Lew's View: Mayor de Blasio's Work Ethic

Lew Leone is the vice president and general manager of WNYW-FOX 5. He is taking to the airwaves with his thoughts on current affairs. It's called "Lew's View." In this commentary, Mr. Leone takes on Mayor Bill de Blasio's work ethic.

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New York is a hard-working city. In fact, just getting to work can be a chore. For many, it requires an early wake-up, maybe a quick workout and more often than not a long and stressful commute. But not for our mayor, Bill de Blasio. He leads a daily life, according to the New York Times, with a "routine that most busy people can only dream of."

When he was elected mayor, the inexperienced Bill de Blasio entered the office with very little leadership or management experience, so most New Yorkers expected he would roll up his sleeves and get to work. Last week the Times chronicled a typical week for the mayor and his daily schedule has left many of us questioning his work ethic and seriousness for the job.

While most of us are rising early and busting our humps to get to work on time via subway, bus, taxi, Uber or Citi Bike, the mayor sleeps in. I'm not sure if he has a little breakfast, but around 8 a.m. or even later he takes his caravan past his office in City Hall and across the East River to Park Slope where he goes to the gym for a "lengthy and leisurely" workout. According to the Times, de Blasio works out alone while members of his staff hang out on the street or in a local bakery. The mayor also uses this time to run household errands like dropping off and picking up his dry cleaning. When he finally arrives on the job it is normally past 10 and sometimes as late as 11 a.m.

With his approval rating at an all-time low, half-dozen ongoing investigations, lower Wall Street tax revenues, key leaders on his staff resigning, and a terrible relationship with both presidential candidates, it is time for the Bill de Blasio to start taking the job of mayor of the City of New York seriously and act like a leader. Get out of bed earlier, do a hard 30-minute workout at a nearby gym or the 92nd Street Y, and head to the office.

Since you the citizens are technically his boss, you should demand that he get to work on time, stop relaxing, and lead. How can any city worker be motivated to work hard when the boss is a slacker on the job?

--LEW LEONE