Political Operatives

Yawn-fucking-yawn. If we think for ourselves, these people no longer have profiles written about them. The fiction that they have some sort of special power is what drives political observational media. And PBS shows.

Mayors Have Gone Down For Less

Weiner should have seen this as an opening — the snow wasn’t that bad yesterday:

When he canceled school yesterday for the first time in five years, Mayor Bloomberg had to deal with two storms: one from Mother Nature, which dumped eight inches of snow on New York, and another from schoolkids’ moms, furious the last-minute decision forced them to scramble for child care.

. . .

For Bloomberg, it was a snow-win situation. Knowing that so many parents depend on the schools to take care of their kids, the city waited until the last possible moment, 5:39 a.m., to cancel classes for the first time since Jan. 28, 2004.

For that day, Bloomberg made his announcement the night before — and it caused outrage the next day, when the storm turned out not to be as severe as had been forecast and parents groused that they had taken off work for no reason.

This time, the city wanted to make sure that the storm was not overblown, Bloomberg said, adding the thought should have occurred to most parents.

“If you got up this morning, looked outside, and the question didn’t come to you right away, ‘Hmm, I wonder whether or not school is going to be open today,’ and you didn’t know enough to call 311, I would suggest another day in school’s probably a good idea,” the mayor said at a briefing.

“I mean, come on,”[*] he added. “Looking outside, it’s a legitimate question, and you know how to get an answer.”

*Remember, Bloomberg is at his most unbecoming when he reverts to the “Come on . . .” trope.

“If You Times That By A Million That’s A Billion Dollars”

The wicked cult of trees will stop at nothing to get its way:

A plan to plant a million trees is being met with opposition from homeowners not in the loop on where they are planted.

Under the city initiative, a property owner’s consent is not a requirement for the city to plant a street tree in front of their property.

“To us it’s identity theft because anybody can request a tree to be planted in front of your house,” said Dyker Heights property owner Sonny Soave, who has been fighting with the city on the initiative ever since a neighbor requested a tree in front of his house.

Soave said he stopped the operation as planters readied to put the tree down in front of his house, but has little hope he will get more than a stay of execution.

Among his complaints is that the tree will take up too much sidewalk space in front of his house. He also says that the gas shut-off main and the sewer pipe are right below that.

Soave said he also complained the tree roots will eventually break or lift the sidewalk and the Parks Department told him he would be long dead by the time that happened.

“We were told the tree costs a thousand dollars each to buy and plant and if you times that by a million that’s a billion dollars,” said Soave. “To him (Bloomberg) trees are more important than anything else. He is cutting back on the Fire Department, Police Department and teachers. Now what do we do when we need help, call a tree?”

The Parks Department is actively courting residents to come forward encouraging them to suggest the planting of trees on their block, even in front of a neighbor’s house.

The Great River To River Festival Bailout Of 2009

You can save teachers’ jobs, you can fix roofs in housing projects and you can weatherize homes. Oh, and you can also build a better live music venue next time Okkervil River comes to town:

A section of the House version of the bill provides $1.7 billion to address “critical deferred maintenance needs” within the nation’s park system.

The bill doesn’t specifically mention the big-bucks rehab, but Castle Clinton is on a list of “top priority” projects the feds want to fund, according to a House Appropriations Committee aide who reviewed an agency list.

The aide put the price tag at $5.6 million to begin the renovation of the fort as an outdoor music venue, based on information the administration provided.

Location Scout: The Battery.

I Guess This Explains All The “Entrance To Queensborough Bridge Walkway” Search Referrers We Got Last Week

You know you’re getting old when this just doesn’t sound like fun anymore:

“Idiots, start your engines!”

That’s what hundreds of contestants heard Saturday at the start of New York’s sixth annual Idiotarod — a local take on Alaska’s Iditarod dog-sled race that replaces dogs with people, and sleds with shopping carts.

Teams of four runners and one driver navigate homemade carts from checkpoint to checkpoint along a mystery route only revealed as the race goes on via text messages. Organizers say the map is kept secret by design in order to keep police from intervening along the way.

An NYPD helicopter hovered above the starting line at E. 60th St. and York Ave. and it followed teams across the Queensboro Bridge to the first checkpoint at Queensbridge Park.

“We just crossed the Queensboro Bridge in a shopping cart!” yelled Floyd Olson, 19, a Tufts University student who came to to the city for the competition.