N.Y. Borough Leader Blasts City-Council Grant Program for Nonprofits
July 21, 2011 | Read Time: 1 minute
Scott Stringer, Manhattan’s borough president, said Wednesday that the City Council’s system for handing out more than $50-million a year in grants to nonprofit groups is rife with political favoritism and should be replaced, writes The Wall Street Journal.
Mr. Stringer is seen as a potential rival to council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose office disburses the “member items,” in the Democratic mayoral primary.
Council speakers have long been charged with using the grants to reward allied lawmakers and punish critics. In a report issued Wednesday, Mr. Stringer noted wide disparities in the grants distributed among council districts and recommended that the process be transferred to the mayor’s office and governed by a needs-based formula.
A spokeswoman for Ms. Quinn said the council has already adopted changes that “increase transparency and accountability” in grant making but that speaker looked forward to reviewing Mr. Stringer’s study.
