“I think it’s important to understand the specifics here and I think have not been necessarily portrayed accurately in the public discourse,” de Blasio said when asked about the new marijuana prosecution policy in Brooklyn, his home borough. The mayor repeatedly referred to officers having “discretion” when encountering members of the public, which, he said, was applicable to this issue.

“Sometimes there’s no increase, sometimes there is,” he said of his units.

Did not hear, got no time, bye-bye. Mr. de Blasio, who once dodged out the door rather than face questions about his driver’s running a stop sign, has an aversion to being pinned down.

The Observer reporter pressed on. Would you have spoken up had you heard the rabbi’s specific remarks?

“With all due respect, my friend,” he began — the mayor’s use of “my friend” was more like a hurricane siren than a sign of bonhomie — “I did not hear the comments clearly.”

Events in which reporters were notified of their existence but prevented from attending ranged from meetings with government figures such as the mayor of Seattle and Israel’s minister of foreign affairs to sit-downs with the NBA commissioner, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Russian band Pussy Riot.

[. . .]

De Blasio’s spokesman Phil Walzak noted that any limits imposed on reporters are largely due to logistics, not secrecy.

But some media watchdogs worry that the restrictions in New York reflect a larger trend of government officials limiting access to the media while getting their message out to constituents directly via Twitter, Facebook and their own websites.

You read that right: 0 percent.

This fulfills a “rent freeze” campaign pledge that Mayor Bill de Blasio made. But it’s also a very bad idea.

[. . .]

Unfortunately, this is the magical realism you get when there’s an entire political class, from mayor to speaker to council, who have not only never run anything but in many cases have literally never held a real job.

[. . .]