Don Peebles was already giving “strong consideration” to challenging Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017. Now he’s throwing gasoline on that fire. Peebles, a major developer in New York and Miami and one of the nation’s most successful black businessmen, has issued a blistering rebuke to the mayor he once publicly backed.
Peebles, who first told The Real Deal back in January that he was open to a mayoral run, called the mayor “anti-business,” “anti-wealth,” “anti-accomplishment,” and “mayor of the Socialist Party,” the New York Post reported.
Don and Katrina Peebles contributed $9,657 to de Blasio campaign and inaugural committees, according to public records. Peebles also backed the mayor publicly, making multiple campaign appearances with him.
In the Post interview, Peebles criticized various aspects of de Blasio’s tenure to date, citing the mayor’s stances on taxes, charter schools, the NYPD and his troubled relations with Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The interview is the latest in a series of broadsides against the Mayor. Peebles criticized de Blasio’s record on Fox News earlier this month, and said he was giving “strong consideration” to a campaign to challenge him. [NYP] – Ariel Stulberg