It was strange, even for a mayor who once – seven years in his government – declared that New York had to save while standing under a model blue whale.
First, Bill de Blasio’s eighth and final speech on the city was not even a speech.
Not one bit of the presentation was live.
And never once during the entire 28 minutes, pre-recorded online affair did Hizzoner ever turn to the camera to address the audience directly.
Instead, New Yorkers (if not just reporters paid for it) were treated to often generic footage from across the city – sometimes scenes of pre-pandemic life were shockingly mixed with the photos clearly shot after the coronavirus struck – as de Blasio played. narrator.
Generic stock music played in the background. Text flashes occasionally on the screen as de Blasio sets out his agenda for 2021 under the banner of ‘A Recovery for All of Us’.
‘The future begins here in New York City. This is the place where people have to come, this is the place where people have to invest, ”Hizzoner said at the end of the thirty-minute ad. “We will show the world day by day.”
An hour after the video was posted online, it was viewed only 423 times.