Results tagged “stimulus”

Just yesterday city officials were bitching about how the Justice Department wasn't giving NYC a dime from the $1 billion economic-stimulus money intended to help cities avoid laying off cops. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder explained that, "These officers will go to where they are needed most, based on crime rates, financial need and community policing activities." In other words, crime is relatively low here, and other places (like the mean streets of Caribou, Maine) need help more. Mayor Bloomberg fumed to reporters, "To punish our Police Department because they have driven down crime with fewer resources shows the backwards incentive system that is sometimes at work in Washington."

It's on! John Strong's freak show is officially headed East to set up shop on Coney Island this summer, just blocks from Dick Zigun's Coney Island Circus Sideshow. A press release announces that this summer visitors to the area will be greeted by more than 25 fun-filled rides and dozens of circus freaks, courtesy of John Strong’s Shows, allegedly the largest collection of oddities and freaks in all of America. Did we mention his entourage includes a 17-inch horse named Tiny?

Mayor Bloomberg, Senator Schumer and Senator Gillibrand announced that $261 million in federal stimulus money will go towards NYC infrastructure projects. The projects getting direct stimulus funds include rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge (widening ramps, painting) and of the St. George Ferry Terminal ramps and upgrading the pedestrian bridge from East Harlem to Ward's Island. Bloomberg said, "The federal stimulus dollars mean that we can move projects that would have been on the chopping block and get shovels in the ground quickly -- putting thousands of people to work and rebuilding our infrastructure." You can also track the projects with the city's new stimulus project tracker.

The Coney Island Boardwalk has been seriously deteriorating over the years, and Borough President Marty Markowitz says it's time for Washington to help save it. He tells the Daily News what anyone who's drunkenly stumbled around the Boardwalk with a Pina Colada knows all too well: "It’s in horrible condition." The city is currently spending $5 million to renovate a small section of the Boardwalk (with plastic!), but a total overhaul of the entire 3-mile promenade is estimated to cost more than $200 million. That's close to half of the total $500 million for infrastructure projects the city expects to receive as part of the federal stimulus package, and Markowitz says it's worth it, because Coney Island "generates jobs and it generates family fun, which is so needed right now." But with Astroland gone and other Boardwalk businesses getting squeezed by developer Joe Sitt, one wonders how much fun a family can really expect in the summers to come. On the other hand, falling into one of those treacherous holes in the Boardwalk is no fun at all.

Atlantic Yards opponents have expressed considerable outrage over developer Bruce Ratner's attempt to get a taste of the federal stimulus package for his embattled stadium, office, and residential project in Brooklyn. Last week it came to light that former Senator Alfonse D’Amato’s lobbying firm, Park Strategies, was working behind the scenes to secure a cut of the stimulus for Ratner. But they can forget about getting any of the loot earmarked for the MTA; a transit official tells the Post that the stalled development is "not on any of our lists [of projects]." However, Ratner is still lobbying for some of the stimulus money outside of the MTA's purview; there's some $3.9 billion for "infrastructure and energy assistance" which will soon be at Governor Paterson's disposal. A spokeswoman for the governor says they're "examining whether the project warrants stimulus funds," and notes that "there's a lot of competition."

The economic stimulus package will benefit New York more than any other state in several crucial ways, and Washington insiders say Senator Chuck Schumer deserves a lot of the credit. Much of the allocation is still being determined, but as it stands now, New York will receive more money for Medicaid relief ($12.6 billion), mass transit ($1.3 billion) and home weatherization ($403 million) than any other state. Schumer is widely credited with big Democratic wins in the Senate in the 2006 elections, and one unnamed Democratic "insider" tells the Daily News, "Pretty much everyone from Harry Reid on down owes their job to Chuck. So whatever Chuck wants, Chuck gets." And it's not just Chuck; even less senior players like Rep. Anthony Weiner have been bringing home the bacon, securing $390 million to help New York's aging housing projects. But Weiner explains that part of the recent legislative success simply has to do with the end of the Dubya era: "Trying to explain public housing elevators to the Bush administration was the equivalent of talking French to a fish."

The Dow Jones Industrial Average has fallen over 250 points as global economic concerns mount. The NY Times reports, "Shares on Wall Street skidded lower Tuesday morning, following a wave of selling in Europe and Asia, as investors expressed more doubts about the banking system and the fate of struggling American automakers."