NY leaders make tepid push for Obama library

LYNN SWEET

WASHINGTON — New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo are lending support — tepid and unspecific so far — to Columbia University’s expected bid for the Obama presidential library and museum, a contrast to the gung-ho push coming from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and officials in Hawaii.

I write this as the first round of bids are due to the Chicago-based Barack Obama Foundation on June 16. Columbia, I bet by design — and in a vastly different approach than that of the University of Chicago and the Hawaii players—is deliberately flying under the radar.

A de Blasio aide in New York’s City Hall told me she will “confirm that the city will issue a letter of support for Columbia’s bid and will continue to offer support to them as their proposal moves forward.”

A spokesman for Cuomo, the New York governor, told me, “we are expecting to review a proposal from Columbia University.”

http://politics.suntimes.com/article/washington/ny-leaders-make-tepid-push-obama-library/thu-06052014-1205am