Mayor Rudy: Enjoy Retirement
— But Please Don’t Go Too Far
View From
The Middle

By Charles Rogers

Mayor Rudy Giuliani has started saying his good-byes. Last week he could be heard on WCBS-AM doing his weekly call-in show for the last time and it was a pleasure to hear so many callers congratulating him on the way he has handled himself — and the city — since September 11th.

The callers also congratulated him on the job he has been doing for the past eight years.

No, I wasn’t one of the callers, but, if you’ve followed this column to any extent you’ll know I have been a flag-waver for this guy since Day-One. The minute he got out of his limousine in the middle of Third Avenue and Houston Street to berate a derelict who had just spit on his car window in order to clean it (and became the first "Quality of Life" felon, so to speak), I knew Rudy would be a relentless bearer of the toughlove banner. At the time, I figured this guy loves New York so much that he’s willing to take the guff of thousands (millions?) of liberals who took the side of the derelict. Frankly, I was a little upset because of the compassion I — as many others — felt for the poor window-washer. But, dammit, I also had had it with those quality of life problems (and didn’t know what to do about it). Thankfully, Rudy took it out of my hands and said, "Be done with it." And — poof! — it was done. You can be sure there were complaints from the bleeding hearts, but this mayoral gesture started the ball rolling and — admit it — the city is better for it.

Of course, that was early in the regime of Rudy Giuliani. He continued to swing the axe and wield the broom until he made history, of sorts, sending the crime rate plummeting like never before. In his final years in office, he could look around and be pleased with the way things came out, to a degree, anyway. He had a marital separation that was most distasteful and continued to show his arrogance in office, portraying the dictator time and again. But through it all, somehow his ratings with the public stayed up there, and most thought he continued doing a good job as mayor.

Then came September 11th.

To hear him tell it on the radio the other night was worth everything.

"What was the best day and the worst day of your administration?" he was asked.

"September 11th, 2001 and September 11th, 2001," was his answer, rationalizing that the worst "was what it was. We all saw it and we will never forget the thousands — thousands — who died." He then turned the coin and said, "the best was the way New Yorkers showed what they had in them; the firefighters — many whom I knew very well — and the police, who showed courage like no one ever could." He also said he was proud of "just plain New Yorkers, who rallied to the cause magnificently."

Here was this sometimes arrogant, sometimes S.O.B., sometimes tough (never really sweet) guy who was praising his fellow city-dwellers for their courage.

Mike Bloomberg has some big shoes to fill. The task will be just about impossible.