Mayor de Blasio is at his “wit’s end” over the harsh treatment he’s
received from supposed good friend Gov. Cuomo since taking office,
according to sources who say they spoke directly to the mayor.
De Blasio was seeking advice from people who are close to both himself
and Cuomo on what he can do to improve his working relationship with a
governor he believes has gone out of his way to routinely embarrass him.
“He was very direct,” one source said. “He just said, ‘I don’t know
what to do. Why does he keep coming at me like this? I want it to work.’
He’s at wit’s end.”
Those close to de Blasio had hoped the two Democratic powerhouses turned a corner last May when the mayor helped deliver the liberal Working Families Party endorsement to Cuomo, who was seeking reelection, after a contentious battle.
But it’s been business as usual again so far this year. Cuomo’s office
quickly poured cold water on a major housing proposal de Blasio unveiled
in his recent State of the City address.
And this past week, Cuomo took the unusual step of holding a public event at the Capitol at the same time de Blasio was testifying at a nearby legislative hearing about the governor’s budget.
“He’s frustrated,” a second source said of de Blasio. “He’s trying to figure a way out of it.”
De Blasio officials deny he’s sought advice to deal with the governor.
“The mayor doesn’t waste his time worrying about personalities,” de
Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell said. “His focus is delivering for New
York City, something he’s been able to achieve in Albany on priorities
ranging from pre-K for all to making streets safer. We’re proud of our
record working with the state.”
A Cuomo administration official said that while the governor “likes and
respects the mayor … the issue is a mayor’s natural frustration that
the state controls so much of the city, and the fact that the mayor
proposes ideas that are just nonstarters with the Legislature.”
One Capitol insider went further, questioning the mayor’s political acumen.
“The mayor’s issue is competence, and a year into his administration,
he should be focused on breaking 50% (in the polls), not fighting losing
battles in Albany,” the insider said.
De Blasio isn’t the only Democrat with Cuomo issues.
Senate Dems say they’ve had enough of what they believe has been years
of major disrespect from the Democratic governor, who they say did
little last year to help their failed effort to defeat the Republicans
for control of the chamber.
Senate Democratic leader, Andrea Stewart-Cousins, who has been hesitant
in the past to publicly criticize Cuomo, has been less reluctant this
year. The Yonkers senator recently released one statement aimed at the
governor decrying the “demonizing” of teachers and another critical of
his decision to allow the leader of a breakaway group of five Senate
Dems aligned with the GOP majority to participate in budget talks — but
not her.
Her deputy, Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens), also called out Cuomo.
“To allow cheap politics to silence the only female leader in history
whose conference represents 8 million New Yorkers while arbitrarily
empowering others is beyond the pale,” Gianaris said.
One political observer said Cuomo may hurt himself:
“You can run that bullying game for just so long before you’ve p---ed
off enough people that it all starts to add up and there’s no one left
willing to stand with you.”
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