{"id":111750,"date":"2020-11-14T22:01:47","date_gmt":"2020-11-14T19:01:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/"},"modified":"2020-11-14T22:01:47","modified_gmt":"2020-11-14T19:01:47","slug":"five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/","title":{"rendered":"#Five ways the next mayor can make NYC great again"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256c27cd6c9\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a256c27cd6c9\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/#End_the_scaffold_plague\" >End the scaffold plague<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/#Outlaw_armor-plated_storefronts\" >Outlaw armor-plated storefronts<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/#Shrink_retail_%E2%80%9Cfor_rent%E2%80%9D_signs\" >Shrink retail \u201cfor rent\u201d signs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/#Boot_the_barricades\" >Boot the barricades<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/#Tame_the_asphalt_graphic_jungle\" >Tame the asphalt graphic jungle<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>&#8220;<strong>#Five ways the next mayor can make NYC great again<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n                        COVID, mass unemployment, fiscal disaster \u2014 the next mayor of New York City will have a lot on his or her plate to cope with. But Hizz-or-Herhonor can make the Big <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">App<\/a>le a much better place almost overnight.<\/p>\n<p>Face it: Our streets and sidewalks looked like hell even before the pandemic. Too many New Yorkers grew inured to it, but visitors from other great cities were appalled at our home town\u2019s ruined look.<\/p>\n<p>It will take courage and a steel will to break through special-interest agendas and bureaucratic inertia to achieve the courses of action below. But this is why we elect people \u2014 to lead, to govern and to make hard choices.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"End_the_scaffold_plague\"><\/span>End the scaffold plague<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>No city on earth suffers a blight of \u201csidewalk bridges\u201d (i.e., tunnels) like Gotham. Many blocks resemble scaffold rental yards more than they do public byways.<\/p>\n<p>Our city\u2019s becoming unrecognizable beneath 300 miles of corrugated-steel jungles. They ruin business at stores and restaurants, plunge residential entrances into darkness and provide a welcome mat to muggers and lazing psychopaths.<\/p>\n<p>They\u2019re supposed to protect the public from falling debris. But the situation\u2019s so out of hand that the city now requires inspections of scaffolds themselves.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16619953\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img class=\"wp-image-16619953 size-nypost-large-desktop-uncropped lazyload\" alt=\"Scaffolding in NYC\" width=\"662\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/residential-building-scafolding.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/residential-building-scafolding.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/residential-building-scafolding.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/residential-building-scafolding.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=662 662w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/residential-building-scafolding.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1324 1324w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 662px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span>Scaffolding and never ending construction make the city unrecognizable.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Paul Martinka<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The right way to protect the public is to beef up the underfunded, understaffed Department of Buildings to perform more inspections, identify violations and make landlords fix them on the spot. It\u2019s a better solution than current Local Law 11, which requires facade inspections every five years and scaffolding that seems to stand for 1,000 years.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Outlaw_armor-plated_storefronts\"><\/span>Outlaw armor-plated storefronts<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>Nothing proclaims defeat and desperation more than steel, roll-down iron gates that completely block shop windows. Yes, we\u2019ve seen crime upticks, but we\u2019re not under day-and-night siege.<\/p>\n<p>The city passed a law in 2009 to outlaw steel gates, so why do there seem to be more of them than ever? The law ridiculously gave merchants until 2026 to replace them with gates that would leave 70 percent of the storefront visible. Just look at the steel-trap rows along western Canal Street \u2014 and cringe. It\u2019s time to push the lazy City Council to accelerate the time frame to 2022, the new mayor\u2019s first year on the job.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Shrink_retail_%E2%80%9Cfor_rent%E2%80%9D_signs\"><\/span>Shrink retail \u201cfor rent\u201d signs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>We\u2019ve had too many empty storefronts since before COVID. But things look even more dire thanks to the plague of gigantic \u201cPRIME RETAIL AVAILABLE\u201d posters which seem to announce a city on its last legs. Once relatively discrete, they now fill entire windows. Many an ordinary corner proclaims itself a WORLD FLAGSHIP OPPORTUNITY even if the last tenant was a discount shoe store.<\/p>\n<p>The eyesores serve mainly as free ads for retail brokers. Tenants already know exactly what\u2019s available by searching online. The mayor should nudge the council to limit signs to a tidy four square feet. Those interested can come close enough to read.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_16619977\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img class=\"size-nypost-large-desktop-uncropped wp-image-16619977 lazyload\" alt=\"Barriers that are plunked down without rhyme or reason send a message that we\u2019re all about to be shot or stampeded.\" width=\"662\" height=\"441\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/police-officers-barricades.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/police-officers-barricades.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/police-officers-barricades.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/police-officers-barricades.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=662 662w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/police-officers-barricades.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1324 1324w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 662px\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span>Barriers plunked down without rhyme or reason send a message that we\u2019re about to be stampeded.<\/span><span class=\"credit\">Taidgh Barron\/NY Post<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Boot_the_barricades\"><\/span>Boot the barricades<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The demoralized NYPD came up with a cheap new tool to supposedly prevent mayhem and deter terrorists: street and sidewalk barriers that as often as not are plunked down without rhyme or reason.<\/p>\n<p>They send a message that we\u2019re all about to be shot or stampeded. There are metal ones that look like bike racks; scary concrete slabs; and water- and sand-filled plastic curiosities that would not inconvenience a ladybug.<\/p>\n<p>They pop up in front of buildings, along curbs and even in the middle of sidewalks. The blight in Midtown got so bad that Manhattan Community Board 6 and Borough President Gale Brewer <a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/patch.com\/new-york\/midtown-nyc\/battle-escalates-over-nypds-midtown-street-barricades\">mounted a campaign<\/a> against them in September.<\/p>\n<p>The new mayor should read his commissioner the riot act. Replace the barriers with the only crime deterrent that works \u2014 more cops on the beat.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tame_the_asphalt_graphic_jungle\"><\/span>Tame the asphalt graphic jungle<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The MTA controls the buses, but the city controls our streets. You wouldn\u2019t know it, though, from bus-lane markings that blur after a few rains \u2014 or from the zoo of painted arrows, left-turn lane markings and mid-street parking-space indicators.<\/p>\n<p>The unintelligible graphics make life more hellish for motorists who must also struggle with driving lanes shrunken to make room for bike riders, the Department of Transportation\u2019s favorite pets. The agency needs a ride to the woodshed. And the next mayor needs a DOT commissioner who\u2019s attuned to the needs of the <em>whole<\/em> city more than to the minority whims of cyclists.\n            <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2020\/11\/14\/five-ways-the-next-mayor-can-make-nyc-great-again\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Five ways the next mayor can make NYC great again&#8221; COVID, mass unemployment, fiscal disaster \u2014 the next mayor of New York City will have a lot on his or her plate to cope with. But Hizz-or-Herhonor can make the Big Apple a much better place almost overnight. Face it: Our streets and sidewalks looked&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":111751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2020\/11\/west-village-blight.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[79874,71290,74516,72182,21774,80026],"class_list":["post-111750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-11-14-20","tag-economics","tag-mayor","tag-mayoral-race","tag-nyc","tag-scaffolding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111750\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}