CITY HALL — Going to the gym to exercise is an important part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's routine that helps him perform his "seven-day-a week job" well, the mayor said Tuesday.
The comments come days after de Blasio was criticized for working out at a Park Slope Y during a deadly and violent police standoff with a purported gang leader on Staten Island Friday.
"My job is to be on top of all the subject matter all the time. That requires seven days a week. But it also requires figuring out what’s going to help me be as effective as I can be," de Blasio said during an unrelated City Hall press conference.
"And I think a lot of CEOs will say to you, if you don’t get exercise, you’re not going to be as effective as you can be," the mayor added.
De Blasio exercised for 80 minutes at the Park Slope Y Friday and was at the gym for at least an hour and 40 minutes during the standoff that ended when Garland Tyree, 38, a member of the Bloods gang 9 Trey, came out of his home and fired on police with an AK 47 assault rifle.
Police returned fire and Tyree was shot dead.
Tyree also shot Lt. James Hayes, 53, a 13-year FDNY veteran of Staten Island's Engine 158, twice when Hayes entered Tyree's home to investigate a smoke grenade that Tyree had set off.
The mayor's spokeswoman Karen Hinton said that de Blasio, who lives in Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side, was late in getting to the gym because he was on the phone shortly after the 6 a.m. standoff began with Police Commissioner William Bratton and Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
De Blasio and his wife, First Lady Chirlane McCray, own homes in Park Slope where he lived before being elected mayor. They still regularly return to the neighborhood.
The mayor's spokeswoman said he was in contact with law enforcement officials while at the gym and left for the hospital where Hayes was being treated at 11:15 a.m. Friday.
Asked Friday why he was at the gym, de Blasio dismissed the question.
"We're briefing you all on a very serious situation, and that's not a serious question," de Blasio said at a press conference about the incident at Staten Island's 121st Precinct.
Asked Tuesday whether the trips to the gym might lead New Yorkers to believe he wasn't focused on his job, the mayor disputed that notion.
"There is no such thing in this job as being off duty. I hope people know that...I think it’s quite clear to most New Yorkers that a mayor is on duty all the time," said de Blasio who said he spent time in the car on the phone with members of his administration and sending emails.
The mayor said his accomplishments — lowered crime, increased jobs and affordable housing— during his 20 months in office, show how hard he's been working.
"I think people paying attention recognize that a lot of work is being done and done effectively," de Blasio said.
