The economy has tanked, and Bloomberg and the City Council’s rezoned Greenpoint and Williamsburg is now strewn with stalled construction sites. According to Gothamist, it looks like northern Brooklyn has taken a time machine back to 1979, when the streets were mean.
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Bloomberg doesn’t like taxing his rich friends, but it looks like he has no problem taxing everyone else — including my family, friends and everyone else who comes to New York to visit.
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Well, we don’t want to be on the honeymoon, but we need to be at the table when the wedding gifts are distributed.

First read this story by Elizabeth Benjamin in The Daily Politics and then see our response:

Espada is ‘Senator of the Year’

Say what you will about Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr., but one thing is certain: He has a following in the Bronx.

The controversial lawmaker, who was largely responsible for the 31-day Senate gridlock, will be honored tonight at the Edward A. Stevenson Community Service Awards Gala, at which he will be deemed “senator of the year.”
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Image by Olalekan Jeyifous.

This is one helluva piece by Matthew Vaz of The Brooklyn Rail. It’s a must-read.

The Anti-Bloombergistas and the City in Exile
By Matthew Vaz

Just make him stop speakin’ Spanish. That’s all I’m sayin’. We can’t go on like this son. Wit’ this guy speakin’ Spanish everyday in his press conferences man. Givin’ directions about Swine Flu in Spanish. C’mon man. That shit is dangerous. Confusin’ people son. You got kids showin’ up at school when it’s closed, stayin’ home when it’s open. People coughin’ on each other, sneezin’ on each other. It’s a mass epidemic on this Bloomberg Spanish shit. People droppin’ like flies. And all he gotta do is just read man. He can’t even read Spanish out loud from a script,” explains Efrain Irrizarry who is selling trademark No Third Term T-Shirts, outside of Yankee Stadium, on a warm afternoon during Memorial Day weekend. “The paper said he’s been wit’ a private tutor since he got elected. A private tutor for seven years and he can’t even read Spanish out loud. It said the tutor’s Colombian. I think Bloomberg needs to check that guy’s passport. The dude might be a Russian tryin’ to catch a fast buck. He’s teachin’ Bloomberg Russian. Or pig Latin, or just gibberish. And now the richest man in New York City can’t read. It’s gotta stop. I can’t listen to it any more. That shit is torture. Forget water-boarding. Bloomberg speakin’ Spanish. That’s torture.”
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From Ellen Raider, Independent Commission on Public Education:

The Senate is expected to return to Albany next week to vote on school governance.

Please contact your Senators ASAP and urge them to vote against the Silver/Padavan bill. Even with the proposed amendments, it will be inadequate to provide the necessary checks and balances and/or necessary mechanisms for parent input.
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Hold your horses New York — who’s asking Mayor Bloomberg about a fourth term? Why would anyone even want to imagine such a thing?

Via Elizabeth Benjamin and The Daily Politics:

Asked today whether there’s any guarantee he won’t try to seek a fourth term if his current bid for a third works out, Mayor Bloomberg didn’t exactly rule out the possibility.
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Our publisher, Neil Fabricant, frequently travels to Amsterdam. Actually, he’s there right now, and he reports that compared to New York, Amsterdam is a cesspool of sanity and tolerance. It’s not a surprise, then that Amsterdam ranks 13 in the Quality of Living Global City Rankings (New York ranks 49).
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A few days ago, this invite came across the desk.

Dear New Yorker,

On Thursday, July 30, 2009, the New York City Council will be hosting an event to honor New York City tenant leaders. Among those being honored are:

Larry Jayson from Brooklyn Housing & Family Services

Princella Jamerson, President from Millbrook & Extension Residence Association

Xavier Livingston from Crystal Apartments Tenants Association

Luella Hatch, Tiebout Avenue Block Association

Michael McKee, Tenants PAC

Elizabeth Stanton (Posthumously), District Chair and President of Richmond Terrace Residence Association

We hope you will join the Council next Thursday for this special event, which will take place in City Hall starting at 5:30 p.m.

To RSVP, please call (212) 788-9107 or e-mail events@council.nyc.gov.

If you would like additional information or have any questions about the event, please contact Carlos Carino of the community outreach staff at (212) 788-9121. You may also e-mail him directly at ccarino@council.nyc.gov.

Thank you.

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Bloomberg wants Coney Island to become a major tourist attraction, and critics are condemning “the inclusion of four, 27-story hotels in the amusement area,” which would destroy the area’s ambiance.

Here’s Juan Rivero, spokesman for Save Coney Island, in The Brooklyn Paper:

This is a sad day for New York City,” said Juan Rivero, a spokesman for Save Coney Island. “As a result of this rezoning, people across the city and around the world who love Coney Island could see its historic amusement district shrunk, covered up and blocked off with high-rises, its history destroyed and its potential squandered — all for nothing.”

See the rest of the story here: Full Council passes Mayor Bloomberg’s broad vision for Coney amusements, housing

Let’s start with Mayor Bloomberg’s failed Five-Year Homeless Plan, which sought to decrease the number of homeless families living in shelters. According to a report by the Coalition for the Homeless, Bloomberg took office in 2002 when there were 6,921 families living in shelters. In June of 2004, 8,712 families were living in shelters, and Bloomberg unveiled a five-year plan to reduce homelessness by two thirds. Five years later, Bloomberg’s plan has failed, and the number of homeless families living in shelters has increased by nine percent — 9,538 families were living in shelters by the end of May 2009.
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