NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio finally announced Friday that he is backing Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, a much-discussed endorsement that had prompted some criticism from fellow Democrats for being so long in coming.

De Blasio said Clinton was the candidate best suited to navigate Washington and actually enact liberal policies to combat income inequality.

“The candidate who I believe can fundamentally address income inequality effectively, the candidate who has the right vision and the right experience to get the job done is Hillary Clinton,” he said during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

The Associated Press and other media outlets reported Monday that de Blasio had, at last, decided to end the months of speculation surrounding his endorsement and would back Clinton.

The delay had long puzzled some political observers and frustrated some within the Democrat party, including a few inside de Blasio’s City Hall.

The first-term mayor has long-standing ties to the Clintons. He worked in the Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton and was then plucked from relative political obscurity to run Hillary Clinton’s successful 2000 Senate campaign.

He remained close to the couple, who appeared on stage with him at his January 2014 inauguration. President Clinton administered his oath of office.

But de Blasio appeared on “Meet the Press” the April morning of Hillary Clinton’s campaign announcement and said that unlike other New York politicians — including both senators and Gov. Andrew Cuomo — he would not automatically be backing the former Secretary of State.

On Friday, he finally did.