Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg addressed the World Bank Employees on “Building Better Cities: New York's Experience in Urban Transformation” at World Bank's Urban Sector Day. He said they should be proud of the difference they were making to society. For the first time in human history, he said, most of the world's population is in cities as opposed to urban areas.

There are major responsibilities, he said, because of the economic, social, and environmental consequences of “explosive urban growth.” He said that now we are faced with the challenges of providing people with the health and social services that they need. He said he would explain his formula used with New York City as an example of how to effect changes on a larger scale in the world.

He brought the audience's attention back to 9/11, saying that many people believed that New York's “days of greatness were numbered.” He said that there had been predictions that residents and businesses would leave, the economy would never recover, crime would take over, and that they were on an “irreversible downward spiral of decline.” However, he said, there are four values that are universal and can (and should) be transferred to other parts of the world. First, there is using the forces of immigration and globalization, second, tapping the “power of innovation,” third, instituting accountable governance, and fourth to have the independence to take on 'entrenched interests' when they stand in the way of progress.

Bloomberg said that he believed that some of our national leaders are turning their backs on what he calls his “formula for success.” He says that if they insist on turning away the best and the brightest by protecting jobs instead of promoting them, then the economic problems we are facing in the United States will be here for a long time.

He asked a question to the world: “Do we reap the benefits of globalization and address its difficulties honestly or do we scapegoat globalization and turn away its benefits?” He went on to say that he believed that we should be working to bring the benefits of globalization not only in the United States but in cities around the world.

New York City, Bloomberg said, holds the title of 'America's safest big city.' New York holds the that title because they have been mapping crime trends and then sending police officers to where the crime is specifically based. In New York, he said, many would say that more money is the solution to any problem, but, it is possible to do more with less.

Bloomberg said is it important to make decisions based on the merits of the decision, not based on polls or partisanship. A good example, he said, is how New York City has been very pro-active against smoking. They raised cigarette taxes, made public information campaigns, increased smoking cessation programs, and outlawed smoking in all public places. An area of political independence, and a willingness to fight the 'vested interest,' has really paid off by the results they've seen with reduced smoking and better health for New York City's citizens.

“Globalization, innovation, accountable governance, independent leadership,” he said again, are the four values that should be fostered in cities around the world. “Every generation, in its own way,” he said, “faces the challenge of enlarging the realm of human happiness and opening up new vistas of human possibility.”

At the press conference immediately following the presentation, Mayor Bloomberg answered questions. In response to a question about how to translate crime reduction successes in New York City to other parts of the world, Bloomberg said to take the policies and allocate resources to “problem places” with “problem people.” The politics is usually to put them “where people scream the loudest.” The police represent the community, he said, so the makeup of the police department should match the demographics of the population. You want to make sure that the person feels that the police officer understands you because of who you are, he said.