According to Mr. Blow black and Latino New Yorkers lived in a state of terror under Mayor Bloomberg. If so, why did they help to elect him in his squeaker of 2001 and blowout of 2005? True, it was only 25% of black voters in the first election, but Sharpton said it was high for a Republican candidate. Then in 2005 it was 45%. He grabbed Brooklyn by 58% what required a lot of blacks. But what about stop-and-frisk? It started under Giuliani but really took off under Bloomberg. By 2005 it was going strong, reaching a peak around 2010. Yet the NYT 2005 article "Mayor Crossed Barriers for Big Victory" didn't mention stop-and-frisk. There were sharp drops in murders and violent crimes as young men were stopped and searched; however, the Washington Post in a 2016 analysis points out it was possible to prove a strong correlation. Nor is it likely that many of Mr. Blow's assertions can be proven.
18
Remember that Bloomberg has paid "influencers" to make the case for him on social media. Perhaps all these firm but overly-general defenses are not what they seem.
And Blow is right; such a determined racist at the head of our country would be a disaster, since someone so contemptuous of one group will be contemptuous of all.
7
With "Stop and Frisk", red-lining, the NDA's, a lengthy history of racist sexist comments, the illegal surveillance of muslim communities, and the way his policies sold out NYC to the highest bidders effectively killing off the middle class — is Bloomberg trying to peel supporters away from Trump's base?
7
One of the only op-Ed writers at the NYT who has any sense. Thanks for your repeated and persuasive takedowns of this dangerous oligarch. His attempted takeover of this primary is obscene, a transparent power grab to defeat not Trump, but Bernie Sanders.
8
Just leave Mike alone. He won’t be president. With Sanders as Dem nominee, Trump will till 2024. Peace upon you and your woke columns.
12
Charles, don't burn out obsessing over Bloomberg. Be glad you are you, and not living in the box of conformism that confines him. This is interesting connect-the-dots, but his arrival in the spotlight seems to sort of moved to a point of making a fool of himself.
Mr. Blow:
An earlier reader said that you did not speak for all Black People, and your words were presumptuous. I agree. In fact, I don't understand your thinking. What do you see when you look to the White House and the realities of the last three years? Regarding Mr. Bloomberg, you are urging black people to hate, as the hater-in-chief has done regarding all those who oppose him, including especially your black brethren. He doesn't much hold back vulgarities for columnists either, especially those of The New York Times.
What person on the Democratic debate stage has revealed his or her immovable honesty and Puritanical past as each wants us to believe? How many have apologized for their past errors as Mr. Bloomberg has done?
As an old-timer (female) I have watched many debates. They get worse each time. Attractive, intelligent hopefuls with eyes on the Presidency become rabble. How can citizens vote for peace and pride when they see a near clawing for power, legitimately not other things that are badly needed for Americans?
Mr. Bloomberg wants to buy the exalted realm in the White House. Good for him! Way to go, Mr. Bloomberg! What he will buy for this beautiful country will be pride, success, human decency, wisdom and hope. As of now they have been wiped out. And he is offering his estate. God speed to a man who has genuinely asked for forgiveness for past deeds, and is known for getting things done. The alternative is terrifying.
9
Dude, in what city have African-Americans thrived and done well? Who has created the wise policies that have led to their success?
11
Mr.Blow can't get past Mr.Bloomberg's past repressive policy, however 50% of African Americans in NYC consistently did as they voted for him. You have to ask what did they see that Mr. Blow can not? Perhaps it's that overall homicides in NYC dropped by 50% from 2005 to 2007. That drop would matter to anyone whose family is in harm's way.
16
I cannot imagine the pain and lasting damage that stop and frisk caused African-American youth and men, although I witnessed it and found it frightening. But it must be considerable, considering that Mr. Blow would prefer Trump over Bloomberg.
Not a single mayor though managed to put a lid on the NYPD, a horrific racist and nepotistic organization.
4
So, Charles, the bottom line: Trump vs Bloomberg in the general election-- and you cast your vote for ________? Or you don't vote or write in your candidate.
What's it going to be?
4
"I know that Michael Bloomberg isn’t on the primary ballot in South Carolina, but he was on the debate stage there."
Let's compare two candidates and guess which one the DNC allowed to debate:
Candidate 1:
Male
White
Not on the ballot in SC
No federal office held
No military service
Billionaire
Trades Twitter insults with Trump
Candidate 2:
Female
Person of Color
On the ballot in SC
Four-term member of Congress
17 years served in National Guard, including two tours in Iraq and Kuwait with combat and medical decorations
Net worth under $1 million
Effectively ended Kamala Harris's campaign by dispassionately dissecting Harris's record as California AG
Come to think of it, not only should Tulsi Gabbard have been part of the debate instead of Bloomberg, but Charles Blow should be writing columns about the Congresswoman instead of about Bloomie.
2
Shame on you Mr. Bloomberg. You are like a mini-trump.
Didn't you step over homeless people sleeping in door ways
when you were mayor? Why not use your money to help
people you've hurt (like private tutors in low performing
schools.) Support Elizabeth Warren. She is very smart. She will appoint
you to the Cabinet Secretary of your choice. Or find a
retirement hobby.
3
Tess Majors may still be alive if these polices were in place but we can't hurt people's feelings so crime is ok. Mr Blow can't mention this because it doesn't represent his narrative.
13
There's one solution to the disproportionate impact of the criminal justice system on Black and Brown folks.
Take a cue from Obama's policy toward public schools.
The number of suspects and arrests for crimes cannot exceed the proportions of the suspect's racial (need a special ethnic rule for the LatinX/Hispanic/Chicano ... etc) demographic group. The demographics would be from a nationwide level. For example, if suspect's racial demographic group makes up 15% of the US population and there are currently suspects from that demographic group either being investigated or under arrest for 15% of open cases for a type of crime then that suspect cannot be arrested or even investigated.
This applies to murder, theft, driving with broken taillights, spitting on a sidewalk, you name it.
The oppression ends there!
This might present a challenge to database access but it can be solved. There are also questions about how wide of a geographical area should be considered but these are questions that can be worked out in the name of racial justice.
Are we all in? Is that picture too "rosy"?
4
Simon Sez writes that Bloomberg has the support of quite a few black politicians. Sure, because he's contributed heavily to their campaign funds.
5
For an absolutely damming indictment of Bloomberg's stewardship of the school system, see https://indypendent.org/2020/02/michael-bloombergs-disastrous-public-education-legacy/ , an article by Leonie Haimsman.
3
Charles; the NYPD, and all the nation's PD's are not without blame. For years, there was a real and implied quota, unspoken, that the more arrests one made, the higher the rank and pay you attained. It was the pressure everyone feels to get ahead so to speak. But even worse, you did not address something that has enraged me for years, is how cops deliberately prey on poor minorities, made that way by the same prejudice cops hold in the abomination of victimizing Blacks who cannot afford an effective defense and are lucky if they get more than five minutes from an overworked public defender. And even then, the sinister strategy of Prosecutors is to blackmail many Black Males to make guilty pleas whether or not they are guilty. And now, it's the poor defenseless impoverished Hispanics who not only can't afford a defense, but have to fear deportation.
This nation has no law. It is law by the law who believe themselves to be superior and worthy of de facto judgeships from prosecutors to cops. Just like the mafia would say; "It's only business" and I can't tell the difference between the cops and the criminals any more.
1
Mr. B. I am writing to you from Montana but I grew up on the mean streets of Chicago. I just read in your newspaper how 3 young men robbed and stabbed a young woman in the park. A vicious crime, a senseless death. I don't like cops all that much but lets be honest we could not walk out our doors without the police. Listen to the Lenny Bruce piece on cops. I am not a racist but a realist, I got busted for one joint when I was 25, beat the rap. Now it is legal, I am white and I am so happy I am not a black man in America. At age 75 I have no answers, I just want to say I would rather have Mike Bloomberg than tRump.
5
The very idea that a Republican, Wall Street billionaire with a well-documented racist and misogynistic history is even remotely considered as some sort of white knight for the Democrats should tell you just how pathetically corrupt and lost the Democrats are as a viable political party. The stranglehold of the consultants with their corporate backing has destroyed the essence of what the Democratic Party use to be. Bloomberg is the manifestation of that rot.
1
If we as a country are looking for someone to handle a crisis like the one we appear to be facing with this virus, Mike Bloomberg is our best bet. For 12 years he handled the multitude of issues that present themselves daily in the five boroughs of New York. He improved the educational system; he got business back on track after 9/11; he opposed the gun lobby and he got smoking banned in restaurants and public gathering places.
Has he made mistakes? For sure and he’s apologize for them.
Where is forgiveness in your world, Charles?
4
I was once beaten up at age 13 by a female school student for no reason other than she thought I was talking about her when she refused to stand up at a football game and salute the Flag. I had not said any thing. As she reportedly assaulted mr I was in shock and tried to hold onto my school books each time I fell to the ground. About 100 students watched silently an did not intervene. The next day i was in a police station with police threatening me as if I was guilty and had assaulted her as she had apparently claimed. A lawyer came in to my defence and ended this farce on my behalf.
To be walking down the street or driving a car and suddenly be aggressively or even non aggressively, which I doubt ever occurs, 'frisked and searched' is tantamount to the same abusive violation of my (underage) human rights I experienced as a suburban white girl.
Do nothing wrong but become a target of threats and abuse.
It is condoned on the streets in public view, because 'it's the blacks.' Pure and simple.
I do not think Charles blow is being heard.
He seems to be chastised for issuing a so-called 'purity test'.
Over here in London young black men are knifing each other on almost a daily basis. The tragedy is why there is a culture of annihilation and violence. So go ahead people, decide that every innocent person who fits the 'racial profile' can be stripped of their dignity and lawful rights - what ever excuse you come up with.
I agree with Mr Blow.
1
Mr. Blow...You complain about Bloomberg's tactics and comments about young minorities and minority neighborhoods, but his basic facts were absolutely correct: Most violent crime occurs within those neighborhoods, and most of the violent criminals are 16 - 25 year olds. Yet when the cops get called into those violent neighborhoods, they get spit upon. You complain about the way we try to deal with the rampant criminality, but you never have a solution for all of the crime. Solve that and the cops wouldn't have to spend a disproportionate amount of their time going into those neighborhoods!
11
Every op ed piece he write is, essentially, the same: Mr. Blow has made up his mind. And no amount of mea culpas or revisiting of policy decisions or thoughtful hindsight on anyone's part will change Mr. Blow's mind.
If it's Bloomberg vs Trump, I'll vote Bloomberg.
If it's Sanders vs Trump, Trump wins.
8
This is where politics has gone in our country. Bloomberg is not my candidate but he isn't a racist or a bigot. We have become a petty people, a spoiled egocentric bunch. You leave me with empathy for the man.
5
Is a candidate considered to be pro-choice if he orders a woman to “kill it?”
2
I used to read your columns Mr. Blow, but lately i see the headlines and steer clear. There is never any balance in your column, only racial outrage. So...it doesn’t matter if Bloomberg oversaw S&F and it probably saved lives, crime went down, or he’s poured billions into gun safety, climate change, and reducing income inequality? Do you ever stop and think what a horror it was to have rampant gun violence and black on black killing? Was the policy horrific for some/many? Yes. Did it save lives and reduce crime? Yes.
I want to read a column from you where you talk about the pain, horror, and and misery being caused by black on black violence. Address that please.
I’m sure you’re a Bernie guy because he’s so ‘pure.’ Never did anything wrong.. except never really has done anything either. No one likes him in the senate, he hollers and spews and won’t pass anything if elected. And that’s your preference?
12
Same column, different day. We get it Charles, you hate Mike Bloomberg with all your heart. You and Elizabeth Warren have only one agenda, and that is to take down Mike Bloomberg by focusing on the negative instead of the much more positive things he did in NYC and is doing today nationally. Fighting climate change, getting semi automatic weapons off the streets in every town in America, pouring millions into turning the US House blue in 2018.
It must be nice to be perfect. And when you go to vote in November, and it is Trump versus Bloomberg, who do you vote for? Or do you stay home? I like Mike 2020!

8
Charles seems not to like our former mayor.
This suggests he did not live in the city during his tenure, and he has certainly not spoken to any black folks who lived in high crime areas during the '90's and early '00's.
Bloomberg had his faults and he has taken stock of his record, however, that seems not enough for Mr. Blow.
Try opening your heart as well as your mind, and recognize that people grow, change and evolve.
2
Bloomberg's fine, Charles. Stop tooting the same ol' horn over and over again. We get it. But he's the best Democratic candidate to steer the US back onto the right course.
8
Why is The NY Times allowing Mr. Blow to use his powerful platform to single-out one candidate when they know he is personally affected by stop and frisk.
All, please read-up on his son’s experience while a student at Yale.
4
Bloomberg was extremely whiny in a PBS NewsHour interview defending the surveillance of Muslims in NYC. Stop and Frisk and its effect on black people weren't even discussed in the interview!!! Unbelievable.
I have received numerous texts from the Bloomberg campaign asking if I will "support Mike," and I finally had to tell them to stop texting me about "Mike." Stop and Frisk was not a mistake, not a blindspot or any of the other niceties that people have ginned up to defend Bloomberg. It is a feature, not a bug, of his view of black people and I certainly won't reward that type of thinking or behavior by voting for him.
Barack Obama was against gay marriage on his first term in office but
was pro on his second.
Mike Bloomberg apologized for this and moved on.
People change.
Charles Blow should too — unless he would rather have Trump for another four years.
6
Get over it Charles! If you want trump to get another term keep bashing Bloomberg....Bloomberg is the only person who will bring in independent and republican voters who will never vote for trump again, that you must have to win. Also, would you tell me the "perfect person" who has never made any mistakes in their lives? Let's run them! The point is WHERE IS BLOOMBERG NOW? Positioned to beat trump if he is not brought down by people like you with smear pieces.
6
Black on black crime plummeted during his terms as Mayor. Crime in general fell dramatically.
Things improved for most New Yorkers, of all colors.
7
I grew up in the Jim Crow South - the part that is still the Jim Crow South in 2020. Bloomberg reminds me of the bigots who try to cover their manipulations in government and society. Just like my cat, he can try to cover it so we cannot see it, but the stench hangs in the air.
2
Blow, the Columnist Who Menaced Democracy. Perhaps that should be the headline, since Mr. Blow's seems to be hard at work to get Trump reelected. The American way of life is in severe danger, and Mr. Bloomberg is not the problem but a valuable ($$$) part of the solution. It is not the right time for such criticism which should be saved for a f t e r the election.
3
Thank you for the column. It is amazing how little people know about what Bloomberg did in NYC; of course since he came after Giuliani, he looked good at first.
What goes unmentioned in many of the articles is that Bloomberg actually managed to get rid of the rule limiting the mayor from running for a third term. This is the kind of thing Trump probably admires him for (must also admire him for trying to buy the presidency; no Russians needed).
But what happens if it is Trump vs Bloomberg? Then we will have no choice but to vote for him in order to get rid of an unhinged president. Reminds me of the Crook vs the Nazi election in Louisiana many years ago.
Bloomberg wants to cut entitlements, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid
https://www.ontheissues.org/celeb/Mike_Bloomberg_Social_Security.htm
1
Put the blame in the right place. The uprising of Hip-Hop/Rap culture with its glorification of criminality is to blame for increased crime by blacks, which led directly to increased policing. Your bad actors continue to ruin it for everyone else (no Smollett reference intended), so what are you doing about it? How about neighborhood watch, and patrols?
6
Sounds to me like Mr Blow knows that Stop and Frisk wasn't quite enough to justify his horror show analogy, so he's grasping at straws.
Blacks had more marijuana arrests because they were more apt to smoke in public, while white kids smoked at home; the attack on Bloomberg's education policy seems convoluted at best; and to call gentrification "ethnic cleansing" is just comically over the top.
It's this kind of hysteria that causes fair minded people to start to take all racism claims with a grain of salt.
9
Can't agree more. Bravo Mr. Blow.
It is disheartening to me to see Mr. Blow continue to castigate Mike Bloomberg in his weekly column.
Mr. Bloomberg has made mistakes, but he is willing to admit them. He has also done an immense amount of good to help reduce racism.
The more I learn about him, the more reasonable he seems. He is courteous, thoughtful, and behaves like an adult, something Mr. Blow seems to be lacking in his columns lately.
6
Is there more crime, particularly murders, in areas of the black community? What do the statistics say?
3
This is your best column to date.
Keep up the good work, Mr. Blow. People are tired of bullies with money.
1
I suspect that if the over 100 elected black officials were endorsing say Joe Biden or Kamala Harris, Charles would be singing their praises and the significance of their endorsement. Instead he chooses to ridicule them..
Most major metro cities have lost black population in the same time frames Mr. Blow speaks of here for New York City. Many blacks poorer than their white counter parts in major cities left as these cities have become more expensive to live . Retirees regardless of color have out migrated and seek areas where they can hope to afford their retirement. Atlanta with a dominant black population during this same time frame lost black population to the suburbs and gained white population. Atlanta has had black mayors since 1973. Are you going to blame them.
Bloomberg is no saint but this constant onslaught by Mr. Blow is getting tiresome. I was a Yang Gang guy that has now switched to Bernie. Just who are you going to vote for Mr. Blow if Bloomberg gets the nod.
3
This kind of a reverse racist rant only serves to feed discord. I am very tired of Charles Blow's in your face attitude of hostile resentment. The rate of crime and the number of murders is what initiated an increased focus on black neighborhoods and I would argue with some justification. If checking someone out could serve to stop or prevent a crime, I am all for it. Obviously it depends on how it is done, and in that regard it is the individual law enforcement individual who is responsible for any mistreatment. Charles needs to get over it and pick his fights where it makes sense. It is strange to reflect on the fact that we had men in this country in positions of power who we admired, but were slave holders. I can feel the resentment from Charles, but I believe in this he is misguided, with an obvious chip on his shoulder.
5
Mr. Blow's series of columns attacking Mr. Bloomberg qualify his opinions and actions as racist - plain and simple.
Crime, low quality government services, and violence disproportionally victimize law-abiding residents of income-challenged neighborhoods. The policing tactics criticized by Mr. Blow were -- and still are -- within the ambit of the Supreme Court's decisions in Terry v. Ohio and its progeny.
Mr. Blow's views are racist because he asserts that proactive, deterrent policing activities in high risk areas that impact persons found in violation of existing laws are per se discriminatory.
I suggest that before publishing additional distribes by Mr. Blow, The Times create a personal improvement program for him and that this program includes Mr. Blow's reading the National Academies of Science study and report on this issue: https://www.nap.edu/catalog/24928/proactive-policing-effects-on-crime-and-communities
3
Thank you Charles Blow. If I had pockets as deep as Bloomberg's I'd be blanketing the airwaves with your editorial.
1
Charles,
This is your 3rd or 4th article about stop and frisk.
we get it.
no matter what, bloomberg must be stopped, even if that means the greatest criminal is US history gets reelected.
we get your position.
1
Mr. Blow- Could you please stop writing article after article trying to destroy Bloomberg's chances of beating Donald Trump should he become the Democratic nominee? We are in a situation where the country would suffer irreparable damage should Trump be reelected. The last thing we need is the New York Times mounting a constant attack with one of its opinion writers against anybody who could save us from that catastrophe.
6
I guess when the time comes that 75-90% of urban crimes are not committed by black and Hispanic men, they'll stop being harassed by the police.
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/nypd/stats/crime-statistics/crime-statistics-landing.page
6
Mr. Blow, we get it. You don't support Bloomberg. You hate Bloomberg. You don't want him to get the nomination. You don't want him to be President. You're saying the same thing over and over again. You have spoken. You have spoken. You have spoken. Surely there are other topics for you to cover now.
5
Charles...would you rather have the trump’s policy - stop-and-shoot anyone who does not support and praise me? I think not. Save your disdain for the incompetent, corrupt criminal currently in our White House.
2
Black Lives Matter.
That's why Bloomberg is the best candidate of them all.
4
I would love to see a column conversation between Blow and Brooks on Bloomberg. I’m listening to both of you.
1
Biden needs to take heat on treatment of blacks also.
Cornell West on BIden's 1994 Crime Bill:
"That Joe Biden was one of the architects, or core architects, is going to haunt him in a very serious way," West said. "When he says it didn't contribute to mass incarceration, I tell him he has to get off his symbolic crack pipe."
1
Stop and Frisk was designed to make people feel safe to gentrify communities in New York that were once deemed unsafe. To make White people feel safe to move to Harlem,Brownsville and The South Bronx Bloomberg unleashed the biggest gang in New York.
Yo, Charles M, stop pulling your punches. It's all right to take off your gloves when you're writing about Bloomberg. And you want your readers to forget that that Stop & Frisk menaced Spanish speaking folks, especially the ones with dark skin, and LGBTQ. And don't forget youth. NYCLU did an excellent job, along with a number of activist community organizations, documented their gestapo tactics.
1
Blow makes Sanders look open minded. Can he write about anything beyond what his one track mind can perceive?
5
just a flamethrower. get real, Charles - your version of reality won't trump Trump. let's get over this hump (and you over Bloomberg) first. welcome to politics.
3
A headline from 2012 read:
"NYPD statistics show 96 percent of shooting victims are black or Hispanic and that minority groups represent 89 percent of all murder victims"
If Bloomberg was the racist you claim, he would have kept the police away from those neighborhoods and let them continue to get killed.
11
Yeah, Bloomberg is as bad as bad can be, a rich, arrogant blah blah, except for trump.
So take off your blinders, hold your nose if necessary, and vote for anybody but trump, even if it's Bloomberg. Enough already.
2
"For so many black New Yorkers, Bloomberg made the city not better for them but inhospitable to them." Roughly 80% of murders in NYC are African Americans, Roughly 80% of the murderers are African American. NYC. gov stats. I think the city might already be inhospitable to many in the black community.
7
Charles, I respect your right to your opinions but in your series of savage op-ed articles against Michael Bloomberg you are truly "out of control." You paint Bloomberg as a viscous, racist enemy of black people and urge them to oppose him without mercy.
One of the three members of the Congressional Black Caucus who have endorsed Bloomberg is Lucy McBride (D-Ga) whose son was shot down and killed in a gas station parking lot because a white man thought the rap music he was playing was too loud (The shooter is serving a life sentence without parole)
Congressman McBride explained her support for Bloomberg by saying "Nobody running for president has done more for the gun violence prevention movement than Mike. I am proud to stand with him in this race."
But you have dismissed McBride for supporting Bloomberg with the vile accusation that "everyone has their price." How dare you imply her endorsement was bought. Prove it or apologize to Ms. McBride.
And by the way, when Ms. McBride's fellow Georgian Stacey Abrams was prevented from winning the Governorship there by voter suppression and then began an Initiative to stamp out that practice, who immediately donated five million dollars to her cause? Of course, that "racist" Mike Bloomberg.
Continue to argue your view, Charles, but temper it with a calm face, not with a white hot rage that twists Bloomberg's entire record into a "horror" and do refrain from implying that blacks who disagree with you have been bought.
7
I think you should stop your racist rants against Bloomberg. He’s no racist and has learned from “Stop and Frisk.” Was not Stop and Frisk a policy that was followed to try to decrease gun violence in minority neighborhoods? At least he tried something to help reduce the death rate from shootings. All you journalists do is criticize.
5
Ok, if Blow can say that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than by young blacks and Latinos, I can say that blacks and Latinos engage in violent crime at higher rates than whites. Liberals claim that blacks make up a disproportionate number of individuals arrested because their neighborhoods are overpoliced and there is just as much crime, including violent crimes, in white neighborhoods like Westchester County, NY, and Manhattan. Funny, but every video I see in the news of a street crime, the criminal is always of the same race.
5
Enjoy Trump then.
3
Mr. Blow characterizes the stop and frisk policy as "ethnic cleansing."
How is it ethnic cleansing if the people who were stopped and frisked were still alive afterward?
Mr. Blow's rhetoric in these anti-Bloomberg columns is hysterical and offensive.
10
Funny how all this harrassment led to far fewer people of color being murdered.
9
This piece and many others forget the context of history. Check out the NY Times endorsements for mayor of Bloomberg in 2005 and 2009. The 2009 one mentions stop and frisk but barely and both endorsements comment extensively on how crime fell under his administrations. I'm not saying stop and frisk is even close to ok but somehow the NY Times, a devoutly liberal paper endorsed him wholeheartedly and now its opinion section is tearing him down. Again he was wrong and stop and frisk but things are always clearer looking backward, even for bastions of great journalism which the NY Times certainly represents. https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/opinion/an-endorsement-for-mayor.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/23/opinion/an-endorsement-for-mayor.html
23
Charles, I’ve always enjoyed your column, and have cheered as you’ve called out Trump for what he is...a vile, racist con-man. Nothing in Michael Bloomberg’s DNA comes close to any of that. He’s gruff, perhaps has not been sensitive to the methods he employed, but he is a candidate than can beat Trump. You live in a blue state bubble. I live behind enemy lines, and they (the rednecks) hate Bloomberg. Quit dissing the guy. He may be our only salvation. Go back to dissing Trump.
3
Mike Bloomberg should knock off the Mea culpa Mea Culpa about stop and frisk. The police stopped whites, blacks , Latinos , Asians and more. It worked. Pretty soon Charles you will be demanding recreations . Thank you, John
1
Get over it , Charles. Would you prefer Trump?
4
Blow, its past time for you and others to get down off your high horse. We are living in desperate times. Yes, some of his policies were hurtful to minority communities. Can you find it in your purified Progressive heart to look at the totality of his life's work and see that only he can beat Trump. Forget Buttigieg, Klobuchar and Warren. They are done. Joe Biden clearly no longer has the mental acuity to be President and will get eviscerated in a debate with Trump. A self hating Jewish democratic socialist who only sees one way to socially re-engineer this country will also not be our next President. Maybe instead of repeatedly tearing down the only candidate who can awaken us from this national nightmare, you should be focusing on getting out the vote in Detroit, Philadelphia and Milwaukee.
3
Dear Mr. Blow, it seems you would prefer to lose with Bernie or Biden than win with Bloomberg. That's a choice that makes no sense for someone who cares about the black community. Do you remember Jill Stein in 2016? Bloomberg has a flawed history but anyone who can win is a better choice for the black community.
2
Sorry, please insert “reparations”
2
Is Blackness the only thing that actually concerns you, Mr Blow? Mr Bloomberg may very well be the best possible candidate for President but your resentments prevent you from seeing that.
6
Is it possible in principle that a person of color is himself a bigot?
7
It feels like these comments are antisemitic, to be perfectly frank.
8
Give me a break. Seriously.
2
1990, under Mayor Dinkins, who tried his best, was a real horror ... 2,200 people murdered in NYC, the vast majority of them black and brown men.
5
Just curious, Mr. Blow, will you attack any other candidates with this sustained frequency? We have read that you will not ever vote for Mr. Bloomberg. Ever.
I accept that. But, readers of The Times deserve better than your every column devoted to one topic.
3
Did stop and frisks occur in midtown or the upper east side or Soho or anywhere else other than the high crime areas where minorities live? Stop and frisk was implemented to stop black people from killing other black people. Those communities asked the police for help. Yes, it went too far. Just like Mr. Blow’s never-Bloomberg rants.
9
I am very upset that the NYTimes has not published my comments because I find This column always doom and gloom.
You have nothing positive to say about a man who did many positive thing for New York. Shame on you. By the way a positive attired can go a long way.
3
Was Charles Blow stopped and frisked personally by Mayor Bloomberg? His usually insightful commentary have given way to overt racism in the name of conjuring false racist motives.
Stop and Frisk was implemented, derived, and put forward by Bill Bratton of the NYPD during the Giuliani Administration. Crimes and killings were made the city unsafe.
And Charles, Stop and Frisk was IMPLEMENTED BY THE NYPD BASED ON THEIR OWN POLICY. Not Giuliani's. Not Bloomberg's. Not Archie Bunker's.
Charles, this is New York City. The percentage of police officers who were black or Hispanic during Stop and Frisk was high. Is it your unspoken intention to impute racist motives on police officers who were enforcing Stop and Frisk ON THEIR OWN PEOPLE? Were they just following orders?
Stop and Frisk is violation of the 4th Amendment, for every American of every skin color. You identify that very few guns were confiscated by the program.
But you are so blinded by racism you fail to reason that this policy could have acted as a deterrent to those who would have ordinarily committed a gun crime.
Bloomberg modified the program due to public outcry. Doesn't matter to Charles- once a racist, always a racist. Why not have the courage to actually say that if that is your belief? Tell all the black and Hispanic officers who enforced the policy that they are racists as well. To their faces.
4
Give it up, man. Your Bloomberg axe is getting dull.
6
Charles, I pray you are biased and wrong. My problem is I respect your opinion.
I love you Charles Blow! You do your homework, and it shows. Bloomberg's money has become like ubiquitous vomit on my doorstep, mailbox. His attempt to buy the election is making me sick, and his policies don't inspire. Sorry, Mike can't get it done.
I never thought I'd say it but I miss Charles Blow's Trump bashing columns.
1
Here we go again ... The king hits keep raining down on Bloomberg Blow by Blow.
Rd 1: You Must Never Vote For Bloomberg (Nov 10)
Rd 2: The Notorious Michael R. Bloomberg (Feb 12)
Rd 3: Democrats, Don’t Wish for Your Own Rogue (Feb 16)
Rd 4: Bloomberg, the Mayor Who Menaced Blackness (Feb 28)
Pretty one-sided contest, you would think.
4
Whenever I believe that White American's views on race have improved I go to a New York Times opinion column where a Black writer calls out someone on their racism and am reminded of our sad reality.
This old White guy, a NYC native, wants you to keep on keepin' on Mr. Blow.
Stop your yellow journalism. You are exactly the same as the fake journalists employed by Fox and others. Your personal vendetta against the best candidate crossed all boundaries. You have taken shameless strategy to destroy Mr. Bloomberg. Same vulgar acts were shown by Elizabeth Warren to keep the momentum going for the con man aka Bernie. Before writing all negative words about Bloomberg, did it come to your head that Mr. Bloomberg played a major role for capturing the Congress by the Democrats in 2018? Congress impeached the corrupt con man in the White house which could never happen without his financial help. Sorry, money plays a major role in today’s election environment. He has created 20,000 jobs and well known for philanthropy on climate issues, voting rights and many others. How many jobs you have created, Mr. Blow? Zero, except you are good at Character assassination of a leader well respected for honesty and integrity. It is a shame that you get away with your personal vendetta. You are truly helping the corrupt con man to win election in 2020. Talk is cheap, walk is hard. Rest of the candidates get 5 star for talking, Mr. Bloomberg gets 5 star for walking. Hope that you open your blindfold and do the right thing expected from a true journalist.
5
Mr Blow, give it a rest.
We know you're prejudiced against Bloomberg as evidenced by your numerous articles on exactly the same subject.
Bloombergs accomplishments and qualities far out weigh his errors from years gone by ( to which he has apologized..what more can he do? ). You, endlessly droning on about a single subject will not change that.
I'm surprised as a NYT journalist, you appear to be unable to look at the larger picture.. and with a more open mind.
10
OH yes, let's autopsy the past in some perfect pathology lab, Charles.
So you're good with another 4 years of Trump, presumably?
D.A., J.D., NYC
-----------big fan, usually
3
Enough, Mr Blow . Four Bloomberg-hating articles in one month makes one wonder if nothing else in US politics deserves your attention . We heard your message, please move on .
6
Mike Bloomberg has many black supporters second only to Joe Biden .You sound like a male Elizabeth Warren trashing , Bloomberg .Bloomberg has done a great service to NYC ,keep writing this trash ,you will re-elect Trump the worst POTUS ever.
4
Crime went down because of stop and frisk.
Criminal activity went down because of stop and frisk.
Blacks got stopped the most because Blacks were engaging in the most criminal activity.
It was great for NY City and it was great for black neighborhoods because it made people behave.
6
I'm a black man who grew up in the South Bronx and lived in NYC through my late teens / early 20s while Bloomberg was mayor. Nothing to me is more disheartening than seeing someone with Mr. Blow's stature give voice to the pain and disgust many of us black people feel about Bloomberg's record only to then go into the comments and see a deluge of remarks from the mostly white readership telling us blacks who lived through it that we should get over it. That we were safer because of it. What incredible privilege you all must have!
You are not the ones who fear for your life every time you are near a police officer. You don't know what it's like to have a gun pulled on you by a police officer for simply walking in a predominantly white neighborhood. You are not the ones who have to worry that a random stop and frisk is going to land you in jail even if you did nothing wrong.
Yes, I know Bloomberg apologized for it...right before he ran for President. Call me skeptical that the guy who vigorously defended the policy for years, even after it was declared to be unconstitutional, suddenly saw the light when he put his name on the ballot box. In a hypothetical general election between Trump and Bloomberg, I would still vote Bloomberg but I'd have to hold my nose pretty hard. Hell no in the primary.
And for what it's worth, it's pretty easy to get the endorsements of black politicians when you've "bought", excuse me, funded a good chunk of the Democratic congress.
56
Charles, this is your third negative piece on Bloomberg.
Surely there are more pressing issues that you might write about, like.......
On the verge of a pandemic Trump appoints an anti-science religious zealot who can't wait for rapture. Surely that warrants an alarm piece.
Or Trump continues to take the justice system down brick by brick and attacks judges, jurors and Supreme Court Justices.
Or the economy teeters on the edge of disaster because of coronavirus that America is unprepared to battle.
We get it about you and Bloomberg Charles. I've always been a big fan of yours but it's time to move on, especially since Bloomberg hasn't a chance in hell of becoming the nominee.
3
I have had more than my fill of a racist, sexist, New York billionaire in the White House. I'll be damned if I am going to vote for another one.
1
Charles, you’ve made Bloomberg bashing and being an apologist for Warren and Sanders and art form. Your single dimensional dismissal of Bloombergs positives in favor of focusing on stop and frisk is the kind of simplistic absolutism that will doom the Democratic Party.
Bloomberg is hardly a perfect person but the policies he has committed to as President will help the black man (since apparently this is your single lens). Oh by the way, he will also help others and be the most balanced politician with the greatest chance of beating Trump.
6
I completely agree with you. Wonderfully written piece.
1
Thank you, Charles!
A rare voice of truth, courageously spoken. You are a rare entity in the mainstream media.
God willing, you will not be silenced.
1
Just finished watching Bloomberg being interviewed on PBS Newshour with Judy Woodruff. He said his daughters faced discrimination growing up but that he never spoke to them about it. Well, then how does he know they faced discrimination? If he heard about it, why wouldn't he talk to them about it?
"I have over 100 black elected officials..." That language is marginally no different from President Trump pointing to "my black in the audience." The use of "I have" as opposed to "there are over 100 black officials..." changes the agency completely. Ownership is implied by both Bloomberg and Trump, in a troubling manner.
Let bygones be bygones. Give Bloomberg a chance to do his penance and repent for his horror done to African Americans. My philosophy is revenge is a waste of time. I am an independent and the way I look at it is Democrats only hope will be alive if they nominate Bloomberg. Anyone else will ensure reelection of Trump. Money makes the mayor go and he can put his billions to good use instead of wasting on ads.
4
How many guns did stop 'n frisk retrieve? That's the true measure of the campaign.
Is the author' s complaint that not enough White perpetrators were arrested and convicted? Differential law enforcement by hindsight? Every perpetrator claims unjust enforcement in hindsight!
5
From everything I've read and seen about stop-and-frisk, including videos and interviews with the targets, the bigger problem to me is with the police.
They could have approached people more compassionately and sensitively. Even apologizing as they stop people, saying it's something they have to do neighborhood-wide to make them safer from guns, and then treat people respectfully.
What I saw instead was very rude, dehumanizing, unnecessarily rough behavior by the cops. The same behavior I see over and over in videos showing cops' interactions with black people.
Of course ultimately the buck stops with Bloomberg. I wonder if he understood what police behavior during stop-and-frisk actually looked like.
1
It's tiresome to see column after column by Blow on Bloomberg, all saying basically the same thing, and all removing certain key facts. Crime-- and violent crime in particular-- were much more prevalent when Bloomberg came in as mayor than when he left. Stop and frisk, albeit imperfect in its implementation, was highly effective in reducing crime, and many New Yorkers of various backgrounds supported it. One cannot hold the mayor responsible if more criminals were from certain groups. People must take responsibility for their actions instead of constantly blaming law enforcement. NYTimes: Please try to show a greater variety of opinion.
4
I am white. At about twenty, I was stopped and questioned by a cop for no good reason. I was rude but justified, and after a few minutes, let go. It still bothers me 40 years later. I can’t imagine how angry I’d be if it happened often.
However, stop and frisk was effective, immoral but effective. I don’t know when immoral and effective is better than moral and ineffective. Do you?
2
So you’d rather continue to to yell at Bloomberg for an old policy that he found was wrong and fixed and then apologized.
Then spend time helping to defat Trump.
Sorry Bloomberg may be the billionaire progressive we need to defat Trump and the massive re-election engine he has established.
4
I don't think Bloomberg is being compared to Trump. But, he is actively seeking the African-American vote.....and guess what he or whomever is nominated needs that vote.
I think Charles Blow is accurately expressing the anger that must be happening in that community. So, the question is: What Can Bloomberg Do To Be Completely Candid and EARN that vote.
This person who is not African-American thinks that he owes that to the African-American community and the all voters who do not want to see trump back for 4 more years
1
While I think Mr. Blow is engaging in some hyperbole (“ethnic cleansing” is crosses the line), I am not happy Mr. Bloomberg is in the primary. To use the same phrase, Bloomberg is “cleaning” the Democratic primary of moderates, all but assuring that Bernie is the nominee, which is ironic, considering that stopping Bernie was the main reason he entered the race.
1
Bloombergs' political ads are everywhere. The leave it to Mike slogan. He is hoping that there is a vast number of Democratic voters looking for a plutocrat neo con to buy the election. They are not, the electorate is on the move. His record of hiding his sponsorship of the stop and frisk won't help his position. To let the NYPD alone bear the anger for a wrong policy especially one that panders to upscale white people. Bloomberg is the Citizens United candidate.
So if Mike Bloomberg were to become president, we might go from throwing children into cages to throwing children against walls. There is no guarantee that Bloomberg would not return to his prior policy if given control of the Department of Justice. He vehemently defended his so-called stop and frisk right up until he sought the Democratic Party nomination for president, even after it was ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. As president, Bloomberg could appoint judges who would support him.
Although the policy was ill- conceived and certainly not managed well, I often wonder how many African-Americans/minorities, particularly in high crime area, secretly liked stop and frisk but were afraid to admit it because of intimidation; particularly the elderly and small business owners.
4
Bloomberg is competent. I'll take it.
5
Mr. Blow has been on a quest to paint Mr. Bloomberg as a bad candidate due to his stop and frisk policy. I might have missed it, but what are you writing about the hundreds of children separated from their parents and hundreds of people in detention centers? Stories are that children have been missing, killed, sold into slavery... I can understand how you feel about the policy, but what is happening right now is even more horrifying, in my view. We are talking about children and very few people are speaking for them. What happened back then was awful so by writing these many opinions are expecting it to happen again or do you just want to take down the man?
2
Mr. Blow, based upon this piece and your prior ones on the same subject, it seems that you have "a thing" for former Mayor Bloomberg. You seem to be strongly implying that he's a racist, but you seem hesitant to call him one directly. How can that be? Either he is, or he isn't.
From a distance, it appears that you hold personal grievances against Michael Bloomberg which are affecting your judgment of him as a potential president of the United States of America. The only question that needs to be answered is, "If it's Trump vs. Bloomberg for president, who gets your vote?"
4
If you think he is actually an unredeemed racist, then that's one thing. Certainly gay folks have had to stomach the presence of Tulsi Gabbard, whose anti-gay work was very recent and specifically anti-gay, not incidental to crime prevention. But do you really think he was racially motivated, as opposed to having been a mayor trying to preserve public safety?
Mike was reelected 3 times in NYC, a city that is mostly people of color, with the support of a substantial number of votes from people of color? Why? He was competent and fair. Crimes against people of color were substantially reduced during Mike's tenure. If any of Blow's accusations were correct he would never have elected 3 times in a city where the average voter Is of color.
3
This is an issue with society. If the facts were xxx these crimes were being in these neighborhoods by xxx people, this is a signal that society should do something about giving those people other things to do besides crime. The crime rate was up, Bloomberg brought it down. It’s better than more murders etc. If the immediacy and necessity is to save lives this is what was done.
I wonder what you would have done?
DeBlasio hasn’t improved anything and we are back or worse where we were.
4
Charlie, Bloomberg is a saint compared to Trump. Get over his past, hold your nose, and support Mike as the best hope for beating Trump. America cannot survive 4 more year of Trump.
2
Sure, keep it up. Do it again... Clearly Trump or Sanders are supremely qualified. You know as well as I do that what Bloomberg wanted was to lower the crime rate and he chose not to come down on white teens and white twenty somethings because they were not causing all the mayhem. Life is unfair sometimes.
3
Mr. Blow your antipathy toward Bloomburg is noted; however, while you cite the number of stop and frisk encounters there were, but where is any attempt by you to offer to your readers a breakdown of the vote in Bloomberg's three elections? For example, of the eligible black voters, what proportion voted for him? How many voted for his opponents? How many endorsements did he receive from prominent black leaders? How many prominent blacks opposed him?
It is rather telling that in your columns critical of him, you have neglected to present to your readers, no doubt a large number of whom are not residents of NY and would have little knowledge of its politics, with a more rounded view of him. Perhaps, in the public interest, you could repair this gap in our knowledge.
1
Except for the ones who's lives were saved.
1
When Trump eviscerates Sanders in November, at least Mr. Blow can rest in peace that he stuck to his guns when it came to ideological purity.
2
Great column Charles. Stand on your square re Bloomberg, I feel the same as you about him. The many commenters telling you to examine your prejudices are clearly not examining their own. Funny how that works.
Seems many black people don’t agree with this as many have come out in support of him. Also Stop and Frisk was a Giuliani program that Bloomberg held over. Yes, wrongly but he inherited it from the previous administration and the Police at the time wanted the program to continue. Again wrong decision but in context more complex. Also Mark Green, Democrat, didn’t exactly run against the policy and was involved in his own racist issue with Ferrer and Sharpton. So again context.
1
Even though, you should promise now to vote for Blomberg if he gets the nomination.
I would nominate the year 1990 as a time of horror. There were 2245 homicides that year. There were 322 the year Bloomberg left office.
5
I do no understand why Elizabeth Warren isn’t doing better. She doesn’t scare moderates the way Sanders does. She has some support from Blacks and Latinos. She’s super smart and has been a very effective Senator. She’s a very good debater and would more than hold her own against Trump. She would make a great president.
If no one has a majority of delegates, I would be very happy if the convention chose Warren - even if Sanders was well ahead. She’s easily the best choice. I’m glad she’s going to stay in the race to the convention.
13
@Eric You don't understand that? Let me assure you that many of us see Warren as angry, perpetually flailing her arms, running around manically and frantically, and as having lied about her ancestry. She strikes me as just the kind of person we don't want as president. She would get creamed by Trump.
3
Unfortunately Trump would crush Warren like a bug. Bloomberg has all the dirt on Trump. He can beat him
2
Not a big fan of Charles Blow but this is eye opening: Michael Bloomberg threw black New Yorkers against a wall and treated them like the undeserving and undesirable. Super Tuesday voters should return the favor.
97
@Ana Moore You commented on another post (Howard Tish) that you would vote for Trump over Bloomberg given the choice between the two. The readers of this comment should understand that is your viewpoint, and take that into consideration in when evaluating your opinion.
26
@Ana Moore
Perhaps one might consider that it was NYC police officers, many of whom were black, that "threw black New Yorkers against a wall and treated them like the undeserving and undesirable". I often wonder if they were the ones who, it seems, could have exerted a little discretion in the types of petty things individuals were charged with in the absence of finding any weapons (the principal motive for stop and frisk) and by handling their interactions on the street with more enthusiasm for "community policing"?
13
@Ana Moore
@Ana Moore
Mike Bloomberg did that? Really? Shocking! Did anyone get it on video??
Do you really think any mayor should be held responsible for such disgusting behavior by an individual cop on a power trip? Stop and Frisk could have been the worst policy every implemented, but even that wouldn't give license to an officer to treat someone that way.
5
Bloomberg continues to be a horror by thinking that money will buy him and Wall Street good will. It takes Dershowitzian nerve to claim that he can fix the country that he and his friends destroyed. But NYC, by “donating” to strapped black churches, he was able to compromise pastors and buy their silence.
If he wants to really defeat Trump, then he can ask his friends from Sheldon Adelson to Steven Ross to Nelson Peltz to Ronald Lauder, to name a very few, not to fund the Trumpian GOP. But, as he said in the last debate, as President he won’t move the US Embassy from Jerusalem because it’s a fait accompli. It’s not. Thievery is not US foreign policy, nor is the chicanery of buying elections moral or ethical .
Btw, the two companies that provide the country’s ER doctors, nurses, ambulances and others are owned by KKR and the Blackstone Group. This is how people go bankrupt because neither are covered by insurance. How’s this different from what the Sacklers did with opioids?
5
Imagine a world in which 70-year old Jewish billionaires are regularly thrown against walls and searched, merely for walking down the street and fitting the profile. Imagine how that might feel, Mike, in a world in which the news is filled with stories of unarmed 70-year-old Jewish billionaires having been beaten or choked to death or shot and killed by cops all across the country. Then get back to us with a real apology. An apology to those were actually hurt. An apology that sounds like you might actually mean it.
Until then, forgive us for not listening to anything else you have to say.
18
Considering these anti Jewish comments, I don’t think anyone has to imagine it any more!
4
Only a spoiler against the other moderates helping Bernie win the nomination. If he wanted to help the Democrats he'd put his money and energy behind Klobuchar or if not Biden. Klobuchar would be a better choice in my opinion.
2
Mr. Blow who do you believe would be better for America? The current Mr. Trump or the current Mr. Bloomberg?
Who do you believe if worse for women and people of color? The current Mr. Trump or the current Mr. Bloomberg?
How about hard numbers? Who voted in the last election? More importantly who didn't vote? Just the other day there was an article in the Times on the number of votes by which Trump won in each state as compared to the number of people of color who did not vote. The number who stayed home was significant. It isn't likely they will come out and vote for Trump in this round. And if you are right they will likely stay home and not vote for Bloomberg either.
So that leaves those who will come out to vote who will the same as came out before (unless Obama would agree to serve as VP). Those people, those independents and conservative leaning people who has voted for Obama, who voted for Trump in 2016 might vote for Bloomberg or Biden, but who would never vote for Sanders or Warren. The question is, could Sanders or Warren turn out enough of the vote of the people of color to offset the great white disaffected that turned our for Trump?
Thank you for these articles. We don’t live in NYC and I admit I generally skip that section of the Times so I’m not that familiar with how the mayor performed during his time in office, although I’ve heard he did a good job. The two debates are the only times I’ve heard him speak and I missed most of his town hall event. My impression is that he has the typical white male businessman’s belief that his money proves he’s smarter than everyone else in the room. Maybe he is, but then why did he wait so long to get into the race? If he really wanted to serve the people as President, why didn’t he run in all the states? It was only after he saw that there was no sure moderate candidate that he seemed to think he wouldn’t be wasting his TIME running. Watching the impeachment hearings, you can see why people would need to have their arm twisted to run. It’s like the school board here in Town. Bloomberg with his late entrance doesn’t seem to want to be President because he’s passionate about serving, but for other reasons. Maybe it’s duty? Ultimate power? Something to do?
3
Like Giuliani, he is basically a Law and Order Republican. Data driven or biased? who knows, why people go into politics. Perhaps he is mostly interested in the decimation of Law by DJT? So, you may have a moral dilemma as many of us might have, if he is the Dem nominee. Do you support him in order to save the union? Sanders is another person of interest here. Declaring that he is a Socialist could help Trump get the House and Senate and tamp the Dems down for a decade with more judges, despite being a minority party. I realize that the Black Community has issues which hardly resolved and politicians play numbers games that are harmful. But how do we keep the basic issue on the front burner, without losing our soul. I don't think Bloomberg will win, but I would still support him over Trump, who would open the floodgates of prejudice, while gating the White communities.
2
Be careful. If we dismiss the most competent of the group of Dem candidates you'll get Trump. The coronavirus is a wake-up call to the electorate to pay attention to capabilities to govern and not to some past errors (most people besides Trump learn from their mistakes).
8
The democrats that support Bloomberg are selling their soul.How can they be so appalled by trump,then turn around and support a candidate that not only has a history of documented racist policies and complaints from 60 plus women of misogyny,but a history of financially supporting republicans,including Lindsey Graham.
He should have run as a republican.All the never trump republicans like David Brooks would have their ideal candidate.Bloomberg would never beat trump in flyover country,which the democratic candidate needs to do.Anyone that believes he can ,is deluding themselves.
5
All one needs to know about Bloomberg is that the chasm between rich and poor in NYC deepened considerably under his watch. The former were further enriched on the backs of the latter.
8
Lets be clear,every person besides Sanders in the race is a spoiler at this point. The Democrat part elites are doing everything in their power to keep Sanders from winning including rigging the election. Iowa was no anomaly. Warren was told to stay in to keep her delegates away from Bernie even though her campaign is broke. Why do you think two super pacts stepped in to carry her. If Bernie has the nomination stolen a second time Milwaukee will look like London in 1942.
5
I don’t disagree with anything Charles says here. However, in spite of all of this, I may have been willing to vote for Bloomberg anyway if I thought he was best positioned to beat Trump, which is what I’ve been hearing incessantly for months from every centrist pundit with a platform. Then I saw the debates. What are you people seeing that you think this guy would beat Trump? Bloomberg is simply a weak candidate with lame positions who can’t adequately defend himself against even the most obvious attacks he should have been well prepared for. Flashy campaign ads don’t win elections, at some point you have to be able to command the room. Bloomberg falls flat.
3
@Dan Strader Mike was a great mayor, probably the best we have had unlike what we have now. The city was safe and those policies although not popular kept it that way.
6
Dan, Bloomberg excelled in the CNN Town Hall & PBS interviews. He is a proven, experienced manager with many accomplishments who knows how to govern. He can beat Trump. America would be much better off with Bloomberg as president.
1
As they say hindsight is 20/20. In retrospect, the objective of reducing crime was very important but the execution created a lot of problems for people of color and left a great deal to be desired. O. K., at this point most of the Times' readers get it. However, we can't afford to seek perfection. First of all we will never find the perfect candidate. Secondly, while we're arguing and debating about who has the fewest flaws and the most sterling attributes we lose sight of the essential characteristics the Democratic candidate must have to win the most votes in the states the Democrats have to win to get their candidate elected. As a layman simply trying to apply some commonsense to the candidate selection puzzle, I've reached this conclusion. On balance Bloomberg has more of the required ingredients than the other candidates. He's an experienced executive and knows how very large organizations should be run. He seems to be reasonably ethical and honest. He's financially independent and can self finance a money is no object campaign. He has a background of supporting philanthropic works. His ego will probably motivate him to do the best job he can so his accomplishments reflect most positively on himself and his family. My last point is basically intuitive. He will probably strike middle America as the most reasonable, plausible , generally acceptable and least risky alternative to Trump.
9
How many hundreds of lives were saved - black, white, beige,
by this policy? If Republicans, since the 1960's,
had not thwarted nearly EVERY attempt at gun control,
stop and frisk would not have been needed at all.
14
This is important news to know. Thank you, Mr. Blow, for publishing this. My takeaway from this article, added to his performances and interviews, is that he is relying on his skill as a manager and his laser focus data to justify his candidacy, while not possessing any understanding and love of the human condition. He is that retriever obsessed with a tennis ball, without the charm.
3
@Patricia Give us a break. Loving the human condition means fighting to minimize harmful climate change, get the House under Demo control, and helping minorities open businesses. Bloomberg has spent a lot of his money doing all three. You've got nerve casually dehumanizing Bloomberg. Shame on you!
After watching Judy Woodruff interview Mike Blumberg on PBS this evening, my main conclusion is that if he was President he would try to run the government like an ethical, well-run business. That would be a refreshing change and good enough for me.
44
@Howard
He definitely came across a lot better in the interview and did not back down from his positions. I would take Bloomberg over Warren any day.
25
“Ethical well-run business?” You mean for his stakeholders (the über-wealthy) only? No thanks, we’ve already had 40 years of trickle-down and an oligarchy to show for it. (PS: a government is different than a business.)
4
I'm a believer of lessons learned. We all make mistakes. This program had good intentions, but the execution on the streets was not. The goal of the program, which was actually known as "Stop, Question, and Frisk" needed to get guns off the streets, but this was wrong way to do it. At the time, NYC was worse than the southside of Chicago, another city that is notorious for its high level of homicides involving black youths and men and guns. They have no such program. Good news is that there's been a significant decline of homicides in NYC. Since that program, Bloomberg's focus shifted to helping the community with positive programs like education, housing, and jobs. His personal philanthropy focuses on gun control in this country.
13
People who argue that this isn't disqualifying have missed several larger points.
That when a police officer or force mistreats one of us, it mistreats all of us. That it's societal racism that enables bad police departments and individuals, not the other way around. That we should never be even slightly reminded of any of the practices, regardless of motivation there or here, associated with policing in apartheid South Africa.
Unless we start confronting police exceptionalism, civil rights that affect all of us, and how this meshes with a politicized judiciary, we are vulnerable to being slow boiled by would-be authoritarians.
7
I'm no fan of Bloomberg, but I'm Less a fan of Trump, and my goal (and that of many others reading this) is for a Dem to beat Trump. And I'm of the firm belief that the best way to beat Trump is with someone more moderate....not Bernie...and not Elizabeth (much as I like them both). All I care is that whomever wins the Dem ticket can realistically beat Trump by securing votes from Moderates and from former Trumpers who are now looking for a palatable alternative. (Prior to Yang's dropping out, he was doing really well with Moderates and some folks who'd previously voted for Trump...) If Mike ends up being the Dem candidate, so be it.
If we want Trump out, we can't vote via our emotions...for who we'd 'like' to see as President. Rather, we must vote for someone who has a good chance of beating Trump.
15
This conversation is really mute now for Bloomberg was great before he opened his mouth. Bloomberg is proof that money can't by you everything.Watching my former mayor in two debates was like watching paint dry. Bloomberg's money will not be able to buy him the excitement that is needed. Bloomberg is not going to play the White Knight that saves us from Trump.
12
@Steven McCain Excitement is exactly the problem. We seem to think we need an exciting candidate, but what we really need is someone who can actually get stuff done, who is rational not passionate.
13
Bloomberg handled himself very well in the CNN Town Hall. He is a proven, experienced manager with many accomplishments. He can beat Trump. Our country would be much better off if we were lucky enough to have him as our president.
BLOOMBERG 2020
6
@Steven McCain How do you and Donald Trump get better at the things you don't think you're bad at by 2020? Have we all been mesmerized by Donald John Trump's eloquence? Regardless, I'm voting for Mike!
"I have called what Bloomberg did a public policy form of ethnic cleansing of New York, and I stand by that characterization."
Hyperbole much? Or just flat out make false accusations?
Per 2000 census, NYC was 24.5% black.
Per 2010, 25.1%
Per census estimates in 2019, 24.3%.
25
Prior to Giuliani/Bloomberg there was an unacceptably high rate of murder especially with 'black on black' murder.
Due to enhanced policing murders are down 80%.
Thousands of black lives saved.
49
The snowflakes will even claim that fact is racist!
1
Whatever Bloomberg did in the past as mayor, Mr. Blow, your country currently has far bigger problems. I just read the NYT article Body Camera Footage Shows Arrest by Orlando Police of 6-Year-Old at School : what on earth is happening in America?
8
Charles, I'm so glad you are a writer there. You serve justice where there is none. Bloomberg is a political chameleon. I believe he changed to the Democrat party to run against Trump in the opposite party, to assure a win by Wall Street. I do believe the election is fixed. Both Billionaires, Trump and Bloomberg are trying to buy power, and both are "The Wall" street. Bloomberg has also abused whites during the "Occupy Wall Street" demonstrations. He famously called the NYPD; "My Private Army". It speaks volumes.
The Democratic party has been infiltrated. I cannot grasp how they allowed Bloomberg in the party. Where did his 400 million dollars come from? Did he get new customers?
2
@PATRICK Bloomberg Terminals generate $8.5 billion in user fees per year. He owns 88% of the company. He's making it faster than he can spend it.
1
@MKR
Yes, and, who owns the other 12%?
So stop-and-frisk of "black males between 14 and 21" did actually reduce crime?
How can that be? Surely this portion of the population wasn't committing more than its fair share of the crime?
17
No it didn’t reduce crime. Correlation is not causation. Crime was declining anyway. Crime also declined in cities without stop and frisk. And crime kept on declining after the courts forced NYC to ratchet back stop and frisk. And it kept declining after Bloomberg left office. That’s what’s so outrageous about this coming from a supposedly data driven technocrat. The Bloomberg admin knew stop and frisk didn’t work ... but rather than admit it, he simply continued to violate the civil rights of thousands of New Yorkers.
7
Good job Charles; your writing is like the early warning canary in the coal mines that indicated danger to all.
6
For whatever it might be worth to you Charles, The Johns Hopkins
School of Public Health in Baltimore is named for Bloomberg, and Bloomberg -- through his gifts to Johns Hopkins -- has been a prime mover in the restoration of Baltimore.
28
I guess you are suggesting that his donations in some way compensate for the racist policies of his mayoralty. What other actions/crimes do you think rich men should be able to buy their way out of? Is there any limit at all to what the Democratic Party will tolerate or are we simply selling offices to the highest bidder?
1
I guess you believe that trump will be better for black lives. Four more years untethered. Trump loves the death penalty, maximum penalties for everyone but his rich or famous buddies and unrestrained cops. Good luck with that.
11
@Sharon
Swapping out a crude racist for a less crude racist is not an exchange I can live with. Clearly many Democrats think this is okay. As I keep saying, Trump has exposed the truth of the Democratic Party and many of its voters.
I don't like stop and frisk. But only in America, where the tyranny of political correctness reigns, can a candidate be skewered for speaking the truth: If you want to stop or slow crime, you put a lot of cops in the minority areas (where most of the crime is committed). Liberals disregard inconvenient truths. If you want to anger a conservatie tell him a lie. If you want to anger a liberal, tell him the truth
42
@Bryan And it's the pc tyranny that caused big media to miscalculate the odds of a DJT win in 2016. Bloomberg gets problems solved, relies on facts, is dispassionate, & doesn't attack opponents with unfounded accusations just to rouse passions. Let's focus on a candidate's policy proposals, and not on inspirational speechifying which may sound good but are pretty useless for fixing our problems.
8
@Bryan :"If you want to anger a liberal, tell him the truth"
One of the political parties continually lies to itself about race in American. And it's not the Republicans.
1
@Bryan
Yeah, and us white guys smoking weed get a free pass. Did you not read the same article i just read?
1
“There is nothing Bloomberg can do or say, or have black surrogates do or say on his behalf, that will wash his hands clean.”
That being the case Charles, do you believe there’s hope of redemption, and more importantly will you vote for him if he becomes the nominee?
6
Any and all policies that combat violent crime in big cities will disproportionately impact young black men.
That's because they commit more violent crimes.
Way more.
You could eliminate every last ounce of racism in America and that would still be the case.
Racism isn't the problem, Charles
25
I can only imagine how humiliating it would be for an innocent, young black male to be stopped and frisked for no reason.
Simply appalling.
6
If Bloomberg was so nasty to minorities, how is it that more than one half of the black voters in NYC voted to re-elect him as mayor of NYC ? And he was opposed by a minority candidate. Charles' hate for Bloomberg prevents him from seeing that, while Bloomberg had his share of screwups, he did a lot for minorities while Mayor.
35
I have been the victim of police stupidity and prejudice. I'm white. And it is unfortunate but in almost every large city in America, some black shoots another black person almost every night. Stop and frisk is a good policy when conducted correctly. For those blacks in New York City who were unjustly targeted they should receive compensation and the officers should be punished.
10
The stop and frisk and question operation was intended to catch people likely to commit crimes, people carrying weapons, for example, to effectively interdict before those crimes were committed. The criticism in the popular media relates to how it became tied to racial profiling, where not just those known suspected of criminal activity were targeted but also racial minorities. But when the details come out, it involved efforts by some in the police department to bias data about crimes to paint a false picture with made up statistics, summons and arrests improperly applied or charged. The people targeted by some police were just unlucky opportunities for supervisors and higher ups to create a statistical picture that was unrepresentative. It's easier to do this with low income citizens because they cannot afford to challenge authority, they have not the money and they cannot give up the time without possibly losing what they have.
The best thing about not having the next president be cool or warm is that the federal government after the trump rampage of it need a data driven technocrat to run it. Democrats can demand through and post the nomination that he and his administration make sure that they would fulfill the party’s and the country’s goals around a balanced approach to the main issues of healthcare, education and housing.
3
Stop and frisk was an effective way to reduce gun violence by and on young black males. By establishing that carrying illegal guns would be punished, the police saved many black lives. Do Black Lives Matter to you, Mr. Blow?
30
"I have called what Bloomberg did a public policy form of ethnic cleansing of New York, and I stand by that characterization."
Ethnic cleansing, really? An incredibly offensive comment to make.
38
In the area of sexual harassment, a false claim of harassment is actually a form of harassment. Let's apply the same logic to racism and suggest that a false claim of racism is actually a form of racism. You cannot read the hearts of other people Mr. Blow. You should cease making ill founded accusations.
14
Bloomberg is a horror. So is Biden. And don’t get me started on Buttigieg.
It’s Bernie or bust for me!
2
@Zareen
Four more years of Trump for you!
1
“Bernie or bust” the latter being 4 more years of trump? Get real. How’d that work for you in 2016? ANY of the democratic alternative are better than that!
No need, Mr. Blow, to fight more against Bloomberg. If the Dems find a way to short-circuit Sanders they won't be able then to turn to a candidate who proposes to buy the election, no matter how well qualified he may be; it'll have to be one of the others, most likely Ms. Warren.
Trump and Bloomberg are opposed seemingly to assure Wall street wins.
I'm reminded of a photograph from a hundred or so years ago of the financial kings of New York at a dinner table, all imbibing themselves, adorned with laurels about their heads as they celebrated like the Roman Emperors they were. Now is no different. Wall Street bought America after they got all our wealth.
1
So am I to assume Mr. Blow is not going to vote for Bloomberg in the NY primary?
Why weren't police stopping and frisking white kids in their affluent Manhattan neighborhoods? It's a rhetorical question Charles? Hint, it had nothing to do with racial bias.
25
Blow wanted to stop and frisk nursing home residents in the same proportion...
Again? Really? Mr Blow please tell us who you do support and why. The choices are horrible, we know. But the endless Bloomberg bashing is getting boring.
17
Dear Mr. Blow,
Mr. Bloomberg received the endorsement of the mayor of the country's third largest city, Mayor Sylvester Turner. Mayor Turner is in his second term for the most diverse city in the United States.
Mayor Turner has done an outstanding job, keeping the city safe and hospitable. He worked tirelessly to help Houston recover from Hurricane Harvey.
Mayor Turner is an African American and he endorsed Mike Bloomberg for one reason. He saw a man like himself who had to resurrect a very damaged city and like Mayor Bloomberg, Mayor Turner restored and continues to work restoring and improving Houston.
This is not a pardon for Bloomberg's stop and frisk policy, but it is a solid recognition of one big city mayor to another that I know you will do a good job and I trust you.
12
@gpickard
Money can buy you a lot of things in America.
@gpickard
Contrary to popular opinion, all blacks do not think alike. Further, many black politicians are completely uninterested in doing anything that will benefit black people. Maybe that's where Kamala got that type of thinking from but I digress. My point is that just because the black mayors of Houston and Washington DC and certain members of the Congressional Black Immigrant Caucus support Bloomberg does not mean that black voters are going to follow suit.
I can verify that during the anti war march right before the Iraq War, the police on horseback leaned in towards the marchers and it felt like a threat. Another consequence of stop and frisk: encouraging cops to be more aggressive. Bloomberg's Law and Order solution to Occupy Wall Street? Get rid of the mess and make it safe for shoppers. I feel that these actions and the attitude behind them is just why working class people feel that Bloomberg's pose as progressive is more for his own ego rather than concern for the common good. AND it is a big reason for the emergence of Black Lives Matter as it is never good to encourage law enforcement to be overly forceful. A lot of people got hurt!
2
I was an apathetic and cynical non-voter from 1992 (when I turned 18) until 2000 (when George W. Bush promised to start two wars, and I knew his election would lead to the terrible world we've lived in since.) Since then, I've turned out for the Democrat every time. Bloomberg vs. Trump could turn me back. Seriously, if those are the choices, I don't think I can make myself care anymore.
4
Aside from the fact that I think that Bloomberg would be a worse and more authoritarian figure than Trump, I never understood why anyone would think he is the most electable. He represents everything that the electorate,especially here in the Midwest, hates about the Democratic party. He is an elitist rich guy who wants to control minute details of your life (i.e. guns and soda), socially liberal but fiscally conservative (a constituency that only exists in rich parts of the coasts) and a total hypocrite (we spent the last four years calling Trump a racist and a sexist and now we are propping up Mayor Stop-and-Frisk).
2
I often find myself in situations of wanting to help spread a message of universal love. I choose to write despite not knowing what all people who've experienced racial trauma need. I’d like to help them all & yet I have no real idea of what I can plausibly offer; I hope that most have not given up & that their minds are not impenetrable & opaque. I think we all have a super power, an ability to give people something that we can be sure about that we need, based on a fundamental & basic vision of human nature: that we all have a deep need for tranquility. What matters is what you do & how you live your life. Model the behavior you want for your kids & family & the rest will take care of itself. The NY Times often vaunt their neutrality & forgets that neutrality is simply impossible vis a vis the really urgent questions confronting our civilization. The word ‘bias’ ultimately simply alludes to the business of having a ‘take’ on existence. One may have a better (me) or worse (Charles) take, but one needs a take. One needs eventually to tackle the question of what is important, just, worth striving for. Let us by all means seek to increase opportunities for all. Democrats in particular, have to do a better job of acknowledging &/or recognizing we have to proceed knowing to increase opportunities for all is likely to favor those better able to take advantage of them & may often first increase inequalities. That means taking risks, Mike will get it done! #Bloomberg2020
2
Stop and frisk saved lives. The concept was not palatable, to put it mildly and should have been a temp measure. But regardless it did. Now the PC police is run amok.
23
Trump, Bloomberg, Biden... they're all too old! It's not just their physiological age, but their ideas have been heavily influenced by decades of the old way of looking at things. They seem unable or unwilling to modernize. And Trump is far too incompetent, divisive, and evil for me.
Bernie and Warren have some more modern thinking. Warren probably because of her keen intelligence coupled with a high-level of education and hard knock life experiences. Bernie's father was an immigrant and he grew up in poverty in Brooklyn. At the time there was a big Jewish socialist movement in NYC and I assume that, plus his poverty and being first-gen American shaped his anti-corporatism and love of socialist programs. He's a social democrat; Bernie is NOT a socialist no matter what he calls himself! But Bernie's age-related health problems (recent MI and placement of 2 stents) are an issue.
How many of these old-timers would be able to run for a 2nd term?
I'm ready for someone YOUNG, fresh, educated, articulate, energetic, decent and smart: Mayor Pete. Let's give the Democratic Party a fresh start with someone who is personally invested in the future 50 years out, because he's likely to be still alive. Most of these older candidates will be long gone, as will I. Let's give the next generation a chance!
2
Mr. Blow, your anger has clouded your reasoning, you’ve been hammering away at this for sometime, it’s obvious that others of all colors have put it aside, and are addressing a more serious issue: getting Trump out of the White House. Stop trying to beat Bloomberg into the ground. He has more accomplishments political and as well business wise than all the other candidates combined.
12
How is it obvious that others have put it aside? The largely establishment, older, white readers of the NYT may be inclined to ignore sexism and racism asked on some unproven notion that Bloomberg would guarantee victory - but a significant portion of the Democratic Party has not. And your last sentence is so over the top silly, it makes me think you are actually being paid to boost Bloomberg.
If Bloomberg cares about America like he says, why can't he fund a bunch of senate races. He's got oodles of dough unlike the competition.
He helped do that very thing for 20 plus elected congressional seats!
He did fund Senate races...for Republicans
1
Keep pouring on Bloomberg, you are making Trump’s re-election inevitable.
The Economist, a highly regarded British business magazine, excellent, unbiassed job of assessing our options of Trump and Sanders.
“And, in a country where Mr. Trump has whipped up politics into a frenzy of loathing, Mr Sanders election would feed the hatred.
A corrupt, right-wing populist, who scorns he rule of law and the constitution,and sanctimonious, left-wing, who blames a cabal billionaires and businesses for everything that’s wrong with world: hard to think of a worse choice.”
Is it possible to have a debate that is entirely about how each candidate’s programs are going to benefit this country going forward, including how they are going to be paid for. Direct forwarding looking policy, with ZERO character attacks and referring to anything done in the past.
Pure substance.
And to truly benefit the country for the next four years...medical records to be released.
I would ask a the biased Op-Ed writers, to stop trying to derail candidates based on your prejudices.
There is MUCH MORE AT STAKE HERE
8
Crusader Charles. I like your columns but you’re starting to sound like a broken record.
I wouldn’t bet on him becoming the democrat candidate, but if he is, I’ll pick him over trump.
I’ve made mistakes. We all do. Some are serious.
If you had to bet your life on someone doing the right thing for the USA, would it be Bloomberg or trump?
12
@Steve Ell
Both are bad choices. Bloomberg or Trump is a distinction without a difference.
@Steve Ell This is Charles Blow's fourth iteration of his "I Hate Bloomberg" topic in the past three months.
To give him credit, Mr Blow is establishing himself as a master recycler of columns by cleverly rehashing the same subject matter.
I have been a massive fan of his columns but as a journalist (retired), committed to fair and balanced writing, I can see this is too much.
It is time the editors of the New York Times changed this broken record.
Job 1. Defeat trump using whatever it takes
Job 2. Don’t forget what Job 1 is.
7
Can you find any crime where black people were not discriminated against? This is an unfortunate fact. The intent of the stop and frisk as I see it was not established to pick out black people; yet that is what occurred. Likewise, drug arrests and arrest rates of black people far out number white arrests, black incarceration rates far outnumber white arrests rates for the same crimes. Saying Michael Bloomberg threw black New Yorkers under the bus ignores the fact that many of the existing racial injustices existed and occurred while President Obama was in office and while any other president in recent memory was in office. Did President Obama throw all black Americans and Hispanics under the bus (check his deportation record)? Painting Bloomberg as a racist is off base, though I don't necessarily support him. Blaming all of society's injustices on stop and frisk is taking aim at one failed policy and ignoring the larger societal/racial issues that continue to plague us. The policy in my view was well intended but inequitably enforced-20/20 hindsight. Did not Bill Clinton's sentencing standards throw black people under the bus? Was Joe Biden's interrogation during the Clarence Thomas hearings racist?
5
New Yorkers might remember Ramarley Graham, the 18 year old shot dead in his apartment after he ran from plainclothes narcotic police. It turned out he had a small amount of marijuana which he'd thrown in the toilet. The police had "no evidence that he was armed." Besides the hugely excessive and racially charged arrests, this and other police killings were an all-too-predictable result of the hounding of young black and brown people under Mayor Bloomberg's rule (following in Mayor Giuliani's bootsteps). It's extremely unlikely that a young white man in the same circumstances would ever suffer the same fate.
1
Mr. Blow, this is the one time I disagree with you Sir. Keep up the good journalism work. I just don't agree with you on this matter.
Actually, he menaced criminals. And anyone who is not a criminal really doesn't have a legitimate beef. As to the criminals, too bad.
17
"He presents a rosy picture of his time as New York’s mayor. But for black people, it was a horror."
But the horror was for younger, well-to-do black men who didn't live in high crime areas, but may have feared that they might be stopped & frisked. That's a real concern.
But for potential murder & assault victims in their neighborhoods, it was a blessing, even if that blessing were in disguise. According to statistics, homicides in NYC dropped by about 9,200 during the 12 years of Bloomberg administration, compared with the prior 12 years! That's a phenomenal achievement.
It's also true that since he left office, the murder rate did not significantly go up.
Then you might ask, why the homicides in Chicago with less than 40% of NYC population, are about 2&1/2 times higher?
The mothers of potential victims, as well as perpetrators, lived in anguish, when the murder rate was very high - in the 1990s, NYC had a homicide rate of about 2,000 annually, comparable with that of Chicago now with annual homicide rate of 650-700. The NYC homicide rate plunged to about 330 when Bloomberg left office.
16
As I’ve remarked in other columns, the stop and frisk targeted young men of color...but the only aspect of the policy that gets objection is the racial aspect, not the youth, not the males.
Perhaps the reason that the policy wasn’t political death for Bloomberg was that women, and older men of color, weren’t so offended and didn’t share Blow’s feeling that Bloomberg....as opposed to crime...was the existential threat.
Civil libertarians are few and far between.
4
It is under opinions, thus it is nothing but an opinion that has no facts to back up the allegations.
6
Mr. Blow yet again continues his attack on Mr. Bloomberg. The former mayor is far from perfect, but apparently Mr. Blow blames him for everything bad that can be dragged up, despite the fact that his claims are far from the truth. As someone who lived and worked in NYC for close to 60 years it is very easy to spot the difference between the NYC of my youth and today. Yes, it is true that gentrification has taken place, why is that a bad thing? Bloomberg pushed hard for charter schools and the city now has the highest performing charter schools in America and they benefit almost exclusively children of color. Prime example would be Success Academy. Crime is down significantly and most important, violent crime in minority neighborhoods is down. The idea that all minority members were just "shoved against a wall" is ridiculous. Stop, Question and Frisk existed before Bloomberg, and was used across the country in large cities. As for marijuana, it was decriminalized in NYS in the 1970s. Meaning mere possession of marijuana less than 7/8ths of an ounce would be treated as a non crime matter, unless the charge involved a sale. Mr. Blow needs to expand his op-ed pieces beyond the same old complaints. What candidate does he say will help solve the many problems the nation faces?
11
Please, Mr. Blow, account for the fact that over 70% of murders committed in New York City in 2014, 2015, 2016...were by people of color. Then, explain how you want the police to go about doing their job of preventing crime? Profiling is something we all do, all the time. White men are judged regularly on these pages because they are...white and male.
18
There were rational reasons for stop & frisk at the time. Mayor Bloomberg did not begin it. Everyone makes mistakes. I’m willing to bet you do too, Mr Blow. The important thing is to learn from our mistakes & not repeat them. Mike Bloomberg has apologized & I am confident that he is the type to learn from his mistakes. He is well qualified to be an excellent president for ALL of us: black, white, etc. Time to move on Mr Blow.
BLOOMBERG 2020
8
The mayor who actually fixed white-black education gap big time. This one good guy, who gets things done, who turns out to become rich through his own efforts, who continued an existing NYPD practice actually even to date has supports.
You look for handout? It's not him. You look for someone who can do things for the people? It is him.
12
How quickly you forget all your "Never Trump" columns. This guy is way better than the alternative if he gets the nomination.
7
There were rational reasons for stop & frisk at the time. Mayor Bloomberg did not begin it. Everyone makes mistakes. I’m willing to bet you do too, Mr Blow. The important thing is to learn from our mistakes & not repeat them. Mike Bloomberg has apologized & I am confident that he is the type to learn from his mistakes. He is exceptionally well qualified to be an excellent president for ALL of us: black, white, etc. This damaging grudge of yours is getting old, time to move on Mr Blow.
BLOOMBERG 2020
7
I have respect for Mr. Blow's characterization of Mr. Bloomberg and his record with respect to black and Latino residents of New York.
But caution, Mr. Blow: you need to find a Democratic candidate who can beat Trump in November.
Because no matter how bad you think Bloomberg was as mayor, he worked for the betterment of the City and its institutions. Trump has worked to destroy our institutions, and his policies are, charitably, myopic.
And no matter how bad Bloomberg was for black voters, he never said this: "you had some very bad people in that group, but you also had people that were very fine people, on both sides. [...] You had people in that group that were there to protest the taking down of, to them, a very, very important statue and the renaming of a park from Robert E. Lee to another name."
Leave subtle distinctions for 2024. Our Republic is at stake this time.
6
@R.S. Mr Blow doesn't care. He'd rather tout that ongoing narrative than admit crime decreased. Oh and without these weekly diatribes he wouldn't have anything to write about.
1
Bloomberg’s support for redlining followed by denial, apology for stop and frisk for “going too far,” and data-driven administration point toward his systemic racism. Under Bloomberg, the city government’s goal in minority neighborhoods was to impose order; no concern for service, justice, respect and human dignity. The criminal justice system—prohibitive bail, abhorrent conditions in Rikers Island jail, stop and frisk, marijuana and “broken windows” arrests; the underfunded Housing Authority—blame tenants for deteriorating conditions through zero tolerance evictions for drugs; gentrification of black and Latino neighborhoods; social service—blame people for deteriorating conditions by arresting working parents for child neglect, and turnstile jumpers. All imposed on minorities, input disregarded, rights against unreasonable search and seizure, to speedy trial, equal protection and due process of law ignored.
Bloomberg recently got support from minority politicians—former L.A. Mayor Villaraigosa, former Black Panther, Rep. Bobby Rush, and national hero Rep. Lucy McBath. Bloomberg is not a “moderate” like Biden. He’s a Wall Street tech company owner, publisher, and Mayor, a technocrat turned politician to enforce social stability and the status quo, so business can thrive. As President he’d follow the Constitution in the main, and refrain from racist comments, but his policies would be just as top-down commanding and institutionally racist as Trump’s.
Who drove the NYC government to embrace “Stop and Frisk”in the first place? It wasn’t roving bands of Hasidim and it wasn’t a rising homicide rate in Chinatown. Let’s be real here; the murder rate declined by half. If some people got their feelings hurting the process, so be it.
14
We get it, Mr. Blow. You don't like Mayor Bloomberg and despise his treatment of minorities. Enough on the negative. Who do you prefer instead -- that is, someone who has a chance of beating Trump and will perform well as president? Bernie? Warren?
5
Not comparing the two but excessive policing is still out of control.
Did you watch the disgusting video reported in The NY Times today about the 6-year-old who was arrested and cuffed for kicking someone at school?
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/27/us/orlando-6-year-old-arrested.html
1
And lets not forget Bloomberg's support of Republican Rick Snyder during the Flint water crisis - donating $3 million to his election campaign and holding a fundraiser for him in 2014 because he liked how Synder took on the unions
...and this guy wants to lead the Democratic party which is supposed to be the pro-union party? Unbelievable
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2014/11/12/bloomberg-snyder-reelection/18915445/
1
In my survey of comments, readers picks top down for 15 minutes or so, I read 40 - 50 comments, skipping around and not more than 3 paragraphs.
Three commenters agreed with C. Blow.
When Bloomberg got in I felt relieved; this negativity, and takedown opinion stuff towards a candidate that can actually beat Trump, is not helping.
10
Bloomberg tried to combat black on black violence. There is a horrific history of such tragedy throughout our country in Chicago, Los Angeles and in NYC.
Did not work out to everyone's wishes but murders did decrease. NYPD felt supported in War torn Black neighborhoods.
Mr. Blow...what did you do to help? Easy to criticize but many people thought Bloomberg was an effective mayor deserving of respect...
I prefer Bloomberg challenging Trump with Obscene amount of money than Trump crushing Sanders with an obscene amount of money.
Sounds from your column that you have a problem with Bloomberg but many of us do not ...
12
Charles I believe you are focused on the wrong issue. The largest problem facing men of color, both when Bloomberg was mayor and now as a candidate, is growing up with a single mother and no father. For all the men who were frisked, there are hundreds more who were abandoned as they grew up. Bloomberg's policy is small potatoes compared to the cultural problem of single mother/absent father that damns boys of any race, ethnicity, or religion to a life that is predictably poorer, more crime ridden, and shorter in duration. If you would care to make a big improvement in the lives of minorities of color, you would encourage them to follow the cultural habits of tight knit families who stress education, courteous behavior, and hard work. Who is president has a minimal effect on their life.
12
"As the city made itself more attractive to young white people [under Mayor Bloomberg], it made itself less attractive to young black ones." What's your point Charles? This happens everywhere there is gentrification. It's an unavoidable consequence of capitalism and economics. When something becomes attractive and in demand prices go up and some are priced out. That doesn't make those who are responsible for development and the city becoming more attractive racists. And focusing crime fighting efforts on young black and Hispanic males in the city was not racist - it was dealing with reality.
11
Charles' repetitive articles about Bloomberg's Stop and Frisk policy (without any acknowledgment of any of the good things that he has done since he left the mayor's office) are getting as boring as Warren's attacks on him about NDAs at the debates. Both Charles and Warren need to get some new material. Enough already.
17
While people worry that Trump won't accept the results of the next election, while he announces that he deserves more than the two constitutional terms he's allowed, Bloomberg actually exploited a loophole New York's term limits laws to buy himself a third term in office.
The same level of arrogance, privilege, and entitlement have been on display in the last two debates. He'd be a better president than Trump, but that's a low bar and if establishing an oligarchy is all Americans want, that is what they will get.
1
@JNR2
What loophole did Bloomberg exploit? The New York City Council voted to allow Bloomberg to run for a third term. Bloomberg won a third term as Mayor in a city predominantly Democratic. If Bloomberg was such a horrible person as you claim, he would not have been elected three times by the citizens of NYC. His opponent in his third election was an African-American man.
I disagree with your opinion about Bloomberg. He is a self-made Billionaire. He has given away a lot of HIS own money over the years to help causes and people. Perhaps you should learn facts about him before hurling stones.
Mr. Blow makes the case, as in earlier columns, that Mayor Bloomberg is an unacceptable Presidential candidate because of “stop and frisk” and a number of other policies implemented during his terms as mayor. I agree with Mr. Blow that some of these policies may have been wrong, perhaps in some cases even egregiously so, particularly with the benefit of hindsight. However, I find Mr. Blow’s conclusions extreme. Further, the bitterness of this and his previous anti-Bloomberg columns suggest to me some loss of objectivity.
In my view all of the leading Democratic candidates with the exception of Senator Sanders have the potential to be reasonable Presidents, and all of them including Sanders would be vast improvements on President Trump. They also all have weaknesses that some might consider at least disquieting if not disqualifying. In my case I would never consider voting for Sanders under normal circumstances or against any reasonable opponent, but these are not normal circumstances.
The damage being done to our nation by President Trump is extreme, and that a second Trump term has every chance of being even more destructive than what we have seen to date. Even the strongest rational concerns about any of the plausible Democratic nominees pale before the dangers of re-electing Trump. Whether the nominee is Mayor Bloomberg, Senator Sanders, or one of the other candidates whom both Mr. Blow and I might prefer, he or she will merit our wholehearted support.
2
I still don’t get the point. If a majority of violent offenders are young black and Latino males, then any criminal profiling will be naturally weighed against this demographic. Profiling is a powerful crime- and terrorism-fighting tool. Recently while going through airport security, I saw an elderly woman being frisked, while a couple of young men speaking Arabic (which I understand) easily went through. The men were chatting about the weather but shouldn’t they have been given additional scrutiny because they fit the demographic profile of potential security risks? Instead the security personnel were trying to be “impartial” by harassing people who, by no stretch of the imagination, could be terrorists. People should understand the nature of profiling. If you are innocent, you can put up with some discomfort, knowing you are helping to prevent crime.
11
@Mor It makes the liberals happy to see that, who cares if it's unproductive and silly?
Thank you for this column, Charles Blow. I hope Bloomberg gets stopped before he becomes a candidate. If he does then voters in swing states get to do the choosing and I hope they are paying attention.
There is a terrible third choice that might come into play regardless of which one wins. They both are so autocratic, intolerant and one of the deeply corrupt that both political parties might implode and we could have a rebirth. Its time to send all these lifers who ran both parties into the ground to retirement.
1
Fine, vote for Bernie. Have him be your nominee. Have him lose in a landslide like Corbyn did to Johnson in the UK. No mayor or Governor will ever be incentivized to run for Presidential office as a Democrat again. I don't ignore Bloomberg's record on stop and frisk, and I think it's unacceptable that he seems incapable of intelligently discussing it during the debates. But I'm growing tired of the relentless attacks on those most likely to beat Trump, while those like Sanders face virtually no scrutiny.
At this point I've accepted that Bernie will win the nomination with at least a plurality. That it will be an existential mistake for the Democrats to block his nomination at a brokered convention, and an existential mistake for him to win the nomination without winning a majority of delegates. Bernie will lose to Trump. And perhaps in the long term that may be a good thing.
4
Remember: we are not voting for president. We are voting for the Democratic nomination. I may love Bernie but think he and his socialism will go down in flames versus Trump (which I do think), I'm voting for Bloomberg in the primary.
8
it's interesting to hear from folks who are more than willing to give away other folks' constitutional rights. I especially like the ones who use statistics to justify throwing 'em against the wall and putting on the handcuffs even when the statistics they don't quote show more than 90% didn't have weapons or drugs. We're more Trumpian then we'd like to admit.
4
Aren't there other issues of importance besides a defunct policy no one is planning on continuing?
12
Brilliant column.
Between Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk history and his treatment of women, I can't see why anyone would vote for him.
(Well, any Democrat)
3
Mr. Blow makes a compelling argument. I wrongly held the police in low regard over Stop & Frisk as did many others while it was occurring. It was all too easy to believe LEO overreach was the proximate cause of a tactic that produced no meaningful result; so much for data driven governance. It was evidently bias driven practice from the top.
Mr. Bloomberg’s mastery of financial data does not translate to social mastery, as was readily on display in his debate appearances. This is a base election in every meaning of the word. A contest between the Mayor and the President will be nothing but base.
Its easy to take the high road about crime when its in someone else's neighborhood. The fundamental questions are:
1. Was the murder rate reduced 50%?
2. Were 16-25 year old males of color the problem?
3. Were the neighborhoods better off after stop and frisk.
If the answer to all three of these is yes, Bloomberg needs to be cut some slack. Dealing with those problems are extremely difficult. All the Senators and columnists can criticize all they like but they didn't have the responsibilities of the mayor.
58
@John Millsap
I am sorry you didn't live in NYC and Bloomberg was not doing Stop & Frisk in certain neighborhoods he was doing it all over the city.
If you were a minority in the upper east side you were stopped by the police . How dare you be in a white area even if your were meeting someone at a restaurant and even if you lived there
. Bloomberg was running the city like a plantation, so want to talk about crime, there were plenty of white people committing crime but the police just looked the other way. Look at the court system, minorities provided jobs for the lawyers, and everyone else associated with the court system. Prisons are full of minorities and white people are just so honest. Give us a break.
Finally it was a court order that brought this Rudy,Bloomberg racism to an end.
Bloomberg knew what he was doing and enjoyed being this tough on crime mayor. He knew the numbers, he is a data man, the police were and are still out of control especially their union management..
2
Is it not also a horror when people are summarily shot for no good reason or, say, a toddler shot dead in the cross fire? Whatever the negative consequences, stop and frisk was intended to stop the murder rate. Cities seem to change places as “the murder capital” of the country. That is a nightmare that has become the norm for so long. Strange to be outraged more by “stop and frisk” than the carnage.
8
@John Millsap The murder rate was brought down by more than 50% by Giuliani (stop and frisk/broken windows). Then Bloomberg brought it down further during his mayoralty. Most of the murderers were young black males. The people in those neighborhoods should be interviewed by some NYT reporters and see how they felt at the time about stop and frisk.
7
Not voting for Bloomberg or Sanders unless there are no other candidates left when NY has its primary. Often things are pretty much decided by then. Last time Sanders started to gain some momentum from some victories in western and Midwest states but then hit the wall or what was referred to as Clinton's second firewall in the NY primary and other northeast primaries. Hopefully one of the better candidates will emerge from Super Tuesday with a chance for the nomination. I would include Biden, Warren, and Klobuchar on that list. Black voters will certainly have a lot to say about that.
2
Read this and the only conclusion is to prepare for four more years of the current occupant of the White House. The McGovern moments is almost here. The current occupant of the White House will have managed to have destroyed both parties and democracy continues to erode.
10
Bloomberg's Reign was a horror for teachers. Blow makes the point that Bloomberg seems to only care about numbers, but what he doesn't point out how Bloomberg's educational policies pressured school administrations to give him the numbers he wanted even if those numbers no longer measured the actual learning taking place. Just about anybody who was an educator in New York City before Bloomberg took control and is still working now would probably corroborate that Bloomberg damaged public education. Only the newspapers disagree with that judgment.
4
It's pretty clear that you want the Socialist. However, it is equally clear that (though he might win the popular vote - not guaranteed!) he will lose the electoral college and drag down Democratic candidates up and down the ballot. Vote for moderation, conciliation, and compromise - our country needs it!
12
Bloomberg's policies have become irrelevant. We've seen his debating style now. He could spend the whole $60,000,000,000 and he couldn't win a national election, not even against Deficit Don.
4
Bloomberg handled himself very well in the CNN Town Hall last night. He is a proven, experienced manager with many accomplishments & our country would be much better off if we were lucky enough to have him as our president. He can beat Trump.
BLOOMBERG 2020
"For all Black People: It Was A Horror," seems a bit presumptious.
You're speaking for "All Black People." I don't think all would agree with you.
I'm volunteering and voting for Mike because he improved the school system of all five boroughs while mayor. I am a retired NJ educator. NJ state government had to take over the school systems of Trenton and Newark because of their dysfunction.
Try to revisit your prejudices, Mr. Blow, with an open mind.
240
@Jeanne M
Why don't you attempt revisit United States history.
4
@Jeanne M Are you tone deaf? Charles was talking about this mayor running a systematic torture procedure on young black and Latino men , which was illegal for 3 terms and pressuring the police to have huge quotas which made them make enemies of the people they were supposed to serve. And you give yourself away when you say you are volunteering, Mike has no volunteers. Why would he settle for clumsy volunteers when he can buy up trained servants snapping his old white man fingers. Hope you got well paid for your comment and will vote for Bernie.He actually went to civil rights matches and got arrested. Now Bernie could use help with phone banking.
6
Bloomberg's motivation is key
I don't think anybody would accuse the man of implementing and defending this policy because he is a racist.
He implemented and defended the policy because he was TRYING TO LOWER THE CRIME RATE AND KEEP HIS CITIZENS SAFE
His intentions were genuine and well placed.
That makes all the difference in the world.
37
@john I lived in New York a long time. The only time I felt safe was when Bloomberg was mayor. Now my visits under the current so called mayor include record numbers of homeless and my last trip into the city a guy shooting in broad daylight on 8 thank 23rd - this is like the 80’s.
8
I lived in NYC throughout all three of Bloomberg's terms. He was fantastic. The city has improved so much under him. The stop and frisk controversy is not going to hurt him despite some people having conniptions over it. Why? Because most people secretly agree with it that's why... Look at the most recent Tessa Major's murder case, look at the perps. A lot of people are going to think something like this could've been prevented if stop and frisk was still going on. Is stop and frisk a fair policy? No. But it is a popular one.
19
How many opinion columns of Mr. Blow ranting against Bloomberg do we need to see? The point was made a few columns ago....
For those of us who don't share this view, this seems like a personal obsession, which only takes away from a level headed discussion. Do we think Bloomberg was really racially motivated? Blind to the real and perceived results of his administration's policies? How much weight should this issue take when considering a presidential candidates? Let's talk issues and not rehash grievances.
30
@Chef
Funny I don't see this as a grievance but an established fact. Just like the press conference showed that Trump and his minions are not prepared for the virus, that is a fact. Trump cut the budgets of the CDC that is a fact.
So when you state the truth it is a grievance ?and facts don't matter?
I think you have been living in the delusional world of trump for to long. Fact, their are children at the border living in cage.
Dont like Facts, then dont read the NYT
2
@Chef How many columns from Mr Blow do you need to understand the character of Bloomberg you ask? As many as it takes. BLACK LIVES MATTER. Stop trying to minimize the racism that was exhibited by this man. I hope Mr Blow and people like him continue to sound the alarm as americans are to susceptible to false advertising and reimagined personas. I am glad Mr Blow has this platform and ecstatic that he is using it.
2
Say it my brother. Seriously. Besides, when we get 2 latter-aged white billionaires as our choices, we've already lost.
9
All those who find nothing wrong with Bloomberg's "Stop and Frisk" policy, or stumble over themselves trying to make it seem less overtly racist than it was need to ask themselves this question: What would happen if it were any other ethnic group that had to endure this type of profiling?
Would Italians stand for it? Or the Irish or Jews?
When is this kind of indiscriminate policing enough/ too much?
And what about those who are only guilty of walking, driving, or living while Black?
If as Bloomberg says, the M.O. of murders and murderers is always the same, does that mean he'll bring this policy back or like Trump, ignore constitutional rights to make it law?
These are questions not only people of color -- but ALL Americans should be asking.
After all, what's the sense in exchanging one racist already in the White House for another?
8
@N. Smith Plenty of Irish and Jews and Italians were thrown up against the wall 100 years ago and they deserved it then - but they grew up and changed their lives - now blacks are committing the crime but do not seem as able to move on and up . . . so the beat goes on
"I am a Black female baby boomer who has voted in every Presidential election since Jimmy Carter. Biden is my first choice Bloomberg is my second choice. Forget the polls, the polls were wrong about HRC beating trump. Polls showing Sanders beating trump are also wrong.
Black women have an uncanny sense of white mentality. We have nursed their kids, cleaned their houses, cooked their food and learned how they think since the days of slavery. Our knowledge of white America is ingrained in our souls and is why we have survived/thrived in a hostile environment. se Black women know white folk, especially white women better than they know themselves. We knew white women would vote for Trump regardless of what they told pollsters. We also know that they will vote for Trump again unless there is another old white guy alternative who does not threaten their economic security and sense of racial superiority. To most white women, Biden and Bloomberg are acceptable alternatives to Trump. The rest of the Dem hopefuls are not Period.
If Dems/principled Americans want to beat Trump, do not fall for the Okey Doke. Do not vote for Sanders, Warren, Klobuchar or any of the rest of the also-rans. Vote Biden, Bloomberg in that order. Forget what Biden did 30 years ago, forget the gaffs and all the rest of the MSM fueled anti-Biden rhetoric."
Source: comment from this article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/02/18/aunt-gloria-is-still-with-biden-mom-is-leaning-bloomberg/
12
@libtarf Someone who sees things as they are, how incredibly refreshing!
3
Do you really think that the alternative is to nominate a socialist who praises Fidel Castro (why not Mussolini, after all he got the trains to run on time). Why aren't you criticizing Sanders who voted against gun control and against sensible immigration reform?
Bloomberg has demonstrated the capacity to govern. He has earned our support.
Your continued bashing of Bloomberg is a disservice to the Democratic Party.
22
I was surprised to see that you quoted the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association president, Patrick Lynch, to bolster your argument. The guy always finds a way to defend and legitimize bad police behavior, and almost never holds cops accountable for anything, including brutality and generally bad judgement. Here are some quotes from the past from someone you apparently agree with: https://gawker.com/nypd-union-president-patrick-lynch-is-completely-nuts-1674178970
2
The stats on pot arrests, and the devastation that has had on so many Black and Hispanic lives -- while protecting young whites who use it more -- is another fact that brings Bloomberg's disgusting stop and frisk policy to shameful light. He should be using his 60 billion to compensate those affected, not buying vanity ads.
2
Imitation is the most sincerest form of flattery. The rise of Donald Trump and his use of social media to continually poke America’s emotional elephant is the blueprint Mr Blow emulates. Op-ed writers like Mr. Blow help Donald Trump rationalize his unapologetic approach. And guess what - don't hate Mr Blow, hate the game. Our emotional side (regardless of race) is the elephant and our rational side is the rider. Perched atop the elephant, the rider holds the reins and seems to be the leader. But the rider's control is precarious because the rider is so small relative to the elephant since it is not reason who guides life, but customs. The Astroid Club is a unique non-debate on America's biggest problems created by Jonathan Haidt. Haidt is an American social psychologist, Professor of Ethical Leadership at New York University's Stern School of Business. In his book “The Righteous Mind” he describes his transformation from liberal to an intellectual. Envision a gathering convened by two people who disagree politically but are willing to mutually acknowledge that the other side may see some real threats more clearly than does one's own side. An approach that would make Fredrick Hegel blush with joy! Unfortunately, the last post on the Astroid Club’s website is from 2014.
1
Yeah, it really was a time of horror that the Mayor tried to get some guns off the street. Should he/could he have implemented a fairer program...of course. But a menace to blacks? How many blacks were not shot by the guns found and removed? Until Blow can answer that question (and justify his certain response that being frisked without cause matters more) then such articles simply miss the point.
12
Can you get past this our is it a deal breaker? Mayor Bloomberg may the man who can beat Trump and make the country decent again. Will Black resentment thwart this?
It appears that self righteous anger currently trumps all else in progressive American thought.
12
So according to your logic, everyone who agrees with you is right, and those who disagree with you, including black elected official and voters are beholden to Michael Bloomberg or people with money and power. Sounds like a line out of the socialist democratic and/or Elizabeth (self appointed savior of failed capitalism) Warren’s playbook, What happened to objective analysis where a discussion is free of vitriol in finding who is better for country? So just to prove your points, as you do not hesitate to excoriate Bloomberg or categorize others who don’t agree with you, step up and name these pitiful ‘weak opponents’ or sycophantic officials who crave Mr. Bloomberg’s favors? Strange how your vicious/strident/self righteous emotionally charged outing of Bloomberg is nauseatingly familiar of another era when accusers could destroy someone’s reputation and de-humanize them.
12
The irony of New York State as a “donor” in tax revenue to many of the Red States is what immediately struck me less than two paragraphs in. Further in, it was reinforced by the true and demonstrable notion that civic duty requires that all citizens’ basic needs must be met. How is it that NYC can’t provide it’s POC citizens with those necessities while the flow of money keeps rolling to citizens of other states? This is a big federal problem and it needs a big federal solution. The only way to get there is to roll out the kind of policies that got FDR elected four times. There just might be two other New Yorkers on the ballot this year. There is no question where one would stand, and I don’t mean Bloomberg or Trump.
4
Bloomberg hung a sign on New York City Hall: CITY FOR SALE. Bolstered by unconscionable tax abatements and other giveaways, oligarchs and criminals from around the nation and world barreled into town throwing money at developers like the Trumps and Kushners while the rent-paying, salaried classes were pushed to the edges of the outer boroughs. His contempt for their needs was unparalleled in the city's modern history. He failed to maintain public transportation and housing and met demands for improved educational opportunities for their children by cynically promoting inferior charter schools that continue to suck lifeblood from public district schools. And let's be very clear, the stop-and-frisk policy came directly from the playbooks of the foreign dictators he courted in Davos.
10
@Robert Dannin
But he says his policies are why New York City is so much better now!
It’s striking how Trumpian most of that entire class is, and without a sliver of shame.
2
Spot on Charles Blow, what took you so long? This should have been written the moment he hinted of even running. As an ex-New Yorker (left in 2005) and frequent visitor, you can go farther. Under Bloomberg Manhattan did great, the gentrified areas of Brooklyn did great the rest...not as much. The rich got a lot richer and some us, well of as I am, decided to get out. Where was the critical examination of his record earlier? Where is the critical examination of Bernie Sanders' actual accomplishments in Congress?
When will American learn that building and running a multi-billion dollar company is actually the worst experience in the world for being President? When the CEO says "we are going this way", everybody falls in line and moves that way. When the President say "we are going this way" everybody in Congress says "what's in it for me?" It is herding cats.
5
I'm voting for Mike Bloomberg. He is the best option to beat Donald Trump in 2020. He is not Edwin Edwards 2.0 - Today's civility sensor is very sensitive.
16
So many comments here comparing Bloomberg to Trump. He is not running against Trump right now. He is running against candidates who do not have the problematic record Mr. Blow describes.
Anyone who thinks Bloomberg is the most electable choice against Trump frankly does not understand public sentiment and has learned nothing from 2016. They do not understand that both the left and right want their own version of populist outsiders. They do not understand how effectively Trump will depress working class turnout by painting Bloomberg as an elitist Wall Street tycoon.
They also do not understand how effectively Trump will depress African-American turnout, using some of the points Mr. Blow makes here. There will be targeted ads and Trump will turn it into a joke. He will laugh about how the Democrats think he's the racist when they're running Bloomberg. The point will not be to win African-American votes, it will be to depress the total vote.
Trump would love to run against Bloomberg. He is not the nominee and it is highly unlikely he will become the nominee. Until now he has floated above the primary process unscrutinized, using his money to buy favors from Democratic insiders and drown the airwaves in ads. Criticism of Bloomberg now from Democrats is fair game.
The courts rightly ruled stop-and-frisk unconstitutional. The fact that the commenters defending Bloomberg here defend this abhorrent policy, which Bloomberg himself is no longer willing to defend, says it all.
96
@Bluelotus If Bloomberg is not the nominee, then you can look forward to four more years of Trump.
45
@Bluelotus
You and I have a different understanding of public sentiment. I saw a video this morning on CNN with African-American voters saying that the have hope that Trump will be defeated since Bloomberg entered the race. All of them criticized Bloomberg for stop and frisk, but are looking forward to seeing him defeat Trump, because they believe he is the only candidate who can. Several said that the liked Biden but that he had no chance to beat Trump. Trump does not want to run against Bloomberg. He has actually said that he wants to run against Sanders...now why might that be?
27
@Bluelotus
You can be sure of this. Most African-American voters KNOW how effectively Trump is trying to depress their turnout.
13
New Years Eve, late '80s I was living in Park Slope.
I drove to downtown Brooklyn to score a few nickels of weed on some side street. I drive around the corner, and there are some NYPD waiting for me. I get a ticket ($50 with a court appearance), 2/3 of the weed confiscated (I was never searched and don't remember stepping out of my car) and I move on with my life. Like a basic traffic stop. I was a mid twenties, white guy.
Did they change the laws? or just the policing? It was a misdemeanor offense as long as I paid the ticket.
I'm not belittling anyone's experience. Just curious if the laws were changed to make the stop-and-frisk possible.
1
@Marky A Hi Marty there is an excellent report that explains the changes called The Marijuana Crusade, I believe it's by Green and Patterson and should be available to read online. It was a combination of many things, Giuliani and broken windows, bloomberg and compstat, the ability of cops to make a lot of money in overtime hours and of course racialized arrest quotas.
3
I lived in New York during the stop and frisk era and I agree that the program was riddled with injustices. I also saw young men on the street corner down from our apartment in Harlem selling drugs on a regular basis. They were usually two steps ahead of the of the cops so they never seemed to be deterred.
All this is to say that I think your rhetoric on Bloomberg is over the top. He is not a virulent racist as your columns have portrayed him. Furthermore he may yet play an important role in defeating Trump. So I urge you and Sen.Warren to tone down the attack.
Finally,the Mayor of my current hometown of Norfolk, Kenny Alexander, who is African-American has endorsed Bloomberg. That carries some weight in my opinion.
60
NYC Residents elected Bloomberg mayor. Now Bloomberg apologizes for a key policy, described as racist by some, he endorsed. Will Bloomberg disavow the support he received and receives from those residents?
Bloomber voters the Culture Wars have come for you.
Now back to hammering on the folks in flyover country.
2
I agree with Charles Blow on this. How is what Mike Bloomberg did to black and brown men any different than the JIM CROW LAWS of the deep South of years past? I'm sorry, but as a man of color I find the thought of voting for Bloomberg no different than voting for Donald Trump. The democrats would be wise to focus on another candidate for the nomination. The general election will be another base election, the democrats need to rally the base and get them out to vote, not try to convince moderate republicans and independents to switch to our side. That's a fools errand.
113
@DeVon Agreed, and I would add one distinction between trump & Bloomberg. Under Bloomberg, too many Democrats would forget to protest.
15
@DeVon To answer your question, Stop and Frisk, while I agree it was misguided, was INTENDED to help people in primarily black neighborhoods. There was much higher crime in these neighborhoods, and the victims of these crimes were overwhelmingly minorities. This is completely different than the situation that happens all over the country, where minorities are stopped in primarily white neighborhoods just because of the color of their skin. That common practice is totally racist and is INTENDED to (supposedly) protect whites.
Jim Crow laws were intended to protect white privilege. No comparison.
And I hope you are wrong about this being a "base" election. Base elections just exacerbate the growing tribalism in this country. We need to come closer together. Bloomberg is not the only person for the job, but when he was mayor his favorability was about the same among Democrats and Republicans, despite his pro-choice, pro-environment, pro gay right, anti gun and tax the rich policies. Try to imagine that.
20
@DeVon Obviously the stop & frisk program as administered by Bloomberg was flawed. But many elected officials have been cowed into silence when it comes to addressing the elephant in NYC living room: the murder, shooting, and drug crisis in African American communities in the 90s. It's beyond question that POCs were demanding a response to this crime & violence. To believe otherwise is revisionist progressive history. It was out of control. Everyday black men were being murdered at an alarming rate. The dead are the tip of the iceberg, those who were maimed, beaten, robbed, fled their homes or lived in fear reach into the millions. Cries for police action were unanimous. The 1994 crime bill, stop & frisk were a response to these calls. Mistakes were made. We know that 25 years later...that's hindsight. The statistics reinforce what crime numbers have shown for decades: that POC in NYC were disproportionately the victims of violent crime. Their assailants were disproportionally POC too. Stopping someone who is acting suspicious or resembles a person who the police suspect of committing a crime is not racist. Most crime happens to persons of the same race and economic levels as the person doing the assault. The targeted neighborhoods were the ones with high crime rates and are minority so more minority searches would be a given. Police stopped more POC than white or Asians relative to their share of the city population. But not relative to their share of criminal suspects.
28
Mr Blow,
It is time you stopped your irrational, uncontrolled ranting, took a deep breath, and ponder the damage you are doing. Independents and the few remaining moderate Republicans out there might vote for Bloomberg but probably would not vote for any other Democratic candidate.
If the intent of your three recent columns attacking Mr. Bloomberg is to prevent him from winning the nomination and help Trump get re-elected you are doing a great job.
45
@Robert Dale i'm with Mr. Blow in that there is no goal more important right now than stopping bloomberg, it is equal in importance to stopping trump, and there are probably millions of us who will vote accordingly.
6
Defeating Bloomberg in the primary is vital to have a candidate that can actually beat Trump. Bloomberg will never win.
I am more passionate about defeating Bloomberg in the primaries than I am about any of the other individual candidates, all of whom would be a far superior choice. Keep it up Mr. Blow!
2
@maria5553
I hope you are wrong. How you can equate Bloomberg with Trump is baffling and inscrutable? On virtually all the crucial issues -- a woman's right to choose, climate change, gun safety, taxes, wealth inequality, foreign policy, the Paris Accord,endorsement of science and evidence based decision making, etc. etc. etc -- Mike Bloomberg holds Democratic positions. And he would appoint reasonable, moderate judges instead of the right wing extremists that Trump chooses. Would you really prefer for Trump to be reelected?
2
I'm delighted to see that Mr. Blow and his supporters are happy to do their bit to help guarantee a second term for their stealth candidate, Mr. Trump.
41
Charles Blow has to answer the question. Why is it when these methods are curtailed that crime, including violent crime, inevitably rises? I'd wager even money that the poor Barnard student would not have met her end under Bloomberg.
19
If you do not want Trump for another four years. You liberals have only two choices, Biden or Bloomberg. No one is perfect. I am a conservative that will vote for either.
12
A lot of Democrats claim Bloomberg is not a democrat. Maybe that is a good thing to have a candidate that is not wedded to either parties, but more of an independent. Maybe us Democrats should take the high road for the sake of this country and offer up someone who could work with both sides of the isle.
Our Democracy is in peril, Vote Blue No Matter Who!!!
6
@William Bloomberg works for only one side, growing his own wealth, hence his influence.
2
@William — Great Slogan!!
1
"But for black people, it was a horror."
So is living in a neighborhood where gun violence is common. Look at what's happened to Baltimore once the cops took a step back after the Freddy Kitchens mess. Crime skyrocketed. How many shootings in Chicago every weekend? Police get the best results when policing where the crimes are committed - not the Upper West Side..
56
@Midwest Josh I marvel at the ease with which you use casual racism, it's as if you believe what you're saying is a fact.
3
Enough!
How about 650 deaths per year were cut in half. Coupled with an apology and acknowledgement that the policy was unfair in that it racially profiled people.
Would you really prefer Trump for 4 more years? Imagine the damage that will ensue with that option.
And, a gentleman who's willing to use his own money to finance his campaign or any Democratic candidate. Someone who's donated $6 billion dollars of his own money to worthy causes, who's dedicated to sensible gun control and saving us from climate change.
You think your continuous bashing is more worthy? Certainly you can find positives to write about?
40
I am still waiting for Blow to have an open and honest discussion of crime rates (especially violent crimes and sexual assault) amongst the black communities (which he alleges were targeted). If we can not even have an honest discussion about the disproportionate statistics which openly reveal that 50% of homicides are from those communities than we can never tackle the problems. Also, with respect to stop and frisk... when a community has disproportionate crime rate is it even a surprise that they are the communities which the police are focusing on?
22
Many of you have probably never had the injustice of being profiled visited upon you. You don't know how it feels to have someone exert every power they to threaten, demean and belittle you all the while you have the lingering worry that this person may shoot or kill you. Many of you have never been told to kneel down into the snow or mud or lay down on the pavement in the freezing cold just because you were walking home with your buddy. You've never been told to open the front of your pants so that the cop can ensure you aren't hiding narcotics while walking home from band practice carrying a trombone in broad daylight.
Bloomberg may seem a safe bet to the 'anybody but Trump' crowd, but he’s not. I will never vote for a man who thinks so little of me and people that look like me that he can't be bothered rethink policies that negatively impact my entire community. This man knew of the damage caused those communities, never apologized until it became politically expedient and now he is to be the champion of progressive/liberal causes? The fact that so many 'liberal-minded' people can't see how wrong he is as a democratic candidate is baffling. HRC lost because she didn't excite anyone. No one could relate and no one believed she would truly take on the establishment on behalf of the poor and marginalized. The fact that so many in the democratic party are rushing to dress this man up to do the exact same thing is upsetting to say it mildly.
14
Of course the black communities certainly benefited from the steady decrease in crime during Bloomberg's time in office, which can be partly attributed to aggressive policing.
17
Wow, we have finally reached a new low using the term "ethnic cleansing" to talk about a pretty effective law enforcement policy that actually killed no one. Blow has it out for Bloomberg alright that is clear, but he sure missed the point on stop and frisk. Why are the facts always so hard to accept and revisionist history so rife- crime was out of control in the eighties and nineties in NYC and elsewhere, something had to be done. Who was committing the crime, black and brown young men that is a fact - a policy was instituted to check them out stop and maybe frisk them before they killed someone and guess what it worked! Probably saved a lot of black lives too - then it got unpopular after crime went down and people forgot how bad it was and the cry went out to leave those black boys alone - and they did now crime is going up again, see any pattern. I think stop and frisk was amazing and would love to see it come back. Because it doesnt seem like the black community is taking any steps to ensure their young men are not disproportionately the perpetrators of street crime. I would love Mr. Blow to offer a suggestion for that instead of bashing a Mayor who did his job and made the city safe.
29
Charles Blow quotes New York City comptroller, Scott Stringer, who “found that between 2000 and 2014 about 61 percent of millennials moving to New York were white, while only 9 percent of 18- to 29-year olds moving into the city were black.”
The 2010 census indicates that the U.S. was 72.4% white and 12.6% black. I am not suggesting that the people moving to NYC should mirror the racial makeup of the country, I just get the sense that Mr. Blow is suggesting that 61% is just too many white people and 9% is not enough black people. So what would the right mix of people moving to NYC look like according to Mr. Blow?
I don't disagree with Mr. Blow's criticism of Bloomberg, I just found the inclusion of that bit of data a bit curious because it doesn't seem to prove anything supporting his argument.
9
He menaced blackness by using common sense and logic to successfully bring down crime? Gotcha.
That attitude menaces all law abiding citizens who are impacted by crime. Sorry but your feelings and dislike of reality don't take precedence over my safety.
23
Dear Mr. Blow,
Thank you for keeping Bloomberg's racist past in the press. There is no apology. Too little and far too late. Agree with comment below that it is time to through him against a wall on Super Tuesday. Voted for Warren yesterday from here in California.
5
Bloomberg's ethnic cleansing was a two-tiered system. For poor minority communities it was the constant harassment of stop-and-frisk. For middle class communities it was rezoning so that luxury condos, and the concomitant rent increases they bring in their wake would force out anyone not making 100K a year.
As for Bloomberg being elected three times, the third term was illegal and he ended up spending an estimated $180 per vote with the same inundation of ads we see today. This paper was complicit in the farce, continuing to paint him as invincible, even when his own internal polling told him he was in big trouble against a vastly overspent, understated opponent Bill Thompson. With all his largess, "beloved" Bloomberg only managed to eke out a 5% margin of victory.
The man's overarching philosophy is that everyone and everything is for sale, and its dismaying to see that he may be right.
3
@stan continople How do leftists do? The average home price in Texas is 59% lower than the average in California. In Dallas, compared to a city like San Francisco, the home prices are far more affordable. Houston's average home is roughly five times less and rents are half what they are in San Francisco. It's correct that the reasons for this are complicated and sometimes bipartisan, but mostly it's clueless leftists gumming up the works.
Leftists routinely intervene in the market, creating an unforeseen problem that they then try to use other market interventions to amend: mandates and controls, and so forth. When this doesn't work either, scapegoats are found. It's greedy landlords or the Davos elite! The idea that America should have nationwide rent control is asinine.
Yet, surprise!, Sen. Sanders wants to bring us nationwide rent control. When leftists learn to take markets seriously, THEY can be taken seriously, but not before. The housing problem in New York City during the mayoralty of Michael Bloomberg cannot simply be put down to "A rich guy didn't care about poor people." And that line about everything being for sale is emblematic of what's wrong with leftists. https://www.wsj.com/articles/want-fewer-homes-try-this-11582500687
Too often, leftists' hearts are in the right place, but their minds are, like, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. And that's quite startling. If this paper has been complicit in anything, it's in encouraging the use of the heart over the brain.
Bloomberg successfully turned New York into what he called "a luxury product." Those who didn't fit the luxury brand—or couldn't afford the luxury prices—just didn't matter.
Yes he's a liberal in some ways. But only for those liberal policies that fit the luxury image: climate change, gun control, charter schools for the upper middle class.
Social justice and welfare programs? He never had any enthusiasm for those programs. They're off brand.
3
If the election comes down to a choice between Bloomberg and
Trump, I would choose Bloomberg. However bad Bloomberg's record is, it is far better than Trump's record before and after he took office.
6
The Bloomberg campaign is promoting the view that only he can beat Trump. But remember, Trump beat Hillary because he was able to flip Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. So who is better positioned to winning back the blue collar workers and coal miners in those states, Bloomberg or Sanders? I am just asking.
3
So your position is "anybody but Bloomberg?" I remember when it was "anybody but Trump." How about making an argument strongly in favor of a candidate to rally behind in order to defeat Trump? Your "takedown" is far from helpful, and frankly, your narrow vision is getting tiresome.
36
@John He is certainly making a strong argument about whom not to rally behind to defeat Trump.
4
@Manuel Suarez
That's not exactly the same as identifying who to get behind now , is it?
2
@John
Bloomberg and several others took a page out of Trump’s 20-6 playbook and are lying through their collective teeth. Are voters seeing through the lies? How accurate or honest are fact checks? Here’s one https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/who-loves-dictators-bernie-or-his-rivals/
Who are the Trojan horses in this race?
Are polls credible? How does today’s Monmouth poll square with CBS’s from the night of last debate?
We all need to do our collective homework
I think Maxine Waters has a better record than you do, Mr. Blow, in actually doing something concrete in terms of advancing the rights of African-Americans in this country. She wouldn't agree with your assessment of Bloomberg, since she has strongly endorsed his candidacy. Maybe your preconceived biases are what the real problem is.
59
@ManhattanWilliam What do you mean preconceived biases...? Mr. Bloomberg's record of racial biases in the application of stop and frisk is available to all who will take the time to see it.
4
@Manuel Suarez I'm talking about the relentless assaults on Mr. Bloomberg's character by Charles Blow. Stop and Frisk might have been used excessively BUT it also saved many lives, mostly black and Latino men, and that's a fact. The bias is Mr. Blow's obsession and inability to view Bloomberg's record overall, which was quite outstanding. Don't forget he won well over 50% of the black vote in NYC the last time he ran for mayor.
7
@ManhattanWilliam
Get your facts right: Maxine Waters has not endorsed Bloomberg. She did defend his right to self-finance his campaign, that's all.
1
All the candidates have episodes from the past that that they would like to change. The only thing we must remember about this campaign is that the next president should not be Trump. The candidate most likely to achieve this must be the nominee.
10
After three plus years of Trump-bashing, now we can look forward to months of Bloomberg-bashing. Bloomberg is the only Democrat who can beat Trump. I don't care about stop and frisk -- it brought the murder/crime rate down. Why don't you write about the majority of murders committed by young black males and the problems with black culture. If 93% of murders are committed by Blacks and Hispanics of course those groups will be targeted.
84
@Carol False, wen stop and frisk was instituted by Rudy Giuliani, crime in NYC was already falling, and it was still falling wen Bloomberg became mayor of the City. And, crime continued to fall in the City after stop and frisk was stopped by a judge, not by mayor Bloomberg as he would like you to believe.
5
Mr. Blow's harangues against Bloomberg have become tiresome--the animosity is so intense that it seemingly goes well beyond Bloomberg's policies as mayor and appears personal.
However, Carol's comments have merit. I suspect that (a) aggressive police work in New York (coupled with the size of NYPD) reduced crime rates and (b) stop-and-frisk contributed to the crime-rate reductions. I am not qualified to comment on the extent to which stop-and-frisk reduced crime or the extent of the policy's adverse societal costs (yes, there were some). But it seems Mr. Blow does cherry-pick the studies and experts he cites, and the data he uses. And did stop-and-frisk target older blacks, or black females? Or did it target a very particular demographic group in certain areas because of the relatively high rate of criminal activity associated with that demographic group?
It seems that the real story is not who was targeted, but why there were legitimate reasons for the targeting done.
Finally, this election is not about stop-and-frisk or busing in the 1970s. Democratic candidates, stop apologizing every 30 seconds--stop it!--and focus on defeating Trump.
7
@Manuel Suarez The murder rate was around 2,000 per year throughout the 70's and 80's and reached a peak in 1990 of 2,605. While Giuliani was mayor (1994-2001) the murder rate went from 2016 to 960 (stop and frisk/broken windows). While Bloomberg was mayor (2002-2013) the murder rate went from 909 to 644. Giuliani really brought the murder rate down and Bloomberg brought it down further.
5
It’s not a popularity contest, it’s a Presidential Election and none of the other candidates have a prayer of beating Trump. During the recent debate someone said of Bloomberg, “he’s not a real Democrat” and that’s precisely why many Republicans, myself included, will vote for him.
40
I respect Mr. Blow and his passionate and persuasive argument against Michael Bloomberg. Given the extreme unlikelihood of his becoming the Democratic nominee for president, sometimes things beyond our control still happen. In a Trump/Bloomberg race I'd have to vote for Bloomberg. I am guessing Mr. Blow would have the presence of mind to do the same. The times are strange, I know, but the danger of another 4 years of Trump overshadows even Bloomberg's negatives.
10
I too was struck by his "decriminalize small amounts" answer, knowing how it flew in the face of what police had done in his administration under stop and frisk. Imagine if the police had engaged in such a policy. The stops would still have been egregious, but a great many would not have the arrests and records and all the problems that come with that. They would have had their freedoms momentarily violated, but then been on their way. Only marginally better, but still better.
And the idea that the research isn't in on marijuana seems silly to me. Millions of people, of all races and classes, have been doing, shall we say, informal trials on marijuana for over 50 years. The results? No one dies, very few show anything approaching addiction, far less than we see from alcohol and cigarettes, and far less health damage either.
1
BLOOMBERG 2020? NO! Says a Black man (me).
10
None of the democratic candidates are perfect, and they all are so much less awful and immoral than Trump that to not paint a contextual picture when talking about them, at this moment in time, is just wrong.
10
I do not often agree with Mr. Blow. However Mr. Bloomberg's strong support of Stop and Frisk clearly reveals his deep animus toward African Americans.
Mr. Bloomberg and his administration was a nightmare for African Americans who endured his lack of empathy if not outright racist views.
There was no humanity in Mr. Bloomberg's conduct. He is a cold, calculating, technocratic administrator. He still is.
Now Bloomberg believes he can buy his way to the White House on his record as Mayor of New York.
I believe that all of us can see through the facade. The next man or woman to occupy the White House needs to be human and honest too. A late breaking apology for years of racist behavior is not enough Mr. Bloomberg.
Mr. Blow thank you for a well written analysis and rightful condemnation of Mr. Bloomberg.
7
did anyone die from stopping and frisking?
41
@PeterH Is that the bar white supremacists are using now? Whether a black or brown person dies during a police stop?
1
I rarely agree with Mr. Blow and this piece is no exception, but I do respect his perspective and voice. That being said, this is just another echo chamber vanity piece replete with Mr. Blow's characteristic lack of effort to propose better ways forward.
I'd sincerely hope that after writing a piece like this that he feels better, and that the burn-it-all-down sanders crowd can read this piece and feel duly validated, but unfortunately, it seems that these pieces only bring out more of the worst from those who are in the anti-Bloomberg crowd for emotional/ideological reasons.
There is no question that trump is the worst president in modern history; he absolutely has to go, and Mike Bloomberg presents the most viable path toward those ends.
24
How many of your fellow NY citizens were dying each day from gun violence. I'd say about two/day when Bloomberg
started his administration. Remember the subway vigilante,
not sure it was during Bloomberg's administration but
still part of what was going on during that period.
7
And yet, in spite of this history, he’s light years ahead of Trump.
17
It was the period when Crack was King. The Black/brown communities were under (gun siege). The people were crying out for relief from the government and that was translated into police action. Of course, the majority racist police took the "stop and frisk" policy as an opportunity to abuse. But remember, all complaints were coming from the black/brown community and all the perpetrators were the same. The cops could only stop the people described. The fact that the majority racist police over abused the policy, does not imply that Bloomberg ordered them to do so.
This is a misused play of our race card.
34
We either nominate Bloomberg or we elect Trump for another four years. Mr. Blow, you make the choice.
45
Dear Mr. Blow: Why are you so negative lately? What has happened? No one is perfect and we all make mistakes, sometimes big ones. There is no excusing bad behavior and mistakes but there is forgiveness. Do you really want Donald Trump re-elected by your negative columns on Democratic candidates such as Bloomberg? You are not helping to make this country fit for all people, whatever color, religion, belief or whatever society labels humans. We are all one so please help us as a reporter to unite, rather than divide.
13
Mr. Blow keep you eye on the ball. You are not helping the serious issue at hand. Yes, Mike has made mistakes in the past
just like everyone else. This is a new day and just like this virus that is spreading we have to eradicate the white house at all costs. Only Bloomberg's clout can bring down this false king.
8
Bloomberg is a liar. He is trying very hard to ingratiate himself with nonwhites, becuase now he wants to be president and thinks he can buy the election. He is no more likely to beat trump than anyone. There are many good candidates- hes not one of them
4
And if body language is any gauge, he isn't really sorry for it. Just sorry it's hampering his glossy ad campaign. He's not a nice decent guy -- assuming you consider being a racists and sexist indecent. America desperately needs someone decent, not another power hungry oligarch!
5
Mr. Blow, you have been waging a vendetta for what you purportedly claim he did to blacks in NYC. Even if his policy was ill-chosen, please be more national in your opinions. On balance I believe that Bloomberg has, on balance, been a good three-term mayor of NYC.
Bloomberg has also been an admirable businessman and has invested billions in important philanthropy.
You have an important role as an opinion writer for the NYT. Please try to more circumspect in judging the pluses and minuses of Democratic presidential candidates. Remember the alternative to any Dem candidate—Trump.
26
Bloomberg apologized. There were clearly problems with stop and frisk.
Clearly, nothing will satisfy Mr. Blow, but if Trump gets re-elected because people like Mr. Blow knock out the one candidate who can beat Trump many people will wonder if that feeling of satisfaction that Mr. Blow and others feel from stopping Bloomberg was worth four more years of Trump. For me the answer is a resounding no.
30
@BMD Bloomberg apologized and that's enough. He should not keep apologizing -- makes him appear spineless/wimpy/pandering. At the time, stop and frisk was probably a good idea since most murders/crime were committed by young black males. The crime rate came way down. Bloomberg is neither a racist nor a sexist and is the only democrat that has a possibly of beating Trump. It's either Trump or Bloomberg. Take your pick.
1
Do NYTs Op-Ed writers read each other's pieces? David Brooks, author of the assessment of Bloomberg's presidential candidacy today, should be required to read this commentary by Mr. Blow. Then I'd like him to explain his characterization of Bloomberg's relationship to Black New Yorkers as a problem of 'insensitive' comments. Really Mr. Brooks?!
2
How about a column on how to encourage voter participation? Maybe one that focuses on Michele Obama's whenweallvote.org?
6
I don't know of any black male that is voting for Bloomberg.
Which made the S.C. debate all the more sad.
Bloomberg is so disliked, he has to BUY cheers from strangers.
I don't know which is worse, a person that will sell his approval to a known tyrant, or that same unlikeable tyrant having to buy the accolades and "likes" from total strangers.
Sadly, that is our Republic in this day 'n age.
We've lost it to the Oligarchs and Plutocrat's.
Our citizens have happily and or cynically apathetically allowed the Rich to buy our Gov.
We the People have lost our Democracy because we failed to keep oversight and do our civic duty.
And now they, the .0001%, openly BUY our serfdom; and we sell our soul, our children's futures and our freedoms for false promises and breadcrumbs.
Black people...you've GOT TO GET OUT, AND VOTE~!
3
Bloomberg and several others took a page out of Trump’s 20-6 playbook and are lying through their collective teeth. Are voters seeing through the lies? How accurate or honest are fact checks? Here’s one https://theintercept.com/2020/02/27/who-loves-dictators-bernie-or-his-rivals/
Who are the Trojan horses in this race?
Are polls credible? How does today’s Monmouth poll square with CBS’s from the night of last debate?
We all need to do our collective homework.
2
Bloomie was a nightmare for blacks like yourself who are never ready to hold anyone in the black community responsible for their actions. It's always somehow else's fault. I lived in Southside Jamaica (Arlington Terrace) during the Stop and Frisk heyday and I had no problems with it. Yes, I was stopped and searched at least two or 3 times a month and sometimes got roughed up for no reason. But I also felt a bit safer knowing that some of my very own friends or people I know were no longer carrying guns or had been were locked up because of of Stop and Frisk.
52
I was pretty excited when Bloomberg got into the race. I thought he had the horsepower to beat Trump. But after two horrible debate performances, he has revealed himself to be a totally out of touch, typical Wall Street type. He's one of the masters of the universe, as we often call them. He knows what's best by virtue of his wealth.
I'm sure he has done many good things during his tenure as mayor, which greater New York benefitted from. His platform about the environment and taxation is spot on. But politics is about politics and that means getting the most votes from the biggest pie of votes. He doesn't have the human touch required to cut out a big slice of that pie.
His excuse for stop and frisk was that he didn't understand how much pain it was causing black people. That right there is what I mean by being out of touch. How could he not understand?
Bloomberg would do best as a policy wonk and project manager. A successful president must connect with people. Trump connects with his people, but in the wrong way, white privilege.
Bloomberg is taking support away from Biden which opens the door for Bernie which gives us four more years of Trump. For that reason alone, he should drop out after super Tuesday and use his money to get the Senate flipped blue and Biden elected. That is a realistic pathway. Bernie may make your heart soar, but Trump will eat him alive when the GOP attack dogs are through with him. That's politics.
78
@Bruce Rozenblit
I am with you right up to the end where you seem to think that Biden will fare better against Trump than Sanders. Won't happen. Biden is fine as Uncle Joe but that is as hot as his appeal gets. His support is all in people his own age. There aren't enough of them.
41
@Bruce Rozenblit
I'd happily vote for Joe over Bloomberg; all day long. Just for the sake of our Republic.
But we'd be kidding ourselves to think Joe is all there.
EVERYONE knows, Biden is sundowning.
Compare video VP Biden 8yrs ago, to 4yrs, to now...the man isn't "sharp"; to put it politely.
Biden would be another stand in puppet to the powers behind the Resolute Desk. Those 1% that Biden begged for support and promised them "nothing will change!".
Biden is worlds better than selling out to Bloomberg. But in reality that would be elder abuse.
You may not like Sanders, but he's the true elder statesman running; with the most trust and favorability's. Plus...we all know he won't sell out our Republic.
15
@Bruce Rozenblit almost completely agree except for Sanders. Why, despite his rally numbers, primary votes and head to head leads in polls are we repeating this talking point? He is a United States Senator not some stranger who walked in. I have my own preference but, are we a democracy in the Democratic Party?
If he is what the majority wants I will roll up my sleeves and pitch in. The contrast of Sanders to Trump doesn't take a lot of grappling.
9
Bloomberg is in-artful in his responses but it seems that he's trying to say that he intervened decisively and effectively to the facts on the ground: minority NYC residents were being killed at a high rate. Nothing of value comes for free and when the unintended consequences of the otherwise effective stop-and-frisk policy became evident, he changed it. Charles, wake up to the fact that Mayor Bloomberg would be far greater for white AND black Americans than would another four years of Trump.
8
Mr. Blow, I would much prefer to read about who of the other still standing five democratic candidates you prefer and your reasons for your preference. We most definitely know who it is not, you have bludgeoned him for weeks now to the point he may actually be viewed as a victim. Please give us your rational choices that could actually beat Trump in the Electoral College vote.
.
8
I’m in favor of Bloomberg’s stances on issues like climate change, health care, gun control and education. His policies on stop-and-frisk – along with his belated apologies – are abhorrent, but we should not throw the baby out with the bathwater.
This coronavirus outbreak should teach us to demand competence in our government; Bloomberg would handle this crisis competently. Our current president and his administration will not.
Perhaps we are having trouble seeing the forest for the trees?
November really boils down to how much American voters care about our democracy. And make no mistake about it: American democracy is fundamentally on the line.
I’ll vote for Bloomberg if he is the nominee.
We need sanity and stability back in our government.
In fact, we just need our government back.
Then we’ll have to take it from there.
357
@Blue Moon I agree we need to protect Democracy. Which is why I'm against the one trying to buy an election.
20
@Blue Moon
Bloomberg is using his money to flood the Internet with lies and misrepresentations. Read today's Guardian for the low down. He only differs from Trump in his support for climate change science and that can continue from outside the WH.
16
@Andre Dev
Buying advertising isn't exactly the same as buying votes. When you really look at it, Sanders' and Warren's offer to provide free college and trade schools for everyone, regardless of income and ability, plus total loan forgiveness, which they must know will not pass muster anytime soon, is really a disingenuous act of influencing voters.
60
We need to be pragmatic. The only question to ask regarding race is whether Bloomberg is less damaging than Trump. If he is, stop tearing him down column after column. Winning in politics is a game of pragmatism, not purity.
At this point it's apparent that republicans have lost their way. Let's make sure they don't find it back to the winner's circle, again. I would like to see democrats win. You're not helping, Mr. Blow.
370
@Rich
Your argument could be used in support of Sanders as well who is honest and absolutely understands the needs of average Americans. Bloomberg disdains them.
23
@Rich Bloomberg isn't a Democrat, and given his history of racism it is the responsibility of every Democrat to attack him and destroy his campaign. We cannot let someone so weak and vulnerable lose this election for us.
30
@Rich So the only way to win is by accepting the Republicans' game plan of the ends justifying the means? If so, then we have indeed become just as bad as they are. If the contest is between these two white New York sexist bigots, I'm sitting this one out. Surely we can and must do better!
20
To everyone pointing out that Bloomberg was only following the data, and that the data also shows a sharp decline in violent crime during those years, please look at the data that shows violent crime also sharply declined during the same period in virtually all American major cities (indeed throughout most of the world) without extreme stop and frisk methods.
2
Bloomberg's rationale for getting in the race was the need to stop Bernie Sanders. Yet he is doing just the opposite. He is spending a fortune on very good commercials, but he is only helping divide the moderate votes. The same is true for Tom Steyer in South Carolina. If they really want to stop Bernie, they should bow out and throw their support to Biden. Right now, Steyer is polling at 15% in South Carolina after pouring millions into the state, diluting the moderate vote. Pete Buttigieg is only polling at 6% there and Amy Klobuchar is at 4%. If they do that badly, they should consider bowing out, too.
Unfortunately, Bernie's followers have made clear that if Bernie doesn't get the nomination if he gets a plurality of delegates, they will claim he was cheated again. So a moderate candidate needs to go to the convention with a plurality of the delegates. Bernie's bros may still claim Bernie was cheated even if he doesn't get a plurality, but they would look hypocritical doing it. I don't think Steyer or Bloomberg can buy enough delegates to gain a plurality, and Buttigieg and Klobuchar don't seem to have the support in states that have large minority populations. If Biden wins South Carolina by a significant margin, I hope the other moderate candidates consider bowing out to consolidate the moderate vote. I don't think there is a chance that Bernie can beat Trump. Democrats took over the House in 2018 by electing moderates, not by electing Bernie followers.
2
@jas2200 Democrats also lost the 2016 Presidential election by nominating a moderate so why is that going to work this time? People used the same argument to nominate Hillary and SHE LOST.
1
@ALBANYGuy: Bernie and his bros divided the party, saying he was cheated in 2016. Bernie argued then that if Hillary had a plurality of delegates but not quite a majority, it should go to an open convention vote. More than 3 million Democrats voted for Hillary, and she had more than a majority of delegates not counting any super-delegates. Bernie and the bros still claimed he was cheated. Bernie now thinks he will have a plurality of delegates for 2020, so he has changed his tune and he and the bros are saying a plurality should get the nomination. They claim he would be cheated if he doesn't get it, although the rules are clear. Of course Bernie and the bros would change their tune again if Biden or one of the other moderates has a plurality. They will whine about being cheated if Bernie doesn't get the nomination no matter what. We can't let him divide the party again. Hillary lost because the Democrats were divided, the Russians interfered, and Comey tried to kiss up to other Republicans. Bernie is being helped now by the Republican/Russian propaganda machine because he is the weakest candidate. There are many more Democrats who want a moderate candidate than a Democratic Socialist. The problem is there are too many moderates splitting the vote. The ones with no chance of winning should drop out, or we may end up with Bernie.
2
Charles,
You're not wrong about Bloomberg, but writing about him probably only helps give him exposure. Some people actually support these sorts of policies because they think the same way. If you don't want Bloomberg to win, I suggest that you just let him destroy his own campaign with his horrible demeanor and fade away quietly.
Along with Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez' recent statement that "Bloomberg would be a worse president than Trump," I am treating Mr. Blow's new criticisms of Bloomberg as substantial reasons to endorse him.
Go Bloomberg, 2020!
19
I truly don't get this. Every fact check site agrees that Bloomberg cut the murder rate in half, saving hundreds of lives. Is the value of those lives -- presumably black and Latino lives -- wholly outweighed by the damage done by stop and frisk? Were the lives of those young men not worth it?
Enough of not even mentioning the value of savings the lives of people of color.
127
@M. Casey I could stop a lot of crime, murders and rapes and child abuse, by putting cameras in every home, including yours. Do you support that?
You're right, you don't get it, because you aren't subjected to the treatment.
"Bloomberg’s campaign cited data showing there were 649 murders in 2001, the year before Bloomberg took office, and 335 in 2013, his final year in office. That’s a reduction of roughly half.
But murders started declining a decade before Bloomberg took office and continued downward after he left.
Murders dropped "precipitously" during the 1990s — from roughly 2,200 at the start of the decade, noted Ames Grawert of the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law."
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/dec/02/michael-bloomberg/new-york-crime-did-drop-when-2020-hopeful-michael-/
1
Let's get real:
He, Mayor Pete and Steyer are the only candidates who were CEOs of anything [companies and cities]. They all have faults.
Bloomberg made a mistake. A lot of the data at the time [and most other cities] supported the mistake. So did the renowned Police Commissioner at the time.
Perhaps this will make him even more sensitive in the future about groups that were hurt?? Has that been considered? He certainly seemed to learn from the customer when he ran Bloomberg LP and the city....
6
@David Considering for years after he was mayor, after he was made aware of the data, he continued to defend the policy, it's been considered but largely rejected.
He didn't start to change his tune until Liz Warren went up in the polls (with her wealth tax) and Bloomberg got into the race.
Bloomberg made a mistake with enormous repercussions for the people he governed. That shouldn't be swept under the rug as easily as his "jokes some women didn't like." We all make mistakes, but we don't all make mistakes like that.
1
Luckily for those of who don't want to vote for an authoritarian oligarch who stridently backed racist policies until he was forced to disavow them to run for office, Bloomberg will not be the Democratic nominee. His polls have plateaued, and are sinking in some cases, and I wager he wins zero states on Super Tuesday. What began as a vanity campaign will fizzle out as...a vanity campaign.
1
Maybe it was because by 2011 Bloomberg was feeling the heat on the proportion of minorities being arrested, and set quotas on arresting some white folks downtown.
In 2011 half a million people were stopped & frisked. 87% were minorities from uptown and Brooklyn. That means about 32,500 non-minorities were also stopped and busted for nothing. I'm one of them.
NYPD had set up a random traffic checkpoint. All drivers were stopped, questioned and asked for license and registration. They ran my drivers license and said their system had my license suspended for not paying a seat belt ticket from 2004. That I had paid. And said my license was suspended, though it wasn't.
Even so they handcuffed me, towed my car, threw me in the back of a squad car and brought me to central booking downtown. Locked up for 16 hours. In a cell with about 30 others. Our jail cell was a rainbow of the randomly unlucky that day.
No phone calls allowed. Just disappeared.
I am convinced that mayor Mike Bloomberg knew the statistics looked bad by then. And that NYPD downtown was ordered to bust non-minorities for pot, or whatever they could, to make the stats look better. It happened to me and I saw it happen to others.
My point is that Bloomberg's police state would grab anyone at any time in order to hit quotas.
Before you vote for Bloomberg realize that his cops would arrest you or anyone you love to manipulate his precious data, which he loves more than actual people.
1
Bloomberg's candidacy and the assistance he received from the Democratic Party certainly adjusts the focus and reveals with demoralizing clarity what the Dems have to offer. Both parties serve the elite but one party would prefer the elite be diverse. There is no purpose to a Left party that does not serve labor and legislation for the majority and so, it is not the Republicans in a death spiral but the poor Democratic Party convulsing on the political floor.
Historically these things track to a "rock bottom" and I can only hope that this artisan cheese, cruelly minded bigot with his patriarchal indifference is the Democratic Party's "rock bottom"? Hope springs eternal.
4
BLOOMBERG IS THE LEAST ELECTABLE DEMOCRAT
Bloomberg's record makes it absurd to think he'll turn out likely Democratic voters in the numbers we need. Don't expect women, Blacks, Latinos, young people, and Democratic working class whites to turn out for him in droves in battleground states.
Blacks and Latinos are not going to doorbell for him in Pittsubrgh or Philly. Young people in Detroit and Milwuakee aren't going to go to the polls with their friends. Women are not going to go on social media to urge others to support him. Working class whites who vote Democratic are not going to go the mat for the ex-Mayor who battled endlessly with NY's unions.
The candidate with the best chance of beating Trump is Sanders. He's a New Deal Democrat from a state with a Republican Governor. He's a longtime US Senator, and has been re-elected many times. According to Morning Consult polling, he's the most popular US Senator amongst their state's voters, in any state.
Sanders is not "extreme" by any measure. His positions on issues are widely supported.
The pundits told us Obama couldn't win. They told us
Trump was a clown--he had no chance. Hillary was a shoo-in. Most Americans want an anti-establishment candidate (like Obama was) they can trust. Sanders fits the bill. He's imperfect, as are all the candidates, but his strengths far exceed his weaknesses. Consider it.
2
I'm a moderate who is appalled at how far the goalposts have moved to the left.
The NYT enthusiastically endorsed Mr. Bloomberg for mayor in 2005 and 2009 (please see excerpts below).
What's changed? The goalposts.
NYT Editorial: "An Endorsement for Mayor."
October 23, 2005
Mr. Bloomberg....has accomplished a great deal in four years.
His greatest achievement has been to teach New Yorkers that good government is not a zero sum game; that....change can make things better for everybody.
....the administration focused on getting things done, not on getting headlines.
.....the crime rate has fallen farther...
Mr. Bloomberg has managed to achieve all this in an atmosphere of racial harmony.
He has shown that it's possible to fight crime without fighting the communities where most crime occurs.
_____________________
NYT Editorial: "For Mayor of New York City." October 23, 2009.
....Mayor Michael Bloomberg has managed to make the unpredictable city of New York work astonishingly well.
What makes the mayor stand out is not his political skill...[but instead] ...He has chosen some of the best people in the country to work for him....
Crime is down.....although there is concern again about stop-and-frisk actions, which seem to focus too heavily on Hispanics and African-Americans.
Mr. Bloomberg also has been a national leader in gun control.
58
@Freddy The goalposts have moved to the left? A man who gave $250,000 to reelect Lindsey Graham is being considered for the Democratic nomination.
A man who made millions from Wall Street and then billions selling analysis to Wall Street traders at a price no average person or small investment firm could afford, advantaging them over any worker with a small sum to invest and helping the financial sector become the overfed behemoth that it is is being considered for the leader of the party that is supposed to represent and defend the working class.
Yes, let us indeed talk about how times have changed.
2
The Times continues to hammer our candidates. Earlier today "How Bloomberg Is Trying To Win" featured a red blinking graphic similar to one used to illustrate the spread of the Coronavirus. I'm really not sure how I'll vote on Super Tuesday--I will vote--but I think I've heard and seen enough.
1
I think the Bloomberg candidacy has made me want to never support democrats again.The fact that so many supposedly democratic supporters could support him as a democrat is unacceptable. The democratic party will never succeed in any meaningful change unless it can rid itself of these Stockholm syndrome "centrist democrats".
I mean, I guess the democrats have a lot of old people who just don't have a clue, just like republicans, and so like republicans they think they should run their own old cruel racist billionaire. It is beyond belief that anyone could think that a winning strategy.
2
This is bordering on obsession. Perhaps you should write about something else for a change? It's not there aren't things to worry about besides what score to give Bloomberg on his term as mayor.
These one-dimensional pronouncements you're making are kind of ridiculous. We had 12 pretty good years in NYC, all things considered. Not to say that there weren't mistakes. But to say it was twelve years of "horror", and to imply that all black residents agree with you, is really over-the-top.
80
The anti Bloomberg people are complaining about his spending money and saying that he us "buying" the election. Lets us get real. Can you run an election without money, Mr Blow? The difference is that they, including Trump spent other people's money, while Mike is putting his own money where his mouth is. Didn't Bill 'sold' Lincoln Bedroom? Don't the fat cats get to be ambassadors in return campaign contribution? What do you the lobbyists in the swamp ( Trump was right because he is biggest whale there) , buying votes. I can see how you will love Trump in 2021, after all as he told, "what do you get to loose"?
11
@Mr C The others spent money given by people expressly for the purpose of running the campaign. They didn't steal that money from people or even get it from obligatory taxes.
On the other hand, Mike got his money, directly or indirectly, from the stock market, a place where money flows in by skimming the profit from the productivity gains of working class people. It's mike's "own" money now because he took it from those who earned it through their labor.
So who really is spending the purer money?
1
"A HORROR?"
Seriously?
A HORROR is waking up every morning and remembering that the tangerine carbuncle is president.
A HORROR is watching him dismantle everything good and useful in our government.
A HORROR is watching our Republican Senate eagerly sign off on all his crimes and lies and misdeeds.
A HORROR is watching babies dying in cages at the border. And having to face the fact that half of our population thinks all this is just peachy.
Time to knock it off Charles.
Stop and frisk was a big mistake.
45 is a "HORROR".
18
How is the ability to apply to any high school "priviliging whiteness." Quite a stretch.
11
No, Charles.
It wasn't a horror for black people.
If it were, they would not only have not kept re-electing him, as they did, but Dinkins and many other black politicians would not be backing him.
Do not assume that your opinions are fact.
They are not at all.
82
Charles Blow is basically choosing to give Trump the opportunity of beating Sanders rather than fight it out with Bloomberg. Blow also seems to not remember that Trump called for the death penalty for five innocent black youths falsely accused of raping a white women in Central Park. Bloomberg's Stop & Frisk was a terrible injustice but the man calling for the death penalty for innocent youths is sitting in the Oval Office. Also if NYC was such a nightmare why by the time Bloomberg left office in 2015 did 60 million tourists visit NYC (and they weren’t all white)? And Bloomberg's charities have helped millions of people. I want him to have a chance to give his polices on climate change and guns the opportunity to make the whole country a safer place to live. Finally, when Trump's billionaire supporters see Bloomberg as the candidate they are going to have someone who can defeat them in their effort to make America not great again but make America a fascist, racist, misogynist landscape that they own and will own for decades once they take over the Supreme Court. Mr. Blow, try looking forward with hope that Bloomberg has changed and not backwards with hate like Trump's supporters.
6
"The best case for Bloomberg is that we’ve already elected a reality TV star to the White House. We need somebody who can actually run things. We need somebody who can actually lead a government, staff an administration with talented professionals and do the mundane but essential tasks of pushing legislation and executing laws. We need somebody who will turn down the ideological temperature, so we don’t rip ourselves apart as a nation. We have enough politicians who cater to people who treat politics as the place they go to get self-indulgent moral affirmation baths. We need someone who can improve the lives of actual Americans. Bloomberg was one of the most successful mayors of this century. He was a Republican who left office with two-thirds of New Yorkers saying he made their city a better place."
- David Brooks, NYTimes, 27Feb2020
"Mike Bloomberg getting black support despite stop-and-frisk controversy"
USA Today, 16Feb2020
"I Was the Judge in the Stop-and-Frisk Case. I Don’t Think Bloomberg Is Racist"
- NYTimes, 19Feb2020
11
@Steve Kennedy
I remember when Bloomberg was the Mayor. He inherited a financial mess from Giuliani. Bloomberg had to make tough choices to balance the budget, including salary freezes and service cuts. I wasn't happy, but I realized it had to be done. Bloomberg was the Mayor when NYC had to be rebuilt after the
9-11-2001 terrorist attack.
When Bloomberg was Mayor, he raised taxes on Wall Street and the wealthy.
I felt safe when Bloomberg was in office, but not when Giuliani was in office. Why? When there were police shootings, Bloomberg went into the community to speak with local community leaders to bring down the temperature unlike his predecessor.
Is Bloomberg perfect? No, but I think he can beat Trump and unite the country. Bloomberg will have Democrats, Republicans, Independents, and others in his administration. How do I know? That was what he did when he was the Mayor.
10
OK - we get it. We really do.
5
I am not a fan of Mr. Bloomberg, but it is interesting to see an African American disparage a former NYC for bringing crime way way down.
In column after column, Mr Blow fails to mentions that most victims of crimes in NYC are people of color. Yes, Stop and Frisk was unnecessarily draconian, but it was motivated out of a concern for all citizens, not just those living in White neighborhoods. While previous (and current) mayors are only concerned with appearances, Bloomberg defended the lives and property of real new Yorkers- immigrants, and people of color, who make up the heart of the city.
Was he over-zealous? Yes. But most people of color supported his policies- even if they wished it was scaled back.
47
I lived in NY during Mike Bloomberg's
rein as Mayor and felt he did a great job improving education for kids in NYC. He helped make it more safe to walk in many areas of Manhattan whereas before it was not. I felt more safe as a single woman on subways and changing trains as at 125th street as a single woman alone at night because of Major White. I appreciated his hard work and organization in expanding the subway system. I respect all of his organizing and effectiveness after 911, including helping the economy. His attention to health for all including banning smoking in bars and even trying to curb kids drinking so much sugar
in giant size drinks was a good move and still needed today.
Bloomberg would beat Trump simply by his intelligence and the many resources he has to bring good people to his team as President.
Please give him your vote.
265
@Cecelia He has serious elect-ability issues.
He has never won an election against a serious competitor and his disapproval rating amongst liberal voters is incredibly high. His approval rating among non-educated whites in swing states is very low. His approval ratings with Latino and Black voters is also low. If he can't get the base of the democratic party to vote for him, how exactly does he win the election?
21
@Cecelia
Who is Major White?
4
@Cecelia Simply put, no.
Bloomberg is the one Dem candidate i will surely not vote for in the general.
Look at Trump and how his election confirmed every bad thing said about the GOP, that they are racist, that they make excuses for hate groups, that they have no respect for women, that they are xenophobic and rabidly Islamaphobic, that they praise wealth as a virtue even in the most unvirtuous people, and that they are frankly hostile.
I see Bloomberg as doing the same for Democrats. He would show that the party merely pays lipservice to the problems of women, exacerbates the problems of minorities, is actually in bed with the wealthy and Wall Street and has abandoned the working class, wants to be a nanny state that takes away all guns as well as your soft drinks because they know better than you, and they stand for nothing other than opposing Trump.
Trump's election has fundamentally changed the GOP; it won't go back to the party of Reagan once Trump is gone, because the voters who propelled him to victory will still be there for decades to come.
Likewise, Bloomberg's election would fundamentally alter the Democrats. We could no longer claim to be the party of the New Deal.
And there just aren't very many socially liberal but fiscally conservative voters out there, so going the Bloomberg route looks, to me, like rocketing toward what has made Democrats unpopular in my lifetime. It's a losing formula.
9
Save Bob Iger or other respected leader jumping into the race, Bloomberg is this country’s (and by extension, the World’s) best chance to unseat the incumbent.
Bloomberg has made mistakes, no doubt.
Nominating Sanders would be a greater mistake.
All that matters is defeating the incumbent.
Bloomberg, if for no other reason than he has virtually unlimited funds, has the best chance to win.
19
@Kevin Greene Hillary greatly outspent Trump in 2016. She lost.
And if the election to the highest post in the land, the most powerful seat in the world perhaps, is all about who has the most cash, we should pack it in as a country right now.
Charles is relentless in his attacks on Bloomberg. They certainly help shape the impression that Bloomberg is racist. Which I believe is wholly unwarranted if you judge Bloomberg on his whole body of work in both the public and private sectors. At the end of the day Bloomberg at his worst is better than Trump at his best.
193
@Milton Lewis Charles Blow's obsession with Bloomberg resembles Warren's. They both need to (but psychologically can't) take a broader look at the situation. It appears to me that Blow would actually rather have Trump reelected than see Bloomberg elected. I have no sympathy for Blow's anti-Bloomberg crusade.
18
I for one am happy to see this opinion piece. Though I'm sure Bloomberg thinks he can purchase the election.
1
Was it a horror for all black people and people of color? I’d like to hear from a larger sample of the people within the neighborhoods and families of those affected by gun violence. How did they feel about a proactive and aggressive system that would take illegal guns off subways and streets?
81
This is the 3rd article that Mr. Blow has written damming Mr. Bloomberg. I live in St. Louis and our Director of Public Safety is Judge Jimmy Edwards. This is the way NPR reported the remarks that Mr. Edwards made on occasion of the MLK day in 2018:
"During his address at the Martin Luther King Day event Edwards said all but one of the city’s 205 murder victims in 2017 were black and all the people caught and accused of those crimes were also black."
He was lambasted to no end never mind that Mr. Edwards is African American, never mind that he was a circuit judge for 25 years.
Mr. Blow when are we going to face up to these problems in an honest way?
206
While I usually agree with Charles Blow, I find it ridiculous that he uses Patrick Lynch to support his position. Lynch was all in behind the cops who murdered Eric Garner and regularly supports policing practices that are worse than stop and frisk. Then he whines constantly about the cops being mistreated by every politician and person who doesn't go along with his right wing agenda.
8
Did Mayor De'Blasio reversed all of the policies of Mayor Bloomberg? If it is so horrible for NYC, De'Blasio must have reversed all of Bloomberg policies?
10
Aside from Bloomberg being a racist he is also not at heart a democrat. In 2014 he contributed 250,000.00 to a super pact that backed the re-election Lindsey Graham. If Bloomberg becomes the candidate Trump will win because the progressive part of the democratic party will not vote, period.
4
He was crude and unprofessional the way he advocated for stop and frisk.His intention was not racists and his action might have saved lives especially among black teenagers.
Let it go Charles .There are real racists out there no need to invent them.
52
Yes Bloomberg's policies were wrong as they hurt the black community and he admits and offers to make things better for the better for the black community. Bloomberg has given 8 billion to progressive causes while Sanders has given zero and plans to give a new car to poor folks at his rallies by charging it to Bloomberg. It sure is easy to give away someone elses money Bloomberg is not an entertainer not amusing doesnt wear a blonde wig with clown makeup but he has a record of being a functioning mayor of NYC and that beats a carnival barker narcissist who lies constantly to the people.
50
Well Blow, if Bloomberg were to be the nominee, for whom would you cast your vote? Trump? Yeah, right.
15
The attacks on Bloomberg by the left have become pathological. I've seen more vitriol against Bloomberg than I have against Trump.
Bloomberg is undeniably a better option than Trump; if he has a chance to win, then we take it. End of story.
261
@Matthew
Democrats like to eat their own especially the Elite Democrats who have the luxury of good jobs, good safe homes, the best of education for their kids and gold plated health care. For the rest of us life is a scramble.
4
@Matthew
Last time I checked Trump wasn't running in the Democratic Primary.
That's what Primaries do, they do a public vetting of candidate and it's Mike's turn under the lights and what the voter sees is not pretty. The Republicans didn't take out their worst and we must do a better job if we are going to save this country in November. We have better choices and some of us aren't for sale.
As for many of these comments, look what Bloomberg can buy for $2500 a month. Some of these are Salaried Comments folks, do you not read this paper?
1
@Matthew Warren has my vote.
He's trying his best to make us believe he's not who he really is. Money can't change my mind.
6
I agree that we need to replace trump but Charles is correct to state that super Tuesday allows the voting public to hold candidates accountable for their past policies. Not like we do not have many qualified candidates to choose from. Let's hand the billionaires an exit this super Tuesday.
11
Agree. Bloomberg is not the answer.
7
"...As the Drug Policy Alliance pointed out in 2012: “In the last decade since Michael Bloomberg became mayor, the NYPD has made 400,038 lowest level marijuana possession arrests at a cost of $600 million. Nearly 350,000 of the marijuana possession arrests made under Bloomberg are of overwhelmingly young Black and Latino men, despite the fact that young whites use marijuana at higher rates than young Blacks and Latinos.”..."
Unstated assumption here is that police have discretion to decide whether to enforce laws or to not do so. Thus, the arrests were the result of a formal policy to target Black and Latino men while not arresting white men.
Ignored fact, police have no such discretion unless the courts or the laws explicitly give them that discretion.
Consequence, if police are drawn into high crime areas, they will see minor as well as major violations of the law. If they are not ordered to not enforce the minor offenses, they will enforce them.
The high number of arrests for possession of marijuana was the consequence of trying to reduce shooting and street violence and a lack of willingness to decriminalize the possession of marijuana.
10
Please save the semantics for 2024, okay Mr. Blow? We have an emergency on our hands.
We get that Bloomberg is a white sexist racist jerk. But at this point we don't get to pick and choose which candidate is the purest or least racist.
We MUST vote based on one issue and one issue only: GET TRUMP OUT.
81
@Ninedogsten You do understand that that was the rationale of a lot of Republicans who disliked by voted for Trump, right? That they just had to stop that crook Hillary from becoming president.
Is that what you want to mirror?
1
When I started to read this column I thought I might make a defense of Bloomberg because I believed his greatest assault on people of color was the stop and frisk, which at least had the rationalization of being an attempt to reduce gun violence in minority neighborhoods, to the ultimate benefit of most residents there.
I believe Bloomberg to be essentially a decent guy.
Blow's comments about the long term affects on minorities, who presumably were often discovered in possession of small quantities of pot while being frisked, sheds a different light on the ruinous nature of Bloomberg's policy.
It was more than just humiliating and demoralizing for many of those young men, if Blow's analysis is correct, and many convictions went on the records of these men so disproportionately searched and less be able to afford lawyer fees.
I wonder if Bloomberg has ever been stopped and frisked during his entire life. Bloomberg's life experiences may render him blind to the issues facing black and brown Americans and forfeit any legitimacy of him as a Democrat presidential candidate. Democrats have to be a voice for minorities in this country or they will not have one.
Maybe he should have run as a Republican.
25
@alan haigh
It is ridiculous to suggest Bloomberg should run as a Republican. Think! On all the important issues -- a woman's right to choose, climate change, gun safety, taxes, wealth inequality, endorsement of science and evidence based decision making, etc. etc. etc -- Mike Bloomberg holds Democratic positions. And he would appoint reasonable, moderate judges instead of the right wing extremists that Trump chooses.
The Republicans disagree with him on all the key issues and never would consider nominating him,.
2
what would you have done if you were mayor and their were 650 murders in the city? it's fine and dandy to criticize but what were your solutions? being mayor is a tough job and sometimes all the options suck in one way or another. Mike Bloomberg didn't create the problem. he voluntarily took on the responsibility for trying to fix it. it didn't do it from the ivory towers of journalism.
3
Mike Bloomberg is an elitist, a racist, and a sexist. He's also a liar. His entire campaign and message is built on lies. He lied when he said he released his tax returns as NYC mayor and he's probably lying when he says he's going to release them now. He lied that he had a change of heart about stop and frisk, when in reality a judge ordered him to end it. He is trying to drown what's left of our democracy in a tide of dirty money, and if he gets his way we will never have another president who is not a billionaire.
77
@Lb "dirty money"? What I would like to see is a Blue Wave that puts Democrats in a position to pass needed legislation. Number One, removing barriers to free and fair elections imposed by Republicans. Perhaps millions who haven't voted in the past will decide to do so in the future. Legislation to dismantle the Electoral College and to take dark money out of campaign financing (end Citizens United). I happy that Bloomberg is pumping so much of his own money into the 2018 and 2019 cycles, in the service of electing Democrats. I think it serves the interest of removing Trump and getting our elections back. I think his actions prove a civic mindedness, that is for the people, in common with the other very rich who have held the office, Washington, Jefferson, Roosevelts, Madison, Johnson, etc.
11
@Lb His money is the cleanest there is - money he earned - and he is beholden to no one
As to his campaign being built on lies - it is quite the opposite, and data in terms of crime rates (saving many thousands of minority person's lives), health coverage, fiscal health of the city etc proves it. He left the city better than when he started and was pretty much scandal free.
18
@John Parrish And the fact that he donated $250,000 to reelect Lindsey Graham doesn't bother you?
Bloomberg doesn't use his money to support Democrats. He uses it to promote his own interests. Period.
2
Thank you, Charles. I agree 100 percent with your article.
And here are some other boneheaded ideas that Mayor Bloomberg imposed or tried to impose on our beloved city:
1. Expansion of charter schools by taking space away from schools already in their buildings -- there were stories of children being told they couldn't use the bathroom in a charter school who then soiled themselves. Or of one school having gym in a basement while a charter school in the same building had a dance studio. They didn't take at-risk kids, either -- which led to better overall grades, of course.
2. Trying to do away with large sodas. Say what?
3. Totally messing up the school system with "benign neglect." In other words, he would say "there are plenty of seats available in schools all over the city," never mentioning that some of these schools were dangerous. He was hoping that by overcrowding some schools, the overflow parents and children would move to the more dangerous schools, making it safer. Someone in the DOE told me that he sees kids as "numbers on a chart."
4. Trying to enforce a rule that required women only serve breast milk after giving birth in the hospital. Formula was to be stored in a closet.
5. Saying the city "needed more billionaires."
6. Basically forcing through a third term by appointing his cronies to the City Council.
10
"For black people in particular, Bloomberg’s mayoralty was more thorns than roses"
Really? Mayor Mike followed the data and it lead his efforts to minority neighborhoods. Ask the good, hard working, rent paying residents of those neighborhoods and I suspect you will hear a different story that would go something like this - Prior Mayors ignored the fact that our streets were dangerous in favor of wealthier areas - Mayor Mike made OUR streets safer.
That said, in hindsight the policy may have adversely effected minority youth and there may be better methods - and of course no one should have a record for carrying a joint or 2 - but it is disingenuous to suggest that Mr Bloomberg was somehow racist in his actions. His intent was clear - to make all New Yorkers safe - not just in the well-to-do neighborhoods
238
@Mark Mark Yes, that's exactly what Charles Blow is saying. It's easy as a white American to overlook or look past what Bloomberg did as mayor, but it's entirely something else for you to expect black and brown folks to do the same, as they were the victims of Bloomberg's racist policies. And if you haven't noticed black and brown voters make up a significant voting percentage for the democrats. So I suggest you really think about what you're asking them to do. There are better options than Bloomberg. Heck, he's not even a Democrat!!!
4
@Mark Mark He wasn't racist, he just didn't care about the black and brown youth he was hurting? Is that your argument?
Burning a cross in someone's front yard isn't the only form of racism.
3
We live in two worlds in this country. One celebrates men like Bloomberg (see David Brooks's praise today for Bloomberg as someone who gets things done) and Trump (see @ Donna Chang below). The other, including writers such as Charles Blow, steps back, broadens the lens, and lets us see the rest of the story.
Reading Brooks and Blow side by side today, my advice is for Brooks to step down off his mountain for a minute, and see the world the way others see and experience it. He might become even more enlightened than he clearly thinks he already is.
15
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
I don't see anything in the Pre-Amble that gives
teenagers the right to terrorize their neighborhoods.
If a certain demographic causes most of the crime then why
not Stop and Frisk them ?
I wish we had Stop and Frisk for the Wall Street Bandits
who steal all of our savings.
50
@John Brown Can you explain, precisely, how it is that "Wall Street Bandits...steal all of our savings?"
1
@John Brown
if a small percentage of a certain demographic - in this case young black and latino males engages in crime do you stop EVERYONE who fits that demographic and frisk them, thoguh 90% or more of them may have never engaged in crime??
does the bill of rights not provide protection against illegal search and seizure??
2
@Peter
Go back to 2007 and the Derivatives based Housing Meltdown.
The Federal Government "loaned" Wall Street and the Banks who made the crisis possible and who profited off of it until it collapsed, dollars, while taking great care not to loan any of the Hundred of Billions of dollars to those facing foreclosure.
Wall Street and the Banks made off with the
Taxpayers money, did not show any mercy to those
facing foreclosure and they lost our savings -
they would dutifully care for and - then had the
audacity to blackmail the tax payers with the threat of the greatest Depression - Ever !
After it was all over, those who lost their house in foreclosures never saw a penny and those who savings were lost were never reimbursed...
Mr. Blow, I fully understand why Michael Bloomberg has deservedly earned your antipathy. Bloomberg, though, is now in the rear-view mirror after his disastrous performance at the first debate and his underwhelming performance at the second one. Perhaps now, instead of flooding the airwaves with his election ads, he will remove himself from the race and focus more on flooding the airwaves exposing Trump's abysmal record in office and how his words and actions have brought such harm to our once great nation.
4
Bloomberg was outstanding during last night’s CNN Town Hall. With his experience as a successful manager & solving many problems through his foundation, he is the most qualified person to beat Trump. Our country would benefit immensely if he were our president.
BLOOMBERG 2020
2
"I have over 100 black elected officials that have endorsed me."
When I heard that I wondered how much he contributed to their political campaigns to get their support.
Bloomberg, winning the election the old-fashioned way, buying it.
I have said all along that I will vote blue no matter who, but Bloomberg is where I draw the line. Exchanging one entitled, racist, sexist billionaire for another it not a move forward. It could be worse because Bloomberg is more focused and competent. I do NOT trust him.
4
@nora m
You are not alone.
1
How about some context, Charles?
Trump called for the death penalty for the Central Park Five and continued to bash them after they were exonerated.
I guess you prefer a probably unelectable ideologue to an admittedly imperfect progressive because of a bad policy decision. That's rather short sighted in my view.
99
@Harold
Mayor Bloomberg kept 5 innocent youths behind bars for over 7yrs. and then fought them for restitution. When the courts ordered NY City to pay, Bloomberg refused to apologize, much less pay....until 2020 when he's suddenly had a coming to god moment on ALL the wrongs he's committed in his petty life.
11
@Dobbys sock
Your comment is devoid of facts. The rape in Central Park occurred in April 1989 when Ed Koch was the Mayor of NYC. The Central Park 5 were convicted in 1990. Bloomberg did not become Mayor of NYC until January 2002. He served 3 terms and left office in December 2013.
No Mayor of NYC has the ability to release someone who was convicted by the State of New York.
13
Thank you Mr. Blow for keeping up this fight. Bloomberg devastated New York City for all except commuters and the wealthy, overseeing unchecked gentrification and what amounted to a terror campaign on its people of color and its Muslim population. This alone should be disqualifying.
7
he will not get my vote !
Thank you Mr. Blow for not allowing Bloomberg off the hook with his "apology" just in time for the election. My son while a student at NYU got a ticket for $350 for dismounting his bike on the sidewalk. A year later, he was stop again this time on his way to class at Cooper Union. He informed the police officer, he was on his to class. His crime this time was riding his bike on the sidewalk for a several streets. With that $350 ticket still unpaid, he was arrested that day spent the night in jail. I've never once not voted in my local elections as well as the national elections. Should Bloomberg become our "Democratic" nominee, I will #NeverVoteBloomberg. He destroy millions of lives. He's the same racist today that he was as Mayor. If you're not white, Bloomberg is the polite, cultured, philanthropic version of Trump.
6
@cinnamon roots
Thank you for this. Every Bloomberg apologist should take this post to heart to understand how stop-and-frisk actually played out in the lives of young men of color in NYC.
There's not an American boy anywhere who hasn't biked on the sidewalk. I did, and I'm sure you readers did as well. The difference is if that young man is black or Latin, he is treated not as an American boy, but rather as an identifiable danger simply because of the color of his skin. He pays for a minor infraction with a confrontation with the police (very scary for a young person), a ticket ($350 is really expensive for a teenager), arrest, and a mark against his future that can jeopardize his schooling, employment, and credit.
In my years on West 24th Street, I was hit several times by a delivery bike tearing down the sidewalk, but I've never seen the NYPD show the slightest concern for that.
The point is that Bloomberg's policy was a terror for young men of color that lasted TWELVE years. It was no temporary effort to "clean up the streets". It was a long-term, organized campaign between City Hall and the NYPD to put black and Latin New Yorkers in their place. Add to that a city that is now accessible only to the wealthy, and you get a clear picture of who was wanted in Bloomberg’s New York, and who was NOT.
If you cannot see it as that, then you are not being honest. In other words, try riding your bike in a young black or Latin person's shoes, and see what happens.
1
Thank you again for your continuing eloquence.
One thing you should mention is that Bloomberg had the support of the vast numbers of non-black New Yorkers who were terrified of violent young black men. They supported the stop and frisk policies, as well as tougher incarcerations, longer prison sentences, and the crackdown on anyone who looked suspicious. Without non-black support for the harassment of black youth, Mr. Bloomberg's tenure would have ended quickly.
Today one can travel anywhere in NYC and find safe neighborhoods because the black population has been emptied out of the city from Harlem to Brooklyn. Much of Queens is now Asian or Hispanic. This happened under Mayor Bloomberg.
3
from David Brooks' column this morning:
"during his tenure homicide rates dropped by 65 percent and shootings dropped by 55 percent."
Did stop and frisk actually keep some black Americans alive?
That is undoubtedly true.
208
@Travelers
Seeing as most/all mass shooters are White Males, we should begin throwing all our young men on the ground and pull them over repeatedly because some are bad.
YOU and everyone else knows this would and will NEVER happen.
13
@Travelers "Did stop and frisk actually keep some black Americans alive?"
This is not in question. It undoubtedly did - as it was intended. Mayor Mike was not just taking care of the more expensive neighborhoods to his credit.
6
@Dobbys sock
Stop and frisk me whenever you want.
According to the CDC, homicide is the #1 cause of death for African-Americans in all age groups from 15 to 34 (i.e., 15 to 19, 20 to 24, and 25 to 34.
The biggest risk for death for young black Americans is other black Americans with guns. There was a correlation between stop and frisk and black Americans NOT getting killed.
Call me as racist as you would like. But in my mind allowing innocent black Americans to die just so we don't have to look too closely at the data about who is killing them is racist, and totally unacceptable to me.
6
Bloomberg was nycity's worst mayor in my memory - & I remember Laguardia. But my memory of why Bloomberg won that first election differs from yours. Weirdly, it was because Ferrer & Green, his 2 opponents played the race card against each other. That left Bloomberg as Mr. inclusive. I really don't understand how he won the 2nd & 3rd times. I did vote for him the first time for the reason given & came to feel that he had taken our City away from us & made it a playground for the super rich & that he was infinitely more racist than either of his opponents.
4
Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk policy saved hundreds of African-American lives, and deterred tens of thousands of crimes. The city got safer and more prosperous under his mayoralty. When African-American male age 18-35 crime rates drop to the level of Asian-Americans and white Americans, there will be no need to focus police attention on that community. It's bad for law-abiding blacks in poorer neighborhoods, but it also keeps them safer until those crime rates drop.
128
@Snowball
"Bloomberg's stop-and-frisk policy saved hundreds of African-American lives, and deterred tens of thousands of crimes."
Advance thanks for supporting those numbers?
You do know crime was dropping nationally when B. was in office, and that stop and frisk rarely turned up guns - vs. the many people of color fined/jailed/with records due to marijuana.
3
He's literally attempting to buy the Democratic nomination. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the pro-Bloomberg messages on this board were posted by people being paid by his campaign. How much does he pay for you to click "Recommend" on a pro-Bloomberg message?
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So if Bloomberg were to be the nominee, who would you vote for?
My thoughts exactly.
7
Charles, you say "I have called what Bloomberg did a public policy form of ethnic cleansing of New York, and I stand by that characterization." And I do not entirely disagree with you. I lived in NYC from 1984 to 1990 and from 1998 to 2004, so I know the city well.
However, I believe you have narrowed the situation. What Bloomberg did is not a form of "ethnic" cleansing but rather of "class (as in money)" cleansing--and he most certainly accomplished it, and he most certainly carried the torch from Guiliani. Slowly but surely, NYC became, and today is, a city not for families, not for the middle-class, not for everyday people but for big money and big power--regardless of race or of nationality.
This is why so many blacks in power did and do support him; because, mentioning James Baldwin as you did, it is less about race and more about money and power, which these establishment blacks (and Latinos) want as much as the next guy. And you could say the same thing for women. You could say the same thing for any minority representation: rather than represent their minority, they represent money and power.
Today, when I visit NYC--especially but not only Manhattan--I am horrified and saddened by what I see: Duane Reed after Walgreens after The Gap after Chase Manhattan ... The whole city its like the department of a corporation,
Bloomberg is NOT a Democrat and he is an especially disastrous choice right now that average Americans are starting to realize they have been conned.
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Matt Taibbi revealed a good deal of naïveté in his fine documentary "Divide". Clearly he was shocked at what he discovered of policing practices in NYC.
It is as much an indictment of Bloomberg policies as what Mr. Blow provides us now.
What is most important of the judgements to make about a potential Bloomberg Presidency is that Bloomberg's way of thinking and implementing policies against young Black men and women did very serious damage. Not just some small passing incidents but overall major hurts and terrors.
Oh yes we are to forgive, but really we are not wise to just forget.
4
If Bloomberg is nominated for president, mayors and governors all over the country will take note that stop and frisk didn't hurt his future election chances. It’s the message that matters. We could see a lot more stop and frisk policies in other places around America. Also, if he’s elected president, I can see him using executive authority to restrict the freedoms of Americans like no president has ever done before. In my view, he’s the scariest candidate for president. I'll never vote for him.
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@Mark
Might even reduce the murder rate, which is rebounding in some cities.
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@Mark
As Mike pointed out in the CNN town hall yesterday, the stop and frisk policy that was in NYC before he came to office, is now standard policy throughout the USA.
It has saved millions of black, white lives.
Blow refrains from speaking the truth when it doesn't support his anti-Mike biases.
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Charles - Bloomberg inherited a dysfunctional city and make it functional again, no matter what you say. And as for the "obscene" amount of money he is spending: all the other candidates would spend all the money they could possibly raise. Obama spent how much? Hilary spend how much? Money buys exposure ... not votes. Step away from the firing squad.
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@WZ All the others are hypocrites as their super pacs are funding them more and more after each debate.
Bloomberg's ads are hitting the issues I care about and are every bit if not more effective than spoken word and no one else is paying for them other than the candidate.
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@Cecelia
Do yourself a favor. Read about Bloomberg's use of the Internet in today's Guardian. You may see things a bit differently. He is lying.
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@WZ
Charles Blow needs to talk to all the black political figures like Dinkins who support Mike for president.
He has more black support than anyone except Biden.
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Bloomberg is a vicious plutocrat who has sacrificed decency and morality for power and money. His attitude towards minority is only the consequence of a fundamentally flawed mindset, which leads him to believe bombarding the electorate with advertising will get him the nomination. All being said, he can still win against Trump and would be a powerhouse on a Bernie-Bloomberg ticket.
4
A well deserved takedown. I haven't seen Bloomberg do anything of substance to show he's actually sincere in his apology (other than giving a statement after vigorously defending it for years) to the young minorities he terrorized for years in NYC.
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@Andrew
His "apology" was nearly more objectionable than saying nothing. He wanted to know how he could "better position myself" with African Americans. That's not a recognition of anything other than stop and frisk has become a liability for him.
Besides, we already have one billionaire who sees everything in terms of a transaction. Do we really want another one?
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@nora m
To your last question, yes, for sure!
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@Andrew
He has nothing to apologize for.
1
One question for Mr. Blow: You walk into the voting booth in November and the choice is Trump and Bloomberg, Who gets your vote?
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@Howard Tish -- I think the point Mr. Blow made is that we shouldn't let it come down to that choice. And indeed, I don't think it will.
In addition to his racist policies, Bloomberg has plenty of other traits that make him an unappealing candidate. He has zero charm and zero charisma. He's essentially a Republican. He endorsed Bush in 2004 after the calamitous Iraq war was well underway. He refused to endorse Obama in 2008, and is now bragging that his 2012 endorsement was so lukewarm. He got caught on tape saying he's on the side of the banks....
I could go on, but I don't think I should need to. Bloomberg has a couple of strong points, for sure. He's good on climate and guns, but there are other candidates who are good on these issues, too. And those other candidates are don't have a history of implementing and then bragging about these types of racist policies that have hurt so many.
110
@Howard Tish Bloomberg or Trump. I will go with Trump as a registered Democrat. Thank you,
8
@Howard Tish I'm not Mr. Blow, but neither Trump nor Bloomberg will get my vote.
32
Every Charles Blow column is now the same--why he hates Mike Bloomberg and how Bloomberg's record should disqualify him for the presidency. But millions of us are looking for a candidate who can attract the votes of moderate Republicans and independents, and Bloomberg certainly fits the bill. If Mr. Blow can offer a better alternative, it's time for him to do it.
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@JMD
He ran out of ways to write the "I hate Trump" column so found a new target.
56
@JMD How about the democratic party focus on getting democratic votes first? If I recall this is the Democratic primary, not the general election. Trying to get independents is why democrats lost the swing states and lost the 2016 election, because they also lost the base.
13
@JMD
Bloomberg should have run as the Republican he is and was. If he thinks/thought he could beat Trump, he should of primaried Trump directly. Especially if all he's trying to reach is Republicans and Independents. Because the Left and it's POC brethren are not voting for a billionaire racist on an apology tour. One paying any price for false likes and applause in a mad power-hungry display of how craven many DINO's are.
22
You are correct. We should not infringe in the civil rights of anyone, particularly minorities. Especially some fun loving kids going for a walk in Morningside Park, looking for some spare change, and running into Tessa Majors. What is really important is to protect the civil rights of those 13 and 14 year olds. This is why this life long liberal will voter Trump in Nov.
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@Donna Chang
Yes, it is in fact important to protect the civil rights of everyone, including people alleged to have committed crimes. It is one of the key things the founding fathers established to make the US "a nation of laws, not of men."
Are you really saying that because due process is being followed for the young black men accused in this case, you will abandon your principles to vote for Trump? That makes absolutely no sense.
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@April Hmmm. Trump voter is accused of making no sense. Shocking! Like Trump, many of his supporters seem to have forgotten (or never known) what the Constitution was designed to do and specifically what purposes the 4th and 5th amendments (and the entire Bill of Rights) serves. Many Trump supporters are happy to ignore the Constitution when it might benefit a disfavored or minority group, but run for its comforting shelter when anyone mentions gun control or immigration. That said, Donna Chang's position is consistent with that of most Trump supporters (and Trump himself) which is that we should not protect the civil rights of minorities. Just like their ilk in other countries and at other times, they will find themselves on the wrong side of history. When America become a majority minority country (and it will), I hope the minorities and their allies are willing to look beyond the past 500 years of concerted efforts to disadvantage them.
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@Donna Chang Please don't make the grave error of allowing Charles Blow to make you run into the arms of Donald Trump. Consider letting Bloomberg earn your vote. His policy failings on minority issues are out there for all to see, and he has owned them. What Mr. Blow would never admit is that Bloomberg made New York City run well for twelve years like no one else in recent memory. That gives him the cred to lead the country out of the Trump tsunami.
14