Juan Gonzalez Reports Bloomberg Is Racing Against Clock To Get Midtown East Torn Down For His Real Estate Cronies

The Times reported the other day that Bloomberg is racing against the clock to complete his "legacy" and get the city completely remade before his Reign of Error finally ends:

The mayor appears increasingly preoccupied with his legacy, and recently hired two public relations advisers — a former Times editor, Arthur Pincus, and a former television reporter, Andrew Kirtzman — to shape the public perception of the Bloomberg era. 

Asked on Monday if he was concerned that a drawn-out legal battle over the soda limits could spill into the administration of a successor who does not favor them, Mr. Bloomberg, sounding a bit irked, muttered, “All of our time is running out,” before saying, “I don’t know who is going to be my successor.”

One piece of unfinished business for the mayor is getting some more of the city torn down, rezoned and made into a tax giveaway for his real estate buddies.

Juan Gonzalez reports he's working on that problem, however:

New York’s priciest business district — and one of the most iconic on the planet — will go on steroids, if City Hall gets its way.

Mayor Bloomberg is racing before he leaves office to rezone more than 70 blocks of midtown between E. 39th and E. 57th Sts.

His proposal, avidly backed by the real estate industry, would allow property owners in and around Grand Central Terminal and along Madison and Park Aves. to demolish their buildings and replace them with a raft of new skyscrapers — some nearly as tall as the Empire State Building.

The plan would literally transform Manhattan’s skyline while adding tens of thousands of commuters to an area where transit stations are already strained to capacity.

That’s why community leaders keep asking: Why the hurry to approve this before the next mayor comes in?

“The future of New York is too valuable to be rushed for political timetables,” said Wally Rubin, district manager of Manhattan Community Board 5.

“The rezoning of Hudson Yards (on Manhattan’s far West Side) took five years of public discussion,” Rubin said. “This is far bigger and even more important.”

Nothing is more important than a Bloomberg vanity project.

We know that Bloomberg is consumed by his "legacy" and we know that he sees all the rezoning and rebuilding that has gone on in the city during his 12 year Reign of Error as a big part of that legacy.

Clearly they want to rush this rezoning plan through before he leaves office as the crowning achievement of the Rezone/Rebuild program.

Who cares if the transit system can't handle the new commuters to the area?

This is about Bloomberg's legacy!

Nothing matters more than that.

And besides, haven't all the other rezoning plans worked out for the city?

I mean, it's not like Bloomberg has ever been wrong about his rezoning plans and how they're always a windfall for the city and its taxpayers, right?