I have disliked Mayor Bloomberg ever since he gamed the system to overthrow term limits in order to serve a third term. He is completely out of touch with ordinary New Yorkers to the point where it borders on the ludicrous. He claims he takes the subway, just like everyone else, except he gets driven to the subway stop, has aides ride with him. And he only seems to do this when cameras are around. When the city is innundated by a snow storm he doesn't think it necessary to come back from the Bahamas where he spends his weekends and the city flounders due to a dysfunctional chain of command. We have a rainstorm and he shuts down the subway system while saying it would be an effective way to get people to safety in case of a hurricane. He cracks down on drinking in Central Park during concerts while he is photographed sipping wine with his friends in the park while attending, you guessed it, concerts. Where does it end.
Well, now he is going too far. Here is a guy who only has a drink in a bar for a photo-op and probably hasn't shopped for his own liquor in years wanting to reduce the number and hours of operaton of liquor stores and bars in New York City. Oh my yes, apply rules that would in no way affect you, but would certainly affect thousands of those who live more, shall we say, normal lives. Not just those who drink, but those who work in liquor stores and bars.
Of course there is little liklihood that this proposal will actually see the light of day, but the arrogance of the man to even propose such actions is so far over-the-top as to be almosst beyond beiief.
When Bloomberg pushed for no-smoking in bars I didn't complain too much because I don't smoke. But then he again struck by raising the taxes on cigarettes and cigars to the point where a pack of cigarettes costs upwards of $14 and the tax on cigars is 75% of the wholesale price, the highest tax in the nation. And not to raise money, tax revenues have actually fallen as fewer cigarettes and cigars are sold in New York. No, it is to discourage people from smoking because Bloomberg thinks smoking is bad for you. Well, duh, we know that. But you know what else, if you are a billionaire you can afford all the cigarettes and cigars you want, whatever the price. Again, this only affects those who can least afford the tax and those who derive income from selling cigarettes and cigars.
All I can say is in a city as vibrant and as free-wheeling as New York, the last thing we need is a Mayor who wants everyone to conform to what he thinks is good for you. I thought Giuliani was bad, but compared to Bloomberg he was a libertarian. And we have to put up with Bloomberg for almost another two years, unless he is somehow able to game the system again to run for yet another term.
Oh yeah, we won't even mention how Bloomberg pushed thorugh a sweetheart deal to let Donald Trump develop and run a public golf course in the Bronx. Nothing like a public golf course with $100 green fees to serve the needs of the community. And guess what community it is serving? Not one that I belong to, that is for sure. I wonder if the clubhouse will have a bar.
