Whoa, horsie!
A day after Eliot Spitzer’s campaign unveiled an ad evoking his “Sheriff of Wall Street” persona, Mayor Bloomberg questioned the wisdom of putting a bulls-eye on the city’s financial hub.
“Just condemning any one industry is not a smart thing to do,” Hizzoner said outside Gracie Mansion yesterday.
“If there’s something wrong [on Wall Street], it’s not the comptroller’s job to investigate that. The comptroller’s job is to make sure that all the contracts are given out fairly and that they are given out to suppliers to the city who are honest.”
“That’s the job, and that’s where we really need the next comptroller to focus on.”
Bloomberg’s comments came after he was asked to expand on earlier criticism of Spitzer’s fixation on Wall Street — an industry that had been a favorite target of the “steamroller” during his eight years as state attorney general.
Spitzer spokesman Hari Sevugan responded that his boss and Bloomberg simply have a different view of the comptroller’s job.
“As governor and attorney general, Eliot worked productively with mayor Bloomberg on a number of issues, but one area where they have disagreed is on Eliot’s view that more vigorous oversight of the financial-services industry is good for the industry and investors alike,” Sevugan said.