BRIC-TV

Public Advocate Letitia James is calling for a pilot program to provide child-care to city workers.

In 2003, Letitia James won a special election for the City Council on the Working Families Party line, upsetting the Democratic candidate, who was the brother of the councilmember whose assassination had left the seat vacant.

But that doesn’t mean James plans to endorse Cynthia Nixon, who is now running on the WFP line against Gov. Cuomo. On Tuesday on the BRIC-TV program 112BK, the public advocate was effusive in her praise for the governor but had little to say about Nixon.

“I have not made my decision but I can tell you thus far that I applaud the work of Gov. Cuomo,” James told me.

She discussed her new support for the legalization of marijuana, a child-care pilot she wants to start for the kids of city workers and her standing recently with Cuomo to announce an emergency declaration for NYCHA that neither James nor the other officials there had by that point had a chance to read.

In late March, reporters and donors around the city received a fundraising email with a “Tish James for New York City” logo and a “Letitia James 2021” mailing address.

“Right now my number 1 focus is on the office of public advocate,” James, who is widely expected to run for mayor, said when asked about her plans. “We’ll see what the future holds. The future looks bright in the city of New York but I do believe that there is a disconnect. What we really need to do is to focus on delivering services to the people of New York City.”

This echoed the critique offered earlier Tuesday just a few blocks away on the Max & Murphy podcast by another likely 2021 candidate, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, who indicated that inefficiencies in government operations would be a focus of a citywide run.

Watch it here: