De Blasio still gets NYPD security, despite refusal to pay for misuse
He’s still taking New Yorkers for a ride.
Former Mayor Bill de Blasio continues to be chauffeured around town by an NYPD security detail despite refusing to pay taxpayers back nearly $320,000 that city investigators say he owes for misusing the perk while in office, The Post has learned.
Since leaving City Hall four months ago, de Blasio and wife Chirlane McCray have had a team of six NYPD detectives and a sergeant assigned to be their personal limousine and security service, police sources said.
The cops rotate so that least two are always on call to service the former First Couple from early morning to late at night.
They routinely drive them around town, including to restaurants, Prospect Park for long walks, and the Park Slope YMCA where de Blasio enjoys working out.
The security detail has also been a fixture for months at the swanky Marriott at Brooklyn Bridge, where de Blasio and McCray are temporary residing while their Brooklyn home undergoes renovations.
“He basically has armed chauffeurs taking him to the gym,” quipped a law enforcement source. “It is ironic since … he’s responsible for a lot of the anti-police rhetoric in the city today.”
Former Mayors Ed Koch and David Dinkins retained police security at taxpayers’ expense for six months after they left office while Rudy Giuliani and his family retained the perk for a year. After leaving office at the end of 2013, billionaire ex-Mayor Michael Bloomberg simply hired members of his NYPD security team who retired as his private bodyguards.
But critics questioned whether de Blasio should get the same privilege following a scathing Department of Investigation report released last October.
The DOI determined de Blasio owes taxpayers $319,794 for wrongfully using “NYPD resources for political purposes” by having his security detail guard him out of state during his failed bid for president – including to see his beloved Red Sox play in California. DOI also scolded de Blasio for misusing the perk by having cops run errands, including helping his daughter move and chauffeuring his son.
“He’s using them as chauffeurs, and it’s a waste of money and wrong considering his history,” barked former Brooklyn Councilman Sal Albanese, who lost 2017 Democratic mayoral primary to de Blasio.
“Considering he still owes the city $320,000 for misusing his security detail, there’s no way he should still have security unless there is a serious threat.”
Councilman Robert Holden (D-Queens) said he believes the courtesy provided past mayors is over the top and is considering drafting legislation to limit costs to taxpayers. “These are cops that could be out there protecting the city,” he said.
A de Blasio spokesman didn’t return messages, but the ex-mayor has appealed a city Conflicts of Interest Board’s ruling that he should repay the city for the alleged misuse of police detail.
