Richard Brodsky | The New York Observer

Brodsky: ‘More Than Optimistic’ on Authorities Reform

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:07:25 -0500

If one Googles the term "Soviet Style bureaucracies," Assemblyman Richard Brodsky owns the top four results, each with quotes of his that refer to New York's public authorities--his favorite term on the topic.

The Westchester Democrat has long been pushing a bill to reform such public quasi-agencies--including the M.T.A., the Empire State Development Corporation and the New York Power Authority--and now it seems that reform could come within days.

On Thursday afternoon, the governor called...

At Hearing, Yankee Stadium Discourse Degenerates (Further)

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:25:07 -0500

Yankees President Randy Levine and city economic development official Seth Pinsky, apparently not amused by the subpoenas and bad press they’ve received recently, resorted to a relatively aggressive line of defense at a tense hearing this morning on bonds for the new Yankee Stadium, called by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky.

The new trick in the bag was personal attacks, as Messrs. Levine and Pinsky attempted to portray Mr. Brodsky as being a...

Yankee Stadium Saga: Thompson Attacks and Brodsky Subpoenas

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 14:11:19 -0500

After staying relatively quiet for years on Mayor Bloomberg’s deal for a new Yankee Stadium, Comptroller Bill Thompson has come out swinging, as today he attacked the Bloomberg administration for “incredible mismanagement” of the project.

“Anybody can see that this is simply a bad deal for New York,” he said in a statement.

Mr. Thompson has offered occasional criticism on the issue before—the 2009 mayoral hopeful issued a report in...

Brodsky vs. Bloomberg Over Yankee Stadium Hearing

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 16:52:02 -0500

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, on a nearly seven-month campaign to battle the issuance of $430 million in additional tax-exempt bonds for the new Yankee Stadium, wants a hearing next week on the project, but the city is not eager to attend.

This morning, Mr. Brodsky sent out a press release announcing that he was holding a hearing on Wednesday on the stadium deal, a day before the city holds its public hearing for the bonds....

A Handy Brochure! City Fires Back at Brodsky Over Yankees Deal

Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:31:58 -0400

After taking heat from Assemblyman Richard Brodsky earlier this week on a deal over Yankee Stadium, the city has created a mini-retort report of its own, addressing Mr. Brodsky's claims point-by-point.

Mr. Brodsky, who testified at Rep. Dennis Kucinich's Congressional hearing today on the issue, lobbed a series of accusations at the city on Tuesday when he released his report titled "The House that You Built" [click here for a PDF, along with...

Brodsky Slides in Front of City's Stadium Plans

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:40:31 -0400

On Thursday, inside the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C., two legislators will convene a hearing on the financing of New York sports stadiums. Neither are from New York City, but the duo, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester and U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich of Cleveland, have begun a crusade against a complex city-crafted plan to finance new stadiums and arenas for the Yankees, Mets and Nets.

At the...

Paterson Picks a Good Fight to Lose

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 19:40:01 -0400

As part of his crusade to reform the state's finances, Governor David Paterson outlined a proposal yesterday to cut an additional $1 billion from this year’s budget, plus $1.6 billion next year. Doing so put him at odds with fellow Democrats, and it's unlikely to turn into a legislative coup for the governor. How it will play politically, however, is a different story.

The governor's first dramatic warnings about the state budget, which...

Brodsky on Paterson's Plan: No Privatization

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:58:06 -0400

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky is giving David Paterson the benefit of the doubt.

“I’m just going to assume David misspoke when he talked about the sale of assets to fill the budget gap," Brodsky told me in an interview this afternoon. "Hugh Carey chiseled on the forehead of the people of this state, ‘You don’t sell assets to close a budget gap.’ So, if what they’re talking about is using the sale of assets...

Brodsky Blames Bloomberg In Rift Over Public Authorities [UPDATED]

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 14:59:34 -0400

Once again, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky and the city are in a public spat.

Mr. Brodsky, the most vocal legislative opponent of the mayor’s congestion pricing plan, issued a statement today publicly criticizing the Bloomberg administration’s concerns regarding a bill that would reform public authorities. Mr. Brodsky had been in three-way talks with the governor’s office and the state Senate, and told us last week that the city raised new problems with the...

Brodsky Wants New State Authority to Fix West Side Rail Yards

Fri, 09 May 2008 14:15:35 -0400

With the West Side rail yards development deal on very shaky ground, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky today announced a bill that would chart a new course for the 26-acre parcel west of Penn Station, bringing in a new authority to follow a Battery Park City model of piecemeal development.

“Instead of selling at the bottom of the market for a price that was never really what the property was worth in the long run,”...

Brodsky, Gottfried None Too Happy About Moynihan’s Move to Port Authority

Thu, 08 May 2008 11:21:54 -0400

Should Governor Paterson indeed move the Moynihan Station project under the control of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as he said he wants to do, at least two members of the State Assembly are poised to resist the action: Richard Gottfried, the district’s representative, and Richard Brodsky, the chairman of the committee that oversees public authorities.

“It’s a New York project; it ought to be run by...

Congestion Pricing Opponents Re-Group, Release Letters

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:53:05 -0400

A day after the City Council voted in favor of congestion pricing, and before the state legislature has a chance to, critics of the plan are making the argument that it is a financial burden on community services and charities.

Today, State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. of the Bronx released a letter he sent to his colleagues urging them to oppose. In the letter Diaz wrote, “buses from organizations transporting senior citizens...

Former Conservation Chair Richard Brodsky Versus the League of Conservation Voters

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:33:30 -0400

Richard Brodsky, the longtime former chair of the Assembly's environmental conservation commission and a leading critic of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, is declining to seek the support of the New York League of Conservation voters, in the latest chapter in a long-simmering feud dating back to the group’s defense of Governor George Pataki. Brodsky has recently found himself on the opposite side of much of the state's environmental lobby over congestion pricing....

Officials Make the Case for Congestion Pricing to Council

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 14:11:43 -0400

It’s a pretty crowded room upstairs in the City Council chambers, where testimony about congestion pricing is being given by city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and the Director of Long-term Planning and Sustainability, Rohit Aggarwala.

In one exchange, Aggarwala told City Councilman Robert Jackson, “[Y]ou don’t have to get 20 percent of the people off the road to have 20 percent reduction in traffic.” She continued, “Sometimes, if you take one or two...

Will Paterson Endorsement Ease Congestion-Pricing Gridlock?

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 07:39:33 -0400

The politics of congestion pricing is nearing a boiling point and opponents continue to make the case for a different approach to traffic reduction.

There are, of course other ways of reducing congestion, but Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal has the advantage of generating new resources for mass transit.

On Friday, our new Governor, David Paterson, demonstrated political courage and came out in favor of the plan to charge drivers for entering New York’s Central Business district during...

Brodsky: 'The Mood Is, What the Fuck!?'

Tue, 11 Mar 2008 10:43:40 -0400

On the face of it, there's very little reason for the Democrats in the State Assembly to go out on a limb for Eliot Spitzer. Hence the response of Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester when I asked him what their position was on whether the governor should stay or go: “There is no position of the Assembly majority on Eliot Spitzer,” he said.

I asked him what the general mood is in Albany.

...

Brodsky: Congrestion Pricing Will Make Weiner Mayor

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:28:05 -0500

One last clip from last night’s congestion pricing debate. Here's Richard Brodsky saying that if congestion pricing comes to pass before the 2009 mayoral elections, Anthony Weiner, who opposes it, will get elected. A partial transcript:
Brodsky:
I don’t think it’s going to become law. I do think it is going to elect Anthony Weiner as mayor of the city of New York.

Michael O’ Loughlin: Is that an endorsement?

Congestion Pricing Debate: Brodsky on the 'Lock Box'

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 09:25:37 -0500

Last night in Brooklyn, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky debated congestion pricing with Michael O’Loughlin of the Campaign for New York’s Future.

Since polls have shown that New Yorkers are much more likely to support congestion pricing if the money is used to improve mass transit, supporters like O'Loughlin want to guarantee that money would be put into "lock box" dedicated to mass transit. (Councilman John Liu wrote about this yesterday in the...

Brodsky Vs. Wylde on the Green-ness of Congestion Pricing

Fri, 08 Feb 2008 14:52:16 -0500

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester and Kathy Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, debated the mayor’s congestion pricing plan on NBC’s News Forum, which was taped this afternoon and will air Sunday.

Here's one of the highlights, in which Brodsky and Wylde debate whether or not environmental groups are actually supporting the plan.

Mr. BRODSKY…What everyone can say about the concept, they gut the state environmental laws. For the first...

Reactions to Spitzer's Speech: Bloomberg Likes, Brodsky and Diaz Don't

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:39:28 -0500

Eliot Spitzer’s style may be humbler, but his goals aren’t.

In his second State of the State speech to lawmakers in Albany, Spitzer stuck to his vow to cap property taxes while at the same time providing free S.U.N.Y. tuition for veterans, expanding S.U.N.Y.’s teaching ranks by 2,000 professors, building $400 million of housing for cops and teachers, and expanding health care coverage for children.

The speech won praise from people...

Brodsky: Spitzer's Lottery Plan 'Not a Good Idea'

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 16:20:15 -0500

Here's Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester talking about Eliot Spitzer's plan to basically sell future proceeds from the state lottery in order to create an endowment to help fund the S.U.N.Y. system.

“If the point of it is to create a revenue stream, we have a revenue stream. It’s called the lottery proceeds," Brodsky told me right before the State of the State yesterday....

A Sunnyside Convention Center? Javits Advocates Say Fuggettaboutit

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 15:00:02 -0500

Two business organization leaders said at an Assembly hearing today that they wanted to see an expanded convention center in midtown Manhattan, shedding some doubt on talk of a long-term plan to build a new convention center in Sunnyside, Queens, or New Jersey.

Both Joseph Spinnato, CEO of the Hotel Association of New York City, and Mark Scheinberg, who heads up the New York Auto Show and spoke on behalf of a...

New Year Brings Development Hearings Galore

Wed, 02 Jan 2008 13:24:29 -0500

Perhaps legislators all received new gavels for the holidays, as there seems to be a whole bunch of hearings in the next few days relevant to economic development.

A list for those that like sitting in the uncomfortable chairs of City Hall and elsewhere:

Jan. 3 – Assemblyman Richard Brodsky holds a follow-up hearing on his West Side hearing just before Christmas. Listed for further discussion in the hearing...

Brodsky on Spitzer's 'Stunning Collapse'

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 16:17:16 -0500

I just got off the phone with Democratic Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester, who told me that today’s Siena poll numbers about Eliot Spitzer were “astounding” and showed a “stunning collapse not just for him, but for his political agenda.”

But Brodsky isn’t quite ready to say Spitzer should worry about his re-election.

“I don’t think they’re surprising," he said. "I think there’s going to be--he can reverse this. This is not the end...

Richard Brodsky, Public Hearing Advocate

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 19:18:06 -0400

One recent Wednesday morning, Richard L. Brodsky, an assemblyman from Westchester, was traveling down to Yonkers and reminiscing about all of the liberal hell-raisers he’s worked for or with over his career. The presidential candidate Ed Muskie (“I was holding the mike—he choked up”). The irascible Congresswoman Bella Abzug (“I was a foot shorter after that”). He got to know the singer Pete Seeger while agitating against the nuclear power plant at Indian Point....

Bloomberg on Brodsky's "Piece of Paper"

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 12:17:38 -0400

Here is Richard Brodsky's report -- which got straightforward and fairly prominent play on B1 today -- itemizing what he sees as the problems with Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan. The 26-page report says, in short, that it would be a financial burden on low and middle income residents and doesn't effectively reduce traffic. When asked about the report at a press conference in Brooklyn just now, Michael Bloomberg dismissed it as "just...

Brodsky Makes a Mockery

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 11:40:34 -0400

As Assemblyman Richard Brodsky was passing by my desk/poker table in the Legislative Correspondents Association room in the Capitol earlier today, I asked him what he though of Michael Bloomberg changing his party registration.

"I wasn't surprised," said Brodsky, a Democrat. "The Republican Party has been for rent for...

More Congestion Pricing on TV

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 16:09:19 -0400

For those of you who haven't yet had your fill of congestion pricing, don't worry.

The most outspoken critic of the plan, Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester, will debate one of its architects, Rohit Aggarwala, the director of the city's office of long-term planning and sustainability.

It'll take place tonight on Inside City Hall, which airs at 7 p.m.

What will they...

The Bloomberg Congestion Testimony [Updated]

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 11:29:06 -0400

Here's the mayor, among friends, getting set to testify today in midtown at an Assembly hearing about congestion pricing. He's arguing that in addition to the potential benefits to the city, there's very little downside to trying it out as a pilot program. "The worse case scenario is we walk away with the federal money," Bloomberg said. Later, he addressed the issue of a potential threat to civil liberties, which Assemblyman Richard Brodsky raised yesterday in...

Two Ways of Looking at the Politics of Congestion Pricing

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 12:18:39 -0400

A day before Michael Bloomberg goes up to Albany to testify [Sorry--editing error] testifies here in the city about the merits of congestion pricing, both sides are coming with some novel arguments to bolster their case. Eliot Spitzer and Bloomberg told reporters today that, in a way, New York already has the concept in place.

Said Spitzer: "We already have congestion pricing in New York State. Most people are not aware of it. But the...

Spitzer: Think Bigger On Javits Center

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:51:54 -0500

The Spitzer administration wants to scrap the current $1.8 billion plan to expand the Jacob Javits Convention Center on the far West Side. Crain's reports that Governor Spitzer will meet on Monday with Senator Chuck Schumer, a critic of the current expansion plan (he says it's not big enough), and with Mayor Bloomberg and Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff, who came up with the plan working with the Pataki administration. Stay tuned. Changes for Javits...

Albany's Swift Boat Victims

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 05:41:49 -0500

Richard Brodsky is concerned about the legislature's image. Days after he wrote an Op-Ed in the Times regional sections entitled "The Legislature You Don't Know," he went on Fred Dicker's radio show this morning to lament the way the Assembly is getting kicked around in public. "He's entitled to be a tough guy; he is a tough guy," he said of Eliot Spitzer. But he lamented the fact that the state legislature had, in his words, been...

Young Dynamos of Albany

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:00:29 -0500

The comptroller hearings are still going. Tom DiNapoli was received warmly today, Richard Brodsky was asked about his temperament, and accountant Robert Hoffman was in and out in record time, according to a state legislator who was there. Once the screening is completed today, the real politicking begins. The three-person panel of former city and state comptrollers will recommend five of the 18 candidates to the legislature, who will (presumably) then pick from among them. The...

Comptroller Predictions

Tue, 23 Jan 2007 04:30:00 -0500

As the screening panel starts interviewing comptroller candidates in order to pick the five people they'll recommend to the legislature for the position, here are a few predictions about who might make the cut: Bill Cunningham, political consultant and former deputy mayor

Richard Brodsky Bill Mulrow Tom Dinapoli Martha Stark Joe Morelle Says we may need to wait "for white smoke" to know when there is a...

Brodsky: Comptroller Isn't a Stock Picker

Tue, 16 Jan 2007 09:57:54 -0500

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, who is one of several candidates jockeying for the state comptroller position, took a moment to explain that unlike what most people think the job isn't that of a stock picker. "The last thing in the world you want is the comptroller picking stocks," Brodsky told me. Why?

"Well, because you can't possibly manage a $150 billion portfolio one investment at a time. Second of all, the job here is to balance...

Reform and Comptroller Candidates

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:55:29 -0500

Even with former city and state comptrollers on a screening panel, some lawmakers still believe the next state comptroller will be one of the Assembly Democrats who are campaigning for the position. So far, the Assembly candidates include Joe Morelle, Richard Brodsky, Tom DiNapoli, Felix Ortiz, and Pete Grannis. So how does an Assembly member separate himself from the other candidates? One way, which could ingratiate himself with the new governor, is to show a track...

Reform and Comptroller Candidates

Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:41:42 -0500

Reaction

Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:05:33 -0500

What did people think of Eliot Spitzer's first State of the State address? Mike Bloomberg told reporters he looked through Spitzer's speech at 8:30 a.m. this morning and "there are very few things in the speech that I could ever quibble with. They'd only be in degrees." About Ground Zero, which Spitzer said was developing at an unacceptable pace, he said, "It's coming along. Things are going well." Tom Suozzi, Spitzer's rival in the Democratic primary,...

Bribery vs. Murder on the Ballot

Tue, 21 Nov 2006 07:36:58 -0500

If there's one thing the Alan Hevesi situation has brought to light, it's the way that the relevance of an offense by an public official to that official's job can matter more than the seriousness of the transgression in any other context. "Alan's stuff, interestingly enough, is to some extent related to his responsibilities because he's a fiscal watchdog," Assemblyman Richard Brodsky told me yesterday. But just to make it clear when the misconduct is and...

Brodsky Chases Coscia

Tue, 24 Oct 2006 06:45:34 -0400

Assembly Member Richard Brodsky is nipping at the Port Authority's heels: today he and counterparts from New Jersey will propose legislation to make the Port Authority adopt the same measures that New York agencies now must follow according to the 2005 Public Authority and Accountability Act. Coincidentally--perhaps--the Port Authority introduced a brand new feature to its monthly board meetings last Thursday: a public comment period in which regular folks could make known their feelings...

Kalikow's Private Lexicon

Thu, 14 Sep 2006 08:56:17 -0400

M.T.A. Chairman Peter Kalikow invented his own language in a hearing this morning on the state transit agency's potential sale of the West Side rail yards to the city. "The city of New York has guaranteed us $2 billion for the No. 7 line," he said at first, but under questioning from Assembly Member Richard Brodsky, backed down and said, "My 'guarantee' was a term of mine, not a term of law. I regret...

Events for September 14, 2006

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 13:50:08 -0400

In the Council, hearings are held on to discuss: medical care for some 9/11 rescue workers; the blackout in Queens; emergency preparedness at senior centers; and community access television. The MTA's sale of the West Side Rail Yards is discussed at a hearing held by Assemblyman Richard Brodsky. Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Vito Lopez speaks to the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. Eliot Spitzer introduces "Corporate Leaders for Spitzer." Young Republicans hold their monthly Speaker's Forum. Log Cabins Republicans...

Emanuel on Sweeney

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 09:20:14 -0400

In another sign that national Dems are looking to New York -- and an anticipated Hillary landslide -- to pick up seats in the House, DCCC Chair Rahm Emanuel just called to talk about Congressman John Sweeney. Emanuel just told reporters a few minutes ago on a conference call that U.S. Rep. John Sweeney really, really ought to appear before a New York Assembly committee investigating his role in organizing a $27,000 Lake Placid ski...

The Morning Read: July 13, 2006

Thu, 13 Jul 2006 04:53:14 -0400

The Sun reports that the Javits expansion plan comes down to the vote of the Public Authorities Control Board, and Sheldon Silver. AP reports Richard Brodsky has asked John Sweeney to appear before an assembly committee to answer questions about a $27,000 Lake Placid ski weekend. KT McFarland has another brother, the Post reports. —Nicole...

Brodsky's Reason for Withdrawal

Thu, 11 May 2006 10:04:43 -0400

This just released by Brodsky's camp. STATEMENT OF ASSEMBLYMAN RICHARD BRODSKY Earlier this week Willie, Paige, Emily and I were advised by Doctor Robert Weiss, Willie's nephrologist, that Willie would shortly need a kidney transplant, that I would likely be the donor, and that the operation would take place somewhere in the next thirty to ninety days. In our discussions with Doctor Weiss we had always said that we would do whatever was medically necessary,...

UPDATE: Hurricane Brodsky

Thu, 23 Mar 2006 09:00:50 -0500

Blow, Richard, Blow! In the event of a major hurricane, the city's unprepared to evacuate, according to a report released today in Albany. Of course, it's always difficult to tell whether these reports are fact-finding or political documents. Still, some of the findings are a bit discomfiting: The Plan does not address the length of time it will actually take to evacuate residents. The Plan fails to address traffic congestion problem. The City...

March 23, 2006: GOP for Breakfast, Dems for Dinner

Wed, 22 Mar 2006 12:10:58 -0500

Tomorrow morning bright and early, Bill Weld will be the featured guest at Crain’s Business Breakfast. Council Member John Liu will address the New York City Transit Riders Council. In the evening, the Brookhaven Town Democratic Committee will host Eliot Spitzer, Alan Hevesi, Richard Brodsky, Andrew Cuomo, Mark Green, Charlie King and Denise O’Donnell at their monthly meeting. [UPDATE: Sean Patrick Maloney will also be in attendance.] And Jonathan Bing hosts a wine tasting fundraiser. —Nicole...

The Weiner Way

Mon, 13 Feb 2006 07:55:31 -0500

Richard Brodsky tells the Journal News he's running an Anthony Weiner-style campaign. Weiner noted Friday that he presumes his imitators plan to differ in one regard:...

Pataki-ocracy: Its Sell-by Date Is Years Away

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 19:00:00 -0500

George Pataki’s shelf life as Governor expires in less than a year. The same cannot be said of some of his appointees. They will be around for a long time, and there’s little Mr. Pataki’s successor can do about it.

Mr. Pataki will go down in history as a three-term Governor. In fact, however, his influence over policy and patronage will exceed that 12-year span. For example, Joseph Buono, a former Republican politician, will be...

Brodsky's New Beat

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 07:04:00 -0500

Assemblyman Richard Brodsky has a hobby: catastrophic meteorology. Or something like that. He's one of the experts on "It Could Happen Tomorrow," a new and ominously-titled program on the Weather...