News from BALCONY

Port Authority Chief Fires Back at Mayor; For First Time, Names the Names of Projects Sacrificed to WTC Financing

By Eliot Brown

The Port Authority’s executive director swung back Thursday morning against attacks from Mayor Bloomberg, painting a picture of his agency as a cash-poor entity that already must scale back and scrap major projects including a major renovation at LaGuardia airport and a new midtown bus garage.

Earlier this week, the mayor went on the offensive against the Port Authority, attempting to have it back the financing for two private office towers at the World Trade Center. The move is demanded by private developer Larry Silverstein, who says the Port Authority has a responsibility to allow him to build now because of its own delays.

At a breakfast forum in the new Newsweek building (where the New York and Vicinity Carpenters Labor Management Corporation has its offices), Chris Ward, the agency’s executive director, told the union-backed Business and Labor Coalition of New York that the recession has caused the agency’s infrastructure spending to shrink by billions over the next decade. The implication was clear: Any more money devoted to the World Trade Center already committed—he put the price tag at $12 billion—will mean more cuts elsewhere.

“We had $29 billion and now we’re down to effectively a $25.5 billion plan,” he said. “I can tick off to you the things we’re not doing. And you can take that $12 billion I’m describing for downtown, and we get to an understanding of the implications for this region.

“We’re not rebuilding LaGuardia; we’re not doing the new Delta terminal at Kennedy Airport; we’re not expanding Stewart Airport; we are not redoing the Goethals Bridge. We are not doing those. We have no money in our budget right now for the Bayonne Bridge; we are not building an auxiliary bus garage in midtown Manhattan.”

The long list of cuts hadn’t been made public or even approved yet—the Port Authority’s 10-year capital budget isn’t up for a revision until December—so one probably can’t treat Mr. Ward’s word with finality (the governors of New York and New Jersey make the final calls on these matters). But, based on what he said, it seems the Port Authority has cut out of its spending plan almost any expansion or anything new other than the money toward the World Trade Center and the $3 billion for the new New Jersey Transit tunnel under the Hudson River, a priority for Governor Corzine. The LaGuardia project, for instance, envisioned a redo of the Central Terminal Building at the airport, and, at least until the recession, the agency had $1 billion in its capital budget for it.

With that said, it’s important to note that this comes in the context of a heated negotiation—or battle, as it seems—between the Port Authority and the city over whether or not the agency should back the financing of Mr. Silverstein’s towers, which have no private tenants.

Update 3:25 p.m.

Here’s the Port Authority’s latest capital budget, updated a year-and-a-half ago. The plan, at the time, was sized at $29.5 billion, with $8.4 billion for the World Trade Center. Last fall, the agency acknowledged it would need about another $2 billion to cover cost overruns on its delayed projects, bringing the total over $10 billion. Like some of the other numbers and projects mentioned here, the $12 billion figure Mr. Ward used doesn’t appear to have been approved by the agency’s board, in which case it’s no done deal and presumably includes some of the money the Port Authority would put up Mr. Silverstein’s Tower 4 as part of his financing counterproposal.

A MESSAGE FROM NYSUT TO THE NYS LEGISLATURE

From Alan B. Lubin, Executive Vice President

This correspondence is to reiterate and clarify NYSUT’s position regarding the agreement between the Governor and various other statewide unions, as well as the potential impact of this agreement as it may apply to the public pension benefits available to all future public employees.

NYSUT has and will continue to support the lawful right of all unions to collectively bargain the terms and conditions of employment on behalf of their members. Moreover, in terms of bargaining, NYSUT recognizes that all unions and workers differ fundamentally in terms of who their public employer is, the nature of the services that they provide, for whom those services are rendered and the statutory and/or other qualifications necessary for rendering those services.
NYSUT does not support the imposition of negotiated changes on unions that are not parties to the agreement.

Read Alan Lubin’s complete letter: NYSUT

Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, and Fiber: BALCONY Hosts June 18th Forum Featuring Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward

BALCONY will host a June 18th Breakfast Forum featuring a keynote speech by Port Authority Executive Director Chris Ward. Ward will describe and discuss the capital plan that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is currently implementing. This will be followed by a panel discussion on the Port Authority plan and other infrastructure initiatives, including a report from the New York State Commission on State Asset Maximization, the impact of the federal stimulus on New York and a status update on other state-of-the-art technological infrastructure initiatives previously championed by BALCONY.

Confirmed panelists for the discussion include BALCONY Executive Board member Dr. James Melius, Administrator of NYS-LECET (the New York State Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust), and Samara Barend, the Executive Director of the New York State Commission on State Asset Maximization. Other panelists will include Robert Ledwith, the Business Manager and Financial Secretary/Treasurer of Local 46 Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing Ironworkers; Brian Osterhout, the Director of Business Development for MJ Engineering and Land Surveying; Chris Levandos, Executive Director of Operations for Verizon; and Stephen McInnis, Political Director of the NYC District Council of Carpenters. The event will be chaired by BALCONY Director Lou Gordon.

“Infrastructure Investment is the most direct way to begin easing the economic plight of our state by generating good paying jobs and, at the same time, investing in our long term economic growth by developing infrastructure to support that growth,” stated Dr. James Melius, President of the New York Roadway Improvement Coalition .

This forum will be held at 395 Hudson Street (at Houston) in the offices of the New York and Vicinity Carpenters Labor Management Corporation. The registration and breakfast will begin at 8:00 A.M., and the keynote speech will commence at 8:30 AM, followed by the panel discussion. The event should end by 10:00 A.M.

The BALCONY Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, and Fiber Forum is sponsored by the New York State United Teachers, Verizon, the Greater New York Chamber of Commerce, the New York and Vicinity Labor Management Corporation, Professional Women in Construction, the Women Builders Council, the New York State Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, and Local 46 Labor Management Cooperative Trust.

BALCONY has worked to find common ground between small business, labor, and advocacy groups since its inception in 2006, and has contributed policy suggestions for affordable health care coverage for all New Yorkers, for infrastructure and mass transit initiatives, and for “greening” the small business economy of New York State.

BALCONY & American Cancer Society Urge Albany: Back Health Insurance for Thousands of Young Adults Community Rating should be preserved! Extend COBRA to 36 Months.

Now is the time for Albany to step up on Health Reform.
Help young people get access to health insurance.

Assembly A 8401 Senate 5469: Summary and Information

On October 27, 2008, BALCONY, AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, DEMOS, FREELANCERS UNION and NYU WAGNER ALUMNI ASSOCIATION held a special forum on the plight of uninsured New Yorkers in their 20’s — a group that includes more than 800,000 people, many of them working and/or living in New York without health insurance.

Read the bulletin: Health Care

BALCONY-Rochester invites you to attend a meeting with NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli

Tuesday, June 2, 2009
5:00 - 9:00 p.m.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and a panel of private equity professionals will discuss the Common Retirement Fund’s In-State Investment Program that is looking to invest $528 million in New York-based companies, including early stage and growth capital for Upstate New York businesses.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund invests with private equity managers who seek to invest in companies in New York state that require capital for growth or to refinance ownership. The program, created in 1999, targets investment of state funds in the New York state economy. The program aims to help generate jobs and private sector investment in the state.

The event will also offer an opportunity to personally network with Upstate and NYC capital providers; legal and accounting firms; and others interested in venture and private equity transactions.

For more information, click: DiNapoli