In an abrupt shift from his stance as public advocate, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday said he won’t get involved in providing public files about the controversial arrest and release of a Brooklyn bishop who got out the vote for him.
After frustrated reporters told the mayor his administration was claiming no such records exist, de Blasio threw up his hands and suggested they take up the matter with city lawyers.
“I am not a lawyer. There are lawyers who do this with great care and I’m sure they followed the appropriate rules. And if at the end of that process, people aren’t satisfied, there is an appeal they can undertake,” the mayor said.
“Again, I don’t comment on the details of the FOIL process, I let the lawyers do that,” he added at a news conference in Queens.
That was a startling departure from his stance last year, when de Blasio as public advocate berated the Bloomberg administration for stonewalling requests for public data filed under the Freedom of Information Law.
“The city is inviting waste and corruption by blocking information that belongs to the public,” he fumed at the time.
“That’s the last thing New York City can afford right now. We have to start holding government accountable when it refuses to turn over public record.”
The arrest and release of Bishop Orlando Findlayter in February is a touchy issue for the administration.
The bishop, who endorsed de Blasio during the mayoral race, was pulled over for a traffic violation and arrested in February after an outstanding warrant related to an act of civil disobedience turned up on his record.
Upon learning of the arrest, the mayor called the NYPD to inquire about Findlayter’s status.
The bishop was released that night without having to spend time behind bars.
City Hall insists the decision to let him go was made independently of the mayor’s call.
Mayoral aides said they can’t provide e-mail exchanges between City Hall and the NYPD about the incident because none exists.
But when news reports two months ago referred to the e-mails, the administration didn’t dispute their existence.
De Blasio was unequivocal about the sanctity of the FOIL process when he was public advocate.
“The bottom line here is: This is not an optional matter, and we have to stop letting people get away with it,” he said in April 2013.
Additional reporting by Aaron Short