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> Soldiers on food stamps is because they use their money to take out loans for cars. Another perfect example of government incompetence

How is that government incompetence and not individual incompetence.

This was the Interborough Parkway.

I’m sure

Really sad thing... Ask yourself how many people touched this project either from a design or graphics perspective and no-one caught the mistake or actually gave a shit enough to correct it. Big gov't rides again. Just keep spending $$$ and focus on anything other than what is important.

Do contact NYPD.

Definitely not!

It's not about going from 1.6 trillion to zero. It's about going from 1.6 trillion to 1.3 trillion (a loss of $300 billion) because the government couldn't bother to invest $3 billion. That's plausible if the MTA is dysfunctional to the point where economic decisions are made to account for it. To put it in perspective, the MTA strike in 2005 cost the city economy about $400 million a day. In 2023 dollars, that number would be closer to $615 million. Imagine if you will, a non functioning MTA that lasted a year. Or, a sub par functional MTA over a few years, say, over a presidential cycle.

Do you think hyperpartisanship for the benefit of Fox News viewers is worth $300 billion in lost public revenue?

I wonder how many hands this sign got passed through, from designing, to printing on the sign, to delivery and installation. Not one person in this process had the decency to flag this.

That’s true, and I don’t blame the consultants for going where they money is.

It's still the Interboro. This was done by an old school queens dude, intentionally.

*Cats /s

Jakie Jakie, about to make a big mistakey

I mean, the consultants are filling the need. They didn’t create it .

This city gets upset about the literal smallest things god damn

Because inflation and demand, my house was worth $300k in 2000 now it's close to a million. My neighborhood isn't wealthy at all but it attracts working class families that can afford decent mortgages.

And to answer your question if I'm a real estate agent or not why does that matter...? But no I'm not. Although but I understand the absolutely stupid bureaucracy to get things done in this city, the technical feasibility in terms of construction, design, code, finances, etc more than your average person.

I honestly forgot it was called the Ed Koch. I still use 59th street.

They ran out of space for the letters on the top line, and decided it was close enough. ￣\＿(ツ)＿/￣

What, you don't feel safe with an enclosed 2-lane area with curves and drivers doing 50?

Well, Verrazzano was butchered and eaten by Carib Indians.

More like bonus potato. In person gets a bonus. Remote gets a potato.

No exit clause? Amateur hour

….which in turn forces cities to rely on expensive consultants rather than in-house expertise. So it is the consultants, but it’s also the hostility to bureaucracy. Chicken and egg.

Sigh. They’re really employing the divide and conquer strategy and some folks in this thread are already falling right into it.

> It is not incompetence to have to hire consultants to manage consultants when there is no one left. It's making the best of what you have when given an otherwise impossible task.

I think this is the crux of our disagreement. To me, if I was given no ability to manage my consultants, but forced to use them, that would be an inability to do something successfully. If I didn't kick it up and say it would be unsuccessful, that would be a failure of action too. If I was still forced to do so, the incompetence doesn't go away; it just includes those above me.

I do not malign those workers as being malicious, stupid or bad people. Simply, to me, they are incompetent in the literal sense of the term, especially if they were put in that situation (which necessarily means that those above them are also incompetent). Moreover, per the report, they used consultancies to fight the bureaucracy in the system. So they were willing participants in this quagmire.

For what it's worth, I just want efficient and effective government. It may mean that government(s) have in-house staff or they hire consultants. I think what this article elides, but the report emphasizes, is that our government is inefficient and ineffective (for a variety of reasons). We, as voters, should force government to be prudent with our money. I have no control over the various consultancies, but I do have some say in my government.