Mayor Blasts Bush's Proposed Cuts To Federal Department of Housing

WASHINGTON - Sounding more like a denizen of Capitol Hill than the occupant of City Hall, Mayor Bloomberg yesterday criticized the Bush administration's proposed cuts to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, outlined a plan for the rebuilding of New Orleans, and denounced the atmosphere of partisanship in Washington.

Delivering the keynote address at the National Low-Income Housing Coalition's annual policy conference, Mr. Bloomberg used most of his remarks to tout his proposals to spend billions of city taxpayer dollars on subsidized housing for about 500,000 New Yorkers. He also promoted his five-year plan to "end chronic homelessness" in the city.

In addition to highlighting the "threat that illegal firearms pose to all our citizens," Mr. Bloomberg faulted the nation's lawmakers for "the intensely partisan environment that permeates and all too often paralyzes Washington, D.C." He added, "At the local level, we don't have the luxury of pursuing ideological purity to the exclusion of getting results." An "ideological" insistence on an exclusively private-sector approach to housing, the Republican mayor said after his speech, would be a "terrible mistake."

Government provision of "affordable housing" is necessary at the federal level, too, Mr. Bloomberg told a receptive audience, saying he was "urging congressional leaders to reject the proposed shortsighted cuts to HUD's budget."

"We need federal partnership in affordable housing. It is without a doubt a matter of social justice," the mayor said, advocating the creation of a $1 billion "National Housing Trust Fund" created "using a tiny fraction of profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac."

Mr. Bloomberg also focused on the rebuilding of New Orleans and recommended that the Crescent City follow New York's example of disaster recovery and Mr. Bloomberg's own housing policies.

Despite waxing national in his remarks, the mayor denied during a discussion with reporters after his speech that he was seeking higher office at the state or national level.