Behind the Scenes of a Marcia Kramer Hit Piece

Ever wondered what goes into the making of a Marcia Kramer hit piece, those nearly-perfected hatchet jobs on whatever DOT safety improvement is on her radar that week? We got to watch Kramer in action at Wednesday's transportation committee meeting as she gathered footage for her most recent attack on the city's plaza program.

We've already reported that she censored out the majority of City Council members, most of whom spoke very positively about DOT's plaza program. Instead, Kramer gave air time to the road-crazy Queens rep Eric Ulrich and the grandstanding committee chair James Vacca.

Kramer also assiduously avoided including the voices of the many community members in support of the plaza program. I was sitting next to Kramer when she turned to the people sitting in the row behind us and asked what they thought of the plazas. She was hoping to put regular citizens on camera, she said to them. When they said they were there in support of the plaza program -- they lived near the new plaza at Bogardus Garden in the West Village -- Kramer sounded as if she immediately lost interest.

Kramer also interviewed Dan Biederman, who represents businesses on 34th Street and in Chelsea and strongly supports the plaza. That footage never made it onto the screen, though the anchor quickly mentioned his support after Kramer's report concluded.