Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Bloomberg's Legacy

Corporate media journalists continue to suck up to Mayor Bloomberg in print, writing all kinds of glowing articles about the mayor's "legacy".

Capital NY has a rundown of the latest "legacy pieces" here.

One thing missing from all these pieces is an accurate assessment of Bloomberg's 12 years in office.

How can any self-respecting journalist write a Bloomberg "legacy piece" and not include these items

Phonied up crime stats.

Phonied up test scores and grad rates.

CityTime.

The 911 system boondoggle.

The Boxer Day Blizzard.

Seriously - the worst fraud ever perpetrated against New York City (CityTime) isn't mentioned, the $2 billion 911 system boondoggle that is now 12 years in the making, 10 years over schedule, hundreds of million over budget, and responsible for the death of a four year old on the Upper West Side isn't mentioned, the bullshit stats from crime to fire fatalities to emergency response times to the school data is never mentioned, the mayor's incompetence in dealing with the Bloomberg Boxer Day Blizzard is never mentioned.

These are Bloomberg's legacy as much as bike lanes or the complete transformation of Manhattan into a rich person's playground or Brooklyn gentrification.

Shame these never get mentioned in the Bloomberg "legacy pieces."

Am I missing any items from Bloomberg's "true legacy"?

2 comments:

  1. I go back to the NYC of John Lindsay and I have seen the truth of the city "snowed over" multiple times, whether by politicians, media, demagogues, etc. This is one of those times. But I also know that things change. I suspect that Bloomberg will get his Robert Caro one day, and we'll get to enjoy reading about it.

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    1. I hope you're right. Bloomberg has an awful lot of money and he's got a lot of journalists o his payroll ready to write his histories for him. That's what worries me. We'll get snow job histories of the Bloomberg Era just as we've gotten snow job news during his Reign of Error.

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