Premium Services

In an insightful analysis, the City Journal's Steve Malanga reviews the IBO report on how New York is "The Priciest City" in the country. What Malanga points out, and what most commentators missed, is the extent to which the city's tax burden has grown under Mike, "it's a minor economic issue," Bloomberg.

What's drop dead funny is the fact that the mayor feels that the increased tax burden is necessary in order to provide the "premium" services that New Yorkers clamor for. Now if Mike wasn't so damn rich this kind of statement would likely elicit harsh commentary from a wide range of political leaders. It seems, however, that the Bloomberg net worth is somehow insulating him, and may actually be creating a latent sympathy, because of the fact that a billionaire is defending giving more to the less fortunate.

What is indisputable is that Mayor Mike has done absolutely nothing to make the city more affordable for the middle class homeowner and neighborhood store owner. Nor has he even thought it prudent to look for ways to reinvent government and, in the process, do more with less.

As we have said countless times before, Bloomberg sees the city's citizens as his customers. Providing "premium" services is just another way of keeping the customers happy. The day of reckoning is coming. In all likelihood, however, it will be his successor who will pay the price for his mayoral myopia.