Dear Commons Community,
Mayor Bill de Blasio and Schools Chancellor Carmen Farina caused their own storm during Thursday’s snow storm by keeping the public schools open. It was a difficult call. Most of the media have trounced on de Blasio for keeping the schools open. Al Roker, everybody’s favorite weatherman, attacked the mayor on Twitter on Thursday for keeping them open. Yesterday during a broadcast from Sochi, where he is covering the Winter Olympics, Mr. Roker stood by most of his comments but he apologized to Mr. de Blasio for one particularly tough message, in which he predicted the mayor would have one term.
“That was a little below the line,” Mr. Roker told his co-hosts, explaining that he had become heated in the moment.
He added, “I’m very passionate about the weather.”
In retrospect, it might have been a poor decision but these decisions are ”iffy” at best. New York City has a history of keeping schools open during stormy weather. In addition, one of de Blasio’s rationales was that parents who work need the schools open to nurture, feed, and care for their children.
The media will continue to play this story up a bit New York has already gotten over it.
Tony
As yes, the lovable Al Roker, the man who claims to know everything and everything, including how Mayor DeBlasio should do HIS job: It’s interesting (and telling) that Al’s ” one formal credential is to possess an expired American Meteorology Society Television Seal of an unknown year”. I suspected as much. Al reads the weather report well, …but…it looks to me like he may be a “one-term” weatherman (to use a term that he is fond of). Al Roker should check out the fate of NYC television weatherman Tex Antoine, who was promptly discarded after an on-air gaff years ago. Watch out Al … you may be next!