17853: Esser: Interview: Mayor Michael Bloomberg (exerpt/fwd) (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: D. Esser torx@joimail.com


Interview: Mayor Michael Bloomberg Discusses His Career
POSTED: 8:21 AM EST January 11, 2004
WNBC

...

GABE PRESSMAN, Host: This weekend you were supposed to be in
Haiti and in...

Mayor MICHAEL BLOOMBERG (New York City): Jamaica.

PRESSMAN: ...Jamaica. And you canceled the Haiti leg of the
trip. Why?

Mayor BLOOMBERG: The American Consulate in Haiti said that
if we came, and they didn't order us not to. They can't I
guess. But if we came, it would hurt them in providing
security for their own people because they would have to
divert some resources. So I'll go in another month or
something. I--you know, I--I wanted to go anyways but in the
end I thought about it and supposing something happened to
some of the Americans there because the guards were over
with us, that you'd never forgive yourself. I'm going to
have a reception for the Haitian community at Gracie Mansion
next week. It's the anniversary of the founding of Haiti, so
we're going to do something. And then I'll go in a couple
months, but--or I--or a month, whenever things quiet down a
little bit. But I'll go to Jamaica anyways on Sunday and
it'll be a fun trip and it's a good chance to show
recognition and respect a community that has a lot of people
here.
...

http://www.wnbc.com/news/2756416/detail.html