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De Blasio Says His Wife Will Remain Central to Administration Despite Poll

By Jeff Mays | November 21, 2014 8:50am
 Mayor Bill de Blasio had a message for New York voters who believe First Lady Chirlane McCray should not be involved in helping to develop city policy: "She's just begun."
Mayor Bill de Blasio had a message for New York voters who believe First Lady Chirlane McCray should not be involved in helping to develop city policy: "She's just begun."
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Rob Bennett/Mayoral Photography Office.

CITY HALL — Mayor Bill de Blasio had a message for New York voters who believe First Lady Chirlane McCray should not be involved in helping to develop city policy:

"She's just begun," de Blasio said Thursday at City Hall.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday found that 71 percent of voters feel that de Blasio's wife should have a minor role at most in shaping policy for the city.

Only 24 percent of New York City voters, 26 percent of women and 20 percent of men say the mayor's spouse should have a "major role" in policy.

The feeling extended to even the mayor's most ardent supporters, blacks and Latinos.

Only 31 percent of blacks and 35 percent of Latinos say the mayor's spouse should play a major role in shaping public policy compared to 64 percent of black voters and 58 percent of Latinos who say she should have a minor role or no role at all.

But de Blasio, who questioned "modern polling," said he has no plans to change the role his wife plays in helping him.

"The person who is my partner in everything I do is my wife. She is my top adviser," the mayor said, repeating a phrase he has uttered often about McCray during the first 11 months of his term.

"By definition she's going to play an important role...in this administration," he added.

McCray's role in city government came further into the spotlight after revelations regarding the personal life of her $170,000-per-year chief of staff Rachel Noerdlinger led the mayoral aide to take an indefinite leave of absence on Monday.

But de Blasio said he believes that his wide victory in the general election means that voters gave him an "extraordinary mandate" to run the city using the style he described during the campaign. That includes utilizing his wife's talents.

"I long ago told the people in this city my wife would be a central part of this operation," said de Blasio, 53.

The mayor credited McCray, 60, a writer who also served as a speechwriter for former Mayor David Dinkins, with taking an important role in issues such as implementing universal pre-K and working with city agencies to develop new strategies to combat domestic violence.

McCray, who has a degree from Wellesley College and is also a mother of two, appeared very invested in the universal pre-K effort. She shed tears as the she spoke to the press during the first day of school in September.

She is also believed to be the only first lady to attend an NYPD CompStat where top police commanders chew over very focused crime reduction strategies.

As for his wife needing a chief of staff, de Blasio said that's also a no-brainer.

"She's working for free on behalf of the city so by definition she needs a staff," he said.

After Noerdlinger's departure, de Blasio said McCray will choose a new chief of staff. He said it was too early to answer questions about what that new person's salary would be and that a clear definition of the chief of staff's duties would eventually be given.

De Blasio said he saw the benefit of his attitude toward his wife's role in his administration in another power couple, former President Bill Clinton and former Senator, Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton.

"They had a partnership. Their ability to serve people was directly related to that partnership," de Blasio said about the Clintons.

"They both did an immense amount for this nation and continue to," he added.