De Blasio, liberal allies clash over budget

[hrmjustin]

(AP) -- Mayor Bill de Blasio's executive budget proposal has led to a rare showdown with his powerful liberal allies in New York City's government.
The mayor, the first Democrat to lead the nation's largest city in a generation, has often boasted about the lockstep vision he shares with Public
Advocate Letitia James, the city's official watchdog, and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, a longtime de Blasio ally whom the mayor helped elevate into her position.

But some strain has emerged after Mr. de Blasio rejected a pair of council budget ideas that Ms. James also endorsed. He declined to hire 1,000 more police officers and decided against offering all public school students free lunches.

"It's really disappointing that the mayor of the city of New York did not recognize that there is really a concern with the understaffing of the NYPD," Ms. James told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday.

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140514/POLITICS/140519791/de-blasio-liberal-allies-clash-over-budget

[hrmjustin]

1. Melissa Mark-Viverito: I'll fight Mayor de Blasio for more cops, free lunches

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/dailypolitics/melissa-mark-viverito-fight-mayor-de-blasio-cops-free-lunches-blog-entry-1.1792351