Public-advocate candidate Bill de Blasio has outraged black politicians and many of his own constituents by sending targeted mailings to African-American neighborhoods featuring pictures of his interracial family, sources told The Post.
Most of the ads mailed to predominantly white areas had no pictures or just showed photos of the candidate, the sources said.
“The insulting part of it is that if you want to appeal to the black community, then appeal to us based upon our issues, not based upon who you’re married to,” said City Councilman Charles Barron (D-Brooklyn).
De Blasio, whose campaign denied ethnic targeting, is a councilman who represents central Brooklyn. He’s white and his wife, Chirlane, is black.
Up to six of his mailers showcased Chirlane. At least one featured photos of their two children, a 14-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy.
One of the ads reads, “Meet the de Blasios” and offers a picture of his family and a message from his wife on the back.
Another has a message from his wife simply saying, “He gets it.”
“This is the one I’ve heard so many black women complain about,” said one source.
“The implication is he’s married to a black woman so he ‘gets us.’ ”
Some of the fliers featuring pictures of de Blasio and his family did get to white areas — but far fewer residents received them.
De Blasio campaign aide Matt Wing insisted the family photos were mailed citywide.
“Most campaigns for candidates who are not universally known start with biographical and introductory TV ads and mail pieces that introduce a candidate to voters and introduce their values to the people,” Wing said.
Still, sources told The Post that many politicians, including some who have supported de Blasio’s bid in the four-way Democratic primary to succeed Betsy Gotbaum, were highly offended by the mailer.
Two sources cited Councilman Al Vann, a Brooklyn Democrat who endorsed de Blasio, as one of the irked pols.
But Vann denied it, saying through an aide that he “doesn’t have anything negative to say about the literature from de Blasio and he has no further comment.”
A resident of de Blasio’s district who got the family pictures, said, “Bill is well liked in the black community, but has now gone too far and with too much.
“Strategically, it was a bad decision. He could have conveyed the same message with fewer mailers. Less is more.”