Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg delivered his seventh annual
State of the City address today in Flushing, outlining his plans to expand an
already sweeping second term agenda while making the tough spending decisions
that an uncertain economy requires.
"Over the past year, I've seen cities from Seattle
to Miami, from London to Shanghai, pushing the frontiers of progress. They are
doing everything they can to attract the best, and the brightest in every field:
medicine, engineering, construction and more. These cities are not slowing down
- and neither can we," said Mayor Bloomberg. "We are committed to making our
City government quicker, leaner, stronger, better, and to giving all New Yorkers
a city that matches their ambition."
Improving Public Safety:
"In 2007, we made the safest big city in the nation
safer than it has been in generations: the fewest traffic deaths in nearly a
century; historic lows in jail violence; historic lows in fire fatalities, and
the fewest homicides recorded in modern history," said Mayor Bloomberg.
The Mayor announced today that:
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The
Fire
Department will pioneer a state-of-the-art
high-rise fire simulator that will play an important role at Randall's Island
Fire Academy;
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The City will launch the New York City wireless
network - which will allow first responders to get more information, like
maps, mug shots and arrest records, more quickly;
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The City will open a unified and streamlined 911
call center, and begin to combine call-taking operations for police and
fire;
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"Digital 911" will be up and running by this summer,
allowing New Yorkers to send digital photos to the police from their cell
phones;
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The City will lobby Albany to require DNA
fingerprinting from everyone who is arrested;
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The City will establish a six-figure prize for
anyone who can invent a device tailored to the NYPD which analyzes the DNA of
potential suspects right at the crime scene - so that officers can release
innocent suspects before they are arrested, and track down promising leads
more quickly;
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The City will lobby for a State Law to require that
mental health records are shared with the federal ATF;
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The City will begin creating a comprehensive
database of firearms evidence - something no other city in the country has -
the latest addition to our revolutionary Real Time Crime Center;
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The City will also seek legislation that requires
manufacturers to use microstamping technology, which helps police better
connect crime scenes to guns;
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The
Office of Emergency
Management will help every
City agency draw up plans that guarantee continuity of operations during a
wide-scale emergency, and;
Targeting Poverty and Ensuring a Livable
Community for All Ages:
"All of our work to make government more accountable
stems from a simple principle: Serving our citizens is our most basic
responsibility," said Mayor Bloomberg. "That goes for every citizen at every
income level. In 2008, we will use technology to continue breaking down barriers
to city services. For too long, individual agencies have looked at their clients
in isolation - even though many New Yorkers interact with City government on a
whole spectrum of issues."
The Mayor announced that in 2008 the City will:
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Link the computer systems at more than a dozen City
agencies under a new system called Health and Human Services Connect, so that
they are able to share client information without compromising
confidentiality;
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Open the City's second Family Justice Center in Kew
Gardens providing domestic violence victims another place where they can find
all the services they need under one roof;
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Establish an additional 500 beds for the toughest
homeless cases;
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Launch "NYC Dads" to focus efforts on young fathers
who are high-school drop-outs;
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Call on Congress to expand the Earned Income Tax
Credit;
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Raise the quality of food served in every City
agency from our hospitals to our schools to our senior centers - which provide
1.5 million meals annually and are often the main meal source for families in
poverty, and;
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Establish, in collaboration with the Council
and the New York Academy of Medicine, the All Ages Project which will
re-envision what it means to grow old in New
York.
Improving Customer Service & Making
Government More Efficient and Accountable:
"We've brought new technology to every level of city
government - to improve customer service and employee performance," said Mayor
Bloomberg. "I've always believed that achieving these goals begins with
providing the information people need to hold your feet to the fire."
The Mayor announced today that:
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The City will introduce a new accountability tool
called Citywide Performance Reporting, which will put a wealth of data at the
fingertips of City residents including fire response times, noise complaints,
trees planted by the
Parks Department
, and will include over 500 different
measurements from 45 City agencies, all available with a few clicks of the
mouse, and all free to the public;
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The City will appoint a new
Charter Revision Commission
that will conduct a top-to-bottom review of City government over
the next 18 months. The Commission will consider any proposal that will
improve the life of New York and New Yorkers;
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To reform the
Board of Elections, the City will work
with Citizens Union to build a nonpartisan coalition that will call for
merit-based hiring;
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New Yorkers will be able to track the progress of
their 311 service requests on the web;
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By this summer, the public will also be able to go
online to monitor the progress of the Street Conditions Observation Unit
(SCOUT), our roving team of quality-of-life inspectors who hit the streets
last fall;
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Working with Public Advocate Gotbaum,
we will conduct the biggest public opinion survey the City has ever
done and reach out to 100,000 New Yorkers to get their feedback on
how well City government is serving them;
Maintaining Fiscal Responsibility and Continued
Growth:
"We began to cut spending and hiring many months ago
and now we are not walking away from making the hard decisions about what we can
and can not afford," said Mayor Bloomberg. "By investing in a diverse, growing
slate of industries and by making our city more livable and more business
friendly, we have helped create 179,000 private sector jobs over the past four
years alone."
The Mayor Announced that the Administration will:
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Continue to cut spending and hold down hiring as
directed by the mayor last year;
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Propose a budget that contains the spending
reductions we committed to last fall;
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Include an extension of the 7 percent
across-the-board property tax cut in next week's preliminary
budget;
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Continue tax relief with a $400 property tax rebate
to all homeowners;
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Push ahead with a five-borough economic development
strategy that diversifies industries; and
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Continue to eliminate red tape for small business by
allowing our
Business Express
website to
allow permit applications and renewals online.
Investing in Economic Development:
"This year, we will continue implementing the most
ambitious agenda of any city in the country and doing something that too often
doesn't happen in government - following through on promises," said Mayor
Bloomberg.
This year, the City will:
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Continue to lobby for our
PlaNYC agenda and to
implement its 127 initiatives so that the City is able to meet the challenges
of the future;
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Continue to work with our partners at the State
level, in the Council and across agencies to implement congestion pricing to
help us improve mass transit and relieve congestion which, costs the New York
City region $13 billion a year;
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Begin construction on Brooklyn Bridge Park - part of
a unified waterfront Harbor District;
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Start turning 30 acres of prime waterfront real
estate at Queens West into the largest new development of middle-income
housing since Starrett City more than 35 years ago;
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Move forward with the construction of the #7 train
extension - allowing for the redevelopment of the Far West Side and 25 million
square feet of new office space;
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Move forward with our $3 billion investment in new
infrastructure for the South Bronx;
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Rezone Willets Point, one of the most significant
environmental reclamation projects of our time;
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Continue on our redevelopment plans for Coney
Island, which will preserve the character of the area and return it to its
former glory; and
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Continue to finance and begin construction on more of the
165,000 units planned as part of the largest affordable housing program ever undertaken by any
city.
Improving Public Education:
"Everything we're doing, in fact, will create a
better future for our children - because soon this will be their city. They'll
be the ones sitting in your seats, voting, paying your social security benefits
or even be up here giving the State of the City address. That's why, from the
beginning, we've pursued major education reforms that put 'children first,'"
said Mayor Bloomberg.
The Mayor announced today that:
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He will ask the City's Panel on Education Policy to
end social promotion in the 8th grade as part of the 2008-2009 school
year;
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The City will create a first-in-the-nation rigorous
career and technical program that will start in our high schools and continue
in our community colleges. The programs, to be offered in September 2009, will
be created by a task force Co-Chaired by New York Life CEO and Chairman Sy
Sternberg and former Mayor David Dinkins and will include Merryl Tisch of the
Board of Regents;
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The
Department of
Education will give parents access
to the recently unveiled web-based performance management database that tracks
student progress, currently only available to principals and
teachers;
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We will begin testing GPS systems on school buses to
help measure on-time performance and keep track of our fleet in the event of a
City-wide emergency;
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The City will provide training to principals and a
new web-based "Tenure Tool Kit" that will
empower principals to make tenure decisions and evaluate teachers based on student achievement;
"The year ahead is not going to be easy - but as I
stand here, I'm more optimistic about our future than ever," said Mayor
Bloomberg. "There's a great quote in the latest Philip Roth book: 'I came to New
York,'the character says, 'and in only hours, New York did what it does to
people - awakened the possibilities.' 'Hope breaks out.' What a wonderful
description of our City."