The public hearings on term limits came to a close yesterday, but not before a second day rivaled the opening session with an equal amount of dramatic flar and fiery exchanges and even included a letter in support of the mayor's proposal from Robert DeNiro. At one point, the hearing's sergeant-at-arms was forced to eject a group of hecklers who showed up and interrupted the proceedings with a sign that read, "Bloomberg to Democracy: Drop Dead!"
State Senator Eric Adams drew a good deal of attention when he called out local politicians' self-dealing in the formation of the bill and referred to the mayor as the Wizard of Oz. "You've got to pay attention to the man behind the curtain. Don't be the puppet, please," Adams said.
Friday saw input from familiar faces in the term limits battle including Anthony Weiner, William Thompson, Charles Barron and Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons. Parsons pleaded the case to allow another Bloomberg administration, saying that the current state of the economy "will make the 1970s fiscal crisis look like a day at the beach. In times like these, there's no substitute for leadership that's been tested."
All in all, the two days of hearings lasted 19 hours. At the end of it State Island Councilman James Oddo told SI Live, "I've disagreed and agreed. A lot of times I wanted to bang my head against the table. But I want to live every painful moment and every historic moment of it. This way, when I do make my decision, I can honestly say to my constituents that I listened to everyone who came."
On his weekly radio show yesterday, Bloomberg said he expected the proposal to be voted on next week. But a spokesman for Speaker Quinn said that is not likely to be the case.
