New York City

April 15, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and members of the New Democrat Coalition today urged Congress to take action on measures that would encourage rapid nationwide implementation of health information technology. At a press conference with the Mayor, the New Dems unveiled a roadmap that will guide their efforts to achieve a fully interoperable health IT exchange by 2018 with adoption by at least 75% of providers.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg: Photo by Edward Reed

The New Dems made their announcement shortly after meeting with Mayor Bloomberg to discuss the successful transition that New York City is making from paper records to safe, secure electronic health records.    » read more »

April 15, 2008 -- New York Governor David A. Paterson, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced today that they have directed their staffs to work with Mayor Bloomberg and the New York City (NYC) OTB to craft a solution that would allow NYC OTB to continue operations. The Board of Directors of OTB voted in February to cease operations by June 16, 2008, at which date the Corporation will be insolvent and the City would be required to infuse cash into it in order to continue to operate.

OTB sign, Manhattan: Photo by swilkes (CC)    » read more »

Judge Has Set May 27 and September 2 Trial Dates for Remaining Dealers in First and Second Lawsuits, Respectively

April 11, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that five additional gun dealers named in the New York City lawsuits over illegal gun sales have agreed to settlements with the City, bringing the total number of settlements to twenty.

A gun store: Photo by Keary O. (CC)    » read more »

April 9, 2008 -- "On balance, the budget agreement reached in Albany, with a few glaring exceptions, is good news for our City. The broken promises on revenue sharing have been mostly repaired. The State’s prior commitment to an increase in operating aid for New York City schools has been kept, building aid has been restored, the proposed eighteen month lag in funding for school construction has been eliminated, as has the wrong-headed mandate to micro-manage the city’s school budget.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg delivers the keynote address at Newsweek’s Global Environment Leadership Conference: Photo by Edward Reed    » read more »

2 Megawatts of Solar Electricity Will Be Installed On City-owned Buildings as Part of PlaNYC

April 8, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that the City Department of Administrative Services (DCAS) would issue an RFP for private solar developers to purchase, install, own and maintain solar panels on city-owned buildings in all five boroughs as part of PlaNYC.

Solar panels at the Octagon on Roosevelt Island: Photo by Kristin Resurreccion (CC)    » read more »

NYC TV Wins Most New York Emmys in Station’s History

April 7, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today congratulated NYC TV, the official TV network of the City of New York, on winning 12 New York Emmy Awards, local television’s most coveted peer-recognition award.    » read more »

April 6, 2008 -- The following is the text of New York City Mayor Bloomberg's weekly radio address as prepared for delivery on 1010 WINS News Radio for Sunday, April 6, 2008

"Good Morning. This is Mayor Mike Bloomberg.

"Last week, the City Council showed real leadership in voting for a policy that will help ensure the future our city and its transit system. I'm talking about congestion pricing. This week, our State Legislators will take up the matter.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg at 187th Greek Independence Day Parade: Photo by Kristen Artz    » read more »

New Yorkers Get Involved in PlaNYC Initiative to Plant and Care for One Million New Trees in New York City by 2017

April 1, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Bloomberg today issued a proclamation naming April 2008 as MillionTreesNYC Month in New York City.

Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe presented the proclamation in Seward Park in Lower Manhattan. MillionTreesNYC Month, presented by BNP Paribas, coincides with the arrival of spring and seeks to raise public awareness for MillionTreesNYC, a public-private partnership between the Department of Parks & Recreation and Bette Midler’s New York Restoration Project (NYRP) through which one million new trees will be planted and cared for throughout the five boroughs by 2017.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- The following are the New York City Mayor's remarks as delivered.

"Madam Speaker, thank you. You left one person off the list that deserves thanks and that is you because I think what is clear here is that Speaker Quinn's principled leadership throughout the Council's deliberations on congestion pricing shows this time, as it has in previous times, that she cares about the city and the interests of the city come first with her.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg Praises Passage Of Congestion Pricing Legislation: (Photo: Spencer T. Tucker)    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- "Today, Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson has offered a balanced and thoughtful approach to modernizing our financial system. Secretary Paulson rightly recognizes that we can help mitigate future market turmoil with smarter regulation, but that we must resist the growing political pressure to rush headlong into ill-considered regulations that would stifle innovation, drive jobs overseas, and hurt America's economic health.    » read more »

Congestion Pricing will Create Jobs and Improve Transit for 95% of Working New Yorkers Who Don't Drive to the Central Business District

March 31, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg was joined today by Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, Michael Fishman, President of SEIU Local 32BJ, Edward J. Malloy, President of the Buildings and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York, and Edward Ott, Executive Director of the New York City Central Labor Council, to urge City and State lawmakers to enact congestion pricing legislation this week, so that New York City will qualify for $354 million in federal funds for immediate mass transit improvements.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- "This independently prepared 'Analysis of Job Creation in PlaNYC" that we're releasing today demonstrates that PlaNYC is good for New York City economically as well as environmentally. Its detailed analysis of PlaNYC 's recommendations for a greener, greater New York found that they will create tens of thousands of new jobs for New Yorkers in both the short and long-term.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- "We've taken another step towards implementing a congestion pricing plan that is equitable and won't be a burden on lower income New Yorkers and that will result in an immediate $354 million in federal funds for mass transit improvements.

New York City Mayor Bloomberg holds a press availability before riding No. 4 train to Yankee Stadium. March 31, 2008: (Photo: Spencer T Tucker)

The amendments that the Senate introduced last night to their bill will address many of the remaining concerns that we've been hearing from the City Council and members of the State Legislature. This legislation already made certain that all revenues from congestion pricing will go to the MTA Capital plan.    » read more »

March 31, 2008 -- "Last night, I amended my Governor’s Program Bill regarding the New York City Congestion Pricing Program, recommended by the Traffic Congestion Mitigation Commission. The amendments to the bill address fiscal contributions by the Port Authority to the MTA capital plan and add an important tax credit provision for low-income drivers.    » read more »

Low-income people who are not normally required to file federal returns are reminded that they may be eligible for $300 or more in "stimulus payments" - but only if they file their taxes

March 28, 2008 -- New York City Mayor Bloomberg, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United Way of New York City are reminding recipients of Social Security payments and veterans' benefits, as well as low-income New Yorkers whose income does not require them to file taxes, that they may be eligible to receive $300 or more from this year's federal economic stimulus package-but only if they file federal tax returns.    » read more »