The Beauty That Is The Public Fountain

A mid-July public fountain story:

Pennies from wish-makers are far from the only offerings made to these people magnets. Also tossed in are thousands of other coins, cellphones, jewelry, cameras, shoes, sandwich wrappings and the occasional dead rat.

This Year’s Pedicab

It’s the time of year again when we harp on street fairs:

The city collects 20% of proceeds — about $1.6 million a year — but that’s far less than the $4 million spent on policing the events.

“It just may be something we can’t afford,” Bloomberg said earlier this year.

Nonprofit groups that sponsor the events collect a very small cut of the proceeds, documents show.

. . .

But Mardi Gras makes no apologies for its cookie-cutter fairs. It even offers package deals to vendors who work multiple fairs on a “buy 20, get seven free” basis.

The Michael R. Bloomberg 7 Train Extension

A big infrastructure project to put your name on:

City and MTA officials in hard hats cheered as the second of two machines — named Emma and Georgina after Mayor Bloomberg’s daughters — finished their year-long run from 34th St. and 11th Ave.

Today Mars, Tomorrow The World

You can’t stop the Naked Cowboy, you can only hope to repay him:

“Your use of Naked Cowgirl is essentially identical to the Naked Cowboy and is clearly in violation” of Burck’s trademark, read the letter.

Burck is demanding that Kane — who began appearing in Times Square in a red, white and blue cowboy hat and matching bikini several years ago — either stop making money off of his trademark or sign a “Naked Cowboy Franchise Agreement.”

Shouldn’t The School Board Or The City Pay For This Anyway?

Setting aside for a moment that the MTA is probably using this issue as a political wedge, and that it apparently succeeded, why should the MTA pay for New York City students to ride subways and buses for free? Shouldn’t the school system (since they save money on transportation) or the City itself (since so much of school funding comes from the City) be paying for the students?

Even though it has a similar system, Portland, OR doesn’t pay for students:

High school students in the Portland Public School District can ride TriMet for free during the school year, by showing their student ID.

Unlike other school districts, Portland Public Schools does not provide regular yellow school bus service. The Student Pass program is a partnership between the school district and the City of Portland, and is funded through a State of Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit and Portland Public Schools. It is not subsidized by TriMet.

I don’t think SEPTA (Philadelphia) pays for students, and it doesn’t seem like LA or Chicago does, either.