When Mayor Bill de Blasio was caught last month eating pizza with a fork and knife, New York City pizza purist Jon Stewart was NOT happy. So when de Blasio had his first "Daily Show" appearance on Monday, Stewart was ready with a fresh sausage-and-mushrooms pie from John's Pizzeria. "Now Bloomberg, as you know, used to have his food chewed and put back in his mouth like a baby bird," Stewart said of de Blasio's billionaire predecessor. "But this sir," he added, referring to pizza-fork-gate, "is unacceptable."
De Blasio, after first attempting to eat the pizza with a fork and knife, eventually picked up the slice with his own two hands, and ate it like any other self-respecting New Yorker.
Stewart also ribbed de Blasio over all the snow the city's received since he became mayor. "I remember Bloomberg," Stewart said. "Twelve years. It never snowed once." And for the mayor's apparent slow response to dig out the wealthy enclave that is the Upper East Side. "What else could we do to the Upper East Side?" Stewart asked. "We have an experimental effort to get locusts in up there," de Blasio replied.
The two, of course, got down to more serious subjects, discussing stop and frisk, taxing the wealthy to fund pre-k, horse carriages, and what it was like to take over City Hall from Bloomberg.
"How frightened are people when you walk in, because they must think now, you are coming in there and turning everything upside down. The uncertainty must be palpable," Stewart asked.
"I don’t wear the Che Guevara T-shirt at work," de Blasio jokingly responded, adding, "I’m blessed to have a very strong mandate from the people to make some real progressive change... This is all about acknowledging the inequalities that become very fundamental and unfortunately growing in our city... Yes, there are some bureaucrats and others who are hesitant. But I know that the popular support is there."
Watch part one of Stewart's interview above, part two below, and the extended interview here.
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