The Times has cast its investigative eye at Mayor Bloomberg’s somewhat mysterious “life in Bermuda,” positing that Bloomberg makes the two-hour trip down to his $10 million waterfront estate “about twice a month.” The mayor has taken great pains to keep the details of his visits to his vacation home a secret, as he “steadfastly refuses to say when he is on the island,” and has “blocked aviation Web sites from making public the movements of his private planes.”
When he’s there, the mayor tips big (once leaving a $175 tip on top of a 17 percent automatic gratuity), golfs a lot (often playing fifteen hours over the course of one weekend), and dines regularly with Bermuda’s premier. The central takeaway from the story, though, is that the Bermudan population is fiercely loyal to Bloomberg, thinking about their country as a pit stop of sorts in the high-speed auto race that is the mayor’s life.
“Residents here view him as one of their own — as much a Bermudan as a New Yorker. They follow his battles against term limits and New York City crime, and argue that their island plays a key role in restoring his energy and helping him succeed in office. ‘We provide him with a place to unwind for a day or two, and then go back to a very important job, not just to New York, but to the world,’ said John Swan, Bermuda’s former premier and a frequent Bloomberg lunch guest.
The Times notes, as something of an afterthought, that there is perhaps something a bit disconcerting about a mayor who makes surreptitious (and frequent) trips out of the country — citing a time that he was most likely in Bermuda when a City Hall aide was hit by a car, “ordinarily an emergency that would prompt a mayoral visit” — but the article, from beginning to end, is ultimately as harmless as a mai tai sipped at the beach. The piece’s final thought? “‘He is the perfect neighbor,’ said David A. Brown, who lives next door to Mr. Bloomberg. ‘He is very respectful; he never makes noise.’”
