Star Trek Fan? NYC Mayor Bungles Homage to Fandom

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Oct 30, 2021
April 12, 2021; New York, NY, USA; New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio. Mandatory Credit: Seth Harrison-USA TODAY NETWORK

While Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, might be a Star Trek enthusiast, Thursday wasn’t the best day to showcase his fandom.

In an event designed to highlight precautions in fighting the proliferation of COVID-19, de Blasio wore a shirt unique to Spock from Star Trek: The Original Series but insisted his costume was a tribute to Captain Kirk from the same show.

It would be akin to a celebrity showing up in Robin costume from DC Comics lore and insisting he overcame the fear of bats as a child to become Batman.

The “mistake” was an innocent one, carrying no adverse effect on anyone — aside from de Blasio’s Star Trek reputation. In fact, the idea of de Blasio advising citizenry on the gravity of the pandemic — while wearing Spock apparel — checks out as the Vulcan was the science officer aboard Star Trek TOS‘ “Enterprise” ship. Spock uplifting the logic of combating the pandemic with scientific precaution indeed seems like a Spockian thing for Halloween.

But de Blasio insisted he was Kirk, and that was the so-called problem.

De Blasio, a Star Trek fan, in 2019.
Mayor Bill de Blasio marches with a World War II veteran in the Veterans Day Parade up Fifth Avenue in Manhattan Nov. 11, 2019. Veterans Day Parade

A reporter called the mayor on the mistake — if that doesn’t sound like a true Star Trek fan, we don’t know what does — and de Blasio replied, “I always say, I’m going to give credit where credit is due to the media. That’s a good catch.” 

So, at least de Blasio was accountable for the mini-gaffe.

De Blasio’s term as New York City’s mayor ends on December 31. Voters will decide on his successor in three weeks.

Back in 2019, the mayor entered the Democratic primary for the presidential nomination. He participated in a few debates but failed to move the national needle. All told, he fought in the primary for four months, bowing out in September of 2019 and endorsing Senator Bernie Sanders from Vermont.

Joe Biden won the primary and eventually the presidency.

Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. His odyssey with Star Trek starts from beginning to finish, watching ‘The Original Series,’ all the way to the present day. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ and The Doors (the band).