The Ball Must Come Down But It Should Not Bounce

As final preparations are put into place to greet 2013, a million people are expected in Times Square tonight.  All there and those watching through other media sources will be focused on the work of master rigger, Tony Calvano.  He’s the man given the responsibility of dropping the ball at 11:59pm to usher in the new year.  Mayor Bloomberg and the Rockettes will push a button to signal Tony to begin the ball’s descent (The mayor always seems to be pushing someone’s button, doesn’t he?).  Since 1988, Mr. Calvano and his team have successfully, “dropped the ball” but in a good way.  Back then, they did it manually.  Now, a computer controls the winch lowering the 12,000-pound, 2,688-piece Waterford Crystal sphere down towards the future.  Thanks to all involved in this effort and longstanding New York City tradition.  And thanks to all New York City residents for keeping this city, on the ball.

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Sharpen The Budget Scissors

Tough economic times demand hard economic decisions. Mayor Bloomberg is sharpening the blades now. He’s ordered $1.5 billion in city-agency cuts. That breaks down to 2.5% this year and 5% next year. He spoke of reducing expenses and raising revenues. Advocates for the city’s largest departments will undoubtedly be heard from very soon. Each will complain that slashed budgets were unfairly decided and will unfairly hurt New York. We know better. All city agencies waste millions of our tax dollars. All city agencies must undergo severe budget cutting ... just like the rest of us. New Yorkers will suffer to an extent, but we’ll survive. We’ve been through worse before. Besides, smaller government doing the same amount of work, or ideally more work, seems like a pretty good idea … except to those who squander our money and must work for it.

Mayor Makes Menu

“Eat what’s on your plate!” Our mother’s used to tell us that. Now it’s our mayor. Bloomberg is imposing new nutritional standards on the 225 million meals and snacks the city cooks up every year. This policy will improve food in public schools, shelters, hospitals and senior citizen centers. The mayor believes this is within his jurisdiction. Like mom said, “If you don’t want to eat, go to your room!,” the mayor says, “You don’t have to take city food.” We can’t really argue with mom or the mayor looking to serve healthy food.

Schools May Have New Ruler And Rules

The school year for NYC’s 1.1 million students has started and will end in June of 2009. Coincidentally, Mayor Bloomberg’s control of the school system which began in 2002 ends June 30, 2009. Groups are forming on both sides now to present their cases to the state legislature over who should have authority over city schools on July 1, 2009; the mayor or the original seven-member Board of Education. Schools Chancellor Joel Klein will push to retain mayoral control. Klein (who was appointed by Bloomberg) is one of the 13 current board members. Many parents are upset with the lack of say they have in important school decisions. New York City’s 32 Community Education Councils (CEC’s) believe they’re powerless on major issues too. Many in the CEC’s believe that a Chancellor should be more independent of the mayor than Klein. The other side argues that since Bloomberg took over school control in 2002, per-student spending has risen from $10,694 to $15,110. Graduations have risen from 51% to 62%. Major crimes have fallen from 1,577 (2000-2001) to 1,047 (2007-2008). Before anyone looks to take the mayor out of the equation, they should offer very detailed plans on how they intend to improve upon his results. As it seems to students every September, "June will never get here!" For parties on both sides of this issue however, the time to come up with ideas that benefit our children is already running out.

Urban Turbines Blow Mayor Away

Mayor Bloomberg recently proposed installing large wind turbines atop New York’s tallest buildings and bridges. Donald Trump likes the idea … but not on his buildings! He said, “My buildings are known for their great architecture, so I’d have to give it some serious thought.” The mayor’s windy ideas are far reaching however, going way beyond the boroughs. He also wants “wind farms” built miles out in the Atlantic Ocean. He believes these farms can supply twice as much wind as land-based wind farms and supply 10% of the city’s energy in ten years. A wind farm is already being built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and there’s a proposal for a larger one on the Fresh Kills, Staten Island landfill. Wind turbine opponents point to problems with funding issues (public vs. private investment), noise pollution, safety issues (think toppling cranes), environmental impact and even the likelihood that the blades will kill birds. Most importantly perhaps, Siemens AG, one of the biggest makers of wind turbines says huge windmills in cities are not realistic. A company representative said that turbines attached to bridges and buildings would put too much stress on the existing structures which weren’t built to accommodate them. Undeterred, Bloomberg believes in using many approaches to solve our energy and pollution problems. The mayor realizes his breezy ideas are unlikely to fly. His intent is simply to get people talking … and thinking. He said the city will welcome “anybody that has brilliant ideas.” Who’s tripping down the streets of the city? Everyone knows it’s Windy.

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.

Got (Cash To Afford) Milk?

The City Council says that last November, 86% of city food retail outlets that were studied were charging more that the state-mandated price for milk. That fixed rate is set each month by the New York state Department of Agriculture and Markets. The price overage averaged a whopping 40 cents per container! State officials argue they don’t have the resources to enforce the law. Current rates for New York City in June are $3.93 per gallon, $2.01 per half-gallon and $1.04 per quart. Milk isn’t a luxury for our children. It's a necessity. Mayor Mike and city officials should take immediate action to protect city kids and to stretch the family’s food dollar. Maybe stores that sell milk should be required to post their milk prices on their windows right next to the state's milk maximums for consumers. Cops could write tickets for lawbreakers. The city could put the fines they collect towards the school lunch program. Parents could then buy milk at the legal and one would think, lesser rate. They say "the cream always rises to the top." Let's hope our elected officials can do the same here.