The Ever-Higher Cost of Living in NY

Has anyone heard any good news out of NY lately?

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Comments

[quaker120]

I agree with Bloomberg. Ignorance of the law is no excuse.

That's why I propose that every citizen of New York State be given a paid month's holiday--courtesy of the mayor's own fat wallet--to get educated.

[s.m. koppelman]

The state legislature, the governor and the New Jersey folks who share jurisdiction over NYC's bridges and tunnels and its transit budgets make it politically tough to increase tolls on commuters and the like, so Bloomberg is more or less forced to get revenue from the things the city has sole jurisdiction over, hence the ticketing binge. Comments about moving to Hoboken aside (priced an apartment less than 10 blocks from the PATH in Hoboken lately? waited 40 minutes for an off-peak PATH train lately?), the reality is that campaigns like this aren't going to trigger any kind of exodus or capital drain from the city, so good for Bloomberg.

Speaking of which, as an NYC cyclist, I was well aware of the ordinance that requires bicycles to have a bell many years ago. Most NYC bike shop employees tell bike purchasers about it, too. Many of these regulations (putting your feet up on the subway, etc.) aren't exactly secrets, the Daily News's populist tabloid incredulity notwithstanding.

It's a nuisance campaign, but at least it's one that brings in revenue too. Why is it that when Giuliani led a crackdown on obscure, long-unenforced "quality-of-life" offenses, he was a hero, but now trhat Bloomberg's doing it, it's a black eye? Could it have something to do with the fact that some of the ordinances Bloomberg's revived are snaring more conservative, middle-class residents? Or would everyone prefer another 1970s-style wave of deep service cuts? Maybe filthy, broken-down subways, decrepit buses and abandoning community policing would make people happier. It took Koch and Dinkins a good 15 years to undo the damage of the Lindsay era's austerity and clear the way for Giuliani to take the credit for it.

[Hank]

Why is it that every municipality and state in this country with a budget "crisis" thinks the only way to solve this problem is to increase revenue? Cut spending. Cut spending. Cut spending. Shame on Bloomberg. A capitalist like himself should know how to run a fiscally responsible government. Get rid of all the worthless employees and to hell with the unions.
Forcing the citizenry to pay for the city's own ineptitude is outrageous.

[joe]

Hank,

Maybe the real capitalists know more about how the world works than their ivory tower groupies.

[MP]

People love to bitch about Bloomberg. Yeah, his anti-smoking campaign is foolish. But he continually comes out and says "We have no money", and noone is able to counter this statement. Everyone says, "please don't cut this" and "we need that", and noone is saying "ok, reduce city government and balance the budget". Imagine if that other jerkweed had been elected Mayor? What a nightmare. So as usual, the lesser of two evils, and I'll take someone who attempts to be fiscally responsible any day.

Of course, good ole Bloomy doesn't beat the "reduce gov't" drum either.

Oh, and BTW, CT is saying how they are getting a 200M "windfall" from the Feds due to the taxcut from jr. I even saw the quote "bag of money" in today's paper. Disgusting.

[Dean]

People who complain about incidental expenses of living in New York City like parking tickets are like people who complain about the fuel economy of their Hummer H2s.

[Jough]

Is a bell really required, or is any "high-decibel audible alerting device" sufficient for that bicycle? LOL, the big-government apologists (those dirty socilalist FDR lovers!) are coming out of the woodwork to defend their man and way of life...

Nobody who loves and believes in the entire Bill of Rights would live in NYC anyway...

[joe]

No, I suppose they'd move to Somalia.

[Eric]

NRO's Deroy Murdock has a great column on the Pataki-Bloomberg farce:

http://www.nationalreview.com/murdock/murdock052803.asp

[Hammad]

"People who complain about expenses of living in New York City are like people who complain about the fuel economy of their Hummers."

There ARE no Hummers on the streets of New York City, my friend. We taxi drivers wouldn't give 'em any elbow room. (Their own "elbows" are way too wide as it is.)

So, please, get a grip, Dean.

[josh]

But there are Hummers in Brooklyn...

[Eric]

Hoboken, here I come...

[joe]

A lot of bad laws get left on the books because they're ignored, and no one is motivated to remove them. At least this will create a constituency for reform.

oh, and don't feed the shit-birds, you idiot!

[scott]

bloom is so done...

[Warren]

Outrage at laws being enforced is misplaced. The outrage should be against these laws being passed in the first place. But gubmint micro management laws are usually passed because some group of people is clamoring for them, demanding that the City fix all problems and prevent all bad things from happening.
If it's a law then it should be enforced.
If it's a bad law then it should be repealed.

[Tom]

Bloomberg should use the same ruthlessness with which he ran his news business. Cut costs, take on the unions.

He cannot take all the blame for the state of NY, but even without the outrageous smoking ban, he's been a poor Mayor so far. Mind you, I am not saying the alternatives would have been much better.

I am a Londoner living under the thick leadership of Ken Livingstone. A tale of two cities run by twerps.

[Dean]

Wow, Hamad. Way to miss the point of my post. Get a grip, yourself.

[whatjokers]

I don't get some of you people!?! Do any of you even live within the city limits? Hey Cabbie, get a life- somewhere outside of the USA, I stick it to you clowns that drive like you're still in iraq every chance I get.

This city, country and government has gone to hell in a handbasket because of our ("citizens", not you people that just live here and milk us) own stupidity- we're pretty much all immigrants here, but everyone seems to miss the point- our problems (fiscal) stem from the fact that we're bearing the load of all the freeloaders who come to this country with money and yet still bleed us dry in social services.

What happened to assimilating immigrant "into" our society?? That way they can be productive and pay their own way.

Why the heck does the guy four doors down have chickens running around in his yard? Because he thinks he's still in his third world country??

Social Workers hands are tied when it comes to denying immigrants services, immigrants that have never put one dime into the till! Yet it's all too easy for them to deny needy "citizens"- I know I work for the city government.

I watched as Brooklyn was transformed from what, at one time, was a decent place to live into the roaring cesspool it is now. The police attempt to do their job and they're bashed as bigots, has anyone done a head count in this city??? A legit head count- whites, wait let me put that a different way- white anglo saxons - are the minority- we have no time to oppress anyone we're too damn busy trying to get another dollar to pay the taxes to support all the dirtbags that shouldn't even be here because the elected government officials practice the constitution - "of their pocket by their pocket and for their pocket" and refuse to get a grip on social services.

There wouldn't be a budget crisis if- officials did their jobs.

Bloomberg is a joke same as Stinkin Dinkins and Dopey Koch- they all turned this city into a chitty place to visit and "not" the place to live for anyone that just wants to "live" without being drawn into the savagery you need to aquire to "exist" in this city.

First chance I get you can all have this city- good riddance!

[Davidov Veronica]

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DATE: 05/20/2004 11:01:24
It's not all lies - not all of it. That's the age-old dilemma.