FogBat Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article368554.ece
Weave Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 If he feels the need to trash another city in order to buuild his up then he probably has bigger problems than he wants to admit to. Nonetheless, I didn't like our mayor's response. Why do we always have to show the world we are a thin skinned city? A better response wouldd've been, "meh".
nucci Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 If he feels the need to trash another city in order to buuild his up then he probably has bigger problems than he wants to admit to. Nonetheless, I didn't like our mayor's response. Why do we always have to show the world we are a thin skinned city? A better response wouldd've been, "meh". I know what you mean. I purposely tell my brother and sister-in-law that Buffalo weather sucks just to get them all fired up. It's too easy sometimes.
shrader Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Oh no, the people of Buffalo now hate him. He'll be crying himself to sleep every night with his sheets made out of thousand dollar bills.
nfreeman Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 What exactly did Bloomberg, who built a hugely successful company from scratch and made himself incredibly wealthy in the process, say that makes him "an idiot?" For that matter, what did he say that isn't true? Here's the entirety of his comments: In a forum on housing and neighborhood development, he said the problems facing his city are "problems of success." He referred to a shortage of classrooms, roads and housing. Bloomberg went on to say that other cities don't have these issues, but he didn't stop there. "There's an awful lot of free space in Buffalo, N.Y., if you want to go there. I don't think you do," he said. "Buffalo would love to have our problems, and one of the challenges in this country is how we help a city like Buffalo," Bloomberg said. The comments were caught on New York City television. An aide to Bloomberg later implied that the comments were taken out of context, insisting the mayor was speaking specifically to housing developers who want to build in growing areas. Bloomberg pointed to Buffalo's population decline. If you're a housing developer, explained Bloomberg press secretary Stu Loeser, you "want to build where there are more people than housing — instead of the other way around." Bloomberg "meant no disrespect," Loeser added. Does anyone here really think that Buffalo doesn't have major economic problems? Or that there isn't a huge amount of free space in Buffalo? Or that supply and demand isn't materially different in Buffalo than it is in NYC? Or that real estate developers are falling over themselves trying to build in Buffalo? Lashing out at NYC's mayor for telling the truth isn't going to cure what ails Buffalo.
shrader Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 You should know better at this point freeman. If anyone says anything remotely negative about Buffalo, the pitchforks and torches will quickly be in hand. We have to be the most overly sensitive people on the face of the earth.
Claude_Verret Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 nfreeman says it well. All things being equal I would LOVE to move my family back to Buffalo, but things aren't equal and they haven't been for quite some time. Maybe if local leaders stopped being offended at perceived swipes at the region and instead were focused on doing things to stop the population dran and offer real incentives for people to move back we'd be getting somewhere. I won't hold my breath.
Taro T Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 What exactly did Bloomberg, who built a hugely successful company from scratch and made himself incredibly wealthy in the process, say that makes him "an idiot?" For that matter, what did he say that isn't true? Here's the entirety of his comments: Does anyone here really think that Buffalo doesn't have major economic problems? Or that there isn't a huge amount of free space in Buffalo? Or that supply and demand isn't materially different in Buffalo than it is in NYC? Or that real estate developers are falling over themselves trying to build in Buffalo? Lashing out at NYC's mayor for telling the truth isn't going to cure what ails Buffalo. Thank you for stating succinctly what I was thinking when I first read this thread. :thumbsup: When I opened the thread, I was expecting to hear something along the lines of what Koch said to torpedo his run at Governor. This wasn't even close.
Sabre Dance Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 I understand what Bloomberg was driving at, but he made a poor choice of words. I did not like the fact (as Mayor Brown said) that he was using Buffalo as a negative example. Hey, if you're going to pick on a city like that, pick on Newark or Youngstown, OH. We're all New Yorkers - we should stick together. I believe Mayor Brown said he would not be calling Mayor Bloomberg (good) but he also said that Bloomberg's comments "pi$$ed him off". Not cool. It makes the Mayor look petty. It would have been better for Hizzoner to wait for the right situation and come back with a humorous (put pointed) zinger about NYC. Oh, well...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Actually a great idea would be for a developer to start building housing in the Buffalo area along with real fast rapid rail transit. Than folks could live in the beauty of WNY and travel daily to work in that scum hole called NYC. This way WNY could start robbing NYC from all its cash and bring it back to WNY since for the last 50 years or more most of NY is supporting that scum hole anyways.
nfreeman Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Actually a great idea would be for a developer to start building housing in the Buffalo area along with real fast rapid rail transit. Than folks could live in the beauty of WNY and travel daily to work in that scum hole called NYC. This way WNY could start robbing NYC from all its cash and bring it back to WNY since for the last 50 years or more most of NY is supporting that scum hole anyways. Wrong, and not even close. NYC has delivered literally billions more in tax dollars to NYS than it has received back in state money. So NYC is supporting the rest of the state, not the other way around. This is because unlike the rest of the state, NYC has a strong population base that is not shrinking -- ie there are many more taxpayers in NYC than in the rest of the state.
Sterling Archer Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Why does Byron Brown get pissed off so easily? You notice how you can't go at the guy at all without him pitching a fit. And then, he tries to act like he's going to outsmart you but only ends up looking like some smart-dumb ginga.
PromoTheRobot Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Bloomberg didn't insult Buffalo. He stated a fact. Mayor Brown ought to reflect on why Buffalo is in such bad shape, and what he is doing to help or hurt it. PTR
Weave Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Wrong, and not even close. NYC has delivered literally billions more in tax dollars to NYS than it has received back in state money. So NYC is supporting the rest of the state, not the other way around. This is because unlike the rest of the state, NYC has a strong population base that is not shrinking -- ie there are many more taxpayers in NYC than in the rest of the state. Troof. For a long time I was in the "let's secede from NYC" crowd. Then I read how much more taxes NYC pays compared to the state expenditures they recieve. NYC definitely does fund the rest of the state to a great degree. It really sux when it comes to political influence though cuz money = power and downstate has all the money. Still, Bloomberg ought to know better than to lay a denegrating comment on another NY'er. And Brown ought to know better than to bleed in front of sharks. And I bet Buffalo talks about this comment for years.
FogBat Posted March 17, 2011 Author Report Posted March 17, 2011 Troof. For a long time I was in the "let's secede from NYC" crowd. Then I read how much more taxes NYC pays compared to the state expenditures they recieve. NYC definitely does fund the rest of the state to a great degree. It really sux when it comes to political influence though cuz money = power and downstate has all the money. Still, Bloomberg ought to know better than to lay a denegrating comment on another NY'er. And Brown ought to know better than to bleed in front of sharks. And I bet Buffalo talks about this comment for years. And I bet that it's still going to be status quo for many years to come as well. Yeah, I know. I started the thread... :bag:
Taro T Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Troof. For a long time I was in the "let's secede from NYC" crowd. Then I read how much more taxes NYC pays compared to the state expenditures they recieve. NYC definitely does fund the rest of the state to a great degree. It really sux when it comes to political influence though cuz money = power and downstate has all the money. Still, Bloomberg ought to know better than to lay a denegrating comment on another NY'er. And Brown ought to know better than to bleed in front of sharks. And I bet Buffalo talks about this comment for years. NYC is both good and bad for upstate, though personally I think upstate would be better off as 2 distinct entities in the long run. Yeah, NYC brings in more tax $'s currently but they also impose their will on the rest of the state, with a LOT of their ideas screwing up the competitiveness of the rest of the state. If the upstate region could reform the Taylor laws and some other items that would never fly downstate, then it could become much more economically competitive. NYC would probably be better off on its own, long run as well. Unfortunately, there's no way the rest of the country would let NYS split in 2 (the extra political clout by having 2 extra senators would prevent it). The ONLY way I could see it happening is if Texas split itself into the 5 entities that were approved apparently back in the 1800's after the war and California split itself into 3 states. That would balance (theoretically) the shift in total D v R in congress. But it would do nothing about the extra senatorial representation; so as stated earlier it'll never happen. :censored: Maybe the next time a Constitutional Convention is due, we could actually HOLD one and reform the state government. Yeah, right. Fixing Albany is even less likely than splitting up. :censored: How about a compromise, since we can't officially split the state - how about we have Albany grant the individual counties the ability to set their own economic policies such that we aren't forced to play by NYC's rules? That way they can still have their rules about trans fat in fast food restaurants and we can have a sensible scaffold law? :wallbash: :wallbash: I can dream right?
IKnowPhysics Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 Added Byron Brown, "Now Cleveland, there's a real shithole." j/k, i like Cleveland steamers
That Aud Smell Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 meh. If he feels the need to trash another city in order to build his up then he probably has bigger problems than he wants to admit to. Nonetheless, I didn't like our mayor's response. Why do we always have to show the world we are a thin skinned city? A better response wouldd've been, "meh". a buddy of mine posted his facebook status thusly: i heard some rich jerk from manhattan said something less than charitable about buffalo. meh. freeman and shrader have indicated that bloomberg did no more than state facts and that buffalonians should be thicker-skinned. that misses the point. for an independently wealthy mayor of a prosperous megalopolis to take a potshot at a struggling rust-belt city is akin to, say, joe torre at the height of his success with the yankees responding to a question about mistakes he was making with his batting order by saying something like, "the problems we have are bred from our success and incredible talent -- if the fans want to start following the royals, they are welcome to do so. i don't think they want to do that, though." it's a d!ck move, plain and simp -- a bully kicking sand in the face of a wimp -- no, no -- a bully kicking sand in the face of a gimp who's doing what he can to get himself able-bodied.
nfreeman Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 NYC is both good and bad for upstate, though personally I think upstate would be better off as 2 distinct entities in the long run. Yeah, NYC brings in more tax s currently but they also impose their will on the rest of the state, with a LOT of their ideas screwing up the competitiveness of the rest of the state. If the upstate region could reform the Taylor laws and some other items that would never fly downstate, then it could become much more economically competitive. NYC would probably be better off on its own, long run as well. Unfortunately, there's no way the rest of the country would let NYS split in 2 (the extra political clout by having 2 extra senators would prevent it). The ONLY way I could see it happening is if Texas split itself into the 5 entities that were approved apparently back in the 1800's after the war and California split itself into 3 states. That would balance (theoretically) the shift in total D v R in congress. But it would do nothing about the extra senatorial representation; so as stated earlier it'll never happen. :censored: Maybe the next time a Constitutional Convention is due, we could actually HOLD one and reform the state government. Yeah, right. Fixing Albany is even less likely than splitting up. :censored: How about a compromise, since we can't officially split the state - how about we have Albany grant the individual counties the ability to set their own economic policies such that we aren't forced to play by NYC's rules? That way they can still have their rules about trans fat in fast food restaurants and we can have a sensible scaffold law? :wallbash: :wallbash: I can dream right? While I certainly agree that downstate's agenda has been destructive to WNY, hasn't WNY fully bought into this agenda? Has there been any kind of serious reform movement in WNY that has been stymied by downstate? I'm not aware of any WNY movement to reduce taxes, regulation, union domination, etc. or other steps that would make WNY a more attractive location for prospective employers. Buffalo's 2 congressional seats have been held by Democrats for something like 37 and 6 years respectively. Property taxes, which are locally controlled, remain quite high. a buddy of mine posted his facebook status thusly: i heard some rich jerk from manhattan said something less than charitable about buffalo. meh. freeman and shrader have indicated that bloomberg did no more than state facts and that buffalonians should be thicker-skinned. that misses the point. for an independently wealthy mayor of a prosperous megalopolis to take a potshot at a struggling rust-belt city is akin to, say, joe torre at the height of his success with the yankees responding to a question about mistakes he was making with his batting order by saying something like, "the problems we have are bred from our success and incredible talent -- if the fans want to start following the royals, they are welcome to do so. i don't think they want to do that, though." it's a d!ck move, plain and simp -- a bully kicking sand in the face of a wimp -- no, no -- a bully kicking sand in the face of a gimp who's doing what he can to get himself able-bodied. This is certainly a fair point. I would guess that Bloomberg wasn't taking a potshot at Buffalo so much as he was citing Buffalo as an example in order to make a point. I can see why it felt like a potshot though.
That Aud Smell Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 This is certainly a fair point. I would guess that Bloomberg wasn't taking a potshot at Buffalo so much as he was citing Buffalo as an example in order to make a point. I can see why it felt like a potshot though. what are you - some sort of reasonable person?
nfreeman Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 what are you - some sort of reasonable person? No, no -- haven't you been keeping up? I'm an elitist brownshirt intent on stifling reasonable hockey talk! That's just how I roll. Word.
SwampD Posted March 17, 2011 Report Posted March 17, 2011 a buddy of mine posted his facebook status thusly: i heard some rich jerk from manhattan said something less than charitable about buffalo. meh. freeman and shrader have indicated that bloomberg did no more than state facts and that buffalonians should be thicker-skinned. that misses the point. for an independently wealthy mayor of a prosperous megalopolis to take a potshot at a struggling rust-belt city is akin to, say, joe torre at the height of his success with the yankees responding to a question about mistakes he was making with his batting order by saying something like, "the problems we have are bred from our success and incredible talent -- if the fans want to start following the royals, they are welcome to do so. i don't think they want to do that, though." it's a d!ck move, plain and simp -- a bully kicking sand in the face of a wimp -- no, no -- a bully kicking sand in the face of a gimp who's doing what he can to get himself able-bodied. This is certainly a fair point. I would guess that Bloomberg wasn't taking a potshot at Buffalo so much as he was citing Buffalo as an example in order to make a point. I can see why it felt like a potshot though. I still say, meh. He was addressing the people of NYC. That article said he had Manhattan Myopia. Being the Mayor of NYC I would sure hope so. If it was a larger forum that included other cities across the state then maybe i'd have a problem with it. If we just win our own games then we don't have to watch the scoreboard for out-of-town help.
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