GOOD LUCK,
MR. de BLASIO
WE'LL SOON SEE WHAT YOU'RE
REALLY MADE OF
New York
City Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio with his Family
TAGS:
NYC MAYOR-ELECT BILL de BLASIO, LANDSLIDE VICTORY,
FIRST
DEMOCRATIC MAYOR SINCE 1989, HOW WILL HE GOVERN?
APPOINTING
NEXT NYPD COMMISSIONER, NON “MANHATTAN-CENTRIC”
AGENDA,
NEW CABINET APPOINTMENTS, MANY CHALLENGES,
MAKING
GOOD ON CAMPAIGN PROMISES
(Thursday November 7, 2013,
NYC) And the people have spoken.
By an overwhelming majority
that was a convincing plurality that included a coalition comprised of New
Yorkers across the entire demographic strata of voters, Democrat Bill de Blasio
is the Mayor-elect of America’s largest city.
There has been more than enough post-election analysis, commentating,
and dissection of his landslide victory that we need not re-examine that
well-trod turf. Suffice to say that New
Yorkers apparently have had enough of the Giuliani – Bloomberg Era and voted as
much against the current Mayor as they did for the next. The pendulum of politics swings at various
tempos from place to place, election to election, and it has taken 24 years for
the people of New York City to return a self-described “progressive liberal” Democrat
to City Hall. But the intoxicating glee
in evidence as de Blasio surrounded by family, friends, campaign operatives, volunteers,
supporters and the press may be short lived.
No winning candidate in any election can possibly make good on the grab
bag of promises they made during a long primary and general election process
spanning over a year.
Mayor Bloomberg and de Blasio
met yesterday for about an hour and one can only imagine what transpired
between them given de Blasio’s commitment to reverse many of Bloomberg’s
signature policies and practices once he is sworn in on January 1, 2014. While de Blasio and his family are packing
for the move to Gracie Mansion and the Mayor-elect is naming his transition
team, the brilliant luster of his convincing electoral victory will begin to
fade rapidly as the daunting nature of the job he so desperately sought begins
to become all too apparent. The Mayor of
the City of New York is often referred to as “America’s Mayor” Mr. de Blasio
must first establish himself early in his term as being an effective Mayor of
NYC. Democrats across the country can
celebrate in his huge victory but their support is meaningless as the day to
day challenges of the job become more tangible to him. His previous position as Public Advocate did
little to prepare him to govern a City that is often unwieldy, tempestuous, and
he will have to quickly learn how to prioritize his agenda. The campaign is over, you won, Bill. Now what?
Minutes after his inaugural
speech and the photos ops are concluded the actual business of his job will
begin. Given the broad collation he
assembled and handed him victory, those very same diverse and often disparate sects
will begin clamoring for his attention and they will not be patient for very
long. Patience, especially among those
who see themselves as members of long-suffering, excluded, ignored, and
otherwise without “political clout”, is always in short supply. Mr. de Blasio may find himself strapped into
a roller coaster seat in a New York minute if he is seen as more cautious and
tentative in his first days and weeks in Office than he was advertised to
be.
FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS
Among the thorny thicket of
pressing issues Mr. de Blasio will find himself in on January 1, 2014, includes
an issue he ran heavily opposed to; the notoriously mischaracterized and
misunderstood NYPD policy known derisively as “Stop and Frisk.” (In reality the policy is Stop, Question and
maybe Frisk) His selection of a Police
Commissioner to replace the highly regarded Ray Kelly will be a key indicator
of what de Blasio’s policing and policy imperatives will be. His selection will be scrutinized by the
public, particularly the aggrieved minority communities, and Members of Service
(MOS) of the NYPD very carefully. It
will be seen as representative of his broader agenda and governing
philosophy. In Commands, Precinct Houses
and Units across the City, MOS are waiting to see who the next Commissioners
will be before they decide to stay on the Job or “take the 20 and go”. Some speculate that his appointment will be a
“minority” from within the ranks or, perhaps, an “outsider” unfamiliar with the
culture and history of America’s largest Police Force. For the first time since a few months after
the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks here, there will be a new
Commissioner and it will remain to be seen he or she maintains some of the
Intelligence, Counter-terrorism and other security-minded initiatives in place
or they opt to scale them back or eliminate them entirely.
While Michael Bloomberg’s
tenure has been widely (and unfairly) criticized as being overly
“Manhattan-centric”, de Blasio has promised to be the Mayor of “all of NYC”
emphasizing his commitment to the plethora of issues that are unique to those
who live in the sprawling “outer Boroughs” of The Bronx, Brooklyn and
Queens. Yes, there are huge income and
education disparities in our City as well as significant differences in the
all-important “quality of life issues”.
These have “been decades in the making” as de Blasio observed in his
victory speech Tuesday night in Brooklyn and they will require a concerted
effort both in and out of City Hall, within the City Council and out in the
Communities still plagued by many of the
social problems they have been for generations.
The Mayor elect’s promise of a more representative government more attuned
to those who have not benefited from much of New York City’s resurgence as a thriving
international City and global mecca for tourists, is laudable. The means and methods by which he opts to
tackle these problems also remain to be seen.
His campaign rhetoric notwithstanding, he has offered very few
specifics. But, that is what campaigns
are for these days. Charge up your
“base”, appeal to the masses, lambast the status quo and blame it for all the
ills of a City of almost 10 million.
SKEPTICAL OPTIMISM
Now that the madness of the
campaign is concluded we will just have to wait and see what our new Mayor will
do in the first 100 days of his Administration.
The 100 day marker has been applied to Presidents, Governors and Mayors
for many years and, although it is a very short window to peer through, the
shadowy outlines of the future can be glimpsed.
Mr. de Blasio will name his Cabinet; make hundreds of appointments to
various agencies, commissions and departments.
He will begin to fill in the blanks of many of his policy initiatives
that spoke to those who voted for him.
Regardless of whom we did or did not vote for or, if we even voted at
all, we can have some measure of guarded if not skeptical optimism. Who knows; we might all be surprised. Perhaps, pleasantly surprised.
Good luck, Mr. de Blasio. You wanted it, you got it. Let’s see what you do with it.
Copyright The Brooding Cynyx 2013 © All Rights Reserved
