Mayor Bill de Blasio’s reputation may be going into a tailspin again after reports surfaced about him taking a helicopter from Brooklyn to Queens on Friday to beat traffic.
City Hall hasn’t revealed many details and denies that he was working out at the Park Slope YMCA before taking the ride. A spokesperson said that he had “meetings he needed to attend,” according to the New York Daily News. The mayor choppered to a tech event in Long Island City where he was scheduled to speak.
When pressed by the New York Times on whether these meetings were personal or related to city business, spokesman Eric Phillips declined to elaborate. “I’m saying he had a series of meetings in Brooklyn, and I’m declining to make public the details of nonpublic meetings,” he said.
Phillips also told the New York Times that de Blasio’s helicopter trips are “infrequent,” and arranged by the mayor’s police detail.
Nypd helicopter in prospect park ? pic.twitter.com/aQFQb08lBy
— Alexandra DiPalma (@LSDiPalma) October 14, 2016
As a social media photo and video of the helicopter made the rounds, however, the ride sparked plenty of comments about the mayor—who has had a reputation for showing up late to scheduled appearances. Some went as far as calling it an abuse of power, while others understood his need to use the helicopter.
