Gotham Gazette

The Place for New York Policy and politics

Jeff Smith

Jeff Smith

  • The Risks of De Blasio’s Interview with Federal Prosecutors

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    Mayor de Blasio gives his State of the City speech (photo: The Mayor's Office)


    Mayor Bill de Blasio met with federal prosecutors on Friday, the latest step in the ongoing investigations into the mayor and his associates. In the face of multiple probes, the mayor maintains that he and his government and campaign teams acted appropriately; that no government action was promised or given for donations; and that everything done was within the bounds of local, state, and federal laws.

    We’ll soon see if

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  • De Blasio Continues Deliberative Approach to Appointments

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    Mayor de Blasio makes appointments, 2014 (photo: Ed Reed, Mayor's Office)


    Deliberative. Hands-on. Micro-manager. Terms used by a variety of people to describe Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has also described himself as such. De Blasio is known to put considerable thought before action, demand regular reports from his functionaries, and go through multiple levels of input before arriving at policy decisions.

    While de Blasio has been known for years as especially deliberative, sometimes to the point of

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