It is a matter of trust: No third term for Michael Bloomberg

An open letter to Michael Bloomberg

Running for mayor means that you are asking the citizens of New York for their trust. Based on your record of the last 8 years, we know all too well that we cannot trust you. No, sir. Not at all.

When ConEdison neglected its infrastructure, and the lights went out in my neighborhood of Astoria for two weeks, days had to pass before you realized that 174,000 people were both without power and powerless to do anything about it. Being mayor means that we depend and rely on you to stand up for us.

When George W. Bush ordered the invasion of Iraq, many New Yorkers did not support the war. Even though we had proper permits, NYPD put up barricades and the MTA shut down subways – to keep us from peacefully attending our rallies. We have a right to gather and express ourselves. Our mayor should not be suppressing the voices in our community.

After you won the bid to host the 2004 Republican National Convention in our city, you thought it was perfectly fine to arrest over 1,800 protesters. The people you arrested were detained under false pretenses – until a court threatened to fine the city, effectively forcing you to set them free. I wasn’t arrested, but, at the time, I belonged to a small group called, “Gays Against Bush.” The New York Times reported that NYPD was collecting information about our meetings and our rallies. How can the citizens trust their mayor, when he is so quick to squash our freedom of expression ?

For the 8 straight years that you have been in office, the Rent Guidelines Board has systematically raised regulated rents in our city. And any time that the MTA has wanted to jack up our fares, it gets away with it. You haven’t even noticed that NYU is the second-coming of Robert Moses, because while NYU is tearing down historical houses or evicting cultural landmarks, you have been busy closing down firehouses and advocating for the construction of more football stadiums.

The city has changed under your 2 terms, and not for the better. You are constitutionally incapable of relating to the concerns of the average New Yorker. And now you come, asking us to trust you with four more years ? You don’t know what trust means, Mr. Mayor. It means that we give you our permission to run our city for 2 terms, and you return it to us unharmed after your two terms are over.

After voters have twice passed a referendum for term limits, why would you unilaterally help yourself to a third term ? The answer is because you cannot be trusted. We can no longer trust you to run our city. After these 2 long terms, there is no longer any trust left to give.