My earlier comparisons of Bill de Blasio to John V. Lindsay did not do justice to the Putz’s commitment to bad ideas. Although Mayor Lindsay had an aide named Mitchell Ginsberg who was so generous with welfare money that he was dubbed “Come and Get It Ginsberg,” Mayor de Blasio is actually upping the ante.
He is on a crusade to abolish Gotham’s standards across the board, leading to a pillaging of our treasury and threatening basic civic functioning.
His agenda can be summed up as “Come and Take It — All of It.”
From criminal justice to housing, from schools to homelessness and welfare, de Blasio is lowering barriers and making it too easy to get diplomas, benefits and subsidies. He settles tort lawsuits by writing the check first and getting the facts later, and tolerates too much antisocial behavior. He created two massive entitlements, universal pre-kindergarten and a mental health program, without a plan for managing them.
Here’s the price: His willy-nilly handouts will backfire for most New Yorkers. The rising cost of living is a time bomb that will harm more people than he dreams of helping.
Lindsay had the excuse that the city had never before tried his utopian plans. The “Fun City” disaster means de Blasio should know better, but even as evidence of deterioration accumulates, he plows forward.
As The Post reported, de Blasio’s edict to reduce student suspensions in public schools means profanity, insubordination and violence now bring only a “warning card.” It urges students to “please bring this card home . . . and discuss the matter.”
A Bronx high school student was caught with seven small bags of marijuana and, instead of a suspension, got a polite warning. As the head of the school safety officers’ union put it, “Turning your back on illegal behavior is grooming criminals.”
Regarding academic standards, de Blasio is on a wholesale gutting mission. The staff of failing schools face no urgency to succeed, with the mayor rewarding their incompetence by throwing hundreds of millions of extra dollars at them.
A former ally, Ernie Logan, head of the principals union, calls de Blasio’s program a “political mess.” Logan told the New York Times the mayor’s team has “lost their focus on kids.”
That assumes it ever had such a focus. City Hall’s own report cards on pre-K show that private- and nonprofit-run programs are generally better than the public ones. Of the 50 lowest-scoring programs, 42 are run by city educrats. Of the 50 highest-scoring programs, 36 are privately run.
The charter phenomenon is another example of how privately run schools are usually better than those run by government. And the mayor is the worst large landlord in New York, with many Housing Authority buildings falling apart and riddled with violence.
The public mood about safety is eroding because de Blasio fundamentally mistrusts cops.
Even when his rhetoric is rosy, his actions are unwaveringly hostile. In recent days, he signed an agreement to install a new monitor to make sure the police don’t religiously profile Muslims.
They never did, as defined by the law, but de Blasio has now agreed to three different monitors to police the police.
Then there’s his approach to homelessness — or his approaches, because he keeps changing his story.
He began by promising the apple pie of compassion and hired a career litigator who spent 30 years suing previous mayors. Steven Banks made it easier to get into shelters, stay longer, get welfare cash, live on the streets and duck work requirements. Presto — the problems got worse, even as the economy got better.
The mayor confronted the growing disorder by denying its existence, then admitted it was so, gave Banks more power and money, and made instant noises of victory.
When that ruse was exposed, he switched gears to blame the economy and his predecessors. “In the crass political world, these people didn’t vote,” he said recently. “Therefore, they didn’t matter to some people.”
Talk about your false prophet! Homeless people didn’t matter to him until his poll numbers collapsed. The shelters were hellholes for two years on his watch, but now that he’s trying to turn political survival into a virtue, everybody else is a sinner.
Obviously angry that he is being held accountable, he announced his revenge. “We’re owning this issue 110 percent,” he declared.
That’s bad news, New York. The Putz is here to help.
No time for Preet retreat
Prosecutor Preet Bharara’s announcement that he found “insufficient evidence to prove a federal crime” in the shutdown of the Moreland Commission comes as a relief to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his staff.
But is it also good for New York?
That’s unclear because, despite the convictions of the top Democratic and GOP lawmakers, Albany reacted with a yawn about higher ethics.
By clearing Cuomo, Bharara might have removed the last incentive for reform.
That means the culture of corruption marches on, minus some leaders and foot soldiers.
The corruption tax remains in effect, and the pols will believe it is safe to return to business as usual.
While Bharara is still looking, including at a case involving Cuomo, the only hurdle that remains is political, and that has always proved an easy one for the pols. The public is fickle about corruption, denouncing its discovery while re-electing nearly every legislator every time.
Still, it will be fascinating to see whether Cuomo’s behavior changes.
His latest mania has him embracing a raft of major projects that will deliver sunshine and puppies to every home — free of charge!
In advance of today’s State of the State address, his office touted “14 signature proposals rolled out over past 8 days.” It claimed the list would “further the Empire State’s legacy as a national progressive leader.”
A few examples: Cuomo will “restore economic justice” with a $15 minimum wage, a plan he denounced when Mayor Bill de Blasio first proposed it. The governor also will “transform and expand” downstate infrastructure, “transform Penn Station, “dramatically expand” the Javits Convention Center, “fundamentally transform” the MTA and “dramatically expand” high-speed Internet.
Or, at least, he was going to do all that while an indictment cloud hung over his head.
Face music on terror
Headline: “American folk singer hopes peace concert for ISIS will win over terror group.”
Sure, it’s ridiculous, but not much more than when Secretary of State John Kerry took James Taylor to Paris. After the first terror attack there, Taylor sang “You’ve Got a Friend” and Kerry pronounced the mission a success.
Then the terrorists struck a second time, with even deadlier results.
We should use bombs instead of guitars.
Iran again caught ’napping
The news that Iran grabbed 10 American sailors sends the mind racing back to the hostage drama that began in 1979, and to the nuclear deal that President Obama hoped would lead to normalized relations.
Maybe it has. Maybe taking hostages is normal to Iran.