Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that Michael Bloomberg, Hopkins' wealthiest alumnus, has been running New York City since January of this year. Rudy Giuliani, the previous mayor of NYC and Time's 2001 Person of the Year, left Bloomberg big shoes to fill and the copius task of restoring normalcy to the city with the $5 billion deficit. It's mind-boggling that a Hopkins undergrad alumnus has become so influential; just imagine your pot-smoking, frat-boy roommate one day becoming the billionaire mayor of a major American metropolis! Not to ignore, however, is the fact that Bloomberg has had other considerable experiences after Hopkins that helped him gain the mayoral office; so perhaps his Hopkins' electrical engineering education hasn't been so crucial to his success.
So back to the issue at hand: Bloomberg as mayor. Being in charge of New York City is a great responsibility; one that some critics fear Bloomberg, who made his fortune in business and has never before held a political office, cannot competently manage. The following are several of Bloomberg's new policies and proposals. Some of his new policies are faced with fierce opposition, but then again, some of Giuliani's policies which significantly improved the city were similarly challenged.
Some of Mayor Bloomberg's most controversial policies concern his anti-smoking campaign. In a major effort to make smokers quit while bringing in revenue for the city, he pushed for the city's cigarette tax to increase from 8 cents to $1.50 in July, causing some big-name cigarette brands to cost up to $7 per pack. Cigarette sales plummeted by almost 50 percent in July. However, the general trend indicates that most smokers haven't quit smoking; instead, they purchase their ciggies somewhere else, like in nearby New Jersey. Bloomberg defended the tax increase, citing it as a deterrent for children and teenagers to start smoking, as they are less likely able to fork over big bucks for cigarettes. Another proposed benefit of the increased tax is that it will bring in more money to help the city mitigate its budget crisis.
Unsatisfied by that initial tax hike, Bloomberg is pushing for the complete ban of smoking in all bars, restaurants and other workplaces. Currently, patrons may smoke in the city's bars and in restaurants that seat 35 or less people. The primary reason for his new proposal is to protect the health of the restaurant and bar employees who are often involuntarily exposed to second-hand smoke, which can be just as detrimental to health as smoking a cigarette: "When one person's smoking causes another person significant risk of disease and death, government must act," he declared.
Bloomberg, who is a former smoker, has made it clear that one of his goals in office is to aggressively curb smokers and force them into quitting. "People who smoke are crazy," he had once declared, much to the fury of the smoking population of the city. His critics have questioned his seemingly over-protective intentions and uphold the belief that the government should butt out of certain issues regarding personal lifestyle.
However, a ban on smoking in public areas, such as restaurants, is not revolutionary. The Nassau County legislature in Long Island has recently instituted such a ban, being the first to do so in the state. Suffolk County, also in Long Island, and Westchester County are also moving towards smoking bans. Nationally, California, Delaware, Maine, Utah and Vermont employ similarly strict smoking bans.
In another effort to deal with the $5 billion deficit, Bloomberg has made budget cuts in important areas such as education and law enforcement departments. Bloomberg's mayoral campaign promised to avoid tax hikes, so now Bloomberg has to cut the funds of many programs to make the ends meet, or at least try to meet. His most criticized policy was his $620 million budget cut from the Board of Education, halting many education programs and construction at public schools. The police and fire departments also faced budget cuts and employment cuts, despite being the heroes of September 11. Bloomberg's administration is currently negotiating with the police and firefighters' unions in finalizing an overall salary increase.
Nearly four months ago, the Bloomberg administration changed a decade-long sanitation system. Now, New Yorkers may receive a ticket if they are caught throwing away recyclable paper or metal along with their other garbage. The fines start at $25 and can reach up to $100. Also, Bloomberg suspended the glass and plastic recycling program, which costed the city about $55 million annually. He says that the recycling of glass and plastic is not as cost-effective nor as necessary as that of paper and metal: "The problem with recycling is everybody wants to do what's right for the environment, but there is no market for plastic and for glass," Bloomberg said recently. "So we collect it at great expense and throw it away and we don't have the money to do that." New York is now the only major American city to scale back on recycling.
Bloomberg recently proposed higher fines for parking violators as a method to help the flow of traffic in the city. The maximum fines for different parking violations are now doubled at $85 and $105. These higher fines will bring in an estimated $62 million for the city. In addition, he wants to get rid of the current policy which allows traffic judges to leniently reduce the parking fines in court in response to defendants' explanations and pleas. Some small business owners complained about the fine increase, saying that deliveries need to be made and delivery trucks sometimes can't help but double-park, partially blocking traffic.
Bloomberg has also hinted at raising the cost of public transportation or perhaps reducing the amount of money subsidized to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Subway and bus services have been steady at $1.50 since 1997. Again, his proposal is to deal with the deficit.
In an attempt to clean up the city, literally, Bloomberg set forth a graffiti cleaning initiative wherein the sanitation and parks departments of the city will investigate and clean areas adorned with street art. Though many New Yorkers applaud such efforts, some critics think that the money spent on this campaign could be spent to prevent more serious crimes.
