Crains New York Demo - (Page 8)

THE INSIDER by Jeremy Smerd and Shane Dixon Kavanaugh Congestion ahead for Gridlock Sam T ransportation maven Sam Schwartz had not intended to roll out the master plan for city traffic he’s been concocting just yet. He’s still tinkering with it and hasn’t briefed all the key politicians and interest groups. But it was outed this month by New York Times columnist Bill Keller, who was tipped off by a fan and persuaded Gridlock Sam to walk him through it. Mr. Schwartz now finds himself riding a wave of interest in his proposal, which he has been honing for two decades. Last week he detailed it to Crain’s and The Wall Street Journal and expects to pitch it to editorial boards. The logic of his benignly named “Equitable Transportation Formula” has impressed the experts and laymen who have seen it. That’s not a surprise: Mr. Schwartz has been part of New York’s traffic cognoscenti for 40 years, and the city’s road and bridge network has much room for improvement. But will the plan find traction with the public? Unlike the congestion-pricing scheme rejected by the state Legislature in 2008, Mr. Schwartz’s proposal is a broad rethinking of how people and goods move across the metro area. Despite the transportation network’s illogical design, however, proposed changes always draw an outcry. One politician who viewed Mr. Schwartz’s PowerPoint presentation deemed it the best traffic plan he’d seen because it would lower tolls for his constituents—but said he could never vote for it because it would charge for some trips that are now free. But Mr. Schwartz need not persuade every politician, just enough of them. On the plus side, his plan reduces driving costs in the districts where opposition to the 2008 plan was strongest. But it adds costs in areas that supported the last plan, namely by tolling the East River bridges, which drivers last paid to cross in 1911. The Bloomberg administration is studying Mr. Schwartz’s proposal. But the Cuomo administration and the Legislature will not take it up before the state budget is done, and perhaps not at all in 2012, because it is a lot to digest, especially in an election year. HOSPITAL WOES Trustee takes over THE NEW Chapter 11 trustee for Peninsula Hospital Center received all necessary approvals late last week from the state Department of Health to begin operating the Queens facility. The trustee, Lori Lapin Jones, now has complete authority at Peninsula. She replaces a former Revival Home Health Care executive who took the helm when Revival came to the hospital’s financial rescue. On Feb. 23, the state closed Peninsula’s laboratory after deeming conditions a threat to patient safety, and stopped the hospital from admitting patients. Hundreds of workers lost their jobs. Richard Cook, deputy commissioner of the state Department of Health’s Office of Health Systems Management, said his agency recommended approval of Ms. Jones by the Public Health and Health Planning Council because swift action is required. But what that action will be is up to Ms. Jones, as a neutral party to the bankruptcy. She supplants Peninsula’s existing board and management. During the proceedings, Mr. Cook and Ms. Jones fielded questions about whether the hospital will reopen. The Department of Health will assess whether the hospital’s laboratory is safe. The hospital’s lab could then be recertified, or it may be decided that the hospital will remain closed because there are no financial resources to operate it. Mr. Cook noted, “This has to move very rapidly, given [that] Peninsula has been closed for two or three weeks, and there is no revenue.” Mr. Cook was asked if the lab work could be outsourced, allowing Peninsula to reopen. He responded that Peninsula’s board and management team “have yet to come up with a comprehensive plan to address it.” He added that the Department of Health had “a process that had to have been acted on, but [Peninsula has] not come back to us.” bloomberg news City serves up BID lite The number of the city’s business improvement districts has grown to 67 under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, up from 23. But smaller commercial corridors often need extra hands to pick up garbage and plant flowers— not provide security, marketing and other services that add costs. Small Business Services Commissioner Robert Walsh told the City Council last week that the Bloomberg administration will create a kind of BID lite. BIDs will be able to purchase sanitation services through a centralized manager and forgo an executive director and office space. and employee pension contributions, takes effect April 1. Budget politics The Assembly isn’t seeking many changes to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s proposed budget, but did not pass it early so as not to appear to be in the governor’s pocket, a Democratic legislator said. The budget, due by April 1, is still expected to be on time, assuming disgruntled Senate Democrats don’t leave their chamber to prevent a quorum. Assembly Democrats will essentially accept the governor’s budget because Mr. Cuomo delivered on several of their priorities last December, including a millionaires’ tax and funding for flood relief, summer jobs and displaced homemakers, the legislator said. GOODWILL INDUSTRIES OF GREATER NEW YORK AND NORTHERN NEW JERSEY presents Policy, Economy, Training and Employment Beating pension reform’s debut Adam Lisberg’s first day as the KEYNOTE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF LABOR Friday, April 20, 2012 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM Lighthouse International Building Academy Theater 111 East 59th Street, New York, NY 10022 ECONOMISTS PANEL Paul Harrington, Drexel University The Honorable Edward Montgomery, Georgetown University Moderated by: Henry E. Gooss, Investor Growth Capital, Inc. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT PANEL Kim Jasmin, JP Morgan Chase Foundation Pat Jenny, The New York Community Trust Elaine Katz, Kessler Foundation Chauncy Lennon, Ford Foundation Moderated by: Stephanie Powers, Council on Foundations’ Public - Philanthropic Partnerships Initiative JANE OATES Limited Seating Available RSVP Erika Jeffers 718.371.7251 ejeffers@goodwillny.org Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s director of external communications will be March 30, meaning the outgoing City & State editor will get in ahead of the state’s new scaled-back pension tier by 48 hours. “That happens to be a consequence of my decision,” he said, “but not the reason for my timing.” Mr. Lisberg won’t be the only one to get in under the wire. Public-sector unions like DC37 and the AFL-CIO are urging members to enroll in public-pension programs before Tier VI, which increases the retirement age Scarlett fever A source close to Scott Stringer’s notyet-official mayoral bid said actress Scarlett Johansson won’t just raise money for the Manhattan borough president, “she will play an active role in a variety of areas.” Ms. Johansson’s grandmother was a housing activist who worked with Mr. Stringer when he was an aide to then-Assemblyman Jerrold Nadler. The actress will appear at another Stringer fundraiser April 5. For daily political and government news, subscribe to CRAIN’S INSIDER @ www.crainsnewyork.com/insider 8 | Crain’s New York Business | March 26, 2012 http://www.crainsnewyork.com/insider

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crains New York Demo

Crains New York Demo
Contents
Sweet project in danger of a total meltdown
More red ink on the books at Reader’s Digest
Bank in the tank: Bad bet on rates sinks Hudson City
Neighborhood Journal
The Insider
Small Business
Viewpoint
Really dumb move, Upper West Side
Real Estate Deals
Classifieds
Business Lives
Hot Jobs
Executive Moves
The Week Ahead

Crains New York Demo