The Mayors most recent blog post calls for urgent tax reform in the state. He wants change legistlation to allow municipalities the ability to levy a local sales tax as a way to hold down property taxes.

Gee what a great idea Mayor! Let’s hide our shortcomings at balancing a budget by finding yet another way to tax citizens! I made the following comment to his most recent post:

Allowing municipalities the ability to levy a local sales tax is the LAST thing I would ever want. Why are you always looking for a way to tax Stamford residents more? How about keeping to a budget and reducing city services that you cannot pay for? How about drastic education reform that does not entail throwing more money at a school system that does not work? Of course I do not want real estate taxes to increase, but come on Mayor…how is raising the sales tax any better?

Pop quiz: What do Bridgeport, Danbury and New London have that Stamford doesn’t?
Answer: A professional sports team (or two)! Bridgeport has minor-league baseball and hockey teams, New London has a minor-league baseball team, and Danbury has a minor-league hockey team (one whose owners are being investigated for mob connections!). I’m not counting the WNBA team in Uncasville, because they wouldn’t have a home if not for Mohegan Sun.

Now, why do these crummy cities have teams when Stamford doesn’t?

Answer:

That’s right, the postage meter people hate sports. OK, maybe they don’t hate sports, but they killed Stamford’s shot at playing host to an AHL expansion team.

You might be familiar with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, the minor-league hockey team that plays at the Arena at Harbor Yard. But did you know that that arena was originally proposed for the South End?

It’s true. It was all part of the Admiral’s Wharf plan a few years back; this plan included a housing complex, waterside park, ferry service, office buildings, hotel and corporate training center (some of which will be in the Antares South End project). There was also a proposal to build a sports and entertainment arena somewhere down there, but nooooo…big, bad Pitney Bowes said that they didn’t want the additional traffic, and threatened to move their manufacturing out of Stamford if the arena were approved, so the arena proposal was dropped.

Guess what PB did not long after that? MOVED THEIR MANUFACTURING OUT OF STAMFORD. You can’t make this up. Industrial giant strong-arms small city, then screws it. Film at 11.

Why were they complaining anyway? Most events would’ve been held at night, when PB employees would already be gone. Maybe they preferred their current surroundings? Have you ever driven down by the Pitney Bowes factory?

It’s a freakin’ wasteland! I half-expected a gang from Mad Max to come and chase me away.

So the good people of Stamford miss out on having a first-class sports and entertainment venue, where we could go to see Hannah Montana, Cirque du Soleil or Sesame Street on Ice. (I do, however, find it ironic that, in a reverse of the trend where cities are blackmailed into building stadiums, Stamford was blackmailed not to build one.)

I really wish they had built the arena down here. It would draw people from Westchester, Putnam County, northern Fairfield County, and even Bridgeport, since they’d be going against rush hour traffic. One of the biggest reasons the Arena at Harbor Yard and its resident sports team aren’t doing so well is because many people from this part of the county aren’t going to sit in an hour of traffic (or more) to see a hockey game - at least not that often. Now if you put that arena at the opposite end of the traffic problem, people don’t have to fight the traffic.

In my previous post about the Ritz-Carlton, some people said that the city should focus on filling “the hole” next to the mall. Wouldn’t a downtown arena be the perfect addition to Stamford? It would be the freakin’ crown jewel of Fairfield County. They would even have a ready-made parking garage in the mall next door!

So, thanks Pitney Bowes! As a show of my disdain, I will never use one of your postage meters. I’m quite happy licking my own stamps (yes, I even lick the self-adhesive ones).

There’s a poll today on stamfordadvocate.com asking “Should drivers face an infraction for blocking intersections?” Despite people’s driving habits, the poll is actually 81% in favor of enforcing this law.

It’s infuriating when people A) try to make it through an intersection when it’s IMPOSSIBLE for them to clear the intersection before the light changes, or B) honk at you when you make the intelligent choice NOT to attempt to do so.

The worst intersection I’ve found for this is when you try to make a left off of Washington Blvd. into the north side of the train station. Compounding the problem is that the lights aren’t synchronized; when you’re waiting to make the left and your light turns yellow, it’s still green for oncoming traffic, so you think that you have a second or two to make your left, but in reality, they’re still coming straight through!

On a related topic, the best intersection for risking your life is at Summer and North Streets. For some reason, more than at other traffic lights, people coming down Summer Street seem to think that yellow (and even red!) mean “Floor it and try to kill anyone who dares to go on green.”

What are everybody’s worst traffic gripes/dangers?

PS: HANG UP THE *^&*&*#*@%#^*#ING CELL PHONES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This past weekend I visited the Stamford Mall for the first time in quite some time. I was glad to see they have finally made some progress with their food court. The malls lack of restaurants always helped make the place a real second rate shopping experience compared to some other area malls. Anyway, it nice to see that they created a nice big seating area and a place for kids to play. So far only Panda Express, Sbarro, Subway and Sole Mex have opened up. Anyone eaten from Sale Mex yet? It looks like there is room for maybe another 2-3 fast food joints in the space.

Compared to the White Plains mall, parking at the Stamford Town Center is a steal. 50 cents gets you 3 hours and no stupid tickets and cashiers to deal with! Somehow I feel this cheap parking will be short lived.

Hi everyone! I’m JR, a new contributor to the Mr. Stamford blog. I live and work in this beautiful city, and I’m keenly interested in Stamford’s, economy and development. I also love Stamford’s dining scene and exploring everything the city has to offer.

For my first post, I thought I’d share a discovery I made the other day. I spotted this sign across the street from the Rich Forum:

That’s right, it looks like they’re finally going to tear down that awful deserted block next to the Atlantic Street post office. It’s about time they got started on turning this

into this!

Granted, I won’t be able to afford a room in the hotel, let alone one of the luxury condos, but I’ll still be thrilled to see a first-class housing and retail development in Stamford. White Plains has one in the City Center, so why not Stamford? It’ll bring in mucho tax dinero and help lure more people to live and work here, which only makes the city more vibrant and fun. You can bet the Rich Forum can’t freakin’ wait for this place to fill up. It’s also nice that no one is being relocated or eminent domained to make room for this.

Of course some people are against the gutting and repurposing of the post office building, and some are against the demolition of the post office addition, but these don’t bother me. For one thing, the building isn’t that old. If this were an 1860s Pony Express depot, then it would be a different story. Secondly, at least they’re not pulling a Penn Station and bulldozing the whole thing. Most developers wouldn’t hesitate to raze a building that’s only 70 years old; you have to give these guys credit for respecting Stamford’s past and absorbing it into the project.

And now, just for fun, some other views of this fabulous project: