In this image taken from video and provided by New York City Hall, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio eats pizza with a fork at Goodfellas Pizza in the Staten Island borough of New York, Friday, Jan. 10, 2014.
Just ten days into his tenure, Bill de Blasio is already facing a scandal that has many New Yorkers questioning whether he is truly fit for the job.
De Blasio was photographed eating pizza with a knife and fork — a New York City faux pas that the Daily News has already dubbed “Forkgate.” The image spawned angry outbursts across the web, with the New York Post proclaiming, “Some New Yorker!”
The neophyte mayor, who acknowledged on the campaign trail that he was a fan of the reviled Boston Red Sox, was at a Staten Island’s “Goodfellas Pizza” when he picked up the cutlery, the Daily News reports.
“Ya know, I think he’s just trying to be polite,” owner Scot Costentino told reporters. But he added, “All New Yorkers eat their pizza with their hands.”
De Blasio, who has played up his Italian roots in the past, said he was eating his smoked mozzarella and sausage pizza — thin-sliced in the Italian style — as the Italians do.
“In my ancestral homeland, it is more typical to eat with a fork and knife,” the mayor said. “I’ve been to Italy a lot, and I picked up the habit for certain types of pizza.”
He’s not the first mayor to draw criticism for his dining habits. Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg stirred controversy when revealed that he prefers beer on the rocks.