Bill de Blasio got lucky last week. Rachel Noerdlinger quit.
Noerdlinger, chief of staff to deBlasio's wife, Chirlane, is a former chief aide to the ubiquitous Rev. Al Sharpton, whom the New York Times exposed as a chronic tax cheat in a lengthy front-page expose. (Rev. Al, of course, denied the scurrilous charges and also denied – though nobody asked -- that he is the baby daddy of Noerdlinger's troubled son.)
For the past several months, Mayor de Blasio has steadfastly defended Noerdlinger, after it was revealed her live-in boyfriend had been arrested at least five times for charges ranging from drug trafficking to manslaughter and had called the NYPD "pigs" on his Facebook page.
Further, Noerdlinger failed to disclose her boyfriend's criminal record on a City Hall background check form. But despite the critical barrage from the city's media, her friend, the mayor, said "mistakes happen" and refused to consider firing her.
Even last week, when Noerdlinger stepped down after her son was arrested at a notorious drug spot, the mayor lashed out at the rabid press for driving out his trusted advisor.
The Noerdlinger saga reveals a de Blasio blind spot that threatens to plague his mayoralty; namely, his lack of understanding or respect for the value of PR.
In this case, by placing personal loyalty over public responsibility and disregarding the public relations obligations of his office, the mayor invites steadily-escalating tensions with the media and a steadily-deteriorating reputation.
DeBlasio's tone deaf position on the Noerdlinger issue wasn't his worst PR disaster of a bad month.
That distinction was reserved for his inexcusable tardiness on November 12 at a Rockaway Park, Queens memorial ceremony for the families of 265 victims, many of them Dominicans, who died in a 2001 crash of a plane bound for the Dominican Republic.
As the Times put it in recounting de Blasio's failure to arrive on time for the memorial, "Since taking office, Mayor Bill de Blasio has made a habit of keeping people waiting. Business leaders have languished in meeting rooms. Reporters have assembled before empty lecterns."
Keeping people habitually waiting, as Bill Clinton also did, is, in itself, an indication of an arrogance that courts disaster. And that's precisely what befell the public relations-challenged mayor when he missed the solemn memorial – an event at which his predecessor always arrived early.
And why was Mayor de Blasio late?
"I was not feeling well this morning; I had a very rough night, I woke up sluggish, and I should have gotten myself moving quicker," the mayor explained at a press conference. Hizzoner's feeble excuse only made things worse. One woman, whose brother was killed in the crash, called the mayor's tardiness an act of "disrespect." She said, "He showed up late — he didn't even say, ‘I'm sorry,' "
Missing a sacred ceremony for the dead because you overslept reveals a level of chutzpah that not even Mike Bloomberg could duplicate in his most brazen moments.
Indeed, deBlasio's obvious disdain for all things "PR" doesn't augur well for his remaining years in the media fish bowl that is New York City. He has ample time to recalibrate his approach to PR, and if he's smart, he will do so immediately.
The most recent polls indicate that while deBlasio remains unpopular among white voters, he continues to enjoy popular support among black and Hispanics -- just like the ones waiting for him that cold morning in Queens.
Fraser P. Seitel has been a communications consultant, author and teacher for 40 years. He may be reached directly at [email protected].
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