Intro: The 16-year-old son of a city employee recently fired for taking excessively long cigarette breaks has sent a bitter letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, saying that his mother cries constantly while his father is battling depression.
"Thank you for ruining my life," Robert Swinton, Jr., wrote in a letter reprinted in the New York Post in its Thursday editions. "Thank you for ruining his reputation. Thank you for leaving him dysfunctional. Thank you for making my mom cry every day."
EDITORIAL: GET A GRIP, MIKE
Source: New York Post, 2002-10-24Intro: As the letter points out, the elder Swinton apparently didn't exceed the legitimate daily time off a city worker is permitted (a total of 90 minutes, covering lunch and coffee breaks): The real reason that Swinton was fired was because he was caught - by a Post photographer - smoking.
In the brave new Bloomberg world, there apparently is no greater sin.
Indeed, it is becoming increasingly clear that the mayor's anti-smoking campaign is rooted in a disturbing obsession. . .
Bodegas - as successful small businesses - send a signal to a community about hard work, entrepreneurship and attaining the American Dream.
If they go out of business, the general quality of life in those neighborhoods will seriously suffer - to say nothing of the impact on overall city tax revenue. . .
Mayor Bloomberg needs to understand that his obsession is out of control.
He needs to remember what he once understood as a businessman: Oppressive city regulations can choke businesses and undermine the economy.
And then he needs to reinstate Bob Swinton - who broke no rules, and who most certainly committed no crime.