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"Tee-off" on Rudolph Giuliani. Tell city councilors to consistently reject requests from the Cuomo administration.
These are some of the most bitter moments of Mayor Bill de Blasio who were seen in a final batch of more than 14,000 pages of e-mails released Thursday by the city. The Blasio administration has been trying to keep emails confidential, saying that communications – between city officials and a group of outside advisers – should not be subject to requests for access to freedom of information because councilors functioned essentially as "agents of the city". "
The city has finally lost its argument. In a first batch of e-mails, published in May, Blasio criticized his advisers and staff members, who were often irritated that his message was not reaching the media in Albany and elsewhere.
This batch of emails, which covers the beginnings of administration, further expands the window on the mayor's psyche.
Only a few weeks after the beginning of his term, Mr. de Blasio was criticized for call a senior police official on behalf of a political supporter arrested at a roadside check. But he got support from a surprising corner: the former mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. "I do not think he's done anything wrong," Giuliani told The New York Times. "He's a new mayor. Give him a break.
On February 12, 2014, Mr. de Blasio wrote an email to several people, including his wife, Chirlane McCray, and Patrick Gaspard, one of the external advisors. "I did not think I was going to write that sentence," wrote de Blasio. "Pls plans a call with Rudy Giuliani so that I can thank him." One of the recipients of the e-mail, Emma Wolfe, one of the best assistants, advised the mayor not to pass this call, claiming that it could prolong a negative story if Mr. Giuliani talked about the conversation to other people.
Ms. Wolfe then admitted that she was "maybe too paranoid." Emails do not clearly indicate if the call has been made.
Goodwill however evaporated in September 2015, when Mr Giuliani wrote an article in the New York Post criticizing Mr. de Blasio's policy towards the homeless. The mayor wrote to Mr. Gaspard, then US Ambassador to South Africa: "You have to know what kind of departure will work." Mr. Gaspard responded with an inflamed email: "This cursed speaks of a policy that failed under him", and recommended to Mr. de Blasio to defend himself.
In a few days M. de Blasio followed the advice of M. Gaspard. He acknowledged that the city had a homelessness problem but said that it goes back decades and was aggravated by Mr. Giuliani's policies.
Being funny takes work
After winning the mayoral election, Mr. de Blasio was solicited on talk shows such as "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart", and Mr. de Blasio was clearly prepared for the appearance.
Blasio's counselor, Rebecca Katz, presented the mayor with a full summary before such an appearance. His e-mail mentioned the appearance of other politicians such as Condoleezza Rice and Elizabeth Warren who were "successful", as well as Mike Huckabee and President Barack Obama, who were "flat".
Ms. Katz stated that Mr. de Blasio should make self-reprehensible jokes ("Dante does not get up until 10am, I guess he learned it from me"), laugh at Mr. Stewart's jokes and smile. throughout the interview.
Mayor of Cuomo: "The default position is NO"
The emails show that animosity between Mr. de Blasio and Governor Andrew M. Cuomo did not take much time. The mayor had wanted to pay for his pre-kindergarten program through a one millionaire tax, but Mr. Cuomo did not hide his disdain for this idea. The feelings of Mr. de Blasio for the governor were also In an email of February 16, 2014, an assistant wrote that Mr. de Blasio had said about the governor: "I'm going to restrain myself, but only up to a certain point ".
He seems to have reached this point in December 2014. E-mails report a series of anguished and agonizing exchanges after Patrick J. Lynch, president of the police union in New York, orchestrated a protest during from which agents signed forms asking the mayor not to attend their meetings. the funeral if they were to be killed in the performance of their duties. (The protest came after a grand jury chose not to lay charges in the Eric Garner case, deceased after a police officer put him into a choking suit; Mr. de Blasio later stated that he and his wife had informed their son "how to take special precautions" when meeting with police officers.)
E-mails from City Hall raised the possibility that Mr. Cuomo would act as an intermediary to smooth the waters with Mr. Lynch. But after Mr. Cuomo had given an interview on the radio to defend Mr. Lynch, Mr. de Blasio had heard enough.
"And from now on: the answer to all requests from the Cuomo administration is NO," wrote the mayor. "The default position is NO. We will then decide if and when there should be yes.
The exchanges also include a remarkable reprimand by M. de Blasio addressed to his closest collaborators. "Guys, you're as good as that in this job," he tells them. "But you're not me either, and as a result, you're not entirely tied to my thoughts and feelings."
More time than Bill Clinton?
As part of a campaign to appear less hostile to charter schools, Mr. de Blasio appeared in front of the Riverside Church Chair in Manhattan to explain his position. The only problem: Pastor James Alexander Forbes Jr. wanted the mayor to keep his remarks to 15 minutes.
"Forbes says today that he wants you to reduce the remarks because it's Lent and because he has his own sermon on which he works," wrote Ms. Wolfe to M. de Blasio.
Ms. Wolfe went on to say that Mr. Forbes "always said the same thing to presidents" such as Bill Clinton, using the acronym "wjc" for President Clinton's full name, William Jefferson Clinton.
Mr. de Blasio wrote that he would try not to exceed 15 minutes, but he then suggested calling Mr. Forbes and "reassuring" him, but also "push him back a bit". Others, including Marco A. Carrión, Commissioner of the Community Affairs Unit and Rachel Noerdlinger, collaborator of Chirlane McCray, wife of Mr. de Blasio, have been working behind the scenes to try to save time to the mayor.
In a last email, sent at 1am. On the day of the speech, Mr de Blasio said that being limited to 15 minutes was a "real problem". "I'm going to get by, but it will not be such a good speech," said the mayor, adding that he knew he would only have 15 minutes, he would have "moved elsewhere".
On the wings of tragedy
In March 2015, Mr de Blasio saw in a plane crash in Europe the occasion for his wife, Mrs McCray, to become better known as a defender of mental health. Investigators determined that a suicidal pilot had deliberately crashed the plane in the French Alps.
"I strongly believe that Chirlane should call today for the mental health screening of all pilots," Blasio wrote to a group of key collaborators, including Ms. Katz and Roxanne John, McCraan's chief of staff. March 27 days after the accident. "It's clearly needed, and I think a lot of people would appreciate that she make her point."
He then urged his staff not to react too cautiously. "And let me anticipate all the traditional objections to action: I'm instinctive here," he wrote. "My advice: do not rub too much and do not hesitate too much, hit while the iron is hot. Find a way to release something that catches the eye today, then follow it with a piece of HuffPo. This will add to his identification on mental health, and it's a message that needs to be heard. "
Ms. McCray finally wrote a letter published in the New York Times recommending mental health exams for pilots and calling on the nation to "change the culture so that people realize that seeking treatment for a mental illness is an act of strength and not weakness. "
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