Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is picking a fight with Boston Mayor Thomas Menino over remarks Menino made about Detroit in an interview Sunday in the New York Times Magazine.
Among other things, Menino said if were to take over Detroit, he would "blow up the place and start all over."
Menino's entire answer appears to have bugged Bing, but he said it was unfortunate the mayor of Boston, the site of the marathon bombings in April, would use "blow up" in discussing another city. Bing also seems upset that Menino dares to question Detroit's leadership.
What the Times asked, and Menino answered:
If you could live in any other major U.S. city other than Boston, where would you live?
"I never thought of living anyplace else but Boston. Baltimore’s a nice little city. Detroit is a place I’d love to go."
What would you do in Detroit?
"I’d blow up the place and start all over. No, seriously, when it takes a police officer 90 minutes to answer a call, there’s something wrong with the system. Forty percent of the streetlights are out, most of the buildings are boarded up. Why? Inaction, that’s the problem — leadership."
What Bing said in his statement:
“It is extremely regrettable that Boston Mayor Thomas Menino used such an unfortunate choice of words to describe what he would do if he came to Detroit. I would think the mayor of a city that recently experienced a deadly bombing attack would be more sensitive and not use the phrase ‘blow up.’
"I am also dismayed that Mayor Menino did not get his facts right before making his remarks to the widely-read New York Times. The Detroit Police Department’s response time is not – and has never been — 90 minutes. And, most of our city’s buildings are not boarded up. Since taking office more than four years ago, there has been tireless action on the part of my administration to improve the quality of life for our citizens. In fact, I invite Mayor Menino to visit Detroit to see our city for himself.”
