Mayor de Blasio ‘not quite sure why’ people stand in cold for Times Square ball drop

Mayor de Blasio said he doesn't understand why people want to stand out in the cold for the iconic American tradition.
Mayor de Blasio said he doesn’t understand why people want to stand out in the cold for the iconic American tradition.

He’s the mayor of New York City … right?

It doesn’t exactly come with the job, but calling the shots when the big ball drops over Times Square on New Year’s Eve is one of the perks that comes with being the boss of the Big Apple.

So, naturally, it raised a few eyebrows Thursday when Mayor de Blasio threw a little shade on the time-tested tradition of crowding the Crossroads of the World to usher in the new year.

“New Year’s Eve we expect as per usual, over a million people. I’m not quite sure why a million people want to stand in the freezing cold for long, long periods of time,” said de Blasio, who sounded more like the mayor of Keokuk, Iowa, than the mayor of New York City.

“But they do, and we will be ready for them.”

De Blasio was trying to add a little levity…