Winds of Change off the Long Island Shore?

There is a "full symphony of pain" in store for New York State in 2010, according to Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky. And alarm bells certainly sounded this week, with the approval of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's "Doomsday Plan" to slice service routes and nix programs providing schoolchildren with Metrocards.

Despite the grim picture, Mayor Bloomberg feels confident that the winds of change will blow – literally. With the help of his sustainability director, Rohit Aggarwala, Mayor Bloomberg is pushing hard for the world's largest offshore wind power complex to be built off the Rockaways – a project that would generate 700 megawatts of energy and cost the city as much as $3 billion.