New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s wife has enraged a former Gracie Mansion chef by referring to him as a “servant” in a recent interview.
First lady Chirlane McCray, while talking to a reporter of her plans for the mansion’s attic, said, “I can convey to you, with confidence, there will not be a servant living there.”
Mitchel London, who was a cook for former Mayor Ed Koch during his term and has been the attic’s only resident, took offense to the characterization, calling it “ridiculous” and “harsh.”
“Maybe Ms. de Blasio is watching too much ’Downton Abbey,’” Mr. London told the New York Post. “It really is just a little ignorant in this day and age.”
The chef, who now works at New York’s Fairway Café, said that if he were to refer to an employee as a “servant” that he would be in the human resources office later that day.
“Nobody in this industry uses that word. If that’s the way [she thinks] — and clearly it is, because she came up with that word — let me say I’m just glad I’m not at Gracie now,” Mr. London said.
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• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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