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.
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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.
