Archive for November 5th, 2013
olden king
The end of an era happens today.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There is a generation out there- and whether they be youngsters, immigrants, or migrants from other States or Cities- the only Mayor of New York City they’ve ever known is Michael Bloomberg. Like him or hate him, he’s been nothing other than a fact for the last eleven and a half years. Luckily, the likely and chosen successor has not made it through the electoral process to today’s plebiscite, and its time to figure out what we should do next. This is no partisan political post, btw, as I view the political class as little more than employees- which ever side of an imaginary ideological line they happen to stand on.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Arrogant, unapproachable, stubborn, inflexible- all of these are words I’ve heard others use to describe him. Often, municipal employees will go pale and say “This is coming straight out of City Hall” when telling a community group that something they wanted is denied. All in all, it could have been worse. Say the words “Mayor Mark Green” and your blood will turn to ice. The little big man will likely be remembered fondly down the road, as his administration has more profoundly altered the municipal landscape than any Mayor since Lindsay or LaGuardia, and we will be reaping the rewards of the vast infrastructure investments made in the last 11 years for decades.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The likely next Mayor is comically tall, could probably palm a dinner plate, and inherits a raft of issues which even three terms could not solve for the current guy. I like the idea of fresh air blowing through the halls of power, but worry that Park Slope will be coming to City Hall with him. There are mid level officials in power there today who were hired during Giuliani’s first term, and its time for a change in management. Not because they’ve done a bad job- they haven’t- but because de facto corruption festers in long municipal tenancy.
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