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Update November 25, 2014- My career as an elected official is over. I received only 14 votes. Hey, that is better than Anthony Notaro who received no votes when he ran for CB1 Chair.
October 30, 2014- By Steven E. Greer, MD
This election Tuesday, send a strong message to the locally elected frauds, cheats, and crooks of New York politics. For State Assembly, write in Steven Greer as your vote rather than be a puppet of the machine and blindly vote for Sheldon Silver.
My campaign slogan is “I’m not Sheldon Silver”.
December 23, 2013- By Steven E. Greer, MD
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who represents Downtown Manhattan and the 65th District, is up for re-election in 2014. It is a wide-open field given Mr. Silver’s numerous scandals. After reporting on him for several years running BatteryPark.TV, and accomplishing more than he has via that reporting, it occurred to me that someone with good ideas and the right backing could form a legitimate campaign to become the next representative of the 65th District of the New York State Assembly, ousting Mr. Silver.
I have never run for anything in my life, which is precisely why I could be the perfect candidate for a New York State political office. Governor Cuomo’s Moreland Commission has outlined far too many abuses of power by the establishment, and an outsider is needed.
If I run, my platform will focus on:
School overcrowding: Mr. Silver claims to be fighting for more schools, but he is really in the pocket of big developers? The latest DOE decision to not build any schools Downtown says it all. With thousands of new apartment units being built, I will demand that the developers also build schools to handle the new demand that will create.
School reforms: I will fight to reform our broken public school system. The school year needs to be expanded. Teachers need to be rewarded based on merit, and pre-K classes need to be offered.
Anti-corruption: I will work with Governor Cuomo to enact the recommendations of his Moreland Commission. Mr. Silver is entangled in far too many scandals and does not deserve to represent the people of Downtown.
Quality of life: Far too often, the special interests of corporations trump the concerns of residents over quality of life issues, such as noise from tourist helicopters, noise from ferry boat horns, and so on. No one has fought more effectively for these quality of life issues than I have since 2009.
Dissolve the BPCA: The Battery Park City Authority needs to be dissolved and handed over to the city. The people of BPC deserve elected accountable representatives. Taxation without representation is unconstitutional. Moreover, once the land within BPC becomes ownable, rather than merely leased, property values will increase. I will work with Mayor Bill de Blasio to ensure that the parks maintain their high quality through existing funding provided by BPC “Facility Fees”.
Rebuild the waterfront infrastructure: The 65th District includes New York City’s most important waterfront, from Battery Park over to the devastated Seaport and Brooklyn coasts. It is foolish to simply rebuild areas such as the Seaport. The entire regions need to be elevated and “hardened” with flood walls.
Bring Wall Street back to actual Wall Street: 20 years ago, not only was the New York Stock Exchange the center of the world in stock markets, but large banks called Downtown home, such as Merrill Lynch, and many others. Then, new forms of high-speed trading corrupted the markets, and turned the NYSE into a museum. I will fight to end high-speed trading and give tax incentives for banks to move back Downtown.
Reform the Port Authority: The World Trade Center site and tunnels are poorly managed by the Port Authority. I will fight to lower the tolls for commuters and cut the bureaucracy. For example, it is outrageous that staff of the 9/11 Memorial earn more than $400,000 in salary.
Cybersecurity: I will work to pass new state laws making it illegal to gather personal information from users of the Internet, particularly that from minors. I will also work on new anti-cyberbullying laws with the help of New York County District Attorney Cy Vance and U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Improve Gateway Plaza heating: Unlike the other elected officials who give lip-service to helping the people of Gateway who are freezing, while actually being in the pocket of the large real estate companies taking campaign donations, I will fight to get the much needed repairs.
Hospitals for Downtown: As a medical doctor and healthcare industry expert, I will create innovation new ways to deliver healthcare for Downtown using smaller, more efficient, clinics. I will also fight to build a respectable hospital Downtown.
What do you think? Let me know. Post your comments.
Is Sheldon Silver really fighting for more schools?
Crooks and more crooks in the state government
Will Asphalt Green survive in Sheldon Silver’s district?
BatteryPark.TV causes changes at the top in Medicare
MSNBC interviews Steven Greer, MD about healthcare policy
Oh good for you
You’ll need some fund raising and sponsorship…
Maybe some corporate sponsors
for the Big money..
Hits the issues and concerns of downtown Manhattan which sorely needs some good representation. Go for it!
Time for a change.
Your Wall st plank is not realistic. A good wish but not feasible given the number of jobs moved to lower cost and lower risk locations. The prospect of turning back the clock on electronic trading is also not feasible given the competitiveness of the global marketplace.
Instead, a plank to attract industries would be more successful. For example, I have always thought the new WTC would be an excellent new home for the United Nations. Relocating the UN would:
1. ease traffic congestion on the UES
2. reduce security costs as the WTC is close to the heliport and has easy access to the river for secure transportation
3. Is a fitting location given the terrorist attack Would be a monument to global peace
4. a secure conference center could be built on one of the remaining unbuilt sites. Or on governors island
5. easier access via subway and path and boats.
6. Might garner support from Silverstein. Port authority. And Brookfield.
7. Provides much needed relief to gridlock I. Other parts of manhattan
8. Buildings are more secure.
Just a few thoughts for you.
Oh yes, please do! I would love to see your delusions run up against reality. You are thin-skinned, tactless, self absorbed, angry, and downright crazy. I can’t wait!
Someone at Sheldon Silver’s office snapped. Using the alias “Morgan”, above, they read the story on their work computer then used an iPhone to post the comment. They must be getting nervous.
I would vote for you, but I wonder if you would have the patience to deal with the establishment! Some people work better outside of the system than in the system. The compromises you have to make to be inside might be too much. You have done an amazing job through the vehicle of BPCTV. Are there ways to expand that platform into a strong advocacy group? A non profit? Im behind you either way.
how about ferry service to the three aiports from lower Manhattan? How about some type of storm protection for lower Manhattan since hurricane season starts in six months and this district is a big part of the tax base for the state.?How about a plan to reduce truck traffic on Canal street? How about reducing the 6,000 buses that come through the Linclon tunnel every day? Where is the reduction helicopter noise? Where is the cut from Lotto tickets sale for our schools? Why aren’t there mufflers on the ferry boats so Battery Park residents can sleep late? Where are our floating pools? Where is our benefit from lower Manhattan being the number one tourist location in the State and possibly the nation? That was in just five minutes.
I know you don’t like the BPCA given all the problems we’ve seen there with cronyism and corruption, but why do you think that the city would do any better at using the locally-collected PILOT funds for the benefit of the neighborhood? Based on Mayor “tale of two cities”‘s campaign rhetoric, I strongly suspect he would like to use all the money collected from BPC for affordable housing elsewhere in the city and none of it to take care of the neighborhood that we all treasure.
To nytjunkie
Good questions, but those PILOT taxes currently are used by the city elsewhere now. It can’t get any worse. The $5 Million or so in the facility fees, that even Sheldon Silver’s staff did not know existed until I told them, must stay put and be used here in BPC. That is enough to pay for the parks. We would then also start a “Friends of BPC” just like Central Park to raise money for the parks.
Steven E. Greer
If I could I would vote for you.
Thanks Suzanne
How’s Japan right now?
Only if you promise to help the rent stabilized tenants of gateway.
Our stabilization ends in 7 years. Some of us built bpc. We were pioneers and we came back after 9/11. Soon we will not be able to afford to stay and we are loyal to the community. Our Apartments are basically ignored ..
While a tenant that is not stabilized calls office, maintenance is at their door. Stabilized apts are falling apart.
Caroline
No elected politician cares about Gateway, yet everyone votes for them because they pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Who’s giving campaign donations to the electeds? Also, the local “leaders” who live in gateway are puppets and not properly demanding and enacting change. You need new leaders of the GPTA.
Great news from Steven Greer the Journalist of the Year
“Good questions, but those PILOT taxes currently are used by the city elsewhere now. It can’t get any worse.”
Of course it can get worse. Currently the BPCA spends what it wants to on the parks and then turns “surplus” over to city and state. It if spends less on the parks, that generates more “surplus”. And if we start a “Friends of BPC” charity that gives them another funding source to let them say “with that, you don’t need PILOT funds as much… and we do!” Right now those parks are the explicit responsibility of someone with the resources to maintain them (BPCA). By contrast, the city doesn’t have the money and will likely spend our tax/PILOT dollars elsewhere. I think we need some better BPCA people.
To NYTjunkie
Those are legitimate concerns. However, keep in mind that only $40 or so Million of the BPCA budget is spent internally on the BPC, and most of those projects are bogus wasteful pork designed to give rewards to friends of the government.
For examples, the BPCA is spending millions to rebuild a geothermal well in the parks conservancy to make it “green”, and is spending millions to repair a leaking roof over Asphalt Green. Come on, that is pork. The BPCA gave millions simply to “study” the design of a West Thames bridge, and millions more to “study” how they might further study hurricane hardening with FEMA.
The biggest reason BPC is not a “community” like TriBeCa is that most people are renters, not owners. We need to dismantle the landlord-tenant situation and let people buy their homes.
SG
Yes – time to get him outta there! Will vote for you.
I agree about the GPTA as they have become more concerned about dog runs and not enough about the neglect of repairs to stabilized apartments and the crazy heating bills. However, when stabilization ends the apartments increases will drive out the rest of the middle class longtime gateway resident who actually did care about BPC.
Gateway management and sheldon silver by allowing stabilization to end for most of the apartments has severely weakened the GPTAs power. 40 percent of gateway is non stabilized transient tenant. They stay one year and leave. They don’t care about gateway and even less about Battery Park a City.
To Caroline
Your comment about Sheldon Silver allowing LeFrak to stop the rent stabilized practice is an important one. Democrats elected in Manhattan have to pretend to be fighting for affordable housing, but few really are. The bucks come from big real estate, not regular people.
Throw the bums out in 2014.
Lol
As a middle class non stabilized tenant in the Gateway…why should I subsidize stabilized tenants rent? I’ve lived there three years. My friend, an ad exec, is stabilized because he moved in two years before me. No other reason. He makes more money than I do. My rent can go up any amount. How is this fair or something I–or any politician–should fight for?
Well, since you opened that can of worms, advocating lower rents in the neighborhood rather than a parochial targeting of one building, half subsidized, would be more effective (re: chconkl’s comment); one must zoom out before zooming in.
And since everyone is opining how about first getting rid of the filthy fishermen desecrating our waterfronts? This one is easy if only someone cared.
small low cost gestures do more to improve everyday life than tomorrow’s grander gestures.
L
Great, so I have your vote then. Excellent.
Why not run officially?
Correction. Tony Notaro did not get zero votes. He voted for himself!
Morgan sounds …. a bit ….. NUTS