De Blasio Under Fire For Anti-Environmental Gym Habits

De Blasio Under Fire For Anti-Environmental Gym Habits

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is no stranger to wasting resources and inconveniencing New Yorkers in the service of his personal whims. Last year it was helicopter flights, this year de Blasio is under fire for the hypocrisy of his gym routine. Until recently, de Blasio’s habit of using two SUVs to go […]

June 9, 2017

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is no stranger to wasting resources and inconveniencing New Yorkers in the service of his personal whims. Last year it was helicopter flights, this year de Blasio is under fire for the hypocrisy of his gym routine.

Until recently, de Blasio’s habit of using two SUVs to go 11 miles to Brooklyn to visit his gym was viewed as just “an indulgent peculiarity, from a politician who manages to embody all of the arrogance of a corporate chief executive with little of the efficiency.” Now though it’s drawing charges of hypocrisy:

“Mayor Bill de Blasio has a message for New Yorkers looking for a productive way to respond to President Trump’s decision to remove the United States from the Paris accord on climate change: Do your part, and stop using plastic grocery bags. But when it comes to his roughly 11-mile trips in a police caravan from Gracie Mansion to a favored gym in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the mayor — after one such trip on Friday — appeared to break with that philosophy during his weekly radio appearance, essentially telling listeners, do as I say, not as I do.”

The controversy over de Blasio’s gym habits might seem trivial, but as the New York Times’ Gina Bellafante writes, de Blasio’s “self-contradictions and sanctimony erode his authority.” Mayor de Blasio has dreams of a national profile, but if he keeps committing unforced errors like this, he’ll be lucky to keep his local political profile.