New York's ardour for Michael Bloomberg cools

[marmar]

New York's ardour for Michael Bloomberg cools
Mayor has turned police on Occupy protesters, opposes a $10 an hour minimum wage and says bankers are patriotic

Paul Harris in New York
The Observer, Saturday 26 November 2011


The rally last week at Manhattan's Riverside church was packed. Several thousand people crammed into the famous hall where Martin Luther King once gave a 1967 speech against the Vietnam war and for a fight against poverty.

The gathering was part of the Living Wage New York campaign, which aims to force companies who receive large grants of public money for private projects to pay workers in the jobs they create a minimum wage of around $10 (£6.47) an hour. It does not sound a controversial plan or one to create major unrest.

But the mood beneath the church's soaring vault was angry. Most of it was directed at one man, New York's billionaire mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who wants to veto the proposal.

Council member Jumaane Williams could not contain his fury. "This is about greed," he fumed to the crowd before turning his ire on Bloomberg and his vast fortune. "Ten dollars is not a lot of money! If Mayor Bloomberg woke up making 10 dollars an hour, he would faint!" he thundered, adding that the mayor ran New York like a "coward dictator". ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/27/michael-bloomberg-mayor-occupy-wall-street-new-york

[A-Schwarzenegger]

1. Plus, why wasn't he arrested for blowing up that car the other day?

:*

[girl gone mad]

3. :)

[hootinholler]

6. I want to know if it was city property

Who paid for that car, it looked pretty spiffy before the boom.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

8. It was his ex-wife's car.

[Starry Messenger]

2. k&r

[NYC Liberal]

4. That "ardor" cooled a long time ago.

His crusade to repeal term limits was the final straw, I think. Yes, he won the election - but barely. He won in 2005 with 58% of the vote and a 250,000-vote margin. He won the last election with 50% of the vote and a 50,000-vote margin.

[snagglepuss]

5. "If Mayor Bloomberg woke up making 10 dollars an hour, he would faint!""

That's a great line. I wonder what Bloomberg's daily personal expenditures add up to?

[provis99]

7. when has NY ever had "ardour" for Bloomberg.

It seems like they just voted for him because he was the least disgusting one in the race.

[pipoman]

9. It's about friggin' time..

authoritarian fascist, and all..

[Tx4obama]

10. I think he'd do more than faint, he'd probably keel over due to a heart attack! n/t