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He's only been in office over a month, but so far, NYC Mayor, Bill deBlasio has managed to cross hairs with "rich" residents of the Upper East Side of Manhattan, the governor of New York, more than a million school kids and their parents and even Today Show weatherman, Al Roker.
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The latest snafu occurs over the mayor's decision to keep open NYC public schools on a day Governor Cuomo (correctly) declared a "State of Emergency" for New York and urged people to "stay home."
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After personally shoveling his Park Slope driveway yesterday of snow (a photo op deBlasio always takes full advantage of for media cameras) the mayor held a press conference in which he attempted to blame the National Weather Service for failing to predict the severity of the latest snow storm.
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But, anyone paying even slight attention to media weather forecasts knew days in advance this was going to be "a big one" -- a "Nor'easter" in fact, dumping up to a foot of snow in the city.
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deBlasio's attempt to divert blame to the National Weather Service for his poor and senseless decision to keep open public schools did not sit well with Al Roker who went on to post a number of critical tweets on Twitter, including one that suggested de Blasio would be a "one term mayor" (a tweet Roker later apologized for, but not the others).
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My problem with de Blasio (and reason I didn't support him for the office of Mayor) is that he doesn't appear to understand the actual job of a mayor of a large city.
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That is to be manager and administrator of public services. (i.e. insure the trains and buses run on time as well as insuring public safety -- especially from crime).
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Considering that during a previous snow storm when deBlasio also kept open public schools, hundreds of children were stranded on school buses for hours because Manhattan's Upper East Side streets had failed to be plowed and considering that less than half of public school kids actually attended school that day, it seems deBlasio fails to learn anything from past mistakes.
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Yesterday too, only 45% of children actually attended classes in NYC public schools. With such poor attendance teachers were forced more into the roles of baby sitters, meal providers and showing movies than actually teaching anything.
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Then again, deBlasio seems to think schools are more for baby sitting and providing "hot meals" than actually providing education. -- Hence his campaign for "Universal Pre-K" education in NYC with price tag going to "rich taxpayers." (Apparently, deBlasio doesn't believe modern parents capable of opening a can of Spaghetti O's or tuning on a microwave.)
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I am not in favor of Universal Pre-K because I believe young childrens' time with parents when very young is critical to their sense of security and emotional development. (My earliest childhood memory is the "trauma" I felt when first being separated from my mother when attending first grade.)
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In nature most animals stay with mothers (or parents) long after maturity from infant stage. It is how animals learn to function in an otherwise dangerous and threatening world.
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That some politicians (like deBlasio) seem in a rush to move parental/child separation along sooner than it normally would occur under the guise of "Pre-K Education" seems a push for too much governmental authority and influence upon both the young and parents. These in turn can lead to too much dependency upon governmental services such as meal providing or "baby sitting" (responsibilities that normally fall to one or both parents).
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In essence, I have concerns with the long range impacts of these programs upon the emotional stability, security and independent functionality of future generations.
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I believe it is always a little "traumatic" when children first have to separate from parents and spend large parts of the days with otherwise strangers. But, that this would become common practice for toddlers and children not old enough to understand the reasons for it is all the more troubling.
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Yesterday someone posted on the NY One site that deBlasio was "soft on crime and hard on children."
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I don't believe that accusation to be far from the mark of truth.
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deBlasio's answers to much the criticisms often begin with, "As the parent of public school children......."
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But deBlasio's kids are teenagers, not toddlers. And they are kids of a prominent New Yorker who are likely not stranded on school buses for hours because Dad makes a bad decision based upon personal social agendas rather than practical and safe management of a city.
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deBlasio has only been in office a month, but I am already weary of his lofty "Tale of Two Cities" divisive talk, his liberal and extremist social agendas and most of all, the photo ops of him shoveling his driveway.
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If deBlasio cares so much for the "poor" then why isn't he offering some down on his luck young man a few bucks to shovel a driveway and buy his own "hot meal?"
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Along with everything else, the new mayor is an apparent cheapskate.
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Spare me from the mayors who push "health" and social agendas (for some kind of eternal Utopia) ahead of actually seeing to it that the trains run on time and the people are kept reasonably safe. -- PCA
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