So Mayor Mike bought himself another 4 years at the helm of NYC.
The margin of victory was slim and every pundit is saying how people resented the deluge of direct mail and the fact that Bloomy thumbed the New York electorate in the eye by single handedly overturning term limits – read: negating a law that stood in the way of him doing what he wanted to do, which was to run for a 3rd term.
All that is a crock of sh*t because he’s in office again, and the sheeple who elected him didn’t realize that a democracy does not function based on “I will change the law because I know what’s best for you”. And everyone did not vote against Bloomberg basically accepted the significant erosion of voting power purpetrated by Bloomy.
Is the city better than before, I’m not sure. I do know that the city definitely lives off of me and does not serve me, a life long resident. There are double-standards and selective law enforcement everywhere. I find that summonses and fines are used to generate revenue and not to enforce (or promote) quality of life.
- Man pulls over to pick up his wife (who is waiting at curbside), and during the 30 seconds he is there, a traffic cop issues a ticket for blocking the bicycle lane. Never mind the fact that no bicycles were inconvenienced, never mind the fact that city buses or city vehicles can park for extended periods blocking the same lanes. The city’s official response: he broke the law.
- Placards on the dashboard indicating an affiliation with the police or any city agency are a free pass to park anywhere and not get a ticket: less than 5 feet from a hydrant, encroaching in a crosswalk, in a no parking during certain times zone… but should I pull in to drop off groceries, I get a ticket in less time than it takes to take bags from the trunk to the curb.
- Sanitation runs around issuing fines to buildings if the recycling or rubbish is placed curbside 15 minutes before a certain time, or if a homeless person tears open the bag and makes a mess, the building receives the fine.
This way of using law to generate revenue was started during the Giuliani administration and perfected by Bloomberg. Both are clearly out of touch with a day in the life of the masses they claim to represent. This sort of municipal abuse is the result of a top-down policy that uses fines to generate revenue and not the threat of a fine as a deterrent for misbehavior.
And now Bloomberg says he’s going to go after the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Whatever. There’s a hollow campaign promise if ever I heard one. The MTA is a private agency that has refused to open its books or show an ounce of transparency despite receiving public funds and demonstrating gross mismanagement of funds and increasing costs to the public at a rate outpacing inflation by more than 10 to 1. And after 8 years in office, now Mike thinks to do something? You only now decide to say something in the interest of the masses of New Yorkers? Is it because you just allowed a new tax on all New Yorkers to subsidize the MTA? That’s pretty socialist for a Republican. Bull. I’ll believe it when I see it. And 4 years from now, good riddance, hopefully.
