The Days Lengthen,
The Term Shortens.
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How Much You Care.

By Henry J. Stern
April 8, 2004

Mayor Koch is fond of saying: "If you agree with me on nine issues out of twelve, support me. If you agree with me on twelve out of twelve, see a psychiatrist."
 
Mayor Bloomberg is an honest, intelligent man who developed a midlife interest in public affairs. A combination of his personal wealth, the competent staff he chose, endorsements by Mayors Koch and Giuliani, and widespread distaste for the Democratic nominee (for reasons personal and political) propelled Bloomberg into becoming New York City's 108th mayor. He is the second to be term-limited, and he must leave by December 31, 2009.
 
The mayor has usually acted in a 'nonpolitical' manner, sometimes too nonpolitical for his own good. His circle is small, and consists mainly of employees, who are loyal and able, and sometimes imaginative. The mayor's most important initiatives—the Board of Education takeover and the ban on indoor smoking at bars and restaurants—are very worthwhile. But since no good deed goes unpunished, he has taken a lot of flak over the cigarette bill and the consequences of his education initiatives.
 
The mayor did not take flack; that word is a mildly pejorative reference to a press agent, now called a public relations or communications person. Flak, on the other hand, comes from the German acronym: flieger (flyer) abwehr (defense) kanonen (cannons). It means anti-aircraft fire. The best-known American acronym of that era is snafu, which describes a muddled or confusing state of affairs.

Anyone who wants to know the word's actual origin should press Reply, and then enter Snafu on the subject line, or anywhere else. You will receive a prompt response, only five words long.
 
It is not widely known that it was the City Council that passed the anti-smoking bill, at the mayor's request, by a vote of 42-7 in December 2002. The Council of Rookies is not made of submissives—it has overridden fifteen mayoral vetoes. The clean air bill is a significant advance in public health. It protects employees of restaurants and bars from second-hand smoke, mirroring a state law to similar effect. It has a salutary effect on other diners.

Yet it is the mayor who has borne the brunt of smokers' rage, fanned by the tabloids. That is in part because his own remarks on the subject have been less than empathetic to nicotine addicts.
 
A column by Richard Schwartz in today's Daily News, "Mayor Mike still suffering empathy deficit," addresses that particular issue. You should link to it if the News is not on your reading list. Empathy means understanding and vicarious experience of the feelings of other people, as singles or in groups. Sympathy is what we used to call it, but we now usually restrict sympathy to regrets or condolences at people's misfortunes. We will speak of entropy another time.
 
There are a number of issues on which I disagree with the mayor. I am pleased that he took over the school system, but believe that Chancellor Klein is too attached to conventional (Teachers College) wisdom on matters about which neither of us has 'professional' qualifications. But his devotion to the well-traveled Diana Lam, his awareness of some of her misjudgments, and his accelerated anointment of her acolyte arouse anxiety. Ending social promotions was a good move, but for the kids who are rightfully not promoted, he needs what we now call an exit strategy.
 
When I served as a commissioner, in the dark ages of Koch and Giuliani, I felt very fortunate that I was able to make generally reliable judgments on issues before me, based on history, personal experience, common sense and mother wit, without relying on unattainable or unreliable data or self-serving studies. People who are very bright are sometimes misled by dubious or deniable documents, or misrepresentations by the credentialista. Sadly, this is one area in which testing is so far imperfect. Tests measure knowledge and reasoning skills, but not judgment, a quality that can only be proven by experience or discerned by insight.
 
Other problems out there include the Christo intrusion in Central Park in 2005; the MTA's $450 million reconstruction of a reasonably adequate South Ferry subway station underneath historic Battery Park (yes, the same MTA that has already wasted several hundred million dollars on remodeling its bureaucrats' building on prime real estate across the street at Two Broadway); the refusal of the city's unions to change work rules and generate productivity savings; the apparent harassment of merchants, drivers and homeowners by newly increased fines and zealous enforcement; and our feckless City Council, which receives Zimbabwe's dictator Mugabe (today's Idi Amin), but cannot pass a resolution attacking anti-Semitism because that is too controversial for some of its members.
 
Nonetheless, for New York City the cup is half full and not half empty. Spring has sprung; the crocuses are out. Homicides and cigarette deaths are down, employment is slightly up, we have not been attacked for 31 months, and we have a decent, honorable, relatively moderate mayor. To strengthen the case for an additional 48 months, he should make the most of the next 21.