Mayor will be there all week
MAYOR DE BLASIO’S traveling City Hall show will come to the Bronx on Monday, as he kicks off the second installment of “City Hall in Your Borough.”
Hizzoner will spend the entire week in the Boogie Down, as he previously did on Staten Island, working out of the Bronx County Building and holding events around the borough.
“Our boroughs are distinct. City Hall in Your Borough gives our administration an action week of focus that allows us to deliver resources where they're needed most,” spokeswoman Jessica Ramos said. “We’re having a conversation with New Yorkers that requires us to get out of City Hall and into neighborhoods.”
The trip will include a resource fair at the Bronx County Building, where constituents can get some face time with the mayor, top City Hall staffers and city agencies Tuesday morning. There will also be a town hall meeting with Councilwoman Annabel Palma on Wednesday night.
The mayor will also take in some of the Bronx’s scenery — he’ll kick off Memorial Day weekend with a visit Friday to Orchard Beach, where he’ll discuss plans to revamp a long-closed bathhouse pavilion that dates to the 1930s. The city has pledged $20 million in capital funds for the makeover, with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and the state kicking in an additional $10 million each.
It won’t all be a day at the beach for de Blasio. The mayor will also visit a mosque Friday to mark the start of Ramadan. Earlier in the week, he plans to tour small businesses and will hold a universal literacy event at an elementary school. He’ll also tour the Hunts Point Produce Market — where much of the fruits and veggies New Yorkers buy enter the city.
The week will bring the mayor into enemy territory — at least where baseball is concerned. De Blasio, a devoted Red Sox fan, will be working just a few blocks away from Yankee Stadium. A spokesman previously said it was a “safe bet” that the mayor eventually would catch his first Yankees home game, but his office is yet to specify a date.
And while the Bronx is a Democratic stronghold, there may be even more potential for political friction than there was during his week On Staten Island, where de Blasio has his lowest approval ratings but enjoys a friendship with Republican Borough President James Oddo.
De Blasio’s relationship with Diaz, a fellow Democrat, is not so warm — Diaz is an ally of the mayor’s foe Gov. Cuomo, and has taken plenty of shots at de Blasio himself.