The family of former Rep. Herman Badillo, who died Wednesday of congestive heart failure, is outraged that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was photographed sweating it out at the gym while other political leaders attended the late politician’s funeral.
Mr. De Blasio enjoyed a workout Sunday at the Park Slope YMCA in Brooklyn while others mourned Badillo at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan, the New York Daily News reported. He was first photographed by The Village Voice.
Former Mayors Rudy Giuliani and David Dinkins, Rep. Charles Rangel and Police Commissioner William Bratton were in attendance, the Daily News reported.
Badillo’s widow, Gail, said the mayor never called to offer the family condolences.
“What a terrible insult,” she said on Geraldo Rivera’s radio show. “Not even a phone call. Hillary Clinton called.”
The Daily News confirmed that the mayor and his wife, Chirlane McCray, were at the gym at the time of the funeral.
“I see where his priorities lie,” Mrs. Badillo told the paper. “Everybody else cleared their schedules. The mayor should have been there.”
Mr. De Blasio’s office said the mayor issued a statement praising Badillo, the first Puerto Rican-born U.S. Congressman, and ordered that city flags be flown at half-staff in his honor.
“The mayor regrets he was unable to attend the funeral services yesterday, and he will be contacting Mrs. Badillo to express the condolences of a New York City grateful for Herman Badillo’s extraordinary leadership and service,” spokesman Phil Walzak told the paper.
Mr. De Blasio’s absence was not Mrs. Badillo’s only issue with the mayor.
“We’ve never been invited to anything at Gracie Mansion, not even during Hispanic Heritage Month,” she told the Daily News. “To the person who has opened doors for every Hispanic in the city? That’s a snub.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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