That Hill You Want To Die On Is Actually A Gigantic Pile Of 20-Ounce Cups

In order to save Scott Stringer from himself they should really restrict the amount of water one needs to carry to 16 ounces as well:

Stringer also urged New Yorkers to get behind the proposed ban, which he said had become “a national proposal” that had created “a very important health debate in this country.”

“We have to stand with [the mayor] on this, regardless of polls, regardless of political consequence,” Stringer added.

If the cup ban is useful for anything, it may be to separate the hacks from the morons in the upcoming mayoral election.

Howard Wolfson Is (Still) A Fucking Idiot

No navel gazing legacy pondering here, clearly:

“I suspect that in five years, or 10 years, you’re going to have people going up to this mayor of the city and saying, ‘Thank you for doing that. This is what helped me lose weight and save my life,'” he said.

And if that person exists, they’ll also be a fucking idiot for thinking that Michael Bloomberg can help you lose weight.

You have to feel for the writers who are tasked with trying to find balanced man-on-the-street quotes, because I can’t believe they’re out there.

But why won’t someone just come out and say that this is fucking stupid?

New York City, Where The Only Thing That Isn’t Restricted Is The Number Of Terms A Mayor Can Serve

In some ways I would love for him to run for President because at least then he might be a little more distracted and stop proposing such stupid ideas:

The mayor, who said he occasionally drank a diet soda “on a hot day,” contested the idea that the plan would limit consumers’ choices, saying the option to buy more soda would always be available.

“Your argument, I guess, could be that it’s a little less convenient to have to carry two 16-ounce drinks to your seat in the movie theater rather than one 32 ounce,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a sarcastic tone. “I don’t think you can make the case that we’re taking things away.”

He also said he foresaw no adverse effect on local businesses, and he suggested that restaurants could simply charge more for smaller drinks if their sales were to drop.

We could make this better by hitting a NYC hat trick: Mandating low-salt lox, mini bagels and nitrate-free hot dogs . . .

A Third Term Fizzles Into Petulance

To say he’s off-message implies that there’s some message to begin with. But I like the idea that 10-plus years after Sept. 11 someone would freely admit not even bothering to read a 911 report:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg admitted on Tuesday he didn’t read a report chronicling problems in New York City’s 911 emergency dispatch system, a document he commissioned in the wake of his administration’s poor response to the December 2010 blizzard.

In a flash of exasperation when a reporter pressed him about the report, he said, “I didn’t even bother to read it.”

So You Have Mayor Bloomberg And NYC & Co. To Thank When Your Child Asks You For $1100 A Month To Keep The Dream Of Post-Collegiate Greenpoint Alive

Two-thirds of the way into Ginia Bellafante’s column on what draws people to New York is this sociologist’s explanation of the city’s appeal:

But the past few years, defined by economic challenges, have seemed only to burnish the city’s appeal. An analysis of American Community Survey data by Susan Weber-Stoger of the Queens College Department of Sociology reveals that more people moved to New York City (over 223,000 of them a year on average) after the financial crisis in 2008 and through 2010 than did from 2005 to 2007, an increase of 10 percent.

. . .

When I discussed some of these numbers with Miriam Greenberg, a sociologist who has written extensively about the branding of New York, she cited the highly strategized efforts the current mayoral administration has made to sell the city to the world.

There’s nothing a third term can’t do!