Arick Wierson - Controversies and Criticisms

Controversies and Criticisms

Over the years Wierson was at the helm of New York City's media assets, he frequently, and sometimes very publicly, sparred with public officials who had a bone to pick with Mayor Bloomberg. One elected official who was a consistent thorn in Wierson's side was New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer. Brewer, who represents Manhattan's Upper West Side regularly criticized NYC TV for being “too flashy” with its focus on fashion, celebrity, and other topics she viewed as inconsistent with the mission of the network. Wierson has countered in Council testimony that “television is meant to be watched.” Brewer often complained in public hearings that Wierson was a "pain in the neck" - as recently as the April 14, 2010 NYC Council Committee on Technology in Government hearing - nearly a full year after Wierson had left office.

In August 2009, the Village Voice, dedicated a cover story to the rise of NYC TV, focusing on the organization's president and co-founder, Arick Wierson. The author, Tom Robbins, a vocal critic of Mayor Bloomberg (who has taken to calling Bloomberg "Mayor Mugabe" in drawing comparisons between him and the Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe) wrote about Wierson's business interests outside of government. Robbins has since been let go of the Village Voice.

The Village Voice, under financial pressure, has taken an unabated anti-Bloomberg stance, hoping to appeal to New Yorkers upset with the Mayor's overturning of term-limits, and so it appears that the real target of the Robbin's 8 articles on NYC TV was Bloomberg. Robbins portrayed Wierson and the media assets he had been quietly amassing since Bloomberg took office, as part of a concerted effort to use a hazy mixture of campaign, personal, not-for-profit and public sector resources at the Mayor's disposal to manipulate his public image, positioning him for first a presidential run, then later a third-term as Mayor. Robbin's initial article described Wierson as a Bloomberg insider who was given carte-blanche to run the city agency as he saw fit, often eschewing traditional public-service protocols.

In a Fall 2009 Village Voice cover story, Robbins profiled Wierson and his close relationship with not only Bloomberg but other wealthy businessmen, royalty, and politicians, describing Wierson as "a tall man with a broad jaw, who wears his hair fashionably slicked back" and his wife, Fabiana Wierson, as "an attractive blond from Brazil." The author was critical of Wierson's close business ties to New York billionaire and real estate tycoon Leon Charney, as well as Wierson's relationship with Monaco's Prince Albert II. Robbins found the small fine that Wierson paid to the City's Conflicts Board to settle the issue as the "...latest episode of justice in the Bloomberg era."