Showing posts with label Emma Wolfe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Emma Wolfe. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Following bombardment of bad press, Mayor de Blasio spinning his way back to illusion of competency

Long Island College Hospital photo LongIslandCollegeHospital_zps507c0143.png

After a barrage of negative publicity over the closure of Long Island College Hospital, de Blasio administration operatives plant a spin doctor story in Capital New York about background political machinations

Last week-end, the columnist Ginia Bellafante of The New York Times wrote a fair critique of the de Blasio administration's failure to live up to his change and hope hype for transformational progressive leadership.

Ms. Bellafante listed concrete examples, such as the closure of Long Island College Hospital ; the unsavory Working Families Party endorsement of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, which Mayor Bill de Blasio helped to orchestrate ; and the limited impact that raising the minimum wage would have on the actual cost of living hardship for average New Yorkers, amongst other observations. Ms. Bellafante balanced her assessment with news about some accomplishments that have been overshadowed by the mayor's penchant for drama.

Against a backdrop of recent press reports, which have crushed the de Blasio administration's efforts to spin a reputation for itself for being a beacon of "progressive" values, City Hall has been shaken by an emerging new impression of the mayor's neoliberal inclinations.

In the wake of such criticisms in the mainstream media, the de Blasio administration is fighting back in the press with a story in Capital New York, where the mayor's political operatives leaked a rehash of backroom machinations in their supposed efforting to save Long Island College Hospital. We'd heard this before, like when the same Capital New York reporter had reported that the mayor's operatives, Emma Wolfe, had grown concerned with the crumbling deals to save Long Island College Hospital, also known as LICH.

Repeating the administration's "concerns" for the community is just a way to deflect any further criticisms of the de Blasio's apparent exploitation of the hospital closing crisis as an election year tactic.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Bill de Blasio denies email FOIL request pertaining to City Hall's effort to spring Bishop Findlayter from jail

Is Mayor Bill de Blasio obstructing press FOIL requests into City Hall Biship Findlayter correspondence ?

When The Wall Street Journal first published an exclusive report about the de Blasio administration's efforts to spring one of the mayor's political supporters out of jail, the newspaper reported that the "mayor's office sent emails to the NYPD officials" involved in the arrest of Bishop Orlando Findlayter. Now, City Hall claims that no email communication exists pertaining to efforts to bust the mayor's supporter out of jail.

Mayor de Blasio had previously told the City Hall press corps that it was his aide, Emma Wolfe, who first alerted him to Bishop Findlayter’s arrest, The New York Daily News reported.

"Neither the mayor nor his office have ever questioned the veracity of the paper’s original report," The New York Observer reported. But after The New York Observer filed an "extensive" request under Freedom of Information Law, Ian Bassin, who is City Hall’s Records Access Officer, replied to the FOIL request by saying that there were no "responsive records."

The FOIL requests may be being denied to avoid further criticism of City Hall over the Findlayter scandal. The original article published by The Wall Street Journal "sparked days of tabloid headlines and charges of two standards of justice in the new administration," The New York Observer reported. Ever since charter schools executive Eva Moskowitz mounted a multi-million TV attack ad campaign against Mayor de Blasio, City Hall has been going to great lengths to avoid any bad publicity.