New York City schools are being asked to add one more lesson to the packed weeks before the end of the school year: about bullying.
In light of recent bias-motivated violence, including the murder of a 32-year-old gay man in the West Village this weekend, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Chancellor Dennis Walcott said all schools would be asked to hold at least one event before the end of the school year to educate students about hate crimes and bullying.
I'm not minimizing the awful violence that took a man's life this weekend or any other bias-related violence or crime, but if Quinn and Walcott want to reduce bullying, they ought to start with themselves and their pal Bloomberg.
Christine Quinn is proud of her reputation for being a bully, which she sees more as "getting stuff done" rather than, you know, running roughshod over people.
Me, I think anybody who cancels a senior citizens program because the council person from that district didn't personally thank Christine Quinn in her press release is a bully.
Same goes with somebody who cancels the Vallone scholarship because she's pissed at Vallone's son.
Hard to characterize those kinds of actions as anything other than "bullying."
As Gothamist put it, Christine Quinn, thy middle name is "vengeance."
As for Walcott and his boss, Bloomberg, there is not one day that goes by where they don't bully their way through the school system.
That's been Bloomberg's education reform policies for the last 12 years.
If you want to see how many people think Bloomberg is a bully, then google the terms "Bloomberg" and "bully" and take a look.
I'll teach the bully lessons, but Christine Quinn, Michael Bloomberg and Dennis Walcott need to attend some bullying sessions too.
Just because you have twenty billion dollars or you work for a guy who has twenty billion dollars doesn't mean you get to bully your way through life.
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