OK, I’m Convinced: Kill The Stimulus Bill

I’m pretty sure this is a sort of A Modest Proposal-like device but I’m not entirely sure:

Those requiring government assistance should be offered a chance to bid for their hunk of pork. We should not reject offhand projects that might previously have been deemed unworthy.

In the case of Atlantic Yards, for instance, critics might continue to argue over the larger project’s aesthetics and suitability for a site bridging Prospect Heights and Fort Greene, but complaints over several hundred million dollars in government subsidies are suddenly dated when a trillion dollars is sitting there for the taking. As long as Washington is doling out the gravy, Brooklyn needs to have its plate under the ladle.

The most problematic, oversized components of Bruce Ratner’s proposal for Atlantic Yards should not be built, no matter how much federal money is being thrown around. But it would be appropriate to use federal stimulus cash to jumpstart the part of the original Atlantic Yards plan that makes the most sense: the basketball arena at the intersection of Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.

Yes, The Brooklyn Paper has repeatedly argued that the financing scheme for the Nets arena was unfair to New York taxpayers. But if Washington money is channeled our way, that argument over subsidies to the project would be muted.

Bottom line: If we don’t get the money, Peoria will.

Just as we need to move past finger-pointing and blame-throwing in Washington and on Wall Street, we need to look forward in Brooklyn and remove vitriol from all sides of the Atlantic Yards discussion.

Constructing the arena and bringing the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn would quickly create construction jobs, boost the commercial district along Flatbush Avenue, and restore the spirit of optimism that built Brooklyn.

Location Scout: Atlantic Yards.

He Even Returns Library Books!

OK, this whole “Hey, I try to be a good guy” thing has gone too far:

Fresno State officials were stunned when Sullenberger wrote them a letter, asking for a waiver on the book lost when he saved crippled US Airways 1549 on Jan. 15.

So If There Is Labor Strife Among Horse-Drawn Carriage Drivers, Will Teachers And Truckers Stage A Sympathy Strike?

It’s almost as funny sounding as graduate students joining the UAW:

The city’s horse-drawn carriages are rolling through Central Park with a new passenger aboard: the Teamsters.

A coalition of owners, drivers and stable workers voted last week to join the international union as they gear up for this Friday’s City Council committee hearing on a bill to ban the industry.

“This is not an animal rights issue for us,” said Colm McKeever, owner-operator of Shamrock Stables and a 20-year industry veteran. “This is a labor issue, which makes this a very natural fit with the union.”

Demos Demopoulos, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 553 in Manhattan, said the new members wanted some juice in the battle to keep their industry alive.

“What they’re really looking for is to be part of an organization that has some political power and represents working people,” said Demopoulos.

“They just want to have their voices heard down at City Hall.”

There’s a historical tie, too: Local 553 represented coal-delivering carriage drivers at the turn of the 20th century.

“They saw that kinship,” the union leader said. About 40 industry workers, including the stable owners, voted last Wednesday to join the Teamsters, according to McKeever.

Less Stimulus Than Stun Gun

The gargantuan NYPD uniformed police force may get up to 900 new officers through the federal stimulus package, a number higher than the entire Buffalo police force*:

Police commissioner Raymond Kelly said Wednesday he would welcome the 900 extra cops that could come from President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed stimulus package.

“Any program that increases the number of police officers in the city, especially in a time of terrorism and at no cost to us, is good news,” Kelly told the Daily News.

The incoming President’s latest $800 billion plan to jump-start the nation’s imperiled economy would earmark $1 billion to hire more than 13,000 cops across the nation.

City police forces must apply for the money, which will be doled out in three-year block grants.

The federal money likely will cover 75% of the cost of a new hire, said Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens), who fought for extra police funding.

*See, for example.

From The (Borough) Halls Of Power, A Much-Needed Call For Calm

Oh, well if Helen Marshall says so, then we should be just fine. I wake up this morning, see a bright, brand new day, and suddenly my confidence is restored. One short 90-minute speech later, a strange feeling in me bubbles to the surface — an overriding conviction that we — every single one of us — must do all we can to ensure that this elected official gets her richly deserved third term in office:

By turns a campaigner, cheerleader and comforter, Queens Borough President Helen Marshall tried Tuesday to soothe fears of a crippling, close-to-home financial crisis in her annual State of the Borough address.

“In this ailing economy, we can create jobs, we can build housing and we can boost businesses,” Marshall told a crowd of 800 at Queens College’s Colden Auditorium. “Naysayers beware, we will move forward.”

. . .

[S]he sprinkled her wide-ranging, 90-minute speech with optimistic outlooks on schools and libraries she funded — and asked constituents to reelect her to a third term in November so she can “get the job done.”