Who’s Beyond What?

Disgraceful reporter Azi Paybarah breaks the fourth wall to ask where the mayor’s message has gone and explains how Mayor Iceberg apologizes:

Toward the end of the day, a Bloomberg spokesman called to inform me that I had been apologized to, then called and emailed other political reporters to notify them that the apology had been conveyed.

And Bloomberg, old media pro, seems to have developed a neat new way of answering critical concerns — say something is over, even if the other party doesn’t necessarily think so (maybe you’ve tried this on your spouse or loved one, e.g., “this conversation is over!” . . . perhaps with varying results):

The first press conference Mr. Bloomberg held after “disgrace” was on June 1, in his midtown campaign office. He was there to announce the Ackerman endorsement, but he also used the occasion to unveil an unusual new questions policy: He would “generally” take questions he thinks are related to his campaign at officially sanctioned campaign events, but at events at which he’s acting in his official capacity as mayor, he would not.

A reporter asked the mayor if he regretted “disgrace.”

“We’re beyond that,” the mayor replied.

But apparently, he still wasn’t.

The next day, at a press conference in Lower Manhattan on June 2 about cutting health care benefits to stave off layoffs for at least 90 days, Mr. Bloomberg asked if there were any off-topic questions.

A correspondent for Thomson Reuters promptly asked the following one: “Do you think it’s disgraceful for reporters in an open society to ask questions of people in power about their actions and motives?”

“I think we’re beyond that,” Mr. Bloomberg said again, this time with less conviction. “Let’s get on to the next thing.”

Compare “we’re beyond that” to the way he now seems to be explaining the status of the Willets Point/Iron Triangle redevelopment in Queens:

In terms of economic development projects, Bloomberg said that he wasn’t sure how quickly people were going to rush in and build at Willets Point, but he was confident about the project’s future.

“Willets Point — the battle is over; nobody’s going to stop that,” Bloomberg said.

You know who else was fond of shutting down dissent before something was a done deal? Or plowing forward with a plan before everyone was on board only to say that it was too late to stop? Robert Moses, who may have more in common with Bloomberg than once thought.