An Interesting Time To Be A New Yorker

There are two interesting things happening politically in New York. First, the local one.

Mayor Bloomberg held a press conference on Sunday (Earth Day) to discuss one aspect of his PLANYC 2030 campaign to plan for the city's future, this leg focusing on the environment.

His ambitious proposals include: creating new parkspace, planting 1 million new trees by 2017, a $2.50 surcharge on energy bills to fund energy-saving initiatives, reintroducing mollusk habitats to clean water naturally, make use of unused land space, slashing carbon emissions 30% by 2030, and more. (Graphic summary- here)

The most controversial aspect of the plan is a proposed $8 fee for people driving into Manhattan on weekdays between 6am and 6pm. The main purpose is to ease congestion in the city (it's worked elsewhere), but obviously less people driving in is better for the environment as well.

Obviously this will be an uphill battle, but I'm very supportive of it.

Moving on to the state level, Governor Spitzer is keeping his campaign pledge to push for the legalization of gay marriage in New York (this would be only the second state behind Massachusetts to make it legal).

The NY Times reported Monday that "Gov. Eliot Spitzer will introduce a bill in the coming weeks to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, his spokeswoman said Friday, a move that would propel New York to the forefront of one of the most contentious issues in politics."

The article sadly notes that the legislature is unlikely to approve it, but kudos to the Governor for keeping this fight on his agenda. It will take time, but we can win this.