Malliotakis slams de Blasio on Transporation: "Are you afraid of Governor Cuomo?"

[Via Garibaldi 8]

54 minutes ago, Interested Rider said:

While the focus is on the mayor's race, there is an elephant in the room that will determine the turnout which will determine the actual outcome of the election. It is whether New York State should have a constitutional convention beginning next year. This is the hot button issue of this election and not the local elections which generate a  yawn. I saw this at the polls in September where the voters were asking about the constitutional convention more than the mayor's race.

What bothers me in this election is that instead of having a one on one race between the mayor and one candidate, there are three candidates running against him which virtually assures that he will be re-elected despite the fact that a large percentage of the voters do not like him or trust him. I can give a ton of reasons why this occurred but let me say that this contributes to the malaise that has infected this city since this arrogant  one took over in 2013. The city has a gun pointed at its head in terms of the loss of revenue due to the refusal of this mayor and his comrades to give up their love of being a sanctuary city and the huge loss in medicaid funds for hospitals. If the proposal to drop the ability to deduct state and local taxes on the federal tax return goes through, there will be a huge exodus from this city and state that will make the economic situation far worse. So the question becomes where do you get the money for transit  if the state and city are taxed out? What programs will be cut to provide the money for transit when our illustrious mayor is spending money like a drunken sailor?

Where is the Democratic candidate for Comptroller Scott Stringer on the issue of funding for transit? If he is the so called "watch dog for the city's finances" so why is he being so quiet or is running for mayor in 2021 and wants the illustrious one's support in that election? Does anyone know why other than Curtis Silwa head of the New York State Reform Party, we hear nothing about the Republican and Reform Party candidates for Public Advocate, J.P. Polanco and for Comptroller Michael Faulkner even though these two candidates are running on the Republican Line.?

Yes! I am interested in what the other three candidates running for mayor have to say about issues such as transit funding and I am  interested in the candidates running for public advocate against the Democratic nominees. Unfortunately there is a perception among the media and the parties themselves that the Democratic candidates have already been elected even though the voters have not gone to the polls yet. This is wrong and it is the reason that most of the voters don't care who is elected as nothing will change except the fact that the city will have a repeat of the fiscal crisis of the 1970's only this time, we have no friends in Washington that will bail us out.

I didn't vote for de Blasio, but rather Lhota, but I really thought de Blasio would do better than he has and would really fight for the lower class people.  Instead he's shown his true colors and he doesn't give a damn about anybody but himself.  That recent meeting in East Harlem showed just how much he "cares" about lower class people with his eye rolling and other semantics when people disagreed with his points. You're right, a lot of people don't care for him even though he will likely win. The problem is $$$.  No one currently can muster up enough cash to go up against him.  He has the backing of rich developers who he has been in bed with from day one despite him claiming he was all for affordable housing and fighting for lower class people being priced out.  

Scott Stringer isn't stupid. He knows he would be better off waiting to campaign in 2020 for 2021 when de Blasio will be a sitting duck.  I predict turnout will be even lower than last time.  I intend to vote regardless, just not for him, but on the principle with my disgust for him and desire for him to leave office.  Instead of improving the quality of life, homelessness continues to worsen.  He continues to try to force affording housing down our throats to destroy solid middle class neighborhoods with his BS about how we all need to "share" the burden. I pay my taxes, and I see no need for me to "share in the burden" when my neighborhood doesn't have a homeless crisis. The man is a hypocrite who claims to know the pains of everyday New Yorkers but shows more and more that he is out of touch with reality.  This transit problem is just another example.  

[MHV9218]

2 hours ago, Interested Rider said:

While the focus is on the mayor's race, there is an elephant in the room that will determine the turnout which will determine the actual outcome of the election. It is whether New York State should have a constitutional convention beginning next year. This is the hot button issue of this election and not the local elections which generate a  yawn. I saw this at the polls in September where the voters were asking about the constitutional convention more than the mayor's race.

What bothers me in this election is that instead of having a one on one race between the mayor and one candidate, there are three candidates running against him which virtually assures that he will be re-elected despite the fact that a large percentage of the voters do not like him or trust him. I can give a ton of reasons why this occurred but let me say that this contributes to the malaise that has infected this city since this arrogant  one took over in 2013. The city has a gun pointed at its head in terms of the loss of revenue due to the refusal of this mayor and his comrades to give up their love of being a sanctuary city and the huge loss in medicaid funds for hospitals. If the proposal to drop the ability to deduct state and local taxes on the federal tax return goes through, there will be a huge exodus from this city and state that will make the economic situation far worse. So the question becomes where do you get the money for transit  if the state and city are taxed out? What programs will be cut to provide the money for transit when our illustrious mayor is spending money like a drunken sailor?

Where is the Democratic candidate for Comptroller Scott Stringer on the issue of funding for transit? If he is the so called "watch dog for the city's finances" so why is he being so quiet or is running for mayor in 2021 and wants the illustrious one's support in that election? Does anyone know why other than Curtis Silwa head of the New York State Reform Party, we hear nothing about the Republican and Reform Party candidates for Public Advocate, J.P. Polanco and for Comptroller Michael Faulkner even though these two candidates are running on the Republican Line.?

Yes! I am interested in what the other three candidates running for mayor have to say about issues such as transit funding and I am  interested in the candidates running for public advocate against the Democratic nominees. Unfortunately there is a perception among the media and the parties themselves that the Democratic candidates have already been elected even though the voters have not gone to the polls yet. This is wrong and it is the reason that most of the voters don't care who is elected as nothing will change except the fact that the city will have a repeat of the fiscal crisis of the 1970's only this time, we have no friends in Washington that will bail us out.

You make a variation of this post in every thread on the government. You've used the phrase "spending like a drunken sailor" half a dozen times, which is a bizarre and misinformed characterization of one of the more conservative fiscal policies by a mayor in decades. It certainly doesn't jive with Malliotakis's argument--she and her friends claim the city hasn't spent anywhere near enough. 

The effects of federal policy are overstated and, for that matter, hypothetical. There is no evidence that people flee a major economic and cultural capital when taxes rise, and frankly speaking, 'money for transit' is not entirely a city concern anyway: it's a state agency. You reveal your bizarre, paranoid fixation on the mayor with remarks like "his comrades," ruining the entire illusion of detached neutrality you work for in these posts.

Curtis Sliwa is amusing, but he is an insane person, and the reason that there is no legitimate Democratic challenger is because 1) de Blasio is an incumbent and 2) de Blasio's approval ratings are generally between 50 and 60%, despite the numbers you make up in your posts here. As I'm sure you know, it is extremely rare to challenge an incumbent, let alone an incumbent who has effectively maintained the government in every measurable way (crime, finance, etc.). 

The reason that there will not be a repeat of the fiscal crisis of the 70s, despite your paranoia, is because the mayor has not been 'spending like a drunken sailor.' If that hypothetical, imaginary mayor existed, you would be right, and your fears would be justified. But a cornerstone of the mayor's fiscal policy has been his conservatism and protective policy just in case general finances do take a hit in the coming years. If that does happen, you can think the current administration for their policy.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

11 minutes ago, MHV9218 said:

You make a variation of this post in every thread on the government. You've used the phrase "spending like a drunken sailor" half a dozen times, which is a bizarre and misinformed characterization of one of the more conservative fiscal policies by a mayor in decades. It certainly doesn't jive with Malliotakis's argument--she and her friends claim the city hasn't spent anywhere near enough. 

The effects of federal policy are overstated and, for that matter, hypothetical. There is no evidence that people flee a major economic and cultural capital when taxes rise, and frankly speaking, 'money for transit' is not entirely a city concern anyway: it's a state agency. You reveal your bizarre, paranoid fixation on the mayor with remarks like "his comrades," ruining the entire illusion of detached neutrality you work for in these posts.

Curtis Sliwa is amusing, but he is an insane person, and the reason that there is no legitimate Democratic challenger is because 1) de Blasio is an incumbent and 2) de Blasio's approval ratings are generally between 50 and 60%, despite the numbers you make up in your posts here. As I'm sure you know, it is extremely rare to challenge an incumbent, let alone an incumbent who has effectively maintained the government in every measurable way (crime, finance, etc.). 

The reason that there will not be a repeat of the fiscal crisis of the 70s, despite your paranoia, is because the mayor has not been 'spending like a drunken sailor.' If that hypothetical, imaginary mayor existed, you would be right, and your fears would be justified. But a cornerstone of the mayor's fiscal policy has been his conservatism and protective policy just in case general finances do take a hit in the coming years. If that does happen, you can think the current administration for their policy.

Where do I even begin? First off Malliotakis has never said that the mayor isn't spending enough.  What she said was that we don't need to spend more because we're spending more than enough. The problem is we're not getting enough in return for what we're spending, so yes, he is spending like a drunken sailor when you consider how much money is coming in and how much is going out. The streets are filthy, congestion is worse than ever, and quality of life is awful, especially with the rise in homelessness, but of course you'll excuse that and blame neighborhoods who want to ensure that he doesn't ruin their quality of life even further. 

His approval ratings are also bloated.  I would question just how popular he is.  I have no doubt that he'll win given how well he is being backed by rich developers who have contributed heavily to his campaign from day one, but I don't think turnout will be all that great, so yes, he should win by a landslide despite his incompetence.  The lower income people who he claimed he was fighting for won't vote.  They'll just b*tch and moan about being gentrified out, but it's the liberal Upper West Side types that will go and fill in those electronic bubble sheets for him.... Fake liberals that have no clue of what reality is because they're too rich to know anything about it, despite their parks being overrun with rats and the like.  Those "outraged" mothers are cute though who complain on the news that they can't take their kids to the park because of the rat problem that the City claims they're addressing with these overpriced garbage cans.  They'll be the same votes re-electing him.

[Interested Rider]

In response to my comments concerning the spending practices of the mayor, I offer the following evidence; The teacher's union contract was backloaded and therefore the money that should have been in the first couple of years was pushed to later years, thus creating fiscal problems later on. The number of city employees has increased by a large percentage over the past four years as more and more "pet' projects become priorities of this mayor. i know about his love of developers and how he takes care of his friends as they do not care  about anyone but themselves. They know that the Manhattan Liberals and the Democratic sheep will vote for him (and for that matter anyone with a  D next to his/her name) and that is why I made my statement that he will get re-elected again. So instead of hearing about new ideas that save money, improve productivity and encourage the middle class to stay here with better schools and transportation, all we will hear is his ideology. So it will be the middle class be damned for the next four years. I personally do not like politicians who practice the blame game on others after they have been in office for four years. When I started working for government many years ago, I was told that "first four years the politicians work for the benefit of their constituents and after that they work for the benefit of themselves". Since this is the second office that he has held, the mayor has become an expert in working for himself. As far as polls are concerned, i would not trust them with a ten foot pole as when a person is doing it anonymously, it is quite obvious that  they can tell them one thing and do the opposite. I have spent many months listening to members of the Democratic Party (as there are very few Republicans living in my area) who do not like the mayor and had this been a one on one race instead of a four man race, then the mayor would have had to discuss the issues instead of playing the blame game of which he has to take responsibility as well for his own mistakes.

I offered to pay for the postage to do a mailing for the club that I am a member where it would have included a one page summary of each candidate that is running for elected office in my area at the end of April. Needless to say, I never received a response. Yes! money is needed to run a campaign but it is equally important that the party members which are your field troops are informed early as to who the candidates that are being supported by the party are known in June, not October as I am seeing now.  

My feeling that the city is on the edge of precipice and that i am deftly worried about the fiscal situation. i lived through the 1970's and I do not want to see a repeat of it again. I spend a lot of my time  reading what is going on in other parts of the country and that is why I am concerned about is going on in Washington. There is a major difference between 1975 and now in terms of New York State representatives in Congress as the state has lost at least 6 congressional seats since 1980 and the persons that are elected  from the other states have a different view of this city as compared to 1975. The hate for this city and state now in other parts of the country is much worse as compared with 1975 when it was bad and most of the people in Washington wold lie nothing better to see New York City dig a grave for itself which we are doing right now. After all our congressional representatives are not looked upon as leaders but for the most part as something else by the powers in congress.

PS: This is not only a Democratic problem but take a look at Nassau County which is run by Republicans which is in even worse shape as compared with New York City. Therefore it a politician problem!

[Via Garibaldi 8]

33 minutes ago, Interested Rider said:

In response to my comments concerning the spending practices of the mayor, I offer the following evidence; The teacher's union contract was backloaded and therefore the money that should have been in the first couple of years was pushed to later years, thus creating fiscal problems later on. The number of city employees has increased by a large percentage over the past four years as more and more "pet' projects become priorities of this mayor. i know about his love of developers and how he takes care of his friends as they do not care  about anyone but themselves. They know that the Manhattan Liberals and the Democratic sheep will vote for him (and for that matter anyone with a  D next to his/her name) and that is why I made my statement that he will get re-elected again. So instead of hearing about new ideas that save money, improve productivity and encourage the middle class to stay here with better schools and transportation, all we will hear is his ideology. So it will be the middle class be damned for the next four years. I personally do not like politicians who practice the blame game on others after they have been in office for four years. When I started working for government many years ago, I was told that "first four years the politicians work for the benefit of their constituents and after that they work for the benefit of themselves". Since this is the second office that he has held, the mayor has become an expert in working for himself. As far as polls are concerned, i would not trust them with a ten foot pole as when a person is doing it anonymously, it is quite obvious that  they can tell them one thing and do the opposite. I have spent many months listening to members of the Democratic Party (as there are very few Republicans living in my area) who do not like the mayor and had this been a one on one race instead of a four man race, then the mayor would have had to discuss the issues instead of playing the blame game of which he has to take responsibility as well for his own mistakes.

I offered to pay for the postage to do a mailing for the club that I am a member where it would have included a one page summary of each candidate that is running for elected office in my area at the end of April. Needless to say, I never received a response. Yes! money is needed to run a campaign but it is equally important that the party members which are your field troops are informed early as to who the candidates that are being supported by the party are known in June, not October as I am seeing now.  

My feeling that the city is on the edge of precipice and that i am deftly worried about the fiscal situation. i lived through the 1970's and I do not want to see a repeat of it again. I spend a lot of my time  reading what is going on in other parts of the country and that is why I am concerned about is going on in Washington. There is a major difference between 1975 and now in terms of New York State representatives in Congress as the state has lost at least 6 congressional seats since 1980 and the persons that are elected  from the other states have a different view of this city as compared to 1975. The hate for this city and state now in other parts of the country is much worse as compared with 1975 when it was bad and most of the people in Washington wold lie nothing better to see New York City dig a grave for itself which we are doing right now. After all our congressional representatives are not looked upon as leaders but for the most part as something else by the powers in congress.

PS: This is not only a Democratic problem but take a look at Nassau County which is run by Republicans which is in even worse shape as compared with New York City. Therefore it a politician problem!

Excellent post.  Of course, the response will be that you're either ranting or crazy... 

[Wallyhorse]

15 hours ago, RailRunRob said:

We didn't have friends back then either. Still, remember that "Drop Dead!" from the POTUS

Yes.  Some of us actually remember when then-President Ford made that infamous speech in 1975 when NYC, reeling from a combination of corruption and the the twin recessions of 1969-'75 that almost crippled the city almost went under.  

It's also why Trump was able to build like he did in NYC, as many developers did not want to do ANYTHING in NYC when Trump took what at the time was considered a huge risk in 1975 by converting the old, dilapidated Commodore Hotel at Grand Central into the Grand Hyatt and building Trump Tower a few years later when 5th Avenue was littered with stores that perpetually had "going out of business" sales for years until the city put a stop to that in the early '80s.