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Rudy Tarnishes Golden Parachute By MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

Saturday, April 5, 1997

Mayor Giuliani yesterday moved to limit the golden parachutes that enable top aides to bail out of government with hefty payouts — but he didn’t cut the cord entirely.

In an executive order, Giuliani amended a regulation that enabled top city officials to accumulate 228 days of unused sick leave and vacation time — and cash in that time when they leave office.

The crackdown came one month after the Daily News disclosed that Giuliani failed to limit the lucrative payouts even though he pledged reforms three years ago.

Under the April 1 executive order, top appointees will be allowed to accumulate vacation time amounting to no more than a half year’s pay.

Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said the administration should get credit for cutting back on a practice that has cost thousands of dollars. For example, First Deputy Mayor Peter Powers left government with $14,627 in accumulated leave after 21/2 years in office, The News reported last month.

“It’s appropriate to have these kinds of restrictions,” Mastro said of the cutback.

Asked why Giuliani continued to let top aides cash out with a half year of unused vacation pay — which in some cases could total nearly $70,000 — Mastro said, “You have to work a number of years to accumulate” that much leave time.

The change took effect Tuesday and won’t apply to appointees who recently stepped down, including Deputy Mayor Fran Reiter and welfare adviser Richard Schwartz.

Original Story Date: 040597

April 5, 1997
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City Set to Boot Latino Center By MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

nullMonday, March 24, 1997

The city plans to pull the plug this week on a Latino cultural center when it auctions off the former lower East Side school the group has restored and called home for the past 18 years.

Charas/El Bohio Community and Cultural Center will have to find a new home after Thursday, the day the city plans to sell the group’s 605 E. Ninth St. headquarters for as much as $1.5 million.

The Giuliani administration says the group is being shown the door simply because they are not “good citizens.”

Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said El Bohio doesn’t pay its rent on time and has failed to present credible plans to purchase the building itself. Mastro also said the group had allowed members of the notorious Latin Kings gang to use the place for meetings.

The center, with a $200,000 annual budget, funds after-school programs in music, theater and computers.

It sponsors community conferences and discussions for youngsters, low income residents and immigrants with grants from organizations like the New York Foundation for the Arts, the City Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts, United Way, NYNEX and individual contributions.

The group has garnered support from artists and politicians, including Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Westchester), Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger, Councilwoman Kathryn Freed (D-Manhattan) and State Sen. Martin Connor (D-Brooklyn).

“If the mayor wants to pick a fight with me, I’m ready for that,” Messinger said. “But he should not pick a fight with the young people of the lower East Side.”

Though they admit a problem with late rent payments, the center’s co-founders, Armando Perez and Carlos Garcia, said the administration’s efforts to take the building is based on politics and the center’s support among Democrats.

Perez and Garcia also admit that they have had Latin King members in the center but only as part of their attempts to reach out to struggling Latino youth.

When the group first moved into the old Public School 64, it was flooded, everything of value had been stripped and the roof had caved in, according to the founders.

“This building would have been torn down a long time ago if it were not for us,” Perez said.

One of three plans El Bohio put forward is to buy the building for $1 and turn it into a combination community center and low income housing development, which would need a city tax abatement and a zoning change.

Mastro ridiculed that idea.

“They offered $1 for more than a million dollar property,” he said. “That’s not a good faith plan.”

March 24, 1997
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Free Parking Bill Is Meter Made

By Homepage, New York Daily NewsNo Comments

December 6, 1996

by MICHAEL O. ALLEN, Daily News Staff Writer
The City Council wants to give you something for nothing: 10 free minutes at parking meters everywhere except midtown Manhattan.

But there’s a catch. As the city giveth, it taketh away: A quarter in that same meter would then get you only 20 minutes more.

The free meter plan was introduced yesterday by Bronx Councilman Michael DeMarco as a way to ease motorists’ pain when they stop to make a fast phone call or grab a cup of coffee.

Instead of double-parking, drivers could pull into a legal space without fishing for change to feed the meter.

“All they have to do is flip the meter and get 10 minutes,” DeMarco said.

But for somebody who wants to stick around longer, pumping in a quarter will push the meter up only an additional 20 minutes — 10 minutes less than what a quarter usually gets.

If you put a quarter in without flipping, you’ll still get 30 minutes.

Still, business leaders and drivers said they’ll take what they can get.

“The impact on business will be favorable,” said John Dell’Olio, president of the Westchester Square Merchants Association in the Bronx. “The meter will not be an enemy to the motorists.”

“Motorists shouldn’t have to pay just to run in to get a cup of coffee or pick up their dry cleaning,” agreed Marta Genovese of the New York chapter of the American Automobile Associaton.

Randy Barretto of Brooklyn said he could have used the plan yesterday, as he stopped in lower Manhattan to make a quick phone call.

He waved to an approaching police officer, miming that he was moments away from moving his car.

“I’m an outside salesman,” Barretto said. “I constantly have to stop and make quick phone calls, and I’m always pleading with police officers and meter maids not to give me tickets.”

This time, he was successful.

Typical of the city, the meter plan actually is geared toward making money.

DeMarco said it has been so successful in Yonkers and other municipalities that it has increased parking revenues 25%.

But Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said it’s an interesting idea whose time may have passed.

In three years, the city will have phased out its mechanical meters, switching to electronic devices. You won’t be able to flip for the free 10 on them.

“Technology is changing so quickly it may be impossible to go this route, even if everyone agrees,” Mastro said.

About 20% of the city’s 68,000 meters are already electronic, he added.

Meanwhile, Staten Island Councilman Jerome O’Donovan wants to give freebies to commuters from his borough. In a new bill, he called for free ferry fares for passengers transferring from a bus or subway.

It will be up to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the city to approve free transfers.

The MTA will have free transfers between buses and subways, starting in July.

Original Story Date: 12/06/96

December 6, 1996
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