Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife have been living large at a pricey, four-star hotel in Brooklyn since he left office months a...
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife have been living large at a pricey, four-star hotel in Brooklyn since he left office months ago, despite having racked up $2.5 million in debt.
The couple has been spotted with their taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail by their side at the lavish New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, the New York Post reported.
De Blasio and wife Chirlane McCray left Gracie Mansion after de Blasio left office at the end of December, but have been staying at the hotel while their Park Slope, Brooklyn home undergoes renovations.
The former mayor's $2.5 million debt includes $300,000 in legal bills from being defended in a probe of his fundraising activities. Another $200,000 is from previous campaign accounts that owe money, the Post reported.
The Post reported that de Blasio has not yet reimbursed taxpayers nearly $320,000 that the city's Department of Investigation determined he owes for misusing his NYPD security detail.
De Blasio is eligible to collect a six-figure pension and also receives rental income on the two Brooklyn homes he owns, but the Post reported last year that financial struggles forced him to take out a second mortgage on one of the homes which cost him $615,342.
Political critics of de Blasio told the Post that the former mayor's 'suite life' wreaks of hypocrisy.
'He's a hypocrite living like a one percenter, and it raises plenty of red flags,' Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) said. 'Who's paying for this? Like most people, when I renovated my house, I did it piecemeal and lived in one room at a time. I certainly wouldn't stay at a top-of-the-line hotel like the Brooklyn Marriott, especially if I'm in debt.'
When de Blasio ran for mayor prior to being elected in 2013, he promised votes that he'd put an end to the 'income inequality' that created a 'Tale of two Cities.'
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife have been living large at a pricey, four-star hotel in Brooklyn since he left office months ago, despite having racked up $2.5 million in debt
The couple has been spotted with their taxpayer-funded NYPD security detail by their side at the lavish New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge (pictured)
Pictured is the Marriott Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge that features a lavish lobby and swanky bar
The 667-room hotel at Brooklyn Bridge Hotel, with suites that cost from $600 to $5,000 a night, features a rooftop, an indoor pool, a fitness center, restaurants and waterfront views
The 667-room hotel at Brooklyn Bridge Hotel, with suites that cost anywhere from $600 to $5,000 a night, features an indoor pool, a fitness center with several Peloton machines, two restaurants and waterfront views.
De Blasio and his wife are currently staying in one of the hotel suites with a $600 a night rate that offers a bedroom and living room, the Post reported.
The hotel is owned by Muss Development, a Queens company that has been a longtime supporter of de Blasio, the Post reported.
A spokeswoman for Muss Development told the Post that the hotel's ownership 'is not involved with specific guests' accommodations.'
View of the bar area at the Marriott Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge
De Blasio and his wife are currently staying in one of the hotel suites with a $600 a night rate that offers a bedroom and living room, the Post reported
The reception area pictured at the lavish Marriott Hotel at Brooklyn Bridge
De Blasio announced in January that he won't run for governor of New York, according to a Twitter video filmed in his neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn.
De Blasio's term ended on December 31. He was succeeded by Mayor Eric Adams.
In his video announcement, de Blasio alluded to his less-than-stellar reputation.
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Bill de Blasio announced in January that he won't run for governor of New York in a Twitter video filmed in his neighborhood of Park Slope, Brooklyn
'Now I made my fear share of mistakes. I was not good with groundhogs at all. Probably shouldn't have gone to the gym,' he said, laughing.
The governor was referring to a 2014 incident at the annual Groundhog Day ceremony, when he dropped a groundhog named 'Charlotte' after she climbed on his sleeve.
The groundhog died days later, but a Staten Island Zoo spokesman told the Guardian that the death appeared to be unrelated.
De Blasio was also criticized for continuing his gym routine at the Park Slope YMCA, even after he and his family moved to Gracie Mansion in the Upper East Side 11 miles away.
He was called out even more for working out as his administration closed down schools and urged social distancing due to COVID-19 in 2020.
De Blasio joked that he 'probably shouldn't have gone to the gym' after he was criticized for keeping his public gym routine during COVID-19. Above, his chauffeured car outside his Park Slope YMCA gym in 2020
In the video, de Blasio touted his work on the pandemic.
'We took on COVID. Global pandemic,' he said. 'Went from epicenter to the safe place in this country.'
The city was averaging nearly 800 daily deaths from the virus in April 2020, a number that dropped below 100 and remained that way the following month.
De Blasio's administration also instituted universal pre-kindergarten for children shortly after his election in 2013.
The mayor cited his work in instituting universal pre-K throughout the city. As of October, about 60,000 children were enrolled in the free program
The New Yorker called it a 'significant accomplishment' that 'he delivered with a swiftness that even skeptics were obliged to acknowledge, and on a scale that is nationally unprecedented.'
As of October, about 60,000 children were enrolled in the city's free Universal Pre-K program, according to the New York Daily News.
'We said we were gonna take on inequality head on. The tale of two cities. Take it on. Naysayers said it couldn't be done. But we proved together we can make a big change,' de Blasio said in January.
The former mayor also pointed out his work on police reform.
From 2013 - the year before he took office - to 2020, there was a 95 percent reduction in stop-and-frisk, the controversial tactic in which police can randomly search citizens on the street, according to the city.
There was a 98 percent reduction in marijuana arrests and a 64 percent reduction in overall arrests.
When pressed, de Blasio said the cuts to the police department were partially linked back to the city's deficit, but added that the weeks of mass protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis also pushed him to act
In 2020, de Blasio cut $1 billion from the New York Police Department after a summer of unrest across the country following the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Critics of the mayor have blamed his 'soft-on-crime' approach for New York City's current wave of rising crime, which is up 35 percent from this time last year, according to the latest NYPD data.
Felony assaults are up nearly eight percent, robberies are up 25 percent, and car thefts are up a staggering 99.4 percent.
De Blasio's announcement comes as the New York Times reported that Hochul, the state's first female governor, plans to submit filings showing she has raised $21.6 million for her campaign, or about $140,000 a day since her swearing-in.
The sum includes more than $21 million cash on hand.
This fall's election would be her first as governor.
Hochul rose to the governor's seat after Cuomo stepped down in August, days after a report by Attorney General Letitia James revealed he allegedly sexually harassed 11 women, including nine former and current state employees.
James herself announced a run for governor in October, but dropped out six weeks later, saying she would run for re-election as attorney general instead.
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