Post-City Hall BIll de Blasio has been on a journey.
Last month, Bill de Blasio gave a heart-baring interview to New York magazine, where he admitted his 2020 presidential campaign was a bad idea (and not only because he's now out almost half a million because of it), that his staff let him down by handing him a groundhog that he dropped which then died (but he did not murder it), and that he was probably a little too sensitive when it came to criticism while in office.
Now, the former mayor who will not go away (because he is in your line of vision pretty much anywhere in Brooklyn) has more news to share, along with his wife Chirlane McCray—they're going to separate, but will remain living together (for now).
In a revealing interview with the New York Times in which the long-time couple explains why they are consciously uncoupling, de Blasio recalls asking McCray why she wasn't "lovey-dovey anymore." This led to a long discussion between the two of them about how things have changed for the couple after leaving Gracie Mansion, and eventually, to deciding to separate:
"You can’t fake it," Ms. McCray said Tuesday from their kitchen table.
"You can feel when things are off," Mr. de Blasio said, "and you don’t want to live that way."
De Blasio and McCray seem to be processing this change in their relationship status in a deeply healthy and equitable manner, with Bill identifying his 2020 run and inattention to therapy as precipitating moments for their eventual separation. They'll still live together in Park Slope, but will begin to date other people. Our predictions: Awkward run-ins at Celebrate Brooklyn! while they're both on dates, Chirlane seeking out spelunking and other activities that Bill was simply too lanky for, and Bill hanging out in the kitchen when Chirlane comes home with a date, loudly announcing how "cool" he is with "all of this!"
Bill, as always awkwardly candid, laid out some of what he'd been working through over the past three decades with Chirlane:
"For the guy who took the chance on a woman who was an out lesbian and wrote an article called 'I Am a Lesbian,'" Mr. de Blasio said, "there was a part of me that would at times say, 'Hmmm, is this like a time bomb ticking? Is this something that you’re going to regret later on?' So I always lived with that stuff."
Damn, Bill!
As for Chirlane? "I just want to have fun," she told the Times.
At any rate, we only hope for the best for them and their respective journeys into the dating life. But now that the niceties are out of the way, we are obligated to point out that de Blasio appears to be already radiating distressingly high levels of "divorced dad energy."
The beard isn't back (yet), but the hair? Oh, it's black again:
In the 18 months since he left office, Mr. de Blasio has seemed at times to be casting about, personally and professionally. Last year, he looked in the mirror and did not feel like himself. "I never anticipated ever doing anything with hair color," he said of his now strikingly dark close-crop, adding that the current shading is a bit more pronounced than he intended. "But I like feeling what I feel."
We literally have no precedent for predicting what risks this kind of energy poses for a dense urban population, but after a summer of smoke, insects, and now sharks, a Bill de Blasio radiating Chernobyl-level "separated guy in Park Slope" energy seems just right.
It begins:
Some links that are leading you into their apartment and introducing you to their wife, but don't worry, "We're longtime ethical non-monogamists":
- Even if you try to follow all of the state's rules, it is still ridiculously difficult to get approval to open a legal weed shop, reports Politico, which profiled several people with criminal convictions who tried to go the legal route (and wound up thousands of dollars in debt).
- Another person has died while incarcerated on Rikers Island. Felix Taveras, 40, died on July 4 after complaining of chest pain. Already, the Department of Correction has admitted there were "procedural violations" in staff's handling of Taveras's medical condition, including a deeply delayed response by medics on the island. Taveras is the third person to die while jailed on Rikers Island this year. Meanwhile, the DOC and its commissioner Louis Molina continue a campaign of secrecy on the island, now suspending a DOC captain who was working as an independent investigator on the island, allegedly for failing to sign into a logbook. As the Daily News notes, "The move is controversial as investigators are not required to sign in at the jails because general knowledge of their mere presence can reveal confidential investigations."
- Storms would not deter Joey Chestnut from defending his crown as hot dog king. Miki Sudo also defended her women's title.
- We're hearing a lot of bitching and moaning about congestion pricing, but here's a cool list from Gothamist about all the nice things we'll be able to buy with the revenue generated by it. (New subway lines! Faster subway lines! Elevators!)
- In a shock to no one who walks around the city, street homelessness is up amidst an eviction crisis and sky-high shelter populations.
- Who is going to foot the bill for the billions' worth of energy upgrades for the city's co-ops before 2030? The CITY dug into this pickle, one that Hell Gate has covered previously.
- The City Council is going to dig into the mayor's response (or lack of one) to last month's dangerous air quality from the Canadian wildfires.
- And finally, our air is bad this morning (but we can no longer blame Canada):
