Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Citizens Union

Subscribe to this list via RSS Blog posts tagged in Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Posted by on

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced that the New York City Marathon is cancelled The move follows mounting backlash to holding the Marathon while recovery efforts from Hurricane Sandy are still underway. Here is his statement:

The Marathon has been an integral part of New York City’s life for 40 years and is an event tens of thousands of New Yorkers participate in and millions more watch. While holding the race would not require diverting resources from the recovery effort, it is clear that it has become the source of controversy and division. The marathon has always brought our city together and inspired us with stories of courage and determination. We would not want a cloud to hang over the race or its participants, and so we have decided to cancel it. We cannot allow a controversy over an athletic event – even one as meaningful as this – to distract attention away from all the critically important work that is being done to recover from the storm and get our city back on track. The New York Road Runners will have additional information in the days ahead for participants.”

More about:

Posted by on

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Julie Menin who is expected to run for Manhattan Borough President in 2013 have both joined the chorus of voices decrying Mayor Michael Bloomberg's decison to hold the New York City Marathon despite the fact that a great number of city residents are still without, power, food, water and the ability to get to work.

Bloomberg has defended the decision saying that police and other city workers will be available because there will be no work-week traffic to contend with. â€śThis city is a city where we have to go on,” he said.

Here is Stringer's statement: 

First of all, I want to thank Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo for their strong leadership in helping our City recover from a devastating storm. And I certainly understand and respect the mayor’s desire to show that we are a resilient City.

But New York has experienced a tragedy of historic proportions. New Yorkers in Staten Island, the Rockaways, Coney Island and Lower Manhattan are struggling to keep body and soul together, deprived of basic essentials as temperatures drop.

...
More about:

Posted by on

In the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the issue of climate change was the major deciding factor in Mayor Michael Bloomberg's endorsement of President Barack Obama today. After detailing in an op-ed for Bloomberg View what the city has done to battle the climate change that he says is responsible for harasher weather patterns, Bloomberg wrote:

We need leadership from the White House -- and over the past four years, President Barack Obama has taken major steps to reduce our carbon consumption, including setting higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. His administration also has adopted tighter controls on mercury emissions, which will help to close the dirtiest coal power plants (an effort I have supported through my philanthropy), which are estimated to kill 13,000 Americans a year.

Bloomberg, an independent who has funneled millions of dollars to Republicans in New York State, laid out his reasoning for losing faith in Republican nominee Mitt Romney.

I believe Mitt Romney is a good and decent man, and he would bring valuable business experience to the Oval Office. He understands that America was built on the promise of equal opportunity, not equal results. In the past he has also taken sensible positions on immigration, illegal guns, abortion rights and health care. But he has reversed course on all of them, and is even running against the health-care model he signed into law in Massachusetts.

If the 1994 or 2003 version of Mitt Romney were running for president, I may well have voted for him because, like so many other independents, I have found the past four years to be, in a word, disappointing.

More about:

Posted by on

Today's Lead Stories...

Partial Transit Restored, Free Rides


Gov. Andrew Cuomo declared a traffic emergency for today and Friday making mass transit free for those using the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's busses and trains. "The service in many cases is limited, the service in many cases will be crowded," Cuomo said at a late night press conference in the city. The move came afterimmense gridlock Wednesday. City busses were jammed with commuters and gas lines stretched for over half a mile. Commuters who wish to drive into the city will have to car pool. The entire transportation infrastructure has yet to be restored with flooding still impeding some routes but partial service has been restored. Check out the MTA's post-storm stubway map




In the Press...

...
More about:

Posted by on

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday announced his plans to spend between $10 million and $15 million through a "super PAC" he will spearhead. It's named Independence USA PAC and has a goal of supporting candidates across party lines who pledge to work in a bipartisan fashion. It will spend money on highly competitive state, local and Congressional races this year and back candidates who support legalizing same-sex marriage, enacting tougher gun laws, and education reform.

...
More about:

Posted by on

It took just 40 years to get it done, but now the city has a new park, dedicated to no less than President Franklin D. Roosevelt. 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg joined former President Bill Clinton and Gov. Andrew Cuomo at today's dedication of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Park, which looks out at the United Nations from the East River.

Bloomberg said the state park, designed by American architect Louis I. Kahn, "will stand forever as a monument to the man who brought us through the Great Depression and brought us victory over great evil."

Roosevelt famously delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 1941, as the country was on the precipice of entering World War II, envisioning a world based on four freedoms: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom from want; and freedom of fear.

The park at Roosevelt Island was announced in 1973, but the project languished for years following the city's financial meltdown. It was picked up 30 years later by former Ambassador to the United Nations William vanden Heuvel and the Four Freedoms Park Conservancy.

...
More about:

Posted by on

Today's Lead Stories...

Council Hearing on Policing


The City Council held a 6-hour hearing on police tactics yesterday that focused on stop-and-frisk. Four bills were mainly at issue. One bill would require officers to identify themselves and provide their name and rank during stops. Another bill would require officers to inform suspects of their right to refuse a search. Another bill would establish an Office of the Inspector General to oversee the police department. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Chief Ray Kelly were not present at the hearing and they oppose the measures. Bloomberg's council Michael Best argued that the council does not have the legal authority to legislate police tactics. Council Speaker Christine Quinn declined to say whether she supports the package of legislation. 




In the Press...

...
More about:

Posted by on

To meet the growing need to shelter the homeless, the Bloomberg Administration has been using its power of emergency authority to create shelters as quickly as possible, bypassing the typical community approval process. Unlike in other cities, New York is required by law to provide shelter to every person who seeks it. Ten new homeless shelters in recent months, in places that include the Upper West Side. Every night, 46,000 people seek shelter, the highest number ever recorded. New York City makes up 14 percent of the nation's homeless, with Los Angeles a distant second at 3 percent.

...
More about:

Posted by on

Commissioner Kelly has called for a grand jury investigation into the fatal shooting of a driver by police last week on the grand Central Parkway. The officer is said to be 'anxious' to testify in order to clear his name. It is routine for prosecutors to bring fatal shootings by the police before a grand jury. Queens District Attorney Richard Brown is ultimately in charge of empaneling a grand jury and is investigating the shooting already. Meanwhile, Mayor Bloomberg says appointing an inspector general to oversee the NYPD would bring crime back to the streets of the city.

...
More about:

Posted by on

Civil rights and educational organizations are alleging that New York City's single-test admittance policy for eight top specialized high schools discriminates against black and Hispanic students. The groups filed a lawsuit yesterday to have the policy found in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Mayor Michael Bloomberg defended the entrance exam, saying "life isn't always fair." “We’re not here about equal results. We’re here about equal opportunity," he continued.

 

In the Press...

NYC: World's Tallest Ferris Wheel Planned For Staten Island (Gotham Gazette)

McDonald to abandon re-election bid (Gotham Gazette)

...
More about:

Posted by on

Now this is a wonder wheel.

The city has announced plans to build a 625-foot tall Ferris wheel on the the north shore of Staten Island, which will give riders a vast view of Manhattan's skyline.

The current record holder for tallest Ferris wheel in the world, the Singapore Flyer, is 84 feet shorter.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the New York Wheel will be an attraction "unlike any other on the planet."

"It will offer unparalleled and breathtaking views, and is sure to become one of the premier attractions in New York City," he said in a statement today.

...
More about:

Posted by on

Buildings Department inspectors this year gained access to suspected illegal conversions less than half the time - a rate similar to that of previous years. And the department’s response time to nonemergency complaints, including illegal apartments, actually got worse. Last year Mayor Bloomberg had committed to cracking down on illegal apartment conversions after two fatal fires. The administration counters that it has increased its focus on the highest risk locations.

In the Press...

Board of Elections opts for ‘incomplete’ in Mayor’s Management Report

Botched response, lies found in Port Authority response to JFK terror scare

Speaker Silver's male staffer defended boss online as 'female' supporter

...
More about:

Posted by on

Mayor Bloomberg announced this weekend that city agencies must cut a total of $2 billion dollars from their budgets this year and the next. That equals slashing a total of 3 percent of the total budget over the next 18 months. He has also warned of possible layoffs. Meanwhile, he gave raises to some of his staff, but contends those aides are taking on more work as a result of staffing cuts.

In the press...

Police reports suggest officers sometimes portray crimes less seriously

Civilian Complaint Board starts hiring for prosecuting unit

District leader race a show of strength for Brooklyn Democratic machine

...
More about:

Posted by on

Shortly after voting almost unanimously to limit the size of sugary drinks to no more than 16 ounces, the Board of Health got a big developer to throw his weight behind the regulation months before it goes into affect.

Bruce Ratner of Forest City Ratner, the developer of the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn, said the stadium would follow the rule when it opens in two weeks.

"It is time really for us to do this kind of initiative," he said during a news conference with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and top health officials at City Hall this afternoon. "We need to change how we look at obesity."

He said Coca-Cola, the soda beverage partner for the stadium, had agreed to the size limit.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg lauded the decision by the Board of Health. The panel voted eight-to-zero, with one abstention, for the new regulation.

...
More about:

Posted by on

Dozens of cancers will be added to a list of World Trade Center-related illnesses that are eligible for compensation under a federal law aimed at compensating first responders and others who were exposed to contamination from the collapse of the Twin Towers.

The momentous decision was announced earlier today in a statement by Dr. John Howard, the administrator of the World Trade Center Health Program, which was created under the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010. Howard had proposed the new rule in June.

The full list of approximately 50 cancers to be included under the new rule can be found here.

The decision comes as the city and country mark the 11th anniversary of the terror attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people on Sept. 11, 2001.

MetroFocus, the magazine of Channel 13, has put together a guide to various events meant to memorialize the day.

...
More about:

Posted by on

City Students Start School Year

Over one million students started the school year yesterday, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted his oversight of the district and Chancellor Dennis Walcott toured the boroughs to greet children and teachers.“I think it’s indisputable that our schools are heading in the right direction," Bloomberg said during a visit to Middle School 327 in the Bronx. GothamSchools live-blogged the day.

In the Press...

City wants to accelerate marketing of logos (Daily News)

Popular Bronx 'flan man' stumps for Rivera challenger (Daily News)

...
More about: