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Though New Jersey's Governor Christie appears to be reconsidering is decision to cancel the planned $8.7 billion tunnel between Manhattan and NJ, his initial opposition to the tunnel reminds us how important elections are.
Tunnel to NJ from Manhattan
The tunnel project is a classic example of how the public sector can improve the environment, improve our quality of life, and boost the economy all at the same time. Only the public sector can make these types of investments, and cancelling such an investment after it has begun wastes resources, undermines the firms that have ramped up their operations to work on the tunnel, and leads to uncertainty about other key public works projects with a New Jersey connection.
Governor Christie has admitted that his planned cancellation would be costly, but he has stated that the $8.7 billion price tag might prove to be as much as $2 billion more than planned. Christie is on solid ground in suggesting that cost overruns and delays might be ahead for the tunnel project. The 2nd Avenue Subway project in Manhattan has experienced maddening levels of delays in the midst of rising costs and economically damaging disruptions of business activities along 2nd Avenue. But, Christie's cancellation creates major costs and produces no benefits.
Reconsideration
As Governor Christie reconsiders his decision, I hope that he rethinks the benefits of the tunnel project. For NYC and for NJ, the tunnel will allow for more effective mass transit options, thereby reducing environmental pollution in our region and improving the lives of commuters. The environmental and quality of life improvements will come after the economic benefits of the thousands of jobs that will be created at a time in the economy when job creation is the missing ingredient we seek to right our proverbial ship.
Manhattan's economic, quality of life, and evironmental benefits would be cancelled by the Christie cancellation, and such a move would be shameful and unacceptable..
Let us hope that Governor Christie comes to a better decision with the benefit of time.
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Jersey. Show all posts
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday, May 31, 2010
Super Bowl in NJ? and Bloomberg's Obsession with Racial Discrimination
Mayor Bloomberg's obsession with discriminating on the basis of race took a strange turn last week, and though neither team admits to it, the NY Jets and the NY Giants home is in New Jersey, where the NFL will bring the Super Bowl in 2014.
Bloomberg's Obsession with Racial Discrimination
Mayor Bloomberg has demonstrated an obsession with racial discrimination. He has created a record number of stop-and-frisk incidents in New York City, despite the fact that 90% of those stops are stops of Black or Hispanic members of our community and despite the fact that 90% of those stopped are never charged with any misconduct. He keeps a database of all of those stopped, and he has defended these racist practices in the face of law suits and in direct defiance of common sense and hundreds of years of progress against the promotion of racism in the governance of our city.
Bloomberg made a direct appeal to white voters to stand against Black political empowerment during his 2009 campaign. He also stated that Rudy Giuliani is the right person to be the Governor of New York State, and he moved nearly all educational programs for gifted students out of communities of color and into white communities.
The Mayor fought aggressively to maintain racially discriminatory barriers to the integration of our city's fire department. As we stated in 2009, Errol Lewis of the Daily News made the key point in his column: Bloomberg invested heavily in defending the racial discrimination that made the FDNY a more than 93% white institution. As Errol Lewis wrote: "Many credible institutions tried, with zero success, to convince Bloomberg and Scoppetta that the fire exam needed a reworking. The city's own Equal Employment Practices Commission, an independent watchdog, presented City Hall with a long account of nearly a decade's worth of complaints about the fire test and a plea to re-examine it. They were ignored. The federal Justice Department under the Bush administration sued the city after issuing strong warnings about the need to desegregate the FDNY. Bloomberg fought the feds in court."
After losing in the courts, the Mayor is still fighting to discriminate on the basis of race. The Judge who found that Bloomberg was guilty of discriminating on the basis of race chose a distinguished New Yorker to oversee the New York City's efforts to end its racial discrimination in this area. But, predictably, Bloomberg continues to fight FOR discrimination and is now objecting to the choice of former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau as the person to guide New York City's integration of non-white firefighters into the FDNY. He is clearly fearful that Morgenthau's credibility and competence will make continued racial discrimination impossible, so he is seeking someone that he can intimidate into helping him keep non-white individuals out of the FDNY.
Unfortunately, the Mayor is having great success in discriminating on the basis of race, but he is having far less success in delivering on his stated agenda of improving the economy in our city and providing families in New York City with better lives.
Super Bowl in NJ?
The 2014 Super Bowl is coming to New Jersey. The impact on the NYC metro area economy will be powerful and wonderful. There is tons of work to be done, but it will be well worth the effort when we celebrate and enjoy the Super Bowl festivities in February 2014.
Bloomberg's Obsession with Racial Discrimination
Mayor Bloomberg has demonstrated an obsession with racial discrimination. He has created a record number of stop-and-frisk incidents in New York City, despite the fact that 90% of those stops are stops of Black or Hispanic members of our community and despite the fact that 90% of those stopped are never charged with any misconduct. He keeps a database of all of those stopped, and he has defended these racist practices in the face of law suits and in direct defiance of common sense and hundreds of years of progress against the promotion of racism in the governance of our city.
Bloomberg made a direct appeal to white voters to stand against Black political empowerment during his 2009 campaign. He also stated that Rudy Giuliani is the right person to be the Governor of New York State, and he moved nearly all educational programs for gifted students out of communities of color and into white communities.
The Mayor fought aggressively to maintain racially discriminatory barriers to the integration of our city's fire department. As we stated in 2009, Errol Lewis of the Daily News made the key point in his column: Bloomberg invested heavily in defending the racial discrimination that made the FDNY a more than 93% white institution. As Errol Lewis wrote: "Many credible institutions tried, with zero success, to convince Bloomberg and Scoppetta that the fire exam needed a reworking. The city's own Equal Employment Practices Commission, an independent watchdog, presented City Hall with a long account of nearly a decade's worth of complaints about the fire test and a plea to re-examine it. They were ignored. The federal Justice Department under the Bush administration sued the city after issuing strong warnings about the need to desegregate the FDNY. Bloomberg fought the feds in court."
After losing in the courts, the Mayor is still fighting to discriminate on the basis of race. The Judge who found that Bloomberg was guilty of discriminating on the basis of race chose a distinguished New Yorker to oversee the New York City's efforts to end its racial discrimination in this area. But, predictably, Bloomberg continues to fight FOR discrimination and is now objecting to the choice of former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau as the person to guide New York City's integration of non-white firefighters into the FDNY. He is clearly fearful that Morgenthau's credibility and competence will make continued racial discrimination impossible, so he is seeking someone that he can intimidate into helping him keep non-white individuals out of the FDNY.
Unfortunately, the Mayor is having great success in discriminating on the basis of race, but he is having far less success in delivering on his stated agenda of improving the economy in our city and providing families in New York City with better lives.
Super Bowl in NJ?
The 2014 Super Bowl is coming to New Jersey. The impact on the NYC metro area economy will be powerful and wonderful. There is tons of work to be done, but it will be well worth the effort when we celebrate and enjoy the Super Bowl festivities in February 2014.
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