Cardwell Rips Bloomberg Anew

Maybe it's me, but it seems lately as though the New York Times and its City Hall reporter, Diane Cardwell, have suddenly decided to give golden mayor Mike Bloomberg the back of its hand. First there was the May 20 article that discovered (surprise) that Mike had a temper, and was imperious and contemptuous of others. And today we find an article saying that, in the wake of last week's crane accident in Manhattan—the second since March—folks are beginning to wonder if the source of the overdevelopment problem and its incumbent dangers isn't the mayor himself and his economic philosophy. Writes Cardwell:

But the deadly crane collapse that killed two people and injured another on the Upper East Side on Friday morning is now threatening to tarnish that legacy. It was the latest in a series of construction-related accidents — including a crane collapse in March that killed seven people — that have left New Yorkers uneasy, with a growing concern that Mr. Bloomberg may have let high-rise construction proliferate without adequate oversight.

Indeed, despite the administration’s recent efforts to improve construction safety, including replacing the commissioner of the Department of Buildings, there are signs that residents — even those who have generally viewed him favorably in the past — are running out of patience with Mr. Bloomberg.

And here's the telling paragraph:

James F. Brennan, a Democratic assemblyman from Brooklyn who is a staunch critic of the Department of Buildings, said that Bloomberg officials were working to fix a system whose deeply ingrained troubles long predated the current administration, and that they understood “the necessity of being proactive, finally.” But, he added, he was unsure that they had “thought through what their problem really is,” saying that he had not yet seen “anything from the leadership that says, ‘We’ve got to look at the overall management structure and see whether we have adequate focus to solve problems.’ ”

Teflon no more, is this mayor.