Yet again, Mayor Bill de Blasio is blaming the messenger — The Post — for his own bungling. But this time he can’t get his facts straight — or even the messenger.
On Sunday, The Post and Politico each reported that City Hall wants to replace two buildings at the Fulton Houses public-housing complex with larger ones that would include market-rate units. The deal would net the Housing Authority new cash for badly needed repairs and upgrades.
“False, false, false,” de Blasio huffed Monday. He claimed the stories suggested residents would be kicked out of their homes with no guarantee they’d have a place to go.
When NY1’s Errol Louis cited the Politico story, Hizzoner snapped that it wrongly implied “we would tear down someone’s building” and tell them to “come back later.” Yet the story said nothing of the kind, and on Tuesday, de Blasio actually apologized to the Politico reporter, saying he thought Louis was referring to the Post story.
“My first concern is for the thousands of residents picking up the paper, worried they’ll have nowhere to live,” he tweeted.
Except that The Post, too, reported flatly: “Residents of the two demolished buildings would be guaranteed apartments.” And reporter Nolan Hicks had double-checked all the facts with City Hall in advance.
Besides, how could the mayor have thought Louis was referring to The Post when Louis cited Politico by name? Does he have The Post on his brain, just because it so often shines a light on his failures?
True, the paper did quote skeptical Fulton House residents: “They promise they’ll take [tenants] back, but they won’t,” fretted Amelia Martinez. But it’s not The Post’s fault if people don’t trust this City Hall; it’s de Blasio’s. Perhaps he should’ve done more to convince them not to worry.
As for the idea of raising money for the Housing Authority by selling some of its land for market-rate apartments: We were for it (done wisely) before the mayor was.
Yet facts don’t matter to de Blasio — especially when it means taking responsibility for a mistake. Far easier to blame The Post.