LOOK AT ME
Blaz is the No. 1 fan of his it’s all good video
MAYOR DE BLASIO’S widely panned promotional video produced on the taxpayer dime has one fan — Hizzoner.
The mayor’s office tweeted a defense of the video — which good-government advocates decried for being too much like a campaign ad — on Wednesday, a day after its release.
“Great voices, catchy tune, and substantive content. What’s controversial about that?” read the tweet from the official account of the mayor’s office.
Also included was a link to the video, which features de Blasio, First Lady Chirlane McCray, mayoral aides and Broadway stars Jenna Ushkowitz and James Iglehart.
The video attempts to showcase the mayor’s accomplishments of 2016, while ignoring bad news like the numerous law enforcement probes into his office.
It also glosses over the particulars of some of his plans. The vid touts his effort to bring computer science to all publicschool kids, for example, but doesn’t mention it won’t take effect everywhere until 2025.
Because the video features the mayor so prominently, some criticized it for being like a campaign ad. At one point, the video shows Ushkowitz, who was on the TV show “Glee” and starred in Broadway’s “Waitress,” belting out, “No matter what will be, we got Billy D B.”
De Blasio is up for reelection next year, but his office disputes that the video is campaignlike, insisting it is just providing information to the public.
“New Yorkers deserve to know what their government is doing,” press secretary Eric Phillips said.
Some disagreed, with nearly all of the responses on Twitter blasting the mayor.
“Sickening waste of money. Nice job Mayor (NOT),” tweeted Marc H.
The video was created by the mayor’s in-house communications team. City Hall shelled out an extra $900 in production costs, including hiring a composer and pianist.
Democratic strategist George Arzt, who served as Mayor Ed Koch’s press secretary, said de Blasio appears to be going straight to the voters and avoiding the press after getting bad headlines.
“The mayor and many politicians will follow the Trump model and avoid the mainstream press,” said Arzt.
The mayor’s video was released the same day the Daily News ran a front-page story detailing his difficult past year, including a spike in homelessness, two grand juries hearing testimony on his fund-raising and a botched Administration for Children’s Service case that ended with the death of a child.