New Yorkers are always a hard bunch to please, but after this week’s freak blizzard (can we stop calling them freak blizzards now that they happen on the regular?) has landed New York City (and 2012 flirt) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (D/R/Ind/2012) in hot water. Almost a week after the storm, many New York City streets remain unplowed, snow clearing crews are sparse, and entire neighborhoods are still snowed-in. Bloomberg is under fire from all sides for the slushy cleanup.
Jump the Hudson River for an entirely separate story: Cory Booker (D) Mayor of Newark, and likely 2013 candidate for Governor has been personally clearing his own resident’s driveways, streets and sidewalks while coordinating emergency care all from his cell phone via Twitter. He’s been all over the press for his literally up-to-the-minute responses to stranded residents, and become a national Twitter sensation among social media addicts. Shovel in hand, Booker is making Bloomberg’s modest cleanup look like an unorganized mess.
Whether it’s 2012 for Mayor Bloomberg or 2013 in New Jersey for Mayor Booker, we’ll be hearing about this snowstorm long after it melts away.
PS: Wondering just how bad a snow cleanup can get? Take a look at New York’s wonderful snow-clearing property-destroying abilities:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEdZA7u545Q?fs=1]
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Comments
Two things I can tell you as a former Newark resident (still local, only moved across the Passaic to Kearny):
1) Booker isn't going for the gov's seat anytime soon. If anything, I'd say you're looking at 2017, not 2013. He's been emphatic about that when asked – he wants to focus on Newark right now, or at least that's what I've picked up from recent statements from the guy. He never really backed Corzine all that strongly, but he definitely turned down the swarm of NJ Dems who stormed his door begging him to force a primary challenge against Corzine.
2) My uncle seems to have started this latest "Booker-fest" with his tweet to the Mayor asking his help in getting his sister's (my aunt) street plowed last Sunday. He lays out the whole thing on his blog:
http://harveymillican.wordpress.com/2010/12/28/awesomemayorbooker-getting-the-story-right/
He felt the need to post that because a lot of places were getting the details mixed up – some were saying it was Booker's mother, others were saying it was an indigent mother (which my aunt is definitely NOT), and so on and so forth.
So yeah. Enjoy!
The funniest part is the NYT jumping to the defense of Bloomberg in blaming the citizens of NYC and chastising them for not doing enough. I can't wait to see the subscription numbers of the NYT next month…
It is all part of Bloomburg's master plan to keep people from driving as cars are evil. On par with trans fats and too much salt.
Proof is in the pudding, bicycle lanes in NYC are cleared but the vehicle lanes remain snow covered.
There is a reason that Zuckerberg chose to give Newark 100,000 million for the schools as opposed to any other city. I would say it has something to do with Mayor Booker.
That YouTube "video has been removed by the user".
It's been ten years since Bloomberg was charged with putting up one or two buildings at GZ and he failed miserably. Now he has failed in doing what government is charged with, keeping streets clear and cleaning garbage. His presidential hopes, thankfully, have gone up in flames. He's been living off the reputation of Rudy Guiliani for the past ten years, but Guiliani didn't leave garbage piled up for more than a week after any snowstorm, and he had a couple of storms worse than the current one. Perhaps if Bloomberg had worried less about transfats and salt and bike lanes, and more about basic city services, New Yorkers would be seeing better snow clearing?
An across the board miserable failure from the top (Bloomberg) to the bottom (the people). Geez how useless can you be? It's nice to see some New Yorkers with a shovel in their hand, but their hand wringing over someone clearing their streets when they can do it themselves has me quite underwhelmed. NY'ers: Embrace the suck, you paid for it!
I heard someone say if New Yorkers want the streets plowed by Bloomburg, they should just pretend they are enjoying the snow in the streets.