Mayor Bloomberg gave his annual "State Of The City" address in the Bronx today—and while that speech was filled with "bombshells" and a glimpse at how he views his legacy, the star-studded video which introduced him kind of overshadowed much of that. After all, how often does one get to see Hizzoner awkwardly bop and jerk to his favorite musician and make-out partner, Lady Gaga?
The video is filled with nods to many of Bloomberg's initiatives and achievements over the last year, and is filled with city officials—it starts with him flanked by press secretary Stu Loeser and TLC Commissioner David Yassky. Bloomberg jokingly notes how hard it is to find a taxi outside of Manhattan, and then hails a livery cab—a reference to his success in legalizing street hails of livery cabs. Then in the back of the cab, he requests some Lady Gaga tunes, and starts his turtle-esque jiggling.
During his ride, he passes by Schools Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott and Health Commissioner Thomas Farley getting ready for a run; then he passes by Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson and Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan riding bikes. He reminds them to "stay in the bike lanes." He also passes Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Linda Gibbs, who’s running late to the speech because she’s busy shopping at various greenmarkets.
The strangest moment comes when he crosses the Ed Koch Queensboro/59th Street Bridge, and runs into former Mayor Ed Koch literally greeting shouting at drivers as they cross. He asks the mayor his trademark question, "How am I doing?"—and makes a play for the George Washington Bridge. The whole thing ends with Bloomberg being chased into Morris High Bronx by a pack of wild pre-teens, like some creepy mirror-image of The Beatles from A Hard Day's Night.
