Get This Guy The Fuck Out Of Here Not Soon Enough

It doesn’t matter whether it’s a positive program — I’m sure it could be a positive program, but I don’t really care whether it’s a positive program. The key thing is that somehow in a time of severe fiscal austerity the city is paying $70 million for a program that all of the sudden happens just because the mayor himself gives $30 million to do it. Am I missing something? Isn’t this kind of insane? Is it kind of like now that there’s apparently no chance to be president he just wants to shoot the moon in terms of making the city his own philanthropic blank slate? Doesn’t anyone care? Oh well whatever nevermind:

To pay for the [$130 million] endeavor in a time of fiscal austerity, the city is relying on an unusual source: Mr. Bloomberg himself, who intends to use his personal fortune to cover about a quarter of the cost, city officials said. A $30 million contribution from Mr. Bloomberg’s foundation would be matched by that of a fellow billionaire, George Soros, a hedge fund manager, with the remainder being paid for by the city.

NYC Returns To Being A Craphole Watch: Abandoned Appliances

It’s definitely getting more difficult to jettison trash in vacant lots and underutilized parks, which seems to be why people are apparently turning to the subway system:

A massive refrigerator stuffed with empty Arizona iced tea bottles somehow ended up on the West 4th Street subway platform, where it languished for days before the MTA finally removed it.

And When You Go Really Really Fast The Skeleton Turns Into A 16-Ounce Snapple, Which When You Pour That Out Is Actually Human Fat, Which Somehow Morphs Into A Can Of Soup Spewing Out Pounds Of Salt

And don’t think this won’t totally backfire when people intentionally speed up in order to see the skeleton, because skeletons are INHERENTLY AWESOME:

When a driver exceeds the speed limit, the image of a presumably healthy pedestrian happily crossing the street suddenly changes to a skeleton ominously marching toward the words: “SLOW DOWN.”

Third Term Malaise Spreads: Thinking Any Of Us Give A Fuck About Your Title (Or Your Press Conference, For That Matter)

Christine Quinn’s sense of entitlement is striking for someone who had to bend the rules to stay politically relevant:

City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn on Wednesday lashed out a reporter for The Daily News who did not invoke Ms. Quinn’s proper title when asking her a question.

The reporter, Erin Einhorn, referred to Ms. Quinn as “m’am” in asking the speaker about her efforts to improve the city’s response to snowstorms.

But Ms. Quinn was none too pleased with Ms. Einhorn, who earned the speaker’s scorn recently with a series of articles that were critical of the Council.

“You can call me speaker,” Ms. Quinn said in a testy tone. “It’s my press conference. I actually decide what words are necessary.”

Remember This Next Time The Board Of Elections Somehow Knocks You Off The Voter Rolls And Forces You To Use An Affidavit Ballot

William Shawn died in 1992 and he’s still on the voting rolls. Same for Walter Cronkite:

Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers — including movie stars Lena Horne and Natasha Richardson and beloved restaurateur Elaine Kaufman — are also on the voting rolls long after they died.

Location Scout: New York City Voting Booth.