He Ran for President. Now He's Politicking for His Wife in Brooklyn.

The private party, organized and paid for by de Blasio’s state and federal political action committees, was billed as an informal affair, but attendees said it had the feel of a meet-and-greet event ahead of another possible campaign.

Only the candidate in question appeared not to be the mayor, according to three guests, but his wife, Chirlane McCray.

A few months earlier, de Blasio had been holding himself as a potential leader of the free world, enthusiastically pursuing a campaign for president. He traveled the country, made national television appearances and got into the early Democratic primary debates before dropping out in September.

Now it seems that de Blasio has his eye on a different sort of presidency, the largely powerless presidency of the borough of Brooklyn — for his wife.

Since late last year, de Blasio has been making moves that could help smooth the way for a run by McCray for Brooklyn borough president, should she decide to go forward with it.

The mayor has been urging those with political power in Brooklyn to keep an open mind about McCray as a candidate. He has taken meetings at Gracie Mansion and spoken with influential union leaders in recent weeks, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.

A prominent political figure described a conversation with de Blasio last month about McCray as a candidate. Another said the mayor asked him to discuss her plans with her.

McCray’s interest seems clear: She confirmed in a television interview on WPIX on Wednesday that she was “thinking” about a run for borough president, and de Blasio, in a separate interview on “Good Day New York” said his wife had a “serious interest” in the office.

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The mayor’s behind-the-scenes maneuvering has returned him to a much less glamorous place than the bright lights of the 2020 campaign: the backrooms of Brooklyn politics, with its ethnic rivalries and parochial real estate concerns.

It is a world that the Democratic mayor, the leader of the nation’s largest city who must leave office in two years because of term limits, might well have left behind.

Yet rather than unburden himself, de Blasio appears to have embraced the return to his deal-making roots in Brooklyn, according to interviews with more than a dozen city officials, union representatives and political donors, who requested anonymity to avoid angering the still-powerful mayor.

In December, de Blasio met for more than four hours at Gracie Mansion with Frank Carone, a lawyer and influential figure in the Brooklyn Democratic Party, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting. They also spoke by phone afterward about the possibility that McCray would become a candidate.

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Earlier this year, one of de Blasio’s top officials — who had left city government to become a senior adviser on his presidential run — began working for the Brooklyn Democratic Party, whose support would be critical to McCray. That official, Jon Paul Lupo, is also the current treasurer of de Blasio’s defunct presidential campaign.

During the mayor’s State of the City speech in January, his wife appeared in a gauzy video that some in the audience described as campaign-style.

Then came the launch of a new podcast — “Thrive with Chirlane McCray” — a show created in partnership with a nonprofit cultural organization, BRIC, that is focused on bringing free cultural programming to Brooklyn. In the first episode, McCray spoke with her son, Dante, who asked her questions about her personal biography.

Brooklyn would also be the first borough to benefit from a newly announced $40 million program for first-time parents, McCray announced last month.

The Super Bowl party fell amid those moves and included local real estate developers and business figures from Brooklyn along with members of de Blasio’s administration.

An emailed invitation to the party, a copy of which was shared with The New York Times, came from the fundraiser and the former treasurer of the mayor’s presidential campaign, Michael Giaccio. It went to some of the same people who gave money to de Blasio’s presidential run.

“This was really the B or C team. These were not major players,” said one attendee, who requested anonymity to discuss the closed-door event. “There wasn’t much food. It was all greasy.”

As McCray moved through the crowd before the game, conversation turned to her likely run.

“Stay tuned!” she told two donors from the real estate industry who asked about when she would be announcing a run, according to a person briefed on the exchange.

Her potential entrance would immediately upend the race, Brooklyn political observers said.

“She’s a game-changer because of who she is and what she’s established working for her husband,” said the Rev. A.R. Bernard of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn.

While the borough president has little formal power other than a role in the city’s land-use process and some control over funds for local capital projects, the $179,000 position is often seen as a steppingstone to higher office. The current Brooklyn borough president, Eric L. Adams, is running for mayor.

Two City Council members, Robert E. Cornegy Jr. and Antonio Reynoso, have already entered the race; both have been actively campaigning.

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Asked about the Super Bowl party, Freddi Goldstein, de Blasio’s press secretary, directed questions to Lupo.

“The mayor hosted a Super Bowl party in his home and invited many people who support Fairness PAC’s progressive goals,” Lupo said. “No one paid to attend or was asked to contribute to Fairness PAC or other political efforts, and in fact many attendees are not donors.”

While government officials are generally prohibited from using city buildings for political campaign activity, Goldstein said that the event did not run afoul of any city rules and that the mayor did not seek guidance from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board.

“The Mayor does not need COIB approval to host private events at his home,” she said in an email. “The PAC paid.” (Lupo later clarified that funds for the event came from both the mayor’s state committee, NY Fairness PAC, and its federal counterpart, Fairness PAC.)

Still, the use of Gracie Mansion to host donors struck some as inappropriate.

“Gracie Mansion is the official residence of the mayor of New York City. It should not be used for donor cultivation events,” said Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a nonpartisan good government group. “If the mayor wants to have a Super Bowl where he invites donors, then pay to have it at a bar.”

Two people with connections to City Hall downplayed McCray’s role and said that it was not unusual for de Blasio to host donors at the mansion. The Super Bowl party attracted more guests this year than a similar event last year, they said, because some invitations went out three days before the game instead of two.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .