UPPER WEST SIDE — Just a few days after City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito ripped Mayor Bill de Blasio for undermining her authority in ways she deemed were racist and sexist in the city's deal with Uber, the close allies appear to have buried the hatchet.
Appearing at an event at the American Museum of Natural History on Monday to announce that 400,000 people had signed up for the city's municipal identification program, de Blasio and Mark-Viverito appeared to resume their normal, friendly relationship.
The mayor touched Mark-Viverito's back as she arrived at the event and she touched him on the arm.
The pair whispered in one another's ears, laughing throughout the hour-long press conference. They exchanged compliments and Mark-Viverito called de Blasio "Mr. Mayor."
"I've known the speaker well since she first ran for office and we've been friends and allies since," said de Blasio.
Mark-Viverito also appeared miles away from the anger and resentment she flashed about the mayor last week.
"The mayor and I have a good working relationship," said Mark-Viverito.
But it was a different story last week after the Uber deal was announced.
The City Council tabled legislation that would have placed a cap on Uber's growth in exchange for trip data to study the effect of for-hire vehicles on traffic congestion.
De Blasio, however, said that a cap was still on the table.
Mark-Viverito took offense and said the issue was the purview of the City Council and that the mayor was just trying to "save face."
"I find it offensive as a woman and as a Latina who's leading this legislative body that somehow the impression is that I was forced to my position," an annoyed Mark-Viverito said Thursday.
"In him saying that the cap bill is off the table, it's really not for him to decide," she added.
De Blasio backed Mark-Viverito's election as speaker and the pair have been in lockstep on most of the major issues facing the city, often partnering on projects such as the municipal ID program.
The mayor blamed the media for a mixup with the speaker on the Uber deal.
On Monday, the mayor said he worked in "close coordination" with the City Council on the Uber deal.
"The city government, which unites us all, retains all its rights in this situation," said de Blasio. "Nothing says the City Council can't go back and look at that option."
