Get ready folks, the newest form of funding is coming your way. It’s called diversion. Do you really believe that that Governor Cuomo, Mayor de Blasio, and the New York City Council will defund the police department to create a new and transformative department that will care for the individual citizen, seek social justice, educate your children, and allow unicorns to roam free?
In my opinion what they care about is money, not people. Already there are calls from Comptroller Scott Stringer, NYC educators, and the New York City Council to defund the New York City Police Department and use that money for social justice, and education. Well, don’t believe them for just one moment.
Diversion, it is fast becoming the new funding tool of 2020 and beyond. It all started years ago when New York realized it could push psychiatric patients into a general hospital setting by defunding state-run psychiatric institutions. Let the hospitals worry about paying for services and we can divert that money somewhere else.
Defund The Police
Do you really think New York has become a sanctuary city because politicians care about people? Do you really think New York politicians really care about social justice, education, or a “progressive agenda” or do you think it is about the money they can collect in the name of these “reforms”?
Our elected officials are poised to set New Yorker against New Yorker and union against union. As I write this, the NY Post has reported, “New York City educators are mounting a letter-writing campaign to urge Mayor Bill de Blasio and city and state lawmakers to dramatically slash funding to the police department and instead divert millions of dollars to public schools. Oops, there was that word again – divert. How long before firefighters and other NYC unions are thrown into this fray? Don’t give money to the police, give it to us. Don’t give money to firefighters or 32BJ, give it to us.
I’m sure you know the answer but maybe you won’t admit it, maybe you didn’t realize it or maybe, more conveniently it’s President Trump’s fault. New York is on the verge of bankruptcy. Just like the horrible trade deals that almost destroyed our nation, New York, in its infinite wisdom has negotiated one bad contract after another. This is not an attack on unions. Their job is to get the best contract they can, I don’t blame them. But it is the job of our elected officials to get the best deal possible for their taxpaying constituents. Instead, we have seen horrible negotiations on behalf of the New York City government. The New York City Department of Education, in my opinion, the most corrupt department in New York City. They are still adding pensionable patronage jobs while education is at an all-time low. There are many schools in New York City where over 95% of students, over 95% of students cannot read, write, or do math at grade level. Do our politicians blame the education system they created? NO! They blame the competency tests for being racist!
The problem we have in New York is not that we don’t have the money to continue to provide essential services. The problem we have is that we don’t have the money to pay the debt on pension plans. So where will the $15 billion come from that Governor Cuomo says we need? Where will the $7billion come from that Mayor de Blasio says New York City needs or, ” we can kiss the recovery goodbye”? These statements sound more like threats and fear mongering then leadership. All of this money will come from diversion, taxes, fines, and fees. Hey, what ever happened to the almost $1billon that was spent on Thrive NY with zero account ability? Where DID that money go? No one wants to ask.
Get ready folks, get ready for tolls on our East river bridges. Get ready for new fees for your car. Corey Johnson, the leading candidate to become a worse mayor than de Blasio has already begun a war on cars. If you own a small business in New York City get ready for increased inspections, increased fines, and increased taxes. Do you think we have a lot of speed cameras now? LOL just wait till Covid-19 has passed.
Yes, New Yorkers will be taxed, and bled dry all in the name of one reform or another but in reality, the majority of the monies will go to servicing a debt that we cannot afford. I know that there are some of our elected officials who try their best. They do push back against the system, but let me tell you how comforting it was while I and the rest of the city and nation were sitting at home, being asked or forced; your choice, to not work because of the Coronavirus and flattening the curve while ALL of our elected officials were getting paid as if nothing were happening – nope, no sharing the burden there. Peaceful protesting is OK but peacefully and cautiously opening your business to support your family requires not one, not two but four phases. Humm, and I thought those business owners were peacefully protesting when they tried to open, silly me.
In the end, the only way forward will be to stop the one-party domination of New York. There must be a balance of ideas. Voters can no longer allow, correction, voters can no longer afford to allow most elected officials to reward their campaign contributors with lucrative city contracts like Thrive NY and patronage deals. At the very least it should be required that any new contract include some sort of performance metric, a price cap, penalty clause, and possibly some sort of disaster contingency. I don’t know how New York will move forward but it is clear to me that our leadership is unwilling to recognize, or they have no concept of the disaster they have created. I believe the people who will respond negatively to my comments here will most likely be the people whose income was unaffected during the stay at home orders and those who benefit the most from the weak, unintelligent leadership that is destroying our communities.
Assemlymember Sam Pirozzolo
Sam Pirozzolo is a native Staten Islander. He is a frequent contributor to the Staten Islander, and is well-known and loved by people on both the Right and Left, in his North Shore community. Sam brings people together, instead of dividing, by speaking common sense and analyzing our island's, and city's, issues, with intelligence and concern for all. Sam Pirozzolo was elected to the New York State Assembly on November 8, 2022. The 63rd Assembly District represents parts of Richmond County. Sam has successfully operated his family’s optical practice for 33 years. He is the past president of Community Education Council 31 where he served for seven years. Some of his most notable accomplishments include the creation of a Gifted and Talented program for middle school students, the recommendation for the NYC Department of Education to hire retired police officers as school resource officers, and the successful fight for the immediate cleanup of toxic PCBs leaking from the light fixtures in school classrooms. As an education advocate, Sam has participated in historic litigation that led to the return of more than $4 billion to New York public schools. He also fought to ensure that co-located charter schools receive the same capital funding as their host public schools. While serving in the Legislature, Sam will work to support law enforcement officers with proper funding, fix broken bail and parole policies, and help small businesses grow and thrive in a stronger, more resilient economy.