Park Slope’s Bill De Blasio Officially Running for Mayor

New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio has officially entered the mayoral race. He declared his candidacy in front of his 11th Street home yesterday, accompanied by his wife Chirlane McCray and 15-year-old son Dante (whose hair, the New York Times notes, was “the subject of considerable fascination”).

Throughout his tenure as Public Advocate, de Blasio has focused on tenants’ rights, early childhood education, and the protection and expansion of job opportunities for New Yorkers. His “Worst Landlords Watch List” identified landlords who were taking advantage of their tenants, and his public database in “Open Government NYC,” aimed for similar transparency in City Council funding.

His campaign, judging from his announcement and slogan (“We only succeed if we leave no New Yorker behind”), is based in outer-borough pride and anti-elitism. Gothamist reports:

“Like so many New Yorkers, my heart belongs to my neighborhood. We deserve a city government that actually believes in our neighborhoods and sees things the way we do,” de Blasio told the crowd [...] ”Now, that may have seemed impossible in recent years. We’ve gotten so used to the elitists at City Hall that the notion of government, of and for and by our neighborhoods, may seem in disrepair.“

Expected opponents include City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and NYC Comptroller John Liu. Neither have made their official announcements.

Photo credit Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times