Financial Times (May 26)
Global cities now “drive the world’s economy. The 600 biggest cities account for more than 60 per cent of global gross domestic product. The top 20 are home to one-third of all large corporations, and almost half of their combined revenues. Tokyo leads the pack — in population size, economic punch and number of corporate headquarters — ahead of New York, London and Paris.”
Tags: Cities, Corporations, Economics, Economy, GDP, London, New York, Paris, Population, Revenues, Tokyo
New York Times (April 14)
New York’s new Mayor Bill de Blasio has pledged to abolish horse-drawn carriages. Protecting the animals is exemplary, eliminating them foolhardy. “Carriage horses have a place in New York, a working, workaday city. The de Blasio administration should make every effort to ensure that they are safe and protected. They do not need to be banished.”
Tags: Bill de Blasio, Carriages, Horses, New York, Safety
Chicago Tribune (November 13, 2013)
“It used to be the tallest building in America. It used to be the tallest in the world. It used to be the Sears Tower. Now Chicago’s Willis Tower is second, um, banana to New York’s not-yet-completed One World Trade Center, which was declared tallest in the nation.” And it’s not just Chicago that has lost the skyscraper race. “The U.S. has all but conceded the skyscraper Olympics to cities like Dubai, Taipei, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Eight of the world’s 10 tallest buildings are in the Middle East and Asia. Saudi Arabia’s Kingdom Tower, now under construction, will be 3,281 feet tall.”
Tags: Chicago, Dubai, Hong Kong, New York, One World Trade Center, Saudi Arabia, Sears Tower, Shanghai, Skyscraper, Taipei, Tallest, U.S., Willis Tower
New York Times (October 10)
A study at the University of Hawaii finds that “by 2047, plus or minus five years, the average temperatures in each year will be hotter across most parts of the planet than they had been at those locations in any year between 1860 and 2005.” The researchers calculated the expected “climate departure,” the year when a location exceeds its historic temperature range, as 2046 for Beijing, 2047 for New York and Washington D.C., and 2063 for Moscow. Climate departure will come even earlier for tropical areas.
Tags: Beijing, Climate departure, Moscow, New York, Planet, Temperature, Tropics, University of Hawaii, Washington D.C.
New York Times (March 13)
New Yorkers will still be able to buy their supersized drinks. A court struck down Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ban on large servings of sugary drinks, the day before it was to be enforced. “The big-drinks ban was ill conceived and poorly constructed from the start.” Instead, the Mayor should work to “impose a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary drinks. Just as taxes helped cut the use of cigarettes, taxes could help cut the public’s indulgence in high-calorie, giant drinks.”
Tags: Ban, Bloomberg, Calories, Cigarettes, New York, Supersized, Tax
Boston Herald (February 10)
“From Maine to Connecticut, snowbound New Englanders began the back-breaking job of digging out from as much as 3 feet of powder yesterday.” Heavy snow and gusty winds from blizzard Nemo left about 650,000 homes without power. New York City was spared the worst of the storm. A few places set snowfall records, among them Portland, Maine with 31.9 inches.
USA Today (December 18)
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg writes, “The slaughter of 20 innocent children and the six adults who tried to save them in Newtown, Conn., marked a turning point in our national consciousness…. There is no looking away from the murdered children at the Sandy Hook Elementary School. There is no ignoring the anguish felt by their parents and by the families…. And there is no escaping the fact that we must do more to protect our communities from gun violence.”
Tags: Bloomberg, Gun violence, New York, Newtown, Sandy Hook
Bloomberg (November 2)Bloomberg (November 2)
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, endorsed Democratic President Obama. Obama’s position on climate change was a major factor in the endorsement. “Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be – given this week’s devastation – should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent, endorsed Democratic President Obama. Obama’s position on climate change was a major factor in the endorsement. “Our climate is changing. And while the increase in extreme weather we have experienced in New York City and around the world may or may not be the result of it, the risk that it might be – given this week’s devastation – should compel all elected leaders to take immediate action.”
Tags: Bloomberg, Climate change, Extreme weather, New York, Obama
New York Times (October 31)
“Still hobbled by power outages and waterlogged transit, the New York region struggled to return to the rhythms of daily life on Wednesday, while facing the reality of a prolonged and daunting period of recovery.” Both the NYSE and NASDAQ are scheduled to resume trading with Mayor Michael Bloomberg scheduled to “open the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday morning after a two-day closure, the first for weather-related reasons since 1888.”
Time (September 13)
“On Thursday the New York City Health Department became the first in the nation to ban the sale of sugared beverages larger than 16 oz. at restaurants, mobile food carts, sports arenas and movie theaters.” Mayor Bloomberg was a strong proponent of the ban. Despite many objections, the health board is “convinced that banning mega-sized drinks would be an important step toward helping consumers not only to drink fewer calories, but also hopefully to make healthier changes to their diet more broadly.”
Tags: Calories, Diet, Drink ban, Health Dept., New York
