Albany Mayor Dorcey Applyrs is facing fierce backlash after traveling to Martha’s Vineyard the day after a gas explosion critically injured two city workers.
Applyrs, who took office in January, was photographed at a posh event on the Massachusetts island within 24 hours of the July 17 blast at a city facility that left Fire Battalion Chief Wayne Brennan and 20-year city employee Anthony Hughes in critical condition and airlifted to a hospital. The mayor’s office did not release a statement about the injured workers until sunset that evening, as she hobnobbed at the sponsored gathering.
“I think it’s a poor showing, particularly for a relatively new mayor, to not be there,” said state Sen. George Borrello (R-Chautauqua), a former county executive.
Borrello said that when a blaze leveled part of the upstate village of Faulkner in 2017, he was immediately on scene and present.
“I wasn’t going to leave at that moment,” he said.
“You need to be there and be a leader.”
Applyrs glammed it up in a snazzy red jumpsuit and aviator shades for the event, which was sponsored by the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, an industry group, according to photos posted to Instagram.
“Today our focus is on the two members of our city family who were injured,” the mayor said in the belated release.
She finally addressed Albany media in a press conference three days after the incident, after dodging local reporters.
“The mayor has been in contact with both victims’ families, and the safety of the city’s workforce remains her top priority,” mayoral rep Zipporah Hommel told The Post, saying Applyrs went to the scene immediately after the incident and was in “consistent communication” with city officials.
“Mayor Applyrs joined her fellow mayors to shed light on the economic burden local municipalities have been forced to bear in the midst of a nationwide affordability crisis, rising healthcare costs, and increasing need for supportive services, affecting economic mobility for cities across the country,” the representative said of the Martha’s Vineyard jaunt.
“She will continue to utilize her national network as the City of Albany works towards long-term financial stability.”
State Assemblywoman Jodi Giglio (R-Suffolk) said she intends to demand answers from Applyrs when the mayor inevitably begs the legislature for help plugging her city’s rapidly expanding budget deficit again next year.
“For the mayor to leave for Martha’s Vineyard the day after the explosion is a disgrace to the city workforce and the emergency services workers,” Giglio said.
“Disrespecting a man who gave his life to the city sends a message, not a good one. She should be with the family and figuring out why this explosion happened.
“I wouldn’t sleep, vacation or be anywhere else but in City Hall after this incident,” the state senator said.
David Laska, a spokesman for the state Republican Party, condemned Applyrs response as tone-deaf to the working class.
“Whether it’s [Gov.] Kathy Hochul’s affordability crisis, the rise of Zohran Mamdani’s radical socialists or explosions that injure public servants, Democrats have turned their backs on us,” Laska said.
In the viral moment that sparked the controversy, a gas pump exploded at a city facility on July 17, critically injuring Brennan and Hughes, who were both airlifted for emergency treatment. The blast occurred at a municipal site where city workers were present, and the two men sustained severe injuries that required immediate specialized care. Brennan, a fire battalion chief, and Hughes, a two-decade veteran city employee, were both reported in critical condition following the incident, prompting an outpouring of concern from local officials and the community about workplace safety at city facilities.
Applyrs is expected to face continued scrutiny from both political opponents and constituents as questions mount about her administration’s response to the crisis and the circumstances that led to the explosion.