Mayor Wows The Crowd At Civic Meeting

 
Expressing optimism about the future in this "wonderful city" with plummeting crime rates and a dynamic housing market, Mayor Michael Bloomberg spoke Tuesday night to a standing-room-only crowd at a Bayside Hills Civic Association meeting.With people sitting and standing in the basement of the Colonial Church of Bayside, Bloomberg addressed issues ranging from education and school construction to building code enforcement and church zoning dilemmas.
Impressing many with quick answers and action, Bloomberg and his staff reacted to neighborhood issues promptly.
"I say what I think, Im too old to fudge answers," he said, adding, "but there are no easy answers."
When Bloomberg did not know the answers, he redirected questions to his staff. When an urgent question about the Oakland Ravine Project was raised, the mayor said hed meet with the Department of Environmental Protection and the Department of Transportation the next day.
He candidly admitted, "whether you like the answer or not, at least youll get an answer."
After the issue of a synagogue being sold to build a new school and property owners being solicited to sell their adjoining homes, Deputy Mayor for Policy, Dennis Walcott, slipped out and went to his car to set up a meeting between residents and the school construction authority regarding their concerns.
"I was very impressed with the straight talk the mayor offered and his knowledge of the issues," said Ronnie Keil of Keil Brothers Garden Center, a board member of the Bayside Hills Civic Association.
After the meeting, similar sentiments could be heard around the room by those who were not already crowded around Bloomberg.
"I couldnt stand him for dirt, [but] the guy won me over," said a civic leader who attended the meeting. "Im a Democrat, and now hes got my support."
Those with questions about over-development learned the mayors dilemma about balancing job creation and housing growth with preserving neighborhood character.
John Young, borough director of city planning, provided an overview of 12 ongoing zoning studies in Queens. In one of those studies, 340 blocks in Bayside are being evaluated. After residents are consulted, he said, in the coming months, proposed changes in the zoning laws will be made.
"Bayside is a dynamic, hot market," Young said, "and the character of the neighborhood must be preserved."
Education was a major issue raised by civic members.
Bloomberg said in response to a question posed by a teacher concerned about class size that to reduce class size more schools need to be built. To build more schools, the city needs more money, but he added a caveat, residents do not want to pay more taxes for the funding.
Meanwhile, improving schools, the mayor repeated, is his mission.
"We have a lot of kids who God didnt deal a good hand to," he said, stressing that a good education is key to every childs future.
Whatever the problems with the schools, the mayor said they have 55,000 resumes for teacher positions and only 6,000 to 7,000 openings.
"I think were going in the right direction," Bloomberg said to the audience. "It isnt easy."
In another matter, Bloomberg said he believed homeowners will get the promised $400 rebate in the budget. He said he received a commitment from Governor George Pataki, State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and State Senate Leader Joseph Bruno.
"This is a wonderful city and were better off than any city in the world," Bloomberg said. "I want to make sure that our municipal workers are well paid, that we work together and we learn to tolerate each other. The world is changing and we have to change with it."