New York City’s Transformation To Giant Corporate Event Space Finally Complete

In case you were wondering what the true purpose of municipal government is — serving its citizens or whoring itself for corporate donations — this should help set you straight:

As hundreds of thousands of Big Apple residents suffer in homes left without power by Hurricane Sandy, two massive generators are being run 24/7 in Central Park — to juice a media tent for Sunday’s New York City Marathon.

And a third “backup” unit sits idle, in case one of the generators fails.

The three diesel-powered generators crank out 800 kilowatts — enough to power 400 homes in ravaged areas like Staten Island, the Rockaways and downtown Manhattan.

As of Friday morning, five generators sat outside of the park along with electrical stations and transformers.

In addition to the generators, a food services truck dropped off hundreds of cases of water . . .

Solution: Ban Seeded Bagels

This could rival the War on Brunch for municipal stupidity, except I think the Health Department probably just needs more cash for a new campaign against another food additive. I don’t know how else to interpret the agency citing a bagel shop for having too many sesame seeds on its floor:

A Health Department spokeswoman said the bagel shop was cited on Oct. 23, 2011, for “a heavy accumulation of seeds in the same area that many mouse droppings were found.”

No mice were detected in an earlier inspection on Aug. 1, 2011, and none were found in the latest inspection on April 5, when B&B was awarded the highest cleanliness grade of “A.”

Now, [the bagel shop owner] and his son [. . .] have invested close to $900,000 in larger stainless steel preparation tables — in hopes of containing seed fallout — and an expensive water-filter vacuum to suck up the seeds from the floor.

Truer Words, Etc.: “It’s Going To Be A Symbol That Long Island City/Queens Plaza Is Open For Business”

So here’s how the “slippery slope” works . . .

When the shitty warehouse with the “iconic” Pepsi-Cola sign on top of it in Long Island City was going to be demolished about ten years ago, people clamored to save the sign because it was part of the area’s industrial past. Only a very few people wondered why anyone was giving free advertising to a corporation. This wasn’t just a dopey sign, but giant 40-foot neon along the East River in plain view of hundreds of thousands of people.

Most people got all mushy about old signage — which is understandable — people love old shit, no matter how egregiously commercial it once was.

So the sign was saved, which is like, whatever, it’s just a dumb old timey-time sign. Anything to make a really fucking ugly waterfront look a little less like Battery Park City. All well and good and whatnot.

But then something truly disgusting happened: A sleazy airplane company extorted the city for concessions to keep their company in New York, and the politicians in this dumpy borough sold out the shitty skyline in Queens Plaza to this company. Why? Because it’s part of the supposed “tradition” of shitty commercial advertising in the Manhattan-facing neighborhoods of Queens. Fuck these people:

Despite early concern from Community Board 2 members, the airline company JetBlue received unanimous approval from the City Council Monday to build a 40-foot backlit sign on top of its new headquarters in Long Island City.

“I think it’s going to be a visual reminder of the continued transformation and resurgence of the Dutch Kills/Queens Plaza area, and I think it’s going to be a symbol that Long Island City/Queens Plaza is open for business,” Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) said.

. . .

The 40-foot backlit sign would be shaped like the company logo in a similar fashion to the Silvercup Studios and PepsiCola signs located elsewhere in Long Island City.

If You’re Losing “Hundreds Of Dollars” On A Stupid Carnival Game Then You Deserve All The Lazer Tag You Can Possibly Tolerate

Interesting reframing of the charms of old Coney Island:

The city is finally cleaning up a longtime seedy strip near the Coney Island boardwalk that had been filled with rigged carnival games and ripped off beachgoers for years.

. . .

Upon receiving various complaints late last year, the city cleared out the old-school carnival games — including one booth called “Gangster Cigars” that was caught ripping customers off on a hidden camera by Arnold Diaz of Fox NY’s “Shame on You.”

Patrons would routinely lose hundreds of dollars trying to toss a rigged ping-pong ball through a hole to win a flat-screen TV.

Oh, OK, Sure

Yeah, so that makes sense, of course, and why not:

Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, already facing skepticism over her handling of legislation that would raise wages for some private-sector workers, has decided to add an exemption for one of New York’s biggest pending developments, Hudson Yards.

. . .

A spokeswoman for the developer, the Related Companies, declined to comment.

. . .

Related is one of the city’s largest developers, and it has been a significant contributor to political campaigns. Its employees have donated $34,200 to Ms. Quinn’s campaign.