By: Ilana Siyance
A friend and “ideological soulmate” of Bill de Blasio will try to succeed him as the mayor of New York City.
Last week, Maya Wiley, the civil rights attorney and New School professor, who once served as Mayor de Blasio’s chief legal counsel, registered to run for mayor in 2021. The 56-year-old Brooklyn resident currently serves as senior vice president for social justice and professor of urban policy at the New School. She has also worked for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the American Civil Liberties Union. Her father, civil rights icon George Wiley, held leadership roles with the NAACP and George Soros’ Open Society Institute. She also founded the Center for Social Inclusion.
As reported by the NY Post, Wiley is expected to officially announce her candidacy for mayor later this week, after having tested the water for supporters. “We must bring people together from every community and corner of our city to craft a bold new vision for New York City centered in partnership, effectiveness, and accountability,” Wiley said. “The movement we are building is one for all of us, and I want to make sure you’re a part of it. I’ll have more to say later next week, but I hope you’ll join the movement for a brighter New York City now!”
Her close relations to Mayor de Blasio and unrestrained comments of support for the mayor will be questioned as the race gains traction. After stepping down as de Blasio’s top lawyer in 2016, Wiley showed she was honored to be called “one of the mayor’s ideological soulmates” in a City Limits article. “Yes. ‘An ideological soulmate’ …..and a friend!,” Wiley had tweeted agreeing with article.
In her impending race for mayor, Wiley will need to defend herself in the already-crowded Democratic primary, facing off against city Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former US Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan, Citigroup executive Ray McGuire, former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and former city Veterans Affairs Commissioner Loree Sutton.
Bertha Lewis, a de Blasio supporter-turned-critic, said Wiley’s time aiding the mayor will “be an albatross around her neck.” She especially noted how Wiley represented him and crafted the criticized policy which exempted the mayor’s communications from being made public during a fundraising scandal.
Wiley’s spokesman Jon Paul Lupo commented to say, “Maya Wiley has a 30-year record of success fighting for justice and equality and if she runs for mayor she would not look, think or govern like anyone who’s held the office before.” “That’s why her campaign wouldn’t rely on the praise of others or worry about comparisons to the past.”
