Mayor Bloomberg waltzed into the Polonaise Terrace ballroom last Thursday night for a bureaucrat’s version of a polish wedding: Hizzoner’s first town hall meeting in Greenpoint.
Hundreds of Greenpointers and Billyburgers were eager to hear the mayor describe what his agencies are doing — and planning — for their rapidly changing neighborhoods.
And in return, the mayor heard an earful on topics ranging from better management of willy-nilly re-development and rezoning to affordable housing for senior citizens to the poor service on the state-controlled G train. He took it all in, deferring to his commissioners repeatedly, and most of the locals seemed to appreciate his appearance.
“You pay my salary,” he said, explaining why he was so eager to hear the locals’ complaints. When someone in the audience pointed out that the mayor’s salary is only a dollar a year, Bloomberg made a correction.
“It’s 93 cents actually,” he joked. “They take six cents for FICA and a penny for Medicaid. And I’ve never cashed one, I’ve got all five framed.”
All joking aside, here’s what was on the mayor’s menu at the Polonaise Terrace on Oct. 4:
