Chirlane McCray was behind decision to shift NYPD funding
Mayor de Blasio gave a big boost to his wife’s nascent political career on Tuesday — crediting her for his executive decision to jump on the “defund the police” bandwagon.
During a City Hall briefing at which he was joined by First Lady Chirlane McCray and several Black Lives Matter activists — but no one from the NYPD — de Blasio didn’t hesitate when The Post asked if his wife was behind his surprise flip-flop on the controversial budget matter.
“The answer’s yes,” de Blasio said.
Hizzoner then handed off the question to McCray, who said, “There’s no question that it was important to move more funds to youth and social services.”
McCray said the mayoral coronavirus-recovery Task Force on Racial Inclusion and Equity, which her husband appointed her to co-chair with Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson, conducted a survey that showed “more resources for our young people was right up there” with the most-requested assistance.
“Even without those responses, I talked to my husband about it, and I encouraged him to find — help us find — ways to do that because you know, it’s something I know from my heart,” she said.
On Sunday, de Blasio reversed course and publicly pledged to shift an unspecified amount of the NYPD’s $6 billion budget to “youth initiatives and social services,” just two days after rejecting calls from activists and their City Council allies to slash funding for city cops.
The reversal came amid widespread speculation that McCray plans to enter next year’s race for Brooklyn borough president — which de Blasio fueled when he told Fox 5’s “Good Day New York” in February that she had a “serious interest” in the post.
McCray first hinted at her political aspirations following her husband’s 2017 reelection, telling Cosmopolitan magazine, “I think that all women should consider running for office.”
Councilman Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), a candidate for Brooklyn borough president, was “shocked” that Mayor de Blasio ignored weeks of massive protests and organizing against police violence, ignored appalling levels of violence by members of the NYPD under his watch and “only decided to think about reallocating police funds when it benefits his wife’s political future.”
Councilman Robert Cornegy Jr. (D-Brooklyn), a borough-president candidate and potential McCray rival, called the timing of de Blasio’s Sunday announcement “crazy,” saying, “These protests have been about exactly that. Everyone has heard the demand to defund the NYPD.”Regarding the credit the mayor gave his wife, Cornegy said, “We’ve seen him on several occasions try to do things naturally and unnaturally that highlight Chirlane McCray. I can say that.”
Last week, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams — a potential 2021 mayoral candidate — attacked de Blasio’s leadership amid the George Floyd slay protests in starkly racial terms, telling Hizzoner he “can no longer hide behind your black wife and children, not anymore.”
Police sources on Tuesday were outraged at the influence de Blasio’s unelected wife holds over him with regard to the budget, and noted the controversy over her signature ThriveNYC mental-health program, which city Comptroller Scott Stringer placed on his annual “watch list” of suspect spending this year.
“What she should do is shift the $1 billion for her failed mental-health project. Where’s that money? Why doesn’t she shift that money?” one source said.
A Manhattan cop also said, “By the time these two leave office, the city will not be worth what Peter Minuit paid for it.”
Hundreds of current and former de Blasio staffers have criticized his handling of the city protests of over Floyd’s death, and many joined a Monday march from City Hall to Brooklyn’s Cadman Plaza behind a banner labeled “New York City Workers for Justice.”
De Blasio has frequently acknowledged he consults McCray on major decisions, and veterans of his administration said his deference to her Tuesday wasn’t surprising.
“She weighs in on everything,” one official said. “She’s interviewed every commissioner who comes to work for city government.”
A former official also said of the couple, “When he says she’s a partner, he’s not lying.”
“We used to try to go to Chirlane on issues to get him to listen,” the source added.
In March, de Blasio revealed that McCray was a key figure behind his warning that “New Yorkers should be prepared right now for the possibility of a shelter-in-place order” due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
He also publicly thanked McCray for advising him to appoint Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza in 2018, and last year, outgoing Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl told a City Council committee that McCray and Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen made the decision to veto a planned statue honoring revered Catholic saint Mother Cabrini.
In 2014, The Post revealed how McCray melted down when then-Police Commissioner Bill Bratton clashed with Chief of Department Phillip Banks III, leading to Banks’ resignation.
“I told you we can’t trust him,” McCray railed about Bratton, sources said at the time.
Additional reporting by Larry Celona, Nolan Hicks and Natalie Musumeci