WASHINGTON – Mayor de Blasio’s winter snow storm flap has followed him to the nation’s capital, where a mid-size city mayor mercilessly ribbed him about the snow plow fiasco at a meeting of mayors from around the country.
“Mayor de Blasio made a special trip to see us today and I can tell you, he did not use a special snow plow to plow away to get here today,” said Mesa, Ariz. Mayor Scott Smith, as he introduced de Blasio Thursday at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Then, Smith, who is president of the group, indirectly referenced the city’s failure to plow the Upper East Side, saying with a touch of sarcasm: “I know that because obviously the assets were allocated throughout the city – every part of the city — I know that.”
De Blasio didn’t laugh and made no reference to Smith’s remarks when he took the podium.
But he was able to find a lighter way to address the situation — without mentioning the delay in cleaning the Upper East Side.
“Today I am 23 days and two snowstorms into the job,” he said, earning chuckles from a crowd. He credited Philly Mayor Michael Nutter as being like a “big brother” and taking him under his wing.
“Mayor Nutter did not explain to me the frequency with which snowstorms come but now I’m beginning to understand,” de Blasio said.
De Blasio repeated that he is “not satisfied” with the city’s response, but told reporters after his remarks: “I absolutely reject any notion that one neighborhood was treated differently than another.”
De Blasio met with two northern big city mayors to talk plowing: Nutter and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former chief of staff for President Obama.
A source told The Post de Blasio and Emanuel discussed snow plowing, a top issue for any northern mayor. “Why wouldn’t they?” said the source.
De Blasio said Nutter gave him some tips about clearing the streets efficiently.
“He knows a lot about dealing with snow storms. So he’s given some pointers too about how to keep the dynamics tight in terms of a fast response,” he said.
De Blasio also backed up Gov. Cuomo, who has taken criticism for saying people with what he termed “extreme” conservative views “have no place” in New York.
“I interpret his remarks to say that an extremist attitude that continues the reality of violence in our communities or an extremist attitude that denies the rights of women does not represent the views of the people of New York state,” de Blasio said.
“We all understand that there’s a right to free speech,” he continued. “I think he’s saying that the attitudes of those who want to continue the status quo of this country on guns or who want to challenge and deny a woman’s right to choose does not reflect the values of New Yorkers, so I think he was absolutely right to say what he said.”
Meanwhile, in New York, Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty declined comment on the mayor’s apology for the city’s failures on the Upper East Side.
“The mayor made a statement, put it out to the press i think that’s the city’s postion … I have no comment other than that,” he said before entering City Hall.
He also declined to say whether the mayor was disappointed with his performance.
“I think the mayor has said it was disappointing in his comments and he had us look at the district again and work at it….The problem was it snowed. So we’ll see what happens.”