Good Apple by Elizabeth Passarella

Author:Elizabeth Passarella
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2020-11-04T00:00:00+00:00

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

You didn’t see this coming, and that’s understandable. I’m not related to Michael Bloomberg. I’ve never even met him. But he was the mayor of New York City for twelve of the twenty years I’ve lived here, starting shortly after 9/11, which was an intense time. Twelve years, because he strong-armed his way into a third term after introducing a bill that would extend term limits for New York City mayors. A lot of people criticize him for that. Not me. I would have had him be mayor forever. Unless he was going to be president, which is a whole other ball of wax.

People always say about rich guys who get into politics, “Well, he doesn’t have to pander to special interests, because he’s self-funded.” Or, “He doesn’t act like a politician, because he’s just a successful businessman.” (These statements were more benign and fun to throw around before 2016.) Michael Bloomberg really did just act like a normal, non-politician person, in my eyes. This was most evident during press conferences about impending severe weather. Bloomberg was at his most suave when assuring New York City residents that he was on top of Snowstorm Bernard or what have you. He told it like it was. He didn’t spout off dumb platitudes. He sounded like he had common sense.

Not everyone thought so. Some critics think he’s arrogant and dismissive of the press. My husband Michael’s family is full of public-school teachers who compare Bloomberg to the Antichrist on account of his parsimonious dealings with their union, I believe. Whenever Bloomberg’s name comes up at a family dinner, I sigh rhapsodically, while my sister-in-law finds a reason to get something from the kitchen. In contrast, I watched him talk about snowplows and school cancellations long before I had a school-age child. That’s how good he was. Growing up in the South, the lightest fairy dusting of snow meant school was out, and your mom was in line at Kroger buying the last gallon of milk. (I’ve never understood the run on bread and milk. BUY GIN AND COOKIES. Or at least frozen pizzas.) In New York, on the other hand, I have climbed over snowdrifts the size of a baby elephant to walk my kids to school. It’s rare that the streets aren’t plowed well enough for taxis and buses to operate. Still, it’s the weather, and it’s unpredictable, and the mayor takes a lot of heat for either calling off school prematurely or too late. What I love about Bloomberg is that he came into those weather-related news conferences knowing he couldn’t win, and he didn’t try to spin anything or make himself look like a hero. It was no-nonsense. In a news conference in February 2013, the day New York was facing an incoming winter storm, he said, “There is no need to panic, buying gas for your cars; all indications are the gas supply is plentiful, and deliveries will not be disrupted. Tonight, what’s a good idea? Cook a meal, stay home, read a good book, watch a movie, just take it easy.

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