So what should Jones do?
Just brush it off and hang in there, former managing directors Pedro Ramos and Phil Goldsmith said.
"You wouldn't be managing director unless you took shots," Goldsmith said Friday. "People are always going to second-guess you. It's like being a baseball manager."
Ramos used a similar analogy.
"Don't dwell on whether the last pitch was a ball or strike, because there's always another pitch whirling your way," Ramos said in an e-mail.
A onetime former deputy managing director, Jones has long been familiar with the tough calls the city's chief operating officer must make. But there's a big difference between advising and deciding, Goldsmith said.
"It certainly took me awhile to get my sea legs. She's doing fine," Goldsmith said.
Goldsmith agrees with Jones that serving the homeless in JFK Plaza is bad public policy, and said deciding whether to cancel events like the fireworks show are some of the toughest calls the managing director makes.
Jones, who took the position last month, won't have much time to get used to her new office. The next mayor is certain to name a new managing director in January.
- Patrick Kerkstra
Same old song
Choosing what music to play when the curtain goes up at a big event is a serious decision in a presidential campaign: It has to be upbeat, it must resonate with the audience, and the lyrics should be on message.
Illustrating the perils of the process, New York Sen. Hillary Clinton once used Billy Joel's "Captain Jack" at a New York rally, and journalists mocked the campaign for apparently not recognizing the song's references to masturbation. The song has not come back.
