Bill de Blasio’s Victory, Essay Example

Michael Bloomberg has had successes as a New York Mayor but his era has been criticized by some as being too focus on Manhattan or the city’s elite class. Michael Bloomberg is himself a billionaire and one of the richest Americans, thus, some thought he was out of touch with the majority of the city’s residents who reside in other boroughs. This provided an opportunity to Bill de Blasio to present himself as a polar opposite of Michael Bloomberg as he comes from Brooklyn and his background is more closely aligned with an average New Yorker than the city’s elites. Thus, Bill de Plasio was able to convince New Yorkers that he understands their problems well and his progressive agenda including higher taxes on the rich also appealed to those who feel tax policies have been too favorable towards high income-earners. There has been growing concern among New Yorkers regarding growing income gap, thus, Bill De Plasio’s message regarding tax was right on the spot.

Bill de Plasio’s family background also lent credibility to his claims to improve social treatment of minority ethnic groups, particularly, African Americans. Some of the policies enforced under Michael Bloomberg were highly controversial and somewhat unpopular such as police department’s stop-and-frisk policy. But Bill de Plasio’s huge win is also due to the fact that the leading Democratic contenders such as Christine Quinn and Anthony Weiner failed to maintain their lead due to scandals as well as the fact that New York City is a Democrat stronghold where the Republican mayoral candidate never had much chance of success(Lemire).

Work Cited

Lemire, Jonathan. Bill De Blasio Sworn In As NYC Mayor. 1 January 2014. 20 January 2014 <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/01/bill-de-blasio-nyc-mayor_n_4526644.html>.