Former NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and Wife Chirlane McCray Are Separating to Date Other People — But Not Divorcing

Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray's love story has not completely ended, but the next chapter has taken a very different turn.

The former New York City Mayor announced on Wednesday, July 5, that he and his wife of 29 years would be separating, but not divorcing, as they look to date other people while living in the same home "for the time being."

"Even at this moment of change, this is a love story," de Blasio wrote in a tweet linking an article of a sit-down interview with a news publication where he opened up about his and McCray's decision to split.

"Big change for us but Bill and I are still very much in love," McCray confirmed to reporters from another news outlet outside of their Park Slope home in Brooklyn. "It’s the right decision for us to start this new chapter in our life."

"You can’t fake it," McCray — who shares Chiara, 28, and Dante, 26, with de Blasio — said during the joint interview with the first newspaper.

"You can feel when things are off," de Blasio chimed in, noting, "and you don’t want to live that way."

"I can look back now and say, 'Here were these inflection points where we should have been saying something to each other,'" the 62-year-old explained, reflecting on their decades-long marriage. "And I think one of the things I should have said more is: 'Are you happy? What will make you happy? What’s missing in your life?'"

A chunk of de Blasio and McCray's marriage consisted of the former flames being the mayor and first lady of New York City from 2014-2021. The dynamic duo's marriage made for a strong campaign, as the biracial couple came together with a mission to inflict change in the five-borough city.

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"This is not the kind of thing where you can break ranks," McCray said of her time as the mayor's wife. "That’s part of the difficulty of being part of a package."

Now that the pair has removed themselves from the political spotlight, McCray realized: "I just want to have fun," before clarifying to her husband sitting next to her during the interview, "it’s not that we haven’t had fun."

"Thank you, honey," de Blasio quipped, while McCray, 68, continued, "there’s a certain weight that goes with being with Mr. Mayor."

After making the decision to separate romantically but remain married on paper, the estranged husband and wife established a list of rules informing their spouse "what’s cool, and what’s not cool, and whatever else."

"One of the things we’re saying to the world is we don’t need to possess each other," de Blasio concluded, quoting his wife: "Labels put people in boxes, and those boxes are shaped like coffins. I never want to be stuck."

New York Times conducted a sit-down interview with de Blasio and McCray, while News 4 New York spoke to the former mayor's estranged wife outside of their home.