Al Roker blasts Mayor de Blasio on Twitter for not cancelling school

[hrmjustin]

By Annie Karni AND Irving Dejohn / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS


Al Roker can add political pundit to his resume.

The NBC weatherman, who normally has a rather sunny disposition, traded icy barbs with Mayor de Blasio Thursday for Hizzoner’s handling of Thursday’s snow storm.

“I knew this am @NYCMayorsOffice @NYCSchools would close schools. Talk about a bad prediction. Long range DiBlasio (sic) forecast: 1 term,” the “Today” show forecaster tweeted.

Roker, who also blasted Atlanta officials for their bungled response to last month’s winter storm that crippled the area, said his daughter was dismissed early from her school.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/al-roker-blasts-mayor-de-blasio-twitter-cancelling-school-article-1.1613110#ixzz2tEFVixU7

[BeyondGeography]

1. I prefer, "Al Roker Is the Latest Rich Guy to Get Mad at Bill de Blasio About Snow"

http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/02/al-roker-latest-rich-guy-get-mad-bill-de-blasio-about-snow/358070/

It's a key point; kids with parents who only get paid if they physically go to work being left to care for and feed themselves. Not an easy call for any Mayor. It would be nice if there were an adult discussion about all this, but that doesn't start with a snarky tweet from a celebrity weartherman in Sochi:

As Business Insider points out, De Blasio's schools chief, Carmen Farina, offered an explanation for the mayor's decision to take a chance on leaving schools open despite predictions of significant snowfall: if schools were closed, some kids wouldn't get to eat.

"If people can go to work, then kids can to school. Many of our kids don't get a hot lunch and, in many cases breakfast, unless they go to school. So it's still a parent's decision whether they send their kids to school or not. My decision is where the kids are safest and the most taken care of, and the answer to that is in schools."

Parents, Farina suggested, could decide for themselves if the risk was worth taking. In other words: Roker, whose children one presumes got to eat a full breakfast, could have kept his kids at home...

[geek tragedy]

2. mayor's office explanation is bunk.

doesn't explain why forcing teachers and school workers to go out in conditions the city itself has described as dangerous is a good idea, nor does it explain how eating a pbj sandwich for lunch is as dangerous as heading out in traffic.

[BeyondGeography]

3. I think it's about child care more than food

[geek tragedy]

4. everyone else in the area cancelled school.

I wonder if DeBlasio is aware that Staten Island and areas without significant subway access exist.

[hrmjustin]

5. I personally think he should have closed the schools but I understand his dilemma.