Bloomberg and Weingarten to Tie The Knot -2/02

With the hot video of Bloomberg's roast of Weingarten at her 50th birthday bash floating around - see NYC Educator) some people seemed surprised at the cozy relationship.

But Ed Notes was on the case with this article in February 2002.

Photo from NY Times (not photoshopped other to sharpen the image.)

In an attempt to forge an alliance that would result in a fast track towards a new teachers’ contract, UFT President Randi Weingarten and Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced their engagement. Shocked members of the press bombarded the happy couple with questions. “I know he’s short,” said Weingarten. “But I’m shorter.” “Michael and Randi have had a wonderful relationship for a long time,” said a UFT spokesperson. “She was even his date at a dinner a few years ago. And the sweater gift---that was the clincher.” As part of the engagement agreement, the Mayor’s 22 year old daughter Emma will become the new Chancellor. It was also announced that the UFT & Bloomberg, LP will merge into a new firm to be called BLUFT.

The couple will live in the fancy penthouse digs atop the new UFT headquarters near Ground Zero, enabling both to walk to work. “Michael won’t have to take the subway anymore,” said Randi. The expected savings on the train pass have graciously been donated by Bloomberg towards the new contract.

In December 2001 we had this article:

UFT Endorses Bloomberg
Barely an hour after he had officially won the Mayoralty election, an emergency session of the UFT Delegate Assembly was called to endorse Michael Bloomberg, The ex post facto endorsement came at 1 AM on Nov. 7 It is considered somewhat unusual, though not unprecedented in the UFT, to endorse a candidate after he had already won the election.
There were immediate results. Randi Weingarten was one of the thousands added to the Bloomberg Transition Team.

A member of the union hierarchy defended the move. “Our leaders know exactly what they are doing. It was brilliant to endorse three losing candidates in a row. That was their strategy all along. Witness the fact that with every loss, all the other candidates came panting after our endorsement like dogs in heat. With only Michael left in the race, sadly, we had no choice but to endorse a winner. We are so excited at the potential of this political strategy, we plan on endorsing only losers in the future. The political clout of the UFT is greater than ever.”

The 35 people present at the DA voted almost unanimously in favor of the Bloomberg endorsement as “opposition caucus New Action delegates made rousing speeches supporting the leadership. An attempted quorum call (over 500 delegates must be present to transact business) was compared by Weingarten to recent terrorist acts. As the quorum caller was hauled from the room, Unity Caucus delegates cursed and shouted their outrage that the quorum caller was being divisive and undemocratic. Weingarten then apologized for her statements, saying, ““We are all under a lot of pressure.” New Action delegates made more rousing speeches supporting the leadership.