The former City Council speaker, who was hand-picked by Mayor Bill de Blasio, now says he’s running the city on autopilot and “seems to lack focus.”
“The bone of contention is his lack of focus,” Melissa Mark-Viverito told The Post on Wednesday. “If it’s not his own personal pet project, he doesn’t have the focus for it.”
She added: “It’s always been very difficult, I’ve had to push him on so many issues.”
One example, she said, is the effort to shut the massive jail complex on Rikers Island and replace it with a new set of borough jails — a plan that has run into intense opposition from some local communities.
The scalding criticism from de Blasio’s onetime close ally comes as Mark-Viverito tries to separate herself in a crowded field of candidates for next Tuesday’s special election for public advocate.
Hizzoner has become something of a punching bag in the race as the 17 prospective candidates attack City Hall’s housing policies, support for the now-dead deal to bring Amazon to Queens and management of the city’s public housing authority.
Mark-Viverito, who served as speaker from 2014 to 2017, first made the slashing attack about de Blasio’s absentee tendencies in a New York magazine story published Tuesday.
She was attacked during the first debate earlier this month for her past ties to the mayor.
“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done in the city of New York,” she added on Wednesday. “If it’s not his personal pet project, he’s very dismissive of it.”