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As I stood witness to the Triangle Shirtwaist fire centennial commemoration at the corner of Washington Place and Green Street on Friday, March 25, I was surprised and impressed by the size of the crowd, but the most unexpected moment of the day came when New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg stepped to the microphone.
Every other speaker (and there were many–from Labor Sec. Hilda Solis and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to labor leaders Mary Kay Henry and Bruce Raynor) was met with cheers by the thousands in attendance at the rally. . . but not Mayor Mike. The pro-labor crowd loudly booed and heckled Bloomberg from start to finish. The chants of “get off the stage” were so loud that I (standing right under a speaker) could not hear Bloomberg at all until the organizers turned up the PA.
Black and purple bunting marks the eighth floor of the Asch Building (now the Brown Bldg.), once home to the Triangle Waist Factory. (photo: G. Levine)
The billionaire mayor has spent a lot of time of late making Unions his favorite whipping boy for NYC’s budget woes. Bloomberg has proposed pension cuts for police officers and firefighters, threatened to lay off thousands of teachers, and routinely treats construction accidents as the cost of doing business.
[To watch the video in a separate window, click here.]
31 Comments
Well, well. And he was supposed to be popular, wasn’t he?
I’m not in NYC, but I remember being shocked some time ago to read that he supports rezoning or tearing down much of the garment district, allowing or coercing the businesses there to leave or shut down. I’m mystified as to why any mayor would encourage businesses and jobs to leave their city.
As for the surprising numbers, well, there’s been a lot of publicity, a couple of tv specials on the Triangle Fire, and the R assaults on unions – all of which I suspect contributed to the turnout.
I’m really glad it was a respectable number.
Just desserts for Bloomberg who threw New Yorkers under the bus for Wal-Mart (see “The F Word: Public Workers Getting Snowed” [By: GRITtv with Laura Flanders Thursday January 6, 2011 2:37 pm] and “Breaking: Wal-Mart Lays Off District Managers Worldwide” [By: Oilfieldguy Friday January 29, 2010 11:24 am]).
Popular? With whom? Bloomberg could barely defeat a token Democrat this last time. Despite spending probably close to $100 million, compared to Thompson’s pittance.
About time for the execrable PoS.
Shoulda booed every pol you listed, though.
CNN covered the story by having a reporter give his report from the spot where a large group of people marking the occasion HAD been. But, at the time of the report, the group was gone. Am doubtful that CNN would take that approach to , say, covering a NASCAR race. “And, here is the spot where the winner crossed the finish line!” But, an event like this. Works for them.
You’re right. Despite Bloomberg shovelling out a ton of his own cash, he barely beat a relatively unknown Democrat. He only won by 5 points or so. He’s not well liked at all.
I saw Bloomy yesterday and thought “WTF is he doing there? He hates unions and workers.”. He had a look on his face of disgust. I’m glad they booed him. He hates working class people. He should have just stayed home.
Yeaaah, New York.
That is how arrogant these pompous tyrants are. They have a sense of entitlement.
Good for New Yorkers. The people are restless all over. Glad to see the Brits take it up also.
A memorial to one of the most significant events in our history …..an important and tragic event in the painful history of LABOR…. CNN ignores it???? This should have been THE story on ALL the networks! It’s the very LEAST they could do, to honor these souls who perished- through no fault of their own- but because of the cruelty of their EMPLOYERS…… This is exactly why we study history -to learn and remember- also to not let anyone pick and choose WHICH history to learn ( and not to order history books from Texas just yet…one day, after a more intelligent school board is selected!)
At one time I thought this guy was a pretty good guy for a rich guy, but now that he has proven himself to be “just another asshole,” he can take a flying fuck at a rolling donut!
I hear pundits referring to Bloomberg as a “moderate.” Haven’t these people figured out yet that there is no such thing as a moderate Republican.
Mayor Mike’s attitude toward labor tells everyone loudly and clearly what types of policies he would push were he ever to end up in a position of national influence.
In 2012, voters need to remember this. No matter how much Repub politicians spin and try to look reasonable, one should expect that any Repub will act like Walker, Kasich, Snyder, Christie, et al., once in office.
There is a difference between the parties.
That’s the big marker: a hatred of labor and working people.
Gregg,
Thank you for your post and especially for the remembrance of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire.
RIP ladies.
I know this OT, but can’t find any mention elsewhere on fdl about the people in the streets of london. U.S. media has so far been highlighting the minuscule vandalism; 9 people arrested out of 400,000) and underreporting crowd count. Best coverage so far on http://www.guardian.co.uk
and
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/blog/2011/mar/26/march-for-the-alternative-live-updates
Seconded. Both thoughts.
So glad to hear major bloomers got a tiny bit of his just desserts from the crowd. As our delightful Acerbic Goblin observed “WTF was he _doing_ there?!”
Guess it would’ve been even worse optics for the NYC mayor not to participate. He was damned if he did, damned if he didn’t. Couldn’t have happened to a better A-hole!
Thanks for this Gregg, and also for your comments on Party Line! The working people will not take much more of the BS the right is handing out, believe me, the People’s Revolution of America is right around the corner!
If you get a chane to watch the PBS documentary on the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, don’t miss it. I almost did because I thought it would be about victims and victimization. It wasn’t. The workers at the Triangle factory accomplished a huge amount in their short lives. It was they who took the lead in organizing shirt waiste workers all over the city. Their efforts resulted in bringing unions (and union shops) to most of the industry.
Their own company remained non-union. The owners were rich and powerful enough to survive the strike. They did win concessions (shorter hours, higher pay) but unsafe conditions remained on the factory floor. And the door on the west side of the building, their only viable escape route, remained locked.
Now we’ve come full circle. After an era in which workers had some power and working conditions improved for many, we are back, virtually, to square one. For instance, Can any of us spell ‘Massey’? Do we know what’s going on in our slaughterhouses and factory farm fields? Do we have justified faith in any regulatory agency, or union, to prevail against corporate cruelty and greed?
I fear the answer is ‘no’. The Democrats? Don’t make us laugh.
Re PW’s comment about the right’s hatred of labor and working people. I listen to local talk radio from time to time and it’s truly disheartening to hear guys call in and aggressively demand tax cuts for the rich. And you just know they’re not rich and never will be. But they’ve been deluded by the right.
Maybe we need to keep showing the contrast between the increase in wealth of the rich this milennium (and how relatively small the tax increase for them would be) while the middle class has declined as a necessary predicate for dumping Bush’s richie-rich tax cuts.
Maybe that’d work.
Meanwhile, they boisterously defend the guys who’d drive right over them in their wood-paneled interior, gas-guzzling megaSUVs.
Rude weighs in on the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire:
http://rudepundit.blogspot.com/2011/03/few-thoughts-on-unions-and-triangle.html
even though I can’t stand the f’king yankees, (go red sox) thank gawd for new yorkers.
out here is the pacified northwest, great state of wishy-warshy, a prominent local blogger who has done 100 times more against the Bill Gates / Walton / Broad ed deform yuppie f’king liars than the Washington Education Association has done, this CITIZEN activist was asked, on the quiet to NOT criticize the union leadership in public – criticism for being politically pathetic.
Go Along Get Along Gets What For Who?
rmm.
There is a lot of Calvin and Rand shaming elitism in the persuasion of the victims to preserve the ruling hierarchy against their interests. We must also promote, not just the rights but the dignity inherent in all people and the work they do.
The beginning of the Civil Rights movements was in working to empower the protesters’ sense of dignity.
“Shoulda booed every pol you listed, though.”
Amen.
An good audio of a radio show re: Triangle fire and subsequent labor activity:
http://fromthevaultradio.org/home/2010/10/15/ftv-231-the-triangle-fire-of-1911/
must scroll down a bit
Hmm. If it weren’t for the 9 arrested, there would have been no coverage, just as there was little to none for the Wisconsin protests.
Any one want to wager that the vandals were plants, as the Indiana prosecutor suggested to Scott Walker?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WYdAJQV100
It has been documented that callers to rightwing talk radio are paid agents. They are not representatives of those who are not rich. Don’t be deluded.
The middle class has not declined the dumping of the Bush tax cuts. Your stating that reveals that you have bought into the propaganda.
Bloomberg should be booed and heckled constantly. His administration’s policies are hurtful to NYC. Thanks for the video link!
http://my.firedoglake.com/lechero/2011/03/25/new-yorks-dis-advantage-program-casting-away-15000-previously-homeless-back-into-the-streets/
Exactly. And what’s more, the polls got that election WRONG — completely wrong. If a few more people would’ve voted, Bloomberg’s expenditure would’ve broken a record for most money spent on losing an election.
Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat, but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires. — John Steinbeck
Truer words ever spoken. Steinbeck spent a lot of time traveling around the country, and he knew his Americans.