Raising taxes and fees and making the city more dangerous, with less police, firefighters and teachers, will cut tourism spending and deter the wealthy from moving here (“Bloomy’s Budget,” Editorial, Jan. 31).
Mayor Bloomberg must explain how this will help New York City. Did his company prosper by axing valued employees and imposing minimal security and training?
David Bergstein
Manhattan
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Bloomberg is sweating out New York’s shortfall. A thousand police might lose their jobs, 14,000 teachers may be axed and 12 firehouses might have to be closed.
Not to worry, New York. Queens Borough Hall’s courtyard is getting a new $20 million glass roof (“Qns. Beep Builds $20M Glass Roof Amid $torm,” Jan. 31). New Yorkers should feel proud to make sacrifices so that Borough President Helen Marshall can have a place to sun her help.
This whole scenario is typical of liberal hypocrisy. While the mayor and all the other crybabies in City Hall weep tears about how everyone should learn to sacrifice, they never have to cut corners.
In times like these, when people are losing their jobs and are looking for new ways to bring home the bacon, self-serving liberals are still finding new ways to burden the taxpayer.
Chris Michaels
Morganville, NJ
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Bloomberg intends to meet the $4 billion deficit by creating more jobless, by firing police, firemen and teachers? In the meantime, President Obama is working with $2 trillion to spend.
What’s going on here? Isn’t it logical for Obama to start the job trend by sending New York City the lousy $4 billion out of his master plan?
New York is the greatest city in the world. It’s easy to get it out of insolvency by getting a wire transfer from Obama.
Bloomberg’s plan would destroy the city and create an inescapable crisis for the people.
Morris Resner
Edison, NJ
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The mayor has no choice but to lacerate us with cutbacks, layoffs and increased taxes. If the unions won’t cooperate, let’s make an exception and have Obama intervene. Hard times warrant harsh solutions.
Equally important, the mayor must carefully weigh each of his moves. He can’t be responsible if Albany doesn’t bail out the teachers who are on the verge of losing their jobs, but it’s not too late to change his mind about laying off so many policemen.
With the ever-increasing number of our workforce losing their jobs, we are creating new breeding grounds for crime. We need more policemen, not less. Raising subway fares, meter rates and the sales tax will probably send the message “Stay home!” to those struggling the most. This is hardly a formula for economic recovery.
Carl Rosenberg
Great Neck
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The city has to lay off 1,000 policemen because of budget concerns, but it can afford to spend $4 million to rename the Triborough Bridge?
Please tell me that I’m mistaken.
Gary Novak
Manhattan
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How many layoffs could be averted with the $4 million that the city paid to re-name a bridge?
Or how about the $20 million for a glass atrium in Queens Borogh Hall?
On the same day, we read about a Wall Street employee (Robert Fitzgerald) who complains that his $250,000 bonus is “small potatoes.” I would love to share Fitzgerald’s pain.
Bruce Markowitz
Valley Stream
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Instead of laying off educators, Bloomberg should get rid of the following unnecessary things, which cost hundreds of millions of dollars: The New Teacher Project, The Leadership Academy, ARIS computer systems, quality reviews, all-expenses-paid conferences and training seminars in Florida and Connecticut, layer-upon-layer of upper management, lawyers hired to figure out how to circumvent tenure, no-bid contracts and public-image consultants.
Richard Skibins
East Meadow