Mayor Bill de Blasio finally spoke out Tuesday about how disappointed he is with the legislative session that ended in Albany last week, just hours before he and his family depart on a week-long vacation through the western United States.
Ringed by reporters in his City Hall office, de Blasio tried to set the record straight after what observers described as a bruising fight with Albany lawmakers.
He began by emphasizing his wins — like the strengthening of the city's rent regulations, which raised the cap on vacancy decontrol to $2,700 a month in rent and renewed the laws for four years. De Blasio said the policy will protect 50,000 units over the next 10 years.
De Blasio called the reform of the 421-a tax credit, "very important." It will now require real estate developers to provide affordable housing.
“Obviously [it] ended what I thought was a bad history of 421-a subsidizing luxury condos — ended the notion that you could get a subsidy without providing affordable housing,” said de Blasio.
But then the mayor’s tone shifted. After withholding substantive comments at the end of the legislative session last week, de Blasio spoke harshly about Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the State Senate. He blames them for extending mayoral control of the schools for only a single year, even though a longer extension had widespread support from politicians and business leaders. A previous renewal under the Bloomberg administration was for six years.
“The alternative of going back to the previously-broken governance system, which I say, and I mean, was associated with both chaos and corruption, is obviously unacceptable. So what happened here was a very important substantive issue was turned into a political football in a way that even Albany should be embarrassed of,” said de Blasio.
The mayor alluded to conversations with Senate Republicans before the one-year extension was finalized and said he had heard no ideological opposition to renewing mayoral control.
“I think those senators would have been comfortable voting for a longer extension of mayoral control. Let's face it, most of them had previously, and nothing fundamentally changed here in the city. I think the governor’s influence played substantially in their decision to limit it to one year,” the mayor said.
Throughout the 30-minute interview the mayor repeatedly made clear that he believes Cuomo is to blame for failures in Albany and that the governor is playing fast and loose with state policy.
“We've seen it time and time again,” said de Blasio. He added, “I'm not going to be surprised if these statements lead to some attempts at revenge, and we'll just call them right out, because we’re not going to play that way. We're not going to accept that as anything like acceptable government practice. And I don't — I think, all over the state, people are coming to the same conclusion."
While the mayor refused to speculate as to why the governor was operating this way, the long-standing friendship the mayor had hoped would bolster their working relationship has not served him, he said. “I started with meeting a year and a half ago with hope of a very strong partnership. I have been disappointed every turn,” de Blasio said.
De Blasio endorsed Cuomo last year during the governor's re-election campaign, and even that seemed to be something the mayor was now doubting.
“Look, I endorsed the governor related to a vision he articulated in June, that I believed in very much. And, you know, I'm disappointed that he hasn't followed through on that vision,” de Blasio said.
The conversation marked a new strategy by the mayor, one that's dramatically recalibrated from his previous approach. The mayor had been careful not to call the governor out when his actions appear to slight the city or him personally.
After a second session dealing with Albany, de Blasio said, “I, for one, am not going to play by these rules.”
But the war is far from over. The current 421-a tax credit program only lasts for six months. By then, the next legislative session will have begun, and with that, the fight for another extension of mayoral control of schools.
Until then, de Blasio said, “The door is entirely open, but we will not accept the kind of games that we experienced in the last few months.”
In response to a request for comment from the governor, a spokesperson wrote, "For those new to the process, it takes coalition building and compromise to get things done in government. We wish the Mayor well on his vacation.”