So much so, in fact, that in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Center, he spent twice as much time going to the ball park to watch his favorite team than he did at the rescue and recovery operation in lower Manhattan. Of course, this analysis has sprung from the fact that the former mayor tried to position himself as one of the rescue workers, a gaffe that continues to chip away at the image of Rudy Giuliani as 9/11 hero. From Salon:
By our count, Giuliani spent about 58 hours at Yankees games or flying to them in the 40 days between Sept. 25 and Nov. 4, roughly twice as long as he spent at ground zero in the 90 days between Sept. 17 and Dec. 16. By his own standard, Giuliani was one of the Yankees more than he was one of the rescue workers.On the other hand, New York, and the nation, were in a dark period of mourning that autumn, and the mayor's presence at the games was a positive symbol of attempting to return to normalcy. As I've stated before, this would not really be an issue had Rudy not boasted of his heroic presence at the WTC site in the first place. There are many ways to try to symbolically heal a community following a disaster. One is to go to baseball games. Another might have been to skip the games and stand by the workers who continued to sweat it out at Ground Zero.
Photo Caption: Then-New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is surrounded by New York Yankees during ceremonies honoring victims of the World Trade Center terrorist attack, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2001, at Yankee Stadium in New York. From left, Mike Mussina, Dave Justice, foreground, Todd Greene, manager Joe Torre (no cap), Bernie Williams and third base coach Willie Randolph, back right.
Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. Come on! Give the guy a break! Like seriously... if he wants to go to baseball games let him! It's not like he wasn't at Ground Zero was completely EMPTY! There were hundreds of people there helping! Including a very good friend of mine!
CEWIV at 9:44AM on Aug 21st 2007
2. Giuliani was MAYOR not a rescue worker and the balance of his time was spent functioning as such. If he were to spend any more time at Ground Zero he would have been neglecting his administrative responsibilities. As for the time at the Yankee games, it is commendable that when he chose leisure activities during this distressful time that he chose to continue his support for all things New York. Besides, 58 hours over 40 days is 1.45 hours a day including travel. Not exactly gluttonous. If you now anything about NYC you know that it can take that long just to get to the stadium from Ground Zero never mind watching a game! Finally, no mention was made regarding travel time too and from Ground Zero, victims support benefits or any other of the myriad 911 related activities he was involved in. Come to think of it, wouldn't that be where he was flying from? This commentary is contrived, misleading, and incomplete. Anyone with a triple digit I.Q. can see that. Come on America, you can do better than this! Give us something we can sink our teeth into!
D at 10:12AM on Aug 21st 2007
3. Giuliani was MAYOR not a rescue worker and the balance of his time was spent functioning as such. If he were to spend any more time at Ground Zero he would have been neglecting his administrative responsibilities. As for the time at the Yankee games, it is commendable that when he chose leisure activities during this distressful time that he chose to continue his support for all things New York. Besides, 58 hours over 40 days is 1.45 hours a day including travel. Not exactly gluttonous. If you know anything about NYC you know that it can take that long just to get to the stadium from Ground Zero never mind watching a game! Finally, no mention was made regarding travel time too and from Ground Zero, victims support initiatives or any other of the myriad 911 related activities he was involved in. Come to think of it, wouldn't that be where he was flying from? This commentary is contrived, misleading, and incomplete. Anyone with a triple digit I.Q. can see that. Come on America, you can do better than this! Give us something we can sink our teeth into!
D at 10:23AM on Aug 21st 2007
4. Were YOU at Ground Zero? Give him a break! How about you stop grasping at straws and come up with some concrete reason to not like him?
Kelly at 11:09AM on Aug 21st 2007
5. Dear Kelly,
Thank you for taking the time to comment. Indeed, I did not work at Ground Zero. I watched the towers fall from my rooftop, and was forced to evacuate a few buildings in the aftermath, but the extent of my own contribution to the effort was monetary.
I have several reservations about Mr. Giuliani, one of them being that he often tries to take credit for things that he doesn't deserve. Rudy's hard-knock style seems to me to be an extension of the worst aspects of our current president. He has a divisive style of governing, and one that I don't think, in retrospect, was all that effective.
His failure to reform the public schools, whereas Bloomberg has succeeded, strikes me as a prime example.
I give him some credit with reducing crime. Then again, we might also attribute that to technological advances, since crime fell in virtually every American city in the 90's.
The central point of the post is that Rudy is quick to beat his own drum, and in this case it backfired.
david knowles at 11:02AM on Aug 21st 2007
6. VOTE FOR FRED THOMPSON
NOTPC4U at 12:54PM on Aug 21st 2007
7. Giuliani was a most unsuccessfulo mayor in NYC and rode a tragedy to fame. He is a sleaze and is ethically, morally and financially a disaster. Look at his choices for his allies and those to whom he gave the best patronage jobs, i.e., Kerrick et al. His main focus as mayor was keeping his girlfriends and his wife from running in to each other, especially in Gracie Mansion! This is the man to lead our country? Get real! Ask those of us who were here in New York during his time as mayor.
NBFRED at 1:15PM on Aug 21st 2007
8. Enough with the ground zero already! He was the Mayor of NY and performed at the highest level one could expect. As a former New Yorker I just wish he would give the Mets equal time. Pleae get a life.
PhilG at 1:36PM on Aug 21st 2007
9. Giuliani will be one of the best president in the history of this country if elected. I'm a democrat but If I have to choose between Mrs. Clinton and Giuliani,that's no brainer but to vote for Mr. Giuliani. He will end the war and be very strong against terrorists and crime,as we know from his record, also He will take care of illegal aliens, economy,health insurance etc. as He mentioned on his 10 comendaments. Vote for him and you will not regretted.
Mario Paglione at 1:40PM on Aug 21st 2007
10. Pro-choice, gun control and gay rights, and a serial divorcee, the Republicans will prove what a party of principle they aren't if they nominate Giuliani. What gall to call the party that lead us to victory in two world wars, that lead a real coalition of the World to stop genocide in Europe without a single American casualty, and champions civil rights despite the political price, a bunch of losers, when his own party's President will go down as the worst in history. Giuliani speaks to rooms that call Bush the best president in history because of what he's done for their oil company stocks, and Giuliani is accurate that anyone not a member of that financial elite is a loser under Bush. We've lost the balanced budget and declining debt President Clinton achieved, we've lost sons and daughters in a war waged to fill Republican coffers, we're on the verge of re-igniting the cold war, we've lost the respect of the world, and so much more. We're big losers now, but we'll be winners in 08.
Fred Staggs at 2:37PM on Aug 21st 2007
11. He would have been a spectator in either location. His rightful role was to let the experts do their job.
Steve Bonomo at 6:31PM on Aug 21st 2007
12. Im gonna vote for him . Hillary is a communist
Joe at 8:27PM on Aug 21st 2007
13. That is exactly where Rudy should have been...showing our enemies that they did not win, that we Americans did not let them force us into chaotic depression and we did not disassociate ourselves from continuing on with life. Rudy was setting the example for us all to follow. So, to my account he spent 58 hours flipping the bird at Osama and the other time mentioned supporting our heros at the site...get it right Knowles.
Jim at 1:14AM on Aug 22nd 2007
14. Dear Rudy should not be president. He is married to someone that was his mistress and I have seen her in interviews and she will NOT be a good "First Lady". If he was stupid enough to have a mistress while still married and while in a political position, then I would venture to say, he is used to making big bold mistakes that he really doesn't care what people think about. The only reason he is considered "successful" in any way is because he just happened to be the mayor when 9/11 occurred. Any mayor would be famous after that. Let's make it clear; it is the rescur workers and the people of New York City that were heroes and made things happen!
dbsleepy at 4:49AM on Aug 22nd 2007
15. David's pockets are loaded down with Clinton's gold,and as a dutiful gofer he is trying to criticize Giuliani even with the most irrelevant accusations.
The effort in those days was to bring the city back from the shock, as soon as possible. People were told to go to work, school, the movies,invest in the market ( which by the way was functioning 2 days later) and of course to the ball game.
David, the American people know who is throwing these lies at Giuliani,and they are smarter than you think.
That's why he is at the top of the list of Republican candidates, even in the Bible Belt.
If he is nominated he will carry the "Reagan Democrats" across the country and win the election.
Dominick
dominick at 7:52AM on Aug 22nd 2007