Every Friday at 10am, Mayor de Blasio does a call-in on Brian Lehrer (on WNYC), and he has never hidden his complete contempt for the tabloids—and *especially* the Post—often saying things like, "I always tell people, you can't believe what you read in the New York Post," or words to that effect.
And yeah, he's prickly as hell about the media in general; some politicians care a LOT about optics (particularly here, where the press's Stakhanovite work ethic is easy to take for granted if you haven't lived in a place with a less active press corps), and de Blasio is definitely one of them. Fair enough, I guess—bad press in New York is bad news for a public figure, since the whole industry is headquartered here.
All that said, this does appear to be a story about a rather obnoxious and testy guy being rather obnoxious and testy—in other words, not much of a story. I voted for de Blasio because, broadly speaking, I like his agenda, but his public persona isn't what you'd call "likable". He's a very stubborn man, and he doesn't do himself many favors by the way he acts. That's a shame for those of us who like his policy agenda, but it's hardly a scandal. I feel like an alternative headline for this piece could have been "New York Mayor Irritating, Both Privately and Publicly".
As an addendum: I do sometimes worry about the consequences of politicians seemingly having no right to private communications with anyone—but I take it I'm in the minority on that one.
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Is there a news story here? Or one more instance of the liberal media not understanding or supporting progressive change?
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These emails, if you read even more of them than are covered here, are even worse than it first appers. Considering how mean spirited di Blasio's is, as well his total contempt for any and all press that criticizes him or disagrees with him, especially the New York Times, I can't easily tell the difference between him and Trump.
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“Lashing out” and “unforgiving” .... uh... these just sound like typical email talk. I was expecting.... more? Now I see why politicians want their emails private, and away from the lazy, hyperbolic press.
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Completely agree, the characterization of these is completely exaggerated. No wonder he doesn't like newspapers.
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Oh, Mayor Bill is (a) thin-skinned when critized, but (b) highly aggressive with staff. What a surprise!
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What did you expect, a politician who doesn't care about optics, or his coverage in the press? Such a man would never win an election.
I'm no fan of de Blasio's, but the big news here is no news.
He should be a bit less critical of his staff -- it's possible to correct without chastising -- but these emails seem completely routine.
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I like de Blasio's polcies, not his persona. Based on experience and rumor, I was expecting something outrageous. This seems pretty routine.
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This is one of the least revealing or significant stories that I have seen about email revelations, and that is saying something. The Mayor wants to avoid unnecessary public criticism. That is no revelation. Focus on what is important in New York.
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Good. Times have changed. We need fighters on the left, too.
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One of the only things I agree with Trump on, and there are very, very few - DeBlasio is one of the worst mayors we’ve ever had. Can’t wait to see him leave.
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People need to see the side of their elected politicians they'd never otherwise see. It humanizes them in a way that media profiles never do.
But what is most important is that substance be revealed. Petty squabbles with tabloids don't really cut it. Is the mayor honest about his policy stances or does he just pretend? Does he associate and cooperate with outside groups that don't exactly fit his political bent? That's the sort of thing I'd like to know. Wishing the NY Post a quick demise? Not so much... That other email scandal had substance to it. That substance was never countered with a different set of facts. Those facts mattered to voters.
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https://www.rimaregas.com/2018/05/24/what-e-pluribus-unum-doesnt-mean-on...
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Ah, another 'progressive' fighting the good fight for his ideals, brimming with compassion for his fellow man - so long as he or she doesn't work for him.
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To me they sound sort of smarty pants adolescent, which also happens to be how he's struck me in person.
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As far as this article tells it, this is much ado about very little. Yes, DeBlasio is thin-skinned and doesn't like being criticized- him and almost any other politician you'll ever meet. But, all that brouhaha over the mayor's emails got me curious: has anybody requested full access to the emails of our governor, Mr. Cuomo. I am especially interested in the emails between him and his recently convicted and sentenced former BFF and confidant, who was also a State employee. That conviction involved said former Cuomo confidant and adviser taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from interested parties. Now, what did that money buy? The emails between those two State employees (one elected, one hired) would certainly be of great interest to anybody who wants a juicy story on an important subject. I wonder if the Times, the NY Post, or any other media organization has requested the governor's emails for the last five years or so, and, if yes, what response they got.
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I'm not at all a fan of de Blasio but none of these seems out of the ordinary to me.
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Mayor de Blasio is corrupt? No way!
What part of this story is substantive enough to be considered “news”?
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exactly what i was thinking. what is the standard we put politicians up to? im curious what human being has an email history that is TOTALLY free of vitriol and snotty comments?
email me when this has relevance.
ps for deBlasio: say it and forget it, write it and regret it
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So much for liberals loving a free press
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There's a big difference between supporting a free press and agreeing with everything that the press writes about you. If you're really concerned about freedom of the press, you'll look at some of the things Trump has said about reigning it in, as well as his attempts to bully with lawsuits and his constant, highly public lies about it.
Much ado about nothing. If you got to read any local or statewide official's emails, in any state or major metropolitan area, you'd find the same basic kinds of raw communication. Just more gossip journalism. Yawn.
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Mr. de Blasio’s particular ire for those who criticized him for for having gone to his gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn during a crisis, is of particular interest. The religious fervor with which the Mayor carries out this expensive ritual (expensive in terms of money as well as political capital) is most fascinating. “This is always an attack on us and what we represent,” he wrote. What does he mean by that? Just what is "this" and who is “us” and “we” in that statement? Can it be that Mr. de Blasio, in his quest to be the greatest Liberal of all time, sees this quest as embodying all that he imagines as Black, sharing in Black oppression and living out his own version of Blackness, largely a collection of his own white stereotypes about Blacks (as when he reacts with pride to critics of his work ethic, latenesses, napping, etc.) which he persistently displays in perverse defiance?
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Let us know how often you complained about Bloomberg going to Bermuda every single weekend on a private jet and calling New Yorkers whiners during the blizzard of 2010 while he was sipping a Mai Tai in his tropical mansion.
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He had his OWN private jet. not tax payer funded.
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Bloomberg didn't take a salary and donated far more than he spent vis a visit city coffers.
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None of the examples here seem remotely troubling to me. If this really representative of how he acts in private, he is practically a boy scout.
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Completely agree
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Snapchat, anyone?
Marcia Kramer broke this on CBS news last night. de Blasio hates her. Why? Because she calls him and every other politician out. She did it with Rudy, Ed and every other blowhard. Now the world can see what so any others knew beforehand about this horrible mayor.
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What in these emails exactly makes DeBlasio a "horrible major"? I am not a fan of the current mayor, but, come on. So, he is thin-skinned and doesn't like being criticized - which politician does? If that's the worst there is, I am not worried.
Now, what I would love to see made public are all the emails between Andrew Cuomo and his recently convicted (!) best pal and confidant; now, those would be worth reading. Maybe they'll tell us what his pal got hundreds of thousands of dollars for while on the State's payroll.
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Apparently the only politician with thinner skin than Donald Trump when questioned by the media is Bill de Blasio. The similarities from the disparagement of the press, to the narcissistic pronouncements of "grand achievements" in spite of the facts is absolutely uncanny!
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Don't tell Warren Willhelm's loyal base that as they will flatly deny it. He's as phony as a $3 bill.
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Imagine, for a second, it if was Trump who said "Just rip his face off," to someone...it would be front page news and CNN's lead story for a week.
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If you read this article: de Blasio did not say "rip his face off." It was Walzak who said it.
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In your eagerness to excuse Trump, you seem to have missed, though, that it wasn't de Blasio who wrote this, but Phil Walzak.
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"Now it seems like Mr. de Blasio had an even more pressing and personal concern: He did not want to make public his own raw — and sometimes profane"...annnnnd...NOTHING!
Granted we haven't see all 4200 pages of emails but based on the select quotes here, this just seems like The Times trying to create drama where there doesn't seem to be any.
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NYC will be much better off when de Blasio is gone.
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Says "Miami Joe"?! How is that city doing? Back here in NYC, we had a lot worse than this current city administration, even though I am disappointed with some failings of DeBlasio. In case you haven't noticed: it can almost always get worse, especially if you think it can only get better.
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Compared to the adoring treatment accorded Michael Bloomberg by this paper and its editorial board, it's not surprising de Blasio would complain about the coverage he receives here, lumping the Times in with "corporate media" generally.
And those comments about the Times, though strangely omitted in this article, make sense to any long-time reader perplexed by the uniformly hostile and contemptuous coverage de Blasio receives here. Flawless the man hardly is, but come on -- he can't do anything right for the Times, quite unlike the center-right politicians who claim to be liberals.
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you might not have liked Bloomberg, but he did a lot of good things for the city. As for DeBlasio I can’t think of anything. He takes credit for many of Bloomberg’s successes as his own, and has contributed very little. There is a reason he is loathed - he’s awful.
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Now I get why Hilary set up her own separate email server.
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Heh, exactly.
There is a much fuller story on this on Politico, including the Mayor's unhappiness with the NYT. Not sure why this article is so light and sweet.
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