Mayor Michael Bloomberg made an unannounced visit to the Rockaway peninsula Saturday, talking to and taking pictures residents of the hurricane-ravaged area, in what was ostensibly supposed to be a low-key and press-free event. But then, just as intrepid Capital New York reporter Azi Paybarah and a crew from NY1 arrived, things started to to go awry.
First, a visibly angry man asked the mayor when water would arrive to the area. When the Bloomberg gave his answer–1 p.m. that day–the man, who’d been waiting for water since the previous night, pressed him further “Don’t you think that’s kind of ridiculous?” he said. “Everyone here, and not even a bottle of water.” Soon, other Rockaways residents began angrily asking questions, with one woman yelling “When are we going to get some fucking help over here, seriously? When are we going to get some help?” After less than a minute of taking questions from citizens, Bloomberg retreated with his aides to take questions from NY1′s reporter, then left in his SUV.
Watch Paybarah’s cell phone video of the ordeal above.
(Photo: Azi Paybarah/Flickr)
People who already didn't like our Mayor are having a good old time talking shit on him. How else was he supposed to respond to the guy swearing and yelling at him. I've been anti-Bloomberg on many issues, but I don't think he's doing a bad job on Sandy recover. This shit is unprecedented and requires some perspective. I happen to know several people working for Bloomberg and we have an army of employees working their fucking asses of 12-19 hours a day to get things back to normal. Blaming these monumental problems on the mayor is not different that blaming all the folks who are working for those who lost so much. And at least Mike is out there and letting some angry dude yell at him.