Mayor Giuliani yesterday began the Christmas holiday at Midnight Mass, later served meals to workers at ground zero, and pitched in at his final “Christmas Calls” at Merrill Lynch.
In his last week in office, Giuliani brought some cheer to the Merrill Lynch event, as he has every year, where seniors are allowed to make free calls to their families worldwide.
The mayor praised company officials for continuing the free-call tradition despite ongoing repairs at their downtown building due to the Sept. 11 terror attacks.
“It’s just one other indication that these terrorists cannot prevent us from moving on with our lives” Giuliani said.
“They’re not going to take our holidays away from us.”
Later, Giuliani served roast-beef lunches to workers at ground zero.
Giuliani’s successor, Michael Bloomberg, also spent the day visiting workers toiling on Christmas.
The mayor-elect spent part of the morning chatting with firefighters at Engine Co. 44 on the Upper East Side.
“All of them would like to maximize their compensation, like most people would,” Bloomberg said after the private session with the firefighters.
“We talked about who the new fire commissioner will be. We will find the right person, and I’d like to do it as expeditiously as possible. But getting the right person is more important than the speed,” he added.
Michael Boyle, the battalion chief, said his colleagues offered up some suggestions for fire commissioner, but neither he nor Bloomberg would provide any details. Afterward, the mayor-elect went to the Holy Apostles soup kitchen in Midtown and helped serve a ham lunch to the homeless and hungry.
“One of the reasons I came here is this happens to be where my two daughters volunteer and my former wife volunteers,” Bloomberg said
Bloomberg said his administration will not put the homeless issue on the back burner despite budget constraints.
“We have to find a way to do more with less,” Bloomberg said.
“This is a city where we’re not going to let people starve,” he added, before heading to the 49th Precinct in The Bronx to visit with cops on the job.