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Mayor Bloomberg is bringing his bottom-line approach to governance to the issue of poverty; specifically, where is the poverty line and who is below it? The Mayor is dissatisfied with the current federal standard for judging who is poor and who is not, which is based on the cost of groceries to feed a family. The current federal standard is 42 years old and criticized by many as totally off-base and outdated, especially since it discounts other costs of living, such as rent, utilities, and childcare.
Bloomberg, who made his fortune delivering information to financial decision makers, wants to use more information to create a truer picture of poverty levels. Now he wants more inputs factored into the poverty line and others around the country are hopeful that he succeeds. A research director at the National Conference of State Legislatures said “Because it is New York City adopting it, it could be a big step forward. As it starts generating reports and data, others will be interested and you will get more momentum.”
The initiative is very much in Bloomberg's style of governing. Frequently frustrated with inaction on the federal or state level regarding issues like the environment, and now poverty, Mayor Mike just takes matters into his own hands and forges ahead. A cynic might say that redefining poverty levels simply serves to funnel more federal aid to New York City, but supporters of his initiative claim it's in line with his pledge to reduce poverty by any means, including paying poor people to behave differently.
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It is pretty crazy that cost of living and utilities aren't factored in. Good for Mayor Bloomberg.
Rather a no brainer but I give the Mayor credit. Nice work, Mayor Bloomberg.
Rather a no brainer but I give the Mayor credit. Nice work, Mayor Bloomberg.
The NY Times article, on which is post is based, was preceded by an excellent discussion of the issues in City Limits by Tram Whitehurst, a month ago. People who want to know more about the issue including hotlinks to the National Research Council's analysis should read Whitehurst's piece.
The NY Times article, on which is post is based, was preceded by an excellent discussion of the issues in City Limits by Tram Whitehurst, a month ago. People who want to know more about the issue including hotlinks to the National Research Council's analysis should read Whitehurst's piece.
The NY Times article, on which is post is based, was preceded by an excellent discussion of the issues in City Limits by Tram Whitehurst, a month ago. People who want to know more about the issue including hotlinks to the National Research Council's analysis should read Whitehurst's piece.
we really shouldn't be subsidizing people to live where they cannot afford to. the whole system obviously doesn't work and we have 60 years of proof. all this "compassion" accomplishes is it moves the responsibility off employers and the individual and moves it to the tax payers and locks families into a never ending cycle of poverty.
we also shouldn't give exemptions for married with children status on tax returns but many will gladly take it.
Join the growing effort to Draft Mike Bloomberg for President!
Who's the gal with the big smile...?
While I think Bloomberg is certainly not presidential material because of his resistance to diversity in society (as evidenced by his blindness to overdevelopment of the city), I think SimonLok 's comment is ignorent and typical of the moneyheaded, condo buying, duane reade franchising, selfish types that seem to think this city is theirs. While paying for taxes is not ideal it is mans way of taking care of man. It is up to the people we elect as democratic society to make sure it maintains fair and even. It is people like you we think that because you made something of yourself then everyone else should to. And you should be ashamed of yourself because you may need a stranger to help you.
You're so right, yakatori.
um, HBOUT THE COST OF GENTRIFYING POOR NEIGHBORHOODS? Old Clinton had the marvelous idea of cleaning up East Harlem by moving his offices there. Thanks Bill, now landlords are charging how many times more in rent because you decided to be some sort of savior or samartian? Not to mention your offices are the most costliest expenditure of any ex-president thanks to the taxpayer dollars you were given for the project.
I'm sure all those poor folk who had to move because they couldn't afford to live in the ghetto any more are very thankful. real estate agents loved your idea of renovating a poor neighborhood into a new cash-producing cow. now they're milking millions from the rich who call the former slum their new home.
Oh, and lets not forget Guilianni for tearing down the gardens in alphabet city to make way for Luxury condos. Let's not create more job opportunities for the jobless or the low-wage earners, or create rehabilitation centers for drug addicts with kids in foster care with no possibility of adoption, or shelters and work programs for the homeless, lets drive these b@$tards out and put up fancy housing for the people whoa already have fancy housing. NEAT!
And as for you Bloomberg, thanks for taking the Lexington line in to work everyday to show New York your machismo and your cheapismo. I wonder how many billions the MTA invested in making sure the 4,5,6 lines were the first to have upgraded trains and streamlined service. As for the rest of us paupers who have to deal with lines which never run on the weekend due to decade old 'track work' or who have to take multiple lines that are always delayed because the MTA has to pump every single spare dollar to make sure you get more bang for your buck.
Let's look at the stats in the city for what they truly mean: poor people in Manhattan and Harlem out, rich people in. Result? More concentration of unskilled, unemployed people moving to high-crime area which offer poor (if any) education for their children. Shootings increased in Bed Stuy and the south Bronx? Delegates spells it b-a--f-f-l-i-n-g or c-o-i-n-c-i-d-e-n-t-a-l. I spell it BULLSH*T.
also, I love the progress going down at Ground Zero. How much has been spent so that greedy construction companies can spend their days moving dirt from one pile to another? Let's hire so more architects charge millions for their fancy illustrations of what could be in that giant hole. It's nice to know that while everything in New York changes, we have ground zero to stay the same