In an interview with The New York Times, former New York City mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife Chirlane McCray announced their plans to separate.
The couple is undergoing a trial separation but plans to continue sharing their townhouse in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In fact, they will date other people while sharing the house, where they raised their two children together. In the interview, the 62-year-old de Blasio and 68-year-old McCray spoke openly about their relationship over the years. They revealed that one of the core aspects that played a role in the deterioration of their marriage was de Blasio's time as mayor, a title he held from 2014 to 2021.
"Everything was this overwhelming schedule, this sort of series of tasks,” de Blasio said. “And that kind of took away a little bit of our soul.” Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit NYC, he saw a therapist because he was starting to feel "not as connected" with his wife anymore, whom he married in 1994. “There’s a certain weight,” said McCray, “that goes with being with Mr. Mayor.”
The couple shares two children, 28-year-old daughter Chiara and 25-year-old Dante. “I can look back now and say, ‘Here were these inflection points where we should have been saying something to each other,’” de Blasio said in the interview. “And I think one of the things I should have said more is: ‘Are you happy? What will make you happy? What’s missing in your life?’"
At the start of 2021, de Blasio left office. He was replaced by Mayor Eric Adams. Last year, he announced plans to run for governor of New York, but later backed out of these plans not long after. "I am not going to be running for governor in New York state," he said in a January 2022 statement. "But I am going to devote every fiber of my being to fight inequality in the state of New York. We got a lot to do. Together."
