Case study: Bloomberg and Goldsmith vs. Cuomo and Towns
Michael Bloomberg Spencer Tucker via nyc.gov / flickr
9:05 pm Oct. 6, 2011
Governor Andrew Cuomo's statement today that he will not fire his housing commissioner Darryl Towns, who pleaded guilty to a DUI charge, was greeted, publicly, with a shrug.
To compare the Towns situation to the affair of Stephen Goldsmith, who left his job as a deputy mayor in the Bloomberg administration before it was revealed that he had been arrested over domestic dispute with his wife, is to compare apples to oranges.
Drunk-driving is bad in one way, and domestic violence is bad in another. Towns wasn't on the outs with Cuomo when he committed his non-workplace transgression; Michael Bloomberg was probably quite happy to have a reason to get rid of Goldsmith, who botched a blizzard cleanup and apparently wasn't held in terrifically high esteem by his peers in City Hall.
Towns admitted guilt and was allowed by Cuomo to stay on; Goldsmith, whose wife didn't press charges, admitted nothing, and was quietly dismissed. (Bloomberg only addressed the matter of the arrest once it hit the front page of the New York Post.)
Reaction to the Bloomberg administration's handling of the matter was harsh, and lasted for days. It wasn't the substance that anyone was excited about; nobody really accused the mayor of being soft on domestic violence or in any way being too lenient toward Goldsmith. But he was slammed for his decision not to disclose the matter at the time.
Despite the seriousness of DUI, on the other hand, Cuomo has not been criticized for his decision not to take any action against Towns.
The lesson, maybe, of the two drastically different media reactions to two (admittedly different) cases of deputy-level misbehavior? The media loves exposing cover-ups, and announcements are boring.
Some links:
An assistant commissioner for New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development was arrested for his alleged role in a bribery, racketeering and extortion scam. [FBI.gov]
Mayor Bloomberg warned of "unrealistic" 8 percent rates of returns from investments that fund city pension plans [Henry Goldman]
NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly was grilled about police surveillance techniques by the City Council, which "has done little to oversee the department as it became one of the nation's most aggressive domestic intelligence agencies." [AP]
Kelly said Mayor Bloomberg can give the order for cops to shoot down a small plane. [Rocco Parascandola]
An unnamed NYPD officer was caught on tape saying he hoped his nightstick would get a workout. [Helen Kennedy]
23 people were arrested. [Andy Newman and Colin Moynihan]
The Public Safety chairman in the City Council suggests sensitive operatives by the NYPD get federal oversight. [Matt Apuzzo and Samantha Gross]
The NYPD said only Brookfield Properties can say when protesters must leave Zuccotti Park, since they own it. [Julie Shapiro]
The family of a Brooklyn woman killed while police were involved in a shootout nearby put the city on notice that they might sue. [Al Baker]
Cuomo "seemed to suggest" one acceptable tweak PEF could do to the proposed contract was shorten it from five years to three. [Casey Seiler]
After Cuomo signed a bill expanding translation services for state agencies, Bloomberg noted he did something similar first. [Liz Benjamin]
Labor Leader Greg Floyd, who is flirting with the idea of running for mayor, suggests Cuomo doesn't have an important job. [David Freedlander]
And Cuomo will not take action against his new housing commissioner who pleaded guilty to a DUI charge. [AP]
