De Blasio Works From Home More Often Than At City Hall: Report

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appears to believe that running the largest city in the United States is a task that can be done from home. The mayor has taken more meetings at his Upper East Side residence Gracie Mansion than in City Hall to begin 2018, according to reports.

Between December 2017 and May 2018 de Blasio held 66 weekday meetings at Gracie Mansion compared to 65 weekday meetings at City Hall, the New York Post first reported. During one December meeting, the mayor called 74 staffers to an hour-and-a-half meeting at the East End Avenue mansion, according to the report.

Holding meetings at Gracie Mansion does provide some perks for staffers, according to the report. The building is decked out with large meeting spaces and has access to free food services. It's also a private building — City Hall is often teeming with press and members of the public — which allows de Blasio and other high-profile officials to avoid answering any questions about their meetings.

But the frequent Upper East Side meetings have managed to rub some staffers the wrong way.

"It’s a total pain in the ass. Staff hate it and it’s incredibly inefficient," a source told the Post anonymously. "[de Blasio] avoided moving into Gracie like the plague. Who knew he’d turn it into a hermitage?"

City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips told the Post that there's been no "purposeful shift" to hold more meetings at Gracie Mansion than City Hall.

De Blasio decided to move his family into Gracie Mansion from Park Slope, Brooklyn following his victory in the 2013 election for mayor. The previous mayor, Michael Bloomberg, never resided in Gracie Mansion. The move began in the middle of 2014.

Read the full New York Post article here.

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