The New-York-City-Mayor-Michael-Bloomberg-explains-why-he-supports-a-new-mosque-near-Ground-Zero roadshow came to town today. And, oh yeah, Bloomberg also endorsed D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty.
LL got to Carmine’s, the New York-style Italian restaurant that just opened in Chinatown, well in advance of the 12:45 p.m. news conference to find the place packed with national media.
What? Do Fox News, CNN and NPR really care that much about two big city mayors saying nice things about each other?
As it turned out, they most certainly do not. Much of the news conference focused on Cordoba House and Bloomberg’s love of the Bill of Rights. Apparently, the same thing happened in Philly earlier this morning, when Bloomberg stopped there to stump for U.S. Senate hopeful Joe Sestak.
But after the urgent-to-D.C.-voters matter of whether a Muslim community center—that’s already been approved by the relevant zoning authorities—should be built in New York was disposed of, Bloomberg had plenty of nice things to say about Fenty. And Fenty had plenty of nice things to say about Bloomberg. (They promised they’d write to each other at least once a week and wouldn’t take off their friendship bracelets, even if their moms tell them to.)
Bloomberg said he’s proud of the work is young political acolyte has done, and told D.C. it would be crazy to change a horse midstream:
“He really does need another four years to build on his progress to keep Washington, D.C., in the right direction. Actually, I think we should phrase that the other way: Washington, D.C., needs Adrian Fenty for four more years. They shouldn’t run the risk of stopping all the progress that’s been made.”
Fenty said Bloomberg and Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley represent “the standard of a well-run, highly responsive, efficient manager running a city government like a private sector business, focused on results, focused on getting things done.” Fenty, you’ll remember, constructed a bullpen-like office in the Wilson Building modeled on Bloomberg’s office. And it was Bloomberg’s own schools boss, Joel Klein, who recommended Fenty hire DCPS Chancellor Michelle Rhee. Fenty also teamed up with Bloomberg and Boston Mayor Thomas Menino to try to sue to keep guns out of their cities.
There is, of course, one hitch with Bloomberg’s endorsement: he’s not a registered Democrat, and he doesn’t live in D.C., so he can’t actually vote here. Asked why those people who can should care what Bloomberg thinks, Fenty had a ready reply. “What his endorsement says to the residents of D.C. is that people who know about running a city… that they believe that the work of my administration, the people who work for me, that we’ve been able to tackle the tough issues,” Fenty said.
Photos by LL’s iPhone