De Blasio Is 'Ready To Serve' Park Slope...Again

BROOKLYN, NY — Park Slope voters might see Bill de Blasio's name on a ballot. Again.

The former mayor said Wednesday he is considering a run for Congress in Park Slope's newly-mapped District 10.

"Today I am forming an Exploratory Committee for the new #NY10," he tweeted Wednesday afternoon. "I am ready to serve to continue the fight against inequality."

De Blasio, who already considered, and then backed-out-of, a Park Slope congressional bid and the gubernatorial race, said he is thinking about running for Congress in order to address issues of inequity in the wake of the pandemic.

It's an interesting move for de Blasio to make on the heels of his exhaustive Atlantic piece about what an unpopular mayor he made.

"Our neighborhoods need help as we recover from Covid," de Blasio said on Twitter. "Our nation needs help as democracy is threatened and working people struggle."

News of de Blasio's possible bid comes shortly after draft congressional maps released Monday charted a new path for District 10, which would cover Lower Manhattan and a swath of Brooklyn from Park Slope to Borough Park.

The solidly Democratic seat has no incumbent, since longtime District 10 Congressman, Jerry Nadler, announced he will run against fellow incumbent Rep. Carolyn Maloney in the reshaped 12th District, which now includes his Upper West Side home.

De Blasio — who has reportedly been thinking about the seat all week — is among many liberal politicians considering throwing a hat in the ring to lead the district.

State Senator Brad Hoylman, who's represented Lower Manhattan in the senate for years, announced his run in the proposed 10th District the day after the maps were released.

Assembly Members Robert Carroll and Yuh-Line Niou both admitted they are considering the seat.

The list goes on-and-on: Lower East Side City Council Member Carlina Rivera is considering a run, sources told The City, as are State Assembly Members Simcha Felder and Jo Anne Simon as well as former City Comptroller — and disgraced mayoral candidate — Scott Stringer, according to Politico.

Democratic lawmakers' initial congressional (and state Senate) maps were declared unconstitutional by a judge in April, resulting in new maps drafted by a court-appointed expert and throwing the fall primaries into chaos.

New Yorkers will cast a vote in Congressional and state Senate primaries on Aug. 23 — leaving enough time for new maps to be drawn — but the state Assembly race (for which the Democrat-redrawn maps were not thrown out) and other races, including that for governor, will remain on the original June 28 date.

A bipartisan lawsuit filed over the weekend urges judges to throw out the state's Assembly maps and consolidate all primaries to one day in August or September.

The draft maps, drawn by special master Jonathan Cervas, will be finalized by the end of the week.

De Blasio's announcement Wednesday drew exactly the response one might expect from Twitter.

"Hahaha," tweeted IanMacAllen. "wtf who would vote for Bill?"

"I live in the new #NY10 congressional district," Maya Contreras. "My short response to this is NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO."

When he left office, de Blasio was the state's most unpopular politician, according to one poll, even more so than former President Donald Trump and disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Related Article: Park Slope And Staten Island Congressional District Nixed In New Map