At This Rate, By Summer Bloomberg’s Going To Look Like Abraham Motherfucking Lincoln

The mayor sounds like kind of a dick:

John J. Doherty is New York’s longest-serving sanitation commissioner, with decades of blizzards under his belt. But he did not expect quite such a tough time when he agreed to postpone retirement for a few more months to aid the infant administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Now, Mr. Doherty, 75, is the butt of criticism, facing the usual snowstorm complaints about sluggishness and poor preparation, along with a few novel accusations, such as plowing poorer neighborhoods before wealthier ones.

On Wednesday, after battling the latest mix of ice and sleet to afflict his city, Mr. Doherty stood stern-faced at a news conference as another nuisance, a potential salt shortage, was raised by reporters. When it came time for Mr. de Blasio to thank his team, the commissioner’s name went conspicuously unmentioned.

[. . .]

Mr. de Blasio’s response was a departure from the Bloomberg years, when the mayor fiercely defended his commissioners. (A spokeswoman for Mr. de Blasio said the mayor considered Mr. Doherty “a valued member of the team.”)

At the news conference on Wednesday, Mr. Doherty, clad in a leather jacket, stood at the far end of the city officials gathered at City Hall. When the commissioner was asked by a reporter about lessons from this latest storm, Mr. de Blasio looked at his sanitation chief.

“What did you learn in school today?” the mayor asked Mr. Doherty, with a laugh.