Bill de Blasio’s spokeswoman is shacking up with her married former boss — Eliot Spitzer.
Lis Smith, 31, who was hired by the mayor-elect in September as his communications director, has been hosting the hooker-happy former governor at her Soho pad, The Post has learned.
In an embarrassment to de Blasio on the eve of his Jan. 1 inauguration, his flack was caught twice spending the night with the tainted, 54-year-old Spitzer at her Thompson Street apartment building last week.
The ex-gov showed up late in the evening, once taking her for a romantic dinner and both times slipping out of her building at dawn, a Post reporter observed.
On Wednesday, Spitzer pulled up in a cab a couple doors down from Smith’s five-story walkup at around 10 p.m., wearing jeans, sneakers, a white hoodie and a grin as he walked to the building and rang the bell.
He was buzzed in — and didn’t emerge until 5:45 a.m. With bags under his eyes, he stopped briefly on Smith’s stoop to look at a newspaper that had been delivered before bolting through the predawn darkness to catch a cab near Prince Street.
Smith, a tall, dark-haired beauty, emerged a little after 10 a.m. smiling and looking fresh in a hot-pink coat.
On Thursday night, Spitzer showed up again, looking dapper in a long black overcoat and dress shoes as he walked to her door from Prince Street at around 10 p.m.
He went in and emerged an hour later with Smith, both of them darting about 20 feet into Le Pescadeux restaurant on the ground floor of her building.
Seated at a back table, the two held hands as they enjoyed a candlelit dinner.
The manager of the cozy French eatery described them as regulars who “have had almost everything on the menu by now. They come here that often.”
“The first time I saw Spitzer, I didn’t know if he was Eliot Spitzer or Anthony Weiner. Those two are like the same exact guy,” the manager said.
After leaving the eatery at around 12:30 a.m., Smith gave Spitzer a flirtatious look over her shoulder before the couple disappeared back into her walkup.
Spitzer took off early in the morning. Smith left hours later at 11, chatting on her cellphone.
Spitzer didn’t comment. His spokeswoman, Lisa Linden, didn’t deny his relationship with Smith.
“Lis Smith is a friend of Eliot’s, and he holds her in high regard,” Linden said. Smith didn’t return requests for comment.
Smith, a Bronxville native, was hired by Spitzer as a spokeswoman in July during his failed primary run for comptroller against Scott Stringer.
She was paid $30,000 according to a report filed with the Campaign Finance Board.
A former “rapid-response specialist’’ for President Obama’s campaign, she had been famous for sparking Twitter wars with political adversaries.
Her hiring by Spitzer came at the same time sources revealed to The Post that his wife, Silda, wanted a divorce and while he was angrily dodging questions about a rumored new mistress.
Also in July, Smith was roundly criticized when the Spitzer camp tweeted a shot of him on the campaign trail, wearing the same tie he had worn when he resigned in disgrace as governor in 2008.
He stepped down after being exposed as “Client 9” of the Emperors Club VIP, a high-priced hooker ring.
Smith joined Team de Blasio in September, during the mayoral primary, and still works for him. It is not clear whether she will follow him to City Hall.
The Dartmouth grad apparently has a thing for bad boys. She dated former Missouri state Sen. Jeff Smith from 2005 to 2009, before he was locked up in a federal pen for obstruction after a probe of the state’s 2004 election.
Meanwhile, her family seems to approve of Spitzer.
When Spitzer’s CNN show was canceled in July 2011, Smith’s mom — travel writer and retired lawyer Adrienne Smith — tweeted, “Sorry Spitzer’s gig ending on CNN. Most intelligent commentary on TV. Even better than Rachel [Maddow]. Hope he finds another home.’’ Her daughter retweeted the comment, with the response, “You tell em, Mom.”
No comments:
Post a Comment