Blas lacks ‘right’ stuff on SI tour
Mayor de Blasio came to Staten Island Monday as part of a weeklong listening tour aimed at swaying the city’s most conservative borough in a re-election year — and quickly learned it will be an uphill battle.
“It’s not a shock, and I don’t think the mayor would mind me saying this in front of the media, that his numbers on Staten Island are not great,” warned Borough President James Oddo as he greeted the mayor and his senior staff at Borough Hall.
Oddo, a Republican and longtime friend of the left-leaning mayor despite their political differences, sweetened the sit-down by bringing along two boxes of chocolate cannolis and a 15-year-old photo from their days together on the City Council.
The visit is the first leg of a planned five-borough tour in which the mayor and senior staff will operate for a week at a time outside City Hall.
The mayor planned meetings with community leaders, office hours with constituents and a Thursday townhall meeting where residents will get to ask him questions.
Former Mayor David Dinkins, for whom de Blasio once worked, also set up temporary borough outposts in 1992, when he was up for re-election. He lost to Rudy Giuliani in ’93.
De Blasio crushed GOP rival Joe Lhota, 73 percent to 24 percent, in 2013, but lost Staten Island, 53-44.
During a press conference at the Tottenville station house, the mayor claimed his visit isn’t about his upcoming re-election.
“I’m not here to win over voters who philosophically disagree [with me],” he said. “They want to see a different vision, that’s fine.
“But I think what would be bothersome is if I start ignoring this borough because of political differences.”
Following the mayor’s arrival by ferry Monday morning, some residents said they were not impressed.
“He’s a Red Sox fan, and that’s the least of it!” bellowed Gary Phaneuf, who wore a Make America Great Again cap and held a sign that said, “Dump de Blasio.”
Cathy Holladay, head of the Skylight Center, a Staten Island nonprofit that helps the mentally ill, joined a dozen others who came out to protest a $400,000 payment they claimed the city is withholding.
“We haven’t been able to make payroll,” Holladay said.
GOP mayoral hopeful Paul Massey visited Monday to slam the mayor for failing to include a Stapleton terminal in his citywide ferry-service plan.
“His definition of ‘citywide’ apparently doesn’t include Staten Island,” Massey said.