New York State of Mind 2011

Nassau Street and Maiden Lane
NYC 12/27/10

Well, it has been many weeks and many snowstorms since my last report. We have a new Governor and a new Legislature and, so far none have been accused of any actionable crimes! But sadly, we have the same Mayor of NYC, but I'll get to that later. So let me get everyone up to speed...

Sports - The New York Jets, who play in Giants Stadium in New Jersey, will play the Pittsburgh Steelers tomorrow for AFC Championship. The Mean Green haven't been to the playoffs since...oh who cares. Go Jets!

Local - Well, I was going to lead off this segment with the botched snow job we got after Christmas, but the really, really BIG news is that there's one more to add to the NYC unemploymment statistics. The self-styled "Joan of Arc" of the Liberal/Progressives Keith Olbermann has been let go (or quit) MSNBC. There is much speculation as to why and how, but he gave his final performance on "Countdown" last night with his final parting words of gratitude to his audience. Let me tell you, HuffPo'ers were shocked and grief-stricken yesterday. Who will speak their truth to Power! But don't feel sorry for KO. He was seen dining last night at Gramercy Tavern with 4 friends and was reported to still have $14 million left on his contract. Maybe he can do an "Oprah" and start his own TV or radio station! Okay, enough about that.

Snow, snow, and more snow has hit the Northeast. As you may have heard, there was a little brou-ha-ha a few weeks ago when it was discovered that no one really cares what happens to us NY'ers on the weekends or holidays. On December 26th a big snow storm, which had been predicted the week before, came barrelling though the Tri-State area closing airports and roads, and halting all public and private transportation and vital services like police, fire, and EMT services. Now normally, when there is a prediction of 15-18 inches of snow, we silly citizens were almost sure that our taxes were being spent to pay for the proper defenses against a total shutdown, including, but not limited to, executive decision-makers, salters, sanders, plows, and all other necessary equipment and personnel to keep the City's vital services running. Apparently, we didn't read the fine print which we have discovered goes something like:

"When the Mayor is AWOL and the Deputy Mayor is AWOL and the Deputy to the Deputy Mayor is AWOL, and all of their respective Commissioners and staffs are AWOL, no one will be responsible for making any decisions and chaos shall ensue".

At first, the Mayor, bless his heart, was mad at the citizens for complaining. Hey, snow happens. I mean, we were just concerned that people were dying because the EMT's couldn't get through because no one bothered to send out the plows or put chains on the bus wheels or send out the plows for the trains or even bother to declare an weather emergency. Seriously, passengers on a stuck "A" train had to spend the night on the train because no one could figure out how to get them off the train! And then, in politically expedient turnaround, Mayor Mike "felt our pain" because he decided it wasn't his fault, but a defiant Sanitation Department "slowdown", the union rats! But, then one of the citizens asked Mayor Mike where he had been, so he got mad at us all over again. It is none of our business where he goes. It turns out that Mayor Mike is gone quite a bit. He goes to Bermuda every weekend and it also turns out that when he is gone, there is actually no competent chain of command.

So, the City Council called the Mayor and his Deputies and Commissioners to appear in front of the City Council and explain themselves. A meeting for which the Mayor declined to attend. It was concluded that the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation Janette Sadik-Khan had been left "in charge" that day, but had declined to make any decisions. Only she neglected to tell anyone she was declining to make any decisions, and no one bothered to call and confirm. Though she must have been doing something because all of her newly installed bike lanes interspersed across Manhattan and Brooklyn had somehow been miraculously hand-shovelled (more on that one day). Well, then, she blamed Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, for what, I do not know and then everyone decided to blame the Commissioner of the EMT's for not having the foresight to buy cross-country skis, snowmobiles, and packs of St. Bernards with brandy barrels around their necks. (So far, he is the only one who has been officially reprimanded).

As a result, the City Council has decided that the Mayor must now publish who is in charge when he is not "in residence". As you can imagine, this did not sit well with our Mayor/President wannabe at all and, though I am just guessing, I bet that Mayor Mike is kicking himself for insisting on that third term. As for the Sanitation department, they are under local and federal investigation. All I can predict now is...more snow.

State - YEY! We finally have a new Governor. As I predicted, Andrew Cuomo won handily on Nov. 2 and is now our new Governor. Though a Democrat AND the son of former three-term Governor Mario Cuomo, he may turn out to be a tough-on-spending Governor. At first blush, Cuomo may be taking his budget cues from New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. Our state budget is due in April and he is talking really tough about slashing the budget. It was reported yesterday that Cuomo will be proposing cutting 12,000 jobs to start, if the legislature and the unions cannot come to agreement about pension cuts. We now have a $12-15 billion deficit at the very least and it's only growing larger.

To help him is our newly elected Republican-led Senate. To our great surprise, the State Senate Dem leadership was one of the many casualties of the Republican whacking in November. It took a while for all the final votes to be counted and recounted, but by the end of December, two vital races were concluded, and the Republicans took a slim lead (32-30) in the Senate. The Assembly is still in the evil clutches of Sheldon Silver and his Democrat cohorts, but, if Gov. Cuomo can stay strong and true to his promises of reform and accountability, well, so far, so good.

Other stuff - Okay and I can't get away without news of Charlie Rangel. With the gall that can only come from Charlie Rangel, he was part of a group of liberal do-gooders who were protesting a newly approved homeless shelter that will open in a tony Upper Westside neighborhood. Not only is there a Not-in-my-neighborhood-ness about the protest, but, in his indignation, Rangel demanded that the city needed more housing for the middle class, not homeless shelters! Now remember, this is coming from the guy who was just rebuked by the House of Representatives for holding leases on four rent stabilized apartments, three of which could have housed middle class families.

And finally - I cancelled my subscription to the New York Times. After reading the Editor's explanation why the NYT rushed to judgment to accuse "the right wing radical Tea Party movement" of murder and the attempted assassination of a member of Congress, I decided enough is enough and I no longer want to give them my money. So, this is how the conversation went...

2-1-2...blah, blah, blah....
{Ring...ring...Click...}
NYT Circulations Office: Hello. This is Matt [not his real name], how can I help you today.
Me: I would like to cancel my subscription to the NYT, please.
{Skip name and address verification}
NYT Matt: Is there a reason you are cancelling?
Me: Yes. Paul Krugman.
{silence, silence, silence, silence, silence, silence}
NYT Matt: Who's that?
Me: A columnist at the New York Times. This is the NYT office, right? [okay, I didn't say that last part, but I thought it...)
NYT Matt: Oh, okay, was it something he wrote?
Me:  Yes, it's pretty much EVERYTHING he writes. I no longer want to pay his salary.
NYT Matt: Well, okay. You know if you cancel you will no longer have access to the Sunday Crossword puzzle or the website.
Me: Yes and I am okay with that.
NYT Matt: You know, if you keep your subscription, I can give you the Weekender for half price.
Me: No thank you. I called to cancel my subscription.
NYT Matt: Okay then, is there anything more I can do for you?
Me:  No, that will be it.
{click}
Maybe the problem with the NYT is that not even people who work for the NYT want read it...