Third time’s a charm

Bloomberg and term limits

Whether we like him or not (and about half the city doesn’t, it turns out), Mayor Michael Bloomberg is back for four more years.

In many ways his successful bid to extend term limits and extravagant reelection campaign was the biggest story of the year. And it almost didn’t work, remember.

To overturn two 1990’s-era voter referendums establishing term limits, Bloomberg had to convince the City Council to approve a special term limits extension. A large and vocal group of council members opposed the measure. In the end, it passed in late 2008 by a narrow margin of 29-22.

That set the stage for this year’s gritty, outsized mayoral election, itself a referendum of sorts on mayoral control, development policy and other hallmarks of the Bloomberg years. To make sure he could beat Comptroller William Thompson, the mayor started spending. And then spending some more.

By the time he was through mailboxes and street corners from Ridgewood to Red Hook were flooded with glossy campaign advertisements and the mayor set a new national record for spending in a municipal election.

Yet for all his money, Bloomberg only won reelection by five-points, upending election-day polls predicting a lopsided, double-digit victory. The results pointed to voter unease over a range of issues from education to overdevelopment to the city’s struggling economy- the very thing Bloomberg argued he would fix if reelected.

Now that’s looking like a pretty tall order. The city is facing a budget deficit in the billions, an unemployment rate of 10 percent (and higher in lower-income communities), not to mention an under-funded mass transit system, stalled construction projects galore- the list goes on and on.

In short, Bloomberg has his work cut out for him. Be careful what you wish for, Mr. Mayor. This last term could be the hardest of all.

Gowanus Canal cleanup

A Super solution

Nobody could have predicted the uproar to come when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced plans to already started a study.

The announcement, made back in April, unleashed a firestorm of epic proportions amongst residents living in neighborhoods surrounding the notoriously polluted, foul-smelling industrial waterway.

While many people and a host of elected officials favored a federal cleanup from the start, the Bloomberg Administration did not. What followed was a battle between the city and feds for the rights to take on a several-hundred-million-dollar project.

The EPA's plan- to clean the canal's contaminated sediment- would take a little over ten years to finish, and cost over $300 million in funds raised primarily from polluting companies along the canal like Consolidated Edison and National Grid.

The city's Superfund Alternative proposal would ostensibly take less time, and build on the Bloomberg Administration's previous, $175 million commitment to improving conditions at the canal.

It appears that the EPA will win this one. Though the agency has not officially placed the site on its Superfund list as of yet, expect that announcement to be made in the early months of 2010.

The EPA has already started a study to determine the exact level of contaminants in the canal, in order to formulate a plan of attack.

Whether it takes as little as ten or twelve years, or as many as twenty or more, it looks as if the canal will finally get the cleaning it deserves.

Atlantic Yards (again)

Busy year for Brooklyn's biggest mess

Is it us or does the controversial Atlantic Yards mega project make this list every year?

It will probably continue to do so, until Lebron James or some other basketball star christens the new arena with its first buzzer-beating bucket. Of course, if the project's opponents have their way, that day will never come.

Welcome to the recurring nightmare that is Atlantic Yards, Bruce Ratner's ambitious plan to bring a basketball arena and mixed-use apartment buildings to a 22-acre site in Prospect Heights.

This year Bruce Ratner fired his starchitect Frank Gehry, ditched one design for the arena, and another one, before finally settling on a glitzy but not completely over-the-top design.

Meanwhile, the project faced several lawsuits. Decisions on two are still pending but, importantly, the state's highest court upheld a ruling allowing for the use of eminent domain to condemn property for the project.

That decision seemed to pave the way for Atlantic Yards to move forward, and in the month of December Ratner quickly sold over $500 million in tax-exempt bonds to pay for the arena. Now, however, a state senator has called that sale into question.

The project remains in limbo at the close of yet another year, though signs point towards a ground breaking ceremony in the near future.

Racing for the 33rd

Council campaign craziness

Outgoing Councilman David Yassky's failed bid for Comptroller opened his 33rd Council District seat to any and all comers, and half of Brooklyn applied for the job.

Well, not quite, but it felt that way at times as a full roster of seven candidates vied for the opportunity to represent the sprawling, diverse district, which stretches from Greenpoint in North Brooklyn, through Downtown Brooklyn and all the way south into Park Slope.

(Pop quiz: can you name all seven? Answer: Councilman-elect Stephen Levin, Jo Anne Simon, Evan Thies, Doug Biviano, Isaac Abraham, Ken Diamondstone and Ken Baer).

The race was entertaining if for no other reason than the fact that all the candidates agreed on nearly every major issue, from slowing overdevelopment to cleaning the Gowanus Canal. Absent serious policy differences, the hard-fought race came down to political experience and effective campaigning.

Ken Baer was everywhere. Jo Anne Simon, the runner-up, was and remains a formidable presence. Outsider Doug Biviano rocked the boat, capturing attention for an unusual campaign that featured an in-person endorsement from Congressman Dennis Kucinich.

But in the end Levin, the former chief of staff to Assemblyman Vito Lopez, built the best ground game and carried the race by a full ten points (though he was elected with just 33 percent of the overall vote).

The enthusiasm surrounding the race pointed to the simple truth that after eight years of Yassky, people were more than eager for a fresh face at City Hall. Now they have one in Levin.

In an equally heated 39th Council District race, Councilman-elect Brad Lander beat five talented opponents running for outgoing Councilman and Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio's seat.

Lander, a longtime force in neighborhoods from Park Slope to Carroll Gardens, ran an unusually polished, well-organized campaign. Expect him to hit the ground running at City Hall.

Council member Letitia James was also re-elected to serve her second full term representing the 35th District.

A park grows in Brooklyn

At work on the Brooklyn Bridge Park

When Brooklyn Bridge Park is completed, the mixed-use, 85-acre waterfront open space could be the most spectacular park in New York City, according to Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe.

For the past several months, however, and into the new year, residents and elected officials alike will continue fighting the city's plan to place residential and commercial buildings inside the park, the city and state will keep wrangling for control of the project and the park itself will remain woefully underfunded (to the tune of $120 million).

That's the bad news.

The good news, depending on who you ask, is that parts of the park will actually open to the public soon. Indeed, this year has seen the project's slow but steady transformation from the design phase to construction.

Progress has been closely watched by community groups and residents of neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO who have advocated for a waterfront park for decades, and that won't likely change as construction continues in 2010.