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What kind of city is the mayor leaving to his successor? That’s the question posed by The New Yorker’s Ken Auletta during his recent, very comprehensive interview with NYC’s Mayor Bloomberg.

Going into detail about Bloomberg’s past three terms [which will come to an end December 31] – what he has accomplished, what kind of guy he is, what his future holds, etc etc – the one thing that stands out, as his controversial stop-and-frisk policy has been in the headlines recently after being ruled unconstitutional, is the way he actually addressed the policy in the interview.

“If I had a son who was stopped, I might feel differently about it, but nevertheless,” The mayor “conceded,” according to Auletta, who called the mayor’s comments on the issue occasionally “callous.”

Bloomberg continued, promptly pivoting away from his personal admission.

“Maybe I was inelegant, but I don’t think anybody thinks I am anything but — I hope not, anyway — supportive of trying to help all people,” he said. “With my own money as well as time, thank you very much. I’ve spent twelve years of my life doing this.”

In other words, if Mayor Bloomberg had a son, of color, he may feel differently. But, he doesn’t…

And in other Bloomberg news, yesterday he joined NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly’s media tour in defense of the NYPD using stop-and-frisk with an op-ed in the Washington Post after a court ruling that called stop-and-frisk unconstitutional.

“Every American has a right to walk down the street without being targeted by the police because of his or her race or ethnicity. At the same time, every American has a right to walk down the street without getting mugged or killed. Both are civil liberties — and we in New York are fully committed to protecting both equally, even when others are not.”

SOURCE: NY Mag, The New Yorker