Bloomberg Slacked, Cranes Collapsed

Someone is trying very hard to recast the Mayor’s legacy:

It has become the signature image of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s transformation of the economically fragile city he inherited in 2002: the towers that punch skyward throughout New York, gleaming testaments to the billionaire businessman’s management of an unwieldy urban bureaucracy.

Throughout his tenure, Mr. Bloomberg has taken particular pride in the construction boom, promoting it as the product of his pragmatic approach and the application of high-tech, yet common-sense solutions to the problems of government.

But the deadly crane collapse that killed two people and injured another on the Upper East Side on Friday morning is now threatening to tarnish that legacy. It was the latest in a series of construction-related accidents — including a crane collapse in March that killed seven people — that have left New Yorkers uneasy, with a growing concern that Mr. Bloomberg may have let high-rise construction proliferate without adequate oversight.

Indeed, despite the administration’s recent efforts to improve construction safety, including replacing the commissioner of the Department of Buildings, there are signs that residents — even those who have generally viewed him favorably in the past — are running out of patience with Mr. Bloomberg.