Public Advocate Bill de Blasio officially announced his candidacy for mayor yesterday before a crowd of supporters outside his Brooklyn home, taking the opportunity to blast Mayor Bloomberg as an elitist who created “a tale of two cities” in New York.
“All boroughs are created equal,” de Blasio said on the steps outside his Park Slope home beside his wife, Chirlane McCray, and son, Dante, a high-school student, who also spoke.
“And that’s why, on my block, I declare my candidacy for mayor of New York City.”
De Blasio slammed Bloomberg for extending mayoral term limits, ignoring the outer boroughs and buying the last election with his personal wealth.
“We’ve gotten so used to the elitists at City Hall,” he said.
“I have to say, I think maybe we’ve all gotten a little numb because our democracy has been repeatedly attacked by the power of money.”
But he praised Bloomberg for his public-health policies, including obesity measures and the smoking ban in bars, restaurants and other public areas, and mayoral control of the public schools.