Friday, January 25, 2013

Don’t Make Michael Bloomberg Run for Mayor Again
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 21:  Mayor Michael Bloomberg attends Paul McCartney's & Nancy Shevell's party at The Bowery Hotel on October 21, 2011 in New York City.  (Photo by Rob Kim/Getty Images)
It's been more than a decade since Michael Bloomberg wasn't running for office or reelection, and he's having a hard time letting go. After last night's mayoral forum, in which most of the candidates tried to put some space between themselves and the long-reigning billionaire, Bloomberg sounded off on the radio this morning, the New York Times reports. "They just sound ridiculous," he said, in reference to Democrats John Liu and Bill de Blasio, who criticized his administration's response to Hurricane Sandy. "[They] had no idea what they're talking about." You can almost smell the fourth-term plotting.
Bloomberg said the candidates offered "no solutions" and doubted their sincerity: "I think there's always rhetoric that has nothing to do with what they would do in office."
And although the mayor previously vowed that he's "not going to spend the next year answering 'what do you think' of every potential candidate's ideas," he did stick up for an old pal: "The one aspirant who really hasn't engaged in most of this foolishness is Quinn," said Bloomberg. "She's much more rational and understands there's no simple solution to complex problems." Except, of course, changing the rules again and giving himself a few more years to sort everything out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

kafkask
Lhota is one of those schmucks who thinks that a year (one, single, solitary year) in a high profile gig sets the stage for him taking over the biggest local office in the country. His one, minor accomplishment with Sandy is not exactly something he can really stand on. Especially since the MTA was prepared for it, learning from the huge blizzard of two years ago. It's doubtful Joe did anything more than agree with his experienced advisers, anyway. I would be surprised if he gave any self-formulated directives.

Why didn't he bring up Sandy? He's probably just now realizing that everyone hates the MTA. The expense, the shoddy service, the dirty stations and trains... Getting service back up and running after a storm is not going to put that agency in the public's good graces.

Perhaps we would consider him more of a viable candidate if he stayed in his former position for a few years. And in those few years, made serious and lasting changes. Level out the fares. Get the union to straighten out. Make it work. Then perhaps we'd trust him with the keys to New York City.