Mayor Bill De Blasio speaks to the media during the opening of the coronavirus vaccination site at Citi Field. | David Dee Delgado / Getty Images
NEW YORK – Mayor Bill de Blasio last night postponed one night to deal with the pandemic to draw his attention to local politics.
Concerned about keeping his legacy intact, the outgoing mayor convened a meeting of three labor leaders to discuss the race to replace him and raise concerns about the possible damage a business candidate would inflict on the city. Several people are familiar with the then told POLITICO through discussion.
De Blasio hosted the presidents of District 37, the Hotel Trades Council and 32BJ SEIU – unions he considers allies – in his Gracie Mansion residence last Wednesday night for a lengthy discussion on the state of the race and the future of the city, the people said.
The outgoing mayor, whose term ends on Dec. 31, did not want any of the Democrats to endorse or reprimand his job before the June primary election, but made it clear that he wants the next mayor to have his record of enlargement of kindergarten and affordable housing must continue. and rebuilding buildings to reduce emissions.
De Blasio, a political activist, also expressed a preference for Brooklyn President Eric Adams, questioning the truthfulness of Andrew Yang’s healthy lead in the polls and asking union presidents if they would join forces, the people said. .
“He said he liked Eric’s story,” said one person, referring to the biography that Adams regularly tells on the campaign: The black son of a single parent who grew up in poverty and was beaten by police officers as a teenager before he became a policeman. himself. Adams and de Blasio share a political base in Central Brooklyn, and the city president is one of the few politicians the mayor avoided during the low point of his tenure.
De Blasio has publicly said he has not decided who to endorse. In a statement, his spokesman Bill Neidhardt simply said: ‘The mayor and union leaders, who are close friends, have joined in to talk about the future of the New York City labor movement and the need to see progressive policies for the coming years. . ‘
The mayor did not openly dismiss Yang, but questioned his forerunner status in a poll commissioned by Yang’s team, the people said. A subsequent, independent poll confirmed that Yang is leading among potential Democratic voters.
Several people familiar with De Blasio’s thinking recently told POLITICO that the mayor is hesitant about Yang, a political outsider in the private sector who offers a strong ideological and stylistic contrast. One said the mayor is wary of Yang’s ties to advisers to former mayor Mike Bloomberg.
And although de Blasio has a particularly hostile relationship with one of the frontrunners in the race, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, he said he prefers Stringer to a kind of Bloomberg that would undo the city for 10, 12 years or would withdraw. Said one person and told the remarks of the mayor.
He trusts Maya Wiley, his former city hall attorney who is also running, but he has expressed skepticism about her chances of winning the primary title, people familiar with the meeting said.
Those interviewed by POLITICO asked that they be anonymous in speaking freely about a private meeting.
The labor leaders – who wore masks, sat at a distance and were sometimes uncertain about the exact purpose of the meeting – told Blasio that they had not decided who they wanted to endorse and would probably not stand behind one candidate. not.
One person said that de Blasio seemed in ‘good spirit’ and ‘freer’.
He recalls his own victory from behind in 2013, reminding those present that his first place was only confirmed in the month before the pre-election that year.
Chris Coffey, Yang’s fellow campaign manager, said ” an administration in Yang will be a clean break from the past eight years of missed opportunities and domestic politics. It’s time for a change. ”