Just after midnight last night, Bill de Blasio was sworn in as the city's 109th mayor, marking the end of Michael Bloomberg's 12 years in office. He was sworn in by State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on the sidewalk outside his Park Slope home, flanked by his two children, Dante and Chiara, and wife Chirlane McCray.
After taking the oath of office, de Blasio signed an executive order keeping all other existing orders in place; he also paid the city a $9 filing fee, and renewed two Hurricane Sandy-related emergency executive orders that have to be renewed every five days. "To everyone, this is the beginning of a road we will travel together," he said, noting, "I want to thank especially my neighbors, who can hear us tonight. The most wonderful block in all of Brooklyn, and they've been so kind throughout." (One disgruntled resident told the Post, "He didn’t have to close off all of 11th Street. I’d kind of like to go home sometime tonight."
Today, BDB's new regime will be celebrated at a grander, celebrity-packed inauguration ceremony at City Hall, where he will be sworn in by former President Bill Clinton at noon. Not that there weren't a few celebs there last night; longtime supporter Steve Buscemi was at the brief swearing in, along with Howard Dean and Patrick Gaspard.
