Spending political capital earned by his enormous re-election victory, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday laid out an extensive agenda to remake Ground Zero, squeeze municipal unions to share in health costs and force gun offenders to register.
The mayor delivered a sweeping vision for his second term in a State of the City Address on Staten Island that ran nearly an hour and touched on several hot-button issues he could push as a candidate only at his political peril.
Aggressively intervening at Ground Zero, Bloomberg suggested that developer Larry Silverstein surrender the right to build Towers 3 and 4 in return for reduced rent payments on the entire site from the Port Authority.
“We cannot allow the Trade Center to be a construction site for the next 15 years . . . [so] it fits a developer’s financial plan,” Bloomberg told an audience at Snug Harbor.
Sources said the Port Authority is already negotiating with Silverstein to relinquish control of the two towers to the PA.
But Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff told The Post: “I think they’re frustrated – I shouldn’t put words in their mouth – with the pace of those discussions.”
Silverstein gave no sign that he’d agree to step aside. In fact, one source said he’s offered to pay financial penalties if he misses construction timetables.
Looking to the far future, the mayor declared that now is the time to set the city on a course of “long-term strength, stability and success” for the tough times that are inevitably down the road.
“We must rein in health care and pension costs that have spiraled out of control,” said Bloomberg, calling on municipal unions to share the burden.
That brought a sharp rebuke from Randi Weingarten, president of the teachers union.
“In a speech where several paragraphs before he is suggesting there should be more health care for New York’s children, he suggests it should be funded by reducing health care for New York City’s workers,” she said.
But the mayor found an ally in Rep. Anthony Weiner, who ran for his job last year and will probably be a mayoral contender again in 2009.
“He’s right and courageous to acknowledge that we have real structural problems on the horizon,” said Weiner, mentioning pensions and long-term care as issues that have to be tackled.
To toughen gun laws, the mayor suggested that anyone convicted of a gun offense be required to register with police in the same way sex offenders are tracked under Megan’s Law.
He said the city intended to cross state lines and sue gun dealers whose weapons are used in crimes.