NYC Mayor de Blasio erects 'privacy fence' around Gracie Mansion

Gracie Mansion, where New York Mayor Bill de Blasio resides, is dubbed the "People's House" in an online visitors guide. But The New York Post reports that "the people" might not feel so welcome now that the mayor has encircled the house with a new "privacy fence," just inside the pre-existing brick wall and wrought-iron fence that already enclose the property. The Post says the fence was built to keep passersby from "peeping" in.

"So much for being mayor of the people. That brick fence was good enough for Rudy Giuliani and his family, and for Ed Koch and all the mayors before him," an anonymous law enforcement source told The Post.

A spokesman for the Parks Department, which maintains the mansion and added the new fence, said the fence was added "due to security concerns." Before de Blasio, the last mayor to live there was Giuliani, who moved out in 2001.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up