Chirlane McCray defends de Blasio after emails reveal distain for media
First Lady Chirlane McCray played clean-up for Mayor de Blasio Wednesday, claiming he has “great respect for individual journalists” — despite recent comments showing his complete disdain for the media.
During a City Hall press conference, McCray said her husband expressed no regrets for his harsh criticism of reporters, including in e-mails released under court order where he called the media “pitiful.”
In Trumpian fashion, de Blasio later took particular aim at New York’s tabloids – especially The Post, saying he “will not shed a tear if that newspaper is no longer here.”
Asked about those remarks, McCray said, “I’m sure that is what he was feeling that day” but denied Hizzoner would like to see reporters lose their jobs.
“Now! Now! Now! You know he doesn’t support the loss of jobs,” she said.
“He is a human being and gets frustrated just like anybody else. I’m sure you have your days … Again, he has respect for real good journalists. I know that.”
“I know he has great respect for individual journalists … but this is a very different media environment we are living in right now than 20 years ago,” said McCray, following an announcement that the city is spending $9.5 million more to help homeless LGBTQ youth.
At several points, McCray appeared to grow frustrated by questions about her husband’s media tirades, saying she didn’t want to weigh in on whether press coverage of him is “fair.”
She also found herself defending herself against a New York Times report about the Mayor’s Fund to Advance the City of New York, which she chairs.
The report said that as fund-raising at the non-profit stalled, McCray regularly skipped board meetings and hasn’t been at the fund’s office in nearly a year.
“The role I play is appropriate as chair of a nonprofit of that size,” she said. “It is not necessary to go into a room in a building to get the work done. This is the electronic age. I do business everywhere I am…”
From mid-2002 through mid-2014 – a period predominately covering the administration of former Mayor Mike Bloomberg – the fund raised an average of $32 million a year.
But between July 2014 and June 2017, the fund averaged $22 million a year.
It is on pace this fiscal year for its lowest revenue in more than a decade, with $14 million raised in the first 10 months.
Expenses, meanwhile, have increased.
But McCray said she’s satisfied with how things are going.
“For a nonprofit of this size, we are doing really well,” she insisted.
She also pointed out Bloomberg was a billionaire whose administration was dealing with different priorities, such as Hurricane Sandy relief and the post 9/11 era, while the fund under her watch is concentrating more on mental health, immigration and securing jobs for “young people.”
“It’s not about who can raise the most money. It’s not a race,” she said.