De Blasio says blackout was 'handled well' amid criticism he was away in Iowa

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

De Blasio says blackout was ‘handled well’ amid criticism he was away in Iowa

Outage left about 72,000 Manhattan residents without power as mayor was campaigning for Democratic presidential nomination

Victoria Bekiempis in New York
Sun 14 Jul 2019 18.59 BST Last modified on Sun 14 Jul 2019 19.00 BST

New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has brushed off criticism that he was in Iowa campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination on Saturday when a blackout left some 72,000 Manhattan residents without power for around five hours.

The outage was “handled well” from afar, the mayor said.

Neighborhoods from the tourist hub of Times Square to the residential Upper West Side were affected by the outage, which was attributed to a problem at a substation. It did not result in any injuries, de Blasio said.

-snip-

Appearing on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, De Blasio was asked about a comment from Andrew Cuomo, a longtime rival within the Democratic party.

“Mayors are important,” the New York governor said on Saturday night. “And situations like this come up, you know. And you have to be on-site.”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jul/14/manhattan-blackout-bill-de-blasio-campaigning-iowa

[elleng]

1. HAHA! Snowstorms usually get them,

this time a blackout!

[George II]

2. Mayor DiBlasio isn't my favorite NYC mayor over the years, but in this situation he's correct.

Blackouts are unpredictable, Mayors or Governors are not expected to be in their jurisdiction every day of their terms.

[customerserviceguy]

5. Exactly

Chris Christie got the same kind of treatment when he was away in Florida during a massive snowstorm. Having him back would just divert resources away from fixing the problem.

Executive-types are worse than useless when hanging around a crisis trying to get photo ops out of them.

[dsc]

3. so De Blasio is supposed to remain in NYC 24 hours a day, 365 days a year?

Has Cuomo ever left New York State?

[Me.]

4. The Oppo Ads Are Already Being Made

The 'where were you on the night of the 13th'. IMHO, I have no idea why he's running and unless away on city business or a vacation, he should've been here.

[Voltaire2]

6. Cuomo can shut the fuck up.

If the only thing you have to say is some stupid ass bullshit, just shut that pie hole.