Who said it: President Trump or Mayor de Blasio?
“First of all, the news media is pitiful and it’s sad for our city and nation.”
They might have wildly different politics, but Hizzoner and the President share a rabid distaste for the media — and a desire to shape it, new emails released by City Hall show.
The emails, between de Blasio and top outside advisers who work for the political consulting firm BerlinRosen, were released Thursday after the city spent months trying to keep them secret, arguing the consultants served as “agents of the city.”
Internal communications between city employees are exempt from public release under the state Freedom of Information Law.
De Blasio argued that he considered BerlinRosen and two other consultant firms to be the equivalent of city employees that he dubbed “agents of the city.” NY1 sued in 2016 to get them released.
De Blasio finally caved three weeks after a Manhattan appeals court ordered their release.
The 4,245 pages of emails make clear that from his arrival at City Hall, de Blasio and his team constantly sought ways to manipulate the press and polish the mayor’s image.
In a Jan. 16, 2014, email to press office staff, de Blasio spokeswoman Marti Adams reveals a plan to sneak the self-proclaimed progressive mayor into an event with the Real Estate Board of New York.
Under the subject line “Let’s minimize press activity at REBNY,” Adams writes, “He has private entrance and will skip reporters on the way in and REBNY has said they’re going to limit access to the VIP reception.”
City Hall staffers while on city time discussed arranging a feature story on a web app called The Infatuation about the mayor’s favorite eating venues to make him appear “real.”
In an Aug. 5, 2015, email, Rob Bennett, a staffer in the mayor’s office, wrote to other staffers seeking “off-the-top-of-your-head Bdb favorite dining drinking spot intel.
“We’re cooking up a post for the mayor/Fam on The Infatuation, a food app with a sizable audience. All part of our quest to make Mayor ‘real’ in the digital realm,” Bennett wrote.
In an effort to show how “authentic” he was, the mayor and his aides meticulously planned his attendance at three Mets home games in a row against the Boston Red Sox, complete with de Blasio scolding his staff for not realizing that if he visited the Sox’s batting practice, he’d have to do the same for the Mets.
In discussing the pro-Red Sox mayor’s Citi Field marathon, one aide referenced a discussion “about authenticity and relatability.” She suggested his attendance at the games “allows us to showcase your fun side” and “position you as a very relatable ‘sports fanatic.'”
The emails also make clear that by the spring of 2015, de Blasio was already expressing his contempt for the Daily News. In a May 23, 2015, email he discussed reports that the News was about to end its print edition and go online only.
“And that would be good for us, right?” he wrote of potential cuts to the paper. “Or would that make the Post more dominant? Or, conversely, would it hasten the demise of the Post — prob just wishful thinking.”
“Would rather a liberal News to no News but given that’s probably wishful thinking I think it’s good if it cuts back,” BerlinRosen’s Jonathan Rosen responded.
But while rooting for the demise of the papers, de Blasio also seemed to be sensitive to how he’d be covered by them.
In a May 25, 2015, email discussing his upcoming family vacation overseas, he wrote, “That would mean one trip including Israel and the Vatican — I wonder if the tabloids would be able to criticize THAT :).”
Predictably, he heaped praise on authors of articles he felt were positive, particularly if they involved his ongoing feud with Gov. Cuomo.
That included a June 30, 2015, Ross Barkan article in the New York Observer headlined, “What Does Bill de Blasio Gain by Openly Blasting Andrew Cuomo?”
“First of all when did Ross Barkan get smart and insightful?” de Blasio wrote.
A mayoral aide, Thomas Snyder, chimed in, “That analysis is almost more than we could hope for. Positions mayor as voice of the dems and eviscerates the gov. Grand slam.”
De Blasio replied, “Timing is everything my friends. We half-planned half stumbled upon the perfect timing. Got the freeze it’s moment of glory then hurt with this.”
“Now brace for the counter-attack,” he added.
Snyder replied, “Digging foxholes now.”
The emails also reveal his top aides’ struggle to respond after the Dec. 20, 2014, assassination of two police officers, Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos, by a deranged man who made social media comments about killing cops.
In a Jan. 3, 2015 email, top aide Peter Ragone wrote to consultant John Del Cecato and other aides about how to craft an Op-Ed written by the mayor addressing the tragedy.
Del Cecato described his suggested changes: “I tried to ratchet back some of the (police chokehold victim Eric) Garner Liu Ramos comparisons a bit and refer to those matters more obliquely so as not to further antagonize the cops.”
But Del Cecato made clear he would go after police union head Patrick Lynch, who’d criticized the mayor’s response to the fatal shooting of the two cops.
“I also called out Lynch and company but not by name or specific affront,” he wrote.
And de Blasio himself weighed in on media strategy after he was raked over the coals for working out at the gym while a firefighter was shot on Staten Island — in which he made the remark about the “pitiful” press.
“Here’s what we know: the media wants to focus on death in all its forms and wants me to be present wherever death or grievous injury is involved,” he wrote. “Today’s controversy about when exactly I should be at the hospital or an active shooter situation and what I’m ‘allowed’ to do if I’m not there is a case in point.”
He said the administration could either “surrender” — and go to every fire and crime scene — “or we can govern.”
He predicted he’d be attacked by union leaders, including Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association’s President Lynch, whom he appeared to call one of “these bastards.”
In response, Lynch cited what he called the mayor’s “thin skinned arrogance,” adding, “If speaking up when the mayor falls down on the job — including his failure to offer fair pay and fair treatment for NYC police officers — makes us bastards, we’ll gladly accept that spot on the mayor’s scorecard.”
Ultimately de Blasio admitted he would have gotten less flack had he been at work and not at the gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn.
“Granted, this attack line today would have been harder to promote if I was at CH — but then the line could have been I took too long to go visit the hospital,” he said, with CH referring to City Hall.
After an August 2015 story in The Wall Street Journal, the mayor thought made him look bad, political consultant Del Cecato suggested a tactic to fight back utilized by President Trump — go after people via vitriolic tweets.
“Maybe I’m channeling Louis CK here but I feel people on the outside (like me) should be assigned a duty like going after our opponents and just delivering that via Twitter,” Del Cecato wrote.
The mayor’s then-press secretary, Phil Walzak then referenced a notorious Republican tactic from the Watergate playbook known as “ratf—ing.”
The term was used in the 1970s by Richard Nixon’s reelection committee flunkies to describe pranks designed to secretly attack Democrats.
Walzak replied, “Yeah I like that. You can be outside rat…r on twitter.”
“Happy to do it,” Del CeCato replied. “Just let me know when I start.”
The release of emails from January 2014 into 2017 marked a total reversal for the mayor, who had city lawyers spend untold hours aggressively fighting to keep them secret.
Early Thursday, de Blasio’s press secretary, Eric Phillips, suddenly announced their release but did not explain why the mayor changed his mind.
“We have chosen to forgo our right to seek a higher appellate court review of the previous decision,” Phillips wrote.
Phillips declined to reveal how much this ultimately futile battle cost the taxpayers, stating that the Law Department does not track the hours of its lawyers working on “behalf of the city broadly.”
He estimated “it as a cost more than zero and less than minimal.”
Records show that six city lawyers — five of whom pocket salaries between $147,000 and $195,000 — worked on the case, appearing in court at least five times, drafting about 100 pages of legal motions and twice arguing the case in open court.
The city could also be on the hook for legal costs incurred by NY1 and the New York Post, the outlets that sued. A judge has approved awarding those costs but it’s not yet clear if they will demand reimbursement.
