Bloomberg bets on a Goldman-backed anti-recidivism program
Briefing: Bloomberg and Kelly. Azi Paybarah via flickr
9:30 am Aug. 2, 2012
Whatever criticism there has been of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's efforts to fix problems with the city's housing, homelessness, schools and rates of gun violence has been tempered by the idea that he showed boldness by staking his reputation on tackling those issues in the first place.
Now, another distinctly Bloombergian initiative aimed at fixing what has long been regarded as an intractible problem: the high recidivism rate among adolescent men who have spent time in prison.
Using money fronted by Goldman Sachs, the city will test "social impact bonds" in a program aimed at reducing the frequency with which young inmates of Rikers Island fall back into a life of crime after they get out.
As David Chen's story in the Times notes, there's a financial incentive built in: The four-year, $9.6 million program will be funded by a Goldman Sachs investment, and if the program reduces the rate by 10 percent or more, the company will get their original $9.6 million back, plus an additional $2 million. If the program fails, the company could lose $2 million.
Bloomberg's own money is involved, too. If Goldman has to be repaid, Bloomberg's foundation will hand over $7.2 million to MDRC--the social service provider running the program--which will in turn pay Goldman Sachs. If the program succeeds, Goldman will be paid by the city, and MDRC can keep the Bloomberg money for other initiatives.
That personally guaranteed model of social program won't be an option for Bloomberg's (presumably) non-billionaire successor in City Hall, but perhaps the next mayor will have an incentive to keep the current mayor involved in things. Which, after all, he might be quite agreeable to.
Quote
"Mario Cuomo saved my ass." [@SteveKornacki]
Events
10 a.m. Village Voice writer Steven Thrasher discusses Chick-fil-A, the boycott and its national appreciation day, on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show.
10 a.m. Michael Bloomberg's only public event is a photo-op at the city's largest rooftop garden, at 63 Flushing Avenue and Clinton Street, in Brooklyn.
10:30 a.m. Andrew Cuomo appears with the Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo, the CEO of Muller Quaker Daily and others, at 5140 Main Street, in Batavia.
2012
One possible problem with yesterday's NYT/CBS/Quinnpiac poll showing Obama leading in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania is that it didn't account for new restrictions on voter eligibility. [Charles Blow]
Washington
Front page in the Times: "The legislation approved last week by the Senate Intelligence Committee would reduce to a handful the number of people at each agency permitted to speak to reporters on 'background,' or condition of anonymity; require notice to the Senate and House intelligence committees of authorized disclosures of intelligence information; and permit the government to strip the pension of an intelligence officer who illegally discloses classified information." [Scott Shane]
John McCain's cyber-security bill should be rebuffed and the Senate should pass the original legislation. [New York Times]
2013
Resistance to Malcolm Smith's 2013 bid on the GOP line is widespread. Bill Thompson laughed out loud; Manhattan GOP: "I didn’t know today was April Fools." Brooklyn GOP: "I would never be interested in having him on the line." Smith's slogan: "From the Community, For the City." [Sally Goldenberg and Carl Campanile]
Headline: "Masses line up to show support for Chick-fil-A CEO" [Kate Kowsh and Bob Fredericks]
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn "won't use her political muscle" to force Chick-fil-A off NYU's campus. [Sally Goldenberg]
More on Quinn's shift. [Garth Johnston]
City Comptroller John Liu's campaign treasurer said prosecutors gave her more then 19,500 "supposedly irrelevant" emails, too much for her to sort through. [Bruce Golding]
"American neo-Nazis and some top black conservatives have found rare common ground — over Chick-fil-A’s stand against gay marriage." [Joseph Straw]
CD-04
Corey Johnson rolls out a list of 500 supporters. [David Freedlander]
City Hall
An editorial board critical of NYCHA's leadership hopes Bloomberg's defense of them is just talk and that a real solution is underway. [Daily News]
A critic tries juxtaposing Bloomberg's health initiatives with complaints about the waste transfer station slated for Manhattan's East Side. [Jed Garfield]
A jury said "desperately needed" changes are required so the city stops losing millions of dollars in uncollected taxes from landlords who don't properly report their earnings. [Charles Bagli]
Education
A study from Chicago boosts the case for merit pay for teachers. [New York Post]
A top aide for StudentsFirstNY said the teachers union, and Democratic mayoral candidates, will push for the return of Chancellor Districts as a way of stopping the mayor from closing failing schools. The problem: a few key elements of the district are implemented citywide and overall, it didn't work. [Raysa Rodriguez]
"Bloomberg/Klein closed the Chanc Dt -probably why @StudentsFirstNY trying to trash what became a great reform." [@Rweingarten]
"Why did you pan it at the time?" [@StudentsFirstNY]
Albany
New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman's office sues the owner of a chain of headshops for selling synthetic drugs. [Marnie Eisenstadt]
New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli said local governments are collecting less revenue and burning through their cash reserves. [Thomas Kaplan]
Public Safety
Ray Kelly supporting Lenora Fulani's Operation Conversation shows how far the city's longest serving police commissioner is willing to go to curb gun violence. [New York Post]
"Stop-and-frisk should start at home" said the great aunt of a four-year-old buried yesterday after he was killed by a stray bullet. [Joanna Molloy]
Painful, sad details from the funeral. [Colin Moynihan]
Goldman Sachs is funding a $9.6 million program to combat recidivism on Rikers island. If the program reduces the rate by 10 percent, Goldman may make $2.1 million. If it doesn't, the company could lose $2.4 million. [David Chen]
Local
Democratic assemblyman Michael Titone of Staten Island will have a primary against his Republican challenger, Paul Saryian, for the Independence Party line, in September. [Tom Wrobleski]
Senator Chuck Schumer wants a "nerd bus" to connect Long Island City with Brooklyn's tech hubs. [Corky Siemaszko]
There's been a shakeup into the investigation of whether the Westchester D.A. improperly got her off-the-books nanny public assistance. It's now being handled by the "central office" which initially granted the assistance. [Jonathan Bandler and Jorge Fitz-Gibbon]
Media
"Business Insider w/ 5.4 million monthly uniques is still losing $ (says WSJ). DNAInfo w/ 597K says profitability is near. anyone skeptical? [@FelixGillette]
From Capital
Charlie Rangel's campaign manager thinks Adriano Espaillat should have done a lot better. [Reid Pillifant]
Most crowded subway lines: 4,5,E. [Dana Rubinstein]
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