Mayor Bloomberg today took a break from painting the town red (he is rich after all), to paint it white.
"White is the new green," said Bloomberg, as he gathered with blue-state-loving former VP Al Gore and volunteers to paint Queens rooftops white.
The color white absorbs less heat, making the temperature on the top floor of a building 10-20 degrees cooler, thus lowering the need for power-consuming air conditioners.
The mayor and Gore said members of the city's new volunteer corps will paint 100,000 square feet of rooftop space by October 9.
And the Democratic Gore all but endorsed Bloomberg, who is technically an Independent but has support of city Republicans.
"The issue of climate crisis goes beyond party politics," said Gore. "And I'm proud to endorse the leadership and the actions Mayor Bloomberg has taken. I am a recovering politician. I'm on about step nine. So I'm trying to stay out of the partisan races."
The white-rooftops program so far is in its pilot stages. If successful it will be resumed on city-owned roofs in April 2010.
Asked if the rooftop of City Hall would be painted white, Bloomberg said he didn’t know, but officials said it wasn't possible because of the shape of the building.
