BP Markowitz urges Albany to act on skyrocketing car insurance premiums

For the last few years, Brooklyn has had the dubious honor of having the highest automobile insurance premiums of any county in New York State – perhaps in the entire nation. Yet starting May 1st, tens of thousands of Brooklyn drivers who are insured through the assigned risk plan will see their premiums rise by 30% when they renew their policies, well above the average statewide increase of 19%. The annual premium for a driver with just the basic, legally-required liability coverage will be $3,900, and for comprehensive coverage, an astounding $7,000. Premiums for drivers under 35 will be even higher.
    In a letter to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno sent on April 30th, Marty urged "both houses of our Legislature to put aside past differences on this issue and to move quickly to pass the new laws that will begin to provide the financial relief our motorists so urgently require." He pointed out that premiums for regular policies are also skyrocketing, and that unless action is taken soon, increasing numbers of drivers will go with no insurance or will illegally register and insure their cars elsewhere.
    Since no-fault auto insurance fraud is a major reason for the rapid increase in premiums, Marty is recommending a package of new anti-fraud laws such as shorter deadlines for medical providers to notify insurers of an initial treatment, more resources for local prosecutors to fight fraud, and a new crime category for "runners" – people employed by "medical mills" to recruit potential claimants by scouring the streets and accident scenes.
    But since fraud isn’t the only reason for escalating premiums, Marty also said in his letter that New York State needs to "re-engineer the entire rate-setting process," which penalizes all Brooklyn drivers even though the overwhelming majority are honest. Among the measures he recommends are establishment of an Office of the Insurance Consumer Advocate to advance the interests of consumers, in particular during the insurance ratemaking process in Albany.
    Marty also said that he "would like to see a new Brooklyn insurance pool created that would be comprised of drivers who have verifiably excellent driving records. Excellent drivers should not suffer simply because the rate base is skewed against urban areas like Brooklyn." He also said, "In the long-run, we need to create the conditions for competition to flourish in the Brooklyn auto insurance market."

Richard Simmons, Marty, will lead Lighten Up Brooklyn exercise class

    On Friday, May 10th, at 10:00 AM, the Marriott Hotel at 333 Adams Street will be the place to be in Brooklyn. Richard Simmons — celebrity fitness expert and author of several cookbooks and star of numerous music exercise videos — and Marty will lead a FREE exercise class to Simmons’ new Blast It Off exercise video. Anyone can join in, as long as they are registered with Lighten Up Brooklyn and have had their weight officially recorded at one of the 156 designated Lighten Up Brooklyn weigh-in stations located all over the borough. Registration and weigh-in will be available at the Marriott for those who’d like to participate in Lighten Up Brooklyn and join the work out.

BP Markowitz, tenant leaders ask Mayor to delay Rent Guidelines Board meeting — and he does

    Last Friday, Marty faxed Mayor Bloomberg a letter asking that the May 7th meeting of the NYC Rent Guidelines Board be postponed. At that meeting the Board was set to take a preliminary vote on rent adjustments for rent-stabilized apartments that will take effect in October. Marty and leaders of tenant advocacy organizations asked for the delay because one of the two tenant-representative seats on the nine-member board was still vacant, while the two landlord-representative seats were both filled. The Mayor heeded the vote-delay requests by tenant leaders and elected officials including Marty.
    This year’s price index study, as computed by the RGB staff, shows a 1.6% decline in apartment building operating costs, including a 36% drop in fuel costs. At the upcoming public hearing, Marty and tenant leaders will argue that after years of approving rent increases well in excess of what was justified, the RGB should finally impose a rent rollback this year.

Brooklyn Bridge Park — at last

    BP Markowitz spoke at last week’s announcement by Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg of the creation of the new Empire State Development Corporation subsidiary that will finally implement the Brooklyn Bridge Park. The long-sought park will stretch all the way from the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Avenue. Marty said that he looks forward to working with the new corporation and the community as work progresses.
    He thanked the many dedicated people who made it possible, including Congress Members Edolphus Towns and Nydia Valasquez; State Senator Martin Connor; Assembly Member Joan Millman; Joan Witty, President of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Local Development Corporation, the group that prepared the park plan which served as the basis of the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed on Monday by the Governor and the Mayor; former City Council Member Ken Fisher; and the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition under the leadership of its president John Watts and former executive directors Tonsie Whalen and Anthony Manheim, and current executive director Marianna Koval. Marty noted that late Assembly Member Eileen Dugan played a major role in the park’s creation.