NYC Emergency Chief Wasn't Axed Over Snowstorm, Mayor Says

NEW YORK — New York City's emergency management chief was ousted as part of a grand plan to "modernize" the agency that had "nothing to do" with last month's snowstorm, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday.

The mayor acted on his plans to boot Commissioner Joseph Esposito on Monday night, three days after a Friday meeting where Laura Anglin, the deputy mayor for operations, had reportedly told him he was axed.

De Blasio — who left the city Friday for a political conference in Vemont — said he had approved a plan weeks ago to push out Esposito and bring a "more strategic approach" to the Office of Emergency Management. Anglin was tasked with pulling the trigger, the mayor said, but he was "not focused" on how and when she planned to do it.

"It was a conversation that did not go the way it was planned," said de Blasio, a Democrat. "In the heat of the moment, I think, because of the misunderstanding, a series of things went into motion."

Esposito, a roughly five-decade veteran of city government, said his talk with Anglin followed a debriefing with other officials on the city's response to the Nov. 15 snowstorm, which trapped New Yorkers in traffic for hours and led to a firestorm of criticism for the de Blasio administration.

Esposito said he "got a little loud" in that meeting, in which he felt his agency was being singled out for criticism. Afterward, he said, Anglin cleared the room and told him he would be asked to resign.

Esposito said he told Anglin he would expect his departure to be outlined in writing, then had his staff call de Blasio's. The mayor said he never heard from Esposito directly.

"Did the message get to him? Apparently not," Esposito said outside his Downtown Brooklyn office Tuesday evening.

De Blasio and Esposito met twice at Gracie Mansion on Monday after news of his apparent ouster broke. Esposito said he made the case for why he should stick around at the first meeting, which occurred around 3 p.m.

“It was quite evident that they were going to make a change here, and we discussed our options,” Esposito said.

Several hours later, de Blasio summoned him back, offered to have him stay on during the transition and read him the statement his office ultimately issued to the press, Esposito said.

"My first choice was to stay here as long as I can," Esposito said. But, he added, "I think the die was cast after that first meeting."

Other elected officials objected to Esposito's apparent removal on Monday, praising his service and saying there was no indication he bore the blame for last month's slushy mess. De Blasio said the commissioner will be given the chance to take on another role in the administration, though he didn't specify what that might be.

The mayor also did not get specific about why he felt Esposito could not carry Emergency Management into the future. But he said the office should be equipped to face the growing threat of climate change and the shifting shape of terrorism.

"In a big, sophisticated organization, there are times when you say you want new leadership for a variety of reasons," de Blasio said. "This is one of those times, with real appreciation for all that Joe Esposito has done for the city over the years."

De Blasio admitted the process "could have been handled better all around."

"Even though it was perfectly appropriate for a deputy mayor to have the conversation, it would have been better for me to have it up front," he said.

(Lead image: Mayor Bill de Blasio and Emergency Management Commissioner Joseph Esposito appear at an event in August 2014. Photo by Rob Bennett/Mayoral Photography Office)