One of the arguments the city’s dead trees made to overturn term limits, and perhaps eliminate real elections, is that Mayor Bloomberg has financial acumen beyond nearly all other New Yorkers, and is indispensable at this time of financial crisis. Recently I have gained firsthand knowledge of the financial brilliance with which the City of New York is being run. It seems that the City has made an investment with a 60% rate of return over 7 ½ months. Over a full year that is nearly a 100% rate of return, or a doubling of the City’s money. Unfortunately, I have found this out because I am on the other side of the trade, and forced to pay that massive rate of return. If I do not, “further legal action may ensue.”
The Catholic elementary school my children used to attend has an annual walkathon, suggested by my wife when she was on its parent advisory board, during which the children walk around Prospect Park and people donate to the school. It has been going on for several years. Last year was my youngest daughter’s last year there, but my wife was nonetheless asked to do one more thing for the school — get the permit, which is not easy. You see anytime you have 25 or more people show up in a city park, you have to get a permit. Savvy, connected people probably do not bother unless there will be a lot of people doing a lot of stuff. I certainly know from professional experience that lots of city rules are only there to allow cranks to show up at public hearings and say they are against everything. But ignoring rules is hardly a posture a school run by a religious organization can adopt. It has a hard enough time bucking the culture to pass on values of fairness and responsibility as it is. Besides, some us are serfs, and if trying to contribute more to others than you take in return makes you so, some serfs wouldn’t have it any other way. So on March 1, 2008 my wife applied for (and later received) a permit for the event, paying the NYC Parks Department $25. She doubts she asked the school for reimbursement.
Last summer, we changed banks, three or four months after submitting that check.
I just received a latter announcing that the City of New York was unable to cash the check my wife had given them, because the account was closed. I know she sent the check on March 1 because a copy was provided. “Please forward a certified check or money order in the amount of $40.00 ($25.00 plus a $15.00 service charge) to the address below within ten (10) working days or your permit will be voided and will be confiscated upon presentation at a facility. Further legal action will ensue.” The letter is dated November 17th. The event in question took place last May. As for seizing the permit, I never saw it, and have no idea where it is.
Here one sees the financial genius. How many other checks have been held in reserve, waiting for the right opportunity to attempt deposit and assess penalties? It reminds me of a story I heard from friend who grew up in a rent stabilized apartment on the Upper West Side; in an effort to evict them, the landlord didn’t cash any of his family’s rent checks for years and then deposited them all at once, hoping they would not be able to pay all the rent due. But they had kept track, and earned interest. Me, I’ll be paying 96% interest. How many checks are there? How much money will be collected as a result? Will it be enough to solve the budget crisis, or at least ensure the crisis doesn’t affect anyone important?
Not to pull rank, buy my wife and I have donated money to this particular park for more than a decade, ever since we bought a house and no longer had to save to do so. But it isn’t the extra $15.00 that bothers me. It’s the fact that I will have to go to the bank, pay a fee, and get a certified check, given that I'm quite busy these days. My kids no longer go to the school. We’ll never have to get a permit again. I don’t want to have to go to the bank, wait in line to get that certified check, and then go to the post office.
If I send a regular check for $50 instead of $40, will the City of New York leave me alone, or would that mean “further legal action may ensue?” How about $75? Someone let me know. I have less than ten (10) days. In the meantime, I’ll consult books by Kafka for advice.