NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Monday, April 7, 2014, 9:28 PM
Former City Councilmember Charles Barron isn’t shy.
He proved it by crashing a news conference Mayor de Blasio convened Monday to talk up an affordable housing project in Brooklyn — and bad-mouthing the mayor afterward.
De Blasio arrived to break ground on Livonia Commons, a 278-unit project in Brownsville whose developer, Dunn Development Corp., was selected in 2012 by the Bloomberg administration.
As de Blasio took his place behind the podium — flanked by Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Alicia Glen — Barron pushed Glen out of the way so that he and his wife, Councilmember Inez Barron, could stand front and center with the mayor.
Barron was term-limited out of office last year and his wife was elected to his former seat. Now he’s running for the State Assembly seat she vacated.
When de Blasio invited Inez Barron to speak, she asked her husband to share the mic with her.
“I just wanted to come and let you know some of the other players that might have been left out of this, and that this process was long on the way, and we approved it in the last Council administration,” Barron said.
De Blasio tried to defuse the situation, joking that “Charles is helping me with my assertiveness training.”
Alex Rud Livonia Commons is a 278-unit housing development in Brownsville, Brooklyn. The Bloomberg administration selected the contractor in 2012.
Alex Rud Mayor de Blasio (c.) and city officials, project organizers and community leaders break ground on the Livonia Commons, which will bring an affordable housing project to Brownsville.
Todd Maisel, New York Daily News/New York Daily News Inez Barron is filling a seat on the City Council that once belonged to her husband, Charles Baron, who left office last year when he reached the limit for terms.
Todd Maisel, New York Daily News/New York Daily News City Councilmember Inez Barron asked her husband, Charles Barron, to join her at the podium during Monday’s news conference on the construction of the Livonia Commons. Charles Barron, not one to be shy, then bad-mouthed the mayor for taking credit for the project.
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But his conciliatory tone did little to placate the fiery ex-councilmember.
“He ain’t coming in here on no white horse taking credit for this,” Barron told reporters later. “You didn’t do nothing for this project.”
Livonia Commons is the first phase of a three-part project that will create 800 affordable housing units.
De Blasio and Glen announced Monday that the city is seeking bidders to develop the second phase, which will include more family-sized units, as well as amenities such as grocery stores and day care centers.
The mayor said his administration was taking credit because it has taken over the project. “The things we put our hands on and help to achieve, we are counting,” he said.
De Blasio’s aides said they invited Inez Barron to the event as the district’s representative.
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