Category Archives: Bill de Blasio

Photo Gallery: Bronx Dem Dinner



The Bronx County Democrats drew a large field of elected officials and candidates to their annual dinner Wednesday, though Governor Andrew Cuomo and several notable candidates did not attend.  Statewide and citywide electeds present included Lt. Governor Kathy Hochul, NYS Comptroller Tom DiNapoli, NYS Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate Letitia James and Comptroller Scott Stringer.  Hochul and DiNapoli, along with Cuomo, are running for reelection and James, reelected in November as public advocate, is running for attorney general.

Notable non-attendees included Cynthia Nixon and Jumaane Williams, Democrats running for governor and lieutenant governor, and Congressional candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.  Ocasio-Cortez defeated Rep. Joe Crowley in the June 26th primary for the 14th Congressional District, which is roughly 1/3 in the Bronx and 2/3 in Queens.  James was the only one of four Democratic candidates for attorney general attending, with Zephyr Teachout, Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney and Leecia Eve not spotted.  State senate candidate Alessandra Biaggi, challenging Jeff Klein also (as far as I could determine) did not attend.

Other electeds attending included Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., Bronx Democratic Chairman and Assembly Member Marcos Crespo, NYS Senate Democratic leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, NYS State Senators Jeff Klein and Jamaal Bailey, Queens Borough President Melinda Katz and Council Members Andrew Cohen, Fernando Cabrera, Andy King, Karen Koslowitz, Daniel Dromm and Francisco Moya.

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Photo Gallery: de Blasio On Migrant Children



Mayor Bill de Blasio visited a Harlem social services agency that has custody of more than 200 children recently separated from their parents under the Trump administration’s new policy on migrants seeking asylum.  de Blasio met with staff of Cayuga Centers inside their Harlem office and then held a press conference on the sidewalk, condemning the Trump administration policy and vowing to oppose it.

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Photo Gallery: Electeds Rally With 32BJ



New York elected officials flocked to Park Avenue to support 32BJ SEIU in its contract talks with building owners.  Thousands of 32BJ SEIU union members gathered for a rally featuring speeches from many of those elected officials and culminating in a vote to authorize a strike should negotiations fail.  Elected officials attending included Governor Andrew Cuomo, Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate Tish James, Comptroller Scott Stringer and many state and city legislators.

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Photo Gallery: Zanetis Memorial



An Air Force helicopter pilot, a New York City fire marshal and former fire fighter and a newly-minted attorney were commemorated with a memorial service in Washington Square Park and a celebration in a nearby NYU auditorium Thursday.  Remarkably it was one man who filled all of those professional roles, at the age of 37.

FDNY pallbearers carry Tripp Zanetis’s casket past saluting Air Force and FDNY members.

Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis died in Iraq, piloting a helicopter while on active duty with the 106th Rescue Wing of the Air National Guard.  He had been called up in January, a few months after graduating from Stanford Law School and joining the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton as an associate.  His professional career began with the New York City Fire Department, first as a fire fighter and then as a fire marshal.   Adding to the multiple intersecting layers of his life reflected in the memorial service, Zanetis graduated from NYU and worked in a nearby firehouse during his FDNY career.  Continue reading Photo Gallery: Zanetis Memorial

Photo Gallery: Women’s March 2018



Hundreds of thousands of people returned to the streets of Manhattan Saturday for the second edition of the Women’s March.  Filling Central Park West, the massive group marched through Columbus Circle and down Sixth Avenue in a large display of anti-Trump opposition.

Many elected officials attended a separate rally, held at 72nd Street and Riverside Drive.  Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate Tish James, Council Speaker Corey Johnson and many council members and state legislators were among the attendees, with Mayor de Blasio and his wife Chirlance McCray headlining the pre-march rally.  Governor Andrew Cuomo made an unannounced appearance shortly before Mayor de Blasio’s scheduled appearance.  Cuomo took to the stage, made a fiery speech and departed before the mayor arrived.

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Photo Gallery: Steven McDonald Dedication



Patti Ann McDonald, joined by her son Conor, speaks at the plaque dedication.

Deceased NYPD Detective Steven McDonald was memorialized on the one year anniversary of his death with a plaque at the NYPD’s Central Park Precinct.  As a patrolman assigned to Central Park McDonald was shot and grievously wounded in 1986, surviving but rendered quadriplegic.  He nonetheless remained actively involved with the NYPD for the rest of his life, deeply admired for his tenacity and optimistic outlook.

Patti Ann and Conor McDonald flank the plaque dedicated to Det. Steven McDonald.

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Inauguration 2018



New York City’s three citywide elected officials were sworn in to second terms Monday, with Mayor Bill de Blasio, Public Advocate Letitia James and Comptroller Scott Stringer taking their oaths in front of City Hall on a bitterly cold afternoon.  All three were reelected to a second and final term in November, with term limits precluding 2021 reelection bids.  They’re able to run for each others offices however, with James and Stringer widely seen as contemplating mayoral runs.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio wrapping his family in a hug after taking the oath of office. 1/1/18

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de Blasio Glendale Town Hall



Mayor Bill de Blasio held his 49th council district town hall last Monday night, joining Council Member Elizabeth Crowley in Glendale.  Crowley, a Democrat, lost her bid for a third term in November and the term hall included several warm comments on her tenure from audience members and the mayor.  Councilmember-elect Bob Holden, a registered Democrat who ran on the Republican line in November after losing to Crowley in the Democratic primary, did not attend.

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de Blasio Rockaway Town Hall



Mayor Bill de Blasio recently ventured to the politically hostile Rockaway neighborhood of Belle Harbor for a town hall.  Antipathy for de Blasio runs strong in the area, with de Blasio having lost the assembly district to both Nicole Malliotakis and Joe Lhota, but the town hall audience engaged with de Blasio on many substantive topics.

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Photo Gallery: de Blasio On Wall Street



Mayor Bill de Blasio sparked a rally on Wall Street Saturday, literally, but he didn’t boost any share prices.  de Blasio headlined a rally held outside the New York Stock Exchange at the intersection of Broad and Wall denouncing the Senate Republican tax bill approved just a few hours earlier.  Other speakers included Comptroller Scott Stringer, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.

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