It’s bad enough that NYC has laid off 400 sanitation workers in the last two years (you know, instead of taxing Wall Street?), or that there were plows sitting idle because they didn’t have enough people to drive them, or that people died because the EMTs couldn’t get down their streets.
But that the mayor didn’t even bother to call a snow emergency? That’s plain crazy.
Make fun of Philly all you want, but by canceling Sunday night’s Eagles game, that kept 60,000 cars off the streets that didn’t need to be there. Looking at the pictures of New York with abandoned cars and buses everywhere is just surreal. (Of course, Bloomberg’s street was nicely plowed.)
Not to mention that the city couldn’t go back to work. Wonder how much taxable revenue was lost this week?
This is why it’s such a bad idea to run government like a business. This isn’t a business, it’s a government.
Big snowstorm blew the lid off Chicago city politics in the late ’70s, I think.
History does just keep going and going and going….
k, I was thinking the same thing. Bloomberg’s political future may not work out as well as he hoped.
The MTA has also been letting people go so there was little flexibility in staffing to get extra drivers to buses or track workers to subways. And, yes, you’re right: Bloomberg has refused to raise taxes on Wall Street and other top earners. He steadfastly says if he does that they will leave the City. Well, then you work to get back a commuter tax, right?
But Ed Rendell was all over the teevee saying that the cancellation was a sign of the apocalypse, that all that had been good about America was now gone, and that, along with Will Bunch, he was afraid he was growing breasts.
On the other hand, in good news, Governor Christie is in deep kimshee with his constituents for being at Disney World when the snow fell.
k, the same thing happened in Denver. I don’t remember the year, but the only things that got plowed were the street the mayor lived on and the airport. The rest of us waited a week or more. He lost his job.
The cancellation of the game was a smart and good move. Too may people will still go out in truly horrible weather and get themselves stuck.
C’mon, Susie, think. All this Sixth Borough stuff — do you really want to start a round of Brooklynite exfiltration? Thought not.
Learning curve. Governor Patrick learned from past foul ups to keep ahead of this storm up in the Boston area, as did Mayor Mennino from the surprise April Fools storm from the tail end of the nineties.
Didn’t hear anyone in Taxachussetts complaining about snow removal, did you?
Yep, we’ll certainly keep our internets working as they do now…………..not to worry ’bout all that net neutrality stuff. The big wheels love that we re-direct our rants THIS WAY rather than the way we did shit in the 60’s……………..anyone ‘member THOSE days of rage?
Only on lack of snow removal on side streets (like mine in Waltham) This was a coastal storm so places like Quincy or Rockport got battered-Situate was flooded. Ye government officials were serious enough to have cars still parked on streets towed, even from Mt Auburn and Brattle in Cambridge before the storm. I was in Boston yesterday to see “Nutcracker” and still had to deal with sidewalk snowbanks and there were impressive amounts of signs warning to watch out for falling snow and ice. Lots of activity though-TDGarden had its “Disney Princesses on Ice” Fanuiel Hall Market was buzzing with tourists and I settled down for a post entertainment cappuccino and cannoli in the North End before taking the commuter train back to Waltham.