With a little more than a year left before Election Day 2017, state Sen. Joe Addabbo Jr. (D-Howard Beach) told the Queens Chronicle last Thursday there’s one person he’s not going to support: Mayor de Blasio.
During a wide-ranging interview with the Chronicle, Addabbo had a simple response when asked if he’d back de Blasio for a second term next year.
“No,” he said. “I really hope someone credible runs against him.”
The senator — who served with de Blasio in the City Council from 2001 to 2008 — said there were a few reasons he will not endorse hizzoner.
One of them was de Blasio’s unresponsiveness to elected officials’ concerns on issues ranging from their constituents’ quality of life to the proposed placement of homeless people at a Holiday Inn in Maspeth. The same couldn’t be said when Mayor Bloomberg was in office.
“With Bloomberg, he would at least tell you why you were wrong,” Addabbo joked. “But at least he responded to you ... he didn’t make you feel embarrassed.”
He also ripped City Hall for shooting, producing and releasing a video condemning those protesting outside a homeless shelter in Bellerose last month.
“I was appalled by that,” he said. “I’ve never seen any administration do anything like that.”
So far, no Democrats have stepped up to challenge de Blasio in a primary, though names such as Comptroller Scott Stringer, Public Advocate Letitia James and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn, Queens) have been discussed in political circles and published reports as potential challengers.
Addabbo indicated Jeffries might be the most likely out of the three, since he would not have to give up his seat next year to run for mayor. Jeffries, however, has denied he has any interest in running for City Hall.
“People deny things all the time,” Addabbo said. “What usually ends up happening is you get drafted to do it.”
The senator went as far as to say that he’d cross party lines and endorse Councilman Eric Ulrich (R-Ozone Park), who is considering a run for mayor, if he faces de Blasio.
“At least with Eric, I know where I stand,” he said.
A Marist/Wall Street Journal/NBC 4 poll released last Wednesday found that 50 percent of New York City residents believe de Blasio deserves another term.
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