Austin's heinous new logo.

Reminds me of when NYC spent millions on bringing arts and culture back to the city after Covid. It was hard to believe it wasn’t an SNL skit pic.twitter.com/0dYhP2bWna

— King Francis the Turd (@YourTurdliness) September 5, 2025

"It felt like the New York Times didn’t understand New York City. It was this strangely conservative law-and-order, traditionalist view..."

".. that totally missed the reality of the city today. My view is people are hurting and affordability is the issue and the Times just does not understand what everyday people are going through. They’ve disconnected from New York City more and more with every passing year. Obviously, they decided they didn’t care enough about New York City to make an editorial endorsement and then they show up with this wimpy, disingenuous editorial basically justifying why people should vote for someone corrupt in Andrew Cuomo, and not even recognizing that other new leaders had worthy ideas. I mean, the whole thing was like, 'Let’s invalidate new young leaders,' right? It was unbelievably ageist and out of touch."

Said Bill de Blasio, quoted in "Bill de Blasio on Andrew Cuomo and That Nasty Times Op-Ed/The former mayor has a few things to get off his chest" (NY Magazine).

"About two months ago, after another stale Saturday night of binge-watching television at their Brooklyn home, Bill de Blasio and..."

"... [his wife] Chirlane McCray surprised themselves. It began with an offhand remark: 'Why aren’t you lovey-dovey anymore?' Mr. de Blasio, the former New York City mayor, asked, according to Ms. McCray.... It moved quickly, both said, into the sort of urgently searching dialogue that had been necessary for years but avoided until that moment: a full accounting of their relationship, what they wanted, what they were not getting. 'You can’t fake it,' Ms. McCray said Tuesday from their kitchen table. 'You can feel when things are off,' Mr. de Blasio said, 'and you don’t want to live that way.' They made their decision that night...."

From "Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray Are Separating/Mr. de Blasio’s marriage helped fuel his campaign for mayor of New York, and his intense personal and political bond with his wife drew admiration and scrutiny" (NYT).

"They are not planning to divorce, they said, but will date other people. They will continue to share the Park Slope townhouse where they raised their two children, now in their 20s — the vinyl-sided hub of a thoroughly modern political family whose mixed-race symbolism helped send a spindly progressive long shot to City Hall...."

Were they ever "lovey-dovey"?  

"We’re an employer too, the state of Michigan is... I know if that [vaccine] mandate happens, we’re going to lose state employees."

"That’s why I haven’t proposed a mandate at the state level. Some states have. We have not, we’re waiting to see what happens in court." 

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said on Monday, quoted in "Dems begin souring on vaccine mandates" (Politico). 

As for Biden, unnamed Democrats have "concerns... that they’re ending up with the worst of all worlds: a blunt policy that won’t go into effect but that will saddle them politically." As one "strategist" put it: "it’s just another thing added to the pile of shit that he’s already been dealing with." We're told: "Aides are convinced that the mandates are necessary to finally tamp down the pandemic, which they believe is Biden’s political end-all, be-all." 

Supposedly, Biden "wanted to steer clear of the politicization that has hampered much of the Covid-19 response, viewing mandates as a concept that could easily spark blowback." He's the President. Why didn't he get what he wanted? Others prevailed, somehow, and he's stuck with the political problem. 

"Through an outfit called 'Advance Peace,' the city will offer a stipend of $1,000 per month ('transformational opportunities') to 'young men involved in lethal firearm ­offenses'..."

"... at the same time pairing them with 'neighborhood-change agents' — 'credible messengers, meaning they bring life experience, conflict-mediation and mentorship skills to the target population.' "

From "De Blasio’s plan to give a grand a month to violent offenders is insane" (NY Post).

What exactly is Joe Rogan's problem with Mayor De Blasio's "Open Culture" program?

How the fuck is this a real thing. https://t.co/xi4DYlnrP2

— Joe Rogan (@joerogan) February 16, 2021

Is Rogan mocking the style of dance or is he fretting about the transmission of covid-19 outdoors? Or is it something else — De Blasio paying attention to the arts when he could be tending to health and economics (even though the arts are a core component of NYC's economy)? Is it that when people are suffering and deprived of the normal components of ordinary life, ballet is never the answer?

ADDED: Whatever Rogan might have in mind, I want to step back and consider a larger topic: Is art superfluous, a frill that you get to after the basics are satisfied? I think human beings produce and want to experience art even when they are deprived and suffering. There's a difference, however, between the art of the suffering people and art staged by the government to entertain the public. 

The source and the nature of the art is different. Is it an expression of suffering or is it an amusement intended to distract people and keep them from demanding too much from the government? 

The ballet in that video does not express any real feeling about our current predicament. It's more: We have dancers who can't perform in the usual theater setting that you probably can't afford anyway, so lucky you, they're willing to bestow their talents on you out here in the streets.

ALSO: I'm thinking about those Jules Feiffer dancers....

Not much of an explanation in "N.Y.C.’s Schools Shutdown, Explained."

That's a very short article in the NYT this morning. Highlights: 

The mayor’s 10 a.m. news conference [yesterday] was repeatedly pushed back and finally began at 3 p.m. At a separate news conference earlier in the afternoon, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo shouted at a reporter who asked whether schools would remain open. 

While he was speaking, The Times reported that schools would close on Thursday.... 

Many parents depend on their children being in school for at least part of the week in order to work. Educators and parents had also criticized the city for not improving remote learning even though about 70 percent of children already take online classes full-time. Some students, including those in homeless shelters, have not received iPads or laptops from the city, and teachers have said that some students struggle to log on.

Where's the explanation of the shutdown? I went to that article because it's newer than this NYT article, which I'd already read and which gives the foundation for the questions I hoped to get answered and absolutely did not: 

"People have described the Cuomo-de Blasio shenanigans as a beef between two Italian-American men."

"But their backgrounds are vastly different. De Blasio, who is from Cambridge, Massachusetts, adopted his mother’s surname. His father was a Wasp and a Yale graduate who lost a leg at Okinawa. He later abandoned the family and, stricken with lung cancer, killed himself. De Blasio molded himself into a hardworking Brooklyn man of the people. 'It’s sort of a false identity, like the shit-kicking version of George W. Bush, whereas Andrew is who he is,' the former city official said...."

From "Andrew Cuomo, the King of New York/The Governor has been widely praised for his response to COVID. But his critics see a would-be authoritarian obsessed with settling scores" by Nick Paumgarten (The New Yorker).

"Mario, as Andrew called his boss, was the son of Italian immigrants who had a corner grocery store. Mario graduated from St. John’s Law, top of the class, and, when no Manhattan firm would hire him, started out in Brooklyn; one of his clients was Fred Trump. Mario was a largely absent but highly demanding patriarch. Much has been made through the years, with little comment by Andrew himself, of Andrew’s desire to please or, as time has gone by, surpass his father. 'Mario was fucking brutal,' a former aide told me. 'Andrew was scarred.'"

Sarcasm?

"De Blasio says he didn’t know Democratic National Convention was this week."

"Scrutiny of Social-Distance Policing as 35 of 40 Arrested Are Black/Mayor Bill de Blasio said the police had enforced rules properly..."

"... but other officials expressed concern about tactics similar to unfair 'stop and frisk' practices" (NYT)("Of those arrested, 35 people were black, four were Hispanic and one was white").

Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has long denounced the unconstitutional “stop and frisk” practices of the Bloomberg administration, has found himself in recent days forced to explain why enforcement of social distancing in predominantly minority neighborhoods is different than “stop and frisk.”...

“What happened with stop and frisk was a systematic, oppressive, unconstitutional strategy that created a new problem much bigger than anything it purported to solve,” he said. “This is the farthest thing from that. This is addressing a pandemic. This is addressing the fact that lives are in danger all the time. By definition, our police department needs to be a part of that because safety is what they do.”

Stop and frisk was aimed at the black community because that's where the incidence of gun violence was highest. Why is the enforcement of social distancing concentrated on the black community? I don't see how the difference from stop and frisk makes concentrating on black people better. It makes it worse!

I don't see de Blasio arguing that the coronavirus is victimizing black people disproportionately and that justifies the enforcement disparity. To say that would be to cite a similarity to stop and frisk, and how could that work for de Blasio? The pandemic is a bigger danger than gun violence? I don't know, but what he is saying doesn't cohere for me. It's a string of disjointed sentences — just nonsense.

"You humiliated yourself with your ludicrous run for president last year, and every time you open your mouth now, Andrew Cuomo runs over and drops a stick of dynamite in it to remind you who’s boss."

Writes John Podhoretz in "Bill de Blasio’s new low: blaming the Jews" (NY Post).

The headline refers to De Blasio's harsh reaction to a specific event: a large gathering of Jewish mourners that took place in Brooklyn. De Blasio blamed those Jews for that one thing that they did. The headline makes it sound as though de Blasio had engaged in classic anti-Semitism, blaming Jews in general for things that go wrong.

For example, during the Black Plague in the 1300s, Jews got blamed and murdered on the theory that they were causing the disease. I don't think de Blasio is much good as a mayor and he should never have joined the overcrowded Democratic presidential race, but it's awful to characterize him as "blaming the Jews."

Podhoretz writes:

There’s no way to read your tweet from Tuesday night in an exculpatory fashion. Here it is: “My message to the Jewish community, and all communities, is this simple: the time for warnings has passed. I have instructed the NYPD to proceed immediately to summons or even arrest those who gather in large groups. This is about stopping this disease and saving lives. Period.”

Now, there really is something stupid about that tweet. De Blasio refers to the "Jewish community" when he meant the Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg, and they are a small proportion of the much larger set of Jewish residents in New York City. Podhoretz writes that there are 1.2 million Jews in NYC. I had to look up the number of Hasidic Jews in Williamsburg, who are not even 10% of the total who belong to "the Jewish community" in New York.

But maybe Podhoretz is seeing into de Blasio soul. Why did he get so mad at the Jews who came out onto the street in mourning? Why did that provoke him into posturing about a strong show of police force? Why did he look at one Jewish community and see "the Jewish community"?

And what a terrible visualization — Cuomo sticking dynamite into de Blasio's open mouth. Where does that violent imagery come from?

"When some historian many years from now tries to explain the pandemic of 2020, there will be a separate chapter on New York City..."

"... but no separate chapter on any other American city. I loathe Trump, but the historian [will] have to look at the actions or inactions of de Blasio and Cuomo, not Trump."

Says a commenter on the NYT article "N.Y.C. Deaths Reach 6 Times the Normal Level, Far More Than Coronavirus Count Suggests" ("More than 27,000 New Yorkers have died since the start of the novel coronavirus outbreak in March — 20,900 more than would be expected over this period and thousands more than have been captured by official coronavirus death statistics").

When first case of coronavirus appeared in NYC — a woman who'd flown in from Iran (via Qatar) — Gov. Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio "promised that health investigators would track down every person on the woman’s flight. But no one did."

Writes J. David Goodman in "How Delays and Unheeded Warnings Hindered New York’s Virus Fight/The federal response was chaotic. Even so, the state’s and city’s own initial efforts failed to keep pace with the outbreak, The Times found" (NYT).

A day later, a lawyer from New Rochelle, a New York City suburb, tested positive for the virus — an alarming sign because he had not traveled to any affected country, suggesting community spread was already taking place.

Although city investigators had traced the lawyer’s whereabouts and connections to the most crowded corridors of Manhattan, the state’s efforts focused on the suburb, not the city, and Mr. de Blasio urged the public not to worry. “We’ll tell you the second we think you should change your behavior,” the mayor said on March 5.

For many days after the first positive test, as the coronavirus silently spread throughout the New York region, Mr. Cuomo, Mr. de Blasio and their top aides projected an unswerving confidence that the outbreak would be readily contained.

There would be cases, they repeatedly said, but New York’s hospitals were some of the best in the world. Plans were in place. Responses had been rehearsed during “tabletop” exercises. After all, the city had been here before — Ebola, Zika, the H1N1 virus, even Sept. 11.

“Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers — I speak for the mayor also on this one — we think we have the best health care system on the planet right here in New York,” Mr. Cuomo said on March 2. “So, when you’re saying, what happened in other countries versus what happened here, we don’t even think it’s going to be as bad as it was in other countries.”

New York City is not as bad. It's the worst.

"De Blasio’s senior staff in near revolt over his coronavirus response."

The NY Post reports.

When Mayor de Blasio dragged aides and members of his NYPD security detail to his Brooklyn YMCA Monday morning amidst the coronavirus outbreak, fellow fitness enthusiasts were coughing and sneezing — and a mentally ill person was walking around touching the equipment, a gym source said.

“It’s crazy that he made his staff and detail come with him to the gym and expose them like that,” the source said.

That scene lends insight into this: "Majority of NYC’s coronavirus cases are men between 18 and 49 years old."

But wait a minute. That headline is not right. The majority of cases are men (59%), and the majority of cases are people between the ages of 18 and 49 (54%). You can't combine these 2 facts that way! That's some serious innumeracy!

"How is this different to a million other things? Airlines, Uber, property. It’s called supply and demand."

One response, quoted in The NY Post, to Mayor Bill De Blasio's tweet, "Jacking up your prices on people trying to celebrate the holidays? Classy, @dominos.... To the thousands who came to Times Square last night to ring in 2020, I’m sorry this corporate chain exploited you — stick it to them by patronizing one of our fantastic LOCAL pizzerias."

A Domino's deliveryman was bringing pizzas out to the crowd in Times Square on New Year's Eve and asking and getting $30 a pie — about double the normal price:

[Deliveryman Ratan] Banik ran between the parlor and Times Square, balancing a stack of hot pies on his head while touting his cheesy wares — some hungry revelers tapping him on the shoulder to ask his price.

“Pepperoni, cheese, onion!” Banik called before being mobbed by starving tourists waiting in giant holding pens in Times Square, many having camped out overnight.

“He is our Santa,” said Amit Zanwar, 31, from New Jersey, who was with two friends for the spectacular and didn’t pack any food. “He came a little late [for Christmas], but we were happy.... It’s absolutely worth it. It was hot. It seems like it just came out of the oven... If he comes back, I will buy some more.”

The tens of thousands of tourists who decided to ring in the new decade in Times Square arrived as early as Monday evening and were not allowed to leave once they were in holding pens — meaning many were employing rather degrading tactics to last the distance....

Were the "fantastic LOCAL pizzerias" bringing pizza out to these people who were enduring the city's "rather degrading" detention of human beings in "holding pens"? If they were, were they charging less than an extra $15 for delivery to the site? De Blasio talks like a teenager. And he tweeted that from the official Twitter account of mayor of New York City.

Am I not taller than he is richer?!

De Blasio is steamed. He's "decr[ying]," "castigat[ing]," and "excoriat[ing]" all things Bloomberg. According to Politico.

Or maybe he's not steamed, and it's all theater:

People close to the mayor say de Blasio’s crusade against the Bloomberg presidential campaign is in fact rooted in strategy. It presents an opportunity to reassert why New Yorkers elected him in the first place, to recapture some bit of that 2013 energy that swept him into office.

But the obvious scorn in de Blasio’s skewering of his predecessor, and the contempt in his jeremiad, some former advisers concede, threatens to outweigh whatever strategic value it might otherwise have.

“It just looks like he’s complaining,” said one former adviser, who sought anonymity to be able to speak freely.

"I feel like I’ve contributed all I can to this primary campaign, and it’s clearly not my time."

Says Bill De Blasio, quoted in "Bill de Blasio Drops Out of Democratic Presidential Contest/Mr. de Blasio, the New York City mayor whose campaign was seen as a long shot and often described as quixotic, never gained traction." (NYT).

His candidacy never made any sense at all. The only thing I could ever come up with is that he was the tallest, and tall guys have an advantage. Other than that — nothing.

ADDED: Trump has fun with it:

Oh no, really big political news, perhaps the biggest story in years! Part time Mayor of New York City, @BilldeBlasio, who was polling at a solid ZERO but had tremendous room for growth, has shocking dropped out of the Presidential race. NYC is devastated, he’s coming home!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 20, 2019

Things you can see from Iowa.

"Mayor Bill de Blasio, who was in Iowa campaigning for his presidential bid, ruled out terrorism or criminal activity" — from "Power Restored to Manhattan’s West Side After Major Blackout" (NYT).

"Cement truck mows down Brooklyn cyclist in 15th bike fatality of 2019; ‘too many bikes’ on streets, says truck’s owner."

The Daily News Reports.

The rider had slowly rolled a few feet into the intersection when the fast-moving truck hit her, video from the scene shows. She was dragged underneath the truck. Medics declared her dead at the scene....

Is busing for school desegregation really going to be a central issue for the Democrats?

That's how it looked in last night's debate, when Kamala Harris lit into Joe Biden for his long-ago rejection of forced busing imposed by the federal government.

I was wondering how much this issue could resonate with younger voters and also how many older voters — old enough to remember what Biden lived through — had any great enthusiasm for moving children about on buses in order to change the racial proportions in various schools.

Researching my questions, I saw that there's one Democratic presidential candidate who must be horrified at this issue rising to the top: NYC mayor Bill de Blasio. I'm reading "Parents Do What the Mayor Hasn’t — Integrate Schools" (NYT):

Mr. de Blasio said his administration would move faster toward a comprehensive citywide plan now that local efforts seemed to be working, but he said it would still be voluntary. “Is everyone going to buy in? No,” he said. “We do not require everyone to buy in.”

The mayor also said the city’s hands were largely tied with segregation in public elementary schools, which are largely zoned by neighborhood and more affected by residential segregation patterns. Busing, he said, “absolutely poisoned the well” in Boston in the 1970s, near where he grew up. “I’m telling you, and I think history is on my side here, you do not want to create a series of conflicts here,” he said.

See also "Segregation Has Been the Story of New York City’s Schools for 50 Years/Low black and Hispanic enrollment at Stuyvesant High School has reignited a debate about how to finally integrate the city’s schools" (NYT)("Last summer, Mr. de Blasio ruled out using busing to achieve integration").

ADDED: Is there room for local experimentation in how to provide equal schooling? I'm reading "'I Love My Skin!' Why Black Parents Are Turning to Afrocentric Schools/While New York City schools are deeply segregated, some black families are choosing an alternative to integration" (from last January in the NYT):