Comptroller John Liu backed off his attacks on US Attorney Preet Bharara yesterday and returned to criticizing Mayor Bloomberg.
Surrounded by a dozen advocates in wheelchairs, Liu announced he wouldn’t register a contract for the city’s new Nissan “taxi of tomorrow” until the entire 13,237-cab fleet was made wheelchair-accessible.
“For wheelchair users, our taxi fleet is a separate and unequal system,” declared Liu at a well-attended press conference in his Municipal Building office.
The number of cabs with wheelchair ramps, now 231, will increase by another 2,000 when the city starts selling extra medallions next year.
The comptroller has to sign off on virtually every city contract. But his powers to block contracts are generally limited to instances of corruption.
“The mayor under the City Charter can go ahead on his own,” Liu conceded under questioning by reporters.
Allan Fromberg, a Taxi and Limousine Commission spokesman, called Liu’s actions “both mysterious and clearly ill-informed.”
After the press conference, Liu fielded questions on other topics as he tries to raise his profile as a mayoral prospect and distract attention from an ongoing federal probe of his campaign finances.
When asked if he felt Bharara was out to stop him from becoming mayor, he declined to take a shot at the US attorney.
Liu said he’s taking the charges “very seriously” while “going ahead with the work of this office,” and his plans to run for mayor.