NYC mayor talks of 'own army,' 'smoked up' college days

A declaration that NYPD is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's "own army" has many critics upset. Melissa Russo reports.

Some New Yorkers may have wondered what Mayor Michael Bloomberg was smoking when he proclaimed he has his "own army” and admitted he "smoked up" in college during an unscripted speech at MIT Tuesday.

During that speech, Bloomberg let down his guard on a wide range of topics – including his own drug and alcohol use in the 1960s.

“I don’t know where you went to school, but we were too smoked up and drunk to carry a gun,” Bloomberg said, after describing a conversation with an Oklahoma lawmaker about legislation banning guns on college campuses.

See video and read the original report at NBCNewYork.com

The “smoked up” comment came after Bloomberg described how powerful his job is.

“Where else would I run an organization with 330,000 employees? I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh-biggest army in the world,” Bloomberg said.

He added, “I have my own State Department, to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the U.N. in New York, so we have entrée into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have.”

Bloomberg made the comments as he gave the keynote address at MIT’s Collaborative Initiative Conference, on the tech campus in Cambridge, Mass.

Bloomberg’s spokesman said there was “nothing new” about the mayor’s puzzling statements on Tuesday.

Stu Loeser said “he was speaking a bit euphemistically to a bunch of college students.”

Bloomberg also raised eyebrows when he said it wouldn’t be so bad to double class sizes as long as the teachers are capable, and said the reason students aren’t allowed to bring their iPads to class is because they would download pornography, causing lawsuits.

“This is Bloomberg unbound,” political strategist Dan Gerstein said. "He doesn’t have to run for reelection. I think you’re actually gonna see more of this over the next couple of years until he leaves office.”

More news and feature stories from msnbc.com:

Discuss this post

....he went from "smoking up" to hating people who smoke......

  • 12 votes
Reply#1 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 2:52 PM EST

Anybody who went to school in the '60's remembers that time of free expression and liberty.

Nobody bothered you when you lit up a joint.

There was free exchange of ideas and information.

And it was exactly that type of freedom that threatened the powerful and wealthy.

.

  • 13 votes
#1.1 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:11 PM EST

the powerful and wealthy who were many of the ones smoking up in the 60s. But if you want to stay powerful, you have to bend to the will of @!$%#s like the religious right/moral majority on things like drug policy.

  • 3 votes
#1.2 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:21 PM EST

brian..., that only became true when people like Rove began inviting all the evangelical religious wingnuts to the GOP table. Before then nobody seemed to care a great deal.

  • 4 votes
#1.3 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:33 PM EST

Wait a minute. I was there, in the sixties. I told my mother after high school "I'm am gonna go up and check out the University of Colorado campus." The next thing I remember was 1983. Why does Bloomberg remember so much?

  • 5 votes
#1.4 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:53 PM EST

Buffaloes Roam.....

Very Apt about CU, very apt..... We in GJ prefer the liquid - and legal - version of narcotics.... It makes the Front Range dictatorship much more tolerable :)

    #1.5 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:48 PM EST

    Funny how history repeats itself.. those liberal free thinking hippies from the 60's are now rich old squares, something they probably thought they'd never become.. too bad from that POV you cant see the mirror image.

    • 1 vote
    #1.6 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:58 PM EST

    Well Mikey, sounds like nothing has changed sine then. Most of the time nowadays you still sound like you been smoking and drinking something!

    • 1 vote
    #1.7 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 5:04 PM EST

    Seriously every time I here this man speak I just cringe and just think douche bag supreme.

    New York wtf why would you vote this asshat in office.

    8(

    • 1 vote
    #1.8 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 7:16 PM EST

    Big Al- I have the answer to your question: they are smarter than you.

    And US76 - what really happened was workers and quack religious whackos got threatened and became the Nixon voters, later called reagan democrats. They were a tool made to order for the "power structure" as it was called then.

    Dope for the billionaires!

      #1.9 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 11:31 PM EST
      Reply

      Just another buffoon who likes to hear himself talk.

      • 3 votes
      Reply#2 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 2:59 PM EST

      And this egomaniac is a general in the war on smlkers.

      • 2 votes
      Reply#3 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:16 PM EST

      Smlkers need to be shot, anyway.

      • 1 vote
      #3.1 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:53 PM EST

      Watch your mouth, you anonymous twit.

        #3.2 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:32 PM EST
        Reply

        With his billions he could fund a Super-Bud project to grow the world's finest weed

        • 4 votes
        Reply#4 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:25 PM EST

        Mayor Bloomberg has let his own wealth cloud his mind. He changed the rules so he could run one more time for mayor. This was a big mistake because he has become more and more unable to govern Manhattan in the best interest of all of his residents. He appears to not know what is best for the students in his area or how to handle OWS which is composed of individuals that are the victims of Wall Street, his friends, even though he feels that the Government caused our current economic challenges. His extreme libertarian views are not right for New York or any other city in the US.

        • 3 votes
        Reply#5 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 3:52 PM EST

        Bloomberg libertarian? Yeah....right!

        • 1 vote
        #5.1 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 7:11 PM EST
        Reply

        Just legalize marijuana and let's all move on, please.

        • 5 votes
        Reply#6 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:00 PM EST

        If New York already has the best of everything, why are you trying to recruit another college to come to New York. Spend the money on the one's already there.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#7 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:04 PM EST

        Good lord, can't the tool at least get the terminology right? I mean, hire someone that has a brain to do research for you. Either way, you can't stop the 99%.

        • 3 votes
        Reply#8 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:30 PM EST

        GEEZ, His mind is in the gutter. Can't use IPADS because students would look that crud up? I don't know any students, brought up with MORALS' that do that. Shame on him. Glad I don't liv in NY.

        • 1 vote
        Reply#9 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 4:41 PM EST

        Smokin reefer with micky b ?

          Reply#10 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 6:18 PM EST

          Changed the law to stay for a third term as Emperor of New York. Now he's talking about his own army and state department. This Zionist may have flipped his wig??? He should step down for the good of the USA.

          • 1 vote
          Reply#11 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 7:17 PM EST

          Another Fascist Elitist that people just love to keep voting in office. Pathetic.

          • 2 votes
          Reply#12 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 7:40 PM EST

          New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg with a
          net worth of $18.1 billion in 2011, is also the 13th-richest person in the
          United States.

          • 1 vote
          Reply#13 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 7:44 PM EST

          There you go. Legalize marijuana. It is obviously a gateway to billionairedom.

          • 1 vote
          Reply#14 - Fri Dec 2, 2011 11:27 PM EST

          Smoking... What? Can I have some? What a dufuss....

            Reply#15 - Sat Dec 3, 2011 1:40 AM EST

            “Where else would I run an organization with 330,000 employees? I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh-biggest army in the world,” Bloomberg said.

            He added, “I have my own State Department, to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the U.N. in New York, so we have entrée into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have.”

            --------------------

            His own army? Sounds like this state is on the list of trying to separate from the government. It'd be a scary thing once this country is divided up. Pick a territory and run! =:D

            • 2 votes
            Reply#16 - Sat Dec 3, 2011 4:33 AM EST

            His own army.? Next he will want his own nukes, so he can promote peace and democracy throughout North America. Just like Israel ??? We the citizens of the USA can vote ourselves into slavery.

            • 1 vote
            Reply#17 - Sat Dec 3, 2011 9:31 AM EST
            Comment author avatarMike Morganvia Facebook

            Nice to see Bloomberg be honest for once and wish he'd be the same when it comes to smoking and other issues in NYC. He should try and electronic cigarette and see www.ecigwerk.blogspot.com for more.

              Reply#18 - Sat Dec 3, 2011 10:33 AM EST

              He seems to be on a real power trip. The people who run the world have lost touch with the common people. All we need is for the men in blue to wake up and realize that they belong with the 99%.

              • 1 vote
              Reply#19 - Sat Dec 3, 2011 12:10 PM EST
              You're in Easy Mode. If you prefer, you can use XHTML Mode instead.
              As a new user, you may notice a few temporary content restrictions. Click here for more info.