been allocated to fake community groups. The practice precedes Quinn’s tenure, dating back to 2001, but peaked in 2007 with 18 ghost groups – such as the Coalition of Informed Individuals and Senior Citizens for Equality – receiving $4.5 million.

The New York Post was first to report the practice and Quinn immediately held a news conference last Thursday.
“I was obviously deeply troubled when I found out about this information,” Quinn said. “I had no knowledge of it; I did not know this was the practice. It’s something I believe is completely inappropriate and should not have gone on, and will no longer go on.”

Quinn became speaker in January 2006 and only discovered the fictitious organizations last fall. She said she then alerted the United States attorney’s office and the City’s Department of Investigation and hired an outside law firm, Sullivan & Cromwell.

City Comptroller Bill Thompson released the following statement: “The allegations reported today in The New York Post raise serious concerns. If there were any attempts to subvert the New York City Charter or to hide money in nonexistent organizations, these actions would represent a breach of the public trust.”

Queens Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis), who chairs the finance committee, pointed out the Mayor’s role in the scandal.

Just when you thought you could trust Bloomie and his Billions. That is a lot of money that could have went to schools or improvement in the MTA.