When Deblasio was Public Advocate we reached out to his office about the lack of oversight by our developer of our building. After numerous email exchanges with his staff and his Chief of Staff wrote us and said, “we can’t help you”. Then we happened to see him on the street and told him about our concerns and he said, “call my office”. Then we realized he and Alicia Glenn were in the pocket with our developer and how the public advocate was a useless position.
4
The one who should resign is the mayor himself. His back door dealing with developers, his finding a job through donors for his wife his lack of ethics and work record is enough to boot him from office. He's real good at working out in another borough and coming in to work after 11am. Nice work if you can get it. The man never met a public paycheck or a photo op he didn't like. He will go down as the most ineffectual mayor in NY's history. That's saying something.
7
I don't believe that Bill de Blasio is really absent, it's just that so many tend to raise the bar and will grill him no matter what he does. To put it simply, if he isn't doing something, he will be ruled as being apathetic, otherwise he will be claimed for not doing enough should he get involved. In other words, it always feels as if he will be placed into a lose-lose situation because there are so many critics he just can't please. Sometimes, this is exactly how I feel when trying to help others especially my family and I'm condemned no matter what I do, but unlike de Blasio, I can go cold turkey because I am no elected official. Nonetheless, he is a lot more open to the lower classes than the last two mayors were, who were always favoring the rich and trying to gentrify the city making it harder for so many to live close to their work. Let's not forget that there some news reporters that never liked him from the start, so I won't expect anything positive from them anyway. Maybe some of you who claim that you can do a better job as mayor run for it yourself so that de Blasio and others can start criticising and raising the bar for you and maybe then you will understand the way he feels. Unfortunately, politicians will always have critics that are known for having personal biases against them. Then again, if he was so bad, then why did win both times in a landslide when he could even been easily voted against or out in either one of them?
@Tal Barzilai
"Then again, if he was so bad, then why did win both times in a landslide when he could even been easily voted against or out in either one of them?"
Because people are dumb and pull the lever for anyone with a "D" after their affiliation. You would have thought that NY'ers might have learned something after his first term. I thought they were smarter than to be taken in by a huckster who's in it for himself only.
6
He's absent from City Hall because he's too busy meeting with real estate executives to sell out more of the city- can't have those meetings at City Hall.
6
What I see after more than 30 years living in NYC:
More empty storefronts than ever, often vacant for years.
More people begging and harassing riders on the subway.
Scaffolding staying on buildings for years.
Fancy buildings going up everywhere, while people are literally living on the streets with their stuff.
The city is worse, not better under de Blasio.
15
Why be in the public eye when corruption trials flood the headlines? He's done.
3
Worst mayor since Abe Beame.
3
@Bklynnupe Mr. Beame saved Carnegie Hall and Grand Central Terminal. What has db done? Other than sell out the city and its citizens.
2
And yet you endorsed.
7
Oh my god-we are stuck with this guy for three more years?
4
An abundance of empty store fronts and Deblasio has nothing to say or any action plan to address this blight. NYC Small businesses is a joke and another agency packed with friends of Bill. The commissioner of this agency should of been fired ages ago for poor performance of an agency and high turnover.
9
I keep wishing I'd made a button: "Don't blame me. I voted for Quinn."
5
I have lived in midtown Manhattan for 20 years. Before that 6 years in Chinatown. The city got better and better and better for all of those years up until DeBlasio took office. Now there are more junkies on the street, more homeless in my neighborhood, it's is nosier than ever before and the garbage bins are seemingly always overflowing. This mayor is failing our City.
15
@Simon Luck This is what progressive/liberalism does to a municipality. I've seen people puking, peeing, pooping and throwing up on the street. Smoking pot and nothing happens. Turnstile cheats, panhandlers galore. Remember Detroit? This is what db has done for the city, this is his legacy. A hack from his days as public advocate. Always looking out for himself. Can't say NYC voter didn't know about this hack yet this paper endorsed him. Go figure.
3
He can’t vanish soon enough and I voted for him twice!
@Greg Kraus Greg you knew about this man and yet you voted for him twice....WHY? Because he's a democrat? Shame on you. You've no right to complain since you voted for him. You knew what you were getting.
3
Many in NYC are in shock to the overbuilding that is occurring. The Mayor is approving and appears to be controlled by the real estate industry. Stock market is sliding so there maybe a massive correction in real estate due to an over supply and rising rates. At the same time homelessness seems to be at record highs. A freeze needs to be placed on new buildings in 2019. The Mayor needs to address many issues before more buildings go up.
4
When DeBlasio was elected, the Bronx was the poorest county in New York State wedged between the two wealthiest. Today, the Bronx was the poorest county in New York State wedged between the two wealthiest. A Tale of Two Cities.
8
How much taxpayer dollars are spent on his security detail at the gym? Perhaps he should invest in lifting weights at home, and spend that gym time at the office. Regardless, he may keep in decent shape but that won’t change the total sap this guy is!
16
de Blasio is lazy.....period.
15
De Blasio is busy planning to run for President or, if not nominated by either party, on a new party he'll organize.
Then, assuming he'll lose, perhaps he'll fall back on a top-dollar, no-show job at Amazon.com. He cares not a whit for the working middle-class of the City. Is he a con-man who fronts for the real estate billionaires? Are mushrooms a form of fungus? Move Gracie Mansion's functions to Rikers Island and the prisoners at Rikers to Gracie Mansion. Then don't let de Blasio off of the island. If necessary, lock him up there until his term is over or he resigns. At least then, his staff will know where to find him. Quit, de Blasio; quit. Please quit before the City totally disintegrates.
9
@Make America Sane He's not qualified but then again look who's president. No the country is not ready for another hack NY'er as president.
1
"Tale of Two Cities" de Blasio tempered action on NYCHA lead poisoning so as not to interfere with his reelection. (According to the New York Times reporter who's covered the story.)
8
New York City government spending and hiring have spiked up under lazy Bill. We will one day soon receive due punishment for electing such a dull mind and arrogant bureaucrat.
17
I don't live in NYC anymore. I got out in 2014 and so have (not) missed this mess. Well, you guys got what you voted for, so you deserve this. Both, the Governor and this Mayor are cut from the same cloth. And no, Amazon's second HQ will not save NYC either. NYC has become a corrupt cesspool of a sanctuary city where the size of Govt. is mushrooming out of control, the unions keep getting stronger, costs and taxes keep going up and the city barely resembles what most NY'ers think of it (incl. yours truly) - the greatest city on the planet. No chance! Not a lick of a chance. The subway is a mess, the traffic is a mess, there's trash on the streets. Try Berlin, Toronto, London or Singapore to understand how other large metros are going to take this mantle away from us.
11
@Kirk Land Quel sour grapes. NYC is still the most important city in the world. Sorry to burst your bubble.
5
Other than running guns for the Sandinistas he's never had an honest job.
6
This guy is trumpian from the "left". Lack of transparency, uninterested in "details", dismissive of all the many folks who make government actually work, self-promoting and aggrandizing. He's had some big ideas, true. But he clearly is completely uninterested in the vast majority of what it takes to make this City tick. And he can't manage to work within his own party, much less across the aisle. Not showing up to the office every day is a symptom of a greater problem.
17
@Ruth Bloomberg looks better and better in the rear-view mirror. He understood — and acted on — one notion and one notion only: being a mayor means running a city.
10
De Blasio seems have turned his attention to the national stage where his ambitions for a presidential run are painfully obvious to anyone who cares. Equally obvious to even a casual student of politics is that he has virtually no chance of running successfully. His weak performance as mayor and unparalleled ability to alienate nearly any audience with ill chosen rhetoric will weed him out of the primary field in the very early going. De Blasio will fade into irrelevance perhaps hosting a 2am to 4am shift on NY talk radio.
21
The traffic/taxi/Uber problem was apparent constantly when I visited NYC earlier this fall. Not everyone can take the subway to Penn Station but needing to leave two hours ahead of time above ground and still worrying about getting there in time is ridiculous.
7
Vanishing? Losing focus?
Nope. Likely just thinking about his next political job instead of doing the one he was actually elected for. Like he's done his whole career.
21
The mayor has allowed DDC to be mismanaged daily, the Mayor has allowed HPD to be mismanaged daily. Deed get changed by his staffer James Patchett and Rivington House ends up in the hands of developers. Patchett doesn't get fired but ends up the head of EDC. The staff at the Mayor's office is embarrassing daily and this can be seen by the lack of follow-thru at each agency when it comes to simple constituent issues that are no responded to. What Marco Carion and his staff do on a daily basis should be questioned and scrutinized. Even worse is how someone with no emergency management background, never worked in the fire business previous gig was running campaign races ends up as the highest ranking women @ the Fire Dept.
11
Don't forget the corruption at Parks and La Marina!
2
I voted for Mayor de Blasio twice, but he's been a pretty big disappointment. He hasn't been a disaster, or a fascist like Giuliani, and he's gotten a few things done, but it definitely feels like he's marking time now, and has his sights on higher office later on.
Which is crazy, because if you look back in recent history, I don't believe any NYC mayor has ever been elected to another office afterwards. I doubt Mr. de Blasio has any chance of getting to be a senator or anything higher up.
The main disappointment is that he ran on affordable housing and helping out people with lower incomes, and during his terms I've seen homelessness rise, and have heard nothing about any major projects to produce affordable housing. There have been no new rent controlled apartments, no ceilings on rent hikes, no specifically affordable housing being built. There have been tons of insanely expensive condominiums being built, blocking out the view and adding nothing to neighborhoods except unused pied-a-terre apartments for millionaires.
Mr. de Blasio's legacy is going to be ineffectiveness. I don't see that changing in the last few years of his term, and I hope next time we get an efficient Democratic mayor, maybe Corey Johnson or Melissa Mark Viverito.
13
@Dan Stackhouse A facist like Giuliani? Seriously. I don't remember junkies on the street, or people pooping and peeing on the sidewalk Dan. He may have sold his sole to the devil to be in the inner circle of 45 but he certainly was a better mayor than who currently resides albeit on a very part time basis City Hall. deBlasio is a hack always was always will be. All voters needed to do was some research on the guy but you are all too smart for that and now you're stuck with hm for three more years. Can't say you weren't warned.
1
The Mayor has very few accomplishments and none of them I would consider very progressive. Bloating the city budget by having a record number of public employees is more communist corruption than liberal policy.
16
I have to say, reading these comments I have no idea how DeBlasio was re-elected with 2/3 of the total vote . . .
12
Well, nobody voted, that's how. His margin of "victory" was that a majority of the 20- or so percent of New Yorkers who voted cast their votes for him.
If de Blasio we're running again and the Republicans put up Voldemort, I might go for him just to oust the Democrats. All they do is name bridges and tunnels after themselves to the tune of 200s of millions of dollars.
14
@PJ The first time he ran, the "establishment" vote was spread across the president of the City Council, a former city comptroller and a present city comptroller. The progressive faction united behind him, and since only the fringe of both parties bother to vote in local primaries, and the Republican was a non-entity, he cruised to election by default.
4
To top it off, we now have a Chief Democracy Officer. To encourage people to vote. In a town where there is essentially no real opposition to the Democratic Party, is there any wonder why voter participation is so low? Chief Democracy Officer - yet another needless drain on taxpayer money.
6
Selling out to Cuomo and Amazon was the last straw for me with this guy
10
A mistake and we are paying for it now a economy healthy and robust is squandered by a arrogant man caught up in self. The long vision has not incubated the ideas and programs of Bloomberg a man he so crassly disrespected at his inauguration continue to benefit the city. This man is an empty suit lets see if we can do better next election. I resent taxpayer dollars paying for a staff for his wife she was not elected to anything get a job take the subway and handle your family affairs! First Lady of Nation is vastly different from wife of a Mayor.
15
If only he'd disappear entirely. The guy is all ego and no grit. Not loving the school Chancellor either.
14
People of NYC, you have only yourselves to blame for this mayor. You voted for him and then you did it again, and he is a direct reflection of you. He leads a progressive life that is focused on sybaritic qualities. Work is anathema to him. He doesn't want the headache of what it takes to truly run the most complicated, dynamic city in the world. That takes effort. As stewards of NY, eventually you're going to have to bite the bullet and vote for a Giuliani-type mayor. You must keep the proverbial train on the tracks!
17
@Mark Thank you Mark. It's really incredible. You can't make it up. I had commented during his second campaign that the very same people who voted fro him, not once but twice mind you will be the first to complain. NY'ers pretend they are the smartest people in the room, surprise. This is what happens when you have voters who blindly vote one way and don't do any research on the candidates. Hey all of you complaining about this guy look in the mirror and truly see who is to blame.
1
Wow! What a blatant hit-job. Hidden way down in this grossly unfair article is this: "Mr. de Blasio has shifted many of his meetings to Gracie Mansion..."
Oh, so if one includes all of those meetings at Gracie Mansion, how many days has de Blasio been on the job, Mr. Neuman? Does that dramatically change the entire thrust of the article? I'm guessing yes.
But The Times reporter won't let alone his attempted hit: Though the mayor is meeting lots of his top officials, just at Gracie Mansion, Mr. Neuman still goes on that, well, "he runs late," and, oh, he makes those officials "travel uptown."
Come on. The New York Times has had it out for Bill de Blasio from the moment that he defeated their hand-picked candidate, Christine Quinn. They just won't forgive him for winning.
Mayor de Blasio is doing a great job, he's a national leader on issue after issue, and, yes, he's working aggressively- at City Hall and at Gracie Mansion.
This is the sort of mean little article that Times editors should have stopped before publication.
1
@Sean sounds exactly like what Trump says about the media. These are facts. They may be unflattering to the mayor but that's no reason to refrain from publishing them. The people within his administration are deeply disappointed with his leadership. Doesn't that tell you anything? I've worked in this administration and the previous one. The difference is night and day. Insiders have known about this leadership vacuum for years. Finally it is coming to light.
4
@Res Ipsa The question was about the facts. If you add in all of de Blasio's meetings with his city officials at Gracie Mansion with the City Hall meetings, will it show that he's on the job as much as any previous mayor? Is it a matter simply of venue?
Simple question that Neumann won't answer.
1
This guy is the worst of the worst - as incompetent and corrupt as our President, but from the left.
Sadly, this is what happens with ONE party rule - no democrats dared to oppose him (the machine is alive and well).
How and why is has ignored the subways is incomprehensible and YES it his job to go to DC and kiss the moron President's ring for funds. Thats what the president responds to and what is needed.
Also - enough with the real estate industry bashing. What you lefties want? its supply and demand, otherwise rents continue to escalate unless massive building is allowed. What you refuse to understand (ask any landlord) is that the City continues to raise taxes and take easily 1/3 of the rents, plus it is now impossible to get permits from DOB with huge delays and nonsensical changes.
All of which costs money and time and makes building MORE expensive here then anywhere else. Its not just much needed housing. Why does it cost $2.5 B to build a mile of second avenue subway vs. $500M in Paris ? Where is the outrage about the strangle hold of the unions stopping us from getting stuff done?
Regarding the so called homeless, most of the new ones are from OUT OF TOWN - white, drug addicted, money for dogs, hair dye and tattoos. If they came to NYC to work, lefties deride them as "gentrifiers" but make the subway your home and toilet, and sudddenly they are a protected class. Enough is enough
13
This mayor is so out of touch..the homeless population has grown..NYCHA is a disgrace. Worried about his progressive agenda and going to the gym..No better than Trump!!! So Self absorbed.
12
Our mayor is too busy figuring out what his next political step is. He's a very ambitious man, but there's no discernible path to his next move up. Governor? No. Senator? No. Vice President. God, no. New York City doesn't hold anything politically for him any longer, either, and consequently he's lost interest in the city. His 'progressive' agenda? It's baloney. He visits Sanders to discuss that agenda? Oh, that'll shake up his Democratic rivals, right? Not a chance. He's always been all about tactics, not beliefs.
16
What about Deblasios promise to overhaul the inequities in New York City’s property tax system? Properties valued at millions pay little while middle class average homes pay disproportionately more. Is that part of DeBlasio’s mission to make NYC the fairest city for all? Or is it as we suspected pie in the sky.
3
@Tmac So not true! Manhattan co-ops pay far more in proportion to value than private homes in the outer boros.
4
NYC residents live in an age of excess:
* Political power: concentrated in a very left-leaning Democratic party, which controls all meaningful levels of state and city power. And yet, government is dysfunctional.
* Spending: under de Blasio, the budget for NYC has exploded from about $50bln to $89bln. de Blasio has destroyed 20 years' of fiscal prudence with really nothing meaningfully positive to show for it except for a pre-K program. (Well, at least some people are happy. Despite efficiencies that can be exploited through technology, NYC employee headcount is the highest it's ever been. And it's growing.)
NYC has gotten what it voted for. de Blasio won re-election easily despite being incompetent and incapable of governing effectively. When he finally leaves office, the city will be much worse off than when he started as mayor with minimal safety net when the next recession hits. Good luck to all of us.
21
@BrooklynBond "very left leaning"? There is nothing and nobody "very left leaning" in the whole country, much less NYC. Gore Vidal got it right: "There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat.”
6
From the beginning, the Mayor has shown himself to be rather opportunistic and stingy with the amount of energy he devotes to any given issue. He has made this clear from the beginning with his famous latenesses, no shows and defiant daily motorcade to the Brooklyn gym. Given to sanctimonious gestures to diversity, but showing his true nature by laughing off a homeless lady daring to confront him during his precious gym visit. His signature triumph, Vision Zero, is falling by the wayside. Somehow congestion pricing does not fit in with progressive theory. Politically erratic, he declined to support Bernie Sanders, to whom he has since joined by the hip, in the Democratic presidential primary. He is oblivious to incessant hikes in property taxes squeezing low and middle income home owners. Here in Queens he promised to issue a decision on the Rockaway Beach Branch but, as an outer borough concern, has let it die. When things do get done, as with the Amazon deal and preparation for the L line shutdown, one can safely assume it is on direct orders from his true master, Big Real Estate.
17
I'd be interested in a similar analysis of other mayors' schedules. I've been in and out of city government over multiple mayoralties, and have been in the room with commissioners and deputy mayors. In my observation, mayors meet regularly only with Police and Fire commissioners, and maybe the schools Chancellor. Other commissioners meet with deputy mayors. There are occasional exceptions, but that has been the rule, so it's not surprising to that Esposito hasn't met with DeBlasio. I'd analyses of other mayors' schedules would confirm that.
It should also be understood that OEM is a strange agency. OEM in theory coordinates and does command and control for all emergency response, but that's a facade. The reality is that OEM provides desk space at a command center, but they really don't lead any emergency response. The truth is, Sanitation owns snow. Police and Fire owns most other emergencies. City Hall is making Esposito the fall guy for an ostensibly inadequate snow response, when (if it actually was anybody's fault) it was the fault of Sanitation.
The story here is not "why didn't DeBlasio do his own dirty work?" or "How come DeBlasio isn't meeting with the OEM commissioner more often?" There's nothing wrong or strange with that being delegate to a deputy mayor. It's "how come the OEM commissioner is being scapegoated for Sanitation's mess?""
5
@John A. Thanks for commenting, John. I did look at Bloomberg's schedules to make the comparison, although there wasn't ultimately room in the story for it. In 2005, the last year of Bloomberg's first term, he was at City Hall on average 16 days a month, or four days a week. In the first 8 months of 2006, at the start of his second term, he averaged 15 days a month at City Hall.
And yes, all mayor's delegate and they should. But de Blasio seems to be unusually walled off from his commissioners.
12
@John A.
Exactly. OEM is getting scapegoated for something that wasn't their fault at all. They manage CIMS and make sure all the players are doing their part to participate and abide by it. Also, unique to OEM, they have a decent amount of people from other agencies on-loan to them. EMT's, PO's, Detectives, Sgts, Firefighters, etc...they function as the Citywide Interagency Coordinators and Watch Commanders. A true marvel I'd say. To reinvent this agency as some progressive-politics project as I imagine BDB wants would be ridiculous. They're doing a great job.
1
He's just not a "nuts and bolts" type of person. We all got spoiled rotten by Bloomberg and his extreme hands on type of management at all levels. If he's not fixing a "societal ill" part of some progressive dream, he just doesn't want a part of it.
10
Great American Progressive politics at its finest...
Once elected, off and running – for president...
Anything else of consequence or importance – someone else’s job...
PS
Michael Bloomberg – if you’re wondering what the US would look like in 2024 if some Socialist becomes president instead of you...
Just look at what NYC looks like in 2018 when some Socialist is mayor instead of you...
8
Just would like to amend my first comment if they print it, didn't realize it's his second term and he can't run again.
4
We don't need Mayor Bill when REBNY runs the city.
5
I am not in NYC so maybe I don't know all the under the radar things this guy is doing, but from my perspective he is a joke. Never takes responsibility for anything that goes wrong. And this incident with Esposito shows it exactly. Apparently Esposito is well liked and doing a good job. Then I heard him yesterday talking a bunch of mumbo jumbo about new direction and this was planned, but he can't even face the guy. Yet he's at the border, hanging out with Bernie Sanders, at the climate conference, Everywhere but on the job. When people speak of nanby pamby liberals and over the top politically correct politicians, DeBlasio comes right to mind. It's no wonder Cuomo doesn't really get along with him. I think just about anyone could beat him and I hope someone does.
19
So the guy makes his motorcade drive to Bklyn everyday and then BACK to Gracie Mansion instead of City Hall so that he can hold court in the anonymous confines of his "home" instead of City Hall which is downtown and where his staff all work. This guy is a clown, clearly never worked a real job or ran an organization serving 8+ million people and thinks he is above reproach. Meanwhile he is so thin-skinned he can't take valid criticism or self-reflection - like the liberal version of Trump - can't wait for his term to run out. NY has gone downhill since he's been mayor.
25
Paging Joe Crowley
NYC Mayor could be your next job
3
@Deirdre No. He's another political hack.
2
This Mayor is a disgrace! This city is running on fumes, thanks to Mayor Bloomberg leaving us a full tank! His administration has no ideas, just more redistribution. This mayor is telling me that if you are not dirt poor or part of the 1%, he has no interest in your concerns and you have no place in this city. I think he maybe right.
24
I think the guy could be a serious contender for president if he could figure out a way fix homelessness caused by gentrification, keep crime from going up, get the bus system to operate reliably and get the state to repair and expand the subways. He obviously does not know how or have the energy, to do that, so he and his wife traipse around the world, sometimes at taxpayer expense, supporting this or that cause that makes him think he can be the Pied Piper of liberals. If I was a liberal running for preident, I would stay the far away from this loser so I am not associated with his failures.
12
When was he focused, other than wanting to be elected and enjoying getting chauffeured around what has he actually done for NYC?
15
You can’t lose something you never had.
5
Lost focus? Did he ever focus?
10
The real question is whether this mayor ever had any focus. I direct your attention to the subway and NYCHA
15
I knew him way back when he was still Bill Wilhelm. We were part of the same small and active on-campus organizations at NYU in the late 80's to early 90's. Not much has changed. Smile for the camera, toss out a few words chosen for impact over substance, then evaporate till the next opportunity to win over hearts and minds. Didn't work then, won't work now.
24
@Lowell billie was my Park Slope councilperson. He was then an arrogant, opportunistic, incompetent poseur with zero management skills. Now, his corruption is blatantly apparent instead of smothered in darkness as previously. It was good to read your post. (sent by a senior and a true progressive)
13
I was no fan of Bloomberg and wholeheartedly supported BDB at the beginning, I even worked in the administration for a while. Now I realize that for all his faults and lack of perspective on issues like wealth inequality, Bloomberg had a vision for New York that at least matched the scope of 8.5 million people and “The Greatest City in the World.” NYC is larger than most US states and many other countries, we could lead the way on making our ways of life more sustainable in the face of climate catastrophe by having world class public transit, reducing our dependence on cars, prepping for rising sea levels etc. etc.
Instead we have a mayor who still seems to live in the Park Slope of 1993, and gets driven there every day in a motorcade. He lacks any vision for what the city should be beyond meaningless platitudes like “fairness” that require no effort or meaningful change to the positions of the already wealthy and powerful. At this point I’d settle for a mayor that lacked ideas but kept the streets safe and clean, but he does not seem capable of that either.
33
@Scott People need to take an objective look at what Bloomie accomplished. Had he only set up 311, which radically transformed the way ordinary citizens interact with city government, he'd go down in history as one of the great mayors. Then only consider: the smoking ban, ridiculed at the time and now standard everywhere; Citibike shares; bike lanes; pedestrian malls; trans-fat and calories posted in fast-food outlets; development of Hudson River piers and Brooklyn waterfront; way more from there.
7
It’s a disgrace that de Blasio and Cuomo can’t get along. They should be a liberal one-two punch showing how progressive government can work for the people, and instead they’re just two egoists out for themselves, duking it out at the public's expense.
59
the last thing we need is these 2 bozos getting along. the ruination they could bring would be devastating
9
@Len319 - Classic Liberal speech denial. BDB + Cuomo;This is liberalism at its finest. Corrupt and driven by special interests.
7
This mayor does not represent the values or interests exposed by progressives. His relentless courting of big real estate in destroying the fabric of our communities, his staff running their own show without benefit of community engagement (see the fabrication of an incident that never happened, in the Oct. 15th NY Magazine cover story, where his Deputy Mayor, Alicia Glen, justifies her actions to take away 3 acres of parkland in Brooklyn for luxury housing and non-affordable units, denegrating the community in the process), his blame game of removing good bureaucrats to distract from his own disengagement, and his solicitations of funds for a so-called charity that was a pay to play scheme, are examples sited. Real liberal-minded New Yorkers realize he is a fraud. I just hope the rest of the nation sees what we already know.
63
I have never voted for anyone but a Democrat for national office, but I voted for Guliani and Bloomberg each time they ran and have never voted for this “Dollar Bill”.
There is something about him that has always inspired dislike of him; he is arrogant and self aggrandizing. His daily excursions to the gym, while symbolic, demonstrate these traits.
I will no longer have to vote against him; after 63 years, I have sold my house and taken my disposable income elsewhere. I hope I don’t get the chance to vote against him in the future in a Presidential primary.
I wish good luck to the city of my birth, education, and working life, but have not missed living there a single day. I don’t blame de Blasio for the changes in NYC that motivated me to spend my retirement elsewhere, but he sure didn’t give me any reason to stay.
83
@Kayemtee
This explains why Trump gets viotes with leaders like this.
1
I like progressive ideas but the mayor and his team seem to lack management skills. For example they closed all after school programs the day after the snow 2 weeks ago. Parents leaving work in a scramble. As a parent it was crazy . There was sun and no snow but the city just trying to make up for the day before .
There are other management items. The streets are full of garbage but tickets don't work as sanitation baskets are streets are always overflowing . No focus on the things that matter to average New Yonkers. Yes he should be in City Hall and manage.
68
The city is in ruins thanks to the rampaging "development" inflicted on our environment by Big Real Estate. Street traffic is exploding in chaos.
This article solves the mystery in part; the Mayor is MIA and simply doesn't see the wreckage. He holds royal court behind Gracie Mansion gates, fiddling while Rome burns.
He is enthralled by Real Estate political donors and an abject underling to the NYPD Commissioner, but neglects everything else. Vision Zero? We will soon be dodging dockless motor vehicles on our sidewalks.
DiBlasio's head is gassed up with delusions of a grand future for himself and his unqualified spouse. He is a toxic presence in his own party and his support is laughably irrelevant to other Democrats seeking office. He was 6th and last when he ran for office in 2013, winning by a fluke when the Weiner and Liu campaigns were derailed.
It was telling that his and Chirlain's costumes for the Mermaid Parade and for Halloween at the Mansion were crowns and kingly robes. Pathetic.
101
@Michael McAllister
Rampaging development began with Bloomberg.
16
"Anyone who watches what I’m doing understands that every hour, every day, including weekends, I’m focused on this work, which is why we’re getting done what we are getting done,” Mr. de Blasio said.
Shall we talk about his trip to Germany where he focused on demeaning the role of the presidency, rather than staying in NYC, after a policewoman was murdered? Should we talk about his trips to Iowa where he was focused on his thoughts of running for president? Should we talk about his carbon footprint? You know. He has 2 SUV's take him to his gym in Brooklyn? Should we talk about his workout, where he was too busy to speak with a woman about the housing crisis? Should we talk about the indictments of his friends, donors, who get special treatment from the NYC authorities? Should we speak of the maligned MTA or the Housing Authority?There are way too many things to discuss. His running NYC efficiently is not one of them. He seems to be the most inept, self centered, egotistical Mayor we have had in decades. His priorities are Bill de Blasio, and nothing else. De Blasio sure does not live by the motto " The Buck Stops Here". Apparently, the buck stops anywhere except at his doorstep. He takes no responsibility for any negatives in NYC. Yet, he is right there to laud whatever few accomplishments he has, which are few and far between.
133
De Blasio sure does not live by the motto " The Buck Stops Here". Apparently, the buck stops anywhere except at his doorstep.
====================================
Common flaw with progressives ... Obama was blaming Bush for all of his administration's shortcomings well into the 8th year ...
3
Mayor de Blasio campaigned for office as an unabashed progressive, ready to take on big money that has left so many New Yorkers struggling to pay for basics like housing and transport. He went as far as to disparage his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, at his inauguration - a shameful, tasteless move that would only be somewhat rectified by blowing Bloomberg's record our of the water. Needless to say, nothing of the sort has happened.
What does de Blasio have to show for all of his talk? The subway catastrophe needs no elaboration. The city's shelters were just the subject of a NYTimes piece cataloging their dysfunction. And then he gave billions in tax subsidies to one of America's wealthiest corporations, Amazon, so they can come in and finish gentrifying Queens - a move that is as much of a 180 I have seen a politician do since Donald Trump became a darling of the Evangelical right.
On paper at least, Bill de Blasio's political stances align much closer to mine than his predecessor's. But not a day goes by that I don't miss Bloomberg. In terms of how well the city functioned there is no comparison between them.
Much like our Governor, if de Blasio thinks that this stint is a mere stepping stone he better seriously rethink his strategy. It's only a stepping stone if you have results to show and happy constituents ready to carry you to the next level.
122
@Solaris How about establishing a pre-school educational program for those previously unable to afford one.
2
The only good thing about Mr. de Blasio is that he recognizes that some kids need to be taken out of their home environments as soon as possible. Yes, universal pre-K is a good move.
7
@B.
The real issue is that Michael Bloomberg did not improve upon the function of NYC government agencies for 12 years!!!!!!!!!! It takes a long time to fix the broken city government agencies because they are so large. Mayor of NYC , largest in country is most difficult political position in USA.
4
It took four weeks for the city to remove a huge fallen branch from my sidewalk. Street sweepers often fail to show up. Sanitation can't be bothered to pick up bulk items, which remain on the sidewalk for weeks. Prospect Park is ragged. The streets are full of potholes. Repeated efforts to have trees planted on my block have failed. Let's face it. Our mayor doesn't care about the provision of basic city services. The article confirms what we all know.
126
@Douglas
NYC Sanitation Department has one of the strongest labor unions. We are lucky they perform.
Prospect Park was worse off before gentrification began in the 1990's.
3
@Douglas Thanks for your comment, Douglas. I'm seeing a lot of comments here about dirty streets and uncollected garbage. Maybe it's time for us to take a look at the Sanitation Department and the work it does. That's especially true now that the mayor has elevated Sanit. Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and put her in charge, also, of the lead paint issue.
28
@Douglas
It doesn't take much to buy and plant some trees. Do it yourself, involve your neighbors. Good neighborhood/community-building exercise. Oh, and of course, blast the event all over social-media to get City Hall (or wherever the mayor is) to pay attention - that's the only way to make things happen in this day and age.
2
I came back from a trip to Germany this past summer and saw how clean and efficient-looking cities like Munich and Frankfurt were. Returning to my neighborhood in Brooklyn was depressing: I immediately noticed the litter strewn across sidewalks, the cratered roads, piled-up garbage bags and homeless people staggering down Atlantic Avenue. And frankly, I live in one of the better areas.
NYC really needs a technocratic mayor - someone enjoys managing bureaucracies and not ignoring his or her various departments. This article should be a wakeup call to de Blasio - and the City Counsel - to do more to raise city services to at least a basic level.
167
I’m no fan of de Blasio’s but you can’t compare Frankfurt/Munich to Brooklyn... the mess falls almost solely on the inhabitants of the communities. People are pigs in Brooklyn, and in all the other boroughs. People in Germany have self-respect and care for their neighborhoods.
50
@Brian Hi, Brian and thanks for the comment. Population of Frankfurt: 750,000. Munich: 1.5 million. Very different types of city.
That said, what I found in my reporting is that even people in NYC government are concerned about the mayor's focus. Bill de Blasio isn't going to go out and pick up the garbage himself. But it does matter when the boss shows up at the office. And working from home isn't the same when you're in charge.
39
@William Neuman
As many have begged for a long time, please give us more detailed reporting on our city. The New York section should focus more on, frankly, more boring reporting on where the money is going, on the various departments, the salaries, the working atmosphere at these departments, and so forth. A lot of this predates DeBlasio. New York is the size of a small country, and we know so little about it. DeBlasio is not unlike Trump; he is smooth talking rather than crude talking. If he were a Republican the reporting would be apoplectic, and it would be nationwide, and cable wide.
32
Even de Blasio's signature achievement was tainted by his progressive grandstanding at the expense of practical outcomes. de Blasio made universal pre-K the centerpiece of his initial mayoral campaign and vowed to finance it with a tax on wealthy city residents, for which state approval was required. With no appetite in Albany for another tax, Cuomo ultimately agreed to provide state funding for the program. Rather than simply declaring victory, de Blasio initially balked, insisting on his tax. The fact that the Mayor was more interested in taxing the wealthy and furthering his progressive bona fides than implementing pre-K illustrates what motivates him: pure self-interest.
14
Major Liberal.
Classic, he was elected by Liberals, did nothing much but fight and argue with Cuomo, and clean snow quickly for his donors and a week late for the regular folk in Queens.
He promised what he had to promise to get re-elected by the Liberals, and like sheep they re-elected him.
And guess what?
A little snow, the city halted; the pot holes are all over the city unfixed since he took over; 8th Ave from 40th to 34th slid right back into early 90’s sleeze; drug sales on the street are rampant, I see them in broad daylight as I make my way up 8th every morning and evening; the McDonnalds on 8th is still a den of drug sellers and cops show up daily; the ‘massage parlor’ prostitution has boomed, they do not even hide any more; the city is still a sanctuary city; the motorbikes still cause a mess and are neither legal nor illegal either.
Worst major ever.
But boy do Liberals love him.
21
The McDonald's on 57th & 8th??
1
Whatever one wants to say about Cuomo, and I have plenty to say, he gets that people need to “see” progress - he can claim all those bridges and LGA renovation and maybe a tunnel. De Blasio did pre-k and that’s it. “Preserving” however many units of affordable housing has no narrative, no signal event, no concrete expression. Meanwhile all around us more unaffordable glass towers go up and the streets are dirty.
For the conservatives weaponizing De Blasio’s idiocy or for liberals waxing nostalgic for Bloomberg, the insane inequality De Blasio was suppose to address - and didn’t - is a betrayal to those who voted for him based on the promise to make New York cleaner, fairer, and more hopeful for the millions just scraping by. We wanted a New Deal that worked for New York, with creativity and imagination, and we got business as usual.
And everyone note the whole racism of “crime will rise without stop and frisk” and the low crime rate was only due to Republican mayors is nowhere to be found. So sit on that with your nostalgia.
The one thing De Blasio could do to salvage anything is work with Cuomo to make the subway livable again. Short of that his legacy will be as an arrogant, naive, and incompetent putz.
11
I'm no fan of de Blasio but how does his attendance compare to his predecessors? Is it abnormal?
3
So much petty vitriol, hatred, and whining. Oh no the mayor travels a lot! Oh no he works out in his neighborhood gym in Brooklyn! Oh no a piece of garbage on the sidewalk! Oh no he speaks intelligently about a wide range of things—he MUST be arrogant (and Trump is so “authentic” and “real”)! Facts are facts: massive decrease in pedestrian deaths, universal free early childhood education, massive increase in new affordable housing, new homeless shelters and battling back selfish freaked-out gentrifiers who fear a homeless shelter will tank their property value, a deal with Amazon that every city in the US fought for (most offering even more incentives than NYC)...the list goes on and on. I don’t agree with everything deBlasio does or represents, but just look at the facts: he has done more, and more for, the average New Yorker than any mayor in recent memory.
2
@xian
massive increase in new affordable housing?? Really? where? I see more and more people on the streets and more and homeless in the subway. what about lead in NYCHA housing with no heat and hot water. Tell your nonsense to someone else .
1
I didn't vote for him. He has shirked all responsibility since his first day in office. He commands no presence despite his height which is even less than his hubris. He is an inept egoist who should never be allowed to hold any public tax paying office again - anywhere.
15
I've given him the sobriquet "Do-Nothing" DeBlasio. What has the man done since his election? Yes, he tried repeatedly to get the poor horses out of Central Park where they meander at a leisurely pace. He spent a great deal of time on that - more than on reforming Riker's Island or dealing with homelessness. Of course he failed on achieving his goal but then again one can't fault him for the time he spent on such a noble cause. That is except for the fact that the quality of life of the 8+ mil. NYers has DETERIORATED since he was elected. I wonder, during his motorcade from Gracie Mansion to Park Slope each day where he continues to work out since he's partial to what was his local gym, he thinks about the mess average New Yorkers are dealing with, what with buildings going up left and right and the talk lately only of service reductions of all kinds to our city's services. Although not directly involved in running the subway, there even talking about reducing heating and A/C to save money. No doubt the temperate in Central Park, where the horses meander, is far less than the platform at 34th St. on a summer's day waiting for the train to arrive. What, 5 minutes and no train yet? Or the black boy waiting at Riker's where 2yrs ago another boy awaiting trial died of dehydration from the heat? Does this faux liberal care about anyone but his national standing and chances for higher office? Clearly he cares not about his current office or the people of this city.
14
@ManhattanWilliam The carriage-horse debacle early on defined his regime. It was a sop to a fringe that gave him $$$. It died because the City Council heard from the 82% of the city that didn't want the ban. I grew up among work horses. I'm a vegan and an animal-rights activist, and the stupidity of this made me sick.
2
Many of us who have lived in Park Slope since the 70s are FURIOUS with this man's laziness and blatant misuse of our tax-payer dollars to be driven in an SUV EVERY DAY? to Brooklyn, with a full police detail, so that he and his wife can work out at the YMCA in our neighborhood. It is infuriating! How can he do this? Does the man have no shame?
It seems not. I crossed party lines only once in my life, to vote once for Bloomberg. As a teacher, I'm grateful for de Blasio's slightly less abusive treatment of us as professionals who work hard, but his behavior in every other way is pretty disgusting.
22
It's easy for him to do what he wants because he is like Trump in that his base sticks with him , no matter what. What percentage of NYCHA residents voted for his opponent in the last race?
14
Think he's bored? Or does he think that he's done such a good job that the City runs itself?
4
Memories are short and size matters. New Yorker's, and their press, have a duty to criticize "da May'a". It's an entitlement earned by choosing to live in an unsustainable city. From here, the piece reads like a straight forward "hit-piece" using attendance in down-town Manhattan as a criteria, in an age of internets and e-mails (not mentioned once). The last "technocratic" (LOL) mayor crushed democratic expression "soviet-style" behind a screen so no one could see the brutality. The mayor before that endorsed police State tactics leading to "mistaken murders" by peace officers. Lost focus? perhaps my beloved news corporation is a vehicle for directing focus, from some things, towards others? Meteorologic strike-forces, magical garbage disappearance, "Star-trek" transportation. These are the things we born'n bread NY'ers are waiting for. George Jetson for Mayor!
1
Considering the criticism of Mayor DeB here as well as the brittle dissatisfactgion that is being voiced over the destructive and divisive Amazon deal, I strongly doubt that he will leave legacy of improvement visible to anyone beyond himself and his lackeys.
Stringer is right : His remaining time objectives needs to be clearly and effectively delineated to the public true; but also to Mayor DeB himself. One humble suggestion: Focus solely on the repair and maintenance of NYCHA . Other issues will inevitably crop up still this should be the overarching objective of achievement.
3
Everyone who voted for him either time deserves the blame, as well as everyone who opposed him but didn't bother to vote. I'm a Democrat, but I saw what was coming and voted for his Republican opponents each time. I wish more of my fellow Democrats weren't so afraid of crossing party lines.
18
he never had focus to begin with. Why people voted him a second term i will never understand. Looking forward to seeing him make the actual exit.
19
de Blasio would never have been mayor if not for Wiener's implosion.
18
@John K Your comment only makes me think of the one Democrat who would have been WORSE than DeBlasio!
1
de Blasio is the mayor of New York City in name only. He is presiding over a degradation of the basics that make any city run, including mass transit, law and order, and accountability in our public servants. He is a disgrace to the tradition of hands on mayors that kept New York city humming. He cannot leave office soon enough.
34
Big Bird needs to be reminded that he has a job to do and half of it is showing up.
19
"such as their weekend trip to Vermont where the mayor appeared at an event sponsored by Bernie Sanders."
Mr. de Blasio is jockeying for a vice presidential slot on the democratic ticket. But he won't get it.
Mr. Mayor, take a note from Giuliani, you will never hold political office again. Nobody in New York even likes you.
36
It’s because he spends hours every day at the Park Slope YMCA...
14
It's never been a great secret that Mr. de Blasio has his aim for higher ground and that being Mayor of New York City would get him on his way.
Get ready for the next Battle Royale between him and Andrew Cuomo on their way to the national stage, courtesy of Amazon.
8
I don't know any New Yorker, whatever his or her political affiliation, who is happy with DeBlasio. And hid choice to travel to another borough to go to a gym is revealing. Get a treadmill buddy. You are the mayor!
27
This is an "expose"? It's been obvious that this clown has been absent from day one -- while most of the city is at work by 9am, BDB is off to workout at his gym in Brooklyn, no where near the mayor's residence. I don't have nearly the time to workout like he does, and I belong to a gym 2 blocks away and have a much less important job than he does.
This guy is a colossal joke and the city is unraveling. We will all be better off when his term ends and he fades into oblivion.
48
No one can find Pittsburgh’s mayor, either. Maybe they are together?
5
This Mayor is a lazy person, who won office because he has a biracial son with a cool Afro.
He can’t run for a third term, so why bother coming to work, where people expect you to do work or make decisions.
Maybe voters (small % of residents) will make a better choice next time
19
Please correct me if I am wrong, but didn't the New York Times endorse Mr. de Blasio for Mayor? Please be sure to share this article with your editorial board so that they can learn the error of their ways.
32
@jrak
Yes they did, and they campaigned for him for months as well.
7
Why is he still mayor? I don't need to repeat the long list of reasons why he should be removed from office. These already appear in letters to the NYT and in every NY newspaper.
Impeach him now.
12
@Bobby S.
There’s no such thing as impeachment of a NYC mayor. The governor may remove him for cause such as a criminal conviction.
5
New York would be better off if de Blasio completely vanished.
30
@R. R.
Agreed - I didn't vote for him. He has shirked all responsibility since his first day in office. He commands no presence despite his height which is even less than his hubris. He is an inept egoist who should never be allowed to hold any public tax paying office again - anywhere. Would be nice if we could vote him out for not being able to discharge the duties of the office of Mayor. Or can we?
8
De Balasio instead of addressing the cause of underlying under performing of inner city schools, he is trying to lower the bar to specialized high school so to give under performing students a chance. Students make schools, now do we lower the standards of those schools so these students can perform?
21
@D The other thing about his plan is it will result in 1000 fewer seats at Specialized Schools for boys (who are 52% of the student body). Meanwhile all the non-specialized screened schools already run 65%-70% female. So parents of smart boys had best pack their bags.
1
Mayor DeBlasio and his Progressive Agenda have made are City progressively worse.
Most of his initiatives aren’t a success.
Our Mayor seems to believe he can manage the city from afar, be it the gym, Gracie Mansion, Iowa or Vermont!
I think his real focus is to be THE National Progressive voice and to get his wife elected.
And to that point we the Citizens of NYC have contributed $25 million to raise her public profile.
21
De Blasio was in over his head since day one as Mayor. He was fine as a Public Advocate and as a community activist - he should have stayed at that level. He can't handle the day-to-day of running NYC.
33
de Blasio is an overly ambitious, cloyingly so, local club politician, that has been feeding at the public trough his entire adult life. All he can think about is his, or his wife's next job on the public payroll. His focus is on himself and his image, and secondarily, his wife's as an extension of himself. He is truly a revolting example of what our politics have become: self absorbed individuals solely focused on their own government career ambitions. de Blasio is a small person in a big job, and hopefully more people will realize what an utter sham he is. I'm most definitely proud I never voted for this shameless charlatan. I do give credit to the Times for pointing out how wasteful and transparently uninterested de Blasio is in his day job, now that he's been reelected, now focusing seemingly full time on his and his wife's next move on the political scene. Never has a greater indictment of lifetime politicos than one Bill de Blasio: legend in his own mind only.
36
I miss Bloomberg!!!
50
Gee, who would ever suppose that NYT, and this reporter William Neuman, would write yet another column in which vague criteria are offered up to show that, yes, de Blasio is so very derelict compared to his predecessors.
And oh, how wonderful was Mayor Mike! You know, that guy who stole his third term and barely won, despite spending $100 million of his own money to drown out the unfunded opposition.
Of course, it *is* true Bloomberg took public transportation. For photo ops once a year. So what if got to the station with a caravan? And he earned that private jet!
What is it about this paper that can't stand liberals?
3
Bloomberg’s money is self made. He has donated hundreds of millions for philanthropy and gun issues. Why do far left progressives have a problem with success? Not to mention competency in running the mayors office. You know the mayor who loves giving Amazon billions it didn’t need in tax breaks.
18
@Adameyeball
Tell me, how exactly do you measure Bloomberg's "competency"? Maybe you mean the phony school test scores, showcasing how brilliantly Bloomberg "reformed" the system thanks to installing business cronies who know nothing about education but lots about cheating?
Or maybe you mean the great preventive maintenance he did on the subways (oh, sorry, that's the governor, except when de Blasio is mayor)?
Or all the affordable housing he built?
Or how about the enormous real-state and stadium subsidies, which did such wonders for working people?
1
We won't have to worry about anyone's test scores when Mr. de Blasio dismantles the city's best schools in the name of so-called equality.
Equality under the law is a very different thing from equality of talent or equality of brain power. Most people aren't equipped intellectually or even in terms of dexterity to be surgeons. Most people can't be concert pianists and emphatically not just because their parents couldn't give them lessons. And most kids can't thrive at Stuyvesant or Bronx Science. Without focus or perseverance and a talent for thinking . . .
You get the picture.
3
I used to think DeBlasio was well-meaning, but incompetent. Now I think he is self-centered, self-aggrandizing, and utterly useless.
He thinks the office is about him. No, Bill, it's not about you and it never will be. And that's what makes your rhetoric so laughable. Do us all a favor and retire from politics as soon as your term is over.
59
The Mayor, from day one, has seen the office only as a stepping stone for his imagined (and, mercifully, delusional) ascent onto the national stage and greater power. Coupled with an arrogance almost unimaginable anywhere else, and a naked wish for self-reward (as reflected in his wife sucking up millions of tax dollars to assuage her own ego), he is, truly an appalling "leader".
32
Sounds like he is bored and beginning to think of his next job.
9
The Mayor’s #TimesUp
5
From his first day in his first term, Bill de Blasio has been more interested in being the leader of the Progressive Movement than being Mayor of New York. Unfortunately for him, he will most likely be a political non-entity upon the end of his term.
19
Let’s be honest. The less time this guy spends focused and in city hall, the better off we all are.
20
NY Times, please cover NYC more. Let's see stories about these commissioners not being met with by the mayor; let's see what they do, where the money is going, how employees are doing their jobs - are city employees also working from home? We want more NYC government coverage!
83
@DLP,
I totally agree. The NYT has been so in love with this progressive mayor that they have failed to cover the most important issues facing the city and to look critically at policies under DeBlasio's administration. This is what happens when a newspaper becomes a cheerleader for a political idealogy.
13
@Common Sense I think the Times never liked DeBlasio; they supported Christine Quinn, who had the experience, brains and work ethic for the job. She was vilified for supporting Bloomberg's third term, and then DeBlasio's campaign ad of his family in the kitchen clinched it for him. I only wish the Times would give us more NYC reporting overall, the boring stuff of city management, department coverage, the law department, all of it. We get a tiny fraction. I have to wonder why, whether it's because what will be found won't conform to the Times' political slant?
7
@DLP
Read City Limits or the Daily News
1
Running the most important city in the world is not enough of a challenge for this lightweight? There is somewhere born in this wonderful enclave a human who is intelligently interested in moving New York City reliably into the future and is humble enough to realize the job is bigger than self and governs accordingly. This human has to exist, no?
17
@willw
Of course they exist. Unfortunately, "intelligent and humble" doesn't get you far in the world of politics these days.
11
@willw He is here, trying to run the subway system, with very little support!
1
@DLP Andy Byford, yes he is! But I fear that our subway system will be the unmaking of him.
1
A friend of mine refers to the Mayor as "an empty suit". Have to say I agree. We are both lifelong Democrats and were both stunned at how easily he was re-elected.
24
@JenD
Not stunned. Lazy voters. This was not unexpected.
He and his wife have spent endless amounts of city money with limited results for their political agenda. He spends more time at the gym or out of the city than paying attention to the responsibilities of being a mayor. This is. 24 hour job. The city never sleeps and the mayor has to respond 24 hours a day. Say what you will about Bloomberg but the city rose from the ashes and was better off before DeBlasio. The city is a mess. We are back to the bad old days.
13
Mr. deB’s serious failings, including self dealing, have been known since at least the start of his first term. The lack of coverage of NYC government is making government less accountable and worse. I thank the NYT for doing what it can, but think that we need to do a lot better in covering the city if we are to thrive. We are not thriving now.
24
It's not as if the Prospect Park YMCA doesn't have a phone if he needs to be reached.
1
DeBlasio has done a superb job in NYC government beginning with his role as Public Advocate. His intelligence and articulation reaches high above most politicians in our country.
Like many of America's state and local politicians, they have been swayed and courted outside of their roles, thus evaporating their energies and focus.
It is time to replace New York's Mayor and Governor with WOMEN!
"There is nothing comparable to the ENDURANCE OF A WOMAN. In military life she would tire out an army of men, either in camp or on the march." - Mark Twin's Autobiography, 1924.
1
@MF, he hasn't done much, the city is dirtier, more chaotic and corrupt then ever. remember the horse carriage scandal, the senior center sale? maybe it's better he stays in bed, he cannot mess things up more
18
De Blasio, like most progressives, have big voices and ideas but little clue about how to implement. For them its about being out front of the cameras with several broad talking points that in the heat of the moment sound good and all encompassing but leave people scratching their heads afterwards thinking how all that's going to work. Ocasio-Cortez fits the same bill.
39
@Kurt Pickard Thanks for the comment, Kurt. De Blasio was very conscious early on of the importance of delivering -- to show that a progressive could also get things done. Pre-K was the result. The paradox of de Blasio today is that he wants to project himself as a Big Idea guy nationally but he has given up on finding fresh big ideas at City Hall. And while he can be a micro-manager he often flubs the day to day management tasks. Witness the disastrous firing of Joe Esposito.
24
@William Neuman Recall Hillary Clinton hiring him to run her campaign for the senate. He couldn't handle it, and was basically ignored while others ran things. Who would hire someone like this to run NYC city?!
5
@William Neuman I would argue one the Mayor's flaws from the beginning is that he likes "big ideas" but isn't much interested in doing the due diligence or talking to stakeholders (see the Garment District rezoning fiasco). It comes off as both lazy and high-handed, which is why people don't like him. Some big ideas are good ideas. Some big ideas (see his school plans past and future) are not. The devil is in the details and Bill doesn't do detail work.
3
Liberals in NYC get what they deserve. After Guilianini and Bloomberg the city has once again descended into a non functioning sucking black pit of taxes and filth. Better that this guy not govern and we wait out three years hoping that a better mayor comes along. This guy has always been a clown.
48
@Rob Well he's going to do his best to gut the Specialized High Schools on his way through.
5
Just walk around the city to see just two examples of the impact de Blasio’s lack of focus has had: garbage piled up & traffic backed up.
52
Mike Bloomberg left Mr. de Blasio such a well-running, financially stable city that it has taken this long for things at last to fall apart.
Bill de Blasio isn't a hard worker; he likes to spend his time hobnobbing with Bernie Sanders, another blowhard progressive who likes his name in lights but has accomplished very little as a public office holder.
But they both know how to appeal to people's grievances, some real and some self-inflicted.
They are liberal Donald Trumps.
69
@B. While I don't disagree with you completely, Bloomberg also left a lot of unfinished business when his last term as Mayor ended. One of them is that he continued to saddle the City's budget with ever-larger pension obligations for its very sizeable workforce. The other big one is the continuing lack of affordable housing, which includes many with otherwise middle class incomes. Bloomberg's tax exemption programs benefited mainly luxury housing development. That being said, an absent mayor (De Blasio) doesn't exactly help to solve those or any of the other challenges NYC faces.
2
He’s a pretty poor mayor.
30
@Dan
And yet that D after his name got him reelected. My, my...qualification or temperament or ethics didn't matter, only a party affiliation. Sometimes there's a price to pay for such blindness.
8
As a conservative from another state, I enjoy watching the demise of the progressive mayor. You mention Ocasio-Cortez, and I get even more excited. Let New York be a lab for the experimentation. Just like California, the garbage will pile up, and poverty will thrive. I don’t identify as a Republican or Democrat. When people ask me who I vote for, I just answer, “for the one that isn’t a Socialist”.
20
Hey! Some of us decent (conservative) people also live here and didn’t vote for this travesty. We are in the minority, but it’s our city too. Don’t damn us all!
5
@Jay I'm from where you are and I wouldn't go touting your city. You have many of the same intractable issues as Detroit.
2
@NYC Via Believeland I live in a suburb outside the county. Beautiful, low taxes, big yards, and only a few dozen registered Democrats in a 500 home community development. I don’t go to Cleveland, unless it’s the main campus of the Cleveland Clinic. Cleveland, as do all cities run by progressives suffer. NYC is just a bigger mess.
"Lock him up in his office for a week! He owes us this time. Or slash two week's salary of his pay check". Trump may say this?
6
After De Blasio, star of the Resistance, flew to Hamburg to speak to anarchists last year, you would expect him to show up in Paris street riots.
President Trump is right again. De Blasio is probably “the worst mayor” in the history of NYC.
21
De Blasio has always come off like a counter-culture hippie in a coat and tie, so it shouldn't be surprising that he also has the work ethic of a lazy hippie.
48
@mpound Seriously? Some of the most successful companies around have been founded by "hippies" (Apple, for example). The issue appears to be not so much "lazy hippie" as "this governing stuff is beneath me."
6
Time to Throw the Bum Out.The only reason why I voted for him the last time is because the only thing his opponent had was a heartbeat. Next time if he runs I will write in Bos Tweed.
25
Is he he worst mayor ever?
He’s certainly the only mayor who could turn me Republican.
71
@Jon Galt Agreed. The constant assault of wretched self-serving incompetence nationally from Trump and locally from de Blasio is making me feel politically bipolar.
4
As the saying goes "YOU CAN'T FIX STUPID"
And New Yorkers continually reelect folks like de Blasio, Como etc over and over again.
Enjoy what you elect!
37
I take offense. My mayor is very busy. After all, he has a strict 9am workout each morning, rain or shine.
62
Haha, indeed...where he uses tax payers money to get there, with 2 police officers out front and 2 secret service guys keeping a watchful eye amidst the sweaty patrons. He would better serve the city if he started his day inviting New Yorkers to free morning community work outs with him in the various parks and community centers in all 5 boroughs. Understanding the people he serves better serves our city.
17
@LD
The security detail for the mayor, especially when he’s out of town, is absurd. But they are NYPD, not the Secret Service (just because they’re in suits).
14
Most of my peers are Democrats and they all hate him.
49
@Nate
And likely, to a person, they all voted for him.
10
He's been MIA all along, regardless.
34
$2 cars illegally cruising Jamaica Avenue while licensed cab drivers are killing themselves for lack of income. Vehicles clogging roads during rush hour without being ticketed. These are obvious breakdowns in Deblasio's New York. What is hidden?
30
Wow. Bush Jr, #43, had a job as governor of Tx that was designed to be half a day, at most. DeBlasio appears to be busy, and avoid meetings, but apparently is working 7 days a week.
@4Average Joe
And let's not even mention Bonzo Reagan's presidential schedule . . . how many naps a day?
1
This mayor should have one main priority that should occupy his attention every day: The improvement of our city's failing subway system. Anything less than full & focussed attention constitutes failure. The city's very life is at stake.
36
I think the mayor is awful, but he has no power over the subways which are controlled by the state.
5
@PA
Governor Cuomo is responsible for the failure of the NYC subway system. He is inadvertently sabotaging DeBlasio, as he has been doing consistently since his first day of work.
6
The sooner de Blasio is gone the better. The only question is whether he will go down as the the runner up or the worst Mayor in NY history. Always the same mistake. Like a seesaw.
27
@Daphne Thats a tough one. Dinkins or this clown.
7
@Daphne
Bloomberg and Giuliani were better mayors than DeBlasio?
2
@Rob agreed, i think i give the nod to dinkins due to his great ability to incite racist violence.
5
His future attractiveness as a national leader depends on his present diligence and vision.
Get to work Bill - we want you to succeed.
2
No, you really do not want him to succeed in his national ambitions.
21
“That, it turned out, was no easy ask.”
“Ask” as a noun is fingernails on chalkboard.
12
I've never liked this mayor. I've voted for him, but I have always had a visceral dislike for his dismissive attitude, his condescension, and his seemingly complete inability to be authentic. Anyone who would arrogantly insist on wasting public dollars and time to drag himself and his staff to Brooklyn to work out at his YMCA can't possibly consider themselves to be of the people and for the people. That nonsense, that's gotten negative press since almost day one of his term, was clearly the first sign there was a problem with this man. Then came the national politicking, posturing, and attention getting. We constantly hear about what he's doing and saying at national meetings. To what end? Certainly not to truly improve the city of New York. I like to think he at least has convinced himself that he's serving the city by running to every site of national crisis to posture about something, though I doubt it.
124
But you voted for him. So you got what you paid for. Stop whining. Take the time to educate yourself about candidates before the next election and stop voting a party line or whatever it was that compelled you to elect a candidate you actually didn’t want.
22
If you didn't like him, why did you vote him? Too many people with that attitude (or who didn't vote at all) are reason why he's still in office and dragging our city down.
9
@NYCSandi I voted for him because, after "educating myself", I still felt he was the best choice, relatively speaking. And since I voted for him, I get to criticize him. Don't assume that once people "educate" themselves, they will see the light and and vote for whomever it was you seem to think we should have voted into office.
5
It’s disturbing that Bernie Sanders would unapologetically get behind DeBlasio, a political figure tied up in all sorts of behavior that should be abhorrent to progressives - shady fundraising of the NYC mob boss variety; an inability, or unwillingness, to focus on issues that immediately impact the lives of New Yorkers (homelessness, the decaying subway); boosting a corporate behemoth at the expense of citizens (the undemocratic Amazon deal and the huge tax subsidies the people of this city are paying for); and, as this article makes clear, a basic disregard for the mechanics of his job in favor of national politicking. It’s hard to give Sanders much credit when he overlooks these major flaws and comes out in support of DeBlasio. I hope he will see the light and declare his opposition to DeBlasio and his unprogressive ways (and, ideally, kill DeBlasio’s chances at a 2020 run for President, which, for any New Yorker who’s paying attention, is an incredibly offensive and frustrating endeavor to watch).
51
It is disturbing but not surprising in that Sanders and de Blasio are cut from the same cloth.
11
Even David Dinkins was a more involved and hands-on mayor. He didn't schlep to Brooklyn in an SUV every morning to go to the gym. He didn't go out to Iowa to gladhand every political flack. He did his job, looking after NYC, although it was not a stellar performance. De Blasio needs to do his job. Happily, this is his last term as mayor, because New York City couldn't withstand another term.
90
Since New York has in effect become a one party state we need to have primary elections like California where the top two vote winners go against each other even if they're from the same party. Maybe that would help send poorly functioning officer holders packing.
98
@Mandrak
I would not borrow any customs from California, one of the worst states to live in now!
Thank you for publishing this important article. As you know, the Times has also been “distracted” in meeting the critical needs of its home city. I hope the mayor and the Times will focus closer to home in the new year.
87
@Lorieg
Au contrarie mom freer, the article is biased and should not have been written this way.
His only focus from the moment he was sworn in was the the next elective office. Becoming Mayor of NYC was just a stepping stone for de Blasio This man is an executive who shies away from the heavy lifting. Instead of results, he relies on ceremony and platitudes. What has he actually accomplished during his tenure? NYCHA or DOE still need fixing but that requires real work and not political grandstanding..
122
@upstate now
Someone coming from the Public Advocate's Office is not usually made of "executive" cloth. Personally I received the best help, after 30 years residency in NYC, from DeBlasio's office than the governors, senators and assemblymen of NY.
We are living in an era when many politicians have to put out many fires every day and then respond to multi media which has expanded tremendously since post WWII. A lot of work!
3
@upstate now
I don't think that's it. Being Mayor of New York City, historically, is a political death wish. Everyone knows that.
You can't win anything on a presidential stage because you're too easily associated with New York City political positions, which, in aggregate, never jibe with the national picture.
You're too beat up at the state level to become governor or senator because everything wrong with the city is your fault and state politicians have made sure that the public is well aware of that.
And you're too successful to run for anything else. You don't go from Mayor of New York City to being a freshman out of 27 congresspeople or, even worse, *losing* trying to become one.
I'm sure he's up to something, but I don't think it's positioning for another elected office.
1