Detroit’s new mayor takes office
The new mayor of Detroit was sworn into office on Wednesday, and despite the New Year’s Day holiday — and his limited powers in an insolvent city whose finances are controlled by a state-appointed emergency manager — he is starting work immediately. Mike Duggan was holding initial staff meetings at City Hall on Wednesday after the morning ceremony, continuing the work he has done on Detroit’s behalf since voters elected him in November. The former Detroit Medical Center chief has attended a meeting of new mayors hosted by the White House, put together his own administration and lobbied with emergency manager Kevyn Orr for a greater role in the city’s immediate turnaround. Under Michigan’s emergency manager law, Orr has control over Detroit’s finances.
Associated Press
Bill de Blasio took the oath of office administered by former President Bill Clinton on Wednesday, formally becoming the 109th mayor of New York City while pledging to pursue a sweeping liberal agenda.
“Big dreams are not a luxury reserved for a privileged few but the animating force behind every community, in every borough,” he said in his speech.
The moment was the pinnacle of de Blasio’s unlikely political rise as a symbol of restoration for the city’s Democrats, who outnumber Republicans 6-to-1 in one of the nation’s most liberal cites yet have not controlled City Hall since 1993.
De Blasio, 52, was first sworn in 12 hours earlier at a brief modest ceremony outside his home in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood. Flanked by his wife, Chirlane McCray, and their two teenage children, he was administered the oath by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, signed the official paperwork and, with a broad smile, paid the requisite $9 fee to the city clerk.
The events at City Hall were conducted on a far grander scale.
Clinton was joined by his wife, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is considering a run for president in 2016. Another potential presidential candidate, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, also sat nearby, as did former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, just hours into his first day as a private citizen after spending 12 years in office.
Thousands of people braved low New Year’s Day temperatures to salute the new mayor. Two other Democrats were also sworn in to hold citywide offices: Letitia James as public advocate and Scott Stringer as comptroller.
De Blasio thanked his family, supporters and the city for “taking on the elite” and pushing for change.
“When I said we would take dead aim at the tale of two cities, I meant it. And we will do it,” he said. “I will honor the faith and trust you have placed in me. And we will give life to the hope of so many in our city. We will succeed … as one city.”
The celebrities in attendance were not just confined to the political world: Singer Harry Belafonte opened the event, while actresses Cynthia Nixon and Patina Miller had starring roles. Scores of “everyday New Yorkers” took part, including 12-year-old Dasani Coates, who was featured in New York Times articles on homelessness from which de Blasio has repeatedly said he has drawn inspiration.
The inauguration was undeniably political. Speaker after speaker, from Belafonte to Stringer to James, railed against the city’s inequality, delivering sharp rebukes to — though never mentioning by name — Bloomberg, who was sitting just a few feet away. Only Bill Clinton and de Blasio offered praise for the former mayor, whose poll numbers remain relatively high.
The former president received a raucous ovation and spoke highly of de Blasio’s agenda. De Blasio’s tenure will be closely watched throughout the country to see how he may reshape the nation’s largest city.
His first test in office, however, will likely be a practical one delivered by Mother Nature: A significant snowstorm is expected to hit the five boroughs today and Friday.
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De Blasio, an unabashed liberal who touts his Brooklyn roots, takes office at a crucial juncture for the city of 8.4 million people.
As New York sets record lows for crime and highs for tourism, and as the nearly completed One World Trade Center rises above the Manhattan skyline, symbolizing the city’s comeback from the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, many New Yorkers have felt left behind during the city’s renaissance.
De Blasio reached out to those he contended were lost during the Bloomberg administration, and he called for a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for universal pre-kindergarten.
“We do not ask more of the wealthy to punish success,” he said. “We do it to create more success stories.”
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