Tired of political vitriol? Here’s a feel-good New York story that sounds like the start of a bad joke. Five borough presidents walked onto a stage at a Crain’s breakfast forum Jan. 24. I don’t have a high view of the office of borough president. Embedded in the City Charter, it carries little power. Why not just get rid of it? But despite the limitations of the post, these borough presidents ably advocate on issues facing their home counties. And last week they demonstrated the value of having working relationships with one another.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a Democrat, echoed a passionate monologue by Staten Island’s James Oddo, a Republican, about good ideas getting swallowed by the city’s bureaucracy. Adams blasted “the arrogance of those who believe because they have a civil-service job that they are entitled to prevent the city from growing.” He went on, “We need to get rid of the bodies that are in all the agencies that get in the way of New York City.” The comment won’t endear Adams to the primary city workers’ union, DC 37, when he runs for mayor in 2021.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer shared her tip for cutting through city bureaucracy. “I write a letter and I say if the project is not done, I’m going to release the letter to the press. And that works.”
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The presidents said they meet regularly. Their affinity for one another showed, especially during a lightning round of questions from assistant managing editor Erik Engquist. Acknowledging Uber’s decimation of the cab industry, Brewer looked on the upside: “Now I can get a yellow cab.” Adams, who is African-American, replied: “If you can get a yellow cab, you know how happy I am [that] I can get one finally.”
Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. of the Bronx, Brewer and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz all said Airbnb was a problem. Adams acknowledged that tourists using Airbnb could take affordable housing off the market, while Oddo said Airbnb is not exactly a Staten Island problem. The audience got his meaning.
Should Albany kill the $.05 bag fee enacted by the City Council? Only Brewer said no. More charter schools? Adams, Díaz and Oddo said yes; Brewer and Katz, no. Should Gov. Andrew Cuomo do more to help fellow Democrats? “I’ve got my own problems in my own party,” Oddo quipped, referring to President Donald Trump. Brewer, looking toward her colleague from Queens, said of the clash between Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio: “If Melinda and I were in charge, we would get along because women can Onwin get along.” The crowd cheered.
Tired of political vitriol? Here’s a feel-good New York story that sounds like the start of a bad joke. Five borough presidents walked onto a stage at a Crain’s breakfast forum Jan. 24. I don’t have a high view of the office of borough president. Embedded in the City Charter, it carries little power. Why not just get rid of it? But despite the limitations of the post, these borough presidents ably advocate on issues facing their home counties. And last week they demonstrated the value of having working relationships with one another.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, a Democrat, echoed a passionate monologue by Staten Island’s James Oddo, a Republican, about good ideas getting swallowed by the city’s bureaucracy. Adams blasted “the arrogance of those who believe because they have a civil-service job that they are entitled to prevent the city from growing.” He went on, “We need to get rid of the bodies that are in all the agencies that get in the way of New York City.” The comment won’t endear Adams to the primary city workers’ union, DC 37, when he runs for mayor in 2021.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer shared her tip for cutting through city bureaucracy. “I write a letter and I say if the project is not done, I’m going to release the letter to the press. And that works.”
The presidents said they meet regularly. Their affinity for one another showed, especially during a lightning round of questions from assistant managing editor Erik Engquist. Acknowledging Uber’s decimation of the cab industry, Brewer looked on the upside: “Now I can get a yellow cab.” Adams, who is African-American, replied: “If you can get a yellow cab, you know how happy I am [that] I can get one finally.”
Borough President Rubén Díaz Jr. of the Bronx, Brewer and Queens Borough President Melinda Katz all said Airbnb was a problem. Adams acknowledged that tourists using Airbnb could take affordable housing off the market, while Oddo said Airbnb is not exactly a Staten Island problem. The audience got his meaning.
Should Albany kill the $.05 bag fee enacted by the City Council? Only Brewer said no. More charter schools? Adams, Díaz and Oddo said yes; Brewer and Katz, no. Should Gov. Andrew Cuomo do more to help fellow Democrats? “I’ve got my own problems in my own party,” Oddo quipped, referring to President Donald Trump. Brewer, looking toward her colleague from Queens, said of the clash between Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio: “If Melinda and I were in charge, we would get along because women can get along.” The crowd cheered.
A version of this article appears in the January 30, 2017, print issue of Crain’s New York Business as “Pols behaving nicely”.
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