De Blasio Inc.

Mayor de Blasio’s ceaseless efforts to build his national power would be nothing but a source of amusement — if they didn’t come at a stiff price for the city.

Politico just dropped a devastating look at the “fiasco” of de Blasio’s 2015-16 Progressive Agenda project. One lowlight was the Iowa candidates forum that had to be killed because the candidates wouldn’t come. Another was the mayor’s carefully orchestrated speech at the opening of a documentary that bashed hedge funds — which went ahead, except that almost no audience bothered to show.

Thing is, the nonprofit burned at least $860,000 in its two years — cash that mostly came from de Blasio’s Campaign for One New York. And CONY, as New Yorkers well know, got its funds by selling fatcats access to, and public favors from, the mayor.

The Post this week flagged a different abuse: the cash taxpayers shell out to promote First Lady Chirlane McCray — that is, to boost a different part of the de Blasio family brand. Since May 2015, McCray has taken at least 30 trips out of state to promote herself, mental-health treatment . . . and her husband.

For example, one three-day jaunt to DC in May 2016 cost taxpayers $4,200 for her travel, lodging, food and other expenses — plus more for four city-paid staffers who went along. An August 2017 family trip to the National Association of Black Journalists conference in New Orleans cost the public $3,234 for Chirlane and a staffer.

But the bigger issue is de Blasio’s use of nonprofits. Yes, he closed CONY after widespread outrage over its seamy fund-raising — but he’s since opened his Fairness PAC to similarly advance his agenda (and cover family travel costs).

And the PAC hits up many of the same donors as CONY, particularly real-estate interests, as well as state and federal lobbyists. What are they buying?

It’s bad enough that the taxpayers get billed directly for building the political machine that is the de Blasio family business. Far worse that the public interest is surely being sold out in other ways, out of sight.

In the end, this mayor only plays at being a progressive. Beneath the mask, he’s just another political mercenary.