Though urban and economic experts concede that the mayor is juggling multiple crises, they’ve been disappointed with his play-it-by-ear approach. Even their optimism about the city’s prospects under President Joe Biden and the new Democrat-led federal government likely to send more money to the city is tempered by de Blasio’s lack of vision.



“As hard as it is, the administration does need to fight three intertwined crises: health, economic, and fiscal. It needs to do all three at once,” said Andrew Rein, president of Citizens Budget Commission, a nonprofit fiscal watchdog and policy think tank. “Obviously, the health piece is so proximate that it gets a lot of attention. But New York needs to not only survive the pandemic recession, it needs to thrive after it. So we need the economic piece to be strong.”

“The workload is heavy. But you have to be able to address what you need to do today and plan for tomorrow, the next month, the next year, frankly the next few years. And we haven't seen enough of that. We just haven't,” he added.

CBC’s Rein said the mayor needs to present plans of growth for jobs, the economy, and housing as the basis for any recovery, provide direct support to small, medium, and large businesses, and ensure that the city’s schools remain open and attractive. “New York City government has to be a better partner, they need better customer service,” he said, about reducing regulations and red tape for businesses. But, overall, he said, “You need to, in a certain sense, carve out some of your staff, your intellectual capacity, and then your operational time to move on these fronts.”