NationStates Jolt Archive

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/08/16/AR2005081601828.html
This is just rich. The Democratic candidates for mayor are blasting a fellow Democrat in all but name. You see, while his party can call him a "Republican", Michael Bloomberg is not. First, he was a registered Democrat until around when he ran for mayor. Then he shows his true colors in office: nothing to far off the path beaten by Ed Koch, Mario Cuomo, and the other mayors since LaGuardia. Even Rudy Giuliani wasn't like this.
To his credit, the city has not reverted to the decaying hell it has been for most of the last century. But it may go there. A third of the apartments in NYC are under some form of rent control, pushing prices ever higher for those other two thirds too "rich" to qualify, whether they can afford it or not. One can almost argue that Bloomberg seeks to create a stratified city of rich and poor. And under his endorsement, the schools went from the control of local boards directly to a superintendent in lower Manhattan, leaving out any room for educational creativity with such a hierarchy. Sounds like a Democrat to me.
New York is a city built on money. Without its developement of facilities, industries, and talent, the economic motor that runs the world may look very differnet. For indeed, the strongest, richest, and most diverse city in the world developed around the ideal that anyone had a chance to suceed. So why is New York running the other way, becoming the most socialized city in America?

Bloomberg is a disaster, and no matter what ticket he formerly ran under, he is the Republican mayor.

I hope to God the Democrats have someone credible to run against him, but I kind of doubt it.

I wish Giuliani would run again!

Bloomberg is a disaster, and no matter what ticket he formerly ran under, he is the Republican mayor.

I hope to God the Democrats have someone credible to run against him, but I kind of doubt it.

I wish Giuliani would run again!
Except for his conduct in 9-11 when he out-presidented the president, Giuliani sucked. I elbowed him once lightly when he came into the bookstore I work at. I swear to God, his security reached into their pockets...

Except for his conduct in 9-11 when he out-presidented the president, Giuliani sucked. I elbowed him once lightly when he came into the bookstore I work at. I swear to God, his security reached into their pockets...
That’s their job. It doesn’t mean he told them to do that.

My dad once saw Giuliani leaving a bar with a college aged chick on each arm. Got to love unmarried politicians. They can do what they want and nobody whines.

That’s their job. It doesn’t mean he told them to do that.

My dad once saw Giuliani leaving a bar with a college aged chick on each arm. Got to love unmarried politicians. They can do what they want and nobody whines.
Oh, no. I mean... they are his security. I'm just saying it freaked me out.

I would've been freaked out by his head. On TV at least it just looks so ... unnatural.

As a resident of the East Village, I'd like to see a mayor who supports owner operated businesses, and gets in the way of corporate real estate speculators who bring in soulless, ugly chain retail and restaurants that exploit illegal alien labor and pay them less than minimum wage, instead of allowing people from the neighborhood to implement great ideas and start up new shops, then hire other people from the neighborhood. I hate NYC property owners, and the New Yorkers who support them. I hate uptown a$$holes who buy up property downtown and offer crap in my hood. I really hate uptown people who come into the East Village on weekends to try and be hip.

Die, Yuppie Scum!

As a resident of the East Village, I'd like to see a mayor who supports owner operated businesses, and gets in the way of corporate real estate speculators who bring in soulless, ugly chain retail and restaurants that exploit illegal alien labor and pay them less than minimum wage, instead of allowing people from the neighborhood to implement great ideas and start up new shops, then hire other people from the neighborhood. I hate NYC property owners, and the New Yorkers who support them. I hate uptown a$$holes who buy up property downtown and offer crap in my hood. I really hate uptown people who come into the East Village on weekends to try and be hip.

Die, Yuppie Scum!
I'm waiting to hear what is wrong with that.

Except for his conduct in 9-11 when he out-presidented the president, Giuliani sucked. I elbowed him once lightly when he came into the bookstore I work at. I swear to God, his security reached into their pockets...
I think Giuliani was a godsend for New York. He cleaned up the city, reduced crime across the board, and wasn't scared of showing his tough side. I actually live in another city in Western NY. It's one New Yorkers haven't heard of, seeing that civilization ends north of Westchester County :) . Anyhow, I keep seeing statistics that my city has a higher crime rate than New York City. In fact, New York City has the lowest crime rate of any large city in the state. I believe that of all the large cities in the world, only Tokyo is safer.
It's also quite clean. I wasn't down there before 2000, but I visited often. Some areas of Manhattan you can eat off the sidewalk, or so it appears. Try doing that even ten years ago.

As a resident of the East Village, I'd like to see a mayor who supports owner operated businesses, and gets in the way of corporate real estate speculators who bring in soulless, ugly chain retail and restaurants that exploit illegal alien labor and pay them less than minimum wage, instead of allowing people from the neighborhood to implement great ideas and start up new shops, then hire other people from the neighborhood. I hate NYC property owners, and the New Yorkers who support them. I hate uptown a$$holes who buy up property downtown and offer crap in my hood. I really hate uptown people who come into the East Village on weekends to try and be hip.

Die, Yuppie Scum!

Bloomberg is not a republican or a democrat, really. He's a BUSINESS man, which is worse. Look at the football stadium he tried to force down the throats of the people of New York, when the majority of people DO NOT WANT IT.

Let's check the idiocy of this.

1) Admittedly, using the land would be good.
2) Trying to sell it to the NY Jets (a profit making organization) at less than half the property value when other interests offered more is... weird.
3) The Giants over in New Jersey are paying for their own new stadium to be built. Jersey is only kicking in on road improvements.
4) NY taxpayers would be subsiding the purchase of the stadium and infrastructure improvements.
5) People would be removed from their homes.
6) The vaunted "jobs" it will provide. Sure, someone has to build it -- and then the job ends. And then the jobs it provides (hot dog hawkers and such) are minimum wage jobs... aimed at people who have or can get.... minimum wage jobs.
7) Traffic is already a nightmare in Manhattan 5 days a week. Where do they expect to park the cars on game day? How do they expect to get more traffic INTO the city on game day? How is the subway going to handle it?
8) Who benefits? Bloomberg's other big business buddies.

It's interesting to note that the big businessman has not improved the NYC economy in 4 years... except for people in his circle. Wow.

This also is the man who's brought you ticket quotas which has led to pregnant women being ticketed for sitting on subway stairs because they felt faint, old men ticketed for feeding pigeons, people ticketed for parking across THEIR OWN DRIVEWAYS, people ticketed for parking AT a parking meter that was determined to be too close to a fire hydrant, and other idiocy.

His best one yet -- in a threatened transit strike, suggesting that people hitch rides with strangers, and, showing solidarity to the poor transit riders, buying a several-hundred-dollar mountain bike.

NYC is due for a change. I only wish ANY party will field someone halfway decent.

I think Giuliani was a godsend for New York. He cleaned up the city, reduced crime across the board, and wasn't scared of showing his tough side. I actually live in another city in Western NY. It's one New Yorkers haven't heard of, seeing that civilization ends north of Westchester County :) . Anyhow, I keep seeing statistics that my city has a higher crime rate than New York City. In fact, New York City has the lowest crime rate of any large city in the state. I believe that of all the large cities in the world, only Tokyo is safer.
It's also quite clean. I wasn't down there before 2000, but I visited often. Some areas of Manhattan you can eat off the sidewalk, or so it appears. Try doing that even ten years ago.


I agree here. I used to work at 57th street and 6th avenue. The subway station there was abominable -- there was actually human feces everywhere, and very obviously ill homeless. One day I walked out of the station and there was a person lying at the top of the stairs, face down, legs sticking out over open air. I asked loudly a couple of times, "Are you ok?" but the person did not so much as MOVE.

I ran to the person at the booth and reported it as someone hurt -- and you know what they did? Nothing. Refused to call the police, ambulance, anything. I had to.

I wrote a letter to Guliani at the Mayor's office. If you recall, there was a big 'quality of life' campaign going on. Know what? Five days later I got a reply from some official there telling me that by the following Monday, it would be sparkling clean, and if it wasn't, to call their office.

When I went to work, funny -- there were transit employees with disinfectants and cleaning materials washing the human feces off the platform, and if you reported someone as being sick/ill/whatever, the station personnel had no problem contacting transit police.

Amazing, eh?

I agree here. I used to work at 57th street and 6th avenue. The subway station there was abominable -- there was actually human feces everywhere, and very obviously ill homeless. One day I walked out of the station and there was a person lying at the top of the stairs, face down, legs sticking out over open air. I asked loudly a couple of times, "Are you ok?" but the person did not so much as MOVE.

I ran to the person at the booth and reported it as someone hurt -- and you know what they did? Nothing. Refused to call the police, ambulance, anything. I had to.

I wrote a letter to Guliani at the Mayor's office. If you recall, there was a big 'quality of life' campaign going on. Know what? Five days later I got a reply from some official there telling me that by the following Monday, it would be sparkling clean, and if it wasn't, to call their office.

When I went to work, funny -- there were transit employees with disinfectants and cleaning materials washing the human feces off the platform, and if you reported someone as being sick/ill/whatever, the station personnel had no problem contacting transit police.

Amazing, eh?

Very. I, of course, don't live in New York. But I'd love to move there one day. If I ever saved up enough, I'd love to buy a studio in Manhattan. Too expensive, especially with the bubble these days. But my mom's one friend is actually a realitor in Astoria. If I ever did seriously look into moving to New York, I'd give her a call first.