De Blasio Will Not Run For NY Governor

NEW YORK CITY — Former mayor Bill de Blasio won't attempt a run for New York's governor.

De Blasio announced his decision Tuesday in a Twitter video filmed on his block in Brooklyn.

"No, I am not going to be running for Governor of New York State, but I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fighting inequality in the state of New York," he said.

The decision ends months of de Blasio coyly hinting he'd take a stab at a gubernatorial run.

Not many New Yorkers seemed excited about the prospect — de Blasio left office as the state's most unpopular politician, even more so than former President Donald Trump and disgraced former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, according to one poll.

And, indeed, the immediate reaction on Twitter wasn't kind.

"I promise you no one is disappointed with your decision," one Twitter user posted.

De Blasio, in the video, acknowledged he made "mistakes" as mayor.

"I was not good with groundhogs at all," he said, alluding to when he dropped and killed Staten Island Chuck.

"Probably shouldn't have gone to the gym," he said, referring to his much-criticized daily drives to the Park Slope YMCA, which continued even as the coronavirus pandemic descended on the city.

But de Blasio said despite those mistakes he still helped bring about universal pre-K, hundreds of thousands of affordable apartments and major initiatives to combat climate change.

"Most importantly, we proved once and for all you can fight inequality," he said. "You can turn it around."

This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch