Poll: Should the mayor take a vacation?
New Yorkers like their mayors (even unpopular ones) to hang around.
The thinking goes that in a city that never sleeps, its leader shouldn’t either. But one of the worst possible scenarios for a sitting mayor is to be out of town during a time of crisis.
There seems to be a bit of consternation at the fact that, after his current New England vacation, Bill de Blasio will have been out of town for nearly an entire month between July 15 and Aug. 31 (hat tip to the Wall Street Journal’s Josh Dawsey for that stat), which includes a trip to Italy and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. De Blasio, like a large number of Americans, likes to vacation in the summer, when the machinations of city government slow to a crawl.
Having just returned from a two-week sojourn myself, I can certainly vouch for the restorative power that comes with unplugging from the constant churn of New York City and state politics. And if you’re a politician like de Blasio who has taken a beating in the media and polls for the last several months, some time away is probably necessary to keep your sanity.
While it may appear as if de Blasio is taking more time off than his predecessors, there is a long history of New York mayors escaping the swampy city heat. Michael Bloomberg would reportedly jet to Bermuda on many weekends (and barely made it back to the city in time for a huge blizzard in 2011). John Lindsay, a Republican, was famous for hobnobbing with Robert Redford in Provo, Utah, and even returned from one brief summer vacation as a Democrat, a precursor to his unsuccessful 1972 run for president.
On the other hand, Rudy Giuliani, befitting his hard-driving, no-nonsense leadership style, hardly ever took time off and even rolled back vacation time for new city employees. And de Blasio’s political idol, Fiorello La Guardia, was famous for taking very few days off over his three terms in office.
So with two weeks until Labor Day – the unofficial end of the summer – here’s a fun Slant poll for our readers – should the mayor of New York City be afforded the same leeway with taking time off as your average citizen?