Too Much of a Good Thing?

Now we've always liked the iconoclastic views of the New York Sun; but its inexplicable lionization of Mike Bloomberg really baffles us-and the call for him to run for governor is appalling, considering his over-hyped record as mayor. Here's the Sun's take: "The answer to how serious he is about the vision he has put up for New York will come with his decision on whether to run for governor."

Ah, the Bloomberg vision. Just what could that be? Is it the rather dismal school performance after the mayoral control of the schools was gifted to him by Shelly Silver? Or perhaps it is the wonderful construction rising on the ground zero pile? The $180 million he spent to convince New Yorkers that he was Mr. Wonderful? The Jets Stadium? The termination and malling of the Bronx Terminal Market as a gift to Deputy Dan's good friend Steve Ross? The congestion tax fiasco perhaps-on top of the tax and spend policies that Bloomberg launched in 2002 (hail the water rate hikes today as well)? Or maybe our favorite, fruit peddlers and menu labeling for the city's health morons?

Mike Bloomberg's run for governor would do only one thing for the mayor's legacy-camouflage it through the further spending on the burnishing of his image and the bamboozling of the citizenry. In this context, the Sun's epistle is totally comical: "But protecting the mayor’s legacy in City Hall is one thing. Protecting his successor is another, and the best way to do that is for the mayor to campaign and win the governorship so that he can follow through on what he’s started. It would put him in a strong position in respect of mayoral control of the schools, of reform at the rolling disgrace known as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, of the West side, of the charter school movement, and of the budget issues."

The one positive thing that the mayor can do for all of us, is to leave the stage as quietly and as gracefully as possible. And quite frankly, sycophancy is not what we expect from the normally perspicacious folks over at the Sun.