Mayor Mike's Big Ideas

This is some local NYC politics, so if that doesn't interest you, feel to skip past. You see, the population of New York is growing at a faster rate than the rest of the country and city officials are worried that the city's infrastructure will collapse under the pressure of this over the next 20-25 years.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg laid out his views on how the city should proceed-

...In what was billed as a "major" speech, the mayor offered a dark vision of where the city is headed over the next quarter-century if action isn't taken as he sketched the severe challenges awaiting New York and such world cities as London and Beijing.

"By 2030, our population will reach more than 9 million - the equivalent of adding populations of Boston and Miami to the five boroughs," Bloomberg told an invited audience of more than 200 in a multimedia presentation at the Queens Museum of Art...

...To prepare for such "undreamed of levels" of density, the mayor said the aging city has to upgrade almost every structure in sight - from streets to playgrounds to power plants to mass transit...

...The city is distributing a booklet next week to involve New Yorkers in the upcoming debate that makes it clear inaction isn't an option...

...Among the 10 goals outlined by the mayor were:

* Ensuring that all New Yorkers live within a 10-minute walk of a park.

* Reducing emissions that contribute to global warming by more than 30 percent.

* Opening 90 percent of waterways for recreation by reducing pollution and preserving natural areas.

* Cleaning 1,700 acres of contaminated land.

* Achieving the cleanest air of any city in the nation.

...Bloomberg said that in the next three months, his administration will present specific proposals for reaching each goal, along with regulation, legislation and financing mechanisms...

This sounds like a really great, ambitious agenda. Let's pray the same bureaucratic bullshit that's crippled-- if not outright paused-- the progress at Ground Zero for the past 4-5 years will not get in the way of needs to be done for New York.