Yesterday as I was leaving court reporting school in Lower Manhattan, I saw many familiar faces of NYC reporters racing out of City Hall after Bloomberg’s press conference announcing the forced resignation of and the announcement to assign Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott to the job.

Here is a statement by New York City Council Member Letitia James on Cathie Black fortuitous departure. I couldn’t have said it better myself:

“As coverage develops surrounding the sudden exit of Cathie Black, it demonstrates the Mayor’s senseless appointment of Ms. Black as schools chancellor. According to reports, the decision comes just a day after Santiago Taveras, Deputy Chancellor for Community Engagement, quit the department to join the private sector. This is a total exit of 4 high-level deputies since Black’s short tenure.

“Cathleen Black has no educational experience in relation to the nation’s largest public school system, which demonstrates that she was ill-suited for this position. It is my opinion that as a result of the changing faces at the DOE, all co-locations and school closures should be suspended until a full assessment of the impact of these shifts on the school system has been made. Additionally, the DOE Preliminary Budget Hearing scheduled for tomorrow in front of the NYC Council should be postponed, particularly in light of the proposed budget cuts.

“The city has been plagued with incompetent administrators, which weighed heaviest on the children of this city. I am confident that Deputy Mayor Dennis M. Walcott will work closely with all elected officials and communities to adequately assist our schools as Ms. Black’s replacement.

“The Blizzard of 2011, CityTime, the Atlantic Yards project, and now this; many would consider this the third term curse.”