Bill de Blasio's Elusive City Council Papers Raise More Questions Than They Answer

Other entries in the files suggest de Blasio has a tougher edge than his populist campaign and feel-good television ads suggest. For example, back in 2007, several constituents accused him of ordering a purge of members of Community Board 6 who'd voted against the Atlantic Yards development project that resulted in a new home in Brooklyn for the NBA's New Jersey Nets franchise.

Nine board members were removed in May 2007 by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, including four who'd been appointed by de Blasio and fellow Councilman David Yassky. In an interview at the time with the New York Observer, de Blasio acknowledged that he had told Markowitz not to reappoint one of the board members, on the grounds that a vote against Atlantic Yards was a vote against affordable housing.

"I was stunned and very disappointed to learn that you had retaliated against the hard working and very professional CB 6 members," wrote resident Sarah Flanagan.

Steve Sands/WireImage

Related Stories

• How New York City's New Plan to Ticket Instead of Arrest for Pot Could Backfire
  November 10, 2014
• Report: New York City's 911 System Upgrade Still Isn't Going All That Well
  August 7, 2014
• Pot Arrests Are on the Rise in de Blasio's New York
  October 21, 2014
• Eric Garner's Death Dominates NYPD Oversight Board Meeting
  August 6, 2014
• Dept. of Justice Finds Satisfaction With Police Body Cameras, Coming Soon to NYC
  September 15, 2014

More About

• Bill De Blasio
• John Liu
• Dan Levitan
• Politics
• Local Politics

Wrote Jon Yasgur, a fellow constituent: "Your actions are totally undemocratic and demonstrate a shameful coziness with developers."

A third resident, John Ife, expressed "outrage": "Your action is so redolent with the odor of arrogance . . . that it spits in the eyes of any semblance of democracy."

De Blasio spokesman Levitan did not respond to a query about the so-called purge.

De Blasio has promised to raise taxes on the wealthy and touts his support for the middle class. But that's not how landlord Jack Wallace saw him in 2004. In a letter to the councilman, Wallace urged de Blasio to reverse his support for a tax on absentee landlords. "It appears to me that I am being punished for my hard work," Wallace wrote. "A majority of absentee landlords you and the council are hurting with your taxes and surcharges are the same hard working, knuckle scraping middle class individuals you profess to represent."

De Blasio wasn't above using his office to do favors for people close to him. In 2005, for example, he ordered his staff to help solve immigration problems for a man engaged to de Blasio's Boston–based sister-in-law's assistant.

"Mr. Jules has run into immigration problems which may complicate the upcoming marriage," de Blasio wrote in a February 2005 e-mail. "Patrick and Kathleen—do you know any Haitian social service folks in the Boston area. . . . Mr. Jules needs proof he attended PS 399 . . . Thanks good people!"

He followed up with e-mails reminding his staff to help out. Staffers e-mailed the Department of Education several times to supply the necessary documentation.

Also in 2005, de Blasio used his influence to try to get a teaching fellowship on Staten Island for then-resident Dina Greenfield, whose husband, David Greenfield, would be elected to the City Council in 2010. Members of de Blasio's staff spent time over a two-month period phoning schools on Ms. Greenfield's behalf. (The couple has since moved to Brooklyn.)

"Hi Dina, I work for Councilmember de Blasio and I'll be looking for job openings for you," wrote staffer Kerci Marcello on July 19, 2005.

"FYI, I found David Greenfield's wife another job opening (PS 107, grade 1)," Marcello wrote to her boss. "I'll let you know how the interviews go."

"We got Bill's friend an interview at PS 8," reported a de Blasio staffer.

Responded Marcello: "You rule."

If de Blasio could get that kind of help on his own job hunt, he'd be a shoo-in come November 5.

grayman@villagevoice.com