McCain’s East River Tour

In anticipation of John McCain’s trip to our hometown, the Democratic Party has released this cute map outlining the areas where he has failed to provide for the city’s infrastructure. (Via the Albany Project)

 

 

Although the campaign did not respond to requests for comment, it might be noted that the Republican candidate has positioned himself as a fierce opponent of government waste, and a major source for this flier is the Citizens Against Government Waste’s “Pig Book.”

Indeed, a McCain advisor says, as quoted by Time Magazine, “I haven’t seen public data on this, so let me not elaborate for the moment, but a huge majority of people, [about] 75 percent think the federal government spends too much and wastes a lot of money. Ask them about pork barrel projects that’s the biggest number of all.”

In fact, voting against some of the projects mentioned in this flier certainly seems defensible. The case the party makes for McCain’s failure to provide for the Brooklyn Bridge? These earmarks actually have nothing to do with the bridge itself. One is a $300,000 grant for a youth program at the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. The other is a $1 million grant for a study of the Brooklyn Bridge Park.

But there are other items here that may not be so easy to shrug off as waste. The Arizona Senator has repeatedly denied funding for the repair of sea walls for the East River. According to a memo from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to Rep. Carolyn Maloney, who sought funds to repair Queens seawalls which protect the likes of parks and subways, the city’s seawalls are typically in a state of deterioration.

“The age-old problem for people living near water, is that eventually the water has an impact on the land – in some places it’s flooding, in some places, like Venice, the entire city starts to sink,” said Maloney. “In New York, we have to maintain our seawalls.” More info

Gotham Gazette