But Only One Has A One-Party System . . . Oh Wait . . .

Russia has hyperventilating autocrats. America has hyperventilating grandstanders:

The women–Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who both spent time in Russian prison for their performances–were warmly greeted by the mayor and his wife, Chirlane McCray, exchanging hugs and kisses on the cheek.

After the nearly hour-long meeting (even aides seem surprised by the length) the group emerged. “We Russians now,” Mr. de Blasio told them to laughs as they said their goodbyes.

Portfolio Now Includes $170,000-Per-Year Chief Of Staff And Multi-Million-Dollar Slush Fund

An multi-million-dollar non-profit fund, once used to scare up convention business and collect Sandy relief, now apparently transformed into an off-the-books public services account controlled by one of the mayor’s closest family members. Nothing could possibly go wrong:

Mr. de Blasio announced at a news conference that he was naming Ms. McCray the chairwoman of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, a nonprofit entity that raises money privately to support a variety of city causes.

“This had to be someone who was as close to the core of what we’re all about as humanly possible, and I think we could safely say that no one could compete with Chirlane McCray on that particular score,” he said, with a laugh.

[. . .]

“By agreeing to do this for free, she’s giving a great gift to the people of New York City, and I think people will receive it as such,” Mr. de Blasio said.

That said, Ms. McCray will take over an organization that, according to the mayor’s office, had a budget of $37 million in 2012. Its donors may give any amount; donations of $5,000 or more must be disclosed to the Conflicts of Interest Board. Under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, the organization underwrote events like the courtship of host committees for political conventions; under Michael R. Bloomberg, it supported environmental, anti-poverty, public health and youth initiatives.

Ms. McCray said she would steer the Mayor’s Fund into helping immigrant communities and children and families.

“By agreeing to do this for free” . . . funny, I doubt Patti Harris (one of Bloomberg’s deputy mayors and a former chairwoman) received special compensation for her role.

Repeating Negative, Mayor Succeeds In Coming Off As Even Bigger Dick Than Before

Not to mention the PR intelligence, or lack thereof, in alienating beat reporters just six weeks into his tenure:

Bill de Blasio slammed the New York Times this afternoon for its front-page profile of John Doherty, which suggested the new mayor snubbed the long-standing sanitation commissioner at a press conference yesterday.

Just before he proceeded with off topic questions at an unrelated press conference in the Bronx, Mr. de Blasio launched into an unprompted criticism of the “patently inaccurate” report [. . .]

[. . .]

Though the alleged snub was just one small part of the Times report — which detailed the criticisms Mr. Doherty received following the year’s second snowstorm — Mr. de Blasio was clearly unsatisfied, addressing reporters as “my dear friends” as he chided the media writ-large.

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

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.

I Only Came Here To Do Two Things: Kick Some Ass And Drink Some Beer; Looks Like We’re Almost Out Of Beer

On the one hand, the mayor’s early campaign-style theatrics might be viewed as a matter of getting his agenda out before the honeymoon ends. Or it may just be a permanent feature:

Campaigns are typically run in sound bites and slogans and laced with words like “hope” and “change.” Mr. de Blasio, who ran his campaign vowing to end the city’s “tale of two cities,” has continued to govern in the same style, peppering his press conferences with buzzwords like “progressive” and largely sticking to broad goals, like closing the gap between the rich the and the poor and improving relations between communities and police — aside from the pre-K campaign. Largely missing thus far, some complain, are specifics for achieving those goals, along with agendas for many city agencies, including the Parks Department and Department of Health, as well as plans for specific projects in areas like economic development or zoning.

The result has been concern among some high-level staffers, many of whom are working in agencies that remain without permanent commissioners, that they’ve received minimal direction from City Hall, leaving them confused about the new administration’s agenda and what to prioritize.

One longtime deputy commissioner described a series of meetings that Mr. de Blasio’s new First Deputy Mayor Tony Shorris had with the city department’s commissioners and deputy commissioners during his first weeks at City Hall that left some bewildered.

The deputy said Mr. Shorris “didn’t want to hear about any of the agency’s problems or the details of government.”

“Shorris just said, ‘We want to deal with inequity problems and diversity issues,'” recalled the deputy, who said that Mr. Bloomberg’s right hands had been far more invested in details. He left with the impression Mr. de Blasio’s inner circle at City Hall didn’t want to know about potential problems.

“Everyone’s just being told, ‘Be progressive.’ We’re like, WTF does that mean? What’s the fire company going to do to be progressive?” the source asked. “We know stop-and-frisk and universal pre-K [are on his agenda], but what happens after that?”