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I was reading an obit for mayor David Dinkins, and there is mention of his modesty, of the diversity in his hirings, of his low-key manner, of his efforts to promote harmony ... and I'm thinking, were we so hardened that we preferred noisy aggressive people like Giuliani and Koch?
Perhaps we prefer those who get things done to support the people he was elected to serve rather than if he has a great demeanor or speaks eloquently like Obama but has his own agenda which never benefits those who elected him
1) I believe most people consider Lindsay to be the worst post WWII mayor, and I believe DeBlasio will claim spot #2 when all is set and done.
2) Dinkins, IMHO, was a kind, educated, thoughtful gentleman trying to run a violent, poor, gritty city that was coming apart at the seams. It wasn't that his leadership or even his policies were bad, it's that early 1990s NYC simply wasn't the place to not be "strong". I think Brian Watkins, 1991 Crown Heights, 1992 Washington Heights all combined to make people think he wasn't going to be able to keep the wheels on the bus.
3) Let's be frank about the race factor: A lot of liberals only like him because he's Black. If he ran today he'd have no shot in the NYC democratic party. He massively expanded the NYPD to the tune of +5000 officers and Rikers population was peaking under him. He believed very deeply in economic development and came out in support of Amazon when that whole mess was going on. He also was a pragmatist fiscally and made cuts when they had to be made unlike now when the city is waiting for Uncle Joe to bail them out.
In short, he was the right man at the wrong time. 1990 NYC was sinking under a tidal wave of crime, drug and welfare addiction. Had someone like him existed in 2001 perhaps it'd be a different story. But I can't say I'm upset at how things have turned out up until now.
De blasio will be the worst post cold War mayor that we ever had.
Let’s be honest: A lot of the hate thrown Dinkins’s was and is because of his color, not his policies or governance. You see far less shade thrown at the worst mayor in my memory. Remember Abe Beame? He was elected because he “knew the buck” as city comptroller. Ha! Some mayor he was. The city went bankrupt under Beame. That alone makes him the worst mayor IMO. The service cuts that had to be made contributed as much or more to the city’s subsequent decline than anything Dinkins did.
Some posters here must be very young. Or they have a very selective memory. I suspect it’s a little bit of both.
Nonsense.
Abe Beame inherited a horrific situation from the policies of John Lindsay.
No excuses. That is often what leadership requires- playing the cards you are dealt. So Beame made the hard decisions that ultimately would save New York. And he paid for it by not getting a 2nd term. So it goes.
As for Dinkins, yes race was a factor, but not in the way you present it. With incidents like Crown Heights and the Korean deli boycott, Dinkins simply refused to take proper action. He refuse to enforce the law and thus was perceived as either lacking crisis management skills or worse, "taking sides".
Ironically, both Lindsay and Dinkins would probably flourish today. But back then people still had common sense.
Let’s be honest: A lot of the hate thrown Dinkins’s was and is because of his color, not his policies or governance. You see far less shade thrown at the worst mayor in my memory. Remember Abe Beame? He was elected because he “knew the buck” as city comptroller. Ha! Some mayor he was. The city went bankrupt under Beame. That alone makes him the worst mayor IMO. The service cuts that had to be made contributed as much or more to the city’s subsequent decline than anything Dinkins did.
Some posters here must be very young. Or they have a very selective memory. I suspect it’s a little bit of both.
Abe Beame inherited a horrific situation from the policies of John Lindsay.
No excuses. That is often what leadership requires- playing the cards you are dealt. So Beame made the hard decisions that ultimately would save New York. And he paid for it by not getting a 2nd term. So it goes.
As for Dinkins, yes race was a factor, but not in the way you present it. With incidents like Crown Heights and the Korean deli boycott, Dinkins simply refused to take proper action. He refuse to enforce the law and thus was perceived as either lacking crisis management skills or worse, "taking sides".
Ironically, both Lindsay and Dinkins would probably flourish today. But back then people still had common sense.
Excluding this bizarre virus crisis period we are in we are in how does the mayoralty of De Blassio 2014-2018 compare to John Lindsay?
Excluding this bizarre virus crisis period we are in we are in how does the mayoralty of De Blassio 2014-2018 compare to John Lindsay?
That is a very good question and I am not sure I can answer it. Lindsay was before my time and I have never lived in De Blassio's New York.
However, I read a biography of Lindsay and came away critical of the man. Honestly, i think he and Barack Obama have a great deal in common. Both were/are highly intelligent and eloquent men who pursued counter productive policies. Lots of style, little substance.
De Blassio, from everything I see, is a Marxist clown. I would take Dinkins over him in a heartbeat.
I was reading an obit for mayor David Dinkins, and there is mention of his modesty, of the diversity in his hirings, of his low-key manner, of his efforts to promote harmony ... and I'm thinking, were we so hardened that we preferred noisy aggressive people like Giuliani and Koch?
It doesn't matter who we like, real estate runs NYC and whoever is in control of the land has the power
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"The man who sleeps on the floor, can never fall out of bed." -Martin Lawrence
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