NEW YORK—Anthony Weiner, the former New York Rep. who left office after a sexual scandal, issued a policy booklet called “Keys to the City,” outlining ideas of how to keep New York “The Capital of the Middle Class.” Weiner is considering running for mayor.
Here are some of Weiner’s ideas:
-Create a master teacher academy
Weiner says that “a brain drain” can be stopped by using training and mentoring to help teachers.
-Start Gotham Corps
Mirroring the Peace Corps and Americorps models, Gotham Corps would let “young citizens” (no age listed) volunteer at service projects across the city, giving them a stipend and a year of free tuition at the City University of New York or the State University of New York.
-Launch ferries in all five boroughs
“No water-bound city is as far behind the curve on ferry service as New York City,” Weiner says. Ferries should expand reach to the Bronx, south Brooklyn, and upper Manhattan.
-Give tax breaks to employers to promote biking
The city should offer employers a similar deal to the IRS, which gives tax breaks to employers who offer up to $20 a month to workers to buy, fix, or store their bicycle.
-Create a new small business website
www.shopnyc.com would make public the “vast amounts of data on businesses” that the city has.
-Require higher health insurance premiums from city employees that smoke
Smokers cost more to treat, and should shoulder a portion of the cost, says Weiner.
-Bring a “Mayor’s Question Time”
Modeled on the British House of Commons custom of having the Prime Minister field questions from legislators, this would give City Council members “an unfiltered way to bring issues to the executive branch.”
Weiner told the New York Times that the policy booklet doesn’t mean he’s going to run for mayor.
“I would take it on face value,” he said of the report. “I want these issues to be discussed and debated irrespective of who’s in the race.”
Read the full booklet here.
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