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Jul 25, 2006 1:27 am US/Eastern
Crisis In Queens: Mayor's Con Ed Support Draws Ire
Politicians Up In Arms Over Bloomberg's Comments
QUEENS (CBS/AP) ―
With pockets of power still out in Queens, sparks flew at City Hall on Monday between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and three lawmakers who are outraged that he is defending Consolidated Edison's handling of the week-long outage.
The lawmakers -- two Queens councilmen and a state assemblyman -- were invited to stand with the mayor as he gave reporters a blackout update in his briefing room. In response to questions about Con Ed and its CEO, Kevin Burke, Bloomberg stuck to the supportive mantra he has maintained for days, and gave them glowing reviews.
"They have been open, they have been responsive, they've been working well with the city, they've accepted our help every time -- we can't ask for anything else," said Bloomberg, who is himself a former CEO. "It's not our network -- their company, their network -- and they've got to go in and fix that, and going after the CEO just because somebody wants to have somebody to blame doesn't make a lot of sense."
As he spoke, the three lawmakers -- who are calling for Burke's resignation and criminal investigations into the company's response -- shifted uncomfortably, exchanged looks and rolled their eyes. They and other critics of Con Ed say the company has not been forthcoming about the extent of the damage and has been slow to address the problems that left thousands without power for days.
Councilmen Eric Gioia and Peter Vallone Jr. said afterward that they nearly walked out, and Assemblyman Michael Gianaris said Bloomberg has his "head in the sand."
"When you go out into my neighborhood and speak to moms who don't have milk for their babies or seniors whose medicine is spoiled and that their lives are literally at risk, you would demand Kevin Burke's head immediately," Gioia said. "It is astounding to me that the mayor fails to see this."
Members of Bloomberg's staff immediately called the lawmakers into a private meeting and reprimanded them for disagreeing publicly with the mayor on his turf. The lawmakers were chided both for what they said to reporters in Bloomberg's briefing room and the theatrics they displayed as the mayor was speaking.
Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said Vallone, Gioia and Gianaris were aware of the mayor's position on Con Ed and should not have attended if they thought that would present a problem.
"We disagree vehemently with the mayor's opinion on this matter, and we'll take it from there," Gianaris said after the scolding. "We're going to do whatever we have to do to hold people accountable."
Bloomberg's soft tone with Con Ed differs wildly from the approach taken by his predecessor, Rudolph Giuliani.
Giuliani, who was in office during a short but grueling blackout in Manhattan the summer of 1999, publicly slammed the company and sued it for damages. He weighed in Monday on the "Mike and the Mad Dog" sports radio program, when asked what he would be telling Con Ed if he were still mayor.
"I don't think I can say it on radio," he said. "I think you're going to have trouble with the regulators if you really want
to know what I've been saying privately about that."
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
