On the night of Tuesday, Nov. 5, Democrat Bill de Blasio celebrated hist victory the most one-sided New York mayoral election since 1985, securing the position by a margin of about 49% percent over Republican Joe Lhota.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, gave great praise to de Blasio, saying, “Bill will be a tremendous partner in moving this great City forward.” New York Senator Charles Schumer also praised the public advocate and former city councilman, who will be sworn in as the city’s 109th mayor on Jan. 1, 2014.
According to the New York Times, many citizens are hopeful that de Blasio will bring positive change.
Darrian Smith, a 48-year-old public school custodian, told the times that he voted for de Blasio to stop the city’s “stop and frisk” policy, a controversial and racially-charged practice by which police officers may stop, question and frisk pedestrians merely on suspicion of wrongdoing.
Stefano Maliverno, a freshman at Tappan Zee High School in the suburb of Orangeburg, stated, “‘Stop and frisk’ must be stopped… I can’t believe how some people can just stop others on the justifications of appearance.”
De Blasio attacked the policy on the campaign trail, where he also promised to create 200,000 new affordable housing projects over the next decade, Jon Kopita, of Greenwich Village, told the Times he hopes de Blasio’s work will curb Manhattan building projects that are making New York “a rich person’s city.”
The incoming mayor has also promised education reforms.
Tappan Zee freshman Max Fernandez explained, “The fact that de Blasio wants to create a universal education system for every child in New York is simply amazing.”
As Mayor de Blasio starts to roadmap his plans, citizens and fellow politicians stand ready to see the changes he will make to the United States’ largest metropolis.
