Bill de Blasio may be working already on his victory speech, as well as fundraising for his reelection campaign in 2017, but the mayoral front-runner�s, who promised a change of the Bloomberg era, is already picking up a bit of the current mayor�s grumpy attitude when it comes to the press.
At one of his first government-sponsored press conference since becoming the Democratic nominee,Mr. De Blasio sounded much like the current mayor�who is known for being prickly with reporters�as he took off-topic questions from the press after the announcement, Politicker reports.
When a Wall Street Journal reporter asked Mr. de Blasio specifically what he will do to keep crime down�beyond improving police-community relations and reforming stop-and-frisk�Mr. de Blasio quickly shot back.
�I�ve delineated them incessantly, with all due respect. I would ask people to take a brief look at our platform online if they�d like to see our plans and then ask about those specific plans,� said Mr. de Blasio, towering over Mr. Schneiderman at the podium, with a tinge of condescension in his voice.
Next came a question from a Daily News reporter who pressed Mr. de Blasio to expand on his experiences “at” the Crown Heights riots.
�I wasn�t �at� it � Your article did get that right and I wanted to say�since you said �at��I want to confirm I was not there on the site,� interrupted Mr. de Blasio. The reporter, Greg Smith, clarified he�d meant to say that Mr. de Blasio had been part of the process (he�d worked in Mayor David Dinkins�s administration), but Mr. de Blasio pushed back.
�Greg, with all due respect, I appreciate your article. Again, I�m gonna to be a little bit clear with people who make inaccurate statements. I�m going to address them,� said Mr. de Blasio. �I was in City Hall working on the staff. I did receive calls from concerned community leaders around the city and that�s all � I was not on the site. I came away with very strong views but I did not participate directly. I just need to be crystal clear about that.�
Speaking of the riots, Republican Joe Lhota claimed today that Mr. de Blasio�s experience during the Crown Heights demonstrated that he is ill-prepared to govern the city.
�Dealing with that riot that happened in Crown Heights was an unmitigated failure because information wasn�t given to the people at the top,� Mr. Lhota charged outside a campaign event in Brooklyn today. �Bill de Blasio was given information by people in the community. They�ve all testified to the fact. It stayed there. It stayed there with Bill de Blasio.�
Photo: Bebeto Matthews-AP
(Jacob Kornbluh – YWN)
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One Response
This is a small snippet of what a deBlassio regime will look like: thin skin, no accountability, no clue. Perfect qualities for mayor of nyc (or for President of US, right nfgo3?)