New York, NY – Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg canceled his weekly radio appearance, scheduled for Friday morning, amid a growing outcry over his handling of a top aide’s arrest over a domestic violence complaint, said a person told of the mayor’s decision.
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The move appeared to be an attempt to avoid the public spotlight — and potential questions about why Mr. Bloomberg sought to conceal the arrest of Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith. When Mr. Goldsmith resigned several weeks ago, the mayor’s office said he was leaving to pursue a job in private business.
On Thursday, it was revealed that Mr. Goldsmith had actually stepped down because of the arrest, which stemmed from an altercation with his wife, Margaret, that involved screaming and shoving at their town house in Washington.
A spokesman for the mayor, Marc La Vorgna, declined to comment Friday morning. The radio program on WOR-AM (710), which starts around 8 a.m., generally touches on the major news of the week, but has a breezy tone: its host is not known for posing particularly tough questions to the mayor.
For the second day in a row, Mr. Bloomberg has scheduled no public events where reporters might have an opportunity to ask him questions.
Several of the city’s most prominent lawmakers have rebuked the mayor for offering a misleading explanation for why Mr. Goldsmith departed, especially given the mayor’s longstanding advocacy for transparency in government. City Hall has refused to comment on how it handled the episode.
He made the right decision. This was a personal tragedy for the Goldsmiths and he resignation was the right decision. Bloomberg chose to move on quickly, accept the resignation, and not subject Mrs. Goldsmith to a media frenzy. With all the problems facing NYC in the aftermath of the storm and the budget crises, why do we need to wast time debating this meshugaas.
Why does the deputy mayor have a townhouse in Washington? Sounds like another guy on the city payroll doing things besides helping to run for the city. “Jobs for the boys”–and the boys don’t even have to do their job full time.
please bloomy was protecting his image that is his true motivation for every action he takes
Why can’t someone have a private life. Bloomberg is correct in this case.
We live in a crazy world. I commend Mayor Bloomberg for not blowing this out through a microphone on a radio talk show to the NY tri state area. Some things are actually private, and not everything has to be out in the open. Leave the deputy mayor alone, and leave Michael Bloomberg out of this. The mayor is respecting the privacy of his staff member and that’s pretty amazing in todays day!
The correct decision was made to fire the miscreant, Goldsmith. Any husband who raises his hands to his spouse, and assaults and abuses her, is not a man, but a savage!
The media loves gossip more then any other news, even of deaths. They can report a major tragedy in one minute or less, yet in the same time give 5 minutes for a stupid political scandal. Bloomberg is right this time, I’m sick and tired of the media harassing people’s personal lives, let him deal with his own issues.