After largely sitting on the sidelines in the run-up to last week’s primaries, Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday was a no-show for an annual Democratic unity breakfast in Brooklyn — just after Gov. Andrew Cuomo made a surprise appearance there.
De Blasio was scheduled to speak around 9:45 a.m., according to a public schedule his office released late Sunday, and a City Hall photographer was spotted outside the restaurant at that time.
But around 10 a.m., the photographer left, and mayoral aides confirmed that de Blasio wasn’t going to come because his morning calls and briefings took longer than planned.
“Schedule was too tight and he couldn’t make it,” said City Hall spokesman Eric Phillips. “It was always going to be a game-time decision.”
Brooklyn Democratic Party chair Frank Seddio, who attended the annual event, said the mayor called to say he was delayed in traffic.
“He was in upper Manhattan and the traffic was horrendous and he couldn’t get down in time,” Seddio told The Post. “He comes every year so he’s certainly well excused.”
Cuomo joined Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul at Junior’s at roughly 8:45 a.m., according to Cuomo’s re-election campaign, and stayed for close to an hour.
The appearance had not been on Cuomo’s public schedule.
The governor spoke about what he’d been able to accomplish in his first two terms, and what he hopes to accomplish in his third term should the Democrats take control of the state Senate in November.
Phillips said Cuomo’s surprise appearance played “no role” in the mayor’s schedule change.
De Blasio did not make his customary trip to the Park Slope YMCA on Monday morning, he said.