In A World With No Trash, Trash Just Piles Up In A Different Part Of The World

Except that trash a zero-sum game, which just means that the bins at street-level will be worse:

Subway managers in October announced a bold and seemingly moronic experiment: They would remove the garbage cans from two subway stations to see if that would lead to less litter.

Surprisingly, it has been working — and the MTA is mulling whether to junk or expand the no-can pilot program.

. . .

Once again, our cynicism may have been overblown.

Considering the amount of garbage the MTA hauls from the subway — 14,000 tons a year — exploring any option that could reduce the burden is worthwhile. And since it’s working, the authority should expand the pilot — not junk it.

Everyone [Hearts] Fashion Week

Another year, another park where Fashion Week has worn out its welcome:

Since 2010, when the New York Fashion Week shows moved to Damrosch Park from Bryant Park, residents say, Damrosch Park has been all but taken over by one special event after another, making it off-limits nearly 10 months of the year.

. . .

On Tuesday, a group of residents and NYC Park Advocates, a nonprofit group, announced that they had sent a “cease and desist” letter to the city and to Lincoln Center demanding that Damrosch Park be returned to its proper use as a city park.

City officials brushed aside the criticism, saying that Damrosch Park was a hard-surface plaza with few visitors in winter. They argued that residents had ample access to nearby parkland, including Central Park, and said that many thousands of New Yorkers were able to enjoy the circus and the fashion shows.

“Fashion Week generates $865 million in economic activity each year and helps create jobs in one of our city’s most important industries,” said Julie Wood, a spokeswoman for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.

Nearly $1 billion in economic activity? For reals? How can this possibly be? And if it is true, why don’t we do something truly altrustic and send it to Camden or Detroit for a season or two . . . ?

Look At It This Way: At Least John Liu Understands The Real Purpose Of The Comptroller’s Office, Which Is A Stepping Stone To Higher Office

Then again, people like John Liu almost make you pine for rich folks like Bloomberg:

City Controller John Liu likes to hit the fund-raising circuit in his free time, but he also powwows with campaign contributors during his work-day, the Daily News has learned.

A review of Liu’s public schedule for 2011 shows that he met with at least nine donors and moneymen while on the clock as the city’s top financial watchdog — possibly breaking election laws.

It’s Amazing What That Little Machine Can Do

Good to see that the Mayor’s advisers haven’t lost faith in the dream:

“Michael Bloomberg has the ability to be the best parts of Bill Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and Bill Gates all rolled into one.”

The Pitch, Right Down Broadway, Hit Out Of The Park

“The mayor’s budget relies on a $29 million increase in revenue from fees and fines.” And if nothing else, the City has gotten particularly efficient about collecting fines:

A few hours after Mr. Bloomberg spoke, a team of police officers set up in SoHo for one of their twice-daily exercises in shooting fish in a barrel: nabbing drivers going south on Broadway just below Houston Street in Manhattan.

During the morning and evening rush, there is a virtually unlimited supply of law-breaking drivers who encroach on a lane reserved for buses. A relatively new traffic configuration limits cars to a single lane from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., a change that is announced on signs hanging over the lane, and to which the drivers must adjust immediately after they have crossed Houston.

So police officers, crooking a single finger, have ordered scores of drivers to the curb for breaking the law and issued them a fine for $130. Whatever the virtues of bus lanes, and there are many, this one is a trap — a lucrative one. One police officer, giving a summons at that spot recently, conceded that traffic would be backed up to 14th Street if some drivers did not make their way into that Broadway bus lane.