New York Desk

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

CITYWIDE


MAYOR SAYS MTA HAS NOT JUSTIFIED FARE INCREASE


Mayor Bloomberg blasted the MTA board yesterday, saying they hadn’t done enough analysis to “justify a fare increase.” The MTA proposed a $6 increase in the $70 monthly unlimited ride MetroCards and a $3 increase in the $21 weekly passes. It also proposed a 50-cent increase in tunnel tolls and a $2 increase in the $4 fare for express buses, among other price hikes. The MTA said the increases would fill a $436 million budget gap in 2005 and has said that it would hold a single public hearing, instead of multiple hearings in the five boroughs, to pave the way for the increase.


“It seems to me we’re jumping to the conclusion that we have to have a fare increase,” the mayor told reporters in Brooklyn yesterday. He added that even if a fare increase was warranted, one hearing would not be enough discussion of the issue.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


CITY REACHES DEAL FOR RECYCLING PROGRAM


City officials yesterday unveiled an agreement with a major scrap metal processor that would guarantee the city a curbside recycling program for the next 20 years.


Mayor Bloomberg and the city’s sanitation chief, John Doherty, said yesterday the Hugo Neu Corporation, one of the nation’s largest scrap metal processors, will build a new recycling plant in Brooklyn.


“In August, about 17% of the waste stream was recycled,” Mr. Doherty told reporters in Sunset Park yesterday at a ceremony to unveil the plan. “The goal is 25%, but that’s very difficult.”


The new $25 million facility would create 160 construction jobs and 100 permanent jobs in the neighborhood. Construction is slated to begin in early 2006 and will be completed in late 2007. Hugo Neu will pick up the tab, Mayor Bloomberg said.


The long-term contract with the company will lower the city’s cost for processing metal, glass, and plastic recycling to $48 a ton, $59 less per ton than the $107 the city was facing when it suspended recycling two years ago. The contract will cost the city about $16 million a year – a $20 million a year savings over what it was paying before it suspended recycling two years ago.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun


STATEWIDE


POLL: VOTERS PREFER GIULIANI, CLINTON OVER PATAKI


When it comes to possible White House campaigns by Republicans in 2008, New York voters prefer Mayor Giuliani over Governor Pataki, a statewide poll reported yesterday.


The poll, from the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, also found that New York’s other potential 2008 presidential contender, Senator Clinton, a Democrat, trails Mr. Giuliani among New York voters, but leads Mr. Pataki.


In the Quinnipiac poll, 59% of voters favored Mr. Giuliani over Mr. Pataki while 19% sided with the three-term governor. Among Republican voters, Mr. Giuliani’s standing was even stronger with 71% favoring him and 21% opting for Mr. Pataki. The poll had Mr. Giuliani beating Mrs. Clinton, 50% to 43%, with the former first lady topping Mr. Pataki, 51% to 41%. The convention did appear to give Mr. Pataki a little bounce, as his approval rating was at 49% in the new poll, up from 44% in an August poll from Quinnipiac.


– Associated Press


BLOOMBERG CRITICIZES PRESIDENT ON WEAPONS BAN


Mayor Bloomberg took aim at President Bush and other lawmakers yesterday, chastising them for not doing enough to ensure the assault weapons ban remained on the books.


“These guns are designed to kill as many people as they can as quickly as possible. That’s the only purpose for these guns,” Mr. Bloomberg told reporters in Brooklyn yesterday. “But it’s a disgrace that we are going to allow guns to be sold on the streets. And I think the president can do more. I think the majority leaders of the House and the minority leaders in the House and the Senate can do more. And I think every congressman and every senator has a responsibility to stand up.”


New York State has an assault weapons ban that remains in force, but that doesn’t prevent would-be criminals from buying guns elsewhere and bringing them into New York. The 10-year-old assault weapons ban expired Monday at midnight.


– Staff Reporter of the Sun

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NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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