[New York] NYC Mayor pledges work on poverty, Ground Zero

From The Herald News Daily

NEW YORK - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Thursday said he would attack some of the city‘s toughest problems -- poverty and the obstacles that have slowed the World Trade Center redevelopment.

Bloomberg, who won a second term after demonstrating the management expertise he learned building a media empire, stressed goal-setting, saying "throwing money" at poverty would not work.

"Our City has shown that problems once thought to be beyond hope: dangerous streets, failing schools, chronic homelessness -- can be turned around if we target our resources where they are needed most, if we set measurable goals, and if we hold ourselves accountable," the Republican said in his first "State of the City" speech after winning a second term.

Bloomberg also flung his weight behind a bid to speed Ground Zero‘s rebuilding. He backed the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey‘s offer to cut Developer Larry Silverstein‘s rent in return for giving up Towers 3 and 4.

This would enable the agency, which owns the site, to move into one tower and hire a developer for the other, he said.

Silverstein‘s top aide, Janno Lieber, said it was "unclear" how this would speed the rebuilding, and blamed the delays on the agency as it has not excavated the sites or built a retaining wall to keep the Hudson River from flooding in.

Steve Coleman, an agency spokesman, said it agreed with the mayor, and noted Republican Gov George Pataki set a March deadline for the lease negotiations with Silverstein.

Bloomberg, who took the unusual step of delivering his speech in Staten Island instead of Manhattan, closely tied a campaign pledge to create 250,000 jobs over the next five years to big real estate projects in all five boroughs. These would range from new stadiums for the Yankees and Mets baseball teams to an East River Science Park that he said will create 2,500 biotech jobs.

The mayor set another goal: drawing 50 million tourists a year by 2015, up from the 41 million who came last year, and earmarked an extra $15 million for this effort. "We‘ll soon announce a comprehensive plan to protect our great hotels and encourage investment in new hotels," Bloomberg added.

A number of landmark Manhattan hotels, including the famed Plaza Hotel, are being partly turned into condominiums, sparking fears a shortage of hotel rooms will develop.

Saying the city‘s future also depended on affordable housing, Bloomberg pledged to ask the state to continue a $400 annual property tax rebate for homeowners for four more years.

And Bloomberg, who will release his new budget on Tuesday, said it would include funding for a $7.5 billion plan to build and preserve 165,000 affordable housing units by 2013.

While the city now boasts robust financial health, nondiscretionary costs have shot up almost $7.0 billion in four years. With further big increases expected, Bloomberg warned of future deficits, and said the city must work with labor leaders to agree on healthcare contributions from public sector employees as well as modifications to pension contributions.

"When bad economic times return -- and they always do -- those deficits will explode and New Yorkers will pay a heavy price both in increased taxes and reduced services."

He did offer new funds for healthcare -- $100 million for record-keeping systems for the city‘s poorest neighborhoods to save millions of dollars by boosting preventive care, and $200 million for public schools.