Mayor Bloomberg gives 7th annual State of the City address

During the seventh annual State of the City address delivered in Flushing, I outlined plans to expand an already sweeping second term agenda while making the tough spending decisions that an uncertain economy requires. Over the past year, I've seen cities from Seattle to Miami, from London to Shanghai, pushing the frontiers of progress. They are doing everything they can to attract the best, and the brightest in every field: medicine, engineering, construction and more. These cities are not slowing down - and neither can we. We are committed to making our city government quicker, leaner, stronger, better, and to giving all New Yorkers a city that matches their ambition." This year, we will continue implementing the most ambitious agenda of any city in the country and doing something that too often doesn't happen in government - following through on promises. This year, the city will: Continue to lobby for our PlaNYC agenda and to implement its 127 initiatives so that the City is able to meet the challenges of the future; Continue to work with our partners at the state level, in the council and across agencies to implement congestion pricing to help us improve mass transit and relieve congestion which, costs the New York City region $13 billion a year; The city will begin construction on Brooklyn Bridge Park - part of a unified waterfront Harbor District; Start turning 30 acres of prime waterfront real estate at Queens West into the one of the largest new developments of middle-income housing since Starrett city more than 35 years ago; Move forward with the construction of the #7 train extension - allowing for the redevelopment of the Far West Side and 25 million square feet of new office space; Move forward with our $3 billion investment in new infrastructure for the South Bronx; Rezone Willets Point, one of the most significant environmental reclamation projects of our time; Continue on our redevelopment plans for Coney Island, which will preserve the character of the area and return it to its former glory; and Continue to finance and begin construction on more of the 165,000 units planned as part of the largest affordable housing program ever undertaken by any city. I also talked about my plans regarding education including plans where I will ask the city's Panel on Education Policy to end social promotion in the 8th grade as part of the 2008-2009 school year; The city will create a first-in-the-nation rigorous career and technical program that will start in our high schools and continue in our community colleges. The programs, to be offered in September 2009, will be created by a task force co-chaired by New York Life CEO and chairman Sternberg and former mayor David Dinkins and will include Merryl Tisch of the Board of Regents; The Department of Education will give parents access to the recently unveiled web-based performance management database that tracks student progress, currently only available to principals and teachers. The topics of improving public safety, maintaining fiscal responsibility, improving customer service and targeting poverty were also discussed. Michael Bloomberg is the mayor of New York, N.Y.