It must be good to be a commissioner in the de Blasio administration.

Ask Joe Ponte. He’s the man in charge of the mess at Rikers Island but he’s lately been stuck in his own mess, getting caught by city investigators for repeatedly driving his city car to Maine during the 90 days (!) in which wasn’t actually in town last year. Making things messier, Ponte, the city’s Correction Commissioner, admitted yesterday to knowing that his own top investigator was spying on the city’s probe of his agency.

A funereal Ponte faced the music for the first time yesterday, trudging to City Hall where he was grilled by City Council members during a budget hearing.

"I misunderstood the city's vehicle use policy," said Ponte, who has promised to refund the city for the cost of his many trips.

As for the spying overseen by Corrections investigator Gregory Kuczinski, Ponte said:  "They had inadvertently listened to some calls.” While Kuczinski is still on the public payroll, he’s been placed on modified assignment. It’s unclear why Ponte’s assignment isn’t being permanently modified by the mayor as well.

But last night on NY1, de Blasio continued to support his embattled commissioner by praising his job performance, saying the proof is in Ponte’s pudding.

“The most important thing is, does a commissioner do a good job? Is the department doing what it is supposed to be doing? Obviously, he has done a very good job and he's helped to change the culture on Rikers Island profoundly and make that department work a lot better," Bill de Blasio said.

But it’s not so obvious to Ponte’s many critics that he’s done a good job. Rikers continues to be a poster child for bad jails and if things are really improving there, why is de Blasio now pledging to shut it down?

It doesn’t reflect well on the mayor that he’s fine with having a commissioner fiddling in Maine while Rikers burns. And the Watergate-style spying of Kuczinksi’s crew raises even more questions about the leadership of an agency that’s overseeing the thousands of people being held in city jails.

It’s one thing to be loyal to your team. It’s another to look the other way as mistakes are repeatedly made with excuses mumbled.

Try taking your company car out of town for three months and see what happens. If it ends badly, you can always apply for a job in City Hall.

 

Bob Hardt