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I really was not going to say anything about all the griping over the fines and penalties and raises in taxes, etc. I too find them annoying and excessive.

What I have a problem with is the blame being placed squarely on Bloombergs shoulders.

Can any of you explain how you figure the state of the New York economy is his fault? Does that even make any sense? Maybe we should look at all the lies and waste that took place during the Guliani administration. Maybe we should not forget that 9/11 had more of an impact than anyone wants to acknowlegde...admittedly the situation in NYC sucks right now...but Bloomberg is already a rich man, I highly doubt he is lining his pockets off of tickets for sitting on a milk crate.

Bloomberg isn't even getting paid to be the mayor. He's running the city like a business..when times get hard, businesses lay people off, take away benefits, and life becomes worse...same thing with the city...life is getting harder before it gets better.

what i don't understand is how they can get away with such absurd tickets i.e. the pregnant woman sitting on the stairs. is this the only way they can get $$?? how about looking into organizations like the MTA that are keeping false books and embezzeling money? they'll get more $$ from that, than fining people $50 for walkin on the wrong side of the sidewalk.....

I for 1 don't blame him for the retarded laws that have been on the books since forever, after all the mayor does not create the legislation. But why not have City Council repeal those laws that don't make sense anymore? (sitting on a milk crate) He's encouraging the Police Commissioner to enforce these stupid laws so the city can make some money instead of looking the other way. I never thought he was personally lining his pockets off the ticket blitz going on. But there are other ways the city can make or save money w/o having the middle/lower class paying for it :

.....It's human nature to look for someone to blame when things are not going our way; we blamed our parents when we did not get our own way growing up; we blamed our teachers when we did not get a good grade on an exam, even though we knew we did not study; we blame our boss if things are not going okay on our job, even if it's not his/her fault. Do you see a pattern emerging here, we usually blame who is in authority depending on the situation, unfortunately Bloomy is de man in charge now so we might as well just blame him, whether it's his fault or not......

You're absolutely right about that, Guiliani and his crew are very much responsible for the situation we're in right now. If they would have run the city properly, then we may have been able to recover more effectively from 9/11. At the same token, Doomsberg is still very much to blame for the diminishing quality of life currently taking place in NY. Cutting the little services we had to begin with is not exactly a sound budgeting strategy. You can't plug a budget gap over night, this is a process that takes time to build back up. He's trying to run NYC like a typical company, and he can't do that, there are millions of lives here that have to be taken into consideration. Raising the cost of living in a place that already is unreasonable is not going to help because the money you get in one place, you're going to lose somewhere else. To sum it all up, he's NOT going about any of this the right way at all.

I'm not saying that Bloomberg is directly at fault for the city's financial problems. But at the same time he is not doing a whole lot to protect the middle and working class NYers. What he should be doing is trying much harder to get the Federal Aid from Bush that was promised to NY instead of just turning a blind eye to the financial/economic mayhem that we middle/working class NYers are facing. Bloomberg was the one that was behind property taxes going up, firehouses closing, etc... All of this affects us because either tax on our houses are going up or our landlords are passing their higher tax expenses on to us by raising our rents. All this while we are being laid off and can't find work. There are enough rich people in NY, raise their taxes a little bit and that will help close the budget gap. But then again Bloomberg falls into that category and it will therefore affect him.

Well if I may put in my two cents.....lemme give allyuh something to think about. You all ever thought that the police are giving these tickets as a way to secure their jobs. Right now they are the main source of the city making money (i.e. summons, fines etc.) Because everyone is getting laid off (city workers), but if they can show that they can do good for the city's failing economy, they'll be the last ones on Bloomberg's list for layoffs. What allyuh think?

This is my point, middle/working class are the ones that keep this economy going, NOT the rich! So as usual, we end up having to suffer when it comes to pluggin the budget gap and so on. There are other ways to deal with this, but Doomsberg hasn't even thought to explore better ways, instead they rely on the same old "cut everything" tactics that have never worked to begin with.

It is utterly ridiculous to see the level that the governing body of such a well renowned state has to go to to get this city back on track.
Bloomberg as well as other officials have known even before 9/11 the worsening situation of this city and state and have refused to do something about it because they would always be the ones profiting from it.

I know that Bloomberg's paycheck is $1 a day or something like that....but he is already a millionaire so he could afford to live on such a miniature paycheck.....

Check this out as a ripple effect...

Sales Taxes go up, less people shop in the stores, less income for store owners, layoffs in the retail industry

Property Taxes go up, rent and mortgages go up, g/e bills go up, less people to rent to..., people move out of state, rel estate industry suffers

Commuting fares go up, fuel for vehicles go up, less people buying cars, automobile industry slows down, layoffs for these employees

Cost of living goes up, everything for survival goes up

But our paychecks remain the same.....

what other ways do you think they can explore??

in terms of the middle class keeping the economy going - i agree that we have the ability to have a lot of influence, but i dont know that we are the ones right now that are keeping the economy going. while the middle class is closing their purses, saving their money because they dont know if they will have a job tomorrow, the wealthy are still out shopping. If you walk down Madison or 5th Avenue, you will see them out in full force with Prada, bergdoff goodman shopping bags and all.

someone else made the point about taxing the rich. this will never happen because the rich are the ones that vote these people into office. their interests will always be protected. until the middle class pulls together with their resources and voice, they will suffer the most when the economy takes a downturn.

Clchick, you are absolutely right. I don't think that Bloomberg is in anyway lining his pockets or anything like that because yes, he is already a very rich man. But what he is doing is trying to close the budget gap by any means necessary without considering us hard-working people and how it affects our lives and our families. These hikes, tickets, increases, etc... affects all NYers rich, middle class or poor. But for some people these increases makes the difference between whether their family is able to eat or not, is homeless or not, etc... This is not Bloomberg's problem. Because he is rich and can survive the increased cost of living.

Clapping … fantasy it about time someone post the truth … people who have problem with the silly laws should take it up with their local city council member

That is so true...the middle class in this society has the most influence....if we refuse to ride with MTA...they would not make, if we refuse to purchase items in the stores, and other things....we could shut down this whole damn city....we are the backbones of this city....the population ratio of middle class to rich is about 5:1...so there yuh have it....

the problem is most of us do not know our rights in this city and the amount of power we have....

good point BUT, I have to ask. Why are they enforcing these outdated ridiculous laws in the first place all of a sudden? The pressure has to be coming from somewhere. All how they deny it, I think it's coming directly from City Hall.

But I am sure there are other more profitable ways to close the budget gaps than....and he has to take into consideration how it affects the different levels of this society because that is what keeps this city running....

Imagine yuh have a fridge....and the motor burns out....yuh have lights, the door working, and the fridge is filled with food bt without the motor....everything would spoil....some faster than others.....

that is how our society is..
think about it....

but as the saying goes....the richer keeps on getting richer and the poorer....keeps getting poorer....excluding all other variables...