(1 Jan 2014) 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.
De Blasio took the oath of office moments after midnight in front of his modest Brooklyn home.
He was then later sworn in on a far grander scale on the steps of City Hall, taking the oath again as administered by former President Bill Clinton, watched by his wife and teenage children.
Hillary Rodham Clinton, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and former Mayor Michael Bloomberg also attended the ceremony.
Clinton joked de Blasio and his family were a real-life "Modern Family," referring to the television show.
"He represents, with his family, the future of our city and the future of our country. I got a big kick out of watching New Yorkers fall in love with Bill and Chirlane and Chiara and Dante, you know, with all respect to the television show, they are our real life modern family," Clinton said in his speech just prior to swearing in the new mayor.
The new mayor was elected two months ago by a record margin on the promise of being a sharp break from billionaire Michael Bloomberg.
Bloomberg leaves office after 12 years that reshaped New York, making it one of the nation's safest and most prosperous big cities but also one that has become increasingly divided between the very rich and the working class.
De Blasio thanked his family, supporters and the city for "taking on the elite" and pushing for change.
"I will honour the faith and the 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," de Blasio added.
The inauguration was a joyous day for city Democrats, who outnumber Republicans in the city by a margin 6-to-1 but have been shut out of power since David Dinkins left office on New Year's Eve 1993.
The new mayor worked for the Clinton administration and helped manage former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful 2000 Senate campaign.
De Blasio, an unabashed progressive 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, symbolising the city's comeback from the 11 September, 2001, attacks, many New Yorkers have felt left behind during the city's renaissance.
De Blasio reached out to those he contended were left behind by the often Manhattan-centric Bloomberg administration, and he called for a tax increase on the wealthy to pay for universal pre-kindergarten.
He also pledged to improve economic opportunities in minority and working-class neighbourhoods and decried alleged abuses under the police department's stop-and-frisk policy.
He and his new police commissioner, William Bratton, have pledged to moderate the use of the tactic, which supporters say drives down crime but critics claim unfairly singles out blacks and Hispanics.
De Blasio's first test in office will likely be delivered by Mother Nature: A significant snowstorm is expected to hit the five boroughs on Thursday and Friday.
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