She called for Eric Adams to stand down — but she doesn’t want his job. Meanwhile, seasoned New York politicians fear a primary challenge from her. That’s exactly why she isn’t launching one
Mayor is generally a demotion. Mayor of NYC is like being an authoritarian over a small but major nation with large, critical economy and the 7th largest army in the world. So arguably that would actually be a large step up for AOC, if we’re just talking about pure power and authority.
NYC is 7.4% of the US economy. I’m saying that to agree with you, that’s bigger than Florida, bigger than every state other than CA, TX, and (obviously) NY.
That’s really only true with the emergency powers of the governors office. Given the power to appoint 40+ commissioners in NYC and the de facto power the mayor exerts over NYC (despite de jure description) is immense. Give the political, police, and financial power of NYC, I would say the mayor still exerts more authority than the governor.
That being said, the governor of NYC has the power to declare a state of emergency and wildly broaden his power to near authoritarian levels. If that were to occur and then the governor and mayor were to somehow end up toe-to-toe, it would be interesting. But in actual practice, I think that might be a more even match up than you think.
On the other hand, the mayor is point man for literally hundreds of crises. Lindsay had a good shot at becoming President, and lost it because of a snowstorm; Dinkins got screwed by a Korean grocery store boycott.
All three major networks have stations in NYC, plus Fox News and CNN, plus the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. That’s not counting the Congressional delegation and the New York Stock Exchange.
The mayor is under a microscope with no Secret Service protection.
Now let’s pivot to what ‘real power’ is. Let’s put Lex Luthor as US President and as NYC Mayor. Either way, Lex can have one person killed anywhere in the world, but only as President can he start a war of bring a nation to their knees.
I estimate that Lex could get a billion in brides and kickbacks in one term in office; he could call the Saudis on Inauguration Day and have $50 billion in a Swiss account by the ned of the business day.
Mayor is generally a demotion. Mayor of NYC is like being an authoritarian over a small but major nation with large, critical economy and the 7th largest army in the world. So arguably that would actually be a large step up for AOC, if we’re just talking about pure power and authority.
NYC is 7.4% of the US economy. I’m saying that to agree with you, that’s bigger than Florida, bigger than every state other than CA, TX, and (obviously) NY.
Stupid recursion
Thanks to the antics of old time Mayor Jimmy Walker and Tammany Hall, a lot of NY’s power is controlled by the Governor of NY State.
That’s really only true with the emergency powers of the governors office. Given the power to appoint 40+ commissioners in NYC and the de facto power the mayor exerts over NYC (despite de jure description) is immense. Give the political, police, and financial power of NYC, I would say the mayor still exerts more authority than the governor.
That being said, the governor of NYC has the power to declare a state of emergency and wildly broaden his power to near authoritarian levels. If that were to occur and then the governor and mayor were to somehow end up toe-to-toe, it would be interesting. But in actual practice, I think that might be a more even match up than you think.
On the other hand, the mayor is point man for literally hundreds of crises. Lindsay had a good shot at becoming President, and lost it because of a snowstorm; Dinkins got screwed by a Korean grocery store boycott.
All three major networks have stations in NYC, plus Fox News and CNN, plus the NY Times and the Wall Street Journal. That’s not counting the Congressional delegation and the New York Stock Exchange.
The mayor is under a microscope with no Secret Service protection.
Now let’s pivot to what ‘real power’ is. Let’s put Lex Luthor as US President and as NYC Mayor. Either way, Lex can have one person killed anywhere in the world, but only as President can he start a war of bring a nation to their knees.
I estimate that Lex could get a billion in brides and kickbacks in one term in office; he could call the Saudis on Inauguration Day and have $50 billion in a Swiss account by the ned of the business day.