So we ended up with a hundred demi-Tammanys, none accountable to each other or anyone else. Everyone can say no, no one can say yes, and the lines of authority between, say, the Mayor and the MTA or NYCHA (or god help you PANYNJ) are somewhere between "attenuated" to "nonexistent."

It’s a perfect system for elected officials who don’t want to have to take accountability for making decisions. You can let the advisory board take the heat for blocking something popular you personally don’t want. Or you can overrule them and look like a decisive leader.