New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) has been a hypocrite throughout the entire Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. Minutes before his city-wide stay-at-home order was implemented in mid-March, the mayor decided it was the perfect opportunity to use a public gym. His rationale was that he needed to work out so that he can “stay healthy so I can make decisions for the people of the city.” De Blasio displayed similar hypocrisy in April when he was spotted with his wife walking through Brooklyn Park after banning "non-essential travel" to Brooklyn.
Now he's being a hypocrite when it comes to permitting throughout the city. Apparently city permits are required for various activities, except if the mayor agrees with your political position.
It turns out that Black Lives Matter leaders never applied for permits to paint the streets of New York with their "Black Lives Matter" mural. According to the New York Post, de Blasio said his administration was put permitting aside because of "an important moment in history."
“That is something that again transcends all normal realities because we are at a moment of history when that had to be said and done, that’s a decision I made,” de Blasio said. “But the normal process continues for anyone who wants to apply,”
Of course, when conservative or pro-Trump groups want to do something similar, they're told to go through the permitting process.
“We haven’t said ‘no’ to people, we’ve said, ‘If you want to apply, you can apply, but there’s a process,'” the mayor said during a press conference on Monday.
It's this favoritism and hypocrisy that caused NYC and de Blasio to be slapped with a lawsuit. The Women for America First organization wrote a letter asking for permission to create a mural with their slogan in Manhattan. The mural would have said, “Engaging, Inspiring and Empowering Women to Make a Difference!” De Blasio and his team never responded.
If de Blasio wants to act like he's impartial and open to everyone, he should make everyone go through the permitting process. This blatant picking and choosing of who is required to go through proper channels is ridiculous. There's no way for him to spin this as being anything but hyperpartisan.