after 9/11, the financial braintrust that makes up the NYSE figure if the Giants and Jets can say they are in New York than i guess we can move to Jersey City and still call ourselves the New York Stock Exchange. The lack of business in Lower Manhattan forces the Port Authority's hands and they decide to scrap the rebuilding of the World Trade Center. The Battery, now abandoned and flooding due to the flooding of ground zero from the crack in the bathtub sinks into the Narrows...
governer's island left unused for years become a black market for guns seemingly falling from the sky—when they are really coming from Virginia...
the two New York baseball teams use 100% of their own money to build their new stadiums, using illegal immigrants instead of Union labor since after all if the city doesn't want to help out, why should they be held to New York City building standards...
the west side train yards remain an abandoned blight as Sheldon Silver and Charles Dolan toast to their success in Tracks...
classrooms are now stuffed 40 to a classroom and the moron at the head of the class can't be fire because he has tenure. Young eager minds choose not to consider teaching in NYC Public Schools for being afraid for their lives...
after 8 years of rampant crime and a despot for every corner, Snake Pliskin announces his candidacy for the Mayor of NYC...
of course, i joke. But its hard to make fun of this 'spin'. Accusing Bloomberg of being a friend of business is redundant. He is a business school graduate, a student of the free market. Its no secret he is for deregulation of Wall Street, fortunately he has no say in the matter. The SEC a federally run agency is in control of that...
the only reason why a Department of Education exists is because the Board of Education was amid an epic fail under the guidance of one Bill Thompson...
there are several 'spins' of Bloomberg policy in this bloombergwatch.com document that can be spun right back at them. i invite you to read all about it and form your own opinions...
you can be upset by the way the City is being run, but it is safer and more open than it has ever been. Jobs are down, sure, but they are down everywhere. For all the fear and loathing this recession has caused somehow city services are still up and running, you can't say that about a lot of other places in this country. Bloomberg has found a way to make it work...
consider your alternative before you throw him under the bus...
5 comments:
Stunned!!!!
The core argument you're making seems to be that we still have basic city services and that things could be worse. Sure, they could be worse, but like Calvin says "things could be a lot better too!"
I say we take the pamphlet to the Cottage, get good and drunk and start screaming at each other about this. The bartender will buy every beer that touces our lips for the rest of the night!
They are better than they were pre Bloomberg, remember Dinkins and Guilliani put a smackdown on this city and that's why term limits were enacted in the first place.
We could go to the cottage and you will still be wrong for backing a schlock candidate like Bill Thompson. If the democrats really thought they had a chance at fixing this mess, Weiner would have been in this mess, but they knew better. you should too. Now get me a beer!
one of thompson's arguments was with regard to who will be able to afford to live in this city when bloomberg is through but i read this piece here and yeah i know, it's the post that talks about how rich new yorkers are leaving because of the taxes and it is creating a cash dearth.
the problem that the outer b's have with bloomberg is that he shows no fucking love for the outer b's and he's no good at trying to look like he gives a shit. congestion pricing and the entire iron triangle thing is a great example of mike's lack of care for the outer boroughs but until this city gets around to electing a guy who isn't a manhattan insider we'll never really know what it's like to have a mayor who gives a shit about all five boroughs. at least he pays for all his campaign shit. i can sleep soundly knowing that.
by the by, kudos on your most thought provoking prose of the year.
plisken in 2011!
I'm not backing Thompson so much as he is the better alternative to Bloomberg. A couple of additonal thoughts:
* Bloomberg has kept city services running - by taxing New York City residents at an ungodly rate in addition to their state taxes. I've paid nearly $1,500 in additional taxes this year because I have the misfortune of living in the five boroughs. Commuter tax, anyone?
Meanwhile, Bloomberg presides over a city government that's nearly 50 percent larger than it was when he took office. Any chance that there's some bloat there that is having a negative effect on the city's overall economy?
* Queens has been the site of three hospital closings this year, and firehouses around the city have been closing as well. Meanwhile, the population continues to grow. I'm lucky enough that because I live close to Manhattan, I can direct an emergency vehicle to take me to a hosptial there. God help the people of, say, southeast Queens.
the outer b's get the raw deal jack.
it sucks annd until this city is willing to elect someone from the outer b's that isn't a manhattan insider, this is what it is
it don't make it right though
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