Sorry Buddy No More Placards

Mayor Slashes Number Of Parking Placards For City Employees

Finding parking in Manhattan can be like trying to find a needle in a hay stack.

"It’s annoying. Actually I had to pay $20 to find parking ‘cause I thought I was going to get a ticket and it's a $115 ticket. It's not fun at all,” said one driver.

The situation is made worse thanks to the tens of thousands of city employees who enjoy the perks of city-issued placards to park at will, while everyone else circles the block in desperation.

It's gotten so bad in Lower Manhattan, according to a recent study, that there are now three times as many drivers without placards as there are parking spots available.

No more says City Hall, which announced Wednesday it's slashing the number of placards by more than one third.

Heh, welcome to the club of can't find parking. Mass Transit for the win?

The Day Congestion Pricing Died

Congestion Pricing Dies in Albany

Denied the opportunity to vote on the proposal, congestion pricing was killed in Albany this week to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s chagrin.

The State Assembly never voted on the controversial plan that would charge drivers $8 to enter Manhattan below 60th Street and the state has now forfeited some $350 million in federal transportation funds for system improvements.


City Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), Chairman of the City Council Transportation Committee, was a leading proponent and voted for congestion pricing. He said in statement, “This defeat is disappointing to transportation advocates, environmental advocates, community activists and business leaders alike. However, there’s no use crying over spilled milk. Even without congestion pricing, we still need to reduce the extreme congestion that has a chokehold on our economy as well as on our environment.”

He was also critical of the mayor’s political strategy, implying that his administration failed to build a consensus around the plan.

“The Mayor’s people forgot to understand the legislative process. A high-and-almighty approach supplanted what should have been a collaborative process. The worst part of the Administration’s approach was that the City Council was pawned off in the process.”

There go my hopes of better transit. I think the Manhattanites would have benefited, the everyday traffic and everything that goes along with it would have been greatly affected.

Homeless On The Decline In Queens?

Homeless On Decline In Queens For Third Year

According to new data released by Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Homeless Services Commissioner Robert Hess, homelessness is in decline for the third straight year throughout New York City.

“Tackling homelessness in its many forms has been a priority for our Administration – and I’m pleased to announce further progress in our efforts to help people leave the streets for a better life,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “The good news, from both humanitarian and quality of life perspectives, is that a quarter fewer New Yorkers live on city streets today than when we started measuring in 2005. We will continue to bring innovation and focused management attention to this
longstanding urban challenge.”

New York City has an estimated 3,306 unsheltered individuals according to HOPE 2008 – a ratio of one unsheltered homeless individual to 2,485.

Heh... Where do I begin? First of all anything regarding the poor, homeless or impoverished is skewed to make the numbers look better. Are the homeless on the decline? Maybe the homeless themselves are on the decline but homelessness may actually be increasing. From my own experiences in the past year or so, I could argue that I have seen more homeless now than ever. Toting signs saying "Lets Do Lunch, On You". Perhaps the sight of people digging through trash cans and recycling bins for deposit cans is common, however over the last year or so I have seen a drastic increase ( hence why the Bigger Bottle Bill proposed by NYPIRG will be beneficial). I could go on and on about this but I will spare you, at least for now.

These estimates were done based on Surveys. Anyone who has ever taken a Sociology class or a Psychology class knows that people lie on Surveys.

Well at least its good to see an attempt of shedding light on the problem of homelessness.

Do you want Bloomberg to run for office?

Basically any time anyone mentions the possibility and/or the benefit of having Michael Bloomberg in office I can never see down side. If you agree with me and would like to see Mayor Bloomberg run; sign the petition here. http://draftbloomberg.com/ I would like to see if he can really live up to all the promises and goals he has already made for the city of New York and Queens especially.

The four reasons I think Bloomberg will made a good president:

1. He can not be bought or bribed, ( if you don't think that current president Bush and Vice President Cheney are following such practices then you should catch up with Google or Digg.com to get a dose of reality)

2. He would be able to fix the economy, a very important factor considering we are going into a recession. Apparently a very bright man who attended Harvard Business School and John Hopkins University.

3. He is a philanthropist, however unlike current and past governments his history of funding is all based on New York and the United States.

4. Political Stance: He is a liberal when it comes to things like Illegal Immigration, gay marriage, and the womans right to choose. However, economically he is a moderate which should keep taxes down.

Bloomberg: Big Plans For Queens?

According to the Queens Tribune, Mayor Michael Bloomberg came to Queens for a second time in the past week. In his State of the City address, Bloomberg proposes a new public pool and Ice Skating Rink for Flushing Meadows Corona Park. The Mayor also announced a new system that would allow complainants to track their complaints to 311. Proposals for changes for Queens Boulevard are also in the works.

The New York population is growing older and the mayor said the city will begin to address the challenge with traffic engineering improvements at high-accident areas including some in Flushing and hopefully Queens Boulevard, locally tagged as the Boulevard of Death.

Something that caught my eye was a declaration that Willets Point will become more industrialized with the addition of funding for infrastructure.

“We’ll also rezone Willets Point, a stone’s throw from here, the first step in what will be one of the most significant environmental reclamation projects of our time,” Bloomberg said.

Missing from the Mayor’s speech was where the money and political backing was going to come from for his plans. Gov. Eliot Spitzer spent most of speech on these issues when he delivered his 2008-09 Executive Budget address Tuesday.

However he does not further explain what is going to happen to its current residents. Another issue I see with his proposal for Willets Point is not so much about the "Iron Triangle" but rather its surrounding area. The local street around Willets Point need to be taken into consideration, Roosevelt Avenue for example is only two lanes and during a baseball game would make life very difficult for the proposed population living in Willets Point's housing complex. However I am very much in favor of improving Willets Point, whether it is done with its current businesses or an Eminent Domain powered wipe out. Either way something has to happen. With Citi Field opening up in 2009, it would be nice if it did not opposite a junk yard. it would be beneficial to the area if instead it was a hotel, restaurants, bars and shopping areas. Community Board 7 will eventually decide, or have Bloomberg decide for them. However, what do I know? I'm just a resident of Flushing who comes into contact with the Iron Triangle more than one would speculate. But before I get hammered with critique let me ask you, what does Willets Point in its current state do for the community as a whole? It provides jobs, industrial services and provides the means for other local businesses to get by. Hypothetically peaking couldn't it do the same for a whole new larger range of businesses?

Let me know what you think,

Mike
Welightupqueens@gmail.com