PAF 9199
David Myers
Notes on Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2007 State of the City Address
In 2007, Mayor Michael Bloomberg was early in his second term as the Mayor of New York City. For the previous five years, the Bloomberg administration pushed a number of large changes and projects in the City, some of which was successful and others, such as the bid to host the 2012 Olympics, were not. However, Mayor Bloomberg given the success thus far, that both he and the entire City should feel optimistic for the road ahead. As such, Mayor Bloomberg’s 2007 State of the City Speech highlighted and reflected what the Mayor felt were the chief accomplishments of his administration, followed with the future projects he felt most proud about. To do an appropriate analysis of the speech it is important to understand the speech both the context, its text the context and the response to it.
Context of the Speech
The year preceding the 2007 State of the City was, like other years in the City, one full of ups and downs. The City was benefiting from, what seemed at the time, a strong economy and was particularly better for rich New Yorkers. In Manhattan, real wages rose by 5.4% between 2002 and 2005, “led by the finance and information industries, while the national average was flat” (Steinhauer, 2006). However things were not as rosy for those with moderate incomes. The number of affordable households fell by 205,000 in three years a total of 17% between 2002 and 2005 (Scott, 2006). Additionally the median household income in the city shrank to $40,000 from $42,700, though the median rent had risen 20% in three years (Scott, 2006). In hindsight, it is here that New York City’s growing inequality becomes apparent, as not only the rich got richer but the burden on the moderate/lower incomes only got heavier.
Overall however, the City was only getting richer and optimism began to rise, as well did a number of significant construction projects. The highest profile of which was the beginning of the construction of One World Trade, which signified the City’s continuing narrative of bouncing back from the destruction of the 9/11 attacks. In all, the charged atmosphere was a boon to Mayor Bloomberg. The Mayor benefited from the optimism that was charging through the City and its new wealth, in addition to the benefits his administration had produced. Between 2006 and 2007 the Mayor enjoyed a “70% approval rating,” an incredibly phenomenal rate (Lowry, 2007) that gave the Mayor real confidence in pursuing his agenda throughout the rest of his second term.
Text of the Speech
Overall, Mayor Bloomberg’s 2007 State of the City speech served its purpose as a function of both being reflective while pushing through new proposals. The speech was not delivered at City Hall, instead it was given at the New York City College of Technology in Brooklyn. Unlike say a presidential state of the union, Mayor Bloomberg had an opening act. For this year’s state of the City the speech “featured an unusual level of razzle-dazzle” including “a rousing marching band from Brooklyn and invited guests who had recently engage in acts of bravery” (Cardwell, 2007). What could add a certain uniqueness to this state of the City compared to others is that one of these guests was Ranger, “a Police Department German shepherd” who received acknowledgment for the injury he suffered after his “tendon was gashed on broken glass as he helped search for a suspect” (Cardwell, 2007). In addition to these New York City heroes, the Mayor provided customary shout outs to fellow elected officials, including Marty Markowitz, the Brooklyn Borough President at the time who was known for his passionate love of Brooklyn and his boundless charisma. The hoopla and pageantry, as amusing as it was, did not change the fact that at the end of the day the Mayor was delivering a state of the City.
Being his 6th state of the city speech, Mayor Bloomberg gave a speech that was packed in content but lean in its delivery. The earlier theatrics and incorporation of individual New Yorkers served as a tool for what was ultimately a very optimistic speech. The Mayor began the speech by ticking off the highlights of the last year and the accomplishments of the last five years. The spirit of the speech is one that is optimistic, pinging on the theme of how much the City has made progress in and how much more it will make progress in The style however is a little jerky, the transitions from policy areas is not completely fluid. One particular example is how the Mayor jumps from changes to primary education to new jobs to financial services, which is not a completely logical progression. Additionally the tone of the speech can be described as one that is both complementary while being encouraging. The rhetoric is of a boisterous, with a lot of self-praise while the tone of the speech includes an emphasis that not only more has to be done, it will be done.
The style of the speech is due in part to Mayor Bloomberg’s chief speech writer at the time, Francis S. Barry. Barry who was responsible for a vast majority of the Mayor’s speeches, was in tune with both the mayor’s personal style and own desires. Barry acknowledged that Bloomberg was “not one of rehearsal” and that the Mayor is not only “impatient with speechwriters” he also “rarely, if ever, practiced his remarks” (Barbaro, 2011). Barry had to account for a Mayor who had the mind of an “impassive number cruncher” and is more known for “his business acumen, not his eloquence behind a lectern” (Barbaro, 2011). As such the 2007 State of the City was less a speech of lofty ideals and was instead more grounded in hard facts and figures. Therefore most Bloomberg speeches were meant to be punchy and straight to the point and as such writers were “careful to employ the rhythm and style of his everyday speech pattern” (Barbaro, 2011).Additionally, Barry had to work with a famous micro-manager who when his staff was reviewing a speech he wrote himself, “the mayor scrawled wording suggestions in the margins and between paragraphs, employing circles and arrows, capital letters and cursive writing” (Barbaro, 2011). These preferences indicate that the mayor was more focused on getting the message out rather than make the message flowery or grand, a very New York City trait in itself.
Given the mayor’s predilections, a number of passages in the 2007 state of the City speech stand out and warrant further discussion. Early in the speech, the Mayor makes what most be the most emotional and passionate part of the speech stating “How can you not feel that New York’s future is bright with promise and that the State of our City is alive with hope” (Bloomberg, 2007). This passage is important as it speaks to the heart of the optimism that the speech hopes to exude. It is also a phrase that is Bloomberg, quick to the point but surprisingly impactful. The mayor takes this idea to the next step shortly after stating “all those investments and innovations will mobilize the ideas and energy of the people of New York City empowering everyday New Yorkers to step forward to take fuller control of their destinies and to pass on to our children a city even greater than it is today” (Bloomberg, 2007). This is another somewhat personal passage for Bloomberg and is incredibly optimistic. It’s clear here that Bloomberg feels a strong responsibility for making the city not only better now but later, ensuring its residents can enjoy its benefits for years to come.
Another passage that is more in line with Bloomberg’s style is a real number cruncher. His affinity for pure numbers comes out when he asks rhetorically, “tell me what other town has 500 art galleries, 375 theater companies, 330 dance companies, 150 museums, 96 orchestras, 24 performing arts centers and one Burmese python named ‘Fantasia’ at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum?” (Bloomberg, 2007) This is an interesting passage for a number of reasons. First, it speaks to Bloomberg’s love of numbers, he is able to tick off how many cultural institutions the City has in a purely quantitative process. For the mayor, nothing speaks more honestly than sheer numbers. Next the descending order of the numbers is very deliberate as it emphasizes not just the quantity but also the quality of the diverse offerings the City’s cultural institutions are able to present. Finally, what’s especially enjoyable about the passage is the how the mayor, in almost a humorous way, jokingly refers to NYC as a “town” and then goes on to list how packed with cultural institutions it is. This is effective in establishing the scope in which these cultural institutions exist and how they fit within the state of the City eco-system.
Mayor Bloomberg also used the state of the City to push entities beyond his control into action, specifically the New York State Legislature. In such a call out Bloomberg states “It’s no secret that the State Legislature has been giving away the store getting no productivity in return and saddling our children with costly pension giveaways. It’s time for Albany to stop playing Santa Claus with the city’s money!” (Bloomberg, 2007). This is one of the parts of the speech where Mayor Bloomberg intertwines the actions of an another entity as something that directly interacts with the state of the City. It is somewhat of a personal attack as the Mayor is explicitly telling another elected body that what they’re doing is wrong. The mayor uses phrases like “giving the store away getting no productivity in return” as a means to challenge the competency of the legislature, questioning not only their motives but their results. Additionally, like earlier, he ties the imagery of future actions impacting children, emphasizing the burden they will face as a result of the legislature’s actions. In this sense this passage is an effective attack on the legislature as it is both combines an attack on its actions while associating it with the blame for the potential consequences.
Finally, an interesting passage that comes to mind is “As we step up the fight against crime, we’re also going to make sure that the NYPD treats every New Yorker equally and with dignity and that all complains are taken seriously” (Bloomberg, 2007). This passage is directly in response to the police shooting of Sean Bell, who was shot a total of 50 times by NYPD officers on the night before his wedding. Given the anger and bitterness that came as a result of the shooting, the Mayor had to respond to the rising tensions. This response however, unlike the direct attack on the NYS legislature, it is only a passing mention of the bigger issues at hand. Though its an important statement, it is empty rhetoric without any real concrete action. Next the Mayor states “We call our police ‘New York’s Finest.’ That’s our term of respect for those who have sworn to protect us. And we must always insist that such respect flows in both directions!” (Bloomberg, 2007). Here, the mayor’s words are somewhat empty. In an attempt to address Bell’s death he uses simple language of “respect” as the focus of the main issue. Instead, this comes off as a weaker part of the Mayor’s approach in demonstrating the state of the city as it completely avoids the larger problems at hand.
Response to the Speech
Despite the fanfare and the strong approval rating that Bloomberg had, response to the speech was mixed to poor. Specifically some media publications had a number of critical points against the mayor’s speech. The New York Times focused on the education proposals the mayor made during the speech. For the most part the mayor was promising to carry out structural changes that his administration believed would address “the imbalance in the quality of teaching and administration between schools in rich and poor neighborhoods” (Cardwell, 2007). Examples of the proposals included tenure reform, new rating systems for schools, principals and teachers and increase the role of private groups in running schools, among other changes (Herszenhorn, 2007). The NYT, though acknowledging the scope of the Mayor’s reforms stated that his plan carries “huge risks” and that it raised questions “about whether yet another reorganization will be such swift and noticeable improvement in test scores and graduation rates” (Herszenhorn, 2007). The paper also warned that changes in teacher funding created additional “big risks” and that “schools in politically active neighborhoods could lose money over time” without making any guarantees that “equalized funding would change student achievement” (Herszenhorn, 2007). Finally, the paper in an especially troubling assessment stated that the mayor’s plan “raised questions about whether the system could withstand further drastic change” (Herszenhorn, 2007).
A more negative review came from the more alternative publication, Gothamist. Writers at Gothamist took issue with what they felt was a lack of depth and chided the mayor for the grand display of the speech. The publication made fun of the message of “hope” in his outlined agenda and said if it “wasn’t clear enough, then perhaps the Brooklyn Steppers marching band complete with on-stage dancers and the multi-media multi-screen backdrop with floating graphics were more convincing” (Chung, 2007). Perhaps the most stinging critique that Gothamist had to offer was also about the tone and place of the speech. In a stinging take, the paper added “the fanfare was a fitting backdrop for what seemed to be a corporate bash rather than a public service announcement. The concrete steps of City Hall could not be the appropriate venure for what was essentially a CEO’s declaration of record profits and salary bonuses” (Chung, 2007).
Though the reviews of the State of the City were mixed, the 2007 speech provided insight on Mayor Bloomberg’s government philosophy and goals for his administration. In truth however, 2007 is only one of the twelve years that Bloomberg served the City. The mayor’s administration went through a number of changes and proposals and the mood in the City was constantly changing. As such Bloomberg’s administration had to shift to those changes. To get a complete understanding of Bloomberg’s thinking behind his administration and speeches, one should start with Bloomberg’s own autobiography: “Bloomberg by Bloomberg,” the book the Mayor published before he became Mayor and talks about his work life and philosophy. Additionally, another good article to look at is the New Yorker’s article on Bloomberg’s legacy: “After Bloomberg” by Ken Auletta. This article provides a good insight on the effects of Bloomberg’s administration on the City over the 12 years he was mayor. It helps to shed light on the Mayor’s other years and in essence, other state of the city’s while he was in office.
Bibliography
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