De Blasio Won't Head Back To Park Slope YMCA While Mayor, He Says

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Signs of New York City's return to post-pandemic normal won't include the once-familiar sight of an official mayoral motorcade outside the Park Slope YMCA, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

The mayor said this week that he doesn't plan on returning to his regular workouts at the Prospect Park YMCA until his tenure in City Hall wraps up at the end of the year, making the notorious 12-mile trips from Gracie Mansion to the 9th Street Y a thing of pre-pandemic past.

"I think at the rate I’m going it will probably be next year when I’m done with this job," de Blasio said during a press conference Monday. "But, I am definitely looking forward to going back at some point."

De Blasio's statement — in response to a question from Daily News reporter Shant Shahrigian — comes as gyms and other businesses return to 100-percent capacity as New York reopens from the coronavirus crisis.

The mayor previously said in September, as the YMCA prepared for a limited-capacity reopening, that he would hold off on returning to the gym.

His near-daily trips to the YMCA have been a source of constant criticism during his years in office.

The workout trips last made headlines when he stopped by the Park Slope gym last spring, just hours before Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced gyms would be shut down to stop the virus' spread.

Later, amid the height of the pandemic, he took to driving from Gracie Mansion all the way to Prospect Park for walks with his wife. The move drew pandemic-level criticism about his devotion to driving all the way to his native Brooklyn for casual workouts.

Current mayoral candidates in the running to replace de Blasio have even made a point of saying they'd end the cross-borough workout routine, according to the New York Post.