New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been front and center over the last few days updating New Yorkers in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. One message that has been consistent in his news conferences is how Sandy’s destruction will make the city and surrounding areas more prepared the next time — like not locating generators in the basements of buildings and testing those generators on a regular basis. This morning he discussed his private sector role, as CEO of Bloomberg, which includes the powerful Bloomberg terminals, news service and Bloomberg TV: “My company… I would have a note to check [the generators] — when I left, the last time I talked to them about it — when we ran on generator power every month.” Bloomberg gave up any operational role in his company when he became mayor in 2002.
Bloomberg also scolded the assembled reporters a bit saying the recovery workers, police and fire personnel “need support rather than to read about criticism all the time.”
Bloomberg’s predecessor, Rudy Giuliani, who was also Mayor during a time of crisis, will be on Larry Kudlow’s show tonight on CNBC to give his perspective.