Bill de Blasio sworn in as New York mayor, succeeding Michael Bloomberg
New York inaugurated its 109th mayor on New Year's Day, as Democrat de Blasio took the reins from Republican Bloomberg
Bill de Blasio was formally inaugurated as New York City’s 109th mayor on Wednesday at a City Hall ceremony where he promised to take “dead aim” at closing the affordability gap he has decried as New York’s tale of two cities.
Former US President Bill Clinton administered the oath of office on a Bible once used by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The formal noon 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 per cent 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 per cent and the cost of a monthly Metro Card jumped 60 per cent.
“When I said we would take dead aim at the tale of two cities, I meant it. And we will do it.”
In his inaugural address, de Blasio adamantly underlined that message.
