Bloomberg Gets Snowed Over

With Wednesday's snow and ice storm blanketing the city with a few inches of the cold stuff, many cars were stuck in their spots after the plows created 1-2 foot snow banks. Unless you had four wheel drive, there was no way to get out without being pulled out. Those wonderful ticketing traffic cops scoured the city and issued over 4,000 citations. So what did the mayor say?

They’re going to enjoy it [Friday] when the streets are cleaner than they would have otherwise been. And this was not a lot of snow. It was easy to move your car. I don’t like to get up early in the morning and have to do anything, either. I’d like to sleep in, too. But it was the right thing to do…. It wasn’t like you had a couple of feet of snow, where you really couldn’t physically move your car. You had to put on galoshes and go out there and move it.

Those remarks, from someone who doesn't have to drive himself to work pissed off quite a few drivers. The anger got so loud that it hit all the major papers, forcing Bloomberg to recant his words and negate the thousands of tickets issued so far and those that are yet to be given out.

From his weekly WABC-AM address:

I’m sorry for the inconvenience to people, but you know you have to make decisions and each of these storms is different… If you received a ticket yesterday or today, you don’t have to respond to it.

Smart move on the backtrack Bloomie, maybe next time if you think about people's situations other than yourself you can respond better to future incidents.

Still Short On Federal Dollars

More than five years have passed since the gruesome event of 9/11 and the federal government still does not properly fund NYC's soaring health care costs attributed to the workers on the ground. Tens of thousands of rescue and cleanup workers suffered respiratory illnesses, costing the city nearly $400 million dollars in health care for these brave souls. They were told the air was safe to breathe and ultimately ended up sick because of it.

The White House pledged an additional $20 million late last year but it is still far below what is needed to provide adequate care. It is getting so bad that many treatment programs are running out of funds. Other groups never even received a dime.

From RawStory:

New York needs 150 million dollars in annual federal funds to treat lingering mental and physical ailments from the September 11 terror attacks, a city-appointed panel said.

The World Trade Center Health Panel, appointed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in September to assess the state and federal resources for 9/11 victims, said the health programs lack stable federal funding.

The New York Police Department has never received any federal funding for treatment or monitoring, the panel said in a report.

As the mess in the Middle East is costing American taxpayers hundreds of billions and the economy as a whole over one trillion dollars, it is time for the federal government to pay up and fully fund the programs that treat the heroes of 9/11. Mayor Bloomberg recently asked for more federal monies and I wholeheartedly agree with his request.

Liz Krueger Rocks!

My hat is off to Senator Krueger after an exchange between her and Mayor Bloomberg this morning. It is great to see the mayor being chastised in front of reporters up in Albany when the Mayor ducks the issues. She asked him a simple question, if he supports Spitzer's bottle law to help boost recycling efforts.

From the Empire Zone:

“In the interests of full disclosure, Senator Krueger is my senator and has to be nice to me,” Mr. Bloomberg, who lives on the Upper East Side, said, drawing laughs.

“But in fairness, you’re in the wrong party and I didn’t endorse you,” Ms. Krueger replied with a smile, without missing a beat.

The Empire Zone caught up with Mr. Krueger later to ask if she and the mayor generally enjoyed good relations. “We do, except when we’re fighting,” she said.

I find it hard not to fight with Bloomberg myself, I'd love to get a round in with him if I had the chance, figuratively speaking of course.

Expensive Real Estate Equals Big NYC Surplus

Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city has a $3.9 billion dollar surplus for the year. Thanks to skyrocketing real estate prices that have defied the experts predictions as of yet, NYC is flush with cash. This number is double what the predictions were just two months ago. As the exorbitant prices help the city's piggy bank, how will the Mayor help our citizens who are being driven away by high prices?

From the NY Times:

Since 2005, tax revenues have been cascading in at surprisingly high levels, a phenomenon reflected in the quarterly financial plan updates the mayor is required to present. In addition to the projected surplus of $3.9 billion for the fiscal year ending June 30, the plan forecasts a $1.4 billion surplus next year; both sums will be rolled over into the following years.

In a City Hall news conference, the mayor attributed the exceptionally large surpluses to a boom in property transfer taxes, including mortgage recording taxes, which can generate millions of dollars when large properties change hands. All told, the city expects to collect $2.9 billion in such taxes this year, compared with $902 million in the fiscal year Mr. Bloomberg took office.

As properties are bought and sold, residents are on the move...out of the city to make way for those that can afford the ever-increasing cost of living in the five burroughs. Again, the question is what will the Mayor do for those that are less fortunate? Well we already know Bloomberg is cutting property taxes by $750 million and other taxes by $250 million. He also mentioned how to achieve happiness:

“The ways to be happy long term, however, is to not go out and spend everything you have on one night of food and a few drinks.”

Instead of a night on the town, why not focus on those that can't afford Smith & Wollensky or Tao and give more to homeless shelters and other tools to help the poor. According to the Coalition of the Homeless, family homelessness is rising rapidly at an eleven percent clip. Not only must we provide more shelters, increases for job training and family assistance would be nice as well.

Reading the NY Times article, you can see that plenty of people have grievances on how the Mayor should spend, or not spend the surplus. Conservatives want to rein in pension contracts with unions, business organizations want to make the property tax cut permanent and to pay down other debts.

To the Mayor's credit, he is introducing a plan to rebuild schools in the long-term to the tune of $28.4 billion in the 10 year capital plan. It is a start and there is so much more that is need to be done.

NYC 911/311 Goes High Tech

It is general knowledge that when you see or experience a crime or an emergency the natural response is to call 911. If your landlord is a bastard and you are sick of their lies, you call 311 and report their a**. Well things are changing my friends. With camera phones abound in the city, you can now record a crime on your cellphone and send an SMS to 911.

From the Gothamist:

The mayor's "criminal justice coordinator" John Feinblatt told the Times, "This is absolutely brand new for law enforcement, and it’s absolutely new for a call center like 311, but by no means is it new technology. So what we’re going to do is take applications that already exist in the industry and adapt them to 911 and 311." Feinblatt and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly both pointed to the incident where Thao Nguyen took a cellphone picture of Dan Hoyt pleasuring himself on a subway, posted it on the Internet, all leading to Hoyt's arrest (this wasn't his first offense, either!). Others have used cellphones to try to nab wrongdoers as well. Civil rights attorney Norman Siegel tells the Post he thinks would be "no civil liberties objections" if the photographs are of "criminal behavior."

And New Yorkers would be able to log quality of life issues the same way to 311. How very reminiscent of Andrew Rasiej's "We Fix NYC" pothole tracking! But we don't recommend you email 311 every time when you see that poop on the street because that'll get old.

Sounds like a foolproof system on the surface though the second thought that popped in my head was how many skilled photoshoppers I know. Wouldn't it be possible to manipulate a video or image before sending it off to 311 or 911. It could wreak havoc for those with grudges held against them. Of course that is just a side effect and anyone can find a loophole in a system like this. I almost feel like going to East New York with a cellphone camera strapped to my head, though I think I'll stick to crime fighting in the city.