New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has finally done something useful for his constituents: He has revealed just how little New Yorkers even need a mayor.
For the entire month of May, the same month that de Blasio launched his hilariously ill-advised White House bid, the mayor spent a mere seven hours at City Hall, according to the New York Post.
Seven hours. For many of us, that is not even a full workday, let alone month. New York City could do away with the position of mayor altogether and save the $254,000 it throws away on his annual salary. No one would even notice.
The New York Post reports:
The 11 appointments amounted to a meager one-fifth of the 50 meetings, calls and other events at City Hall on de Blasio’s calendar for May 2019. He had a total 152 city events scheduled for the month.
[…]
This year’s schedule shows 66 calls or meetings while de Blasio was “en route” — meaning that he was being driven around New York City or on the campaign trail.
Naturally, the Post report also quotes former de Blasio aides who dump all over their one-time boss for his absence from office.
“If he’s trying to show New Yorkers that he’s over doing the job, he’s doing a good job of it,” one source told the New York City newspaper.
Another called de Blasio’s job performance “real bad.”
“At this point, you’ve got to wonder how much of his heart is really in it,” the source said.
I say the Post “naturally” cites former aides because it should not be surprising that they would have unflattering quotes about de Blasio at the ready. The mayor is famous for being a nightmare boss. One former aide characterized him as “a difficult guy to work for.” It is no surprise, then, that some would gossip to a local paper about his performance as mayor. Neither de Blasio nor anyone currently in the employ of his administration should be surprised to see this happening.
But hey, at least de Blasio can always fall back on his White House bid. That is really going well for him. It is not, of course. I am being sarcastic (this apparently needs to be stressed these days). At 0.4%, de Blasio is in 16th position, according to a RealClearPolitics polling average. That means the mayor is polling behind left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer, new age guru Marianne Williamson, and even former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
This should not surprise anyone. De Blasio is an unhappy marriage of dislikable and boring. If potential Democratic primary voters want an ultra-left champion, they can get that from more agreeable, competent, and original candidates like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren.
De Blasio is just a tired and unpleasant retread of a wannabe socialist liberal. And now the rest of the nation can see what New Yorkers have had to deal with since 2014.
