Former Mayor Bill de Blasio will pay a $330,000 settlement for violating city rules by using his NYPD detail during his long-shot 2020 presidential bid — the largest settlement in the history of New York’s Conflict of Interests Board.
The settlement, the first time the board has brought an enforcement action against a mayor, marks an end to the three-year legal saga centering on de Blasio’s move to have his NYPD detail accompany him on 31 out-of-state trips during his failed 2020 presidential campaign.
In Wednesday’s agreement, the mayor admitted to taking the security detail along with him despite prior warning from the board.
“In contradiction of the written guidance I received from the Board, I did not reimburse the City for these expenses,” de Blasio wrote in the agreement.
De Blasio has already payed $100,000 of the settlement, and has agreed to pay off the rest in quarterly payments over the next four years, according to the settlement agreement. If he defaults a payment, he must fork up a whooping $475,000.
“Today I settled an outstanding case with the NYC COIB,” de Blasio said in a social media post. “I acknowledge that I made a mistake, and I deeply regret it. Now it’s time to move forward.”
Reached over the phone, de Blasio declined to elaborate: “That’s all I have to say.”
The historic settlement comes even though de Blasio for years maintained he had done nothing wrong. The ex-mayor also sued the board in 2023, seeking to overturn the the city ethics watchdog’s order. That lawsuit was unsuccessful, with a Manhattan Supreme Court judge rejecting it earlier this year and ruling de Blasio was on the hook to repay the full amount.
De Blasio and his attorney, Andrew Celli, argued after the fine was first imposed in 2023 that the board’s decision was “perilous” and set a standard under which the security of sitting mayors could be at risk.
“Every mayor faces threats, and all mayors are entitled to protection,” Celli said at the time.
Queens Councilman Bob Holden, a centrist Democrat and frequent de Blasio critic, lauded the settlement announcement.
“While the city hasn’t yet been made whole, this settlement ends years of litigation and requires de Blasio to begin paying back nearly $330,000 in taxpayer funds,” Holden said. “His arrogance and misuse of public resources caused lasting damage to this city—but at long last, justice is catching up.”
