NY Times Report: One city lawmaker called it Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's "Let them eat cake" attitude.
After being dealt a rare public embarrassment by the City Council, which forced his administration to acknowledge on Monday that he was legally required to send out $400 rebate checks promised to hundreds of thousands of New York homeowners, a defiant Mr. Bloomberg said yesterday that he had no plans to release the money.
At a news conference, Mr. Bloomberg described the rebates as "up in the air."
Asked what he would tell homeowners who have been depending on the money to pay bills or buy holiday gifts, he responded: "Plan for the worst, and hope for the best."
When pressed, the mayor said: "I just answered your question. You just don't want the answer."
The mayor has argued that the city cannot afford the rebates this year. Still, Mr. Bloomberg's remarks left people in the political world scratching their heads, with some accusing him of profound insensitivity to those who lack fat bank accounts, especially as job losses and foreclosures mount in the city.
"It's the height of arrogance and insensitivity," said Councilman Lewis A. Fidler of Brooklyn, who also said that Mr. Bloomberg had a "Let them eat cake" attitude toward the homeowners.
"They look at what does this mean to someone on the Upper East Side or Central Park West and say, $400, so what?" Mr. Fidler said. "I'm looking at it from what it means to Mrs. Goldstein, a 72-year-old senior in my district who lives on Social Security and is counting on that money," he added, using a hypothetical example.
The rebate checks, sent to about 600,000 individual owners of condos, co-ops or houses in the city over the last several years, are typically mailed out in October, and this year, with more residents feeling especially pinched, City Hall has been bombarded with calls from people looking for their checks.
Bloomberg's aides instructed the city's 311 operators to tell callers that no checks would be forthcoming.
The mayor's comments recall previous remarks that have left him seeming out of touch with those he governs.
When residents complained that the city was issuing parking tickets after a snowstorm in 2007, the mayor - who typically takes the subway or a chauffeured sport utility vehicle to work - suggested that New Yorkers stop "griping." About crowded subways, he has said: "So you stand next to people. Get real. This is New York."
This year, responding to complaints that black rubber mats and other playground equipment get dangerously hot in the summer, the mayor said: "If it's hot, don't sit on it. Air-conditioning the slide is not something we can afford to do."
On Wednesday, when saying that the city was trying to turn the thermostats down inside city buildings to save heating costs, he offered this advice: "Wear a sweater if you're chilly."
But it also appears that Mr. Bloomberg is irritated by a newly aggressive City Council, which was deeply divided over his move last month to push through legislation allowing him to seek a third term.
One person close to the mayor, who insisted on anonymity to avoid revealing private conversations with Mr. Bloomberg, said the mayor was especially irked that four Council members went to court on Tuesday to try to compel the administration to issue the rebates immediately.
http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/article.php?p=26225
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