September 12, 2013
By Marc Bussanich 
Brooklyn, NY—Cheering supporters cheered loudly when they saw on the big screen that Bill de Blasio reached 40 percent of the primary vote Tuesday evening at the Bell House, just blocks from where the public advocate lives. But Bill Thompson, gaining 25 percent of the vote, said he wouldn't concede defeat until all ballots were counted. Watch Video
But the celebration carried on. Cynthia Nixon of Sex and the City stardom was the first speaker on stage; she announced George Gresham, president of 1199SEIU, who endorsed de Blasio in May and said at Borough Hall in Brooklyn on Sunday he could taste victory.
Gresham in turned introduced de Blasio's 19-year old daughter, Chiara, who kidded her younger brother, Dante, that he might look good on TV but she was the only de Blasio kid to vote for her dad.
She introduced her father as the man with the plan, who first acknowledged the 12th anniversary of September 11, 2001. On Monday morning Police Commissioner, Ray Kelly, said he's concerned the mayoral hopefuls are soft on terrorism because none of the candidates requested a briefing from the NYPD on terrorism.
Mr. de Blasio seemed to answer that charge on Tuesday night.
"We were reminded that day of a crucially important lesson that the job of those of us in a position of authority is to keep our city safe, to be constantly vigilant and to use every tool at our disposal to protect our people."
He then reminded his supporters of that chilly January day, when he announced his mayoral bid, that he was determined to do something about New York's widening income inequality.
"That day we resolved to do something about this tale of two cities," said de Blasio.
He wants to chart a new path forward by "offering an unapologetically progressive alternative to the Bloomberg era," de Blasio said.
Mr. de Blasio proposes to raise taxes from 3.9 percent to 4.4 percent, less than one percent, on people earning $500,000 or more to fund universal pre-K for every child in the city. According to the Independent Budget Office, the average increase would be $973 a year for 27,300 New Yorkers earning between $500,000 and $1 million.
He warned that the city can't continue down the path of growing income inequality.
"It's a risk that we as a city cannot afford to take."
The night ended on a lighter note when, with "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" bellowing, the de Blasio family executed a SmackDown.
Follow Marc Bussanich on Twitter marc@laborpress.org
