Bloomberg announces massive city-agency cuts and Christie says he's staying home
Chris Chrstie New Jersey National Guard via flickr
5:47 pm Oct. 4, 2011
Michael Bloomberg announced his 11th round of cuts to city agencies since 2007, which his aides say could save as much as $2 billion.
David Chen notes it's an across-the-board cut, which, unlike previous rounds, spares no agency. Henry Goldman of Bloomberg L.P. quotes Deputy Mayor Cas Holloway saying, "We're looking at extreme economic uncertainty."
The Daily News reports that this has prompted some skepticism on the other side of City Hall, quoting unnamed Council members who say they've seen this show before and expect to hear scary predictions of widespread layoffs which won't materialize.
Also, Chris Christie decided not to run for president, depriving America of the chance to learn more about New Jersey's problems.
Some links:
Chris Christie didn't rule out a future run and he didn't endorse any current Republican candidate for president. [Josh Margolin]
Christie didn't sound too excited to hit the campaign trail. And his moderate stance may not have worked well with primary voters. [David Halbfinger and Michael Shear]
New Jersey, with its police layoffs and drugs and crime, would not have made a flattering backdrop for a White House bid. [Michael Powell]
The current Republican presidential field already survived the media's flirtation with Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. [Anna Sale]
In a change from past efforts to curb city spending, Mayor Bloomberg is ordering across-the-board cuts of up to $2 billion that do not not spare uniformed services. [David Chen]
It's the 11th time since 2007 Bloomberg has cut spending during the year. [Henry Goldman]
Unnamed City Council members are expecting more threats about massive layoffs. [Erin Einhorn and Reuven Blau]
The alliance between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is "not quite the Putin-Medvedev relationship, but it bears a certain resemblance." [Clyde Haberman]
Quinn spoke forcefully about the challenges of confronting domestic violence. [Sherry Mazzocchi]
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer "announced his candidacy for mayor" last night. He also referred to "Bloomberg one and two" and said, "We're navigating three." [Joe Coscarelli]
Scarlett Johansson may have pushed the pace somewhat. [@joecoscarelli]
A former Bloomberg campaign aide "testified tersely about how love bloomed" with accused thief John Haggerty. [Laura Italiano]
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is looking for more money for schools and a "bipartisan," though not necessarily independent, solution to a redistricting that is already bipartisan and not at all independent. [Liz Benjamin]
After praising a potential Republican challenger, George Pataki hosts a fund-raiser to re-elect freshman representative Nan Hayworth in NY-19. [Liz Benjamin]
Public sector and private sector workers' pay is "roughly comparable," according to a Boston College study. [Casey Seiler]
City Comptroller John Liu finds principals unaware of state phys ed requirements. [Phillissa Cramer]
A Queens Republican County spokesman called Republican councilman Eric Ulrich "somewhat immature and short-sighted." [Adam Lombardi]
Ulrich responds: "Queens GOP may need more than a spox after the US Attorneys Office is done probing their unorthodox candidate screening process." [@eric_ulrich]
A Manhattan community board votes tomorrow on expanding protected bike lanes on 8th and 9th avenues from 34th to 59th Streets. [Brad Aaron]
