The NY Times has an interesting look at how Mayor Bloomberg has been reassuring NYers about the recent terror alerts, the latest in a post-September-11 administration filled with terror warnings. Bloomberg has been shifting his tone a bit: Though still reminding NYers to "go about their business" and partake in the city, trying to lead by example by taking the subway and going to targeted buildings, he's become more serious about the threats ("Every day in a very dangerous world is a challenge"). This gives political consultants an opportunity to opine about the Mayor's performance and offer backhanded praise (he's doing great, which is a surprise since he doesn't seem good at human interaction). But Gothamist got a kick out of a quote from Mayor's press secretary, Ed Skyler, about thoughts that the Republican National Convention would cause more problems for the city:
What is the alternative? Shutting down? Should we tell the Yankees and the Mets not to get into the World Series? Should we tell the Knicks not to make the playoffs? I dont think New Yorkers would like us to go in that direction.
It's a moot point, but having the President and thousands of his supporters in town is very different from a sports team. As far as Gothamist can tell, George Steinbrenner did not claim there were WMD in Iraq. But it's moot, the convention will be here, it'll be crowded, noisy but fine and we'll keep giving out-of-towners really awesome directions.
More terror alert fun: Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was in town, meeting with NY officials (like Commissioner Kelly, the Mayor, and Governor Pataki, above photo; the Times articles notes that meetings like that make the Mayor seem aligned with the Bush administration, which poses other issues for the Mayor's reelection effort), and he defended the terror alerts, which may have been outdated. Newsday on NYers dealing with "another day, another terror threat". And like many of the other NY politicians, Senator Hillary Clinton is asking Washington for more terror funding. Finally, check out the city's Office of Emergency Management site. Do you have a go bag?
