De Blasio Criticized After Snubbing New York Post Reporter At News Conference
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Some people were questioning Mayor Bill de Blasio's temperament Friday, following a very public outburst.
As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, this has been a mense malum in Latin, or a mal mes in Spanish – or in English a plain old bad month – for Mayor Bill de Blasio. The ethics probe into city government has expanded, and the death of Zymere Perkins, 6, in Harlem has drawn consternation after news broke that calls to help him had fallen through the cracks.
And on Thursday, de Blasio snubbed a New York Post reporter -- identified in a Post article as City Hall bureau chief Yoav Gonan.
De Blasio: "Come on. Try to ask a real question. Go ahead."
Gonan: "The District Attorney…"
De Blasio: "Next?"
Gonan: "Mr. Mayor? Mr. Mayor?"
De Blasio: "You can keep talking all you want. Go ahead."
Gonan: "Are you calling on me today?'
De Blasio: "I'm calling on real media outlets."
The exchange kept going on.
De Blasio: "You can keep trying, man. You're in the back. Go ahead."
Gonan: (Asks a question about teachers).
De Blasio: "You can talk all you want. Right back there."
Gonan: "Mr. Mayor, I'm credentialed just like the media."
De Blasio: "All right, you don't want to take it? I'm out of here."
The mayor was later asked if it helped him to take questions just once a week and slam media outlets.
"It doesn't have to help," de Blasio said. "I got no use for a right wing rag that attacks people who are good public servants and tries to undermine their reputation."
The Post in turn mocked the mayor on its front page Friday, with boldface white letters reading, "De Waasio," and showing the mayor's head superimposed on the body of a baby in a high chair – wearing a bib reading "Lil' mayor," and shaking a rattle with one hand while throwing a baby bottle with the other.
"Rattled mayor lashes out at Post – aww, did we hurt your feelings?" read the front cover subhead.
Former Press Secretary Karen Hinton said on NY1's "Inside City Hall" program that the mayor was not helping himself by losing his patience.
"I've given him advice before about this very topic, which losing your temper with the news media does nothing for you, except get you stories about losing your temper," Hinton said.
Other mayors, including Ed Koch, Rudy Giuliani, and Michael Bloomberg, also got testy with the press. In 2013, Bloomberg, "El Bloombito" to some, did not like questions about fashion advice he gave to then-City Council speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn.
Bloomberg on Jan. 13, 2013: "I never said it. I don't know where it came from. Next question, miss?"
Kramer: "I just wondered why you've become the fashion police, giving Christine Quinn advice about wearing high heels and getting her roots done."
Bloomberg: "Miss, if she asked me when we have a conversation and joke about it, there's nothing wrong with that."
CBS2's Kramer asked Mayor de Blasio's current press secretary, Eric Phillips, if his boss regretted the most recent outburst. His response was one word, "N-O, no."
