From City & State: Media Critic de Blasio Should Cop to How He Steers Coverage:

From my City & State essay Media Critic de Blasio Should Cop to How He Steers Coverage:

In a recent interview with BuzzFeed's Ben Smith, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio played media critic, denouncing the tabloid focus on purported fripperies, claiming his vital work gets ignored, and suggesting that corporate media follow a corporate agenda.
Hold on.
Yes, the mayor’s beef is partially legitimate: His Park Slope gym routine and his posture on the Puerto Rican Day Parade are news stories that have drawn disproportionate attention. However, as critics point out, de Blasio didn't seem to mind when political rivals like his predecessor Michael Bloomberg faced similar tabloid censure.
More importantly, de Blasio's no victim... 

Consider how de Blasio has steered coverage of "affordable housing," which laypeople often translate as "low-income," but merely means "below-market," with tenants paying about 30 percent of their income towards rent. Sure, de Blasio has made more strides in this area than his predecessor, but he's gotten even more media mileage.

About Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park

I write:

Such civic-corporate synergy was clear in a June 13 mayoral press release, sunnily headlined "Mayor de Blasio Announces Opening of Nearly 300 Affordable Apartments at Pacific Park in Brooklyn," with the subheading, "First 100 percent affordable building serves New Yorkers earning as little as $20,100, and up to moderate and middle income earners."
A casual reader might think 535 Carlton somehow serves poorer New Yorkers, ultimately incorporating some better-off households.

That's not true, as I explain. Here's the full article.