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GePap
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of the Big Apple
Nov 2001
time: 23:36
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quote:
Originally posted by rah
Yep that's the ugly attitude I'm talking about.
It's either agree with you, or you're allowed to get ugly and show 0% respect. I'm glad you're so smart that you know what's good for everyone. |
After decades of republicans insulting NYC, after a decade of cutting aide to the city, undermining transportation funds we need- giving us the lowest per capita homeland security funding, menaing the city out of its own pocket pays tens of millions a year to pay for HS, which last time I looked is a federal reponsibility- after not yet coming through with all the promises made to us by Bush in Sept. 2004, then why the **** would we want republicans here?!
They hate us, have said that vocally for years, have acted in that hatred of us by denying us billions in dollars and not fulfilling their promises to us, and we are supposed to let them in with arms outstreched!? **** NO. When republicans act like they actually think NYC part of the US and not just a cheap political tool to impress the folks back elsewhere by using 9/11 as a boogeyman, then we will welcome them.
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GePap
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of the Big Apple
Nov 2001
time: 23:36
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quote:
Originally posted by rah
So that gives NYers an excuse to verbally/physically assualt convention delegates. Yep, that's the attitude I'm talking about. You should be ashamed. |
What delegates have been physically assaulted? So the exagerations begin.
As for insulted, like I care what republicans think of this city- they don;t do anything for us, its not like they ever will.
Oh, and on the idea of the city profiting form this, the Coptrollers office has come out with a report about how this will cost the city in security expenses FAR beyond what the repugs will spend.
quote:
Maybe the protesters who are breaking the law... causing disturbances that are disrupting the city... making life unsafe for their fellow New Yorkers... maybe they are the real problem here. They are ones that are not only acting in an illegal fashion, but also acting like total asses... So maybe you should look in a mirror to see what's causing the real problems in New York |
Unlike you, I happen to be in NYC and not 900 miles away. In short, if the republicans were not in town to cash in on the 9/11 tragedy, the city would not be loosing money in the absurd security (again, which I see with my eyes and not on cable news) that will cost us far more than these guys will spend (yes, conventions are big business- but how many need 20,000 police on overtime!?). I put blame at the source- not in the symptoms.
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GePap
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of the Big Apple
Nov 2001
time: 23:36
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quote:
Originally posted by Ming
At this point in time... (latest I could google), the anticipated costs of security will be 75 million or so, with the Fed picking up 50 million of it. I found quotes from you mayor stating it will only cost the city 24 million, which will be more than offset by the revenues generated by the convention...
So... if the cost for security is going up, it's because of the demonstrators and ONLY the demonstrators, because the cost for security against terrorists has already been accounted for... so drop the dumb act  |
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/01/p...ign/01zone.html
quote:
Close to the Garden, a Boom Looks More Like a Bust
By LYDIA POLGREEN
Published: September 1, 2004
t is a central tenet of Republican political ideology that government interference is an important obstacle to economic growth. Yet the irony that Republicans were stunting the growth of his bottom line was lost on Amadou Mangassa, a manager at Mr. Joe, a shoe store on Eighth Avenue near 35th Street.
"They said the convention would bring business," he said, standing in the empty shop amid rows of discounted Puma and Adidas sneakers, his half-dozen idle employees trying to look busy straightening shoes on plastic shelves. "The convention killed business. Usually this is a big week for us - no sales tax, back to school. But we've got no customers. Everyone is afraid to come down here."
Economists will long debate the benefits of the Republican National Convention, which is being held at Madison Square Garden a couple blocks away from the store, and it will be weeks before all the receipts are tallied and the city knows whether the convention was an economic boom or a bust. Yesterday, as the convention entered its second day, it was clear that businesses in the streets around the Garden, one of the city's most vibrant commercial districts, were getting clobbered.
"It is so slow, I am crying," said Niranjana Patel, who, along with her husband, Bhagvati, has run a newsstand on Eighth Avenue for 28 years. "We are trying to sell enough just to make the rent. But these people - they don't buy water, they don't buy sodas, they don't buy newspapers. They don't buy anything."
Mr. Patel chimed in, nearly hidden behind the counter of his 8-by-7-foot newsstand, which was crammed with phone cards, T-shirts, magazines and bubble gum. Expecting that business would be brisker, "We stocked up on soda, on water, on souvenirs," he said. "Now we'll be stuck with it. If I had known it would be so terrible, I would have taken the week off."
It was a refrain repeated by dozens of shopkeepers, sales clerks, pizza counter workers and even panhandlers. In fact, just about everyone trying to make a buck in the blocks around the Garden, a beehive of offices, shops and restaurants atop a tangle of subway and train lines, reports that the convention has taken a heavy toll, despite the city's promise of an economic boom. Business, many of those interviewed said, was down 40, 50, even as much as 60 percent, as regular customers - workers in nearby office buildings, commuters and tourists - disappeared and few conventiongoers stepped in to take their place.
Much of the gloom for local businesses seemed to be the result of the specter, rather than the reality, of tight security. On the perimeter of the so-called frozen zone around the Garden, where the police have limited access to people who work and live there, shoppers were allowed on most commercial streets without having to show identification, contrary to popular perception.
"I thought it was going to be awful, but it really has been fine," said Alex Benson, a financial analyst who works at a building on 34th Street near Pennsylvania Station. "I have been able to get to work and out for lunch pretty easily."
That news may be too late for many businesses. Clothing shops that would be packed during this week of tax-free shopping, which the state usually declares just before children return to school, were desolate. At Conway, a discount department store on 34th Street, workers straightened unmussed rows of T-shirts on circular racks with signs advertising the tax break on clothing items that cost less than $110.
"We try to pass the time however we can," said Ola Abiola, a sales clerk at Conway. "I walk around the floor, straightening things. But we are very bored. No customers."
Restaurants did not seem to be faring any better. Lunchtime rolled around at Gyro II, a pizza and sandwich shop on Seventh Avenue opposite the Garden, but the usual lunch rush failed to materialize.
"This is supposed to be my busy time," said Neil Sklaroff, the shop's manager, as the clock showed 12:30 p.m. "We ain't doing nothing. Yesterday was a bust, and today is looking the same."
The phone rang and Mr. Sklaroff excused himself.
"That was my delivery guy," he said, returning to the cash register. "He's at 44th and 10th Avenue, stuck."
Mr. Sklaroff sent a worker with a handcart out to the truck that was ensnared in traffic to pick up vegetables he needed to restock the salad bar.
"These guys don't usually have time to breathe," he said, gesturing toward a half dozen countermen. "Look at them. There's nobody in here."
Businesses struggled to complete their most basic transactions. "Yesterday was a total disaster," said Howard Kaplan, owner of Penn Plaza Florist, which had the misfortune of being located on a pedestrian mall next to the Garden. "It was a complete and total disaster."
Mr. Kaplan said that he went to every meeting that the police and other city officials held over the last few months to help nearby businesses plan for disruptions and that he followed all their recommendations. He typed letters for each of his employees to carry to show to the police stating where they worked and when their shift began and ended.
When Mr. Kaplan went to pick up flowers at the Flower Market on Sixth Avenue, he made sure the bundles of lilies and irises were untied for easy inspection. "It was a total waste of time," he said of his efforts. "The cops didn't even look at the letters; they wouldn't let my workers through. Our deliveries were all late. It is just a disaster."
Jamie Galler, an executive vice president at Riese Restaurants, a company that operates 10 restaurants in the neighborhood, from T.G.I. Friday's to KFC, said business was down about 30 percent. "I guess it would be a surprise if you listened to the rhetoric" from city officials before the convention, Mr. Galler said. "Everybody held out hopes, but they are not coming to fruition."
Even panhandlers were having a bad day. Perched in his wheelchair on 34th Street opposite Macy's, Tony West rhythmically rattled his change cup yesterday afternoon. He said he had taken in just $50, and was likely to fall short of the $150 a day he said he usually made collecting change on the street.
"It's kind of slow right now," said Mr. West, 43, who said he had been in a wheelchair since he was shot when he was 9. "People are not giving much. But maybe it will pick up."
Business was not bad for everyone. James Gaine tended to a handful of drinkers at the bar at the Blarney Rock Pub on 33rd Street, which advertises its specials on a sidewalk board held aloft by a wooden leprechaun. Mr. Gaine said business was doing just fine.
"I just thank God it is Republicans, not Democrats," he said. "Republicans are beer and steak and potatoes guys. Those liberals are all ice cream and soda pop."
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01-09-2004 18:32
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