If you can’t beat ‘em, hug ‘em. Mayor Bill de Blasio wouldn’t endorse Gov. Andrew Cuomo before the Democratic primary last…
If you can’t beat ‘em, hug ‘em.
Mayor Bill de Blasio wouldn’t endorse Gov. Andrew Cuomo before the Democratic primary last week, but five days later he was hugging him.
It was a fence-mending mission for the mayor, who largely remained on the sidelines for the election — even as he talked up Cuomo’s pesky foe and his old pal Cynthia Nixon.
“Thank you governor, lieutenant governor,” de Blasio said at a Democratic unity rally Tuesday in the Sheraton Times Square, including Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul in his salute.
Cuomo’s entire slate — Hochul and attorney general candidate Letitia James — emerged with victories in the Sept. 13 primary .
So de Blasio had a lot of ground to make up with fellow Democrats who’ll be running the state for the next four years.
That was especially true for James, the public advocate who had served with de Blasio in the City Council.
Not only didn’t the mayor support her, but Chirlane McCray — the mayor’s wife — actually endorsed rival Zephyr Teachout .
James won handily, and sources close to her said she was personally stung by McCray’s action.
De Blasio effusively praised James at the rally, gave her a hug and recalled how she took on former Mayor Mike Bloomberg by fiercely opposing a change to the term limits law in 2013.
“She stood up to a billionaire,” de Blasio recalled. “She’ll stand up to Wall Street. I’m proud to endorse her (in November’s general election).”
Having clobbered Nixon by a 2-to-1 margin, Cuomo could afford to be magnanimous– at least for the day.
During his remarks, he described de Blasio as “the great mayor of the city of New York.”
And de Blasio was happy to return the favor.
He gave the governor “credit” for standing up to President Trump, hardly a tough stance in solidly blue New York.
The mayor also pointed out that Cuomo enacted the $15 minimum wage and approved the city’s new family leave law.
De Blasio went on to explain that he and Cuomo have a 25-year relationship and worked together at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, when de Blasio backed Cuomo’s first ill-fated run for governor in 2002.
De Blasio claimed that “despite disagreements” he and Cuomo “talk all the time.”
“The things that unite us are greater than the things that divide us…believe in unity and that time is now!” the mayor said to applause.
His comments were a far cry from what he said about the governor in 2015, when he blasted Cuomo as a vindictive man who exacts “revenge” and wages a “vendetta” against those who disagree with him.
Afterwards, The Post caught up with a cheery Cuomo and asked what he thought of de Blasio’s compliments.
“We are the big tent party!” he said, smiling.
