Bill de Blasio praises Jerry Seinfeld for his op-ed saying NYC will bounce back

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has praised Jerry Seinfeld for his op-ed saying that ‘tough New Yorkers’ would bring the city back to life following the COVID-19 pandemic after a comedy club owner declared the city was dead and wouldn’t recover. 

During his daily press conference on Tuesday, de Blasio said a true New Yorker ‘stands and fights’ to make the city better despite the ongoing pandemic and escalating crime and homelessness. 

His comments in support of Seinfeld came a day after the comedian penned an op-ed for the New York Times in which he told the people who are ‘wailing and whimpering’ that NYC is dead to get a grip because it will ‘sure as hell’ bounce back.

Seinfeld’s stance was a jab at NYC comedy club owner and hedge-fund entrepreneur James Altucher who wrote a blog post earlier this month declaring that that the city was dead and would never recover again.

‘I want to take a moment to thank Jerry because this is what a true New Yorker does – stands and fights and works to make this place better no matter what’s thrown at us,’ de Blasio said.

‘That’s the vast majority of all of you out there because that’s what we’ve seen time and time again.

‘We went through 9/11. People fought back. Hurricane Sandy. People fought back. Great recession. People fought back. New Yorkers fight back, that’s what we do.’ 

Altucher hit out at Seinfeld – who called him a ‘putz’ – on Monday with a rebuttal op-ed in the New York Post titled: ‘Sorry, Seinfeld: Your love of NYC won’t change the facts about its crisis’.

He argued that his initial post saying that New York was dead was based on facts and that denial of the problems plaguing NYC wouldn’t help or save the city.

Altucher noted that apartment vacancies were at an all time low, deficits were at record highs and companies were packing up and moving on from NYC. 

In his initial post, Altucher had written about how he fled with his family to Miami following the week of looting and riots that plagued the NYC in June. 

He criticized Seinfeld on Monday, saying that he wrote his op-ed from the ‘comfort and safety of his Hamptons mansion’ where he was likely to have dozens of ‘rare Italian sports cars in the garage’. 

Seinfeld, who has an estimated net worth of $950million, lives in an apartment overlooking Central Park on the Upper West Side and also has a sprawling waterfront mansion in the Hamptons which he purchased for $32 million from Billy Joel back in 2000.  

Many wealthy New Yorkers fled the city in favor of their Long Island homes as New York became the global epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak five months ago. 

It is not clear where Seinfeld has been spending the majority of his time during quarantine but his wife’s Instagram page has him pictured in Manhattan and the Hamptons since April.   

Despite acknowledging that he does in fact have a place to retreat to outside the city, Seinfeld vowed to ‘never abandon New York City’.

Singling Altucher out for moving to Miami, Seinfeld wrote: ‘You found a place in Florida? Fine. We know the sharp focus and restless, resilient creative spirit that Florida is all about. You think Rome is going away too? London? Tokyo? The East Village?  

‘They’re not. They change. They mutate. They re-form. Because greatness is rare. And the true greatness that is New York City is beyond rare. It’s unknown. Unknown anyplace outside of New York City.

‘You say New York will not bounce back this time. You will not bounce back. In your enervated, pastel-filled new life in Florida. I hope you have a long, healthy run down there. I can’t think of a more fitting retribution for your fine article.

‘This stupid virus will give up eventually. The same way you have. We’re going to keep going with New York City if that’s all right with you. 

‘And it will sure as hell be back. Because of all the real, tough New Yorkers who, unlike you, loved it and understood it, stayed and rebuilt it.’

One of Altucher’s main arguments for NYC not bouncing back was that unlike in previous times of crisis – like 9/11 or the crime wave of the 70s – there is nothing currently bringing people back because people are working remotely.

Seinfeld, however, argues that working remotely isn’t sustainable because there is no ‘energy’ in doing that and ‘everyone hates it’.

‘Guess what: Everyone hates to do this. Everyone. Hates,’ Seinfeld wrote. ‘You know why? There’s no energy. 

‘Energy, attitude and personality cannot be ‘remoted’ through even the best fiber optic lines. That’s the whole reason many of us moved to New York in the first place. 

‘You ever wonder why Silicon Valley even exists? I have always wondered, why do these people all live and work in that location? They have all this insane technology; why don’t they all just spread out wherever they want to be and connect with their devices? Because it doesn’t work, that’s why.

‘Real, live, inspiring human energy exists when we coagulate together in crazy places like New York City.

‘He says he knows people who have left New York for Maine, Vermont, Tennessee, Indiana. I have been to all of these places many, many, many times over many decades. And with all due respect and affection, Are. You. Kidding. Me?! 

Seinfeld said the last thing anyone needed at the moment was the negativity Altucher showed given the ‘challenges’ everyone is facing right now. 

‘The last thing we need in the thick of so many challenges is some putz on LinkedIn wailing and whimpering, ‘Everyone’s gone! I want 2019 back!’,’ he wrote. 

‘Oh, shut up. Imagine being in a real war with this guy by your side. Listening to him go, ‘I used to play chess all day. I could meet people. I could start any type of business.’ Wipe your tears, wipe your butt and pull it together.’ 

Numerous business leaders have suggested in recent weeks that the damage to NYC’s economy could last for years or decades to come as a result of the mass exodus of residents and businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Just last week, a coalition of New York City restaurants are threatening to sue de Blasio after he admitted there was ‘no plan’ and refused to give a timeline for when indoor dining can return amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The New York City Hospitality Alliance on Thursday demanded that de Blasio and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo release a plan for when indoor dining can resume across the city.  

Indoor dining was part of phase three of Cuomo’s reopening plan for the state.

New York City entered phase three in early July but Cuomo and de Blasio have only so far allowed outdoor dining in NYC’s five boroughs. Every other county in New York state are currently allowed to have indoor dining at reduced capacity.

The Alliance has argued that it has been more than six weeks since indoor dining was put on hold indefinitely but there is still no plan. 

They say gyms, which were in phase four, and schools have already been given reopening plans or guidelines. 

New York currently has a positive test rate of 0.72 percent, which is among the lowest in the country. The state’s infection rate has been below 1 percent for 14 straight days.  

In addition to the pandemic, New York City has also grappled with a dark week of looting in June as some Black Lives Matter protests turned violent and the ongoing struggle against escalating crime and homelessness.

Crime has shot up in recent weeks, particularly shootings. 

During July, there were 244 citywide shootings, compared to the 88 shooting incidents in July 2019 – a 177 percent increase. 

Police leaders in the Big Apple have placed the blame squarely on Mayor Bill de Blasio, citing his move to slash $1billion from the NYPD’s budget as part of the issue.

President Donald Trump has seized on this and vowed, without explaining how, to revitalize the city if he wins the November election. 

The spread of homelessness across Manhattan has been rife of late with new ramshackle encampments emerging all over the city along with hotels that are being used to house 13,000 people who were previously in shelters that were closed to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks.