Former Mayor Bill de Blasio has snatched up an apartment on the Upper West Side – not far from the rooftop bar where he was recently spotted canoodling with a mystery woman.
The newly single 62-year-old Democrat signed a one-year lease for a one-bedroom pad near Columbus Circle because he “wanted to try something new,” a source told NY1.
De Blasio insisted the change of scenery will be a “temporary thing,” according to the source — and that he’ll split his time between his new Manhattan digs and his longtime Park Slope, Brooklyn home that he shares with wife Chirlane McCray.
The couple announced their separation in July after three decades of marriage, and said they would begin dating other people, but not divorcing. They also committed to continue living together in their Brooklyn abode.
Since the public announcement, De Blasio has been hitting the dating scene.
He landed on the front page of The Post last week after he was spotted enjoying a hours-long make-out session with an unknown date at the Big Apple’s Empire Rooftop bar on West 63rd Street.
The pair could hardly keep their hands off one another, with eyewitnesses saying the “touchy-feely” de Blasio spent much of the three-hour evening with his arms wrapped around the woman.
They cuddled on the couch and threw back white wine and cocktails — when they could spare time between kissing.
It’s not clear whether the rendezvous has anything to do with the life change, but the insider said de Blasio is still a “Brooklynite” at heart.
He will continue working out at the YMCA in Park Slope — which he famously used during his time at Gracie Mansion.
Although the source wouldn’t disclose how much de Blasio is paying for his new home, a January 2023 report by real estate appraisers Miller Samuel and Douglas Elliman found a one-bedroom in Manhattan runs for an average cost of $4,247 per month.