April 6, 2006
Mayor Creates Cards
In an appeal to his supporters, the Mayor took them to lunch at the Four Seasons restaurant to give them some cards. But not just any ol' cards - wallet-sized, plastic covered cards - "The New York City Card '06" - that list the city's (in the Mayor's eyes) top five initiatives. Sort of like mission statements that marketing heads get, the list is what Bloomberg hopes will be a filter for donors to think about whether they want to support other candidates, as in, "Do these candidates care about NYC?" Here are the priorities:
- Approval of the trade-in of $2 billion in Federal tax credits in exchange for $2 billion in upfront Federal funds for the long-needed rail link from Lower Manhattan to Long Island.We're all for affordable housing, giving working families more educational choices, protecting the city and creating lasting infrastructure, but how about getting NY State to pay the city the billions it owes for the school system? Anyway, people are skeptical that donors will actually change their mind about who they support because of these cards, but they probably appreciated the free lunch.
- Allocation of Federal Homeland Security should be distributed to the nation's states and cities based on threat, not pork barrel politics.
- Opposition to Federal eminent domain legislation that would cripple responsible re-development and revitalization.
- Increase in the State cap on charter schools to 250 to provide working families greater educational choice for their children.
- Support of legislation to provide financial incentives to produce affordable housing for New Yorkers.
We wonder if there are secret cards the Mayor gives to people that have initiatives like "Smoke Less" and "Gimme my West Side Stadium!" or "Where my Olympics?"
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Hmm... I wonder where he got that idea
I love that he fights for us. It's nice feeling like the city is being run by someone who uses his power for the betterment of the city and doesn't use the city for the betterment of his power. Who cares if he stole the idea? It's a good one and he's applying it.
I think he's getting bolder after the Education victory. NY loves a mayor that fights for it. So, how about we finally do that congestion pricing thing to make the streets less polluted, less noisy and safer for pedestrians???
Why does Lower Manhattan need a rail link to Long Island? The conversion of office space to condos only solidifies that Lower Manhattan is not a growth market for commercial space. With the exception of the World Trade center site there are few remaining lots available for building. Lower Manhattan's appeal will only be that office rents are far cheaper than Midtown.
The Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel would be a better investment, in terms of decreasing truck traffic.
A new LIRR East River tunnel would be second on my list, followed by the Gowanus Expressway "Big Dig".
With that said, I'm still glad that we have a mayor like Bloomberg. Any new rail tunnel would be better than nothing.
Um, hey Jen...just where do you think those billions of dollars for NYC schools will come from? NYC taxes when the state has to raise taxes to pay for it. We already pay enough, how about lazy ass parents get involved with their fucked up kid's lives and take some responsibility.
That is the problem, along with the teacher's union, not the lack of money.
The apostrophe in ’06 is upside-down! Bastards.