You wanted a third term. Enjoy!

From the NY Sun:

We do not believe God is punishing Mayor Bloomberg for the hubris of twisting the law to seek a third term, but if the cataract of bad news that has befallen Hizzoner were the work of God, it would be just like Her. Certainly there is some sort of larger justice in the way his acts of mayoral arrogance come a cropper. Lately the mayor has been made a fool of by a storm named Irene and been exposed for dissembling, even if for the most decent of reasons, over the departure of Deputy Mayor Goldsmith. Now the New York Times is out with a poll saying most New Yorkers say the city’s school system has “stagnated or declined,” as the Times summarized it, since Mr. Bloomberg seized control nine years ago.

The tragedy for the mayor is that he is now entering the downward slope of a third term that he was permitted to purchase in the face of two votes of the people to limit the mayoralty to two terms. He could have left office after two terms at the top of his game. His troubles — unhappiness with the schools, his misjudgments in the snow and the rain, the resentment at his assault on cars and restaurants — all stem from the conceit that the nanny state and its operators know better than New Yorkers what’s good for them. The latest poll by the New York Times is evidence that in respect of schools, New Yorkers are able to draw their own conclusions.

Bloomberg comes out of hiding

From the NY Post:

A defiant Mayor Bloomberg said "I make no apologies" for not telling the public about the arrest of former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, breaking his silence after ducking reporters and critics for days after The Post broke the story.

"I make no apologies for either the fact that Mr. Goldsmith has left city government or for treating the Goldsmith's family with basic decency," the mayor said about the domestic dispute that landed Goldsmith in the slammer in D.C. on July 30.

When asked today by The Post if Goldsmith would have been fired for his performance had he not been arrested, Bloomberg astonishingly said, "no."

Bloomberg added that someone close to Goldsmith called the administration on July 31, told them of the arrest and said Goldsmith would offer his resignation. Goldsmith called Bloomberg personally on Aug. 1 to offer it formally, and it was accepted.

Goldsmith resigned after getting arrested

From the NY Post:

The blizzard didn't bury him -- roughing up his wife did.

Former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith -- who drew sharp criticism for bungling the Christmas storm that shut down the city -- actually resigned in disgrace after his wife, fearing for her life, had him arrested during an argument turned violent, The Post has learned.

Just days before he suddenly stepped down as Mayor Bloomberg's chief of operations, Goldsmith was arrested at his Georgetown home after his wife, Margaret, told cops he smashed a phone and grabbed her as she desperately tried to call cops, a Washington, DC, police report reveals.

He lives in DC but was deputy mayor of NY? How did he pull this off?

Has he lost his marbles?

From the Daily News:

On his Friday radio show, [Bloomberg] was asked about a new shift in city policy that had been in the newspaper for two days running - and didn't seem to know it had happened.

It's a shift on something that had been a sore point for Bloomberg's critics - outside contractors paid six-figure salaries for tech projects that blow deadlines and budgets, like the scandal-ridden CityTime system.

...it was news last week when one of Bloomberg's deputy mayors, Stephen Goldsmith, agreed with critics and said New York will save tens of millions of dollars by bringing the work in-house.

On the radio, WOR-AM host John Gambling tossed Bloomberg a softball about it. But instead of explaining the new company line on insourcing, the mayor defended outsourcing.

If the Bloomberg administration has a new message on contracts, why did Bloomberg himself go off-message?

...perhaps it's a sign of...a third-term mayor who has delegated the nuts and bolts of government to new aides like Goldsmith but isn't paying enough attention to what they're doing.

Those who work closely with City Hall - even Bloomberg's allies - have seen signs of third-term drift. His attention is on national and world issues, not day-to-day business like plowing snow or rewriting tech contracts.

They all f*cked up

From the NY Post:

When two city commissioners decided not to declare a snow emergency during the Christmas weekend blizzard, no one got around to telling Mayor Bloomberg or his deputy mayor.

That startling revelation was one of several disclosures of botched communications and bad decisions that came to light during a five-hour City Council hearing yesterday on the storm that paralyzed the city.

The grilling homed in on why the city didn't declare a snow emergency when forecasters were predicting the Big Apple would be blanketed by a blizzard. Calling an emergency would have kept private vehicles without snow tires or chains off designated snow routes, and banned parking along those routes.

Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith admitted that he and Bloomberg -- who has defended the non-declaration -- were never told of the decision made by the sanitation and transportation commissioners.

Goldsmith apologized for the disastrous response and said that in the future, the mayor or a deputy mayor would make the call.

When asked if that was a new policy, he replied, "Well, it's clearly one we didn't follow two weeks ago."

But Goldsmith -- the former mayor of Indianapolis -- insisted, "The mayor is always in charge. Any of us can get the mayor anytime, anywhere in the world. He answers the telephone."

So why wasn't he questioned at this hearing?

Bloomberg destriping the NYPD

From the NY Post:

The Bloomberg administration is studying a plan to demote scores of police sergeants to rank-and-file cops to save money, The Post has learned.

City budget officials have started to crunch the numbers at Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith's behest, analyzing how much would be saved by demoting newly promoted sergeants, said a high-ranking City Hall official.

The city vehemently denied it was even contemplating the move. "That's totally untrue," said mayoral spokesman Jason Post.

Goldsmith, the former mayor of Indianapolis, has vowed to streamline the city's workforce. Last week he demoted 100 sanitation supervisors in an effort to increase the number of front-line sanitation workers.

Why the city looks so damn dirty

From the Daily News:

The city has decided to demote 100 supervisors at the Department of Sanitation as as way to boost the number of sanitation workers available to pick up trash and plow snow...

Under the plan, released today by Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith and Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty, an additional 100 supervisory positions will be eliminated through attrition. The city will hire 100 new sanitation workers to beef up its depleted ranks.

City officials said the move will save about $20 million a year.

Joseph Mannion of the Sanitation Officers Association said the union is considering legal action to stop the demotions.

Last week, the Daily News reported that the number of sanitation workers had dropped under 5,800 - the lowest number in years. Harry Nespoli, head of the Uniformed Sanitationmen’s Association, said he was concerned that the department would not have enough manpower to tackle a big snowstorm.

The city has hired just 200 sanitation workers in the past two years, while hundreds more have retired.

Deputy Mayor has no problem closing firehouses

Dispatch from Queens Crap Roving Reporter #3:

"Stephen Goldsmith wants to close more firehouses and lay off more firefighters. At a July 20, 2010 breakfast meeting, the new Deputy Mayor of New York City had to answer for his opinions about more FDNY cost-cutting.

Mr. Goldsmith said he believed that the city had to renegotiate collective bargaining agreements and challenge court orders that regulate the public safety in order to cut costs.

Mr. Goldsmith was appointed on April 30, 2010, to become deputy mayor by Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Under three consecutive terms of the Bloomberg administration, the city has closed firehouses all over the city. But as many as have already been shut down, it still isn't enough for the mayor or his new deputy mayor. They want to see more firemen leave the service, and they want to find ways to cut retirement benefits to our city's heroes."

My favorite dumb line:

This boob does realize that 2 companies in the same house serve different functions, right?

Here's how this was reported in Crain's.

Bloomberg makes term limits joke

Michael Bloomberg's new deputy mayor, Steve Goldsmith, who is a former mayor himself, said he won't seek office again.

"I said that too," Bloomberg said, to much laughter.

Video from NY Observer.