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113:—gives buses priority, resulting in greater speeds and reliability at much lower cost than new subway lines. To further awareness of the need to provide better bus service in New York City, Russianoff and Transportation Alternatives annually bestow "uncovered" Pokey and Schleppie Awards to the slowest and least reliable bus routes in New York City. The 2013 "winners" were the
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Over two decades, Russianoff helped win major improvements in the law. For example, the law now provides greater incentives for city candidates to seek small contributions from city residents; and also limits contributions from individuals doing business with city government. However, his coalition
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Russianoff was awarded the 1994 Public
Service Achievement Award by the National Board of Common Cause given to those "who by force of imagination, initiative and perseverance has made an outstanding contribution to the public interest." He was a Charles H. Revson Fellow at Columbia University in
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The multilingual voter guides and a new City conflicts of interest code were ratified by the voters in 1988 as part of a package of reforms proposed by a charter revision commission that year. In the following year, the IBO was included in the 1989 proposed charter revisions and ratified by the
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Russianoff's work also helped result in the creation of the New York City's
Independent Budget Office, which provides non-partisan financial information on budget matters. and the annual mailing of several million multi-lingual Voter Guides at city election time.
254:, September 19, 1995. Accessed December 31, 2023. "Mr. Russianoff, who grew up in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, sent his resume 'to every public interest group on the Eastern Seaboard,' when he got out of law school in 1978."
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Since he developed
Parkinson's Disease in his mid-50s, he has spent time lobbying for alternatives to Access-A-Ride, an M.T.A. service he claims is "lousier than the subways and buses.”
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Groups in the coalition include the New York City
Transit Riders Council, Riders Alliance, Transportation Alternatives, and Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
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As a government reformer in 1988, he lobbied successfully in coalition for New York City's campaign finance law, now a model for
86:(Straphangers Campaign's parent organization) since his graduation from Harvard Law in 1978. In 1983, he was a Revson Fellow at
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246:"2 Very Loud Voices For 5 Million Riders; Leaders of Straphangers Campaign Get Results and Lots of Attention"
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1983. In 2010, he received the
Distinguished Achievement Award from the Brooklyn College Alumni Association.
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named
Russianoff a "New Yorker of the Year" in 1997 for his successful coalition work to win unlimited-ride
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More than 30 years of the
Campaign's work can be found at the archives of the New York Public Library:
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Photo taken outside New York Public
Library of Gene Russianoff awarding the Pokey Award to the
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294:"M42 and M50 win Pokey Awards as city's slowest bus routes M42, M50 city's slowest bus routes"
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50:. At the same time, Russianoff has also served as a government reform advocate for NYPIRG.
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Gene
Russianoff has advocated for subway commuters since about 1980. He lives in
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is still seeking greater restrictions on influence peddling by "bundlers."
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voters. In
February 1988, New York City enacted a campaign finance law.
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for New York City. BRT—whose current New York City version is called
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435:"Council Leaders Draft a Compromise Bill on Campaign Financing"
388:"With Question 6, New Yorkers Can Say Yes to Voter Information"
324:"Council Leaders Draft a Compromise Bill on Campaign Financing"
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468:"Only Thing Worse than the Subway? Not Being Able to Ride It"
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Currently, he co-chairs the NYC Transparency Working Group.
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Profile in 2013 by New York Times columnist Clyde Haberman
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Rosenstein, Neal; Russianoff, Gene (September 13, 2013).
494:"Common Cause 1994 Public Service Achievement Awards"
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Speaker bio page from 2005 Revson Fellows conference
369:"Another Court Orders Mayor To Create Budget Office"
183:"For Voice of Straphangers, a Journey Without Stops"
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292:Schapiro, Rich; Donohue, Pete (December 19, 2013).
528:"New Fares Bring Transit Gadfly In From the Cold"
554:NYPIRG – New York Public Interest Research Group
343:"N.Y. Lobbying Bill Ignores Hole, Critics Say"
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526:Perez-Pena, Richard (December 11, 1997).
105:Since 2002, he has promoted in coalition
38:advocacy group that focuses primarily on
886:New York Public Interest Research Group
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84:New York Public Interest Research Group
367:Firestone, David (September 7, 1995).
386:Russianoff, Gene (November 7, 1988).
126:Campaign finance in the United States
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896:People from Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
433:Purdum, Todd S. (January 18, 1988).
209:"Elections fixes for the next mayor"
181:Haberman, Clyde (August 25, 2013).
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420:"IBO - Independent Budget Office"
322:Purdum, Todd (January 28, 1988).
453:"NYC Transparency Working Group"
605:Public Interest Research Groups
16:American public-interest lawyer
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341:Chan, Sewell (May 24, 2006).
705:Fund for the Public Interest
26:and chief spokesman for the
876:Columbia University fellows
466:Dwyer, Jim (May 18, 2017).
406:"1988 NYC Charter Revision"
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901:Public transport activists
232:mycrains.crainsnewyork.com
871:Harvard Law School alumni
70:Russianoff was raised in
861:New York (state) lawyers
72:Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
266:"A Day Without a Train"
74:, and is a graduate of
891:People from Park Slope
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698:Related organizations
549:Straphangers Campaign
500:on February 18, 2014.
244:Perez-Pena, Richard.
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48:New York City Transit
28:Straphangers Campaign
710:Environmental Action
100:Park Slope, Brooklyn
82:. He has worked for
800:North Carolina PIRG
715:Environment America
511:College, Brooklyn.
299:New York Daily News
88:Columbia University
866:American activists
770:Massachusetts PIRG
532:The New York Times
472:The New York Times
439:The New York Times
392:The New York Times
373:The New York Times
347:The New York Times
328:The New York Times
271:The New York Times
251:The New York Times
187:The New York Times
111:Select Bus Service
80:Harvard Law School
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815:Pennsylvania PIRG
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725:Alaska PIRG
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624:Ralph Nader
277:October 10,
855:Categories
689:Joanna Guy
684:Tom Hucker
679:James Love
192:August 25,
168:References
162:MetroCards
805:Ohio PIRG
760:Iowa PIRG
659:Jim Jontz
66:Education
22:is staff
24:attorney
477:May 18,
352:May 24,
34:-based
612:People
513:"BCAA"
149:Awards
40:subway
479:2017
354:2006
279:2010
194:2013
117:and
94:Work
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