The habitually late, Socialist Democrat mayor of New York City, who’s about to announce his bid to run for president in 2020, was on his way to an event in Harlem when his SUV was traveling the wrong way down a one-way street and collided with a truck. You may be wondering why this is the first time anyone’s heard about the accident, and you wouldn’t be alone.
Two months ago, the New York Post exposed the “chronically tardy” Mayor Bill de Blasio, who showed up 20 minutes late for a subway ride Thursday — then complained about how the trains delay people.
“The subways aren’t working enough. They are constantly making them late,” he said as he stumped for Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s congestion pricing plan to fund subway repairs.
De Blasio was scheduled to ride the rails from City Hall to a press conference in East Harlem at 11:45 a.m., but the chronically tardy mayor didn’t make it to the platform until 12:05 p.m.
At first, Hizzoner’s reps said they didn’t know where he was, but he later claimed he chose to show up late because 4 and 5 trains were delayed.
“You are all obsessed, my friend,” he said when asked why he was so late.
Now, questions are surrounding the cover-up of an accident involving the New York City mayor’s SUV and a boiler truck in Harlem. Was the mayor late for an event? Was the “habitually tardy” mayor responsible for the wrong way accident? Was his driver taking a shortcut by driving the wrong way down a one-way street to get the mayor to his destination on time?
Last month, the New York Daily reported about a Saturday morning accident in August 2015, involving Mayor de Blasio, who was in the back seat of a black NYPD Chevy Tahoe bound for an event in Harlem when a driver changing lanes slammed into his ride.
Today, the New York Daily is reporting about a cover up involving the accident- Mayor de Blasio’s NYPD SUV was cruising the wrong way with lights and sirens blaring when it got into a car crash, sparking a frantic cover-up by his security detail, a new accident report obtained by the Daily News shows.
NYPD Det. Edgar Robles was driving west against traffic on E. 135th St. in the unmarked black Chevy Tahoe when he collided with a boiler truck at Fifth Ave. at 8:15 a.m. on a Saturday in August 2015, according to the report provided by the department. The mayor and two other detectives were in the vehicle at the time.
Both City Hall and the NYPD declined to say whether the mayor was running late. But in an appearance Friday on WNYC’s “The Brian Lehrer Show,” de Blasio expressed his displeasure with reckless drivers — on e-bikes — cruising on the wrong side of the street.
“We’ve seen them going the wrong way, weaving through traffic, going up on the sidewalks, all the things that many, many New Yorkers find dangerous and unsettling, and they can reach very high speeds,” de Blasio said.
No one was hurt, but the commanding officer of the mayor’s executive protection unit, Howard Redmond, was furious. Text messages obtained by the Daily News show he immediately ordered the incident be covered up to protect de Blasio’s image.
“As per CO [the commanding officer], no one is to know about this,” Sgt. Jerry Ioveno texted members of the unit, referring to Redmond. “Not even the other teams.”
“No one is to know,” he repeated.
This isn’t the first time DeBlasio’s driver’s disregard for the rules other people must follow, has been called into question. In 2014, the New York Post reported about the NYC Mayor who loves to preach to his constituents about following the law, while totally disregarding the law himself. DeBlasio
Mayor de Blasio, who has been lecturing about pedestrian safety since he stepped foot in City Hall, strolled across a Brooklyn street against the light Friday in a blatant jaywalking violation.
Hizzoner was gabbing on his old-school flip-phone as he slowly made his way across 11th Street on Sixth Avenue in Park Slope — and his NYPD detail faithfully jaywalked with him.
A Post reporter caught the foot faux pas on video a day after de Blasio’s SUV was filmed blowing through two stop signs in Queens and twice going 15 mph over the speed limit.
A prickly de Blasio went for the walk after punting questions about his lead-footed detail to the NYPD, saying the maneuvers were a matter of police “security protocols.”
“Guys, listen, you need to talk to the NYPD. They can tell you about the security protocols that the drivers observe,” he said just before setting out on his morning walk to the gym.
At an afternoon press conference, de Blasio refused to take questions about the jaywalking or his laundry list of moving violations in Queens.
Police Commissioner Bill Bratton wasn’t bothered by the mayor’s speeding, stop-sign blowing convoy.
“The video did not raise significant concerns,” he said Friday, adding that de Blasio doesn’t really have a say in how his detail gets him from place to place.
“Security is the responsibility of the New York City Police Department. It’s not the responsibility of the mayor,” he said.
As for the stop signs, which both cars rolled through without braking, Bratton said, “When you’re traveling in a convoy, the second vehicle’s principal function is to stay with the first vehicle. ”
Even if the mayor saw something he was concerned about, or of possible danger to pedestrians, Bratton said, “He could raise [the concern], but quite frankly the security concerns would override any of his concerns.”
The top cop said he hasn’t talked to de Blasio’s chauffeurs about their driving. “I’m not going to ask them. There will be no follow up with what occurred yesterday,” he said.
De Blasio’s predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, reminded his drivers to follow the rules of the road and made a vow not to speed through the streets with lights and sirens unless he was rushing to an “enormous emergency.”
