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    Thunder-LipsMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 4:49pm

    He will go down as one of the single most evil men in New York mayoral history. A Don Corleone of mayors.

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      kumfinemyyThunder-Lips
      12/22/13 4:58pm

      This. A thousand times.

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      ExtraExtraThunder-Lips
      12/22/13 6:13pm

      And an epic control freak who wants to dominate people's personal lives, gun ownership, drink sizes, harassing non-white folks...fuck. This guy is an abomination.

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    Newyorkny2010Max Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 7:24pm

    I'm not disagreeing with the author on most of these points, but what about the Second Avenue Subway? While not yet complete, I believe it is going to be a reality in the relatively near future. Am I wrong that Bloomberg spearheaded that effort? If he did, I think that is something that shouldn't be omitted from such an article.

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      Max Rivlin-NadlerNewyorkny2010
      12/22/13 7:45pm

      Cool — let's discuss it. In reality, only the 96th street to 59th street section will be built. While freeing up congestion for the hospitals on the east side, it won't alleviate the crowding on the 4/5/6 one bit. What you're getting is an extension of the Q train. It's not really what the system needs right now.

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      SteveBenjaminNYCMax Rivlin-Nadler
      12/22/13 8:45pm

      Thank you!! Such a waste of money/resources!! I wish more people had a conversation about this. But no one seems to care much about it.

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    maliaobamaMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 5:12pm

    New York City is fun to visit for a weekend, but I will never understand why anyone chooses to live there or center their business there other than that there are already way to many people there.

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      FerminaDazamaliaobama
      12/22/13 5:23pm

      Have you been outside the tourist zones? The entire city isn't the overstimulating capitalist orgy that is Times or Herald Square.

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      ibcingumaliaobama
      12/22/13 6:04pm

      I couldn't agree more, maliaobama. I've been to NYC a couple of times & HAVE been around the city (stayed with a family in the Bronx one time). I loved some of the landmarks, but couldn't wait to get out of there. Too many people & just too much never ending chaos. The first time I went I stayed in Manhattan & couldn't wait to get out of there just so I wouldn't have to look at cement & tall buildings anymore. Seemed like it would be a very depressing place to live, if you ask me.

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    TheshadowknowsMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 6:29pm

    I was under the impression that while Bloomberg was in office the city had an all time low crime rate, huge jump in tourism, managed to fight the teacher's union enough so that the city could actually fire a teacher once in a while and that NYC did significantly better economically than just about every other major city in the United States during the same time period. I was also under the impression that he was one of the most popular mayors in NYC history until he ran for his most recent term and stop and frisk turned ever liberal in the city against him. Just my imagination I guess.

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      ww1383Theshadowknows
      12/22/13 8:59pm

      You were just not paying attention.

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      Theshadowknowsww1383
      12/22/13 10:26pm

      Hah. That must be it.

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    gorbinharveMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 8:02pm

    Did anyone commenting actually live in New York during the 80's? While muggings, broken subways, graffiti everywhere, and terrible public services definitely made for character, I'm not sure how a return to those circumstances is something to aspire to.

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      NonNeoNonCongorbinharve
      12/22/13 8:36pm

      No they didn't. They are angry, mostly because of rent, and Blomberg is the easiest to blame. They don't understand that he's the reason they have a job here.

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    homomanMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 5:11pm

    Worst mayor in recent history would be a toss up between Dinkins and Giuliani. Dinkins was a do nothing except to fund the tennis center in Queens and Adolph was just a corporate hack who was evil to the core. 42nd street went from down at heel with local businesses struggling to Downtown Disney.

    Bloomberg, meh. He's just a stooge.

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      UrbanGardenerhomoman
      12/22/13 6:26pm

      I spent a lot of time walking down 42nd street to work the first summer they cracked open those old theaters to renovate them. I will never forget that smell.

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      MindGrapeshomoman
      12/22/13 7:00pm

      Guiliani, hands down.

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    NonNeoNonConMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 8:27pm

    How can you complain that rents are too high and then complain about new condos? You people do realize they don't build the condos with people in them right?

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      manifoldSkyNonNeoNonCon
      12/23/13 6:19am

      You do realize that those two things have absolutely NOTHING to do with one another, right?!? The idea that the size and demand functions of the condo market have ANYTHING but a tangential relationship to other housing, either rental or owned, is ludicrous, and evinces a complete failure of understanding of how those markets work. The idea that owned housing for the rich has any affect on rental pricing for the average citizen, let alone the working poor, is asinine

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      BurnerNonNeoNonCon
      12/23/13 8:58am

      Because "supply and demand" doesn't exactly work the way you think it does. The "demand" is for luxury apartments. And, of course, if the affordable apartments are squeezed out, everything goes awry. And the cheaper stock is pushed further out east. Further away from the city core. Thus, driving up the prices!

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    thecaptainstubingMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 5:57pm

    And it should be noted many of his signature public health accomplishments (the restaurant smoking ban, restaurant letter grading) were simply copied wholesale from...Los Angeles. Yet he still is starting a consulting firm to sell his "innovative" expertise to other cities (God help the shnooks who buy in).

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      BethWinshipthecaptainstubing
      12/22/13 8:35pm

      You are correct! The first time I set foot in a bar that prohibited smoking was in Silver Lake. I couldn't believe it, but the bartender assured me that it was the law. Sure enough, though, there was a discreet area where someone had fashioned a makeshift ashtray. I felt like I was shooting heroin when I joined them.

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      ApassionataVonCthecaptainstubing
      12/23/13 1:00am

      _

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    WinkendaleMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 5:06pm

    Most damning of all however, is that Bloomberg has failed to negotiate new contracts with city employees, creating a ticking bomb that the new mayor will have to deal with immediately. "

    The time bomb will start ticking when the new mayor "negotiates" a new contract with the folks who put him into office.

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      homomanWinkendale
      12/22/13 5:23pm

      This is almost the same scenario from the end of Wagner's reign to Lindsay's beginning. It took months to get everything back together. Garbage piled on the streets for months.

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      kumfinemyyWinkendale
      12/22/13 6:37pm

      I was a civil service worker under Dinkins. Worked without a contract for 2 years, that retroactive pay was pretty sweet even though it was like 2 percent. Then Dinkins offered a buyout package for workers, I accepted it and so did many others. And, that was just 2 years without a contract, this mayor is going on 6 years.

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    OwldolfHootlerMax Rivlin-Nadler
    12/22/13 6:18pm

    In defense of Bloomberg, stop drinking the soda pop you fatasses.

    ...and that's all I've got. Fuck Bloomberg. Then again, you brought him on yourselves. Sure, he looked like a social progressive, and he was literally able to pay for his multi-million dollar campaign(s) out of pocket (not that he had to), but I'd think living in New York should at least teach you that the rich can't be trusted further than you can throw their fat Scrooge McDuck-moneybags, and the air sirens telling you all to run from the polls and for the bomb shelters should have hit right around the point he was MAKING IT POSSIBLE FOR HIMSELF TO HOLD OFFICE FOR THREE TERMS. I mean, holy shit, his 2009 platform was "you need a rich guy to deal with the rich people who have ruined the global economy".

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