
The bible of doing business with the city of New York - gregorymichael
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/27/nyregion/new-york-city-record-newspaper.html
======
eatonphil
The statement that New York City's 92 billion budget is greater than most
countries surprised me, had to look it up. According to a CUNY page [0], the
city's revenue has been around $80 billion the last few years and $70 billion
in expenditures. Comparing that to a wikipedia page [1] on government
revenues/expenditures does indeed place New York City as collecting and
spending more than all but 38 and 35 countries in the world.

[0] [https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/fiscal_data/gfund-
rev_ex...](https://www.baruch.cuny.edu/nycdata/fiscal_data/gfund-rev_exp.htm)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_governmen...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_government_budget)

~~~
AlexTWithBeard
It's worth noting that for the same amount of money many countries manage to
provide free healthcare, excellent public transportation, decent schools,
while also having to maintain armed forces, financial system and a network of
embassies abroad.

~~~
bdhess
I don’t understand the comparison you’re trying to make. Like, not per capita
and/or without purchasing power adjusted, sure. What does that prove?

~~~
AlexTWithBeard
Why not?

Say, Czech Republic, has a similar budget and a similar population.

Yes, PPP will be different, but, as I said, running a country is different
from running a city.

P. S.: Here's more detail:

Sweden is very close to the US by PPP
([https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-
parities-p...](https://data.oecd.org/conversion/purchasing-power-parities-
ppp.htm)), it's population is similar to that of NYC (around 10 million) and
it's budget is 1 trln SEK, which is roughly $100 bn, so the same amount per
capita as NYC.

The point I'm trying to make?

It's not about money.

New York City has enough money to provide its citizens with all the amenities
Swedes have, including free healthcare, free child care and pensions. They
don't have to tax the rich. They don't need more austerity. They just have to
use the money wisely.

Then if we take New York State budget into account, we'll realize this is
sufficient to provide all New Yorkers with one more free healthcare, one more
free child care and one more pension.

~~~
bdhess
I don't know where you're getting your numbers for the Swedish budget, but the
OECD [1] says that their spending is $23,780 per capita, which would make for
a $247+ bn budget for a country of 10.4 mn people. So more than double NYC's.

Your PPP argument doesn't hold either. Sweden's PPP is only slightly above the
US _average_ , but it would certainly well above NYC's. NYC is one of the most
expensive markets in the United States.

You seem to be asserting that if NYC would just fix some inefficiencies,
they'd be able to implement a Scandinavian style social welfare state with the
savings. I'm sure there is waste in the system, as there is in all large
bureaucracies, but to assert that there's so much that we could fund free
healthcare out of it is just nonsense.

[1] [https://data.oecd.org/gga/general-government-
spending.htm](https://data.oecd.org/gga/general-government-spending.htm)

------
woodruffw
Another piece of NYC esoterica: the city marshals[1], who are unsalaried,
appointed by the mayor, independent from the police (and sheriffs), and are
tasked with collecting legal judgments.

[1]:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Marshal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_City_Marshal)

~~~
opportune
1500+ 4.5% of fees seems ludicrously low, and coupled with the artificial
scarcity, very corrupt

~~~
Stratoscope
It reminds me of how bankruptcy trustees make their money. I was talking with
a bankruptcy lawyer about this a while ago. It seemed odd that the court fee
for a bankruptcy is only a few hundred dollars but the trustee may have to
spend many hours on a complex case.

He explained that the trustee is paid a percentage of the assets they sell
off.

Must be nice work if you can get it!

------
warent
> “We’re black and white because the news is black and white — what is there
> to color?” Mr. Blachman said.

This sounds like a very poetic and simultaneously very New York thing to say.
I don't know Mr. Blachman but I like him already. I know everyone on a first-
name basis but he sounds like the kind of person you'd strictly refer to as
"Mr. Blachman."

This makes me wonder if other cities have this kind of thing or if it's unique
to NYC?

~~~
lgregg
All cities have at least a limited version of this in regards to procurement.
[1]

[1]
[https://www.leaguecity.com/bids.aspx](https://www.leaguecity.com/bids.aspx)
[https://eprocurement.cityofchicago.org/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc...](https://eprocurement.cityofchicago.org/OA_HTML/OA.jsp?OAFunc=PON_ABSTRACT_PAGE&PON_NEGOTIATION_STATUS=ACTIVE)

~~~
zwkrt
I think the op was asking if other cities had characteristic prose.

~~~
warent
I can see how it can be read that way but lgregg was right. Thank you though.

------
Animats
The US Government used to publish procurements in something called Commerce
Business Daily. By 2002, that had been replaced by the FedBizOps web site,
"[https://www.fbo.gov/"](https://www.fbo.gov/"). The paper version is long
gone.

NYC puts the City Record online at
"[https://a856-cityrecord.nyc.gov/"](https://a856-cityrecord.nyc.gov/"). Get
your bid in for the new garbage trucks now. It's surprising that NYC still
publishes the paper version.

------
Aloha
I'm kind of surprised that NYC publishes its own paper of record.

~~~
jkaplowitz
Both its population and its budget exceed those of most US states and most
countries - "most" being a literal majority and not an exaggeration.

Does that make it less surprising? Publishing such a paper is routine for
national governments around the world, as well as US states.

~~~
analog31
Indeed, and the city probably has open government laws requiring it to publish
all of its business. For a town above a certain size, self-publishing may
simply be the most economical route. In my little town, they just include a
section of public notices in the local paper every week.

~~~
jkaplowitz
Yeah, not only do the city and state have applicable open government laws,
this paper ranges in size from 16 pages to 100 according to the article. (The
current edition is 36 pages.)

Combining those facts with the small number of copies that are still
physically printed - nowadays it's mostly read for free online - doing it
themselves is the only plausible option.

------
massivecali
Why doesn't the title match the article?

~~~
badfrog
[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

> If the original title begins with a number or number + gratuitous adjective,
> we'd appreciate it if you'd crop it. E.g. translate "10 Ways To Do X" to
> "How To Do X," and "14 Amazing Ys" to "Ys." Exception: when the number is
> meaningful, e.g. "The 5 Platonic Solids."

> Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or
> linkbait; don't editorialize.

Arguably the original title is linkbait.

