Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Round'em Up

Here are some Bronx-related stories which we've rounded up for you, our lovely readers, while trolling the interweb with our horse and lasso this fine morning:

Dozens of state Senate and Assembly members (including many from the Bronx) are caught in an awkward position...Although many of them pushed for ethics laws requiring that pols reveal all outside income, 63 out of 90 members have refused to do so. [Daily News]

Living wage proponents rallied outside of City Hall yesterday prior to the living wage bill being formally introduced to the City Council [New York Times, New York Observer, WNYC]

Former State Senator Efrain Gonzalez was sentenced to seven years in prison yesterday [New York Times, NY1]

The public will get a chance to weigh in on the potential rezoning of sections of the Tremont and Bathgate areas of the Bronx at a public hearing which will take place June 9th at 6:30pm in the auditorium of Community School 211 (1919 Prospect Avenue) [Daily News]

A Bronx woman delivered a baby in the back of her family's car because they couldn't make it to the hospital quickly enough...The proud papa was greeted with a parking ticket affixed to his car because he forgot to feed the meter once they got to the hospital. [Daily News]

The Parks Department has released a form for residents to fill out with their recommendations regarding what they'd like to see happen with the High Bridge renovation [BxNN]

~ErLu

1 comment:

Guywithacause said...

I am very unhappy to see that this "living wage" bullshit has not died out. Wasn't the lesson learned here that projects will FAIL, and the communities will have NO JOBS? No job is better than a job...scary stuff...but looks like that's where we are headed.

The demands will only increase, and retailers/developers/investors will simply look elsewhere for less hassle/more profits...like right over the border in Westchester/Long Island/NJ.

And who loses? You guessed it...we NYC residents who need the jobs and services the most. And who wins? Career, self-serving politicians who are trying to convince the residents that "No jobs are better than a job" and "No jobs is a win for NYC" and "We would rather be on welfare."

And that's exactly the path that is beginning to be formed in NYC. Follow me on this and you will see what is happening:

1) Increasing the taxes on the rich to maintain the bloated (voting) city payrolls instead of cutting the fat, which encourages NYC's primary tax base to LEAVE.

2) The tax base gets smaller, the (voting) city payroll stays the same/grows, and taxes therefore must increase again, accelerating the cycle.

3) Increased rent regulations and development restrictions ("living wage" bill for example) means LESS investment, LESS jobs, LESS taxable revenue.

4) The poor/working poor will continue to increase, adding further strain to the city services/programs, requiring raising taxes because the(voting) city payrolls have not changed/have grown. Go back to #1 and repeat.

This is the path that we are starting to head down...open your eyes and understand the bigger picture of what is occuring. It isn't good.