Borough Presidents' Spending, Jobs Scrutinized (Again!)

Yesterday, the Daily News went after the city's five borough presidents with an article titled, "Borough presidents spend our tax bucks but New Yorkers get little back": "In the last two years, they've plowed through more than $450 million in taxpayer money, in some cases buying items that appear to fall outside the realm of their limited duties, the Daily News found. The bulk of the money goes for construction of pet projects - while the rest covers salaries, drivers for four of the five, glossy promotional brochures and magazines, photo equipment and things like $400 chairs, $5,000 for drapes and thousands more for pictures and videos." The News also drills down with some spending details for each one—Brooklyn BP Marty Markowitz, former Bronx BP Adolfo Carrion Jr., Manhattan BP Scott Stringer, Queens BP Helen Marshall and Staten Island BP James Molinaro. Government watchdog group Citizens Union's Dick Dadey tells the News the Beep position (which pays $160,000/year) "should be abolished or it should be strengthened. I'm not confident that the way the office is currently constructed has proved to be effective." Last fall, the Post looked at the Beeps' schedules.

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By Jen Chung in News on March 16, 2009 1:37 PM

Comments [rss]

NannyState

Marty Markowitz is a developer-lovin' cheezball but it's that Helen Marshall who's the real bloated tick here. Time to liberate her from the agony of sucking the blood out of Queens.

felixthecat2

Eliminate this powerless useless offices that we fund with our hard working money.

Think2wice

Trim the fat.

whitecastlerock

They are useless... Please downsize them already.

valeriob

So what you're saying is...

Government offices spend taxpayer money on things they don't need?!

I have nine (9) of those Cobra shredders. I like how they smell.

felixthecat2

4 of 5 borough presidents would have been term out if it wasn't for Bloomberg bill to extend term limits. sickening.

ANGRYGOD11

I also hate the title: President. They preside over nothing.

ANGRYGOD11

No. Government has 3 powers: The power to tax, spend and regulate behavior. These parasites have none of these powers and are therefore useless. The fact they are allocated a budget they waste on themselves or not doesn't change the stupidity of having outdated positions.

ANGRYGOD11

Borough presidents don't make laws, collect taxes nor budget spending, except their own fiefdoms. Who would notice or care if these powerless parasites all dropped dead?