NOT MY MAYOR

or BLOOMBERG TO NEW YORKERS (EXCEPT THE WEALTHY): DROP DEAD

There were two interesting pieces about Mayor Bloomberg in the papers today. Metro ran an excellent op ed piece by Richard Kim, an associate editor of the Nation, which is reproduced below. And the NY Times ran an editorial "Food Stamps in Hard Times", which was critical of Bloomberg blocking an extension of food stamps for able-bodied adults without dependents.

Kim talks about how NYC has not been spared the ravages of the recession – unemployment at 7.4 percent and growing; record homeless rates and the already beleaguered middle class is in full flight from NYC, being driven away by the highest rent, food, child care and utilities bills in the country.

Kim goes on to criticize Mayor Bloomberg’s new $45 million program that would use taxpayer money to retrain “investment bankers, traders and others who have lost jobs on Wall Street.” He intends to set them up with “seed capital and office space.” This from the same man who has refused to accept extra food stamp money from Obama’s stimulus plan.

Bloomberg has never had an ounce of empathy for any living thing – human or animal - and in these dire times, New Yorkers should think twice before giving him a third term. Bloomberg is on a power trip, defying two previous ballot initiatives in which the public had overwhelmingly voted for term limits.

NYC used to be a welcoming city for the middle class – now it is just a bastion for the wealthy.

As Kim says below, New York City "needs a mayor for all of us — for the boroughs, for the poor, for the working class and the laborers and artists, musicians and writers who have made this the best place on earth."

We believe Council Member Tony Avella is the man for the job. He is smart, honest, ethical, cares about people and animals and has some great ideas. He was outstanding at the mayoral forum at Three Parks Independent Democratic club on February 11th. This man needs to have his voice heard!

WRONG MAYOR, WRONG CITY

By Richard Kim

Any erstwhile liberal New Yorkers thinking of supporting Mike Bloomberg’s bid for a third term should do so with their eyes wide open. The city hasn’t been spared the ravages of the recession. As of December, unemployment stood at 7.4 percent, and experts predict almost 300,000 more jobs will be gone by the summer of 2010. Homeless rates are at record highs; the city’s overstretched shelters now take in an average of 36,000 people each night.

The city’s already-beleaguered middle class is in full flight. A recent study by the Center for an Urban Future shows more than 150,000 middle income residents left New York City in 2006, driven away by the highest rent, food, child care and utilities bills in the country. Meanwhile, Manhattan has been rezoned as the almost exclusive playground of the rich.

If Mayor Mike gets re-elected, it will stay this way — or get worse. As the New York Times reported last week, Bloomberg is refusing to accept extra food stamp money from Obama’s stimulus.

In this climate, Bloomberg’s decision is an act of cruel sadism, withholding food (food!) from thousands of hungry mouths to make an ideological point about work. It’s also straight from the playbook of the most reactionary Republican governors, who are threatening to return stimulus money to prove just how much better free markets are than government.

But here’s the really unbelievable part: The next day, Mayor Mike announced a $45 million program that would use taxpayer money to retrain “investment bankers, traders and others who have lost jobs on Wall Street.” Bloomberg intends to set them up with “seed capital and office space” so that they can “promote innovation” and “capture growth.”

There you have a succinct encapsulation of Mike Bloomberg’s priorities. Poor, hungry New Yorkers will be stripped of food stamps that the federal government says is both necessary and good stimulus, while the bollocks-for-brains bankers who got us into this mess will get office space and taxpayer moolah to restart the cycle of speculation.

I love NYC. Right now, NYC needs a mayor for all of us — for the boroughs, for the poor, for the working class and the laborers and artists, musicians and writers who have made this the best place on earth.