New York Politics

There's little doubt that Mayor Bill DeBlasio is one of the more socially concerned chief executives, including David Dinkins, that the Big Apple has seen in decades. Some of his recent moves have raised a few eyebrows and led people to question what is going on.

There was his effort to kill of the horse-drawn carriage trade and make the drivers Green Cabbies. With opposition he watered the proposal down to reduce the number of carriages, open a stable in Central Park and do a victory dance. That was cut off at the pass as well. Too many visitors to New York, the majority of the carriage riders, were out-of-towners who looked forward to a ride through city streets and the wilds of Central Park.

Now, aside from San Francisco, New York City is arguably the most tolerant municipality in the United States when it comes to accepting gay, lesbian and transgender citizens. The transition of Bruce Jenner to Caitlin came about with surprisingly little comment or controversy.

That being said, Hizzoner's latest move could stir a bit of discussion, if not controversy. By executive order he has declared all rest rooms in government buildings to be basically gender free. Whichever gender you identify with, that's the stall, urinal or whatever, you can use. This is sure to reduce waiting lines at the theater, ball park and Madison Square Garden…and raise a couple of eyebrows at the same time.

Counter point:

However, like San Francisco, under DiBlasio's tenure NYC has seen a 10% surge in homeless people.  If you ever see a single empty car during rush hour- be sure to avoid it as it is probably doubling as a bedroom for a pungent homeless rider.  And if you take the subway at night, unlike the public buses that run 24 hours, they are filled with sleeping homeless people.  So instead of focusing on non gender toilets or eliminating horse drawn carriages DiBlasio should be focusing on improving the riding experience for the millions of MTA riders who are often adversely affected by rerouting, train delays, and vagrants.

Let us know how you feel about DiBlasio's regime.  Please post your comments or email michaelt@resident.com