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Who (Else) Is Riding Air Bloomberg?
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 23, 2010
Modified May 24, 2010
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NYC Mayor's Office
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 23, 2010
Modified May 24, 2010
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Mayor Bloomberg's ambitious PlaNYC2030 initiative is one of the cornerstones of his green administration, an attempt to cut the City's carbon footprint by 30 percent by 2030. But Bloomberg is also a pragmatist, so the fact he needs his own private Dassault Falcon 900 jets to travel is justifiable, despite the carbon contradiction. But after a mention by NYPD Commisioner Ray Kelly that he gets lifts to Florida for vacations by the Mayor, it begs the question: who else exactly is getting lifts on Air Bloomberg?
In last week's NY Magazine profile on Kelly, Kelly discusses the perks of being close friends with the Mayor:
Kelly and Bloomberg get along so well Bloomberg gives Kelly lifts on his private jet. Bloomberg goes to Bermuda. Kelly and his wife get off in Florida, where they have a weekend retreat.
“It’s great,” Kelly says of flying Air Bloomberg. “Only way to travel.”
It's well known the Mayor uses the plane frequently to travel to Bermuda, where he is "beloved." As the Daily News points out, the Mayor doesn't disclose his private jet manifesto, neither who was on it nor where it goes. No such trips have been mentioned on disclosure forms by Kelly since 2004.
The News talked to two longtime Bloomberg staffers who were "stunned" at the report that the Mayor gave Kelly a lift for a vacation. The paper posits the possible ethical implications: "what's the difference between a boss giving his underling a lift on his jet and the boss giving his underling a couple of airline tickets?"
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Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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