RIRA President Claims Serrano, Kellner, Lappin Letter Criticizing Him For Testimony During Redistricting Hearing Withdrawn - Not So, No Retraction Of Statement Say Roosevelt Island Elected Officials
The October 5 Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) meeting was, to put it mildly, contentious, angry and controversial. There was even a brief, less than a minute, altercation between two Council Members. Fortunately, both Council Members realized quickly that their tempers got the better of them and they quickly made peace with each other.
Tensions were raised due to several Agenda Items scheduled to be addressed during the meeting - a censure motion against one RIRA member and a Housing Committee report which, as reported in this previous post was:
... critical of RIRA President Matt Katz's recent testimony during the LATFOR Redistricting Hearings and seeks an apology and retraction for an article in the most recent Main Street WIRE....Mr. Katz's LATFOR redistricting testimony was criticized in the Housing Committee Report as being disrespectful to State Senator Jose Serrano and to the entire Senate District he represents, including Roosevelt Island. Roosevelt Island elected officials including Senator Serrano, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and NYC Council Member Jessica Lappin wrote a letter published in this Blog criticizing Mr. Katz's redistricting testimony to which Mr. Katz replied. State Senator Liz Krueger also signed the letter criticizing Mr. Katz's testimony.
Mr. Katz raised the issue of his redistricting testimony and addressed the charge that he insulted Senator Serrano in his October RIRA Meeting President's Report. Mr. Katz denied that he intended any criticism of Senator Serrano, apologized to Senator Serrano for any misunderstanding and told the RIRA Common Council that the letters from elected officials critical of him (Mr. Katz) were withdrawn.
Here's the video of Mr. Katz's President Report. Mr. Katz's statement regarding his redistricting testimony and Senator Serrano begins at approximately the 1 minute 5 second mark.
You Tube Video of RIRA President's Report To October RIRA Meeting
Did the elected officials withdraw their letter criticizing Mr. Katz's redistricting testimony concerning Senator Serrano as asserted by Mr. Katz during the RIRA meeting? I was not aware that this occurred and since I published their original letter, I wanted to have Mr. Katz's statement confirmed. I sent the following email, or one very similar, to Senator Serrano's office, Assembly Member Micah Kellner and NYC Council Member Jessica Lappin's office:
During last night's RIRA meeting, Matt Katz said that the letters from elected officials criticizing his testimony at the Redistricting hearing about Senator Serrano was withdrawn.Mr. Kellner replied:
Is that true?
Here's You Tube video of what Matt said. At about the 3 minute 30 second mark Matt talks about the letter being withdrawn.
The WIRE informed me and Councilmember Lappin that they didn't have space to run Mr Katz's testimony, our letter, and his response to our letter. Based on that information, the WIRE asked if would withdraw our request to print our letter and we agreed.I received a similar reply from Ms. Lappin's office and sent the following inquiry back to Mr. Kellner and Ms. Lappin's office.
Just to clarify what happened.Ms. Lappin's office replied:
As you know, I published the letter from the elected officials criticizing Matt Katz's testimony during the redistricting hearing.
Are you now saying that the criticism of Mr. Katz in those letters is being withdrawn by those elected officials? If so, should I update the post with a retraction?
Or are you just saying that you withdrew your request to publish the letter in the recent WIRE because the WIRE editor advised you that he didn't have space in that edition and that your criticism of Mr. Katz's testimony has not changed?
As I mentioned, I am preparing post which includes this issue and want to make sure I get it right.
We are confirming that we withdrew our request to publish the letter in the recent WIRE because the WIRE editor advised us that he didn't have space in that edition.I then asked the Editor of the Main Street WIRE newspaper:
Is it true that Roosevelt Island elected officials, Lappin, Kellner, Serrano, asked the WIRE to publish their letter criticizing RIRA President Matt Katz's testimony during the recent redistricting hearing and you declined to publish it in most recent issue either because the WIRE lacked space for their letter and response by Matt or for any other reason?The Main Street WIRE Editor replied:
I am preparing a post which includes this subject and, if you wish, am happy to include any comment you may have.
The letters were withdrawn, by their writers, at the request of Senator Serrano.Shortly after receiving the response from the WIRE Editor, I had a conversation with a spokesperson from Senator Serrano's office who told me that the elected officials did not retract their letter concerning Mr. Katz's redistricting testimony and that any impression that they had done so was not true.
I insisted that I would need emails from the writers, rather than simply Senator Serrano's request to me, to take them out of the paper.
He arranged for them to write said requests and, when those requests were received here, their letters were removed from the edition.
There is no remaining issue between Matt Katz and Senator Serrano, but if you keep working at it, you may succeed in efforts to stir one up.
That would be fun for your blogging, and bad for Roosevelt Island, but, of course, we all know that, for you, the blog comes first.
The spokesperson also said that they want to move on to other more important Roosevelt Island issues. Regarding the issue of whether the WIRE did not publish the elected officials letter because of lack of space, the Serrano spokesperson said that was not the case and that it may have been a misunderstanding as was Mr. Katz's statement that the letter had been withdrawn.
As reported in comment to this post, the Housing Committee report was rejected by the RIRA Common Council and sent back to the Housing Committee. There will be more on the Housing Committee report and the October RIRA meeting.
UPDATE 10/21 - Senator Serrano adds:
I am writing to clear up any confusion that may exist regarding my decision not to publish my response letter in the Main Street Wire. Since the Wire did not print the recent redistricting testimony given during the LATFOR hearing, I did not think it necessary for that publication to print my joint letter with Senator Krueger. For this same reason, my office also informed Councilmember Jessica Lappin that there was no need for her to publish her joint letter with Assemblymember Kellner in the Wire. We hope this clears up any confusion, as we are all eager to move on to much more important issues facing Roosevelt Island.
16 comments :
Man, Dick sure spewed some bitter stuff on you there. I guess it's
legit for him to feel frustrated by the fact that by the time the next
issue of The WIRE is put out this will be old news and you'll have
posted 50 more pieces of relevance to the community.
Dick is funded by RIOC and it's approved by RIRA, no conflict here, but it is time for RIRA to disband, dumb statements, members threatening each other and some very unsavory members.
It's disappointing that the publisher of the WIRE thinks that transparency is "bad for Roosevelt Island". When a person or a group claims to represent my interests, especially to local elected officials who have actual power, I appreciate as much transparency as possible.
One would find more news and better reporting in a supermarket circular than in The Main Street WIRE. And now it's clear the circular would have more journalistic integrity, too.
Dick Lutz, whether he holds an official position or not, has obviously become a part of the incestuous RIRA complex his organization is supposed to impartially cover. I tend to believe our elected officials over the version of the story DL is telling. The burden of proof is on DL and The WIRE to produce the withdrawal letters he states the paper received from Kellner, Lappin and Serrano.
It's bad enough that RIRA and its members claim to be "democratically elected by the 12,500 residents of Roosevelt Island" while only 1,470 residents took the organization seriously enough to cast a vote. Now we're forced to take delivery of the RIRA house organ, The WIRE, a publication unfit for use even to housebreak a puppy.
the wire is good for my dog .as i have a small dog who never goes outside so the wire is good for me to use for my dog .as long as its free.
Wow, The nerve of Dick Lutz ! Misleading the Public.. All these years I have been wondering why there were only the same old people making comments to the WIRE as if they are such public servants of the Island community. These are all residents of the MTG claiming to display such wondrous works ,In return they are all spewing hate in the community.Margie Smith , Linda Heimer, Joyce Mincheff, Matt Katz, Dick Lutz, Vickie Finemel.. These are the same onterage of residents that all live in glass houses.. The island residents need to step up to the plate and write the Mayor and Governor and request that he replace Margie Smith immediately......I see the majority of residents already started distancing themselves from these troublemakers ..As far as The WIRE look who are all editors "The Clique"! SHAME ON THE WIRE!!! People need to start protesting the WIRE. They are all seeming to be contracted out. Suppress any voice in opposition sure your right Dick-.That's why they are hating on Helen , Frank, Romano, Erin , and others who tend to speak up. I guess the community need to add Bill Long and his roomate/ Girlfriend Denise shull to the list of community haters...
You are doing the very thing you are accusing others of doing by personally attacking individual residents and accusing them of being haters. I am not going to let the comments degenerate into name calling.
Please just stick to the issues and facts and treat others with respect.
Your comment has been deleted. If you wish, re-post it but without the disrespect and accusations.
Apparently no one at the wire has read the candlemakers petition, or perhaps they read it and didn't realize it was satire. Even if the Wire editor disagreed with the RI blog, totally ignoring such a large community on the island is just like trying to block out the sun.
An easy way out of this would be for the WIRE and this blog to work together somehow.
I think this is a real whopper (I believe the definition of whopper has been discussed in the past by Matt) here. Somehow I do believe that this is really just based on an endless chains of misunderstandings and misinterpretations but the hate that people have for each other doesn't allow to figure out what was actually meant in the first place.
" My name is Matthew Katz and I am serving my fourth two-year term as president of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association, elected by the 12,500 residents of my community."
This is a lie, 12,500 islanders did NOT vote for that man!
I would even like a recount of the actual votes. I think it was more like 30 or 40 people, the same ones at the RIRA meetings. His ego is just HUGE and he, along with his wife really do think they represent the whole island here. There should not have been a President elected with such a low turn out, as that is less than 10 percent of the people living here which is closer to 13,500 anyway. There should just be a Island Counsel, no RIRA, the name in it'self is just stupid.
Really ?
The WIRE is funded by advertising, not by RIOC. RIRA does not approve what is published by the WIRE.
Both The WIRE and this blog endeavor to remain outside the fray and report and inform the community. They adhere to standards of journalism and ethics, which are often superior to those who comment here.
Obviously from this news story the WIRE does not "remain outside the fray" and "adhere to standards of journalism and ethics". Is a newspaper ethically in the clear if it claims that there is no space for additional letters so they don't have to publish any RIRA (or in this case Mr. Katz) critical? Any newspaper would make extra room for such juicy bits. No, but not the WIRE. A paper whose editor attacks other news outlets like this blog.
Tram_Rider, I assume you were sarcastic?
Katz is a LIAR, as proven here by his contradictions. Lutz is a self-serving Maple Tree friend of his, who only believes transparency is "good for the island" when he deems it so.
Dick used to be the only news in town. Now, there is a better news outlet - The Roosevelt Islander Blog, and he is jealous. That's why he said what he said to you. He knows people don't tke his paper seriously, but it's all he has in his life. It's a darn shame!
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