Perdido 03

Perdido 03

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Reuters: Bloomberg Gets An "F" On His Value Added Mayor Data Report (MDR)

Bloomberg loves handing out report card grades to schools, teachers and restaurants.

Now it's time for the mayor to receive his report card grade for the handling of the Bloomberg Blizzard:

(Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a political independent whose reputation was built on competence, may have been defeated this time by a blizzard.

Many New Yorkers, especially from the boroughs outside Manhattan, are outraged that their neighborhoods remain buried under snow two days after the storm dumped 20 inches on the city. Bloomberg, who has consistently ruled out running for the U.S. presidency despite frequent speculation about his political aspirations, is getting hit with the blame.

"This is a mayor who prided himself on his ability as a manager. If we were grading him on his response to the snowstorm, he would get an 'F,'" Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. said on Wednesday.

"Bloomberg wants to run for president, yet he can't even handle getting the streets of the Bronx plowed? That is unacceptable."

The loudest complaints came from the outer boroughs -- the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island -- which were once again reminded they are secondary to Manhattan.

"This is crazy. I wasn't able to get to work for two days. My street is still unplowed today. I don't know what the deal is, but they messed up," said Matthew Limongi, a delivery driver from Queens.

Even Bloomberg's allies are critical.

"I've never seen such gross mismanagement and lack of leadership in my lifetime. People are furious," said City Councilman David Greenfield, a longtime supporter.

The clogged streets have impeded emergency response vehicles. A baby died after being delivered in the lobby of a Brooklyn apartment building when paramedics took nine hours to reach the mother.

Bloomberg, a self-made billionaire who finances his own campaigns, rarely admits mistakes but told a news conference on Wednesday that "we didn't do as good a job as we wanted to do."

The city had built a reputation for efficient snow cleanup with its fleet of trash-removal trucks fitted with snow plows that spread salt on the city's 6,000 miles of roads.

But this storm came with 65 mph winds and dumped more than an inch of snow per hour, forcing plows to repeatedly clear the major avenues before they could work on side streets.

"The storm just got ahead of us and we couldn't keep up," Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty told NY1 television.

Deaths attributed to delayed EMS responses, four+ days to clear the streets of snow, inability to see any problem with the lack of snow removal ("The world hasn't come to an end...Go shopping...go see a Broadway show..."), cars destroyed by city snow plows, hundreds of untrained sanitation workers manning plows and smashing into cars and buses - yeah, not such a value-added performance, Mr. Mayor.

Coupled with the $80 million CityTime theft, the $700 million over tally on that same project, the Cathie Black nomination and the plummeting NYC test scores in 4th-8th grades, we're just going to have to put you on the SURR list for closure.

Buh-bye.

3 comments:

  1. Yes, he at least needs to be put on the State's MURR list! (Mayor Under Registration Review) I think that calls for FIRING the Mayor and all of his top officials.

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