NYC Mayor de Blasio should lose emergency powers, says Comptroller Stringer
Mayor de Blasio should lose the emergency powers he got at the start of the pandemic, Comptroller Scott Stringer said Wednesday, noting Hizzoner’s own calls for Gov. Cuomo to lose his extraordinary powers.
Stringer, who’s running for mayor himself, pointed to de Blasio’s ability to enter the city into contracts without going through the regular oversight steps, stating: “the executive can no longer use the pandemic as a shield to circumvent the independent oversight enshrined in long-standing statutes and rules.”
The city has entered 1,238 contracts worth $5.2 billion in taxpayer funds “without appropriate oversight” since March 2020, according to Stringer.
In a Wednesday letter to the mayor, the comptroller said he has learned of problems including “overextending, overpaying and over-purchasing in emergency contracting that has resulted in millions of taxpayer dollars being lost,” though he did not go into detail.
De Blasio had been calling on the state legislature to revoke Cuomo’s emergency powers since last month. Lawmakers in Albany announced a deal to curb the governor’s powers on Tuesday.
The mayor’s office accused Stringer of playing politics.
“Emergency contracts help stand up vaccine sites. They are why we were able to build a massive testing apparatus with zero assistance from the federal government,” de Blasio spokeswoman Avery Cohen said in a statement.
“We can’t allow the Comptroller’s mayoral ambitions to interfere with our pandemic response — even when he’s sliding in the polls,” she added.
