During his mayoral campaign, Bill de Blasio railed against “special favors for well-connected corporations.” But now we’re learning the mayor dispenses his own favors for the well-connected.
Ask Bishop Orlando Findlayter, pastor of the New Hope Christian Fellowship in Brooklyn. Findlayter was part of de Blasio’s transition committee and one of his early backers in the African-American community.
Late Monday night, Findlayter was taken into custody following a routine traffic stop when cops found two outstanding warrants against him relating to an earlier civil-disobedience arrest. Because he couldn’t get before an arraignment court in time, he was told he would spend the night in jail.
Local clergy called the mayor — who in turn phoned an official in the NYPD press office to request “clarification.” And the bishop was released for the night.
Officials insist de Blasio never asked for the bishop’s release, and that the cops were in the process of giving him a desk appearance ticket. But when a mayor personally calls the cops about a case, he’s expressing more than routine curiosity.
Of course, knowing Bill de Blasio has always had its benefits. As a City Councilman, he made it a “high priority” to have officials reduce the water bill of Dan Cantor, head of the critical Working Families Party. And he intervened to help the nephew of another key politico, Rep. Yvette Clarke, get into the school of her choice.
For all his preaching about inequality, it turns out that, in de Blasio’s New York, friends of Bill are more equal than others.