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.
kafkask
ReplyDeleteLhota 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.