Democratic mayoral hopeful Mark Green was ringing mad over cell-phone fees yesterday, charging the state should give back roughly $20 million in hand-held phone taxes to improve the city’s 911 system.
At a City Hall press conference, the public advocate said a 70 cent user tax that’s tacked on to all monthly cell-phone bills has been sunk into the state police’s 911 system – which mostly benefits upstate.
Green stood with Democratic state Assemblymen Frank Seddio and Richard Gottfriend, who jointly entered a bill Friday that would force the state to give a large chunk of the user tax to the 32 cities and counties that operate their own 911 systems – including the Big Apple.
“This is taxation without representation,” Green said, saying the state has raked in a whopping $163 million – about half of it from New York City – since the tax was started 10 years ago.
Green estimated the city’s giveback to the state this year will be roughly $20 million – which could have been used to finance the five boroughs’ own enhanced emergency-response system.
Meanwhile, GOP candidate Michael Bloomberg stumped around the outer boroughs yesterday – boosting his own petition drive for the 7,500 signatures needed to get a spot on the ballot.
In The Bronx’s Pelham Bay, the billionaire media mogul noted the borough’s huge asthma problem.
He also tipped his hat to the so-called “Vieques Four” – three of whom hail from The Bronx – for “being willing to stand up” for something they believe in, which is halting the Navy bombing tests on the Puerto Rican island.
One of Bloomberg’s Democratic rivals, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, spent his morning standing with the three released Vieques protesters. Later, he went to the federal jail in Brooklyn, where the Rev. Al Sharpton is still behind bars.
As for the other issue the city is buzzing about, Mayor Giuliani potentially moving out of Gracie Mansion, almost none of the six men vying to replace him would comment.
Bloomberg said it doesn’t matter where the mayor lives – and it isn’t anybody’s business, either.
“His offices are downtown Manhattan at City Hall, and the public rooms at Gracie Mansion can still be used for city functions no matter where he lives,” Bloomberg said. Bloomberg, who has several homes, has said he would not live full-time in Gracie Mansion.