De Blasio Comes To The Defense Of Wife's Troubled Chief Of Staff
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio defended his wife's chief of staff Wednesday, following more revelations she made some questionable decisions.
The mayor and wife Chirlane McCray threw the switch to illuminate the Empire State Building for "Go Purple" day in honor of National Domestic Violence Awareness Month on Wednesday, but one thing he won't switch is his allegiance to his wife's chief of staff, Rachel Noerdlinger, who has been in the news for a series of missteps, CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported.
The latest featured her reported failure to pay an E-ZPass bill of more than $7,000 and nine parking tickets totaling nearly $900.
Asked about the parking tickets the mayor said, "I think it's very clear in everything I've said that I have faith in her work as a public servant. I think she is doing very good work for this city. And I know a lot of people who have a lot of parking tickets. Everyone should pay their parking tickets."
The parking tickets was just the latest surprising information about Noerdlinger, who worked for the Rev. Al Sharpton before taking her $170,000-a-year-job with McCray.
Another bit of information is that she lives with Hassaun McFarlan, a.k.a Hassaun Ackles, who served time for manslaughter and drugs, but never disclosed it before she took the job.
Other missteps include McFarlan calling police officers "pigs" on social media and Noerdlinger not reporting more than $28,000 in unpaid federal taxes, Kramer reported.
Noerdlinger was also reportedly a passenger when McFarlan drove her Mercedes on the wrong side of the street in 2011. Sources said cops smelled marijuana when they stopped the car and that there was an underage minor in the back seat.
Kramer then asked the mayor if any of the stories about Noerdlinger raised any questions in his mind about her judgment, to which de Blasio said, "Nope, not at all. Look, we've had a very thorough process for looking at everyone that we sought to hire. We turned down plenty of people. This is someone who I think is doing very good and important work for this administration."
The mayor's continued defense of Noerdlinger has caused a rift with police, with some union heads asking for her head, Kramer reported.
The mayor feels that it's not fair to judge someone based on who they live with, Kramer reported.
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