Hon. Bill de Blasio

As New York City’s 109th mayor, Bill de Blasio is committed to fighting the income inequality that has created a ‘Tale of Two Cities’ across the five boroughs. Mayor de Blasio believes all New Yorkers deserve a chance to succeed, which means every child gets a quality education, every community is safe, and every New Yorker has an affordable place to call home.

Since assuming office in 2014, the de Blasio Administration has developed and executed transformative initiatives including Pre-K for All; Paid Sick Leave; neighborhood policing; IDNYC; and Housing New York, the largest, most ambitious affordable housing plan in the nation. Under his leadership, the city has experienced historic lows in crime while ending its overuse of stop-and-frisk; implemented neighborhood policing to bring police and communities closer together; created HOME-STAT, the largest homeless outreach effort in the nation; and developed the Vision Zero plan aimed at ending pedestrian traffic deaths.

Mayor de Blasio has been an outspoken progressive voice on key national issues that touch the lives of his fellow New Yorkers, including immigration reform, fair trade agreements, gun laws, transportation infrastructure, and climate change. New York City is now the largest city in the world committed to cutting emissions 40 percent by 2030 as part of a broader goal to reduce emissions 80 percent by 2050.

Prior to becoming Mayor, de Blasio was the Public Advocate of New York City, the second-highest ranking official in the city. As Public Advocate, de Blasio served as a direct link between New Yorkers and their government, acting as a watchdog over City agencies and investigating complaints about City services. Before being elected to that position, de Blasio represented Brooklyn’s 39^th District in the New York City Council. During his two terms, de Blasio fought to improve public education, expand affordable housing, protect tenants' rights, and reform social services for vulnerable families and children.

Mayor de Blasio’s three decades of activism and experience working in government also include serving as Regional Director at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development; as a School Board Member for Brooklyn School District 15; and as head of Hillary Rodham Clinton's successful and historic campaign in 2000 for the US Senate. He began his career in public service in 1989 as part of David N. Dinkins' mayoral campaign, and then worked as a junior staffer in the Dinkins Administration. He is the first Democrat to be elected Mayor of New York since his former boss.

Born in Manhattan and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, de Blasio is a graduate of New York University and Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.