[Marxism] A tale of two cities

[Louis Proyect]

NY February 18, 2009
Despite U.S. Offer, City Stands Firm on Food Stamps
By JULIE BOSMAN

A provision in President Obama’s stimulus package, extending food stamp 
benefits for able-bodied adults, has revived a dispute in New York City 
between Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and advocates for the poor.

The provision overturns a 1996 rule limiting able-bodied adults who have 
no dependents to three months of food stamps in a three-year period. But 
the Bloomberg administration said on Tuesday that nothing had changed 
and that it was not obligated to extend benefits to anyone not enrolled 
in the Work Experience Program, a workfare program that provides 
temporary jobs, usually in city agencies.

While cities and states are allowed under the stimulus provision to 
require participation in such workfare programs, advocates for the poor 
decried the policy as unwise and counterproductive, particularly as the 
recession swells the ranks of the jobless who need help buying groceries.

“They are wasting city funds to force people to do sometimes ‘make-work’ 
jobs in order to get fully funded federal benefits,” said Joel Berg, the 
executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger.

“Saying that in order to get a measly portion of food you have to work 
extra hours just doesn’t seem like a way to promote economic growth and 
promote self-sufficiency,” he added.

---


NY Times, February 25, 2009
Bloomberg Buys Out Neighbors on East 79th St.
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s town house at 17 East 79th Street is the 
epitome of Upper East Side elegance: five stories of flawless Beaux-Arts 
limestone with 7,500 square feet of exquisite living space, all within 
steps of Central Park.

But for the mayor, it seems, the house has been a bit cramped.

Over the past two decades, in transactions that have gone all but 
unnoticed, Mr. Bloomberg has been buying up space in the building next 
door, knocking down walls and combining two entire floors along the way. 
He now owns four of the six apartments at 19 East 79th Street, a white 
1880 neo-Grec co-op town house.

The additions have made his home far roomier, giving him an estimated 
12,500 square feet of living space; it would probably fetch more than 
$30 million, even in the current down market.

“You’re talking about a really extraordinary space,” said Jacky 
Teplitzky, a prominent Upper East Side broker, when told of the 
expansion. “It’s really a mansion, not a town house anymore.”