According to exit poll results, early returns, and the live streaming video from the Team de Blasio block party in Brooklyn, Bill de Blasio will win the democratic mayoral primary, though it’s unclear whether he will hit the 40 percent needed to avoid a runoff. Currently, Thompson is behind de Blasio in votes, followed by Christine Quinn.
Michael Bloomberg, when he's not relentlessly coddling the overclass, is obsessed with criminalizing the underclass. After appealing a federal judge's ruling on the unconstitutionality of the stop-and-frisk police tactic, Bloomberg introduced the idea of fingerprinting everyone who lives in public housing, just so they can keep track of who the criminals are.
The rich have a complicated relationship with New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. They enjoy that he has developed a city that caters almost exclusively to them, but hate that it is almost exclusively theirs. There are now also those pesky little plebeians riding around on their brand-new bicycles (read: death chariots).
New York City's luxury housing boom, which has been a trademark of the Bloomberg administration's distaste for building substantial housing for anyone but the superrich, has reached its astounding conclusion: massive condos owned by people so rich, they don't actually live there.
It's quaint how people still manage to get outraged about surveillance. You are being monitored, right now, just like everybody else with a phone or a computer or a bank account or a pressure cooker, because Total Information Awareness is real. ‘Welcome to America. All of that stuff is being captured as we speak whether we know it or like it or not." Who said that, maybe Alex Jones?
In a study that surprises almost no one, the Bloomberg administration has found that half of New York City residents are "poor" or "near-poor" meaning that they were "making less than 150 percent of the poverty threshold." This is a small rise in the amount of poor from 2009, when the recession officially ended. But as New York City has made abundantly clear, the recovery has not been shared by all (or even many).
Mayor Bloomberg believes that the reason behind New York City's staggering rise in homelessness is not because of the city's high unemployment or incredible inequality, but rather people (who would be in an income bracket very much like the mayor's) who take limos and private jets on their way to the homeless shelter.
Michael Bloomberg hates sugary drinks (but not coffee), has issues with the homeless, and has a history of making sexist remarks in public. But who cares about that. His most egregious mistake as New York's mayor (and the world's 13th richest person) is admitting to not liking movie trailers, which, as others have correctly noted, are often the best part of trips to the multiplex (especially when you're seeing Les Misérables, as Bloomberg had before this interview with M Magazine).
New York City's ban on the sale of sugary drinks goes into effect on Tuesday, and The New York Times would have you believe "coffee drinkers... are likely to face a thicket of complications." This is wrong. Coffee drinkers—people who drink actual coffee in appropriate amounts—will be fine. Others—people who drink enormous buckets of caffeinated syrup—are likely to be inconvenienced.
Despite this winter actually acting wintry and cold, NYC homeless shelters have been turning away homeless families on freezing nights if they cannot prove they have nowhere else to go, the Daily News is reporting. Turning homeless individuals and families away has long been a practice of New York City's Department of Homeless Services, which relentlessly insists that you must stay with a relative or at some prior living arrangement if it is still available to you, leaving many homeless no choice but to sleep on the street rather than return to a bad living situation.
Tuition-free arts school Cooper Union, whose new academic building peeks out of Cooper Square like a beautiful, serene spaceship, will most likely start charging students tuition to make up for a shortfall of about $12 million each year. The school began charging tuition for graduate students last year, a decision that was met with student protests, including a group of students who barricaded themselves inside of the iconic original Cooper Union building.
Mayor Bloomberg gave his thirteenth and final State of the City address this afternoon and the city did not get stingy with the theatrics. The event was kickstarted by both dancing adults and dancing children as the mayor himself walked in to some flashy song about New York featuring Jay-Z. The speech itself was forgettable (something about styrofoam, something about weed, and something about clean air), but when it comes down to it, would you rather be remembered for your policies or your jokes about Beyonce?
During his time in office, Michael Bloomberg has been pretty "Don't Give a Fuck" when it comes to making sure poor and middle class people feel welcome in New York City. His newest plan for the cash-strapped city housing authority (NYCHA), however, might just be his most DGAF move ever.
Good morning, survivors!
You have to admire Alex Jones.
