The New York Post editorial board is pleading for people to run for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s seat to “save New York.”
“There’s no denying it: The city’s in trouble. Big trouble. Mayor de Blasio is now a lame-duck figurehead, with less than 1¹/₂ years left in office. And the crop of candidates looking to replace him is anything but promising,” the board stated Sunday evening in an editorial.
“New York needs fresh blood. So today we’re asking — pleading, actually: Won’t anyone step up and save New York?”
The board went on to highlight the issues facing the city in recent months, such as gun violence, anti-police rioting, coronavirus restrictions, a financial downturn, and the increasing homeless population on the streets.
“Even before the virus hit, pols like de Blasio (with help from Albany) had left Gotham on shaky ground, with ‘reforms’ that ensured more crime, vagrants swamping the streets and a budget that failed to prepare for even a modest downturn, let alone one shut by the bug,” the board continued.
Potential candidates for the position include Queens Councilman Robert Holden, former Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, or “Wall Street whiz Ray Maguire,” the board suggested.
De Blasio has been repeatedly denounced by some New Yorkers, including former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, for not controlling the increase in crimes in the city and not supporting the police force.
“The Mayor in NYC has lost control of the mob and of the city,” Giuliani said in June. “The Mayor is preventing the NYPD to take the actions necessary to stop brutal attacks on police and citizens. He is even falsely accusing NYPD of taking excessive action when he has made them punching bags.”
The issues facing the city have caused businesses and residents to pack their bags this summer, moving to safer and more residential areas such as the Hamptons or Connecticut.
“There’s no reason to do business in New York,” Michael Weinstein, the chief executive of Ark Restaurants, recently said. “I can do the same volume in Florida in the same square feet as I would have in New York with my expenses being much less. The idea was that branding and locations were important, but the expense of being in this city has overtaken the marketing group that says you have to be there.”
The New York Post’s editorial board concluded that “whoever steps up will be far and away better for the city than any of the current has-been wannabes.”
“Whoever it is, though, it’s not too soon to step up. Indeed, if ever there were a time Gotham needed a hero, this is it,” the editorial stated.
