Displaying the fascination that the press holds for our city’s larger than life mayor, the NY Times published a story specifically about what Bloomberg is NOT doing about the transit current crisis:
Mr. Bloomberg has played a low-key role in trying to marshal Republican support for the plan. “Very minimal,” John McArdle, a top aide to Senator Dean G. Skelos, the minority leader and a Long Island Republican, said of the mayor’s efforts in reaching out to Republicans on the issue.
The article makes clear that Bloomberg’s lack of initiative is NOT because he doesn’t have the clout:
Mr. Bloomberg is in a unique position to exert influence among Republicans, considering that he has given more than $1 million to Republican state campaign funds in recent years, much of it for Senate races.
At a moment when subway and bus riders are furious about the impending fare rises and service cuts, Bloomberg should take some leadership–instead of taking a backseat in light of his upcoming election. Bloomie’s lack of leadership on a key issue facing New York disturbingly suggests that he is more interested in making backroom deals with convenient political allies than actually helping citizens. While he has garnered a great deal of accomplishments during his administration, Bloomberg better not think that he can just run the city on autopilot for a third term while he shmoozes with Republican bigwigs.
