In New York City, news of mayoral malfeasance comes so fast and furious that sometimes it's hard to remember the scandals of the previous month, much less the scandals of the previous administration. But the past is never dead. It's not even past, especially when former mayors are still litigating adverse rulings by the City's Conflict of Interest Board years after they left office.
Remember when Mayor Bill de Blasio asked the Conflict of Interest Board if he could put taxpayers on the hook for an NYPD escort as he was gallivanting around the country on a quixotic and self-regard-addled campaign to be president of the United States, and then the COIB told him no, he couldn't do that, and then he did it anyway? Remember how the board then told him he had to pay back $319,794.20 in NYPD costs, and pay a $155,000 fine for wantonly breaking the rules, so he sued the board?
This week, de Blasio's dreams of getting away with it crashed to earth like a large perpetually irritated flightless bird, as a state supreme court judge ruled his claims that mayors aren't actually accountable to the city’s charter laws "meritless." The former mayor still owes New Yorkers nearly half a million dollars from his escapade.
Harsh tokes, Bill! That's a lot of money to have to come up with. With fondness and concern, Hell Gate put our heads together to brainstorm some ways our former mayor could raise some scratch quick. No bad ideas in a brainstorm!