NYC Magazine » Mike Bloomberg

This Week in Review: Jan. 9

Igor Derysh — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 14:00:28 +0000

Here are some stories you might have missed this week.

Rudy Giuliani claims there was no terrorist attack under George Bush.

How does that guy who mentions 9/11 in every sentence forget about the terrorist attack that happened under Bush? The guys’ whole post-2000 career is based on that one terrorist attack!

New Jersey State Senate Voted Down Gay Marriage Bill

Not surprisingly, the New Jersey State Senate voted down gay marriage in the state, a bill that would have been vetoed by incoming Republican Governor Chris Christie anyway. The final vote was 20-14 against ...continue reading

NYC Murder Rate at Record Low

Igor Derysh — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 22:30:51 +0000

Say what you will about New York City turning into a police state (and I’ve said plenty) but it does work. According to the New York Times, New York City is on pace to have its lowest murder rate on record.

The Times reports that by December 27, the city had 461 murders, 35 less than the city had in 2007 when the city had less than 500 murders for the first time.

Pretty good considering as recently as 1990 the city saw more than 2,200 murders in one year.

At the same time, the city’s current deficit will undoubtedly lead to thousands of ...continue reading

NYPD Pushing Ridiculous “Feet-on-Seat” Tickets in Subway

Igor Derysh — Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:00:01 +0000

Just as the NYPD tried to tackle jaywalking a few years ago, cops are not stringently ticketing commuters (who are already being screwed by the MTA) for putting their feet up on train seats…even when train cars are nearly empty.

The Gothamist details how two people have received $50 fines for putting their feet up on seats nearby despite the fact that they did so on nearly empty cars after midnight.

One such case included a Fashion Institute of Technology student who received two fines on two consecutive days even though he did so at around 2:30 ...continue reading

NYC Wastes Tens of Millions on Pot Arrests, 12% of All Arrests Are Marijuana Charges

Igor Derysh — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:00:43 +0000

For all the talk about crime statistics in New York City, the irony of all ironies is that the taxpayer is charged tens of millions of dollars every year so that cops can arrest people for harmlessly smoking a pot.

According to a recent study, around 12% of all arrests in New York City are on marijuana charges, something that was rarely done until Rudy Giuliani and, even more so, Michael Bloomberg installed policies to make their crime statistics look good by going after pot smokers.

Of course the crime stats improved under Giuliani and Bloomberg, the two mayors saw marijuana arrests surge ...continue reading

Poll Numbers Look Good For Bill Thompson

Igor Derysh — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 23:00:15 +0000

Losing to New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg seems to be the best thing that has ever happened to New York Comptroller Bill Thompson. The man who was once the only guy stupid enough to run against Bloomberg and his bottomless wallet has now become a very serious contender for the Senate and Lieutenant Governor thanks to how close he made the election.

Having become a household name after nearly upsetting Bloomberg’s third-term bid despite being outspent 12-1, Thompson is now eyeing a future after his term as Comptroller ends and poll numbers are showing that the Senate race ...continue reading

State Anti-Smoking Budget Slashed

Igor Derysh — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:00:59 +0000

As Albany begins to nitpick what parts of the budget will be cut, Governor David Paterson is on the verge of cutting funding for a program that he has pioneered more than any other governor in the country, New York’s anti-smoking campaign.

Ever since Paterson came into office, he and New York Mayor Mike Bloomberg have gone after smokers with a vengeance, both through taxes and through advertising.

Ironically, while the Governor’s campaign has been somewhat controversial, the $10 million cut in funding will affect the widely supported state program that provides free nicotine patches and helps ...continue reading

NYPD Won’t Stop Stop-and-Frisk Program

Igor Derysh — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:00:50 +0000

When Michael Bloomberg campaigned for re-election, one of his biggest claims was his work to lower crime in the city. While crime did indeed go down under the Bloomberg but so did the level of civil liberties that New Yorkers have.

Now, it appears that the controversial and seemingly unconstitutional NYPD Stop-and-Frisk program will continue despite countless calls from civil liberties and beleaguered New Yorkers to stop the searches of innocent New Yorkers.

The NYPD’s Stop-and-Frisk program has been going on for years. Each and every year the NYPD stops more than half of a million New ...continue reading