Senator Avella Criticizes Mayor de Blasio For Playing Political Games With Bayside Town Hall Event

(New York, NY) Today, State Senator Tony Avella addressed a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio criticizing him for stooping to political games for tonight’s Bayside Town Hall and degrading the office of the Mayor. As per protocol, elected officials representing the district were given due notice, with the glaring exception of Senator Avella, who only received an invitation late Sunday in an e-mail sent to an old campaign account and his Chief of Staff.

Avella argued that this was clearly no mistake, but rather a deliberate attempt to exclude him from the Town Hall. With the Senate in session this week, the last minute invitation guaranteed that the Senator would be unable to rearrange his schedule to return back for the Town Hall. In addition, sending the invitation to an unused campaign e-mail minimized the likelihood of Senator Avella seeing the invitation. Avella inferred that this was de Blasio’s way of not inviting him while still being able to say he technically did. 

“I have been one of the most vocal critics of Mayor de Blasio’s administration and so I’m not expecting to curry a lot of favor with his office, but there is a line you cannot cross when exacting political retribution; a certain line where politicking turns autocratic. The Mayor understood, to a degree, that it is beneath the office of the Mayor not to invite an elected official to a Town Hall in their district. Which is why he tried to have his cake and eat it too by sabotaging my invitation, hoping to argue on a fairly weak technicality that it was nevertheless sent,” argued State Senator Tony Avella.