Pothole City
Those lucky enough to catch to “The Call” on NY1 last night got to hear “Hirsch” from Brooklyn Heights say the following, in part: “My street is consumed with potholes and looks like a swiss cheese with no one taking responsibility. New York has fallen and can’t get up. Under this present mayor – New…
Those lucky enough to catch to “The Call” on NY1 last night got to hear “Hirsch” from Brooklyn Heights say the following, in part: “My street is consumed with potholes and looks like a swiss cheese with no one taking responsibility. New York has fallen and can’t get up. Under this present mayor – New York is no longer the greatest city – it is a third world country.” Anyhow, potholes are all over the news today, with the main story being that DOT-mandated furloughs mean potholes are taking longer to get filled. According to the Daily News: “Last month, it took on average 3.65 days to fill a pothole – compared with 1.42 days during the previous January, said DOT spokesman Seth Solomonow. He maintained that total manpower hours during the 10-week stretch in which furloughs are in effect is on par with last year, since 50 seasonal highway repairers moved to year-round posts.” Meanwhile, Brooklyn Heights Blog reports that the Manhattan-bound section of the Brooklyn Bridge will be closed during the afternoons today, tomorrow and Saturday for emergency pothole repair.
Furloughs Leave Cracks In City’s Pothole Repairs [NY1]
City Continues Furloughs for Workers [NY Daily News]
Bloomberg to City: Drop Dead (Into Street Potholes) [Runnin’ Scared]
Emergency Pothole Repair to Close Manhattan Bound Brooklyn Bridge Today Through Saturday [BHB]
Photo by dasmart.
This has nothing to do with Bloomberg, NY was 3rd world way before he took office.
I wish i could post photos for comparison but here is something from 2006.
you tell me, has it improved?
http://blog.collins.net.pr/2006/07/quality-of-life-in-ny.html
Marie Antoinette:
“let them eat cake”
Mike Bloomberg:
“let them ride bikes”
“which is a really stupid term as there are “third world” aspects to virtually every country”
That made me laugh!
This IS an unusually harsh winter, that deserves airing.
(lived… past tense, not there now)
Vinca… I agree with you, well… except, I live in Belgium on the ground floor of a cobblestone street (Belgian block even!) It was in the very center of the village, and cars traveled *maybe* 15 mph, and it was LOUD!
Just don’t live on the ground floor! 🙂
The solution to potholes AND traffic-calming, both at the same time: repave the streets with Belgian Block. Use asphalt only in the bike lanes.
“The whole problem is that we use asphalt for our roads, and it is not working. Someone needs to come up with another type of road surface that can withstand the weather we have here.”
It exists. I can’t remember the name of it, but I doubt the impatient and complaining people in this city are willing to pay the necessary cost AND deal with virtually all the roads being town up because you can’t just lay it on top of existing asphalt or fill pot holes with it.
I find that Bloomberg has forced the city agencies to become MUCH MORE RESPONSIVE than they have ever been. I have written and called many city agencies and they are *now* very good at responding to questions and complaints and fixing problems. They don’t get swept under the rug like they used to. Do you honestly think Bloomberg has done noting positive in the way of accountability?
It’s not Bloomberg’s job to manage the city agencies, it’s his job to set the expectations for the managers of those agencies. He’s at the TOP of the hierarchy. It’s absolutely ridiculous to think he should be overseeing the potholes… for example. It’s not even close to his job and it would be an absurd misuse of his time to have more than to spend more than 7 minutes per year thinking about potholes.
As DeLepp hinted at… there’s also a major limit to how effective any elected official can be shaping and improving the operation of city services. The workforce is controlled by UNelected people, driven by almost pure self-interest.
Bloomberg doesn’t run the city, the public sector unions do. At least we’re better off that Nassau county.