Our mayor when he was young and idealistic
Mr. de Blasio’s recruitment process — deliberative, carefully attuned to his political image, and with a pronounced bent toward candidates with deep experience — has offered an early glimpse into the management style of a mayor-elect more accustomed to overseeing political campaigns than a sprawling municipality.
The fierce liberal who electrified voters in the Democratic primary has so far produced a cabinet that any of his more centrist rivals might have appointed: Mr. de Blasio has surrounded himself with alumni of Goldman Sachs and the administrations of former Mayors Rudolph W. Giuliani and Michael R. Bloomberg, his bête noire on the campaign trail.
N.Y. Times, “For de Blasio, So Many Jobs to Fill, So Little Time”, 12/30/2013
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At a news conference on Monday announcing the appointment, Mr. de Blasio and Ms. Fariña took several swipes at the way Mr. Bloomberg ran schools, and the incoming chancellor pledged to review every one of the departing mayor’s policies. “We know that there are things that need to happen, but they need to happen with people, not to people,” she said.
But in significant ways, Mr. Bloomberg’s mark on education will endure into his successor’s term.
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N.Y. Times, “De Blasio Recognizes Obstacles Standing in Way of Schools Plan”, 12/30/2013
Former President Bill Clinton will swear in Bill de Blasio as New York City’s 109th mayor at the inauguration ceremony on Jan. 1, the mayor-elect’s transition team announced in a statement on Saturday.
Mr. de Blasio served in Mr. Clinton’s administration as a regional director of the Department of Housing and Urban Development and was the campaign manager for Hillary Rodham Clinton’s successful run for the Senate in 2000. Mrs. Clinton will also attend the inauguration.
“I was honored to serve in President Clinton’s administration and on Secretary Clinton’s campaign for U. S. Senate, and I am honored again that they will both join our celebration for all of New York City,” Mr. de Blasio said in the statement. “Wednesday’s ceremony will be an event for every New Yorker from all five boroughs, and Chirlane and I couldn’t be more excited to have President Clinton and Secretary Clinton stand with us,” he said, referring to his wife, Chirlane McCray.
Mr. de Blasio later sent out on Twitter a photograph taken in 2000 showing Mr. and Mrs. Clinton at the White House with him, his wife and their two children, Chiara and Dante, who were then small enough to be carried in their parents’ arms.
N.Y. Times, “Bill Clinton Will Preside at de Blasio’s Inauguration”, 12/28/2013
