I didn't live here during the Griffin era, so I don't have much to go on.
Here is the story of my encounter the other day:
Some co-workers and I were eating downtown at Morrisey's and about five minutes after we were seated, Chris Collins comes in with some local businessmen (assumption) and is seated right next to us. A minute or two later, Brown comes in with his driver and sits at the table.
Collins is basically holding court with these other two guys, talking about funding, opportunities, tax break, etc. Couldn't quite hear all of the details, but you could easily surmise that Collins is a very bright guy who was on top of his game. Really seemed to know the in's and out's of his job.
Contrast that with Brown, who literally sat there staring at the ceiling with his finger in his ear. Not figuratively - but literally. He seemed completely disconnected from what was going on. At one point Collins tried to engage Brown and asked about some location where these two business reps could presumably set up shop. This was browns response (assume the dots represent his usual slow pace of speaking):
"Isn't... that... the place... next... to that building...... with... the sign?"
It was simply embarrassing that this guy is the mayor of the 2nd largest city in NYS.