When it comes to the threat of a Long Island Rail Road strike, Bill de Blasio is proving you don’t have to be a tone-deaf billionaire mayor to act like one.
“In this day and age, the person New Yorkers elected mayor can always act as mayor, wherever he or she is.”
No, that’s not de Blasio justifying his trip to Italy Friday, which he’s not canceling, despite a possible LIRR strike. That was an aide to then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg, defending his boss’ Bermuda trip during the ’10 blizzard.
Mike took much heat for his absence then, and de Blasio as public advocate would later criticize him for being away during crises.
But now that he’s mayor, de Blasio seems to be channeling his inner Bloomberg — talking about how technology allows him to stay in “constant touch” even when he’s out of town.
“Contingency plans are very, very strong,” the mayor says, as he readies to leave for Italy. It’s July. Folks will be on vacation, or they can telecommute. “We’re in good shape.”
In fact, extra buses and ferries in those “very, very strong” contingency plans can handle just 5 percent of the LIRR’s 300,000 daily riders. And so far, only 18,000 people say they’ll work from home.
That leaves tens of thousands stranded: Nurses, hotel workers, cops — the very people de Blasio claims to champion. How exactly does a nurse telecommute?
We don’t begrudge the mayor some R&R. But attitude matters. Then again, de Blasio has little to worry about: An LIRR strike isn’t likely to affect Venice’s gondolas.