City Comptroller, and the man many people think might run for mayor in 2009, if Bloomberg wins reelection, William Thompson released an audit saying the city is doing a better job at filling potholes. Potholes were filled within 3 days during the winter; however, it takes about a month to get them filled in the spring, because the Department of Transportation is working on other projects (the DoT is all about potholes during the snowy months). Basically, the City Comptroller feels the DoT is improving, but that there's more room for improvement, since the DoT tends to revisit potholes that were already filled because of "poor tracking." Last year, 230,000 potholes were filled, versus 124,000 in 2003, and the Daily News says that Mayor Bloomberg's budget "includes money to repave some 900 miles of city streets, a 30% increase." Gothamist will have to find out where the 900 miles are; we're pretty sure the priority would be Manhattan streets, then busy parts of Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, then fanning out to other areas - so people living in the outer reaches have crappy streets.
Not really pothole related, but yesterday, photographer Nat Finkelstein fell into a manhole after his 120-pound dog fell into it. The Post reports the manhole cover was askew, and that Finkelstein and dog Bling fell 20 feet, into sewage! You can report potholes to the DoT via 311. Here's an old Daily News story on how potholes are filled (tar!)
