The New York Times Discovers Bill deBlasio, Next Mayor of New York City

The Times is a little late to the party, but better late than never.  Citywide media are starting to notice the candidate that knowledgeable progressive Democrats have been supporting for many months.  The media narratives of this election cycle have been endlessly frustrating for people who follow city politics closely. The endless parade of articles about "prohibitive front runner" Christine Quinn, followed by breathless non-stop coverage of Anthony Weiner, who never stood a ghost of a chance in the upcoming primary; precious few column inches on the most viable candidates.  

In a mayor’s race crammed with celebrity razzle-dazzle, historic candidacies and tabloid turns, a gangly liberal from Brooklyn is quietly surging into the top tier of the field by talking about decidedly unglamorous topics: neglected hospitals, a swelling poverty rate and a broken prekindergarten system. 

Now that Anthony D. Weiner’s campaign has imploded, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, is drawing new energy and voter interest to a candidacy that presents the most sweeping rejection of what New York City has become in the past 12 years — a city, he says, that is defined by its yawning inequities.
“We are not, by our nature, an elitist city,” he told a group of young Democrats a few nights ago at a cramped bar in Brooklyn. “We are not a city for the chosen few.”

I give Bloomberg plenty of credit for the things he's gotten right.  But he's absolutely fallen down on the job when it comes to services for the vast majority of NYC's population.  Bloomberg is a guy that's utterly out of touch with the realities of daily life for working people in this city.  After 12 years with a billionaire at the helm, New York could use a Mayor who appreciates what its like to live a working class existence in Brooklyn.