Last Saturday night, the 24-hour neon lights of Times Square turned to darkness, the spotlights went out on every Broadway stage, and more than 40,000 New York City residents found themselves searching for candles and a matchbox just to light their homes. So, where was Mayor Bill DeBlasio during it all? Campaigning for president in Iowa, that’s where!
Current Events
Although DeBlasio wasn’t at fault for the Con Edison electrical outage that snarled NYC traffic and ground the subway system to a halt, New York residents are still blaming him for being derelict on the job, for being away from the city every weekend while campaigning for his longshot presidential bid, and for not flying back to New York City until Sunday morning to provide leadership following the darkness.
“He should have just jumped in a chartered plane. One his rich friends, which he doesn’t have, should have just flown him back and let him command the city,” said Manhattan resident Fred Gurner. “It wasn’t an emergency over there. What was he, picking potatoes?”
Other city residents also weighed in.
“Absolutely he should be here, but, you know, it just happened to be a blackout. But the issue is he’s out of town every weekend,” added Harlem resident Delores Palmm.
Even The New York Post chimed in and called for DeBlasio to be removed from office:
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The lights went out on Broadway Saturday night, and Bill de Blasio was a thousand miles away in Iowa. It was the moment that perfectly captured his distracted, ego-driven failure of a mayoralty.
Bill de Blasio does not care about New York City. He does not care about its people. He does not care about how it’s run. He does not care about you or your taxes, creating jobs or improving lives. All Bill de Blasio cares about is Bill de Blasio.
And so, for the good of the city, Gov. Andrew Cuomo needs to remove the mayor from office.
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On Monday, Gov. Cuomo declined to initiate any formal proceedings to remove DeBlasio from office. However, that still did not cool down heated city residents who say the mayor was missing in action.
The Show Must Go On
Despite the absence of DeBlasio and power to the tourist-packed midtown Manhattan and Upper West Side areas, the New York showbiz scene was alive and well and on the job.
Singer/dancer Jennifer Lopez was in the middle of a concert at Madison Square Garden when the lights went out. The famed entertainer stayed on a darkened stage and instructed concert-goers to file out of the arena safely, while vowing to perform a “do-over” concert at a future date for Saturday’s ticketholders.
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Additionally, with virtually every Broadway show canceled due to the power outage, performers took their acts to the streets and performed several show numbers on the sidewalks with acoustic instruments and high-profile stars singing and dancing to the delight of tourists and Broadway ticketholders.
The city that never sleeps hasn’t experienced a major power outage since August 14, 2003, when a several-days-long blackout took out the Northeastern and Midwestern United States as well as the Canadian province of Ontario.
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