Days before New York City ground to a halt from the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in an interview on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show” that New Yorkers could go about their lives, save for a few inconveniences to contain the spread.

During the March 11 episode, he quipped about elbow bumps and warned of the “cascading effect” of closing businesses and schools. “What I worry about is, they become no longer about health and facts, and they become sort of a rush to the exits,” he said.

A day later, the mayor held a press conference where he was no longer joking. The number of cases in the city had nearly doubled to 95 in 24 hours, he said.

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He and the governor had agreed to ban social gatherings of more than 500 people to stop the spread.

“It just seemed like the world turned upside down in the course of just a few hours,” Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, said.


The fast-moving virus caught many people off guard around the state and the country, and it has put the leadership of elected officials, such as Mr. de Blasio, to the test. While some have praised his efforts during an unprecedented time, his critics seized on the about-face as an example of him missing the mark during a critical juncture. His critics have accused him of playing down a looming pandemic and not taking definitive steps early on to stem the virus’s spread through strict social-distancing measures.

New York is gearing for the pandemic peak with unconventional hospital set ups, some delivery and grocery workers are walking out over hazard pay and better safety protection, and fresh economic data show China’s economy is slowly coming back to life. WSJ’s Shelby Holliday has the latest on the pandemic. Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images

“As the leader of the city, you have to give a strong, clear, decisive directive, and that didn’t happen,” Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a Democrat, said.

The city is now the epicenter of the outbreak in the country with 40,900 cases and 932 virus-related deaths as of Tuesday morning. The surge has overwhelmed hospitals and left health-care workers scrambling for medical supplies.

The mayor’s spokeswoman, Freddi Goldstein, said Mr. de Blasio has acted on the advice of public-health officials in making tough decisions, sharing their guidance on social distancing and other measures to slow the spread of the virus. He takes every possible outcome into consideration, realizing the impact they have, she said.


The mayor has been concerned about the virus coming to the city since December, and he held his first press conference about its possible arrival on Jan. 24, Ms. Goldstein said.

“He carries the responsibility and well-being of nearly nine million people, and that is not lost on him for a second,” she said.

Councilman Danny Dromm, a Democrat who represents parts of Queens that have been hit hard by the outbreak, said the mayor has done a good job and lauded him for repeatedly calling for federal assistance.

“He’s been on TV every single day laying out what needs to be done, but he’s limited somewhat in terms of what he can do,” Mr. Dromm said. “It goes right back to the feds. They need to take action.”


But critics say even after the March 12 press conference, Mr. de Blasio didn’t fully appreciate the magnitude of the virus. He remained reluctant to close the city’s public-school system for three more days, worrying that students might not return to classrooms until the next school year, how to distribute meals to families and how to cover child-care for parents who had to work. He announced the decision to close the system after Gov. Andrew Cuomo shut down all downstate schools.

On March 16, as city health officials prepared to close gyms and theaters and ban dining in restaurants, Mr. de Blasio went for a workout at his gym in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. The mayor has been frequently roasted for his daily routine of traveling from his Manhattan home to the YMCA in Brooklyn, but sticking with it during a global pandemic was seen by some as irresponsible.

One former City Hall staffer, Rebecca Katz, tweeted that it was “inexcusable and reckless.”

“I got no exercise whatsoever over the weekend,” he said in response to the criticism. “I need exercise to be able to stay healthy and make decisions.”


Mr. de Blasio warned on March 17 that the city could quarantine residents, although Mr. Cuomo said that he wouldn’t let that happen. Ultimately, the governor ordered the closure of all nonessential businesses and banned social gatherings of any size.

Since taking office in 2014, Mr. de Blasio has gained a reputation as a progressive who aspires to a national spotlight. He ran a short-lived presidential campaign last summer, but was criticized for barnstorming the country instead of staying in the city.

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Councilman Donovan Richards, a longtime ally of the mayor who represents neighborhoods in southeastern Queens, said he appreciates Mr. de Blasio’s urgency in asking for supplies like ventilators from the federal government. But he said the city hasn’t been transparent enough about the virus’s spread.

Each day, the city’s health department has been releasing the number of positive cases and deaths by borough, but officials have refused to provide a breakdown by neighborhood, despite repeated requests from the media and local lawmakers. Ms. Goldstein said the city plans to release the information this week.

“If we don’t have that information it’s hard to get across to the public how serious this thing is,” Mr. Richards, a Democrat, said.

Some of Mr. de Blasio’s allies have said the outbreak is a missed opportunity to show his chops as a leader. By contrast, during the crisis, Mr. Cuomo has drawn praise for his decisiveness and for explaining the state’s needs and limitations during daily briefings.

A Siena College poll released Monday showed 61% of New York City voters who were surveyed approved of Mr. de Blasio’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Mr. Cuomo had an 87% approval rating among statewide registered voters, according to the poll.

Write to Katie Honan at Katie.Honan@wsj.com