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October 29, 2013
Where the Mayoral Candidates Stand on Key Issues
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Economy
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Name one step you would take upon assuming office to lower the city’s unemployment rate and improve New Yorkers’ prospects for full-time jobs.
Mr. de Blasio said he would shift resources away from giving tax breaks to companies and into improving the City University of New York system and providing loans to small businesses. He said he also would expand the network of high schools focused on trades to “link students to CUNY and then to good jobs at a family-sustaining wage.”
Mr. Lhota said he would eliminate the city’s tax on capital as part of the general corporate tax, which he said was “devastating” and “onerous” to entrepreneurs and new businesses and “drives jobs out of the city.” He said New York was the only city he knew of that taxed businesses based on their capital rather than their profits.
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What measures would you support to address income inequality?
Mr. de Blasio said he would press for a package of laws that would raise wages and provide benefits to low-wage workers. Among the mandates he supports are paid sick days, paid family leave, a local minimum wage and a “real living wage” law. He said the most important solution to wage inequality would be to provide universal prekindergarten to every child and after-school programs to middle-school students.
Mr. Lhota also emphasized the importance of reforming the education system, saying that “providing our children with a quality education at an early age will help ensure they have the tools to compete in the 21st century.” He cited the high cost of living and the growth in the city’s operating budget as problems, but did not offer any ideas for addressing them.
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How would you change the 421a tax-abatement program intended to spur construction of affordable housing?
Mr. de Blasio indicated that he would curtail the use of the program, saying, “We should not be giving tax breaks to build luxury condos, period.” He said that under Mayor Bloomberg, the city gave too many benefits to developers who did not need them. “We need to restrict tax incentives to projects that create housing that’s affordable to the average New Yorker,” he said, without specifying how he would go about doing that.
Mr. Lhota said he would continue the 421a program and offer incentives to developers who commit to building 20 percent to 30 percent of their units as affordable housing.
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Police
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How would you change, or would you eliminate, the Police Department’s stop, question and frisk practice?
Mr. de Blasio said he would pass legislation banning racial profiling “and other forms of bias-based policing.” He also said he would carry out changes to the stop-and-frisk practice ordered by a federal judge last month and drop the city’s appeal of the ruling, which declared that the policy violated the rights of minorities.
Mr. Lhota called the stop-and-frisk tactic “an invaluable tool” in crime reduction. By way of changes, he said, “I will enhance communication with the public so they have a better understanding of the tactic, as well as continuous training of the N.Y.P.D. to ensure its proper use.”
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Do you agree that an independent oversight body or inspector general should have the authority to monitor and review police policy? What should be the limits of this agency’s authority?
Mr. de Blasio said he would create an independent inspector general “whose mandate is to review police policy and practices, and who reports to the mayor.” He said he would honor legislation passed by the City Council that would create an inspector general to monitor and make policy recommendations to the Police Department.
Mr. Lhota said he “absolutely” did not agree with the idea of an independent monitor. He described the Police Department as “one of the most closely scrutinized” in the country. He noted that two United States attorneys, five district attorneys, the Civilian Complaint Review Board and the City Council all help oversee the police.
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How do you assess Raymond W. Kelly’s job performance, and would you seek to retain him as police commissioner?
Mr. de Blasio said he would replace Commissioner Kelly with someone “who can drive down crime while also mending police-community relations.” He commended the commissioner for keeping the city safe from terrorism since the Sept. 11 attacks. But he said policies like stop-and-frisk “have driven a wedge between police and the communities they serve and not made us safer.”
Mr. Lhota said he would keep Commissioner Kelly, calling his tenure “extraordinary.” If Mr. Kelly chose to step down, Mr. Lhota said, he would appoint him to his public safety transition team and ask him to help select a successor.
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Health
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Would you pursue the ban on large sugary sodas?
Mr. de Blasio said he believed that Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was “right on this issue,” and he has been consistent in his support. Considering that so far, the courts have struck down the Bloomberg plan, it remains uncertain whether even a Mayor de Blasio would be able to engineer a viable equivalent.
Mr. Lhota takes a libertarian view in saying that he would not pursue the drink limits because “the role of government should be to educate, not mandate.”
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Restaurant owners say health department inspectors have too much power. Would you change the system, and how?
Mr. de Blasio, the public advocate, has been a leader on this issue, forcing the city to open its books, which showed a spike in violations and fine revenue over three years, and arguing that the city inspects and fines businesses outside Manhattan at a disproportionately high rate. “I will end this de facto inspection quota system that unfairly burdens outer-borough businesses,” he said.
Mr. Lhota said that inspections had become too punitive and that restaurant owners should be given “a cure period” in which they could fix violations and avoid a fine. “The fine system has grown out of control,” he said. He endorsed regulations as a way to “regulate bad behavior,” but said they had too often been used to balance the city’s budget.
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Would you continue to distribute birth control pills and the morning-after pill in city schools?
Mr. de Blasio was unequivocal on the issue of whether to offer contraception in the schools, giving a simple “Yes,” without elaboration. He did not address the issue of parental consent, which is not now directly required.
Mr. Lhota said he believed parents should have a stronger hand in deciding whether their children were able to get birth control — like “any form of medication” — at school. He said birth control should not be distributed without parental “knowledge.” But he did not say he would ban it, and did not suggest changes to the policy that would ensure parents knew when their children were prescribed contraceptives.
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Spending
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Would you raise or cut taxes?
Mr. de Blasio’s campaign revolves around a pledge to increase taxes on the top 1 percent of New Yorkers — those earning more than $500,000 per year — to pay for an expansion of prekindergarten and after-school programs. In justifying the tax, which would be in effect for at least five years, Mr. de Blasio cites the city’s growing income inequality. He also calls for eliminating some corporate tax breaks, including a property tax abatement for companies constructing or renovating commercial buildings.
Mr. Lhota says he wants to reduce taxes. He promises to lower taxes for homeowners and businesses, and says the hotel room occupancy tax is too high. He wants to eliminate a tax on business capital as part of the general corporate tax, saying it is a burden on start-ups. He calls for more tax breaks for companies in fast-growing industries, including biotechnology. He suggests that Mr. de Blasio’s tax plan would hurt the middle class by stunting growth while driving wealthy residents out of the city, reducing revenues.
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Would the number of city employees grow or shrink under your administration?
Mr. de Blasio, like most of the candidates, did not answer the question directly, asserting that the number of city employees was “not a zero-sum game.” He said that achieving his goals would “require some agencies to expand, particularly those providing early education to our kids, and some to be restructured” — presumably a euphemism for cuts.
Mr. Lhota said, “Shrink.” He added that he would reduce the head count through attrition. He said the growth in the city’s budget over the tenure of the Bloomberg administration had been harmful to the economy.
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How would you tackle the rising cost of health insurance premiums for city workers?
Mr. de Blasio said he would create up to 20 health clinics at city employees’ work sites that would offer them and their families routine checkups, basic lab tests, prescriptions, vaccines and chronic disease management. A 2011 paper by the Government Finance Officers Association cited research showing that such clinics could save employers $1.60 to $4 for every dollar invested.
Mr. Lhota suggested that he would ask city employees to contribute toward their premiums, saying that city workers “need to pay a fair amount of their health insurance, just like everyone else.” He will have to persuade unions, which would most likely ask for raises to compensate for any extra costs to workers.
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What would you do to reduce overtime in the Police and Fire Departments, without reducing public safety?
Mr. de Blasio said that he would “draw a line in the sand” over further personnel reductions in the two agencies. He said that he would shift officers from desk jobs to patrol responsibilities. But there is a limit to how many officers can be moved from desk jobs to the streets: Some officers are on administrative leave for disciplinary or mental health reasons.
Mr. Lhota said that he would try to reduce arrest-to-arraignment time — a significant cause of police overtime, because the arresting officer is often required to talk to the district attorney either in person or by phone before the arraignment. Mr. Lhota said that he would work with the district attorneys to expedite the process using technology.
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Parks
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Should the city allow Major League Soccer to build a stadium on 13 acres in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park?
Mr. de Blasio, who called Flushing Meadows-Corona Park the “jewel of the Queens park system,” criticized the idea of putting a stadium there. He argued that the city had already ceded too much parkland to what he termed “corporate entities,” and called the stadium idea a “bad deal for New Yorkers.”
Mr. Lhota rejected the stadium plan outright. While he supports bringing Major League Soccer to New York, he said that a park was not an appropriate location for such a stadium and he urged the league to look at other sites in order to preserve parkland.
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What changes would you make to the parks financing system? Would you limit the role of park conservancies in the interests of equity?
Mr. de Blasio said that he would like to see well-financed conservancies contribute money to a neighborhood parks alliance, an idea he has championed during the campaign. The alliance would then distribute it to neglected parks in low-income neighborhoods and in boroughs outside Manhattan. “Every New Yorker deserves access to well-maintained parkland close to their homes,” he said.
Mr. Lhota praised the network of conservancies, saying they had been “invaluable in sharing the costs” of enhancing and maintaining certain city parks. He said he would like to see a citywide conservancy that attracts donations to benefit all parks. And to encourage more volunteerism, he would offer tax incentives to New Yorkers who spend a certain amount of time each year sprucing up parks.
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Would you support the city’s plan to create more pedestrian plazas on streets currently open to automobile traffic?
Mr. de Blasio lauded the pedestrian plaza concept, crediting the car-free zones with easing congestion, improving safety and enhancing neighborhoods. He singled out Times Square and Herald Square, two of the most prominent such plazas, where office workers can sit and eat lunch in the middle of Broadway, calling them “wildly successful.” And he said that a “livable streets agenda” should expand to all boroughs.
Mr. Lhota said that any more plazas must await careful study of the effect of existing plazas on traffic patterns. “Our economy and quality of life hinge greatly on our ability to move freely throughout the city,” he said. “Any plans to eliminate precious road space must be incorporated in an overall transportation strategy.”
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Transportation
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Would the number of bike lanes in the city increase, decrease or remain the same under your administration?
Mr. de Blasio said he would expand bike lanes and bike sharing, with a goal of raising the percentage of city trips taken by bike to 6 percent by 2020. The enthusiastic embrace of cycling represents a shift — at least in tone — for Mr. de Blasio, who once called the city’s bike-friendly transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, a radical.
Mr. Lhota said that he would increase the number of lanes, though he called for “common sense in their placement.” In the past, he has said that he “could see” removing existing lanes that he deemed problematic, mentioning that some bus drivers along the B63 route in Park Slope, Brooklyn, had complained about sharing space with bike riders.
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Name one thing you would do as mayor to improve subway service in New York City.
Mr. de Blasio, in keeping with the theme of his campaign, said he would “address outer borough subway service needs,” though he did not specify what policies he would promote.
Mr. Lhota, a former chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, called for a subway extension to Staten Island and shorter waiting times between trains to decrease overcrowding. He also said he would supply city financing to the authority to begin an in-station recycling program and to keep platforms clean.
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How would you expand or improve taxi service outside Manhattan?
Mr. de Blasio, an opponent of the city’s plan for street-hail livery cabs outside Manhattan, has called for something similar: “outer borough medallions” authorized for service in the other boroughs. A frequent recipient of donations from the yellow taxi industry, which fought the Bloomberg administration’s plan in court, he has criticized the existing law because the Legislature approved it, bypassing the City Council.
Mr. Lhota said the city should “allow market forces to take over” and embrace technology like ride-hailing smartphone apps for both taxis and car services. He also expressed support for allowing the hailing of livery cabs outside Manhattan.
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Education
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Do you support increasing the number of charter schools in the city?
Mr. de Blasio would seek to slow the growth of charter schools by charging them rent to use space in existing school buildings. He would end the practice of closing low-performing public schools, which has historically opened up valuable real estate for use by charters. He said that, instead of assisting charter schools, he would focus resources on improving traditional public schools and expanding access to health care and social services.
Mr. Lhota has offered the most expansive vision for charter schools: he would seek to double the number in New York. He has called it disgraceful that a large number of children remain on waiting lists for charter schools, and he has said the city should try to secure more classroom space for charter schools in shuttered Catholic school buildings.
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How would you diversify the exam schools (nine elite high schools that require a competitive exam or audition to enter)?
Mr. de Blasio said there was no quick solution to increasing diversity at the city’s elite schools. He said the effort required a focus on early education and after-school programs to prepare applicants better. And, he said, test scores would not be the only criteria for admission to selective high schools in his administration.
Mr. Lhota rejected calls to loosen admissions requirements at selective high schools. “The high academic entry should be preserved and not interfered with,” he said. The bigger issue, he said, was ensuring that more of the city’s high schools offered the rigorous academic experience of the elite high schools.
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How would your approach to testing, school report cards and accountability differ from the approach taken by the Bloomberg administration?
Mr. de Blasio would significantly overhaul one of the Bloomberg administration’s principal legacies: the A-through-F grading system for schools. He said he would instruct schools to focus on “curriculum, quality neighborhood schools, arts and physical education” — and not just test scores. “The education of our city’s children is more important to me than test results,” he said.
Mr. Lhota suggested he would reduce the focus on testing in some ways, even though he has been a staunch defender of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s education record. He called for more training opportunities for teachers, but he affirmed his support for a state plan to evaluate teachers partly on the basis of test scores.
