By Madina Toure
Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Hillcrest) is calling on Mayor Bill de Blasio to take responsibility for the current investigations into his administration.
The mayor and his administration are being investigated for his fund-raising efforts on behalf of state Senate Democrats in 2014.
Lancman said Democratic leaders such as state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance should be focusing on doing their part to make New York City better rather than the mayor. The governor is dealing with the legislative session, which ends June 16, and Vance is working on a number of criminal justice reforms.
“He should explain to the public what it is that he did and why he thinks what he did was right and appropriate,” Lancman said about the mayor’s response to the probes. “Instead, he seems to be trying to blame others for engaging in (a) politically motivated investigation and so he is impugning the integrity of the governor, of the district attorney, of the attorney general and everyone else (who) are either involved in the investigation or have nothing to do with the investigation as a way of deflecting attention from his own conduct and I object to that.”
Mayor de Blasio’s office could not be reached for comment.
Lancman said the mayor’s actions are making it harder for him to be re-elected, contending that other elected officials may take advantage of the situation.
“I think that the mayor is inviting a challenge in 2017 from other Democratic candidates who can make the case that they will be able to work with these other Democratic elected officials who are so important to us,” he said, referring to the elected officials the mayor is blaming for engaging in a politically motivated investigation.
But he said he is not one of them.
“No, you don’t run from City Council to mayor,” he said. “No, I’m not running for mayor.”
And this is not the first time Lancman has criticized the mayor. In November, he accused de Blasio of playing politics by giving Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (D-East Elmhurst), who represents the north half of Flushing Meadows Corona Park, an appointment to the Flushing Meadows Corona Park Alliance board of directors but not him.
He also blasted the de Blasio administration’s snow-response efforts during the January blizzard and endorsed Councilman Dan Garodnick (D-Manhattan) in the race for Council speaker against the mayor’s choice, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito (D-Manhattan).
“(The first theme is the) mayor trying to project himself outside of New York City. The second theme is a lot of the decisions that the mayor makes are political,” he said, referring to his frequent trips outside of New York City as well as his involvement in fund-raising for state Senate Democrats. “So rewarding political allies by giving them representation on a park board or rewarding political donors by giving them contracts or favorable land use decisions is part of what’s also gotten the mayor in trouble in these investigations.”
Reach reporter Madina Toure by e-mail at mtour
