If You Can’t Stand The Heat, Chide The Beat Reporters Covering You For Focusing Too Much On “Sideshows”

Funny, because instead of that I was actually wondering how your communications team could be so fucking inept:

Mayor Bill de Blasio, enduring a recent string of mini-controversies, told reporters today that he wished the media would focus less on “sideshows” and more on his substantive policy goals.

Fielding questions at a Hurricane Sandy-themed press conference in Staten Island, Mr. de Blasio said he understood the scrutiny he receives is natural given his responsibilities, but implied it’s often unwarranted.

“I think the notion is there’s going to be scrutiny again is baked into this whole reality and, you know, if you don’t like the heat, get out of the kitchen, as Harry Truman used to say. And I chose to take the heat,” Mr. de Blasio said. “I think there has to be a different examination of what matters and what doesn’t matter.”

“Too much of the time the debate veers away into sideshows but I’m not shocked by that,” he added.

A Moment So Major Hardly Any News Outlet Bothered Mentioning It

Or at least they covered it the day before, when it was actually news and not just a triumphant high-fiving day two press conference. Anyway, the main point of the press conference during which the mayor blew off questions about speeding was buried in stories that focused more on his ducking questions. Here’s a representative example:

The statement followed a lengthy news conference Friday afternoon about a deal reached by the state to keep Long Island College Hospital open, but allow the State University of New York to hand it over a new operator. He called up an array of elected officials, union representatives and others to speak, and took only on-topic questions.

Kramer reported the head bobbed and weaved during the hour-long news conference, among reporters trying to ask about the traffic violations.

When one reporter asked if he could ask an off-topic question before the statement, de Blasio said no.

“We’re talking about a major moment in the history of health care in this city. I think people are interested in that,” he said.

The press conference itself certainly went on long enough, and it’s funny that for all the elected officials assembled there, the message seems rather buried. Maybe we’ll find out what happens when a mayor’s bully pulpit stops working . . .

On The Positive Side, It’s A Great Lesson To Learn About Candidates Who Campaign On Having The Most Transparent This-Or-That In The History Of Whats-It-Office

They will always disappoint. Also, it’s a giant red flag. Also, it will be interesting to see if the mayor can make it through one entire week without some bone-headed gaffe. Also, the collected tweets here are awesome:

Despite repeatedly promising this morning that he’d take questions about the controversy surrounding his caravan breaking multiple traffic laws, Mayor Bill de Blasio shut down such inquiries at an unrelated press conference this evening.

Before walking away as reporters shouted questions at him, Mr. de Blasio read a brief statement referring to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s earlier comments defending the conduct of the mayor’s security detail.

Now They Tell Us: We’ve Elected That Guy

Also, he’s clearly patterning his policy ideas after Bloomberg (ex-smoker/salt addict) in clamping down on that which he hates most in himself:

A reporter who rode along with Mr. de Blasio during his public advocate days recalled the future mayor employing an aggressive driving style, accelerating to make yellow lights and sometimes beeping the horn to urge slower cars ahead to pick up the pace.

Get Back To Me After I’m Done With The Nautilus!

There’s even something a little elite sounding about brushing off reporters on the way to the gym:

Mayor Bill de Blasio remained fairly tight lipped outside his home Friday morning when asked if his driver was in fact driving recklessly through the city.

“I gotta go to the gym,” de Blasio said when asked by PIX11’s Monica Morales if his driver was speeding, just days after the mayor announced his ambitious “Vision Zero” plan, aimed at ending pedestrian homicides.

Then of course he got caught jaywalking on the way there:

Mayor de Blasio and his security detail crossed a Brooklyn street against the light Friday on his way to his morning workout — just a day after his SUV blew through two stop signs and was speeding in Queens.

Exclusive video taken by The Post caught the mayor — dressed in a “Brooklyn” sweatshirt, slacks and sneakers — chatting on his cellphone as he sauntered across 11th Street on 6th Avenue in Park Slope, ignoring the orange hand on the traffic signal that clearly warns pedestrians not to cross.