Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times continues to try to put the brakes on Bill de Blasio’s progressive enthusiasm.  In covering the Mayor’s inauguration yesterday, in an article entitled, “Plenty of Reminders of Populism’s Limits”, de Blasio was compared to Bill Clinton and Andrew Cuomo, who as centrist Democrats,  had to temper their views.  The article also provides a warning to de Blasio not to follow in David Dinkins’ footsteps:

“More broadly, the new mayor’s speech underlines that those conservatives who cast a querulous eye and accuse New York City of floating closer to Europe than to North America are not entirely mistaken. It can seem more akin to a Social Democratic nation-state than to a typical American city.

We have stiff antismoking and antigun laws, and a great array of hospitals, clinics and public colleges. While several speakers on New Year’s Day condemned the condition of our homeless shelters, it is worth keeping in mind that the city stands nearly alone in declaring that homeless people have a legal right to shelter.

Mr. de Blasio’s hopes are grand. “When I said we would take dead aim at the Tale of Two Cities, I meant it,” he said. “And we will do it.”

Perhaps he’s right. The coming months will offer a clearer verdict. But you suspect that his life’s experience has also taught him that chasms are rarely crossed in a single step. His long-ago employer, David N. Dinkins, is referred to, more than a touch unfairly, as having presided over a failed mayoralty.”

The New York Times has been reeling since de Blasio was elected and is doing everything it can to move him to the center and away from the people’s platform upon which he was elected.

Tony