Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray announced they will separate in a New York Times feature published Wednesday.
The couple reached their height of New York political fame during de Blasio’s two mayoral terms from 2014-21, and during his ill-fated and brief 2020 presidential campaign. During his political career, de Blasio heavily featured his wife, who is Black, and their two children as examples of a socially progressive American future.
They aren’t getting a divorce, they said, but will start seeing other people.
De Blasio blamed the mayor’s office for the failures of his relationship, saying that the stresses of leading the country’s largest city took away time and attention he needed to pay to his wife.
“Everything was this overwhelming schedule, this sort of series of tasks,” de Blasio told The Times. “And that kind of took away a little bit of our soul.”
He also cited the COVID-19 pandemic for causing additional stress. Just before the pandemic, de Blasio had started seeing a therapist, whom he had little time for once New York City became the epicenter of early COVID cases.
McCray was also critical of de Blasio’s decision to run for president in 2020. She called it a “distraction,” and campaign polls showed him to be deeply unpopular in New York and around the country at the time.
The pair met while working in City Hall together under Mayor David Dinkins and married in 1994. McCray considered a political career of her own, weighing but deciding against a run for Brooklyn borough president in 2020.
While in the mayor’s office, McCray helped lead mental health policy for the city. She continues to work on mental health policy in New York.
Since leaving office, de Blasio has taken up teaching at New York University and doing paid speaking appearances.
The pair are upbeat, according to the Times, content in the current status of their relationship.
“One of the things we’re saying to the world is we don’t need to possess each other,” de Blasio said.