Now that former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has thrown his hat into the 2020 presidential circle, it is important to look back at his performance as Mayor. Blogger-friend Brendan Birth has lived his entire life in New York City and well remembers Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor. I mentioned to Brendan last week that I might like him to do a guest post for me, and he went one better, and is doing a mini-series! The series began with an intro on Monday that I re-blogged on Tuesday, and today he gives us Part II of a look at Mike Bloomberg as mayor. He will finish with a conclusion next Monday, just in time for Super Tuesday! Thanks Brendan, for sharing your birds-eye views!
As I announced last Monday, I will be doing a couple of posts on what it was like to have current presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg as mayor (and particularly justice-related topics from his time as mayor). This is the first of two such posts, as honestly, I have too much material to fit into one post.
This first post will focus on his treatment of other people while he was mayor, particularly his treatment of people of color, Muslims, women, and the poor. Buckle up, because this is going to be rough…
While he has apologized repeatedly for the existence of stop-and-frisk under his police force while he was mayor, I think it’s difficult to talk about his time as mayor without talking about that practice. The practice, which allowed police to stop someone temporarily to search, question, and detain someone, disproportionately targeted people of color. Consider the fact that…
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Filosofa's Word 
Here’s my two cents. I’m looking at it from the Chicago area.
Being a big city mayor is a tough job. We see how tough it is, looking at Chicago. A mayor cannot do his job without offending people.
Seen from this distance, I thought Bloomberg did a reasonably competent job as mayor. But he made a huge mistake when he decided to go for a third term. He overstayed his welcome.
The US presidency is a different kind of position. I will not be voting for Bloomberg in the Illinois primary. I would have preferred that he had not entered the competition. But if he finishes up as the nominee, then I will vote for him (as at least a slight improvement over Trump).
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Thanks Neil. You make some valid points. I am still put off by his stop-and-frisk policy, by his treatment of women in his company, and most of all, I think, by the arrogance and impatience I saw on the debate stage a couple of weeks ago. But, again, if he is the nominee, he will have my vote, for he cannot possibly be worse than Trump, and must surely be somewhat less dangerous.
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I would even vote for me if he were the nominee. 😉
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Heh heh … I would vote for you, too!!!
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I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about Mayor Bloomberg. As you know, I am a fan of the Mayor, so reading about this other side of him is enlightening. I wonder if the final part will have anything positive to say about him…
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I figure, the more knowledge we have, the better able to make an informed decision. Though, at this point, there is no doubt that if he becomes the nominee, most of us who see the dangers in another 4 years (or more) of Trump will vote for him. If we withstood 4 years of Trump, surely we can survive 4 years of Bloomberg. I don’t know … I didn’t ask Brendan, but he tends to be fair, so if he has anything positive to say, I’m sure he will.
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I don’t think Brendan liked Bloomberg as mayor, so I don’t think he will have much positive to say about him. that’s fine. If someone asked me to write something positive about Trump, I would be stumped…
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Eh … you never know. Although … if I were asked to say something positive about Trump, I could not do it even if my life depended on it.
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I don’t think many of us could. Wait. I got one. He’s really good at lying.
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You did it! You found something! You win the first prize medal! 🥇
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I’m guessing there were not many entrants in such a competition 🙂
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Yeah, to answer Jim’s question, there wasn’t much positive I experienced with Bloomberg. I wasn’t wealthy, and my neighborhood was a bit of a grind zero for stop and frisk and surveillance of Muslims (among other things). Also, my blog’s theme is more on injustices that we may be blind to, so my focus will be more on the injustices that happened while he was mayor.
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thanks, Brendan. Fair enough!
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Since everything (so they say) is relative, I would still vote for Bloomberg if he’s the Dem nominee for Pres, because no one (and I mean NO ONE) could be as bad as Trump.
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Oh, I will vote for him if he is the nominee — no doubt about that! I’m just hoping he isn’t the nominee, for he is far from the person I think would do the best job. But you’re right … Trump simply MUST go!!! Heck, I would vote for Attila the Hun if he were the nominee!
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