On Radio, It's Bloomberg-Green II
Mayor Bloomberg and a former rival, Mark Green, will come face-to-face today, but instead of squaring off in a political debate they'll be taping an interview.
Mr. Green, wearing his new hat as president of Air America Radio, will be interviewing the mayor during what is sure to be an unusual encounter that will remind New Yorkers of their bruising contest for the mayoralty in 2001.
"Mark would love to be where Mike Bloomberg is sitting," Hank Sheinkopf, who served as Mr. Green's political consultant in 2001, said. "Mike Bloomberg at this point would not want to be where Mark Green is sitting."
The interview, to be held at Air America's studio on Sixth Avenue, is part of the beleaguered station's planned comeback under its new leadership. Mr. Green's brother, Stephen, a multimillionaire real estate investor, purchased Air America in an 11th hour deal that saved the left-leaning station from bankruptcy and gave Mr. Green, a perennial candidate for office, a permanent political outlet. Mr. Bloomberg is one of 30 to 40 high-profile guests who will be interviewed on the station in the coming weeks.
If Air America is trying to make news, today's Bloomberg-Green interview is a good way to assure attention. The 2001 contest between Messrs. Bloomberg and Green was marked by nasty personal attack advertisements .
Mr. Green, the Democrat, was expected to sail to City Hall after winning his party's nomination, but the political tide shifted after the World Trade Center attacks. The battered economy and resentment toward Mr. Green in the Democratic Party that spilled over from the primary gave Mr. Bloomberg an opening. That and the millions of dollars he spent on advertising.
Mr. Green, who served as public advocate before running for mayor, said last year after losing the race for attorney general that he was done running for office.
Today, however, he may find himself asking Mr. Bloomberg, who is being named as a possible 2008 presidential contender, about his political ambitions.
