De Blasio Accuses Cuomo Of Hindering City Agenda, Playing Revenge Game
Updated July 1, 2015 8:40 a.m.
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio unleashed a bitter and ugly blast at Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday, accusing him of seeking to undermine the city's agenda and doling out political retribution.
Speaking to reporters at City Hall just before he leaves on a family vacation, de Blasio said he believes the Democratic governor holds substantial influence over the Republican-led Senate's leadership, which led to several measures the mayor had been pushing for during the recent legislative session being watered down.
De Blasio, also a Democrat, had hoped for tougher rent regulations than what was passed. He was seeking a total overhaul of a tax break for real estate developers, which the Legislature agreed to extend for six months. He didn't want more charter schools; lawmakers authorized 50 new ones. And he sought permanent mayoral control of city schools, but a minimum of three years; he received a one-year extension.
De Blasio took particular exception with the mayoral control issue, noting his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, initially received a seven-year term and then a six-year extension.
"How on earth does the city of New York get only one-year extension of mayoral control education?" de Blasio told reporters, including WCBS 880's Rich Lamb. "Oh by the way, does that have something to do with the fact that the mayor is now a Democrat and a progressive? Of course.
"The outcome is unacceptable by any measure, and an issue that was not politicized in the extreme in the past has now been turned into a political football," the mayor added. "And I think that's a sad day for New York City and New York state."
As CBS2's Marcia Kramer reported, the mayor also accused Cuomo of trying to undermine his proposal to reform the 421-a tax incentives for developers by almost immediately voicing "manufactured" concerns about labor and the time frame to work out the details.
De Blasio dismissed speculation that his campaigning against Republicans during last year's Senate elections fueled the resistance, saying the practice is common in politics. He said he didn't find a senator in either party who thought a one-year extension of mayoral school control made sense and pointed the finger at the governor for blocking a longer-term solution.
"I want to emphasize there is a kind of deal making and horse trading that he engages in that I think often obscures the truth," the mayor said. "It gets so convoluted I'm not sure he and the people around him remember where they began."
The mayor was asked about comments he made saying that when he doesn't agree with Cuomo, the governor often launches some sort of vendetta against him.
"I've seen it already in just the last few months," the mayor said. "We had an experience with Department of Homeless Services, where suddenly state officials were inspecting our shelters with a vigor we have never seen before and requiring that issues that were complex be addressed in a matter of days, or they would threaten to cut off our funding. That was clearly politically motivated. And that was revenge for some perceived slight."
Historically, New York governors and New York City mayors have had rocky relationships -- Mario Cuomo and Ed Koch, George Pataki and Rudy Giuliani. But rarely has the rhetoric been so direct, so intense, so personal.
"I started a year and a half ago with the hope of a very strong partnership. I have been disappointed at every turn," de Blasio told NY1 News. "What we've often seen is if someone disagrees with him openly, some kind of revenge or vendetta follows."
The mayor even predicted that his decision to speak out could cost him.
"I wouldn't be surprised if these statements lead to some attempts at revenge," de Blasio said. "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. ... When we disagree, we're supposed to resolve the disagreements, not engage in political games."
De Blasio, however, did insist his efforts in Albany weren't wasted.
He noted that the extension of rent regulations protected 50,000 affordable units over the next 10 years. And he said he received most of what he wanted regarding the real estate tax breaks, which will lead to the addition of tens of thousands of units of affordable housing.
Cuomo communications director Melissa DeRosa issued a response to de Blasio late Tuesday.
"For those new to the process, it takes coalition building and compromise to get things done in government," DeRosa wrote. "We wish the mayor well on his vacation."