Bloomberg's Last State Of The City Speech

It was a self indulgent speech from the mayor, who touted his "accomplishments" throughout, continually referring to himself in the "Royal We" first person plural after entering to a pre-speech show that was described as "Some kind of post-apocalyptic Les Miserables re-enactment".

What else would you expect from a little man so devoid of esteem that he has to put his name onto everything he owns?

John Liu put Bloomberg's speech into context:

“Obviously, Mayor Bloomberg can point to some accomplishments after 11 years, especially in improving New Yorkers’ health through reductions in smoking,” Mr. Liu said. “But his selective retelling of history leaves out some troubling facts: near record unemployment, record numbers of homeless, record income disparity, record stop and frisks, record claims against the NYPD, record numbers of school closures, and a failed education record that has only one in five high school students graduating from college.  How can we be satisfied with that? No one can say that New Yorkers of all walks of life shared equally in the accomplishments he claims as his legacy.”

But Mr. Liu wasn’t finished there. He concluded by sharply criticizing the “hubris” Mr. Bloomberg displayed by temporarily overturning term limits to secure his third and final term in office.

“Bloomberg’s third term was a great mistake,” Mr. Liu jabbed. “[A]nd this entire City is paying the price for that act of hubris.”

The last State of the City speech was a perfect encapsulation of the Bloomberg legacy - full of noise, spectacle, phonied-up statistics, and arrogance.