Housing prices were up one percent last quarter in Cobble Hill, the only Brooklyn neighborhood to see an increase. Across Brooklyn, the average housing price fell 18 percent, according to data from HMS Associates, a Brooklyn-based real estate appraisal firm.

Citing the financial mess we’re all currently mired in, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg called for an  extension of term limits. His proposal was approved in one of the tightest votes of the City Council with the numbers as close as 29-22.  Bloomberg is now allowed to run for a third consecutive term in office. 

I ask myself today after hearing all the upheaval on the topic, is this just pure greed?  It seems to me that Bloomberg’s business and fortune have prospered awfully well.  From the start of his mayoral career to this year he managed to jump from number 36 to number eight on Forbe’s list of millionaires.  He certainly is not hurting financially while sitting in office.  But now there is an economic crisis, as we know all too well.  Will it affect him too?  Perhaps not, but it most certainly affects his beloved city.

I would like to believe that what Bloomberg says is true, and that he intends to be in power for a third term not for his personal benefit but to help New Yorkers pull through on this long road ahead.   Maybe he does actually want to offer the city more choices during this economic crisis.  Not to mention, there is a benefit to stability within times of hardship.  

But, we made it through the aftermath of September 11 without our courageous leader Rudy, couldn’t we too make it through now?  And what’s stopping President Bush from staying in office for another four years?

This is big news but with the presidential election only days away, the press seems to be preoccupied.  It may not be on their minds, but it undoubtedly weighs heavily on this New Yorker’s heart.  Is three times really a charm?