Economist.com Cities Guide: New York Briefing - June 2005

News this month

Cutting the queues

Michael Bloomberg, New York's mayor, certainly curried favour with some women by recently signing a “potty parity” bill. The law will require new and renovated public buildings—such as theatres, cinemas, sport stadiums, concert halls and bars—to have twice as many toilets for women as for men. (A 1984 law had foolishly enforced equal numbers.) Venue owners are allowed to circumvent the law by making their bathrooms unisex.

The law will not apply to municipal buildings, restaurants, schools or hospitals, where long lines are less a problem. The mayor quipped that the bill will not only ease the lives of women, but also “reduce waiting-around time for their male companions”.

An 11th hour defeat

A state panel rejected the proposed Olympic stadium, even as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said the stadium's uncertain fate was the lone detail hampering the city's bid to host the 2012 Games. The panel was comprised of representatives for Sheldon Silver, the state city assembly speaker, George Pataki, New York's governor, and Joseph Bruno, the state majority leader. Unanimous approval was necessary to secure $300m in state subsidies for the $2.2 billion project, but only Mr Pataki voted yes. Mr Silver said the stadium and the surrounding commercial development (all on Manhattan's West Side) would have undermined redevelopment of Lower Manhattan, his district.

Mr Bloomberg, the Olympic bid's most visible advocate, argued that the 75,000-seat stadium would have created jobs and revived a derelict area. It was meant to be the new home of the New York Jets, an American football team, and the venue for the 2010 Super Bowl. But all is not lost: in an effort to salvage the city's Olympics bid, the mayor has announced a last-ditch effort to create a new stadium in Queens for the Mets, a baseball team, which would be converted for Olympics use in the event the city is selected. The IOC will announce the winning Olympic bid on July 6th.

Many like Mike

Though the defeat of the West Side stadium proposal dealt a major blow, Mayor Bloomberg is enjoying a surge in popularity. A recent poll (administered by NY1, a local television news station, and Newsday, a regional newspaper) shows his approval ratings have jumped in the past few weeks, from 48% in March to around 60% now. Mr Bloomberg, a Republican who is running for re-election this year, is doing well across all ethnic and age groups. He would purportedly beat Fernando Ferrer, the leading Democratic candidate, 46% to 39%. In March it was almost the reverse, 49% to 35%, in favour of Mr Ferrer.

Mr Bloomberg has been helped by the city's improving safety: it is the safest big city in America and it is becoming even safer, according to recent statistics. Over the past four years, the murder rate in the city declined 12%, compared to less than 1% nationally. Meanwhile, city public-school tests show that at least half of the city's elementary-school students performed at or above grade level in reading and mathematics. The mayor claims this proves his education reforms are working.

Let the final race begin

Doug Forrester, a former mayor of West Windsor, New Jersey, has taken the Republican nomination to run as New Jersey's governor, ending a heated contest between seven candidates. Though the state was flooded with advertising—one candidate spent more than $5m on television alone—turnout was light. Mr Forrester will face Jon Corzine, a New Jersey senator and former head of Goldman Sachs, in the election in November. Both candidates have promised property tax relief in New Jersey, which currently has the highest property taxes in the nation. This is the first race for governor since James McGreevey resigned in November 2004, following his announcement he had an extramarital affair with a man while in office. New Jersey and Virginia are the only two governor's races being decided this year.

Trumped up

Just days after George Pataki, New York's governor, announced that the rebuilding of the World Trade Centre was to be delayed because of security concerns, Donald Trump, a property tycoon, seized the moment to make his own announcement. He wants to rebuild the Twin Towers with one extra story, dismissing the 1776-foot Freedom Tower as pretentious. The “Twin Towers II” was designed by Kenneth Gardner and Hebert Belton, architects who worked on the original World Trade Centre.

But it is a little late for Mr Trump to speak out on the matter. At the very least, his idea seems like a bit of wishful thinking, or self-promotion, neatly tied to his new reality-television series. However, Mr Trump's comments do highlight growing discontent with the Freedom Tower—both its plan and the lack of progress. A new, safer design for the tower is to be unveiled in late June. Some say the area would be better suited for more housing, rather than more office-space and retail buildings.

Catch if you can

June 2005

“Hurlyburly”

Until July 2nd 2005

David Rabe’s play, which premiered in 1984, has lost none of its bite. His story of a handful of ambitious, narcissistic nihilists toiling on Hollywood's fringes is being revived off-Broadway with a stellar cast. Ethan Hawke leads as Eddie, a blurry, coke-snorting casting agent, whose pyrotechnic use of language outpaces his ability to communicate. He shares a seedy bachelor pad with his roommate Mickey (Josh Hamilton), a fellow casting agent with a bracing moustache and feline manner. Eddie's reckless search for meaning leads to friendship with a macho loose-cannon (Bobby Cannavale), a fraught relationship with a solipsistic photographer (Parker Posey), and a passive-aggressive closeness with an older show-business hack with a bad toupee (Wallace Shawn). Much of the show is filled with fast-paced, messy and often powerful dialogue. The momentum is startling—after all the drama, it is a shock to discover that the play is over three hours.

Though the characters are tremendously—often comically—flawed, their struggles summon pathos, and their often unbearable conversations reveal a bald sincerity. Mr Rabe’s writing is remarkable, but the actors here bring his words to life. Most impressive is Mr Hawke, whose astonishing performance belies his pretty-boy reputation on the big screen.

37 Arts, 450 W 37th St (and 10th Ave). Tel: +1 (212) 307-4100. For tickets, see Ticketmaster’s website. For more information, see the New Group’s website.

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