NYC is ready to go to war.
Mayor Bloomberg boasted yesterday that “I have my own army” in the NYPD and, if that wasn’t enough to establish the city as a worldwide power, added “I have my own state department” as well.
The comments came during a speech the mayor delivered at MIT describing how he was managing the city.
Trying to offer some idea of the scope of New York’s workforce, Bloomberg got a bit carried away with himself.
“I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh largest army in the world,” he said.
“I have my own state department, to Foggy Bottom’s annoyance. We have the UN in New York, so we have entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have. I don’t listen to Washington very much, which is something they’re not thrilled about.”
Bloomberg also got in a sharp dig at Albany, one of his least favorite places on the planet.
Speaking of the difficulty he’s had getting higher-mileage standards for taxicabs, the mayor said turning to Albany for help wasn’t much of an option.
“Our state is so in the pocket of some of the entrenched interests. They won’t force anybody to help us in this energy dependence that we have.”