Blacks on Bloomberg Leaders Offer a Surprising Mix of Praise and Put-Down by Michael Anstendig & Wayne Barrett December 3 - 9, 2003
"The jihad is over," says Councilman Phil Reed. "It was nasty for so long. You now have an administration you can dialogue with," smiles Queens assemblyman Jeffrion Aubry. "After Giuliani, anybody is a breath of fresh air," contends Congressman Charlie Rangel. "The animated enmity is not there," concludes Reverend Al Sharpton. Even Councilman Charles Barron, the most strident black critic in City Hall, concedes, "Bloomberg has a way with people that's disarming."
A Voice survey of 19 black leaders—including 13 elected officials—uncovered a unanimous sense of relief about the first two years of the Bloomberg era, a post-Giuliani consensus that the racial tone of the city has at least minimally improved.
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