Thursday, April 16, 2009

Bloomberg embarrasses disabled reporter


From the NY Times:

As Mr. Bloomberg was delivering remarks on the governor’s introduction of a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in New York, someone bumped into a tape recorder that Mr. Harris was carrying in his pocket. That triggered the recorder’s play button, and noise from an earlier rally Mr. Harris had recorded at City Hall started playing.

The noise, which was not playing loudly enough for most other people in the room to notice, rattled Mr. Bloomberg.

“Can we just stop this, and maybe we’ll start again?” the mayor asked.

At that point the City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, leaned over to the mayor, covered the microphone on the lectern and whispered in his ear, “He’s disabled.”

Mr. Harris’s disability, and the fact that he was clearly having difficulty reaching the recorder to shut it off, was apparently of little consequence to the mayor.

“I understand that — he can still turn it off,” Mr. Bloomberg was overheard saying.

It was almost a full 60 seconds — punctuated by sighing and glowering from Mr. Bloomberg and more than a few quizzical looks from members of the audience — before Mr. Harris shut the machine off.

46 comments:

georgetheatheist said...

Silence is golden.

Missing Foundation said...

Does anyone have a tape of this? Please share with Crappie!

See what I mean people? This little man has been in a cocoon so long that anything that does not get seduced by his money makes him go balistic.

You know what you little turd, we are not all whores.

We are Americans.

georgetheatheist said...

"Noise: a stench in the ear." -Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary.

Anonymous said...

His limo could run over a reporter the whores that run the press would not report it.

Love to see this on TV so the public knows who threw their wishes out the window but we know they will not run a clip.

Will the disabled say anything? How about a donation to shut them up too?

Alan said...

I'll keep posting this one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkV6yBXHODg

It shows Turdberg's callous attitude toward those who have health difficulties. The story of a disabled person being disrespected is another disgusting example of this tyrant's lack of concerns for the city's citizens! Hypocrisy at its best.

Anonymous said...

Kill it! Kill it! maybe Marc Greene was right!

A Better NYC said...

Looks like Mayor Bloomy is getting a little grumpy in his old age.

Anonymous said...

After the news conference, Mr. Harris, who writes for Examiner.com, a lifestyle Web site, apologized for creating a disruption and explained how he believed that the source of the noise had been an unfortunate grazing from a photographer standing nearby.

“Being singled out and criticized is not something any reporter likes to happen,” Mr. Harris said. “Yes, I felt the mayor was maybe a little bit overly aggressive in his scolding, but I understand why he did it.”

An aide to the mayor later called this reporter to explain that the Bloomberg administration frequently went out of its way to accommodate Mr. Harris at press events, providing him with transportation in a special van and ensuring wheelchair access is available
0------

I feel better now.

Please sir.

May I go home now sir?

Queens Crapper said...

Actually, he wants an apology.

Unknown said...

You guys are amazing,
while I am no fan of the Mayor. what does the fact that this person is disabled have to do with the fact that he interrupted the news conference?

Disabled people do not want to be treated any differently. So if the reporter where not disabled no one would care.

Anonymous said...

If Der Fuhrer Bum-turd had the legal means at his disposal he'd have anyone's head on the chopping block for an accidental cough or uncontrolled sneeze that should dare to interrupt his "pearls" of wisdom!

Thanks be, for the moment, that NYC
hasn't become the 3rd Reich yet!

This man is a nasty SOB who has no regard whatsoever for anybody beneath his social class.

Give a spoiled brat some money and he might become a dictator after enough power to accomplish it!

Anonymous said...

I agree!

If you don't have your tongue up hizzoner's ass you're seen as his enemy...so better watch yourself.

He's a vindictive little bastard
without any sense of humanity, let alone the slightest shred resembling a sense of humor!

Anonymous said...

This arrogant little slimebag is lower than a snake's ass.

Taxpayer said...

My only surprise is that the Commissar didn't send the jackbooted gunslingers from the 110 Precinct to exercise eminent domain on the reporter's wheelchair.

"This is, this issue today is the most serious issue, I think, from a social point of view, facing the state at the moment," the mayor continued. "And I don't think we need the distraction. And we're going to stop and wait until somebody finds what their tape recorder is, or whatever's playing, and fix it. And it has nothing to do with anything else other than that. And if it was you, I'd stop the same thing. Just don't bring your - you have a responsibility to make sure you don't disrupt other people, and so does every other reporter that's there."

This tiny minded Commissar has no self control or regard for others. Does anyone now doubt that he sexually harassed woman who worked for him - especially if they were pregnant? "Kill it!" he commanded one woman who was delighted to be pregnant.

And this little self-absorbed prick couldn't even control what he said after the event was over.

November 3 is his date with destiny. Send him to Bermuda to count all his bribe money stashed in his secret accounts.

Artdul Dodd-ger said...

November 3 is his date with destiny. Send him to Bermuda to count all his bribe money stashed in his secret accounts.
---

Now! now! now!

Don't let Wade hear you talk like that!

Anonymous said...

do we need any further evidence that this man is a complete asshole?

Anonymous said...

He an asshole? That was never in question.

The problem are the whores in the media that take his money to prolong the life of their sinking pulp and ink enterprises and help him suspend the constituion in the process.

His third term would be sunk in a week if they were honest with the public.

That is where your ire should be directed.

Anonymous said...

THIS ONLY SHOWS THE PUBLIC, THAT MR. BLOOMBERG IS A CONTROL FREAK. HE DOESN'T GRASP THE WAY PEOPLE SHOULD REACT IN A RELATIVELY HARMLESS SITUATION. HE MIGHT AS WELL BE FROM MARS.

Anonymous said...

Look at that piece of shit Quinn bending and scraping and shuffling like a moron kissing his ass.

Quinn: "Mr Mayor, Mr. Mayor he is diabled."

Bloomberg: "Shut up you fat bitch. Did I tell you to speak."

Crappy, you got to post this. Its on the NY Observer blog.

Anonymous said...

I get it....no one likes Bloomberg... but lets look a few things...this was a press conference, and its not too much to ask that people be quiet. This has nothing to do with the mayor, there should be quiet at any press conference. And I agree with an earlier poster, he should not receive special treatment because he is disabled. If this had been a healthy person... I am pretty sure he would have reacted the same way, and I am pretty sure, it would not have made its way onto this blog.

Anonymous said...

If Mayor Bum-turd is "lower than a snake's ass" (I love that!) what does that make Chrisy Quinn?

Queens Crapper said...

It made its way onto this blog because its all over the media. Maybe they drop the "protect Bloomberg at all costs" rule when one of their own is his target.

Anonymous said...

I wish that "Chuck the woodchuck
had bitten off hizzoner's little putz so he couldn't reproduce instead of just nipping his finger!

Anonymous said...

The mayor's getting edgy because his pumped up "popularity" polls are full of shit.

People just don't like that "popsicle" puss of his and the way he freezes out whomever he considers his to be his inferiors!

Which is practically everybody but his wealthy financial, developer and real estate pals!

Anonymous said...

mayor bloomburger with cheese, hold the pickles

Mr. Angry said...

Accidents happen. It's rude to be a dick towards anyone, regardless of whether or not they're disabled.

Anonymous said...

I get it....no one likes Bloomberg... but lets look a few things...this was a press conference, and its not too much to ask that people be quiet. This has nothing to do with the mayor, there should be quiet at any press conference.
---------

Please put up the picture of the disabled man. I would not we surprised if, like MonseraRATS girlfriend, he will prai$e the mayor next week, but put it up.

Oh yes, you sir, are an ass.

Anonymous said...

"And I agree with an earlier poster, he should not receive special treatment because he is disabled. If this had been a healthy person... I am pretty sure he would have reacted the same way, and I am pretty sure, it would not have made its way onto this blog"

A little common sense would tell anyone, except this idiot and our paranoid troll of a mayor, that a disabled person might need an extra minute or two to reach the tape recorder and shut it off. Having a hissy fit before you understand the situation is unacceptable behavior for any public offical.

Anonymous said...

This is why I hate Queens Crap. Why is this news? Disabled or not there is a resonable expectation that the attendees to a press conference will conduct themselves with respect and decorum. He was right to stop and right to get annoyed. Whether it be the white house or a school house no speaker would or should tolerate this. This is a non-story unless you have some sort of agenda against the guy.

Anonymous said...

The whole point is this was an accident. Harris did not activate the recorder, it was bumped by someone. The guy is in a wheelchair and needed some time to get to his jacket to shut it off.

See video at

http://www.politickerny.com/3115/wheelchair-bound-reporter-singled-out-bloomberg-wants-apology

Alan said...

Wow! Hearing about it is one thing but seeing the look of scorn on Turdberg's face was eye opening. After reading the explanation, I don't think that the mayor's reaction was warranted or respectful. The point is not whether the person with the tape recorder had a disability, it is the "attitude" that makes this piece important to me.

Queens Crapper said...

“[Bloomberg] looked very obnoxious, to be honest with you,” said Boris Gaviria, 33, of Forest Hills, who watched the news conference on television. “He’s not getting my vote. I’m surprised he would do that - he wants to be for all Americans.”

In a Daily News video of the incident, someone in the background could be heard saying, “he's trying” while Harris apparently went to turn the device off. The mayor responded: “Let me start again because this is too important to get disruptive and maybe we just take everything outside.”

The mayor later said Harris is a good reporter and he would have responded the same to another reporter.

Harris said he didn’t receive an apology.

Lawrence Carter-Long, acting executive director of Disabilities Network of New York City, said he did not think the mayor was trying to be malicious and hoped the incident would shed light on the nuances of being disabled.

“It appears on the surface that there could be a little more sensitivity,” Carter-Long said. “I hope that everyone would learn the variables and nuances that occur within disabilities and they would educate themselves and think twice before making off-the-cuff comments.”

Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), who was standing in the crowd of politicians while Bloomberg was speaking, called the mayor's reaction a "hissy fit."

"I happen to know Michael [Harris] very well," Liu sad. "Michael was moving quickly as he can move to shut the device off. It so happens that Michael isn’t as dexterous as some of us are. It was an honest mistake. It did not require the kind of reaction that the mayor put out."
AM-NY

Taxpayer said...

"I get it....no one likes Bloomberg... but lets look a few things...this was a press conference, and its not too much to ask that people be quiet. This has nothing to do with the mayor, there should be quiet at any press conference."

Press conference or campaign event, or whatever, it IS too much to ask people to be quiet. All public appearances by elected officials are treated by them as campaign events. On our dime.

The Commissar, the governor, Quinn, are all away from their jobs on our dime. They are OUR employees. They report to US. These people need to be routinely heckled so they understand their place.

The tape recorder was tripped to "play" by an accidental bump by someone else.

The Commissar was using his cell phone while Paterson was speaking. So much for his demand that everyone pay attention to whoever is speaking.

The Commissar is incapable of simply sizing up a human situation and demonstrating a little human decency. It matters not whether the person at "fault" is disabled or not. What if an elderly person caused a commotion due to an ailment? Or a child made some noise?

As I said before, this brainless, soulless, humorless and extremely boring lump of flesh called Commissar simply hasn't got the self-control to be in charge of anything more than cleaning toilet bowls. And, I wouldn't trust his capacity to do that job properly.

Never forget that the Republican party evaluated him and found him to be superior enough to land him on the ballot on the Republican line. So much for the capacity of Republicans to properly judge others on your behalf.

Heckle him out of office. Otherwise, dump him on November 3.

Anonymous said...

Mayor it's ok,come out of the closet.

Anonymous said...

I listened and watched the press conference and I really didn't hear the reporters recorder, only the "BLOOMING ASSHOLE" making a big deal out of nothing. BYE BYE BLOOMBERG! NO RE-ELECTION FOR YOU......

Anonymous said...

The Commissar is incapable of simply sizing up a human situation and demonstrating a little human decency. It matters not whether the person at "fault" is disabled or not. What if an elderly person caused a commotion due to an ailment? Or a child made some noise?

As I said before, this brainless, soulless, humorless and extremely boring lump of flesh called Commissar simply hasn't got the self-control to be in charge of anything more than cleaning toilet bowls. And, I wouldn't trust his capacity to do that job properly.
-------

Nicely said.

Well you would never know that in how the media covers him.

Shows how adverstising money can make a whore out of even the grey old lady.

Anonymous said...

Not on the news last night.

Surprise.

Anonymous said...

Councilman John Liu (D-Flushing), who was standing in the crowd of politicians while Bloomberg was speaking, called the mayor's reaction a "hissy fit."

And how, what was that look on his face - I am too rich to be interrupted by anyone - off with his head!

Anonymous said...

If Mayor Bum-turd is "lower than a snake's ass" (I love that!) what does that make Chrisy Quinn?

The hemorrhoid

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is why I hate Queens Crap. Why is this news? Disabled or not there is a resonable expectation that the attendees to a press conference will conduct themselves with respect and decorum. He was right to stop and right to get annoyed. Whether it be the white house or a school house no speaker would or should tolerate this. This is a non-story unless you have some sort of agenda against the guy.

LOL when i hate something i don't read it why are u reading something you hate?

"Buttons" said...

Bloomberg's disregard for the disabled didn't surprise me at all. Bloomberg stripped disabled and retired New York City managers of prescription drug benefits three years ago. My partner now has to spend 1/3 of his city pension to pay for life saving medications. When I personally confronted Bloomberg about hitting the disabled in the wallet, Bloomberg scowled and smirked at me. The only thing Bloomberg really cares about is getting elected again.

Anonymous said...

The only thing Bloomberg really cares about is getting elected again.
-----------------------------
how true is that!!! and again I say, BYE BYE BLOOMBERG, you won't be re-elected!!!!

Anonymous said...

quinn's the wierd one, isn't that odd ocnduct she evidenced?. Bloomberg's just impatient, in this instance.

Anonymous said...

Was he challenging him to a fight when he said let's take it outside?
:-)

Anonymous said...

Bloomberg's losin' it...senile pompous little prick!

If he continues like this he will DEFINITELY lose in November too!

The voters are fast wising up to him.

drinking with bob said...

Bloomberg is an ARROGANT piece of trash!

What I love most about his remarks after the incident is that he says legalizing same-sex marriage is the MOST IMPORTANT issue facing the city.

Did he forget about the economy, illegal immigration, the empty hole where the World trade center used to be, the under staffed NYPD and FDNY, etc.

Plus, it is amazing that the press barely covered this.