Mayor Bill de Blasio admits there was a “miscommunication” over the firing of Office of Emergency Management Commissioner Joe Esposito.
Esposito was fired by Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin on Friday. However, the mayor realized earlier this week that the message wasn’t properly relayed.
“That conversation obviously now we understand involved a certain amount of miscommunication and misunderstanding. It was an understanding that did not go the way it was planned,” de Blasio said.
That forced the mayor to hold two separate meetings with Esposito at Gracie Mansion on Monday.
“Everyone had a chance to think about it, talk about it more. I had a second meeting with Commissioner Esposito and we were able to come to a much greater understanding of how to proceed. There will be a leadership change at OEM,” de Blasio said.
It was initially reported that Esposito was being fired because of the fallout from the botched city response to last month’s snow storm. But de Blasio said the decision was made weeks ago, before the snow hit New York City.
“I felt and others in the leadership of the administration felt for some time that we needed to make some changes at that agency and we needed to get more out of that agency,” de Blasio said.
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