New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio is asking America to make him president of the United States and touting his record as the leader of the Big Apple as proof he is fit to serve as commander-in-chief. Unfortunately for the man nicknamed Senator Provolone, his record as New York City mayor is precisely the exact reason why he would be such an awful president. When he isn't denigrating the New York Police Department, it seems he is forcing his taxpayer-funded security team to move his daughter's personal belongings into the mayor's mansion provided by the city and New Yorkers.
via New York Times:
The latest example came this week, as city officials acknowledged that last year the New York Police Department executive protection unit assigned to guard Mr. de Blasio and his family helped his daughter Chiara, 24, move her belongings from an apartment in Brooklyn to Gracie Mansion.
Using city resources for personal use is typically a violation of the city’s Conflicts of Interest Law, and having police detectives assist in a relative’s move would seem to cross ethical lines, according to Betsy Gotbaum, the executive director of Citizens Union, a good-government group.
[...]
The items moved by the detail included a rolled-up futon mattress but no heavy furniture...
But the mayor's press secretary Freddi Goldstein defended the move, saying, "Chiara did the majority of the move on her own by subway, but her mother helped with the last few boxes — something many parents do...Members of the family’s detail were standing by and offered to help. Their involvement was strictly voluntary."
The great irony here is that May De Blasio has made his political career out of lambasting the haves and the have nots, even telling his constituents that New York was a tale of two cities. But this move, along with numerous other examples of De Blasio taking advantage f taxpayer perks, indicates that De Blasio is just a hypocrite.
"Bill de Blasio has made his career on bringing up the middle class by taxing the wealthy," Professor Zaino of Iona College told the New York Times. "There are many people who believe he’s right and want a champion, but not just someone who is saying it, but living it."
However, "Phil Walzak, the top police spokesman, suggested that lending a hand in this case may have been the simpler solution for the officers involved." According to Walzak, it may have been a security issue if an outside moving company was hired.
By all accounts however, the mayor has been nothing but a drag on the city and its citizens. Just look at this short review of his time in office by Crain's New York Business Journal from 2018 before he basically quit his job
For a time, the mayor blamed his bad press on the New York Post having a vendetta, but then negative stories began popping up everywhere. Last week The New York Times reported that de Blasio rarely visits City Hall anymore, wastes aides' time by making them schlep to Gracie Mansion and goes years without meeting key agency heads. He replied that some meetings were missing from his public schedule. So much for transparency.
Meanwhile, the mayor and his wife have been gallivanting about the country on the taxpayers' dime to elevate their profile, and he used city funds to pay a $2.6 million legal bill stemming from a political campaign.
Now that he is running for mayor, he's using his NYPD security while on the road. This has cost the cities millions. When he was questioned on it this May, his response was, "I’m obviously in a high-profile situation here,” Hizzoner claimed on WNYC radio Friday."
That's De Blasio as mayor. Imagine this guy as president? He'll tax the hell out of you and use secret service to move his daughter into a new townhouse in Georgetown, probably.