Mayor Daley likes riding bikes. In fact he got hurt riding a bicycle a while ago. I hope Mayor Daley remembered to put the bike seat on for this bumpy ride. My goodness, this Bridgeport native has a funny face, doesn’t he? Photo by A.P. Enjoy Patrick McDonough.
13 Replies to “Mayor Daley rides a bike in Gay Paree”
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Daley went to cut a deal with the sign company. Scams abound. I think Daley is an idiot for not wearing a helmet. I would had to smell that bike post after that ride. Ole Robert.
Maybe Tim Degnan or Jerry Joyce invested in a French Bike company–so now Chicago has to buy a bunch of bikes maybe the outfit can get a piece and Victor Reyes and Mike Noonan can be the lobbyist like for JCDeceaux. God forbid we get a made in the USA bike or American company.
The taxpayers will pay for it all.
(Response) Well done you get the point. One gold star for shields.
No Seat? That will clean your pipes. Funny.
What in the hell is Daley doing in France, the CTA is a nightmare. I am sick of this fool.
Is the reference to “Gay Paree” a subtle reference to Ron Huberman?
Look carefully and you will see that da Mare is backpedaling on that bike. If the Feds indict him while he is in Gay Paree can he be extradited?
Not related to da Mare in Paris but today I walked up Halsted from Greektown to Depaul and realized that most of Halsted is elevated. Meaning the street is essential built like a bridge over highways and railroad tracks and both branches of the Chicago River. Does the City really properly maintain the structures holding up Halsted. The sidewalks along the street are in really scuzzy shape.
A first-rate mess
Chicago can’t be world class with a second-rate transit system
September 13, 2007
A world-class city such as Chicago shouldn’t have a second-rate transportation system.
Other great cities have figured that out. They know it takes a wise investment and great service to get people out of their cars and into buses and trains. Our leaders still don’t get it.
Mayor Daley seems strangely uninvolved on the issue. As the CTA counted down to doomsday cuts this week, he was in Paris riding a bike. Gov. Blagojevich offered a Band-aid fix Wednesday — $24 million that will postpone those cuts until November, as long as the RTA goes along. But he still refuses to support the most realistic plan to address chronic funding problems.
The CTA has been heading toward financial disaster for several years, plagued by mismanagement and revenues that have not kept pace with costs. That’s why the agency seems to be holding out its hat begging for money every year, and partly why the rail cars, tracks and buses have been falling into such a sorry state of disrepair.
There were high hopes that this would be the year for legislative help, especially after Daley replaced CTA President Frank Kruesi. He was not well-liked by lawmakers, and his replacement, Ron Huberman, has so far lived up to his reputation for management efficiency. But those high hopes were dashed on the rocks of this year’s stormy legislative session.
Concerned lawmakers crafted a plan to boost transit funding with a quarter-cent increase in the regional transit sales tax and with a small increase in the real estate transfer tax in Chicago. Those increases would provide the CTA — as well as Metra and Pace, which are also operating in the red — with a stable funding source. The bill also would put more teeth in the RTA’s oversight of the three transit agencies. That could help address some of the issues raised in a scathing federal report on last year’s train derailment, such as the poor inspection of the Blue Line tracks.
The bill has so far failed, largely because the governor has threatened to veto any sales tax increase. And he has refused to offer an alternative, other than to trot out his tired and rejected plan to close what he calls “corporate loopholes.”
On Wednesday, faced with the very real prospect that he would be blamed for CTA fare hikes and service cuts, he offered the agency his $24 million Band-Aid. He also repeated his opposition to the sales tax increase. He insists “real progress is being made” on a long-term solution, but there’s little evidence of it, and little optimism.
A mayor with Olympic ambitions — and a governor and state leaders who also are Democrats — should be able to provide a world-class transit system to a world-class city.
Don’t have Frank Kruesi or Ron Huberman or Brian Murphy run the bike system.
Maybe Daley wants us all to ride bikes now because
1. The CTA will be shut down with this mess
they are estimating
100,000 CTA riders with no bus or train
or
2. We can all ride bikes with the Olympics with all the traffic back ups
(Response) I think the Politicians are setting us up so they look good for “Saving the C.T.A. all phony B.S.
How can we get the Olympics without a real let alone a first class Public Transit system.
Even Mexico has a good bus and train system for a city of 25 million people–the biggest in the world.
Have you ever been to Europe–buses and trains everywhere–clean.
Chicago is not ready for the Olympics.
(Response) Mexico should send their Public Transit system to Chicago, instead of their citizens. What do you think? Pretty Clever eh? Patrick McDonough
Sad but true.
Daley pedals while our transit system threatens to burn down! But what do you expect… Daley hasn’t added a dime to the city’s contribution to the CTA since he took office!
McDonough, posts like that keep your website the number one political web site in Chicago. That was nasty, but funny as hell. Why doesn’t Chicago Clout take advertising? You could make a fortune.