Mayor Giuliani for Rome

Not renowned for his multicultural susceptibilities, Rome’s mayor Gianni Alemanno on an official visit to New York has proved only too eager to recruit foreigners to his cause. After the obligatory call on incumbent mayor and business magnate Michael Bloomberg, Italy’s post-fascist first citizen high-fived with 9/11 NY mayor Rudolph Giuliani and the father of "zero tolerance", who now runs an urban counselling company. They discussed a volunteer police corps that Alemanno sees as an alternative to the Northern League-inspired new vigilante committees that evoke for him “a feeling of do-it-yourself justice". The recovery of abandoned urban zones and parks was also raised. A spokesman for Giuliani Partners sees here the seeds of a long-term collaboration. But for La Stampa, Roman citizens shouldn’t start celebrating, recalling Giuliani's failures outside the Big Apple. "When he ran NY, Giuliani was seen as an oracle on security matters. But when offered a 4,3 billion dollar contract by Mexico City, he only visited the city once and his recommendations didn't help reduce crime,” notes the Turin newspaper. “Not everything,” it concludes, “can be exported".