Bill de Blasio hits public gym, flouting coronavirus rules amid city shutdown
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New York Mayor Bill de Blasio arrives at the Park Slope YMCA on Monday morning.Paul Martinka
Hizzoner went to the Prospect Park YMCA, a rep said, noting that he arrived around 9 a.m. and left about an hour later.
The mayor’s continued gym-rat routine — which includes a 12-mile drive from Gracie Mansion to Park Slope with his NYPD detail — had some of his former staffers fuming.
The Mayor’s actions today are inexcusable and reckless,” tweeted Rebecca Katz, a longtime de Blasio confidante.
“She right. It’s pathetic. Self-involved. Inexcusable,” another longtime adviser to the mayor, Jonathan Rosen, chimed in on Twitter.
“He went to the f–king gym? Jesus!” said one shocked ex-staffer.
Another former City Hall employee told The Post, “Every New Yorker’s regular routine has been put on hold. His should be, too. Get to work. Set an example. This is embarrassing.”
A third ex-mayoral staffer added, “I’m offended … horrified.
“Didn’t the CDC recommend no gatherings of 50 people or more? … Will he be counting the amount of people there and leaving if it’s over 49?
“If we’re supposed to be social distancing, then what does that even mean if he gets to play by his own rules? Leaders are supposed to set by example. What kind of example does this set?” the former worker said.
“Also, why is he at the gym and not hunkered down 24/7 working on this? It’s a pandemic, and people are dying. Stunning.
“How many people have to die before he stops getting chauffeured to the gym is my question. What’s the appropriate number of deaths before he finds it uncouth,” the staffer continued.
Regular New Yorkers were appalled at the mayor’s gall.
“Resign @BilldeBlasio,” tweeted Andres Salomon, a safe streets advocate.
“I really, really cannot get over this,” wrote a user named Beth.
But today’s workout will be the last one — publicly, anyway — for the mayor as a higher authority has stepped in: Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo has ordered all fitness facilities in the state to close by 8 p.m. Monday.
Asked about the mayor’s morning ritual, which came hours after he shut the city’s schools and ordered all restaurants and bars could operate for takeout only, Cuomo said only: “He can be in the gym this morning, you can be in the gym this afternoon, you can be in the gym this evening you just can’t be in the gym after 8 o’clock.”
He refused to comment on whether the mayor should have been at the public gymm. But Cuomo also noted that while he works out regularly he doesn’t use a public facility.
“Are you asking me if I go to a public gym?” he responded to a Post reporter during an Albany press conference Monday.
“No, I have my own workout routine that I have developed over a number of years that I do alone, so I don’t do it in a gym,” the governor said.
Cuomo aides confirmed their boss has a gym at home in the Governor’s Mansion.
Five city residents have died from the virus, and at least 329 have tested positive for the disease.
While the mayor made bars and restaurants to takeout-only and closed large venues, schools and senior centers, he waited for the governor to take action on shutting gyms.
Freddi Goldstein, the mayor’s press secretary, said the mayor has a strong emotional connection to the Y, which is located a few blocks from the Park Slope home where he raised his two kids with his wife, Chirlane McCray.
“The YMCA has been a huge part of his and his family’s life, like it has been for a lot of New Yorkers. It’s clear that’s about to change and before that, the mayor wanted to visit a place that keeps him grounded one last time,” Goldstein said.
“That doesn’t change the fact that he is working around the clock to ensure the safety of New Yorkers. After today, gyms will close and he will no longer be visiting the YMCA for the foreseeable future.”
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