Bloomberg plan good for Island
Friday, May 25, 2007
The days when New York City sneezed and Long Island caught a cold are over, but there remain important symbiotic links.
One is clearly the environment, and Mayor Bloomberg’s visionary PlaNYC offers the potential for significant good for all of us. All told, it covers 127 recommendations dealing with land use, transportation, air and water quality, open space, energy, housing and climate change. It calls for action at a pace that would have winded even Robert Moses.
Of particular interest to Long Island is a goal to reduce the amount of soot produced in the city by 40 percent, and greatly lower the sewerage pumped into the Hudson and the Long Island Sound. The plan’s transportation goals would also boost projects connecting the city to the suburbs, including the Long Island Rail Road’s East Side Access and the vital third track, which could markedly decrease LIE traffic and resulting pollution.
PlaNYC has varying degrees of support from more than 80 groups representing everything from business and labor to public health and religion – organizations whose leaders usually don’t break bread together, much less match stride.
Since we will undoubtedly be asked to help share the cost in some way, Bloomberg should also quickly get support from Long Island groups and officials, beginning with our county executives – who should have a keen interest.
While we may no longer be a direct part of the city’s economy, we are inseparably linked to its transportation, labor and energy systems, and we share both water and air. Here’s a chance to plan the future together.

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