Tag: Bloomberg

Posted on

Are you Stupid?

Sodium Chloride, the chemical name for the simple white substance used auspiciously in many religions, ubiquitous in the Northeast during the winter melting sidwalks and accelerating rust on old cars, and one of the oldest seasonings known to man used to preserve and flavor food for all.

Salt is a primary electrolyte in the human body, however, in excessive amounts can cause some minor to fatal health conditions. Because of the latter, many governments have instituted recommended daily intakes of the substance and some are starting to legislate it’s use. One such administration is Bloomberg’s here in New York City.

Mayor Bloomberg’s salt reduction initiative which in all accounts seems to be aimed at fast food joints has created quite a buzz especially in this city’s real kitchens; a source of some of the worlds best cuisine.

In response to the Health Department’s new salt reduction initiative, the NY Times ordered some food from local restaurants and sent it off to a Long Island lab for sodium testing. What they found may not shock you: A Double ShackBurger, fries and a peanut butter shake from Shake Shack contain 1,980 milligrams of sodium. Two slices of Cajun bacon-cheeseburger pizza from Two Boots clock in at 2,240 milligrams. But the saltiest of them all is the corned beef sandwich from Katz’s Deli, which contains 4,490 milligrams of sodium. Considering that the FDA recommends a maximum of 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day, “having what she’s having” might just leave you with hypertension

I’m all for recommendations and encouraging businesses or food producers to be more transparent about all ingredients used in their offerings, but I’m not about to be treated like a kid by a “Nanny State” that feels I’m not old enough or educated enough to eat in moderation. Enforcing a ban or restricting usage limits is absurd and I’m with the chefs, cooks and foodies alike in this hoping this doesn’t get anything more than wishful thinking for the mayor’s team.

Day 34: Be Stupid?

I still love The Boy’s old old work back when they were a shite NY punk band playing with Murphy’s Law and Bad Brains (ML opened for the Beastie’s on their “Licensed to ILL” tour). Some Old Bull is still a great album and although there’s better tracks per say and in a rough garage distorted sounding way (“Egg raid on Mojo,” Traffic Cop,” etc.), this still fit my post for both cookery and stupidity.

Beastie Boys – Cookie Puss
[audio:https://austinvegas.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/11-Cooky-Puss.mp3]

Posted on

Cold Day in Chinatown gets Colder

I was walking down Elizabeth St one day near the Blood Church and as I walked past a traffic cop, I saw the usual counterfeit handbag singers with their lamented flyers pulling more tourists aside to show their wares. I supposed that the traffic cops don’t really care but Bloomberg does and he’s been cracking down. That same day, I had my shopping done and as I walked up another block, I saw a “scout” take a call and then broad cast a call. The next thing I know, 8 LV fanny pack wearing ladies scattered like mice when the lights come on.

It was another bust of the Chinatown counterfeit hawkers. As the crackdowns continue, the locals know a slow death of the gritty chinatown we all know is eminet. As the NY Press details, Canal St is in for a big change in the next 6 months: “Very soon, locals say, Canal Street will join Times Square, Astor Place, the Lower East Side, the Garment District and all the other former centers of down-and-dirty capitalist grit that have been safely gentrified.”

Picture was taken this week, on an evening in Chinatown when it was about 15 degrees F. This lady has her own plastic shield to protect her from the icy wind. This was my first take as she didn’t want to have her picture taken from the front. Ah well, I should have bought my mushrooms here first…
Read more here.
Day 29: Cold Day in Chinatown

Cash Rules Everything around Me. Dolla Dolla Bill Yall –
Wu Tang Vs. The Beatles – C.R.E.A.M.
[audio:http://fakepennycomics.com/blog/WVTB_C.R.E.A.M..mp3]

Posted on

NYC congestion pricing meets crushing defeat

This has been an on going issue in New York city for over a year. It’s had many revisions and names which don’t reflect the true nature of the project (Bloomberg’s pet project being probably the latest). The concept for those outside of New York is this:

New York congestion pricing is a proposed traffic congestion fee for vehicles traveling into or within the Manhattan central business district of New York City. A small part of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC 2030: A Greener, Greater New York which is designed for the sustainability of New York City through 2030, planning for population and job growth and well as sustained standards of living (originally outlined in April 2007).

The congestion pricing plan cites comparable congestion pricing programs in London, Singapore and Stockholm already in place and would be the first such plan in the US.

As proposed, the congestion pricing zone is defined as the island of Manhattan (bordered by the East and Hudson Rivers) south of 60th Street (“Central park South” but was originally 96th Street). Provisions were made for free zones (the FDR Drive, New York Route 9A (West Side Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway included), the Battery Park Underpass, and the East River bridges). The charge would apply during business hours on weekdays from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Proposed fees would be $8 for cars and commercial vehicles and $21 for trucks entering from outside the zone. Transit buses, emergency vehicles, taxis and for-hire vehicles, and vehicles with handicapped license plates would not be charged the fee. Taxi and livery trips that begin, end or touch the zone would have a $1 surcharge. Vehicles would be charged only once per day.

The pros for this were:

  • Federal money allocated to New York for improved public transportation, reduction of auto traffic and congestion resulting in expedition of timely arrivals, and significant reduction of greenhouse gases and smog in Manhattan.

The objections of the plan (many of these by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver who opposed the plan and was able to kill it):

  • Congestion pricing would create “parking lots” in the outer boroughs and in NJ for people attempting to avoid paying additional money. This would result in more traffic and pollution to those neighborhoods. The plan would reduce traffic in Manhattan’s central business district, but no where else in the city, especially neighborhoods with high asthma rates such as Harlem, the South Bronx, and Bedford-Stuyvesant would not benefit from the plan. The installation of cameras for tracking purposes may also raise civil liberties concerns.

As a resident of Manhattan, the congestion pricing plan may only be a benefit to me in that when taking a cab, I may save a few minutes on my commute. Typically I take the train anyway so this wouldn’t effect me, however, with more people needing cabs and taking trains, this may create a situation where it’s harder for me to get a cab, and with more riders on the subways, the opportunities for delays go up also. What was not publicized much was that the taxi rates would go up again (a $1 surcharge) which would add costs to my commute.

I definitely oppose the installation on hundreds of cameras for “transit” surveillance purposes but I don’t buy the point that this effects the poor working class, because the people that can afford cars and commute to the city are definitely not poor working class – those are the ones that already park their cars at a outer borough subway stop and take the train or bus anyway.

The biggest congestion factor is the delivery trucks and their consequently parallel parking which cause slowed traffic and delays. By forcing a $21 surcharge, this will not deter the number of trucks in the city – this delivery cost will only be transfered to the customers and create higher cost of goods in Manhattan.

Thus I agree with Silver and the blocking of this congestion pricing. The pros to do this (for the money and limit pollution) are week and selfish to the Bloomberg administration. The MTA should already be forced to upgrade their transit offerings, and where the hell is this infamous 2nd Ave Subway going to get put in…

What I can foresee the end result of the congestion pricing and the added ridership will be something like the end scene to the Crocodile Dundee movie when Mick is trying to reach Sue in the subway, only 24×7 or something like this:

Or worse… get to this [click through for video]

BTW those are shot on the Yamanote subway line that circles Tokyo, Japan. The Line carries 3.5+ million passengers a day. Here’s an interesting video tour of the line (if someone knows the D&B track in this, please let me know):