New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told a reporter he would not “dignify” a question about the growing number of calls for his resignation.
De Blasio was asked to respond to those calling for his resignation over what they see as a failure of leadership during the coronavirus pandemic and throughout the protests and riots that have taken place in the city in response to the death of George Floyd. The mayor said calls for his resignation were a distraction.
“That is the thing that people do who are not trying to deal with the fullness and the truth of the situation. I’m not going to dignify it,” the Democrat said during a press conference on Friday.
While some critics have called for de Blasio to resign, others have called on Gov. Andrew Cuomo to remove him from office. Cuomo acknowledged that he has the power to do so, but he said he has no plans to pull de Blasio, despite believing that he and the police department did “not do their job” during the recent riots.
The mayor noted that he won his first election with 73% of the vote and his most recent election with 67% of the vote. He said he plans to use his campaign platform to carry the city through the problems it is facing.
“Critics are going to be critics,” de Blasio said. “What’s clear here is that we’re dealing with an absolutely unprecedented crisis, literally more than this city has ever faced in its history, but we’re going to fight our way through it. We’re going to get New York City back on its feet. We’re going to keep people healthy. We’re going to address disparities and unfairness. We’re going to recover better than ever.”
“So, the folks who want to criticize, God bless them. They’re not actually doing the work. I am doing the work,” he added.
New York City was the hardest-hit area of the United States regarding the coronavirus pandemic. The city has also witnessed some of the largest protests following the death of Floyd, a black man arrested by a white Minneapolis police officer who knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Protesters have been calling for an end to racial injustice and police brutality, and some offshoots of the demonstrations have devolved into riots featuring looting, arson, and vandalism.
