Lew's View: Bill de Blasio Takes a Beating in Albany

Things are not looking good for New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Several of the multiple investigations of his administration are coming to an end and some think it is highly likely de Blasio will be indicted.

You could certainly see that the mayor's stress level was at an all-time high as he was grilled this week by state lawmakers in Albany. After testifying, the mayor took an outrageous and totally unprecedented step of not answering any questions from the press. He in fact blamed the press for many of his problems.

Based upon his actions this week I have to conclude that Bill de Blasio is delusional. He went up to Albany to oppose lifting a cap on charter schools, to try to impose a so-called mansion tax, to defend a plastic bag tax, to defend his handling of Administration for Children's Services, and to argue that he deserves an extension of mayoral control of the city schools.

He is most likely to lose on all of these issues with the exception of mayoral control of the schools where he might get another year extension, not that he deserves it.

New York City really deserves better. Can you imagine any of our previous mayors going up to Albany and taking such a beating? We deserve someone who will work hard, recognize problems like the homeless crisis, take swift and decisive action, answer questions from the press, and command respect from state lawmakers.

In my last editorial, I urged Hillary Clinton to please run for mayor because right now I don't think there is anyone who can beat the incumbent. I received a lot of negative feedback on my endorsement.

So if you don't like Bill or Hillary you need to get involved. Bad things can happen when the public doesn't participate in the process of choosing politicians.

The last mayoral election saw the lowest voter turnout ever. We clearly need a hero, so I urge you to pay attention to this election and participate so that we don't make the same mistake again.

--LEW LEONE