Bill de Blasio is sworn in as mayor of New York at midnight by Attorney-General Eric Schneiderman.
Speech will be today at City Hall at Noon. Bill Clinton will be swearing him in, insuring a national media audience. Should be a doozy!
You can watch the inaugural live here.
In his first act as Mayor, de Blasio has banned those awful, horrible horse-drawn carriages in Central Park! Good Riddance! And HOORAY for horses!
New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio said that one of his first acts after taking office this week will be to ban horse-drawn carriages in Central Park.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, de Blasio said it was inhumane to expose the horses to the city's dangerous streets.
"We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape in New York City," de Blasio said, according to NBC New York. "They are not humane. ... It's over."
9:51 AM PT: If you aren't watching Public Advocate Letitia James TEARING IT UP ON THE PODIUM, YOU NEED TO DO SO!
10:11 AM PT: Bill Clinton 'strongly endorsed' Bill de Blasio's message of inequality in his speech today. I should say this is the biggest sign yet that the Clintons are well aware of the shifting winds in the democratic party. Very good, all around.
10:37 AM PT: Reaction to de Blasio's speech:
Bill de Blasio is not an orator of the first order, but on freshness of the Democratic message he went even beyond Elizabeth Warren. He explicitly, repeatedly, referred to a 'Progressive' movement starting its work here and spreading throughout the nation. Income Inequality was at the very center of his speech and he returned to it repeatedly. He took on trickle down economics, echoing much of the words we've been hearing recently from the Pope. He repeatedly referred to the 'elite' and 'Wall Street' as powers he was looking to take on. He said with emphasis that he intended to follow through on his campaign rhetoric.
It is almost unheard of these days to hear Democrats talk like this. But he is bluntly and openly doing so. The fact that he is doing so is a sign that the Democratic Party had begun a careful, slow, yet obvious recalibration in the wake of the Occupy Movement.
The speeches today were strikingly partisan, ardently progressive, and bold in the use of language. Especially new Public Advocate Letitia James repeatedly go on the attack against the establishment, the wealthy, and elite. She's going to be a force to deal with, even for de Blasio which she has been noting.
I'm quite pleased all around. Now its time to govern. And time to hold feet to the fire.