De Blasio sidesteps word war with Philadelphia over DNC

The Big Apple won't dignify the City of Brotherly Love's hate.

Mayor Bill de Blasio Wednesday playfully refused to engage in an interstate tit-for-tat over which city would be the best host for the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

New York City and Philadelphia are among several American cities vying to play host. Wednesday, the party's site selection committee was in Philadelphia after spending the beginning of the week in New York City.

Ed Rendell -- not just a former Philadelphia mayor and former Pennsylvania governor but also an ex-New Yorker -- said that New York City's subway platforms are too hot, that the city is too "blasé" and doesn't have the same "spirit" as other cities, according to a published report.

Told of the remarks at an unrelated event in Harlem, de Blasio smirked but demurred.

"Wow. I see bait. I should really take that bait, shouldn't I? What, Marti? No, I shouldn't? Oh, OK. I won't. Good try," de Blasio said to his first deputy press secretary, Marti Adams, offstage.

He added: "I offer only peace and love to the City of Brotherly Love."

Hosting the convention would bring more than 30,000 attendees to the city in July or August 2016. Plans call for many of them to stay in Manhattan and travel to Brooklyn, where the Barclays Center would play host.

De Blasio has said the cost to taxpayers for the convention would be about $10 million, with the rest -- about $100 million -- to be raised by private donors.

In addition to refusing to respond to the Philadelphia taunts, he said, "I don't get into the speculation business" of which city might be picked.

"I can't get in the minds of the site selection committee," de Blasio said. "It's not their job to show their hand to us."