Mayor Bill de Blasio and Dr. Mary T. Bassett, the city’s health commissioner, at a news conference on the Legionnaires’ outbreak last week.CreditCreditEduardo Munoz/Reuters
N.Y. TIMES
Mayor Bill de Blasio was already having a bad week. Then Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo called.
Mr. Cuomo had cast the city as slow-footed in responding to a recent outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease in the Bronx. Fed up, Mr. de Blasio’s press secretary, Karen Hinton, issued a sharp retort. “What about the state’s performance?” she said to a reporter. “What has the state been doing to prevent this disease?”
Taken aback, the governor quickly called Mr. de Blasio. Aides at City Hall, themselves startled by the remark, issued an unusual clarification: The mayor’s chief spokeswoman, the public face of the administration, had not been speaking for the mayor.
The episode, recounted by several people familiar with the discussion, was an extraordinary public moment of discord, laying bare a host of challenges confronting the de Blasio administration in a messy second year: tension among aides; a perilous, often powerless relationship with Mr. Cuomo, a fellow Democrat; and the struggles of Mr. de Blasio, a political operative by training, to control the perception of his stewardship.
When the mayor’s top political aide raised concerns about battling the car-service app Uber, saying it could be a tough fight, Mr. de Blasio pushed forward, prompting a public relations fiasco that ended with City Hall’s abruptly dropping a proposal to limit the company’s growth.
Warned that rising complaints about homelessness could hurt him politically, Mr. de Blasio announced action on the issue this month, appearing reactive to negative headlines.
And while federal authorities praised the mayor’s handling of the Legionnaires’ outbreak as “swift” and “robust,” the response was still questioned by some city Democrats. Frustrated, the mayor led a marathon weekend meeting with agency leaders, demanding details on their progress.
In interviews, allies of the mayor said they deeply supported Mr. de Blasio and his efforts to combat inequality. But they expressed worry that his administration had not done enough to ensure New Yorkers recognize his accomplishments.
“There are a lot of positive programs going in the right direction, and yet, it’s not being perceived because of so many other floundering situations,” Gale A. Brewer, the Manhattan borough president and a Democrat, said. “It’s not being presented in a way that people can see it.”
Mr. de Blasio forcefully defended his record in an interview on Saturday, citing what he called “fundamental achievements with a very big reach,” including a rare rent freeze on many rent-regulated apartments, progress on affordable housing, and his universal prekindergarten program.
The mayor also brushed off a poll this month showing that 44 percent of New Yorkers disapprove of his performance, more than at any point of his tenure. “I’m an object lesson in why people shouldn’t listen to mainstream polling that much,” Mr. de Blasio said, referring to his come-from-behind mayoral victory in 2013. “I wouldn’t be sitting here in this role.”
Still, conversations with more than two dozen mayoral allies, advisers and current and former city officials showed widespread befuddlement over how Mr. de Blasio had allowed so many self-inflicted, seemingly preventable headaches to add up.
In the past week alone, the mayor has been questioned about why his administration created a $150,000-a-year position for the companion of a top aide, and why the first lady, Chirlane McCray, requested a postponement of her federal jury duty.
On Friday, Mr. de Blasio even ran into trouble for exercising at his old gym in Brooklyn during a police standoff on Staten Island with a gunman who injured a firefighter
In the face of criticism of persistent homelessness, the mayor announced a new shelter and mental health outreach initiative on Aug. 6.CreditJustin Lane/European Pressphoto Agency
“Optics, people! Optics!” one ally of the administration said on Friday, echoing concerns voiced by other supporters.
Inside City Hall, Mr. de Blasio is known for a deliberative style. He often asks aides to consider how decisions fit into the broader mission he has set for his administration, to combat inequality and advance social justice.
He can also be stubborn at times, reminding his advisers of his long experience with campaigns and government.
Mr. de Blasio and the first lady, Chirlane McCray, at a roundtable discussion for the news media at City Hall.CreditBryan R. Smith for The New York Times