They are some of the mayor’s sharpest criticisms of Cuomo since 2015 when, after city priorities languished in the state legislative session, de Blasio accused Cuomo of governing by “vendetta.” | AP Photo/Julie Jacobson De Blasio unloads on Cuomo's state Senate deal, accuses him of presidential ambition

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he is skeptical of the “charade” Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s team has floated to reunify Democrats in the state Senate, noting a previous commitment was “broken” in 2014.

“It’s very convenient for him now, as he apparently is running for president, to be in good graces with the Democratic party so now he’s going to move heaven and earth to have a Democratic State Senate and he wants to elect Democratic Congress members in the swing districts and not see them redistricted against the interest of Democratic candidates,” de Blasio, a Democrat, said of the governor. “Well he’s been in office since 2011 he could have done that from the very beginning, so I’ll believe it when I see it.”


They are some of the mayor’s sharpest criticisms of Cuomo since 2015 when, after city priorities languished in the state legislative session, de Blasio accused Cuomo of governing by “vendetta.” That episode touched off a hot-and-cold feud between the men that seems to be escalating ahead of the coming Albany session in January.

The governor’s allies at the Democratic State Committee this week floated a plan to ally the state Senate's 23 mainstream Democrats with the eight-member Independent Democratic Conference sometime next year. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Yonkers) and Jeff Klein (IDC-Bronx) would serve as co-leaders, according to Cuomo’s team, after the budget is adopted and special elections can be held.

It is an evolution for Cuomo, who is positioning himself for a 2020 run. He blessed the creation of the IDC in 2011 and has in the past said he’s fine with Klein’s current alliance with Republicans. Cuomo often notes he has worked across the aisle to enact progressive legislation, even as more left-leaning groups and officials call him out for empowering Republicans to further his more centrist politics.

Cuomo, who recently traveled to California to host two fundraisers, says he is running for reelection next year.

De Blasio was reelected this month and also began to move outside the city, offering an endorsement in the Atlanta mayor’s race and creating a federal PAC. He’s heading for Des Moines, Iowa, next month; a 2015 attempt to hold a candidates forum in Iowa fizzled spectacularly.

The mayor has a reason to feel personally burned on the topic of the state Senate — which he believes would be far more receptive to his agenda in Democratic hands. In 2014, de Blasio helped Cuomo convince leaders of the Working Families Party to back the governor for reelection instead of Zephyr Teachout — in exchange for a pledge to push for a Democratic Senate. A peace deal was struck in June of that year, but didn’t hold.

Cuomo missed key chances to help and Republicans gained seats — with de Blasio serving as a boogeyman in the suburbs. The State Board of Elections accused de Blasio’s team of skirting campaign finance laws during the effort, and an ensuing probe by District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. dogged the mayor in the run-up to his reelection. Nobody was ever criminally charged.

Dani Lever, a spokeswoman for the governor, noted this in responding to the mayor.

“The only commitment in the 2014 election cycle that we did not fulfill was breaking campaign finance laws and the mayor is right, we didn't participate with him in that,” Lever stated. “It’s funny that the mayor would say the governor is running for president when the governor is in New York doing his job and the mayor is walking around Iowa.”

Eric Phillips, the mayor's spokesman, returned fire.

"The mayor didn’t create the Republican state Senate and the mayor has never had aides charged with corruption," he said. "Whether the governor is in New York or on the presidential campaign trail, Andrew Cuomo can’t say the same thing."

Progressive groups are opposing the deal, which has the support of a key labor leader, SEIU 32BJ president Héctor Figueroa, and Rep. Joe Crowley, chairman of the Queens Democratic Party.

De Blasio is clearly siding with the activists, and on Wednesday, City Hall aide Jessica Ramos acknowledged she is leaving her position to run in a primary against state Sen. Jose Peralta (IDC-Queens).

“There will be challenges to IDC members, that’s a given everyone knows that, they should come home immediately that’s my simple message,” de Blasio said Thursday. “This should have never been allowed, the full power of the party and the governor should have been used to stop the IDC from leaving to begin with.”