De Blasio Imposes Limits On Reporters' Questions At News Conferences
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio has imposed new limits on how many questions reporters can ask at his public news conferences.
As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, this came from the man who vowed a new era of transparency when he ran for office.
Mayor de Blasio appeared to be in high spirits Thursday when he arrived at St. Mary's Park in the South Bronx to announce new funds for green spaces. He high-fived local kids while smiling broadly.
But de Blasio had a mood change when minutes later, Kramer tried to get clarification about the allocation of funds for a park at the old Fresh Kills landfill. It was Kramer's third question, and she said the mayor tried, and failed, to cut her off.
Kramer: "So once the remediation is completed…"
De Blasio: "OK, we need to finish this and go on to others…"
Kramer: "How long will the remediation take so you can then turn it into a park?"
When another reporter asked a third question on the very topic the mayor called the news conference on, the mayor invoked a new rule for his encounters with the press.
"I'm going to take this one, but can I just say to all to of you – you've got, like, one question and a follow. But if everyone's doing like three-part questions, it becomes a problem," de Blasio said.
Kramer reported that in some respects, this was déjà vu all over again. Eight months ago, Kramer faced a similar situation when then-press secretary Karen Hinton said, "We're not taking questions today," following a news conference.
After that encounter between Kramer and Hinton, City Hall dramatically cut down on the mayor's accessibility. Now, he takes off-topic questions just once a week.
On Thursday, de Blasio's new two-question rule further limits accessibility, Kramer said.
Kramer: "Mr. Mayor, I'm just perplexed. I don't understand."
De Blasio: "You're what?"
Kramer: "I don't understand why it's a problem for a reporter to ask three questions about an initiative you have announced."
De Blasio: "There's a lot of people who want to ask questions and I think one follow-up is fair; sometimes two. But I just don't want to get with anyone into a back-and-forth too deep on any issue. I want to pass the ball around."
Dick Dadey, executive director of the good government group Citizens Union, said de Blasio's new rule "feels like an attempt to limit access to information that is necessary to understand the mayor's views and report them accurately."
He urged the mayor to be more transparent, not less, saying facts are critical to New Yorkers' understanding of important public issues.
