When he walks the streets of New York, his silhouette is recognizable among a thousand: Bill de Blasio, the build of an athlete and the face of an actor, borders the two meters. A few days ago, it was near the Trump Tower, on the very chic Fifth Avenue, that he headed with a determined step. To have a frank discussion with President-elect Donald Trump.
New York, “city-sanctuary”
No question for this atypical mayor of “sacrificing” the illegals of New York: he assured the billionaire that he would block against his desire to expel the illegals, and benefits from the support of other mayors of large cities, also ready to help. make a bulwark. For Bill de Blasio, New York must remain a “city-sanctuary” which protects the poorest. Undocumented migrants even receive an identity card specific to the city.
Bill de Blasio also expressed to Donald Trump his concerns about the massive security around his tower, which creates traffic problems. And he did not fail to remind him that 900 American Muslims work in the police force in the city, “to protect us every day”. One way of reacting to the remarks made by Donald Trump after a shooting perpetrated in a gay nightclub by an American of Afghan parents: he had declared that it was necessary to think about closing the borders to Muslims.
A father who commits suicide
It’s like that, Bill de Blasio: direct, straightforward. Omnipresent mayor, heart to the left – he describes himself as liberal and progressive – a great defender of minorities. And virulent criticism of Donald Trump.
Its history is special. First of all, there is the family heritage. Tragic. A father of German descent, World War II hero Warren Wilhelm, who lost part of his left leg in Okinawa, torn off by a grenade. Then, back in the United States, this Harvard graduate, who works as an analyst in the Department of Commerce, is accused of sympathies for the Communist regime because he had studied Soviet economics at university. Victim of McCarthyism, he begins to drink, begins a slow descent into hell, divorce. Suffering from cancer, he ended up shooting himself in the heart, in a parking lot, locked in his car.
Bill de Blasio was then 18 years old. Quickly, he wants to get rid of his name, chooses that of his mother, an activist and writer of Italian origin. In 2001, a Brooklyn judge formally changed his marital status. This is when Warren Wilhelm Jr officially becomes Bill de Blasio.
«I am a Lesbian», en 1979
His private life is also atypical. Bill de Blasio met his future wife, Chirlane McCray, for mayor of New York in 1991, while working on the campaign team of Democrat David Dinkins, who would become the first black mayor of New York. Immediate love at first sight. The poet of Caribbean origin reveals to him that she is homosexual, but they will eventually get married in 1994, under trees of Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, not far from where he lived at the time.. And spend their honeymoon in Cuba, despite the American embargo. They have two children: Dante and Chiara. Chirlane is also a character. The same passion and madness as her husband, the same rage to defend the most vulnerable. On Twitter, she introduces herself as @NYCFirstLady. Chirlane McCray was the first African American to come out by posting a column, «I am a Lesbian» dans le magazine Essence. It was in 1979. Married woman, she continues today to defend the homosexual cause. With passion.
As a child, Bill de Blasio began to wake up to politics at the age of 12, in the midst of the Watergate affair. An early activist, he often takes to the streets for anti-apartheid or nuclear protests. At 26, he went to Nicaragua, in the midst of the Sandinista revolution, to distribute food and medicine. And it is the soul of a revolutionary that he will continue to raise funds for the Sandinistas from New York.
Several campaigns with the Clintons
In 1992, this nonconformist who does not deny anything of his past, joined the New York campaign team of Bill Clinton for the presidential election. Eight years later, he was on the leadership of Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the Senate. Before entering the race for mayor of New York, he had little experience as a city councilor in Brooklyn. From January 1, 2010, he served as the New York City Ombudsman.
To reach the rank of mayor, he does not hesitate to use his son in a campaign spot: the teenager, afro cut and paternal outspoken, openly criticized Mike Bloomberg, three terms of mayor to his credit, in denouncing its “policy of arrest and body search which targets people of color”. Bill de Blasio has often been criticized for putting too much emphasis on his multiracial family for electoral purposes. No matter: he was elected and took office on January 1, 2014. Actress Susan Sarandon had notably supported him during his campaign. Just like Alec Baldwin or billionaire and philanthropist George Soros.
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The idealist Bill de Blasio – naive, some prefer to say – acts daily for minorities, fights against the gentrification of New York, promises more social housing and day nurseries. Since he became mayor, the crime figures have fallen further. He has helped to strengthen and modernize the police force, to deploy counterterrorism units, the very ones that are very present to secure the Trump Tower. And to extend the free wi-fi network.
A champion of communication, Bill de Blasio is very active on Twitter. Recently, it is with the hashtag #AlwaysNewYork that it is expressed. To insist that despite the recent election of Donald Trump, New York, his city, will remain the same. True to its values.
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Profile:
1961: Born May 8 in Manhattan.
1989: Joined the campaign team of Democrat David Dinkins, who became the first (and only) black mayor of New York.
2000: Leads Hillary Clinton’s campaign team for the Senate.
2013: Elected 109th mayor of New York on November 5.
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