Bill de Blasio, former city public advocate and City Council member, was sworn in as mayor of New York City this January, ushering in a left-leaning administration after Michael R. Bloomberg’s three-term stay at City Hall. From Staten Island to the farthest reaches of Queens, we asked New Yorkers – our neighbors, fellow students, local business owners – what they think their new mayor.
TIMELINE: Key Events of the de Blasio Administration
PUBLIC OPINION: What New Yorkers Think
Here, we interview New Yorkers about de Blasio’s term thus far — dropped groundhogs, universal pre-school, stop and frisk and the terrible winter that welcomed his first few months in office.
BROOKLYN
Miriam Singer, 36, Brooklyn, personal shopper
Ms. Singer said she feels the mayor’s agenda focuses all of his attention on the lower class and makes the middle and upper class pay for policies.
Olga Garcia-Kaplan, 38, Brooklyn, enterprise manager, Novitex Inc.
Yossel Bar-Chaim, 47, Crown Heights, special education teacher
Although not himself a car owner, Mr. Yossel Bar-Chaim said he feels like the mayor should do more to ease the lives of car owners in New York City.
Anna Bolma, 27, Crown Heights, high school history teacher
While Ms. Bolman said she doesn’t know much about de Blasio’s policies, she does take issue with the mayor’s sleeping habits.
Ryan Mason, 23, Flatbush, Brooklyn, Market Analytics
Mr. Mason backs Mayor de Blasio’s effort to reduce the number of pedestrian deaths in New York City, but believes the majority of the responsibility lies with the pedestrians.
Bryan Charlie, 27, Brooklyn, freelance jazz musician
Mr. Charlie believes that Mayor de Blasio tries his best to be inclusive of all communities with his actions and policies and is a lot more representative of the face of New York City than past mayors.
Samuel Rubinstein, 20, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, Student at Baruch College
Rubinstein believes de Blasio has not met the promises he made to the citizens of New York City during last year’s mayoral race and believes the mayor should invest more into improving the CUNY system.
MANHATTAN
Dwieht Stocker, 58, Manhattan, finance
Mr. Stocker feels it is an appropriate time for a Democratic mayor to take hold of the reins and introduce new policies to our city. Additionally, he believes Mayor de Blasio’s primary focus should be on balancing the overall budget and ensuring tax revenues are directed towards paying for the city’s expenses.
Trinidad Sandoval, 21, Upper West Side, Columbia University student
Ms. Sandoval said that she would like to see Mayor de Blasio get involved and oversee construction of the Manhattanville Project, a construction project being developed by Columbia University in upper Manhattan.
John Churchill, 48, Upper West Side, finance
Mr. Churchill said that he would like the mayor to clarify the city’s bike rules. Mr. Churchill expressed a concern towards how vagueness of the rules is contributing to accidents and deaths on the roads.
QUEENS
Allison Jackson-Hing, 20, Queens, college student and tennis player
Ms.Jackson-Hing would like the see the mayor and his affiliates spend more time on the public and charter schools throughout the boroughs, due to the fact that there are many students who are having issues taking specialized test. She also believes that for the first time in a long time minorities are benefiting from him being in office, due to the fact that his family is bi-racial.
Marlene Pangilinan, 51, Forest Hills, paralegal
Having immigrated to New York from the Philippines over 20 years ago, Mrs. Pangilinan had lived under the administrations of mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg. Regarding her opinion of Mayor De Blasio, she recalled how he had handled one of the many snowstorms during the first few months of his term.
Ryan Raman, 20, Astoria, student/library assistant
Mr. Raman doesn’t see too many negative or positive changes in his neighborhood, but wishes the MTA would be more efficient.
STATEN ISLAND
Sarah Guan, 17, Staten Island, student
Ms. Guan criticizes Mayor de Blasio’s inability to fully execute his bills, such as implementing Universal Pre-K and the ban on Central Park carriage horses.