Wednesday, July 6, 2011

The Stuff Hits the Fan

As we read in the NY Post this morning the you know what is hitting the fan over a Coney Island where the city is now so down and out it is rationing, of all things, toilet paper: "They were rationing toilet paper at the public restrooms along the Coney Is land boardwalk over the July 4th weekend -- just like they do on Rikers Island. What a humiliation. For the city. Seems like the city is short of cash -- what else is new? -- so the Parks Department decided to make it clear just where its priorities lie."

Is this an indictment of the profligate mayor, or what? This managerial genius keeps getting, pun intended, rolled by the municipal labor unions-at the expense of the tax payers, of course:

"For them, it's a lesson from Mayor Bloomberg, who had scant trouble finding the billions needed to keep the teachers union happy, but precious little for seemingly necessary civilities, like toilet paper in public restrooms.

Bloomberg just concluded another business-as-usual municipal budget: He got a fat spending hike; the City Council got its member-item swag; the unions got their usual cut -- and Coney Island boardwalk strollers got no toilet paper."

Remind us yet again why we needed this shlub for a third charmless time. Governor Cuomo sprints into office cutting and slashing while the mayor, like the grasshopper in the fable, keeps spending freely giving the way the store: "But the city will still be stuck with its same bloated workforce -- and the ever-increasing pension costs that will continue to gnaw away at city coffers and hamstring future budget options."

But Mike has his own paper crisis-the CitiTime invoices which, as it turns out, are so fraudulent and worthless that they could be used for emergency wiping over by the Steeplechase. Where's the mayor in all of this? Butt covering?

No, he's shilling for Wal-Mart and his usual suspects of billionaires: "Mayor Bloomberg is so bullish on Walmart coming to Brooklyn that he insisted yesterday on answering questions on behalf of the superstore." What a surprise!

One things for certain, Mike Bloomberg will never stand up for the little guys-whether they are our folks at Willets Point, or, remember, those poor workers over at Stell D'Oro who got their plant shuttered by one of Bloomberg's favorite entities, a hedge fund. The Labor Press has the story:

"The 11-month Stella D’oro strike – a heart breaker for the New York labor movement -- gets a sympathetic, union member-centered portrayal in the forthcoming HBO Documentary, “No Contract, No Cookies,” to air on the network later this month...

As would be expected, there was spirited discussion and rounds of applause for the plucky workers who struck after their new employer demanded hefty wage and benefit concessions, and stayed out on the lines hoping for a miracle – only to have their prayers answered and then dashed to the ground. Local 50 BCTGM Shop Steward Mike Filippou, a constant presence on the strike lines, and Sara Rodriguez, a former packaging manager at the plant – both of whom are interviewed extensively in the film – shared accounts of the year on the lines and the final showdown with Brynwood Partners, the private equity fund that bought the company from Kraft Foods and ultimately decided to shut it down."

While all this was happening, the mayor was probably in Bermuda because he didn't lift a finger for the workers and allowed the business to be shut down and taken lock stock and barrel over to Ohio. But, about the shortage of wiping material, shouldn't someone point out that this big spender is laying out billions for his monument at Willets Point?

When it comes to his big image of himself, money is no object for Mike Bloomberg. But everyone else should object-object to the poor decisions he keeps making and his disastrous stewardship over the city.