The heart of New York’s troubles is a rotten government
New York wouldn’t be New York if the city’s new campaign logo didn’t cause irritation.
Skeptics were quick to counter that there was nothing wrong with Milton Glaser’s iconic “I New York” poster from the ’70s, and they’re right—up to a point.
The fact is that the new “We NYC” logo serves as an instant reminder that this is a new time, a new crisis and a new call to action.
Also, since this is an emergency, no time can be wasted arguing about aesthetics.
New efforts to improve New York City’s image and economy have received a $20 million bankroll from major employers including Amazon, Google, Macy’s, Madison Square Garden and major real estate firms. The reopening in Times Square on Monday gave Mayor Adams and Gov. Hohul the chance to put a positive spin on the drive to attract visitors and lift spirits by celebrating community volunteers and local businesses.
Adams argued that “there are only two types of people on the globe: those who live in New York and those who would like to live.”
For accuracy, he had to include a third type: those who lived here and fled due to the blight that gripped the city and state.
Boosterism is good, except that the core of the problem is not ordinary New Yorkers or the private sector.
And it’s not one of the bad public relations.
The problem is in the government. It’s terrible and getting worse.
From City Hall to Albany, elected officials seem to have vowed to make New York uninhabitable. The enumeration of their dirty deeds is too well known and causes too much destruction to be wiped off the face of the earth.
The center failed
The political class has imposed a regime of high crime, high taxes, failed schools, civil unrest, and a sclerotic bureaucracy that only reacts to the highest bidder and the most radical ideas.
The feeling center has no more prayer.
For their part, Adams and Hochul promised to work together to fix what had been broken since their early days in office, but each took turns sabotaging the goal.
Adams set his sights on the crime problem, but Hochul was not much help and showed little desire to use her power to fight other Democrats in the Legislature.
Now it is Adams who is sabotaging the return with his indefinite invitation to illegal immigrants who are seeking asylum.
More than 50,000 people have accepted the invitation, and the strain on city services and taxpayers threatens to become an unbearable burden.
Projected costs have started in the millions, then billions, and most recently topped $10 billion. The sky is no limit to the price tag of sanctuary madness.
As a result, the Adams-Hochul partnership, although preferable to that of their feuding predecessors, did not produce the significant changes needed to save the city and state.
Every day the ascent becomes more difficult and the possibilities are less.
One thing is certain: nothing they’ve done will stop the stampede for the exits.
Having just spent a few days in Florida with former New Yorkers and others who are thinking about relocating, I returned with even less confidence in the future of the city.
One thing the governor and mayor have not done and should have done is use their combined firepower on the road and stir up outrage among voters across the state about how the Legislature and hopeless prosecutors are creating a crime climate.
bloomberg bucks
The timing is especially good for this extra effort because Hochul is also benefiting from another big bankroll. Michael Bloomberg, a former multi-billionaire mayor, is reportedly the lead sponsor for a $5 million ad campaign promoting some of her budget offerings.
Most notable among these are a fix to the notorious bail law that would give judges more leeway, and a commitment not to raise income taxes.
Advertising is digital, on television and by mail, and is paid for by 501(c)(4) under the name American Opportunity.
However, Hochul didn’t quite help her budget proposal, increasing spending by $5 billion to an astonishing $227 billion.
The unicameral bills proposed by the Senate and Assembly would double that spending increase to $10 billion.
On taxes, the Citizens Budget Commission says the lawmakers’ proposals add “an additional $2 billion in annual taxes” and go “on top of the Governor’s proposed increase in the approximately $1 billion business tax surcharge.”
This is what happens in a one-party system.
No significant Republican is in sight, so the only hope is that the relative moderates—emphasis on the relatives—will unite to limit the damage.
They better act fast.
The budget must be submitted before the new fiscal year begins on April 1, and there is little more than a week left to save New York from even more ruin.
Times takes two approaches to Dems, GO
Two stories, one agenda.
On Tuesday, the New York Times reported on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat poised to indict Donald Trump, and James Comer, a Republican who led the House of Representatives investigation into the Biden family’s influence-peddling scheme.
Contrast offers a lesson in partisan advocacy masquerading as journalism.
“Alvin L. Bragg, the District Attorney of Manhattan, has insisted that he does not pay attention to politics when he decides whether to charge someone with a crime.
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“But Mr. Bragg’s stated reluctance to consider the political implications of his office’s decisions hasn’t calmed the storm around him: he now appears poised to be the first prosecutor to indict the former president.”
As for Comer, “In his new role as head of the House Republican Party’s top investigative committee, the 50-year-old Comer himself has become a supporter of the sinister allegations against Biden and his family. This drive has propelled him to prominence in a party whose best clients are vengeful, far-right voters who seek to topple the Democratic president.
Back to Bragg: “However, as a candidate, Mr. Bragg was mainly focused on something else. His main campaign promise was to balance public safety and justice, following in the footsteps of a wave of newly elected prosecutors who promised a new approach to crime. They argued that stopping minor offenses only led to recidivism, while being more merciful with the defendants made cities safer.”
Back to Comer, who “transformed to command the Republican military machine in Congress, becoming a shining example of what it takes to rise and thrive in the MAGA universe that Fox News feeds.”
And this: “It also highlights the cutthroat instincts of Mr. Comer, who presents himself as an affable country boy of limited ability, but who has proven to be a methodical and businesslike politician, willing to go to great lengths to crush his opponents. “.
That’s all – all the news that you can twist!
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