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 Former U.S. President Bill Clinton administered the oath of office
on a Bible once used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The formal midday
service was held hours after De Blasio officially took office just
after midnight on January 1 in a small ceremony at his home in
Brooklyn.
He succeeds Michael Bloomberg, who led the city in the aftermath of
the attacks of September 11, 2001 and the recession six years later,
and whose policies have been credited with making the city safer,
greener and more livable.
De Blasio, who captured more than 70 percent of the vote last
November, presented himself as an anti-Bloomberg candidate, decrying
the economic inequality that he said has emerged as New York shed
its reputation from the 1970s and 1980s as a gritty and dangerous
place.
Over the last decade, as the city prospered, apartment rents in New
York City rose about 44 percent and the cost of a monthly Metro Card
jumped 60 percent.
In his inaugural address, de Blasio adamantly underlined that
message.
"When I said we would take dead aim at the tale of two cities, I
meant it. And we will do it," de Blasio said. "That mission — our
march towards a fairer, more just, more progressive place, our march
to keep the promise of New York alive for the next generation — it
begins today."
"We won't wait. We'll do it now," de Blasio said as he ticked off
his priorities: expanding the city's paid sick leave law, forcing
large developers to build more affordable housing, reforming the
controversial police tactic of stop-and-frisk that critics say leads
to racial profiling, and offering universal access to
pre-kindergarten and after-school programs.
Indeed, his critics are likely to seize quickly on de Blasio's
ability to deliver on signature proposals.
His pre-kindergarten plan hinges on a tax hike for the city's
highest earners to pay for it that must be approved by state
lawmakers and Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cooperation from Albany is far
from assured.
HAVES AND HAVE-NOTS
Even beyond his ambitious, liberal agenda, de Blasio faces the
day-to-day challenges of running a city of more than 8 million
voters. He has just a few months to craft his first budget and his
administration will be tasked with negotiating new contracts with
each of the city's public-sector unions, all of which have been
working under long-expired terms.
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A major winter storm is due to hit the city on Thursday, perhaps
offering de Blasio his first major test.
But while Bloomberg often clashed with the City Council and with
more liberal citywide officials, de Blasio will be surrounded by
allies. The city's new comptroller, Scott Stringer, and its new
public advocate, Letitia James, both echoed de Blasio's theme of
confronting inequality.
"The growing gap between the haves and the have-nots undermines our
city and tears at the fabric of our democracy," said James, a former
city councilwoman who is the first black woman to be elected to
citywide office in New York City.
De Blasio began his career in government working under David
Dinkins, the city's first black mayor who was elected in 1986 and
was the last Democrat to hold the post.
In 2000, when former U.S. first lady Hillary Clinton ran for U.S.
senator in New York, de Blasio was her campaign manager.
He went on to serve two terms on the New York City Council and four
years ago was elected public advocate — a citywide office with a
budget of just $2 million that is generally seen as a springboard
for the job of mayor.
Bloomberg, who is leaving City Hall after 12 years, has said he
plans to take a two-week vacation in Hawaii and New Zealand with his
longtime girlfriend, Diana Taylor.
Then, the billionaire, who has homes in Bermuda and London, has said
he will focus on his charitable foundation, Bloomberg
Philanthropies, and remain active in public health, gun control and
government innovation.
(Reporting by Edith Honan; editing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Scott Malone,
Gunna Dickson, Eric Walsh and Chris Reese)
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