Weissman’s Farewell Is So Typical

Like your favorite coffee, he is Andy Weissman down to the final drop.

Yes, the Vice Mayor will be stepping off stage Monday evening, term-limited off the City Council after eight years, bidding adieu to City Hall and daily public life after 32 accomplished years.

Unlike Edith Piaf, he leaves with regrets, wishing this 1984 habit could have lasted a lifetime.

Equally unlike Ms. Piaf, Mr. Weissman segues back into private life without ruffles, and God forbid minus fanfare.

Along with Mayor Mehaul O’Leary, Mr. Weissman was invited to address the Tellefson Park Neighborhood Assn. last evening.

The mayor is known for his flourishes, the vice mayor for the opposite manner.

With Mr. O’Leary’s speech at the top of the agenda. “there won’t be a whole lot for me to add,” Mr. Weissman said going into the evening.

As noted for years, this trait, this attitude, is one of the neon reasons Mr. Weissman not only has survived three decades at City Hall but consistently prospered in the process.

The secret: He wears easily.

When he is being maximally effective, you scarcely realize he is in the room, a priceless lesson for younger colleagues.

“For me,” Mr. Weissman said, “it has been about getting involved and staying involved.

“Experience counts.”

As quietly as he arrived in 1984, he departs with a farewell address packed with typical Andy Weissman ingredients:

Succinctness framed with a condensed message remembered for its wisdom.