Post Is Shocked, Simply Shocked — Maybe Even Outraged — By Planning Costs Literally Soaring Into The Millions

The Post notes that a full 14 and-a-half comfort stations* could have been built for what has already been spent on the as-yet-unbuilt Brooklyn Bridge Park:

Planners of the long-delayed Brooklyn Bridge Park project have spent more than $16 million in taxpayer money in the last five years — more than it cost to build the bridge in the 1880s.

Most of the cash went to the project’s architect and consultants, records obtained by The Post reveal.

Despite that, critics point out, the 85-acre park along the Brooklyn waterfront, which was supposed to break ground three years ago, has yet to be built.

“It cost $15 million to build the Brooklyn Bridge, so [the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp.] has already spent more with little to show for it,” said Cobble Hill activist Roy Sloane.

*See for example.

It’s Probably Best To Keep Denis Hamill Way Far Away From Forest Hills*

On Being Denis Hamill: 1) pick the low-hanging fruit; 2) cause a big stir with that fruit; 3) bask in the smug self-righteousness said fruit bears:

The best part about the Corbin Place uproar is that there is uproar.

On the evening of Feb. 26, I sat in the last row of an assembly room in Kingsborough Community College where Community Board 15 held a public hearing about changing the street name of Corbin Place. About 100 people showed up from the snowy streets, more than most City Council meetings.

It was democracy at its best.

. . .

In the middle of the meeting Leonard Benardo — who with his wife, Jennifer Weiss, wrote “Brooklyn by Name,” which gives the history of most street names in Brooklyn — asked me, “What are we gonna do, rename the 70 streets in Brooklyn named after slaveholders?”

“Why not,” I asked.

I said that because of his book, which inspired my column, a whole neighborhood was discussing and debating local history. And how could that ever be a bad thing? If Nostrand Ave., Vanderbilt Ave., and Lott St. are named for slaveholders, shouldn’t the citizens who live on those streets or in their surrounding neighborhoods have a chance to debate whether that’s a proper name to honor on a street sign?

If history is revised, shouldn’t street signs also be revised? Even if people have to be mildly inconvenienced by having their addresses altered on house deeds, driver’s licenses, and stationery?

Why not turn all the soil in a new century and see what we find?

*Because you thought Austin Street was named for Stephen F.? Guess again!

And Who Would Ever Vote Against It?

The final vote was a slam dunk:

The city council has said n-o to the N-word, unanimously approving a resolution yesterday calling for a moratorium on the rap world’s favorite epithet.

. . .

The resolution is not a ban, and it has no enforcement teeth except the power of moral persuasion. So its chief sponsor, Councilman Leroy Comrie (D-Queens), who is black, said he was surprised at the widespread attention the resolution attracted.

“It has stirred what it was intended to — discussion,” Comrie said.

The 51-member Council, which has a 25-member Black, Latino and Asian Caucus — was united in its enthusiasm for the measure.

Councilman John Liu (D-Queens), the sole Asian on the Council, called the the N-word “the vilest word in the English language.”

Can there really be a vilest word?

Or At Least Make The Prices Match . . . Does Anyone In City Government Read Chinese?

It doesn’t matter if the differential pricing was really just the difference between a take-out and and eat-in, when you have the mayor publicly rebuking you, things have spun out of control:

“If nobody goes to that restaurant, then they won’t make any money and they’ll go out of business,” Bloomberg said when asked about the Daily News’ exclusive Sunday story on the Canal Seafood Restaurant.

“It’s unconscionable to use race on any of these things, in terms of what kind of service, or how you charge, or whatever,” Bloomberg said.

“Go patronize a different [restaurant.] Let capitalism work.”

. . .

The restaurant has denied the allegations, saying it has one menu for takeout and another for customers who eat in the restaurant.

Doesn’t Grandstanding Count?

Hizzoner highlights some elected officials’ lack of executive experience:

Mayor Bloomberg lashed out yesterday at politicians who criticized the city’s school bus route bungling, saying they had “no experience doing anything.”

A visibly angry Bloomberg blasted Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and City Council members when asked about the critics’ stance that the cost-saving overhaul is a flop.

“You know, you’re quoting people who have no experience in doing anything, so I don’t quite know how to answer it,” he said.

Bloomberg then questioned whether the politicians knew enough to criticize the work of high-priced consultants Alvarez & Marsal, who drew up the reorganization that cut 116 routes.

“And if those people who haven’t done anything in terms of management think that they know what to do, they should apply for jobs and we’ll be happy to do it,” he said.