10/13/2014
By Ivan Pereira
Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday he still supports Rachel Noerdlinger, his wife’s chief of staff, despite the revelations about her boyfriend.
Noerdlinger failed to disclose that she lived with Hassaun McFarlan — who served time in prison for manslaughter and had called police officers “pigs” on Facebook — in a questionnaire from the Department of Investigation before she was chosen to work for first lady Chirlane McCray. The mayor said he had faith in Noerdlinger and called her “a fine public servant” when asked to respond to comments about a double standard at City Hall because she was not reprimanded.
“I think we’ve talked enough about this. We’ve explained all the situations. It’s time to move forward,” de Blasio said.
Over the weekend, news reports revealed Noerdlinger was in the passenger seat of a car driven by McFarlan when he was arrested in New Jersey for marijuana possession in 2011. She received a violation.
