Posted on 03/27/2014 9:04:00 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Former Leader of NYC: 'People Are Talking About Moving Out Of The City'
Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani slammed Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday, saying he has some “real disagreements” with the man now occupying his former desk at City Hall.
As CBS 2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, de Blasio has been in office about 85 days – two weeks shy of the 100-day mark. But that is enough time for Giuliani to make a judgment – and to take the gloves off and unload on the current mayor.
“I know the economy of the city is going in the wrong direction,” Giuliani said. “People are talking about moving out of the city because they’re afraid of high taxes.”
It was a bald reference from the two-term former mayor, a Republican, to the Democrat de Blasio’s oft-stated desire to raise taxes on the rich to pay for universal pre-kindergarten.
Legislative leaders in Albany will not approve the new tax, but it is just one of several issues where the two part company – or as Giuliani described it, have “some real disagreements.”
Until this week, Giuliani refused to criticize de Blasio. But now, the two have apparently parted ways on the economy, charter schools, and the mayor’s desire to ban horse carriages.
Giuliani confessed that he himself thought about a ban on horse carriages in 1994 when he began his tenure as mayor, but quickly changed his mind after meeting the drivers.
“I feel kind of emotional about that, because I got to know the people. I was probably inclined to want to do it, and I went and visited the stables; met the people,” Giuliani said. “These are mostly hard-working legal immigrants. They rely on horse to feed their children. They take very good care of that horse.”
Giuliani said it would be a crime to put the horses out to pasture, because they like to work.
“They’ve got to find work for the horses, because the horses become depressed,” Giuliani said. “I hope the mayor changes his mind about it.”
A de Blasio spokesman issued a statement about Giuliani’s comments.
“We’re proud of the agenda we’ve set on public safety, education and income inequality,” the statement said. “Those are priorities that will benefit everyone, Rudy Giuliani included.”
Giuliani did agree with de Blasio on some issues, among them the choice to re-hire his old police commissioner.
“I’ve also seen in the new mayor a tendency to correct things. I thought he made a good choice in Bill Bratton,” Giuliani said. “He got himself into a lot of trouble over charter schools; he seems to be correct himself.”
Kramer asked Giuliani if he ever considered running for the job again. He said he is not, but is instead thinking about running a horse operation.
But I do think, the City Council ought to allow him to be Mayor for a few months as he requested after 9/11 when asking to stay on the job for a months after his mayoralty expired.
Yeah, but he looks like Calvin Coolidge compared to de Blasio.
Personally, I do care what Giuliani has to say. Some people might call him a RINO, or a GOPe, or whatever. And all of that might be true.
But on 9/11 he was a hero. He didn’t retreat to some bunker somewhere. He rushed to the front lines, and he risked his own life. On 9/11 he was a true leader, an American in the best sense of the word. Bless him.
I don’t know if I could vote for him. But I respect him and I will never forget his bravery and leadership on that day.
Say what you will, but he was a great mayor of New York.
I agree 100%. Ronald Reagan is one of my heroes. So is Rudi Giuliani.
True leadership.
He was successful long before 9/11 too. That city was a disaster when he took over. He turned it around in so many ways. Tourism was up, crime down, the place no longer smelled like piss. Giuliani is nw rock ribbed right winger, but he’s got a lot more conservatism than most in power and he had a steel spine when dealing with the left, the mob and the media. SNL was brutal to him pre 9/11.
Rudy Giuliani was also the guy at the 2008 Republican Convention who warned America that Obama had an empty resume.
Too bad most people didn’t listen.
He was an excellent mayor who made the city safe for this long-time single young woman. I finally got to put away the concealed knife and pepper spray! I just wish he had taken on Bloomberg - he was even a bit squishy when Bloomberg allowed Occupy Wall Street to destroy small businesses in lower Manhattan. It’s one thing to not attack your successor but to just let it all go by without a single verbal swipe...
“Giuliani is nw rock ribbed right winger, but he’s got a lot more conservatism than most in power and he had a steel spine when dealing with the left, the mob and the media.”
He was a fiscal conservative; socially he was a total lib. His own son wouldn’t campaign for him after he was publicly running around with another woman; he did the gay parade thing and all. Not all that different from Bloomberg, though he didn’t mind if you wanted a 55-gallon soft drink; they were both elected to keep NYC safe for businesses and the millionaires who own them (and that is understandable).
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