Bloomberg visits Jamaica Estates

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and commissioners for various city agencies appeared in front of a gracious audience of Jamaica Estates residents at Young Israel of Jamaica Estates, this past week.
The mayor addressed problems relevant to Jamaica Estates and the surrounding neighborhoods. He talked about preserving the character and fabric of the community in the face of confusing zoning laws, illegal dwellings and developers.
“I want to make sure our current building code laws are enforced,” said Bloomberg. “The NYC Department of Buildings will be sending one of their 39 Queens buildings inspectors to civic meetings each month to investigate possible violations, stop inappropriate work and focus on specific areas targeted by builders.”
“There are a handful of people throughout the city who are doing a lot of bad things,” added Patricia J. Lancaster, Commissioner of the Department of Buildings.
Mayor Bloomberg also spoke strongly about citywide issues like education and taxes. He expressed his desire to reinstitute vocational programs in high schools citing the need to offer alternatives to children who do not wish to further their education through college. He also stressed that the success of the New York City Public School system rests on everyone’s back regardless of whether you have any children in the system or not.
“We have to make sure schools teach kids the skills they need to get the jobs of today,” Bloomberg said. “We must get young kids the jobs that will teach them how to work. These kids are the voters and law makers of tomorrow.”
According to the Mayor’s Office, the highly anticipated landscaping project on the grass malls along Midland Parkway is slated to begin next month; a project Bloomberg said was made possible by necessary city taxes.
“Taxes make city services like 311, nyc.gov, and the Midland Park landscaping project possible,” stated Bloomberg. “There are 300,000 city workers who need to be paid and my job is to make sure this is done efficiently. We are not going to borrow and leave the bill for our children. We are going to pay for it now.”