McCray nay to pay: ‘I want to give ba ck’

Chirlane McCray said Tuesday that her husband, Mayor de Blasio, was wrong to say she deserves to be paid for her work at City Hall.

“I don’t believe I should be paid for the job that I do,” McCray (right Tuesday) said following a lower Manhattan event announcing hurricane relief for Puerto Rico. “I do what I do because I want to give back to the City of New York — because I believe very deeply and passionately that mental health is an issue that has to be addressed.”

De Blasio last week came under fire for saying it’s unfair that McCray legally can- not be paid by taxpayers for the job she does in promoting mental health and in other areas because of anti-nepotism rules.

Hizzoner asserted such rules are sexist because they typically affect more women than men.

“She works full-time,” de Blasio had said. “It makes no sense to me, but that’s the reality.”

Asked if she told him how she feels, McCray said she called him hours earlier as he was traveling back to New York from a five-day trip to ask, “Why did [you] say that?”

“I really didn’t get a good answer,”wer,” she said. “I have no idea. You know,w, we’re close. I guess I’m one of his advisers, dvisers, but sometimes husbands say things, and I have no explanation for why he brought that up. I really don’t.”

McCray was flying to Puertoo Rico to oversee the deployment of a 12-2-person team of city mental-health experts.erts. They will train school staffers in psychological ychological first-aid so they can help studentsnts suffer-suffering emotionally in the aftermathath of Hurricane Maria.

Chirlane McCray says she doesn’t think she should get paid for her work as New York City’s first lady. Good: That stance will serve her well should she indeed seek elected office in 2021, as she says she might.

It’s good, too, to have that out in the open. It had become the inescapable conclusion of City Hall’s highlighting of her role in recent months. The public will respond a lot more favorably now that it’s a matter of record.

Of course, she’s going to have to run far from her husband’s suggestions that the city’s anti-nepotism laws are sexist — and, indeed, woo the many other local players who feel the mayor has burned them.

In person, McCray can be delightful, though it’s yet to be seen if her charm will translate to the larger stages that politics demands.

And she’s shown a true passion for good work: While we disagree with the priorities of her $850 million ThriveNYC mentalhealth initiative, it’s an area where a lot needs doing.

That said, she’ll walk a tight line in not getting too much help from the mayor’s team. It’s fair enough that she’ll lead a team of city mental-health experts on a mission to Puerto Rico to assist the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Maria — but any “missions” courtesy of the taxpayers will rankle.

Whatever she runs for, she’ll face tough competition: Even a vacant City Council seat draws plenty of seasoned political pros.

And, happily, she’s ruled out running for mayor. At least, there’s one full adult in that family who isn’t full of herself.