From the Times Ledger:Those of us who have lived in New York for a long time remember the all-too-recent days when crime was rampant, infrastructure was crumbling, services were diminishing and, indeed, the city itself seemed ungovernable.
Yes, we also remember when Giuliani cleaned it up.
But today, the trend in all these — and so many other — spheres of public life is exactly the opposite, thanks to the steady, independent, visionary leadership of Mayor Mike Bloomberg.
Wow, he's taking credit for that, too, eh?
...when faced with the obstacle of New York City’s two-term limit, he spent a considerable sum of money to overturn the inconvenient law.
For many voters, that disqualifies Bloomberg from further service.
Yes, I would say that was a gigantic dealbreaker.
But for us, it is but a blemish on an otherwise stellar record.
Ah, well you're owned by Rupert Murdoch, so we'll take this with a grain of salt.
Before 311, calls to City Hall were simply transferred to phones that just kept ringing, and complaints — if they were taken down at all — went on some pile on someone else’s desk. The 311 system ended that buck-passing forever.
Yes, now the NYPD can just say they responded and found nothing and the complaint is dismissed. That's blowing us off much more efficiently.
It’s almost unbelievable: Crime is down 30 percent since he took office.
Yes, it is unbelievable. That's because his numbers are phony, as has been illustrated time and again by stories of police dissuading crime victims from filing reports.
To his ill-informed critics, the mayor is a tool of developers who want to pillage our communities. But on the ground in the neighborhoods we cover, the mayor has moved ahead with zoning changes to preserve neighborhoods or revitalize commercial areas, such as Carroll Gardens and Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, Jamaica in Queens or along the Grand Concourse in the Bronx. In such cases, we’ve seen the benefits of the mayor’s big-picture approach.
No, he is not a tool of developers, he IS a developer and therefore sympathizes with them. Those zoning changes came way too late for most neighborhoods and have done little to stop the variances rubberstamped by BSA. The DOB has not enforced the zoning codes leading many to wonder what the hell the point of zoning is anyway.
And Jamaica sure is revitalized, isn't it? Corona, too...
His proposal calls for new construction and zoning changes mostly in areas that can support new housing — along key subway routes and with parks and other services thought about from the start.
Last I checked he was upzoning areas with overcrowded schools and failing electrical grids that are plagued by flooding. Parks thought about from the start? Where is he building those?
And the mayor’s most important quality is not even on this list: his independence. Though every politician hypes his “independence” from the special interests, Bloomberg is one of the few who actually has it.
That's right, he made sure everyone became dependent on him instead.
And best of all, he’s not a politician.
Wow, then how come I get multiple phone calls and 8-10 pieces of mail from his campaign per week?
Indeed, critics complain that the mayor’s personal fortune is bank-rolling his re-election and silencing democracy, but it is that wealth that frees Bloomberg from the affliction of so many other popularity-craving, poll-watching politicians. He can truly answer to the people of New York because he doesn’t need to answer to anyone else.
When has he ever answered to the people of New York? He seems to think that everyone answers to him, including the reporters who cover him and the civic leaders he sends his unqualified-for-public-office caterer after.
Where other cities, under other leadership, might have collapsed after a 9–11-type attack — and the economic downturn that followed it — New York is strong because of Mike Bloomberg.
What an insult. New York is strong because New Yorkers are strong.
