Mayor only likes the news Hizz way
Mayor de Blasio came up with a new standard for the press on Friday — cover the stories that I tell you are important, not the ones I don’t like.
During a panel discussion in Brooklyn about the media, the mayor questioned why reporters “obsessed” over the Puerto Rican Day Parade’s deci- sion to honor former FALN leader Oscar López Rivera — a man that Hizzoner’s own police commissioner labeled a “terrorist.”
And de Blasio said it was odd that he keeps getting asked why he travels 12 miles a day in a two-vehicle caravan just to exercise on a stationary bike in Park Slope, Brooklyn, instead of the Upper East Side near Gracie Mansion. “I think it’s kind of strange to obsess over a gym routine or who’s marching in a parade compared to all the things that actually affect everyday life. I just don’t get it,” the mayor said during the interview with BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith.
“I think people really are interested in the stuff that affects their lives. I would urge journalists to try it.”
His comments came as he’s being hammered for what he characterized as minor issues that regular folks don’t care about.
He was criticized by environmental advocates for urging New Yorkers to change their everyday hab- its to combat climate change at the same time he refused to alter his gasguzzling gym routine.
De Blasio said for weeks he would march in the parade. But, in the face of political heat, he claimed he had been maneuvering all along behind the scenes to resolve the situation.