It’s the curse of the Blas-bino.
With the Yankees being knocked out of the playoffs Tuesday by his beloved Boston Red Sox, Mayor de Blasio has clinched a dubious distinction: New York City’s first mayor in more than a century who won’t celebrate a single championship by any of Gotham’s major sports teams.
The Big Apple’s previous 14 mayors ꧙over the past 100 years saw at least one of the 49 NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL titles earned by city teams over that period.
An eight-year-long jinx started once the native New Englander arrived at City Hall in 2014 and openly began using his🤪 mayoral pulpit to gush about his unabashed love for the Red Sox and New England Patriots. The last NYC champs were the Giants, who won the Super Bowl in 2012.
While New York sports fans were shut out during his teဣnure, the mayor got to enjoy Tom Brady leading the Patriots to 🧸three more Super Bowls and the Red Sox winning another championship in 2018.
The good news: the bad mayoral mojo might end with de Blasio leaving🍸 o꧅ffice at the end of the year.
“There is no doubt about it,” fumed Curtis Sliwa, the Republican nominee in this year’s mayoral race. “New York needs to throw him back to Boston — the same way Yankee fans used to throw the ball back whenever [ex-Red Sox slugger] Manny Ramirez hit a home run into the left-field stands at Yankee Stad🌠ium.”
But t🃏hings could get worse. With de Blasio flirting with the idea of running for governor next year, New York teams in other parts of the state — the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders – could suffer under the Curse of the Blas-bino.
Out of the city’s mayors the past 100 years, Fiorello La Guardia saw the most championships with 9💞, Robert Wagner Jr. was second, with 7, and Yankees superfan Rudy Giulia🎀ni third, with 5. Even Joseph V. McKee, who only served as interim mayor a mere four months at the end of 1932, was in office long enough to celebrate a Yankees World Series title that season.
While de Blasio openly cheers on the Mets – despite the Amazin’s miraculous win over the Red Sox in the 1986 World Series – the notorious Yankees hater has refused to step foot in Yankees Stadium to watch tꦿhe Bronx Bombers play as mayor, only briefly setting aside his fandom in February to show up at an event there announcing the stadium being designated a COVID-19 mass vaccination site.
Yet he’s found plenty of time during his busy schedule as mayor to flyꦦ off and watch his Red Sox play — whether it was heading to Florida to check out spring training games or having taxpayers pick up th🔯e tab for his security detail to tag along with him when he watched the Sox play the Angels in 2019 while he was in Los Angeles amid his failed presidential bid.
Councilman Bob Holden (D-Queens) said the city’s poor record in pro spo𒈔rts is just another foul against “Air Ball de Blasio,” adding “thank 🧸goodness this is the last season” Big Apple teams will suffer.
“From public s𝄹afety to 🦂our economy, Bill de Blasio has consistently struck out,” he said. Everything fails around de Blasio, even our sports teams.”
De Blasio spokesman Mitch Schwartz said the City Hall is still keeping “the faith” that teams who begin their new seasons before the mayor leaves office, including the Knicks and Nets, will win it all — even though any championships and ticker-tape parades would be celebrat✤ed in 2022 under de Blasio’s successor.
“These teams will all have started their seasons in a city led by🦹 Mayor de Blasio – a mayor who, among other things, has given these teams a leg up by implementing nation-leading COVID-19 safety measures like the Key to NYC,” he said.
Mayor/Time in Office/Total Championships
Bill de Blasio/2014-2021/ 0
Michael Bloomberg/2002-2013/ 3 (2008, 2012 Giants; 2009 Yankees)
Rudy Giuliani/1994-2001/ 5 (1994 Rangers; 1996 & 1998-2000 Yankees)
David Dinkins/1990-1993/ 1 (1991 Giants)
Ed Koch/1978-1989/ 3 (1978 Yankees; 1986 Mets; 1987 Giants)
Abe Beame/1974-1977/ 1 (1977 Yankees)
John Lindsay/1966-1973/ 4 (1969 Jets; 1969 Mets; 1970 & 1973 Knicks)
Robert Wagner Jr./1954-1965/ 7 (1954 MLB Giants; 1955 Dodgers; 1956 NFL Giants; 1956, 1958 & 1961-1962 Yankees)
Vincent Imperllitteri/1950-1953/ 4 (1950-1953 Yankees)
William O’Dwyer/1946-1950/ 2 (1947 &1949 Yankees)
Fiorello La Guardia/1934-1945/ 9 (1934 & 1938 NFL Giants; 1936-1939, 1941 & 1943 Yankees; 1940 Rangers)
John P O’Brien/1933/ 2 (1933 MLB Giants, 1933 Rangers)
Joseph V. McKee/1932/ 1 (1932 Yankees)
Jimmy Walker 1926-1932) 4 (1927 NFL Giants, 1927-1928 Yankees, 1928 Rangers)
John Hylan (1918-1925) 3 (1921-1922 MLB Giants, 1923 Yankees)
