Posted by Leonard Steinberg on January 22nd, 2014

I have received far too many calls today about New Yorkers angry at the City, and especially Mayor De Blasio, for the dreadful post-storm clean-up: why is it that the streets of Manhattan were so poorly ploughed? A visiting Chicago resident said ‘this would never happen in Chicago’…..TODAY SHOW Al Roker blasted the administration for its excuse that they were anticipating the storm to arrive later…..many Upper East Siders cited de-commisioned busses and cabs, stuck in poorly ploughed streets……I personally spotted many side streets that had been dreadfully inadequately cleared. Fifth Avenue was a mess.

The NEW YORK POST, not especially a fan of our progressive, Democrat mayor, made this a front page story, claiming this was revenge against those that did not vote for Mayor De Blasio (as if all Upper East Siders are rich Republicans which is far from true)…..then again they tend to be a bit extremist at times. Yet, we hear that the Park Slope streets were well ploughed. The bottom line is, far too many New Yorkers agree the streets of Manhattan were indeed poorly ploughed to the point of being hazerdous. Should a Governor-Christie-style investigation be initiated to figure out what is the truth? Was this purposeful? I truly hope this is not the case. Regardless, the first priority of a Mayor is that of effective manager, and regardless of who is to blame, this storm was simply not well managed.

In a CRAIN’S poll, 69% of polsters said the storm was poorly handled. Not good!

Only 23% of registered New York voters actually voted in the 2013 Mayoral election: If Mayor de Blasio wants to get re-elected in a few years, angering 77% of the electorate will not help. Angering Manhattanites who pay the vast majority of taxes to the City coffers is quite simply stupid. And if it is discovered that this ‘Manhattan bias’ was intentional, heads should roll!