Bill de Blasio (right) is sworn in as the 109th mayor of New York City by State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman (left).
Bill de Blasio was officially sworn in as the city’s 109th mayor just after midnight Wednesday in the same place where he launched his long-shot bid for City Hall just under a year ago ” in front of his modest Brooklyn rowhouse.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman administered the oath, launching a new political era in New York after 20 years of rule by Republican and independent mayors.
Å“To everyone, this is the beginning of a road we will travel together,” a smiling de Blasio said immediately after being sworn in during a sidewalk ceremony in front of his home on 11th Street in Park Slope.
His wife, Chirlane McCray, was by his side, along with the couple’s two children, Dante, 16, and Chiara, 19, who wore a pointed party hat for the New Year.
In his first act as mayor, he immediately signed an executive order that keeps in place all other existing city orders, a formality that guarantees continuity during the handoff of power from the Bloomberg administration.
He also paid a $9 filing fee to the city clerk ” a technicality in the bureaucratic process.
De Blasio said he was Å“grateful” for the opportunity to serve the city.
Å“I want to thank especially my neighbors, who can hear us tonight,” he said. “The most wonderful block in all of Brooklyn, and they’ve been so kind throughout.”
He closed by wishing everyone a happy New Year, and then headed back into his home with his family.
His decision to begin his mayoralty while staying in his three-bedroom, one-bath home in Brooklyn, miles from glitzy Manhattan, was filled with symbolism.
It was a nod to his goal of representing everyday New Yorkers who live outside Manhattanâ„¢s choice zip codes.
And it represented a clear departure from his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, whom de Blasio relentlessly portrayed as Manhattan-centric.
De Blasio initially tried to keep the swearing-in closed to the media, saying he didn’t want his narrow street clogged by press vehicles. But he relented after pressure from media outlets, agreeing to let one television reporter and a scribe from the Associated Press document the event, which also was live-streamed on the Internet. NY Daily News
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Source: Press TV