Mayor de Blasio and his family arrived in Italy Sunday morning — and his teenage son, Dante, stole the show.
The 16-year-old, whose signature Afro haircut has fascinated the press on both sides of the Atlantic, was an instant celebrity.
Italian photographers screamed out his name when the family got out of their white Mercedes SUV to meet with Rome’s mayor, Ignazio Marino.
Marino showed the de Blasios around the ancient ruins of the Forum, giving the family some time to take a few pictures.
“I feel like I’m in a band,” de Blasio said of all the paparazzi.
He and Marino held a joint press conference in the museum, where de Blasio noted that family life is a big part of Italian culture.
“We have a lot to learn from the Italians,’’ de Blasio said.
“I think time with family is crucial and precious in life, and for the last couple of years that’s been hard to come by.
“This is an amazing moment for our family to experience this together and it’s something we’ve waited for years to do,” he said.
He joked that his wife, Chirlane, must have been Italian in a past life because she’s the one who chose Italian names for their kids.
The mayor of the Big Apple, praised his counterpart, saying the Eternal City is in good hands.
After the press conference, de Blasio told reporters he had “found a new brother’’ in Marino.
The de Blasios ended their first evening in true Roman fashion — a big dinner with Italian relatives.
Prior to the trip, Chirlane had said she was most looking forward to the feast of foods she would eat on their vacation.
One of their stops was at Piazza Navona for a granita al caffè, an iced coffee with whipped cream.
De Blasio is scheduled to meet the Vatican’s secretary of state on Monday.
After Rome, the family is planning on spending some time at the beaches in Capri and then Garassano, the small town where de Blasio’s maternal grandmother, Anna Briganti, lived before she emigrated to New York.
Then they’ll visit Naples before ending their tour in Venice.
De Blasio postponed his trip for two days after a Staten Island man was killed during an arrest.
