Posted on 06/25/2005 10:46:25 AM PDT by neverdem
ALBANY, June 24 - State lawmakers on Friday passed a plan to intensify oversight of New York's scandal-plagued public authorities, whose multibillion-dollar operations have long operated with little scrutiny.
Their move to shine more light on the authorities, which have emerged as a shadow government in the state and have faced allegations of favoritism and corruption, capped the last day of a session dominated by efforts to overhaul the workings of Albany in response to growing outcries about a dysfunctional state government.
The plan calls for creating an inspector general's post as well as an outside budget office. The first would have a mandate to examine the operations, and the second, the finances, of about 700 state authorities, which do such things as run the state's highway and subway systems, build tunnels and bridges, and borrow for public works. It would also require authorities get "fair market value" when selling public property - an issue that came to the fore with the proposed sale of development rights for the West Side railyards to the New York Jets.
As the session wound down, lawmakers and Gov. George E. Pataki also reached agreement on an incentive package for businesses in Lower Manhattan. Those in the area of ground zero and the World Financial Center would see the biggest benefits, with breaks on the commercial rent tax, a tax credit for adding workers to the area, and other incentives over the next several years.
Lawmakers also passed several other bills affecting New York City, including a measure taking effect on Sept. 1 to exempt clothing and footwear costing less than $110 from the city's half of the sales tax. The state portion of the tax will still be charged, so that such items will be taxed at a rate of 4.375 percent...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.
Get rid of them all, every one of them.
http://www.RusThompson.com
Gasp! Corruption, favoritism, crony ism, nepotism? In New York? And by public authorities? Say it ain't so!
Read The Power Broker, by Robert Caro, if you want to understand how this all works.
At one point, he had 12 seperate job titles and at least 4 different offices.
What makes him such an odd figure was that he was seen as an idealist reformer and a strong fighter of corruption.
He was as corrupt (and racist as hell) as anyone around, but he was smart as a whip and tough as leather and able to maintain his image.
Once he tasted power, however, Moses became a different man altogether. Caro's book is a must-read for those who want to understand urban planning.
How long before the inspecor general is just an added level of pay-off to be made?
I was always surprised that Caros book was the only real autobiography written about Moses (the 1952 book "builder of democracy" is considered to be pure PR fluff and garbage which no one takes seriously).
If I got the story right, he wrote like a 23 or 24 page rebuttal letter in a rage.
His "accolytes" still have a great deal of influence and it is disturbing to me to read how many politicians today want or wish they had a "robert moses" around to get things done.
It should be noted though, that Caros was inspired or influenced by Jane Jacobs and it shaped his views (his wife was also writing a paper at the time about one of the bridges). Jane Jacobs was an early and outspoken critic of Moses.
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