Christie, Bloomberg Visited By The Ghost Of John Lindsay
The snowstorm that shut down the East Coast from the Delmarva Peninsula to Maine may have missed Washington, but two elected officials who could have D.C. in their sights have been buried under a blizzard of bad press for their handling of the Nor'easter.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg (I) both have been mentioned as possible presidential contenders in 2012, despite their numerous denials. But both now find themselves on the defensive over their responses to the Boxing Day Blizzard.
In Christie's case, it's simply a matter of showing up. Christie and his family left Sunday for a vacation at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., as the storm that brought nearly 32 inches of snow to densely-populated Elizabeth, N.J., was bearing down on the state.
Adding to Christie's plight, the state's Lieutenant Governor, former Monmouth Co. Sheriff Kim Guadagno (R), is also on vacation, leaving the Garden State in the hands of state Senate Pres. Stephen Sweeney (D) and leading to an avalanche of criticism for the Christie administration.
Guadagno is the first lieutenant governor in the state's history; the position was created following a 2005 initiative aimed to prevent this very situation. Sweeney has instructed Christie's chief of staff and chief counsel to prepare applications for FEMA assistance.
Meanwhile across the Hudson, Bloomberg is asking city residents for patience after the storm slowed essential services down to a halt. A day after becoming testy with WCBS-TV's Marcia Kramer while defending the city's response, Bloomberg appeared slightly more contrite on Tuesday, telling New Yorkers, "I'm angry, too."
"We won't get to everybody every time," Bloomberg said, according to the New York Daily News. "Yelling about it and complaining doesn't help."
Even City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D), a Bloomberg ally, called the city's response to the sixth-largest snowfall since records began in 1869 "unacceptable."
"[B]y all accounts, the collective storm response was not anywhere near up to the standards New Yorkers are accustomed to," Quinn said in a statement, announcing that the Council would hold oversight hearings after the New Year.
The Bloomberg boondoggle raised the specter of former Mayor John Lindsay, whose response to a 1969 blizzard was so roundly criticized (a week went by before some residents in the outer boroughs saw a snow plow) that the storm is now known in weather circles as "The Lindsay Storm." Although Lindsay lost a Republican primary later that year, he still won re-election on the Liberal-Fusion party line. Still, Lindsay's reputation was forever tarnished, and he left Gracie Mansion unpopular among New Yorkers.
Christie and Bloomberg, meanwhile, might look to their neighbor, Newark Mayor Cory Booker (D), for a manual on how to get better ink after a storm. Booker has reportedly used his Twitter feed to communicate with residents whose streets hadn't been plowed or who were unable to leave their homes, in some cases shoveling out people personally. Booker even delivered diapers to one resident who tweeted at him that his sister's street had not been cleared so she could go to the store.
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