An Unfair Way to Handle Trash

NEW YORK — For some strange reason, the Mayor of New York, The NYC Sanitation Department, and The New York Times believes that putting a massive two-acre, 10-story, 24-hour trash transfer station adjacent to four public parks, several low-income housing projects, a major (primarily low-income) public hospital, several primarily low-income public schools, numerous churches and synagogues, a major Islamic center, and the most densely populated section of all New York City constitutes some bizarre form of "environmental justice."

We are not sure what happened since June of last year, when The Times took into account the objections the residents of the Stanley M. Isaacs Houses, whose public housing sits adjacent to the proposed trash transfer station:

Lorraine Johnson says she remembers the garbage trucks that lined up near her housing project on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, to unload trash at a marine sanitation station on the East River. They made noise, spewed diesel fumes, attracted rats and smelled bad — “like dead bodies,” she said.

“I have nightmares just thinking that there’s a possibility that they might come back,” said Ms. Johnson, 66, a disabled resident of the Stanley M. Isaacs Houses, at 94th Street and First Avenue.

The proximity of public housing figures prominently in a battle by Upper East Side residents to derail a city plan to reactivate a waste transfer station on the East River at 91st Street. In lawsuits, rallies and lobbying in the State Legislature, they argue that economically disadvantaged residents, already struggling, should not be saddled with additional problems.

“How can you ignore the fact that the closest community is 80 percent minority?” said Anthony Ard, president of the Gracie Point Community Council, a neighborhood group that was founded to fight the plan.

While The Times article also brought the environmental justice arguments of those outside Manhattan into the discussion, they previously gave voice to the residents most affected by the proposal.

Indeed, we staunchly disagree with the rationale behind this project. The 91st Street Marine Transfer Station will not improve "environmental justice" within New York City. Instead, this floating garbage dump will:

• Dramatically increase air pollution and asthma risk throughout one of New York's worst neighborhoods for air quality
• Increase traffic and safety risks to children, bicyclists, and other pedestrians as garbage trucks to drive through and idle in one of New York City's most densely populated residential areas 24-hours-a-day and up to 7-days-a-week
• Reduce the quality of life for many working class, elderly, and disabled New Yorkers through its close proximity to numerous public housing projects, subsidized apartments, and special needs care facilities
• Decrease the accessibility and desirability of numerous parks, public schools, and houses of worship located within several blocks of the proposed facility
• Violate FAA guidelines by placing trash facility just three miles from one of America's busiest airports
• Increase the risk of interference with take-offs and landings a LGA, by stimulating population growth among the area's scavenger bird population, according to “Miracle on the Hudson” pilot Chesley Sullenberger,

We call to task The New York Times, the mayor's office, City Council Speaker (an likely mayoral candidate) Christine Quinn for the blatantly political framing the of location of the proposed two-acre, ten-story 91st Street Marine Transfer Station as the "Upper East Side," when in reality the neighborhood, identified by New York City's own maps as "Yorkville," and the proposed facility is actually adjacent and will dramatically affect East Harlem.

Yes to environmental justice, but all Manhattan neighborhoods are not created equal
Yes, environmental justice is critically important to societal fairness. However, in looking at the problem at the borough/macro level, Mayor Bloomberg, heir apparent Christine Quinn, and The New York Times are missing the impact on the micro/neighborhood level.

Yorkville, with the highest population density in New York (as illustrated on the map above left) sits between one of the nation's wealthiest neighborhoods and one of the city's poorest. With the proposed trash facility located across from Yorkville's massive public housing projects, and straddling the border of East Harlem and New York's largest concentration of public housing (as illustrated by the bubbles in the map on the left), the 91st Street Marine Transfer station hardly fits the greater ideal behind "environmental justice."

Other alternatives?
If the mayor, Speaker Quinn, and The New York Times really want to achieve environmental justice by placing a trash transfer station in Manhattan, they ought to consider building it as far from public low-income housing as humanly possible.

Why not the West Side?
Perhaps they should consider placing the Marine Transfer Station along the Hudson at Donald Trump's "Trump Place" development, bringing the barges closer to likely destinations in New Jersey and the station closer to the wealth required to inject environmental justice into the discussion.

BYE-BYE TO GSA MOB BOSS JEFF NEELY!? Taxpayers to Front 100k Annual Comp!!!

"Prophetic, ain't it?" GSA's Jeff Neely in Hawaii. Photo: Deb Neely/Picasa

WASHINGTON — It took about six months, and it looks like taxpayers will be footing the bill for his $100,000 a year pension, but the GSA's Pacific Rim "Mob Boss" Jeff Neely is FINALLY GONE! The Complainer wonders why it took so long. AND, WHY wasn't this creep fired for cause?!!! “The guy set up a fiefdom....Not since Jack Abramoff has someone walked with such swagger,” stated Rep. Tim Walz (D-MN) during the second House hearing on the GSA debacle. The Washington Post further notes: "Neely had planned for the 2010 employee conference to be 'over the top,' according to the inspector general’s report. The event included a magician and a $75,000 bicycle-building exercise, and questionable contracting practices. For instance, a GSA event planner had used a hotel locator service without allowing for competitive bidding on the contract."

We wonder why the Bush-appointee lasted so long in the first place. According to the WashPo:

Employees at the Pacific Rim region office described Neely as confident but arrogant and often abrasive in his management approach. One employee told GSA investigators that Neely “squashed like a bug” a regional director who questioned his spending on conferences and travel, GSA Inspector General Brian Miller told lawmakers during the congressional hearings.

With revelations like these, we wonder why Congress, and the Post, haven't dug any deeper. Indeed, we were surprised our discovery of Deb Neely's then-publicly available Picasa albums didn't lead to further investigation by the Post or any other major news sources. That said, the Post reports that "Immediately after the scandal broke, GSA Acting Administrator Daniel Tangherlini canceled 35 scheduled conferences, and the fallout has extended throughout the government.... The Obama administration has placed new restrictions on all federal travel and meetings." Perhaps, future Deb Neely's will be more more careful about where they post their vacation photos.

Mitt Romney, Cranbrook, and Besmirching Our Good Name

Bloomfield Hills, MI — Cranbrook School is a very special place. Its motto, "Aim high" beckons students to seek a life beyond the ordinary. Cranbrook asks of its students a higher standard for achievement, a higher standard in life. Cranbrook's song speaks of common "service," "unity," "loyalty," and a "generous hand." It is in this spirit, Willard "Mitt" Romney betrayed the honor, trust, and opportunity offered to him as a son of Cranbrook. It is in this spirit, his horrifying assault on John Lauber in 1965, as detailed in The Washington Post; his mocking, homophobic, sexist taunts in class; and his dreadfully insensitive treatment of a blind English teacher, call into question the depth of his character—and his broader understanding of our alma mater below:

Cranbrook Song
O God of Light and Universal Truth!
Thou patient Guide and Friend of Joyous Youth
Before Thee now we humbly stand and pray
To guard our steps and rule our lives always.

Grant us to do our daily task with zeal,
May all our work a common service seal,
From base design, from selfish aim set free
Mould Thou our lives, O Lord, in loyalty.

Give strength to tread the rugged path of Right,
To falter not, but wage a noble fight,
To know a friend, to live the words "Aim High,"
To play the man, and fearlessly to die.

Cranbrook! Whose sculptured stone and iron shaft
Bespeaks the skillful hand of every craft,
One perfect Unity shall ever stand
To bless the purpose of a generous hand.

Cranbrook! Thy name a glowing symbol live!
To future sons an inspiration give.
Tho’ eyes grow dim, tho' strength be past, yet we
Till life is done shall ever cherish Thee. Amen.

"Aim High!" Cranbrook's alma mater exalts. For Miles Levin, the 2007 graduate whose heart-rending commencement address preceded his untimely demise from a rare form of muscle cancer, this higher calling is self-evident. Urging his class "to make the most of their lot in life, and do what they can to help others along the way," Levin embodies the spirit of all that Cranbrook was and is intended to be:

"Being an operative for the greater good is rarely fun or easy, but it is gratifying....Where we draw the line is both personal and circumstantial, but I beg you give your life some reflection....We cannot be blamed for the things we cannot control, but that does not excuse us for not taking control of the things we can." 

Mitt Romney may have become a good and decent father and husband. He may have sought service to country over the lifelong pursuit of ever greater wealth. But, the episodes of abuse detailed in The Washington Post––and other media outlets––and his reaction to the horrifying revelations of assault, homophobia, and the gravest insensitivity, call into question his capacity for caring, his empathy, and the true depth of his character.

Writing for Time, Joel Klein well details a much better response than Romney's forgetful non-denial:

He could have said, “You know, I’ve been troubled by the Cranbrook episode for most of my life, and I feel relieved, in a way, that it’s come out now. I did a really stupid and terrible thing. Teenage boys sometimes do such things and deserve to be punished for them. What I most regret is that I never apologized to John and won’t be able to now that he’s gone, but let me apologize to his family and friends. Bullying is unacceptable under any circumstances. It is especially unacceptable when prejudice — against one’s race, ethnicity or sexual orientation — is involved. If elected President, I will try to atone for my teenage behavior by campaigning against bullying all across this country. What I did back then should be an example of how not to behave. I hope we can all learn from this. I know I have.”

No stranger to reporting questions of political scandal and personal character, Mr. Klein's free advice to Mr. Romney is spot-on. Presidential candidates are held to a higher standard. They cannot so easily sweep childish indiscretions under the proverbial rug. They cannot shirk off so quickly their responsibilities to demonstrate a higher standard. Mr. Romney ought to reflect ever so deeply upon young Mr. Levin's seemingly prophetic admonition: "I beg you give your life some reflection....We cannot be blamed for the things we cannot control, but that does not excuse us for not taking control of the things we can."

Our alma mater calls out, Mr. Romney:

To know a friend, to live the words "Aim High,"

"Play the man," we beg of Mr. Romney. And we further ask that he consider, that he heed the 2007 commencement words ABC's Bob Woodruff, whose good works and heroic recovery from his the critical injuries he sustained during his coverage of the Iraq War in 2006 place him high among the best of Cranbrook's alumni:

"All those years ago, I wondered what is that aim high statue on campus....It's not about the hardness of the arrow or the strength of the bow. It's the place and the target you decide to shoot at.... It is in your ultimate impact and victory. So, aim high my friends."

"Aim high!" This is the essence of a Cranbrook education. 

Many of us may have wasted the Cranbrook experience. We might not have fully appreciated the dedication of the faculty, staff, and our fellow students. But, few among us assaulted others. And, it is doubtful we can find more than a handful fellow alumni who were not touched powerfully by our experience of Cranbrook and not challenged by its motto to "Aim high."

Mr. Romney's youthful indiscretions may have taunted, may have haunted, other students for life.  But, Mr. Romney also besmirched the good name of Cranbrook.

Mr. Romney not only owes apologies to the late Mr. Lauber and his family, he also owes reflection and amends to the others he hurt as a student and to Cranbrook—and its alumni. He ought "Aim high" and take the lead in efforts to end bullying, as suggested by Mr. Klein of Time.

The world is watching.