There’s Nothing Inequality Can’t Do

If only we had another 9/11:

Invoking Mr. de Blasio’s key campaign theme, the report suggested ways in which he could use storm recovery to “reduce inequality,” including by directing more aid to renters and low-income homeowners and ensuring that repairs to public housing leave the buildings in better shape than before the storm. Mr. de Blasio, who expressed similar goals during the campaign, said on Monday that he still agreed with that approach.

“I think it’s about taking a moment of crisis, trying to find the transformative possibilities within it, taking the resources that are coming in, and not just spending them in a sort of narrow, siloed way, but saying, what is the most we can get out of these resources that will leave people in better shape,” Mr. de Blasio said.

Oh, and you can also use a natural disaster to sanctimoniously tweak the press:

Mr. de Blasio said that he understood frustrations with the slow pace of help, and that his administration was fully reviewing all Hurricane Sandy-related programs. But he offered few specifics or immediate plans.

The topic of the hurricane did, however, enable him to take a shot at the press corps for their attention to less weighty matters.

“Today we’re talking about preparing our city against further natural disasters — we’re talking about trying to help thousands on thousands of people back on their feet,” he said.

“On Friday we were talking about saving community health care and hopefully resetting a dynamic where we’ve lost over a dozen hospitals over the last 12 years. These are issues that fundamentally affect people’s lives, and I think that’s where the public debate should reside. And I think too much of the time the debate veers away into, you know, sideshows.”