Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has engaged in unprecedented criticism of Governor Andrew Cuomo in recent days, suggested for the first time Sunday that he regrets working to shore up liberal support for his putative ally in the governor's race last year.
"I'm just surprised the governor is acting this way," de Blasio told reporters after an appearance at the "Celebrate Israel" parade, when asked whether he regrets backing the governor a year ago, given their recent fight over how to reform the 421-a tax break for city development projects.
"I endorsed him," said de Blasio, who served under Cuomo in the Clinton administration and has long called the governor an ally. "I worked very hard for him. I worked very hard to convince my fellow progressives that they could trust what he said. And I would think he would want to be a partner in this and I don't have any reasonable explanation for you why he's standing in the way of a reform plan that would protect the taxpayers and create a lot more affordable housing.
"I tried talking to him about it—it's not like he offered an alternative; it's not like he had a specific vision of what would be better. So I can't explain to you why he's acting the way he's acting but it sure is not based on the facts or the substance."
Too bad DeBlasio didn't realize Cuomo was going to screw him before he helped broker the Working Families Party deal (which Cuomo promptly broke) and made the Hochul calls.
I'd like to say "Nobody Could Have Known This Would Happen!" except - well...
De Blasio has been very careful and calculated in his dealings with our Reptilian Governor, and this is in that vein, suggesting that the Mayor has decided that Cuomo is sufficiently wounded and undermined that he can be openly criticized or defied.
ReplyDeletePerhaps another sign that The Reptilian One is soon to hit the skids.
I agree with you, Michael. Our mayor is not exactly a "Profile in Courage" but I'm certainly glad that he and his advisers decided that there was no longer anything to be gained by being the mayoral doormat for the governor.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure his people fully polled and focused-group this thing and found out that BDB looks weak and temporizing to most of his supporters for having spent the last 18 months letting the Guv wipe his feet on him in the vain hope that "being nice" would get him something. I'm sure they also found that there's nothing to be lost and more to be gained by standing up and defending himself, finally, just as he did with the PBA attacked him this winter.