Friday, 29 Mar 2024

Former de Blasio lawyer Maya Wiley rips ex-boss in mayoral bid announcement

Former de Blasio legal counsel Maya Wiley hit her ex-boss for his leadership failures in a new video Wednesday night announcing her 2021 mayoral bid.

The 56-year-old civil rights attorney and former MSNBC commentator — who has never held elected office — touts her outsider status in the three-minute spot.

“I am not a conventional candidate, but changing it up isn’t the risk,” she says from a sidewalk in her leafy Prospect Park South neighborhood in Brooklyn.

“Electing the same kinds of people, bringing the same old broken promises over and over again and expecting things will be different, that’s the risk we cant afford right now,” she says, with a subtle knock to two of the race’s leading candidates — city Comptroller Scott Stringer and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

“Not with 24,000 of our neighbors, friends and family members losing their lives to this pandemic and a historic economic crisis that’s causing our small businesses, the backbone of our economy, to shutter. Not with millions of New Yorkers wondering how they will afford to feed their kids and pay their rent.

“And not with a crisis of confidence in our city’s leadership,” she says, in a swipe at her former boss who’s faced criticism from across the political aisle for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests.

But Wiley also echoes de Blasio’s “Tale of Two Cities” mayoral campaign mantra by saying she wants to build a “stronger, fairer and more just city.”

And she’ll have to work hard to distance herself from Hizzoner after serving as de Blasio’s top lawyer for nearly three years at the beginning of his first time.

During that time she defended the mayor in a fundraising scandal and supported keeping communications with independent aides, known as “agents of the city,” private.  De Blasio was later forced to hand over the emails following a lawsuit by The Post and NY1.

Wiley plans to make her mayoral run official Thursday at a public plaza in front of the Brooklyn Museum alongside Democratic State Sen. Mike Gianaris, family members and other supporters.

Beyond Stringer and Adams, Wiley enters a crowded field of Democratic contenders. Declared or potential candidates include former de Blasio Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, the administration’s ex-Veterans Services Commissioner Ret. Brigadier General Loree Sutton, ex-Obama cabinet member Shaun Donovan, and nonprofit leader Dianne Morales.

Republicans who have launched campaigns or are exploring bids include Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa, grocery mogul John Catsimatidis, and Andrew Giuliani, son of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

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