It's the house that Robert Moses re-built. The former Upper East Side home of Archibald Gracie has served several purposes since it landed in the hands of the city in the late 1880s, but in the 1930s, Moses had it fixed it up and offered it to mayor Fiorella LaGuardia, calling it the city's "little White House." Since then, mayors have been conflicted on whether or not to move in, and Eric Adams and Curtis Sliwa are the latest to face the question.
On Monday, Brian Lehrer asked Adams, the Democratic mayoral nominee, if he would move into the mansion if he wins in November. "I love Brooklyn, so it may be a combination of Gracie Mansion and my place in Bedford-Stuyvesant," Adams said, adding, "First we need to win, then we’ll decide what the proper address will be."
Read More: Gracie Mansion Is Amazing. So Why Have Mayors Turned It Down From The Start?
The answer is not dissimilar to LaGuardia's original answer. Paul Gunther, executive director of the Gracie Mansion Conservancy, previously told Gothamist/WNYC that politics always play a role in the decision of an incoming mayor, and at first LaGuardia chose to stay in his apartment on East 109th Street when offered the "palace."
“He thought it was indulgent to go into a mansion. He was like, ‘I'm very happy where I am, embedded in the fabric of the city.’" After eight years and through the persistence of Commissioner Moses, however, he finally moved into Gracie Mansion in 1942.
Eric Adams in his Brooklyn living room.
During a gun-violence press conference later on Monday, Adams was asked again about his potential future real estate decision.
"We've centralized the position of the mayor, we're going to decentralize that, and that includes living," he told a group of reporters outside of Brooklyn Borough Hall. "I may decide that I just want to hang out in my brownstone in Bed-Stuy, or I may want to just hang out at Gracie Mansion. So depending on how I feel... I love my brownstone. I’m able to sit down and look at my art. I’m able to work in my room in the back. So, you know, I’m not going to be restricted to where I’m going to be."
Adams did not comment on his alleged home-away-from-home in New Jersey. And Republican mayoral nominee Curtis Sliwa has not yet commented on whether he would move into Gracie Mansion (with his many, many cats).
Update: Sliwa told Gothamist/WNYC on Monday that he would live in Gracie Mansion, and also that it would become "the animal sanctuary. I already have 16 rescue cats... in a 328-square-foot apartment. So that would allow more opportunities to have cats, that would not be euthanized, inside Gracie Mansion. And then there's a full yard and that would be a perfect sanctuary for dogs, to rescue them."
Sliwa said the animals would be up for adoption, and he estimated that "easily 60 cats" could join him inside Gracie Mansion, and the yard could accommodate 12 dogs ("with dog houses").
You can listen to Adams on WNYC's Brian Lehrer show here:
Additional reporting from Elizabeth Kim and Jim O'Grady.
