From The Bullpen To The War Room

“The people are almost always ahead of their leaders,” emphasis on “almost always”:

UPKNYC, which is run by many of Mr. de Blasio’s former campaign aides, was founded as a grass-roots-style effort to help the mayor secure state money for his prekindergarten and after-school proposals.

But its shift into television advertising suggests its resources can be used for more expressly political purposes, such as maintaining Mr. de Blasio’s image with New Yorkers, rather than for simply promoting an education policy plan.

The cost for the new commercial, for example, is at least four times what UPKNYC — which refers to universal prekindergarten — spent on its lobbying efforts during the first two months of the budget negotiating process in Albany.

Because it was incorporated as a nonprofit, the group has not yet been required to disclose its donors, and its organizers have been unwilling to provide a list of contributors. Officials at one of Mr. de Blasio’s closest labor allies, 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East, confirmed on Tuesday that the union had contributed $200,000.

A spokesman for UPKNYC, Dan Levitan, declined on Tuesday to discuss the sources of the group’s money.

Mr. Levitan, who served as a campaign spokesman during Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral bid, said in a statement that the ad was meant to show that the mayor was delivering on a campaign pledge to introduce a full-day prekindergarten network in the city.

“We want to make sure everyone knows about the program,” he said.