Pushed Passed His Limit

Ex-Staten Island Borough President, Guy Molinari sued Mayor Bloomberg in Federal court for pushing through his third-term mayoral run. Other plaintiffs include several City Council members and prominent New Yorkers. Molinari said, “This is a mockery of the word democracy. When I think back to the days when I was fighting with the Marines in Korea … people would say, ‘We’re here to defend our democracy.’” Molinari believes term-limits should be decided by the voters … not the City Council. Bloomberg ran and run… but Molinari was right.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog is a quick comment on an older New York City news headline. Unforeseen NYCo website development delays prevented it’s publication before now. For readership continuity, 100’s of older headlines are to be posted in chronological order until this blog is current. Though some of the stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of this site’s mention and viewer comments.

[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others! This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]

Proposed Sacks Tax Sucked

Mayor Bloomberg was looking to collect nickels for New York City. Each time a buyer was given a plastic bag for their purchases, they’d be sacked with the 5-cent surcharge. This proposal was to help raise needed funds and cut recycling costs. The mayor promoted the ecological advantages over the new tax. City coin collectors estimated they’d raise $16 million in the process. So who was left holding the bag on this idea?

IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog is a quick comment on an older New York City news headline. Unforeseen NYCo website development delays prevented it’s publication before now. For readership continuity, 100’s of older headlines are to be posted in chronological order until this blog is current. Though some of the stories may no longer be as relevant as they once were, they remain interesting news items worthy of this site’s mention and viewer comments.

[This is a copyrighted editorial, originally published on http://www.NEWYORKCITYonline.com/NYC-Online/blog.php. We invite you to post your comments and reply to others! This piece may be duplicated or printed with permission.]

The Scoop On New Poop

New York City is so desperate for cash that’s it’s "going to the dogs." Dog owners must now pay $250 for their doggies’ illegal dump on the “Sidewalks of New York.” That’s more than double the original fine of $100 established in 1978 when the pooper-scooper law went into effect. In the past fiscal year, only 763 summonses were issued. This obviously isn’t a big enough money-maker to get us out of the economic toilet. However, Mayor Bloomberg has recently proposed taxing "plastic bags" at 5-cents each. Maybe the mayor’s real bailout plan here is to get dog owners to use more plastic bags for doo-sposal ... at a nickel a plop.

City Council Capitulates To Mayor Miiike III

The City Council voted 29-22 (26 votes were needed) to approve Mayor Bloomberg’s bid to extend term-limits. This actually gives all elected city officials the legal right to seek third terms. The question is, does this extension give voters "more choice" by permitting an incumbent to run or "reduce options" by enabling an otherwise ineligible candidate to rerun. Bloomberg believes this last-minute move gives voters a “fuller choice.” Opponents were quick to argue that voters turned down term-limit referendums in 1992 and 1996. This new bill circumvents what New Yorkers voted against. Interestingly enough, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Mayor Bloomberg were also in favor of term-limits … until recently. No man should insist he’s “the only one” to lead us from economic darkness. Nobody should claim to be Moses or the Messiah. Those parts have already been played. New Yorkers are being played 2,000 years later. Mayor Bloomberg has done much for the city, but what might new blood do? The country voted “change” for President. In New York City, it seems the more things change, the more likely they will stay the same.

Cash Flows From Waterfalls

The 2008 exhibit, “Waterfalls” overflowed city coffers with $68.6 million in economic activity … $13.4 million over estimates. Approximately 79,200 additional tourists visited New York City to see the East River’s water pouring forth from designer Olafur Eliasson’s four man-made structures. Circle Line reported water tour sales were up 213,000 compared to the same time last year. So what public art project is “on tap” next, Mayor Bloomberg?

Mayor Does The Job For Trade Schools

Reading, writing and arithmetic will now be stressed at the city’s 21 technical training schools. This policy will make New York’s young craftspeople better scholars upon graduation. Along with this new emphasis, Mayor Bloomberg will ask various business trade corporations and industries to better support local business trade schools. This is his two-prong plan to improving vocational schools. Good for students. Good for business. Good for New York City.

City Construction Costs Climbing

Building in the Big Apple is getting more and more expensive. Prices have risen 32% in just the past three years alone. Blame that on the costs and availability of materials, higher labor rates and the general expense of building in congested areas like New York. What’s more, an office building here will cost twice as much as in Chicago, three times as much as in Atlanta. Don’t expect costs to go down anytime within the next few years either. These higher building costs greatly affect not only office buildings and skyscrapers but large public projects too. Ground Zero, the PATH Transit Hub, the Javits Convention Center’s expansion and the MTA’s Fulton Street Transit Center have all been delayed or scaled down to save money. Mayor Bloomberg is looking to increase bid competition for public-works projects to lower costs. That may help a bit, but increased building in India and China, coupled with less available steel worldwide, may be a building not even our Superman-like mayor can vault.

"New" New Yawk Talk

Within the next few months, all New York City agencies providing public service must do so in six foreign languages (Spanish, Chinese, Russian, Korean, Italian and French Creole). Mayor Bloomberg believes our newest residents’ great diversity can also pose significant challenges when it comes to dealing with the government. It probably does. Of course many who are fluent in "the King's English" are challenged by government bureaucracy too! It's a fact that for hundreds of years before initiatives like this language assistance program, one of the city’s, and for that matter, the nation’s greatest strengths was the “great melting pot” our ancestors were a part of. Our relatives were compelled to learn the language and customs of the new nation where they chose to live. Of course they had fewer options back then. In so doing though, they became a more integral part of something far better than they left behind. Immigrants should have the right to celebrate their heritage. Each wave of newcomers often enhances our society in some manner. However, they should be more open to the idea of assimilating into America’s culture; language included. A "common language" is a better way to build a society with a cohesive bond among all its' people. I wonder if this plan of the mayor’s will contribute to a more cohesive city or, if it adds another floor to the Tower of Babel. That kind of skyscraper we don’t need anywhere in New York.

Hack Hybrid Help On The Way

There’s an October 25th deadline for taxicab owners to purchase vehicles that get a minimum 25mpg. Unfortunately, there’s a shortage of hybrids. What’s a city’s taxicab industry to do? Enter GM, Ford and Nissan. They've pledged to supply a total of 300 vehicles monthly to aid owners meet the new green goals. Mayor Bloomberg said, “[They] have gone above and beyond.” Of course if automakers had been promoting hybrid vehicles years ago as they could have, we’d all be better off today.

Pedicabs Pedal With Virtual Impunity

The City Council passed rickshaw regulations over a year ago yet they’re not being enforced. Ongoing discussions between the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs and a pedicab trade group are holding things up. The main debate is the city’s limit of licenses to 325. In the meantime, many pedicabs are doing business without proper driver identification, insurance, seat belts, headlights, tail lights or even set fare structures. Passengers, pedestrians and automobile drivers are all at risk. Accidents have already occurred and people have been injured. Mayor Bloomberg, who wants to green the city, needs to act before there’s more red blood in the streets.

Poverty’s %’s Are Pitiful

Government officials claim poverty in New York City is higher than reported. Using an unaccepted formula that calculates additional living expenses, our poverty rate is 23%, not 18.9% as reported by the federal government. No other jurisdiction uses the same measure that we do. Our higher rate does not obtain more state or federal benefits for the poor. What it does do is enable Mayor Bloomberg to reapportion certain city benefits. But more must be done. Regardless of which math calculation is used, the result obtained is too high. I know there will always be “have’s and have not’s.” Nevertheless, the reduction of poverty among the least of us will benefit us all in many ways. The mayor’s remaining time in office is limited (Maybe, depending on daily-developing factors.) and he can only do so much. Who else in government or the private sector has a plan and the courage to wage this fight for all New Yorkers? As it was in the famous 1888 NYC picture "Bandit's Roost," so it will always be, if politicians are allowed to keep smiling for camera-shots instead of taking bold positions on bigger social issues.

Green Ideas That Get Gears

Commuting by bike has risen 77% since 2,000. Some city officials would like even more "people to pedal." Though he has his doubts and is not yet committed, Mayor Bloomberg is inviting plans from companies to establish bike rental stations near busy transit hubs. NYC residents could then rent bikes and return them near their destinations. Similar programs already exist in European cities like, Barcelona, Paris and Stockholm. New York ain't a city on the other side of the pond though! To be fair, let’s see what proposals are put forward and the city’s related costs and liabilities. I see more obstacles with this idea right now than there are roadblocks in the existing bike paths and streets of New York.

Welfare Roll Reversal

Less people in New York City collect welfare than in the past 45 years. The current welfare caseload is 341,329. That’s a 26.2% drop since Mayor Bloomberg first took office. Under Mayor Giuliani’s policy of tightening standards and eliminating fraud, the caseload dropped from 1,160,593 to 462,595. Both mayors have done a great job with this system. All city residents should indeed be grateful. Now that the welfare number is more manageable, perhaps it’s time to institute a workfare system. Our neighbors who are truly indigent should never be denied. Yet, isn’t it reasonable to demand that those that are capable of work perform some service to benefit the community that benefits them?

NYPD Blue And NYFD Red Go Green

Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative to new make city vehicles more eco-friendly is driving forward. Twenty hybrid SUVs will be hitting the streets. Four all-electric Vectrix scooters are being tested as well as a three-wheeled transporter. Whatever proven cost-cutting measures New York City can employ makes sense. The city paid $103.7 million for gasoline in fiscal 2008. With gas around $4.50 per gallon, every drop in the gas bucket helps.

Pothole Problems Multiply

Be very careful when you walk or drive in New York City. Pothole complaints rose a jarring 71.5% in fiscal year 2008 up to 17,612 in number. Street grievances include “jagged holes,” manhole cover issues and catch basin problems. City officials claim the increase is directly related to Mayor Bloomberg’s new Street Conditions Observation Unit (Scout program). This initiative records quality-of-life issues on handheld devices for greater accuracy and response. True or not, we’ll see if next years’ report shows at least a 71.5 % increase in the number of plugged potholes.

The Jungles We Call Our Parks

A recent study found homeless people, junkies, pushers, illegal dumpers, prostitutes, chop shops and gangs residing or plying their trade in parks throughout every borough of New York City. According to testimony, numerous park workers have been “warned” not to go inside certain parks because they’re too dangerous. Have we been officially warned? Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe is seemingly unaware of the extent of the problems. He claims that his office doesn’t favor certain parks over others. Let’s see if that’s true by following the money. The city spends $10,694 per acre in Manhattan compared to just $2,104 in Staten Island. Keep in mind that parks in New York City’s upscale neighborhoods often receive large subsidies from conservancies or government-affiliated entities. They don’t need government funds as much as other parks do. So is this favoritism? Benepe says city parks are better cared for than ever before. There is loud debate on that. Even former Parks Commissioner Henry Stern admitted that some parks have been abandoned because of inadequate funding. Since 2002 under Mayor Bloomberg, the city has added 468 acres of new parkland to its existing 29,084 acres in 1,875 parks. It’s time that dollars were more equally divided for the care of all parks throughout our city. Furthermore, no parks should be abandoned to squatters or criminal types. Give them an inch and they’ll take an acre … or 29,804 acres. Our brave troops are not writing off land in Iraq. Our city government shouldn’t do it here either.

West Side Waste Plant Plan Passed

Mayor Bloomberg finally got state approval to build an $80 million trash-transfer facility near Gansevoort Street on the Hudson River in Manhattan. Construction is slated to begin in 2010. The station will process 128,000 tons of metal, paper, plastic and glass for shipment to the recycling plant in Red Hook, Brooklyn. This is the final piece to Bloomberg’s overhaul of New York City’s Solid Waste Management Plan. Mayor Rudy Giuliani initiated the city’s trash mess when he closed the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island. To his credit, Mayor Bloomberg has intelligently dug us out of the garbage around us. City residents can all breathe a bit easier once again.

OTB Remains A Sure Bet

Governor Paterson and Mayor Bloomberg crossed the Finish Line with a last minute agreement to save Off-Track Betting in New York City. The deal is pending approval by both houses of the New York State Legislature. The pact is somewhat complicated with many financial considerations for both sides. No details will be discussed here. Suffice to say, Mayor Bloomberg’s gamble to close OTB offices in the city unless New York received a bigger share of the profits apparently worked. Albany chose to "bite the bullet" that might have sent OTB to "the glue factory." The compromise between the city and state guarantees the jobs of 1,500 OTB workers and no doubt pleases the many hundreds of thousands of pony-players who bet throughout the Big Apple. Well, it probably pleases them only until their horses finish out-of-the-money! And now, some famous quotes … A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time. ~Author Unknown … I bet on a horse at ten-to-one. It didn't come in until half-past five. ~Henny Youngman … A race track (OTB?) is a place where windows clean people. ~Danny Thomas

Energy Consumption Tax Too Taxing

Mayor Bloomberg thinks the best way to reduce energy consumption is to raise taxes. It’s sad for us how most politicians believe that "higher taxes solve problems." He doesn’t see any short-term fixes for the high price of oil. The fix he does see though is a breathtaking rise in energy taxes to discourage our energy usage. It’s true that much higher prices at the pump will force some motorists to curtail unnecessary driving. However a higher price for gas will also punish those who must drive for employment. It will unfairly raise costs for those who don’t even own cars (Sounds like "Taxation without transportation!). These poor souls will pay more for many retail goods and services that use or depend on vehicle deliveries. What’s needed now are innovative ideas … not old ones like higher gas taxes, tolls or mass transit fares. Improving and expanding mass transit services to accommodate more riders, reducing the size of city-owned vehicles to burn less gas (Let the politicians and police squeeze into Austin Coopers like we're being forced to!), maybe even issuing tax breaks to vehicle owners who drive more efficient cars; these are just a few examples. Give residents of New York City better transportation options instead of sticking the City's hand deeper into our pocket.

Don't Kiss And Tell On Bloomberg

The mayor doesn’t appreciate Scott McClellan’s Washington-insider book. In it, Scotty is highly critical of his boss, President George Bush. Mayor Bloomberg believes that aides should be more responsible. Bloomberg’s feeling is that an employee in an administration or a private company should never write a tell-all tome. You can put that in writing. Maybe.