One of the blogs I read every day is Gothamist, which provides the 4-1-1 on what's happening here in NYC. Here are some recent stories of interest ...
The fat cats of Wall Street saw their bonuses increase 17% in 2009 - something that enrages man people in this country. However, here in NYC those Wall Street salaries are extremely important. Wall Street accounts for only 5% of New York City jobs, but Wall Street salaries account for 24% of the salaries paid to New Yorkers. Story.
Many of you might assume there would be security cameras in subway cars - but there weren't until yesterday. Four cars on the "E" line recently had cameras installed as part of a pilot program to "aid in the investigation and prosecution of criminal activity". I'm just glad there were no cameras on the "F" line when I lived in Brooklyn and used to take the train home from the clubs. My intoxicated behavior may not necessarily have been "criminal", but I KNOW I could have been prosecuted for some of it. Story.
New York City - which is known for pizza-by-the-slice - now has pizza-in-a-cone. Fuggedaboutit! Story
In other food-related news, the City has officially banned homemade desserts from school bake sales - in an ongoing effort to combat childhood obesity. Now "Bake Sales" can only offer fruits and vegetables (which, HELLO, aren't baked) or one of 27 approved pre-packed items (low-fat Doritos and Nutrigrain bars - in blueberry only - are included). Ridic. Story.
Finally, the Mayor just announced that all parades must shorten their routes by 25%, and limit their "run times" to five hours, in an effort to cut down on police and sanitation overtime. This will especially affect the Puerto Rican Day Parade and the Gay Pride Parade - which traditionally run well over five hours because of the large number of participants. But even the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (above) will have to shorten its route - which will probably lead to increased congestion and overcrowding along the shortened route. Happy Holidays! Story.
I really enjoyed these stories about NY. Think Pizza in a cup is a great idea.
ReplyDeleteAs for the "fat cats"....well, I just think the bonuses are way out of line considering the times we are in. I do not begrudge bonuses, but they come after tax payer bailouts and are larger than ever before. It seems as if there is no shame and, like Tiger, a sense of entitlement. They did not spend money in NY for holiday parties, now that would "look unseemly". Are memories so short that we forget the auto bailout and the CEO's who flew in private jets to DC to appear before congress. That stopped quickly enough when they were called out. There is so much blame to go around for the economic mess,....poor regulation of financial institutions, predatory lending and people buying homes that in no way could they afford, unfunded wars...yes, lots of blame and we all should accept some responsibility for greed. But the "fat cats" just don't seem to get it. I am sure they had lavish holiday parties at their homes outside of NYC....I would have preferred they help the economy by supporting NYC business. I just can find so many places where I am "pissed"....big gripe is the crimimal company called Blackwater who gets billions in contracts and does unspeakable things and not held accountable and now they have just changed their name and are getting more contracts and so on and so on. Sorry for the rant, but I am not amused by any of this as we came damn close to bringing down, not only our own economy, but that of the world and much of that still goes back to Wall Street "fat cats".
Bake Sales - I've heard of micro-managing but this takes the cake (well, actually it doesn't...)
ReplyDeleteFat Cat picture is hilarious, looks just like my mom's fat cat :o)
ReplyDeleteI would totally eat pizza in a cone. XOXO
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