Two of Mayor Bloomberg‘s crucial voting bases got some transit-related relief this month, just as his controversial campaign for a third term heats up.
The city agreed to change the headache-causing alternate-side parking rules for Riverdale residents, cutting the number of street-sweeping days in half. And Staten Island express-bus riders found out that a possible $2.50 fare hike will be, at most, $1.25, compliments of the mayor.
Both Riverdale and Staten Island heavily favored Bloomberg in his contentious 2005 race against Fernando Ferrer.
“He needs to be sure people aren’t angry at city government in this current economic climate with an election upcoming,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause, New York. “He doesn’t want to tick people off.”
In 2005, Bloomberg obliterated his opponent on Staten Island with more than 60,000 of about 90,000 ballots going his way.
Riverdale and its nearby neighborhoods, on the other hand, were some of the only Bronx areas where Bloomberg was able to eke out a win in the same election.
Anthony Cassino, the former chairman of Community Board 8 representing Riverdale, said the board submitted its alternate-side parking proposal to the city about a year ago and before talk of Bloomberg’s third run.
The parking change is also being considered for Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill, the city Department of Sanitation said. Those Brooklyn neighborhoods also favored Bloomberg in the past election.