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Campaign 2005 Quiz


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Who do you know more about -- Michael Bloomberg, or Jennifer Lopez?

Were you concerned with the six firehouses the mayor closed or were you preoccupied with Page Six? Are you dedicated to the civic life of the city or enthralled by its celebrity culture, public-spirited or gossip-minded, a Gothamist or a gawker?

Find the answer -- it is not as easy to discover as you might think -- by taking our quiz.

Simply click on the circle next to the answer you think is correct. At the end of the quiz, you will receive a score.

After taking the quiz, leave a comment on the Message Board

1. Which of the following people is NOT running for mayor?
Michael Bloomberg
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
Bob Kerrey
Gifford Miller
Anthony Weiner

2. Who is actor Matthew Broderick married to?
Jennifer Lopez
Eva Moskowitz
Sarah Jessica Parker
Uma Thurman

3. How much did Paris Hilton's engagement ring cost?
$50,000
$500,000
$1 million
More than $2 million

4. How much did Michael Bloomberg spend on his 2001 mayoral campaign?
$2 million
$25 million
$50 million
$75 million

5. What does the head of the New York City Campaign Finance Board say are the two most critical qualities for a candidate to be elected to public office?
Intelligence and integrity
Compassion and commitment
Knowledge and know-how
Incumbency and money

6. Which mayoral candidate has not yet come out clearly in support of the proposed professional basketball arena in Brooklyn?
Michael Bloomberg
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
Gifford Miller
Anthony Weiner

7. Which of the following did NOT play basketball for the New York Knicks?
Bill Bradley
Patrick Ewing
Stephon Marbury
Earl The Pearl Monroe
Shaquille O'Neal

8. Which mayoral candidate says in a Spanish-language television advertisement, "Porque somos Neoyorquinos" which translates as "because we are New Yorkers"?
Michael Bloomberg
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
Gifford Miller
Anthony Weiner

9. Which of the following is NOT a commissioner in the Bloomberg administration?
Antonio Banderas
Willie Colon
Jennifer Lopez
Jimmy Smits

10. What were the last two places in the U.S. to receive federal funding to upgrade voting systems because local lawmakers could not agree on various voting regulations and which voting machines to purchase?
Florida and Ohio
Alaska and Hawaii
New York and California
New York and Guam

11. Which of the following likes to sing at campaign appearances?
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
Jennifer Lopez
Gifford Miller
Anthony Weiner

12. Which of the following issues has sparked intense disagreement among the Democratic challengers for mayor?
Education
Education and Housing
Education, Housing and Transportation
Education, Housing, Transportation and the West Side Stadium
Just The West Side Stadium
None of the Above

13. True or False: A party official at the New York Independence Party, which recently endorsed Mayor Bloomberg for reelection, said that Jews "had to sell their souls to acquire Israel" and "function as mass murderers of people of color."
True
False

14. What is the top complaint to the city's 311 helpline?
Bad landlords
Mass transit
Noise
Water main breaks and sewer backups
Pot holes

15. Which of the following mayoral candidates has outlined bold new plans for addressing problems of bad landlords, mass transit, noise, sewer backups, and pot holes.
Michael Bloomberg
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
Gifford Miller
Thomas Ognibene
Anthony Weiner
None of the above

16. Which tax was NOT raised in the last four years?
Property tax
Sales tax
Income tax
Cigarette tax
Wall Street stock transfer tax

17. Which of the following Democratic candidates does NOT plan to raise taxes to help fund education?
Fernando Ferrer
C. Virginia Fields
Gifford Miller
Anthony Weiner

18. Which of the following celebrities did NOT attend school in New York City?
Claire Danes
Jennifer Lopez
Julia Stiles
Natalie Portman
Olsen Twins

19. Which of the following changes have Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Schools Chancellor Joel Klein NOT made as part of their effort to improve public education in the city?
Delayed the first day of school until one week after Labor Day.
Created a multi-million academy chaired by former GE President Jack Welch to train prospective school principals.
Reduced elementary school class size to 17 students.
Increased the amount of class time spent on reading and math.
Put Snapple in all schools.

20. Which of the following cities has a higher crime rate than New York City?
Detroit
Chicago
Los Angeles
Philadelphia
San Diego
All of the above

21. Which of the following has NOT been accused of assaulting someone in New York?
Russell Crowe
Allan Jennings
Jennifer Lopez
Courtney Love
Burt Reynolds
Christian Slater

22. Which U.S. president was in office when Robert Morgenthau, the current Manhattan District Attorney, was first elected?
George Bush
George W. Bush
Jimmy Carter
Gerald Ford
Ronald Reagan

23. Which of the following City Council members is voluntarily giving up a seat to run for higher office?
Tracy Boyland
Margarita Lopez
Gifford Miller
Eva Moskowitz
Bill Perkins

24. Which of the following bills passed by the City Council did Mayor Michael Bloomberg sign into law?
A bill aimed at preventing bullying in schools
A bill to crack down on noisy car alarms
A bill to provide emergency contraception at hospitals
A bill to temporarily suspend recycling of glass and plastic

25. Which of the following people is NOT running for Public Advocate this year?
A dentist in Sunnyside, Queens
The so-called 'subway gunman'
The founder of Irving Plaza, a concert venue that has hosted performances by Bob Dylan, U2, and Marilyn Manson
A civil rights lawyer who has represented a wide array of people, including cab drivers, and members of the Ku Klux Klan, and participants in the monthly Critical Mass bicycle protest
A member of the New York State Legislature

26. Who did Mayor Michael Bloomberg say he would most like to meet?
George W. Bush
Jennifer Lopez
Nelson Mandela
Mother Teresa

City Laws Quiz


Why did the mayor veto a bill to prevent bullying in schools?

What laws did the City Council pass to protect the environment?

Did your council member vote for the smoking ban?

How often is your council member absent?

Questions such as these can be answered easily with Gotham Gazette's database of city laws, an interactive tool to learn about laws passed by the New York City Council since 2002.

The following quiz is designed not only to test your knowledge of New York City laws, but to offer a step-by-step guide to the different ways this tool lets you find information – by year, topic, keyword, and individual council member.

To take the quiz, click on the circle next to the answer you think is correct, and a response will appear in the box below.

For help finding the correct answer, follow the instructions with each question.

Republicans in New York City Quiz





Test your knowledge of New York City party politics with this interactive quiz.

Simply click on the circle next to the answer you think is correct, and an answer will appear in the box below. Keep trying until you get the correct answer.





Homeland Security Funding


 

New York City's first responders continue to suffer severe shortages in funding and can expect to see their limited resources diminish even further under the Bush Administration’s proposed Budget for 2005. The safety of New Yorkers has already been compromised by, a 15 percent reduction of the police force since 2001, extremely low access to vital equipment and HAZMAT material and the closure of six firehouses, which has resulted in dramatically higher response times. Frankly, this is unacceptable.

Although the Department of Homeland Security has recently awarded over $103 million to New York State for the training and equipment of first responders, it does not come close to compensating the budget cuts already suffered, or those proposed for 2005. The budget for fiscal year 2005 cuts $2.3 billion for first responder programs. This includes both a $1 billion cut in the State Homeland Security Grant Program that assists first responders, and the removal of the Law Enforcement Block Grants, currently worth $225 million, that specifically assists police officers.

The budget cuts $800 million from state and local homeland security grants. It cuts state and local grant funding for first responder training, exercise, and technical assistance from $320 million in 2004 to $178 million in 2005. It also cuts Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement Act grants for equipment and personnel to local fire departments by $246 million.

The bottom line: Critical needs of first responders will be under-funded by $98.4 billion over the next five years.

These radical reductions will consolidate the mounting burden placed on state and local governments. It will also prove to be a disatrous setback in aquiring the equipment and training first responders need to fulfill their increasing duties in preserving our homeland security.

In one way or another, we were all affected by the tragedy of 9/11. We saw the brave response of our police, fire, emergency medical personnel and other first responders and we still harbor a great sense of admiration and respect for them. In the time that has since passed, we have come to more fully appreciate our dependance on their service to our communities. Yet we have failed to demonstrate our support for them; we have failed to ensure they are provided with the very tools they need to keep us secure.

We know what needs to be done.

The New York City Fire Department recently made a list of requirements for the adequate preparation for response to future terrorist attacks. It included:

  • A reliable communications infrastructure for first responders
  • A secure dispatch network for fire and EMS personnel
  • An expansion of Fire Department Operations Center as a fully functioning emergency center
  • A back-up emergency location
  • 12 months of emergency preparedness training for personnel.

It would cost about $277 million to acquire these and other equipment and infrastructure -- more than double the amount granted to New York State by the Department of Homeland Security.

As an effort to remedy the reduced funding and skewed allocation of funds for First Responders, I have introduced the Homeland Emergency Response Act of 2003 (HERO Act), which allocates $15 billion to protect New York City and other American cities. It creates a $3.5 billion first responder program in the first year and maintains a $3.75 billion program per year for three years thereafter. The bill protects high threat urban areas by mandating that 1/3 of all first responder funding be earmarked to the five cities with the greatest vulnerability or threat risk as determined by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, in conjunction CIA, FBI and HHS.

The bill also creates a new Anti-Terrorism Account for firefighters, while changing the Federal Firefighter Grant Program that is currently in place. The HERO Act also ensures that the allocation of funds is more equitable and based on threat ratio, thereby directing valuable funds to cities with the most need.

Unfortunately, Republicans in Congress are holding up this important piece of legislation.

I have also proposed fundamental changes to the Firefighter Investment and Response Enhancement Act Grant Program, the nation's homeland security funding program targeted specifically for fire departments. Currently, grants are limited to a sum of $75,000 and are distributed according to population. The pre-9/11 cap imposes an unnecessary restriction on access to funds for New York’s first responders.

If, as I propose, the cap were lifted and the $750 million of funds available through the FIRE Act grant program were distributed based on population, New York City would receive $20.5 million, much more than the current cap of $75,000, or even the $2 million cap proposed in President Bush's budget.

Furthermore, it is important to distribute these funds according to threat. While distributed according to population, Montana, for example, receives $9.07 per person while New York City receives only .09 cents per person.

To stand by and allow important funding for First Responders to be so drastically cut is to increase the vulnerability of our great city and undermine the huge strides we have been taking in protecting New Yorkers.

Josephy Crowley, a Democrat, represents the seventh Congressional District in the Bronx and Queens.

Keeping Ferry Service Afloat


Each time the New York Mets take the field this summer the Grand Central Parkway, Northern Boulevard, and the Van Wyck will be clogged with cars. The 7 train will disgorge thousands of fans. And of course there are the planes. What would a day at Shea Stadium be without the roar of the Delta shuttle?

But what you won't be able to do very often is take a ferry to the game. That is because the private operator that runs the serviced announced that they would only be offering the water route to the park for games played on weekends and select Fridays.

The Shea ferry is not the only ferry eliminating service. The much-ballyhooed service from Long Island City has also been dry-docked, as has the weekend service to Riis Park in Rockaway.

The reason these ferries fail is that they are being asked to provide a service at a reasonable fare, without any subsidy. They are being asked to provide mass transit, but without the help that our bus and train services get.

During the early 20th century, New Yorkers were served by 125 different ferry routes. But with the construction of a more extensive network of bridges and tunnels, service began to dwindle, and between 1967 and 1989, waterborne passenger transportation ceased to exist in the city.

A century after the peak of ferry travel, New York's transportation infrastructure has reached a critical mass. We have reached capacity on our roads and rails. The 2000 Census showed that the average New Yorker spends an hour and twenty minutes commuting back and forth to work each day. A separate study, done by the Texas Transportation Institute, found that New Yorkers waste 696 million gallons of fuel a year standing still in traffic - second only to Los Angeles.

Our subways and busses are not much better off. Better service and the Metrocard have filled trains to the brink. Even the rightly maligned franchise busses are full most mornings.

So why so slow to dip our toes in the waters of ferry service? Much of it has to do with start-up costs. Ferries are expensive. They start in the $3 million range and run to over $10 million. Some of it is figuring out appropriate parking and landing facilities. (Although in many waterfront communities these sites are obvious, like Sheepshead Bay, College Point and Harlem for example).

But the biggest obstacle to progress is the mindset that the private sector will do this alone. They can't and they won't. New York Waterways is the biggest of the private ferry services. They have done well with the "short haul" of the New Jersey to New York routes. Lots of runs, a fleet of busses, they have it down. Along with a few other brave start-up ferry operators - New York Water Taxi, Seastreak, and Liberty Landing Water Taxi among them - they have begun to establish a network of service. While nothing comparable to the 125 routes of a century before, the 35 to 50 routes they run seasonally represent an important start.

The obstacle operators like New York Waterways find when looking to do the longer routes that will have the greatest benefit to the region's traffic and pollution problems is that the fares becomes uncompetitive with the subway, Long Island Rail Road or even the tolls on the tunnels.

 

That is where the city's existing policy toward ferries fails to make sense. Ferries are simply floating busses, and as such, they should be subsidized like busses with wheels. As long as the city sees fit to subsidize the operating costs of those providing service on the land, municipal leaders ought to have the vision to extend the same policy to those operating on the water.The city should begin an active purchasing and land review process to make ferry service part of the integrated transportation plan of the city. Metrocard readers on deck, full transferability for passengers stepping into the subway or onto a bus. And initial forays into service should not be done on the cheap. Ferries should be run frequently enough so as to allow commuters the flexibility they need to compete with alternative modes of transportation. Just as no one would expect commuters to embrace a new Second Avenue Subway if it were only to run twice a day, no one should expect ferry service to succeed if it is inconvenient.

I've started the process by purchasing three fast ferries in the new federal transportation bill.

Every six years, Congress votes on the Transportation Equity Act, a bill that pays for highways, roads, bridges, tunnels and mass transit projects across the nation. The House passed a $275 billion version of the transportation act and the Senate passed a $318 billion version. Now the two sides must work out the differences in conference before it goes to the president for approval.

As a member of the transportation committee and a representative of a district that includes waterfront neighborhoods like Sheepshead Bay, Mill Basin, Bergen Beach, Rockaway, Breezy Point and Belle Harbour, I have requested ferries that will launch a Rockaway commuter service.

So soon, you may not be able to reach Shea by boat, but at least you'll be able to visit the beach.

Anthony Weiner, a Democrat, represents congressional district 9 in Queens and Brooklyn. He serves on transportation and infrastructure committee.

Related Articles:
Public Funds, Empty Ferries
Federal Money to Improve New York’s Port
New Future for New York’s Great Port
Tragedy and Neglect of the Staten Island Ferry
The Need for Ferries



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