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Despite Big Election Turnover, Limited Changes Ahead for the Big Apple
Good fortunes for Democrats in the midterm elections may very well translate into good times in New York.
When the new Congress convenes in January, Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn/Manhattan) will likely become chair of the Committee on Small Business and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Manhattan) is poised to take the chair of the powerful House Ways & Means Committee. Sen. Charles Schumer, who led the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee—and is likely to do so again for the next cycle—appears to be more of a powerbroker than ever.
All of this has led many New Yorkers to ask what the city might expect in return.
“More” was former Mayor David Dinkins' (D) pointed reply. Dinkins hopes that newly-empowered Democrats will increase funding to combat poverty and increase economic opportunity in the city.
Getting pork to come back home from Washington should be much easier, and having Eliot Spitzer in the governor's mansion will not hurt either, said Jeffrey Zupan, senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association.
“The transit system is backbone of what makes the New York City economy grow,” Zupan said. He pointed to three projects that may be helped along by having Democrats willing to provide state and federal funds: the Second Avenue subway, the East Side Access project (which would link Penn Station to Grand Central) and a new tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey and Manhattan. The combined cost of these projects could top $30 billion.
Another obvious area where New York is likely to benefit is in homeland security funding.
“Federal aid to help New York City deal with the threat of terrorism will be a priority,” said Mitchell Moss, professor of urban policy and planning at New York University.
The change in power is a perfect opportunity to change how homeland security funds are distributed so that cities at risk receive more funds, Moss said.
The New York Congressional delegation should also be able to help get funding to address the health care issues related to the Sept. 11 attacks which still linger.
But Steven Malanga, a fellow at the Manhattan Institute, said that beyond help in these specific areas, New Yorkers should not expect sweeping policy changes.
Malanga pointed to the meager results for the city the last time Democrats controlled Congress 12 years ago, and suggested that the New York delegation, which tends to be more liberal than the rest of Congress, may not have the power it thinks it will have.
“The chairmanships will be useful in obstructing the president's agenda,” Malanga said, but Democrats will find it difficult to promote their own.
“There's not really much that city can expect beyond a few more scraps of pork,” he said.