Bill de Blasio

Early life, family and education

Bill de Blasio was born Warren Wilhelm Jr. on May 8, 1961. While he did not grow up in New York City, his parents drove from their home in Norwalk, Connecticut, to Manhattan's Doctors Hospital for his birth. He is the third son of Warren Wilhelm (1917–1979) and Maria Angela (née de Blasio; 1917–2007). He changed his name to Warren de Blasio-Wilhelm in 1983 and to Bill de Blasio in 2001 to honor his maternal family and to reflect his alienation from his father. He has two older brothers, Steven and Donald. His mother was of Italian heritage, and his father was of German, English, French, and Scots-Irish ancestry. His paternal grandparents were Donald Wilhelm of Ohio, and Nina (née Warren) from Iowa. His maternal grandfather, Giovanni, was from Sant'Agata de' Goti, Campania, and his grandmother, Anna (née Briganti), was from Grassano, Basilicata. His paternal uncle, Donald George Wilhelm Jr., worked for the Central Intelligence Agency in Iran and ghostwrote the memoir of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last shah of Iran.

His mother, Maria de Blasio, attended Smith College, served in the U.S. Office of War Information during World War II and authored The Other Italy: The Italian Resistance in World War II (1988). His father, a Yale University graduate, worked as a contributing editor at Time. In 1942, he enlisted in the U.S. Army during World War II. During the 82-day Battle of Okinawa, a grenade detonated below his left foot, and his leg was later amputated below the knee. After receiving a Purple Heart, he married Maria in 1945, and became a budget analyst for the federal government. During the 1950s, at the height of the Red Scare, both Maria and Warren were accused of having a "sympathetic interest in Communism". The family moved to Connecticut; Warren was chief international economist for Texaco and Maria worked in public relations at the Italian consulate.

In 1966, the family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts after Warren was offered a job at management consulting group Arthur D. Little, and Bill began kindergarten. Bill and his brother Donald then grew up with Maria and her extended family. Of his early childhood, de Blasio said, "my mother and father broke up very early on in the time I came along, and I was brought up by my mother's family—that's the bottom line—the de Blasio family."

When de Blasio was 18, his father committed suicide while suffering from incurable lung cancer. In 1979, de Blasio graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he was in student government and was known to peers as "Senator Provolone". He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from New York University in Manhattan in metropolitan studies, a program in urban studies, and a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs. He was a 1981 Harry S. Truman Scholar.

Early career

In 1984, de Blasio worked for the Urban Fellows Program at the New York City Department of Juvenile Justice. In 1987, shortly after completing graduate school at Columbia, he was hired to work as a political organizer by the Quixote Center in Maryland. In 1988, he traveled with the Quixote Center to Nicaragua for 10 days to help distribute food and medicine during the Nicaraguan Revolution. De Blasio was an ardent supporter of the ruling socialist government, the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which was opposed by the Reagan administration at the time. After returning from Nicaragua, de Blasio moved to New York City, where he worked for a nonprofit organization focused on improving health care in Central America. He continued to support the Sandinistas in his spare time and joined a group called the Nicaragua Solidarity Network of Greater New York, which held meetings and fundraisers for the Sandinista political party. De Blasio's introduction to city politics came in 1989, when he worked as a volunteer coordinator for David Dinkins' mayoral campaign. After the campaign, de Blasio was an aide in City Hall. In 1990, he said he was an advocate for democratic socialism when asked about his goals for society.

U.S. Representative Charles Rangel tapped de Blasio to be his campaign manager for his successful 1994 reelection bid. In 1997, de Blasio was appointed to be the regional director for the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for New York and New Jersey under the administration of President Bill Clinton. As the tri-state region's highest-ranking HUD official, de Blasio led a small executive staff and took part in outreach to residents of substandard housing. In 1999, he was elected to be a school board member for Brooklyn School District 15. In 2000, he was campaign manager for Hillary Clinton's successful United States Senate bid.

New York City Council (2002–2009)

Elections

In 2001, de Blasio ran for the New York City Council's 39th district, which includes the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Borough Park, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus, Kensington, Park Slope, and Windsor Terrace. He won the crowded primary election with 32% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Republican Robert A. Bell, 71% to 17%. He was reelected with 72% of the vote in 2003 and with 83% of the vote in 2005.

Tenure

On the City Council, de Blasio passed legislation to prevent landlord discrimination against tenants who hold federal housing subsidy vouchers, and helped pass the HIV/AIDS Housing Services Law, improving housing services for low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS. As head of the city council's General Welfare Committee, De Blasio helped pass the Gender-Based Discrimination Protection Law to protect transgender New Yorkers, and passed the Domestic Partnership Recognition Law to ensure that same-sex couples in a legal partnership could enjoy the same legal benefits as heterosexual couples in New York City. During his tenure, the General Welfare Committee also passed the Benefits Translation for Immigrants Law, which helped non-English speakers receive free language-assistance services when accessing government programs. He was on the education, environmental protection, finance, and technology committees and chaired the general welfare committee.

New York City Public Advocate (2010–2013)

2009 election

In November 2008, de Blasio announced his candidacy for New York City Public Advocate, entering a crowded field of candidates vying for the Democratic nomination that included former Public Advocate Mark Green. The New York Times endorsed de Blasio, praising his efforts to improve public schools and "[help] many less-fortunate New Yorkers with food stamps, housing, and children's health" as a councilmember. The paper declared de Blasio the best candidate for the job "because he has shown that he can work well with Mayor Bloomberg when it makes sense to do so while vehemently and eloquently opposing him when justified." His candidacy was endorsed by former Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, former Mayor Ed Koch, former Governor Mario Cuomo, and Reverend Al Sharpton.

On September 15, 2009, de Blasio finished first in the Democratic primary, garnering 33% of the vote. He won the runoff primary election on September 29, defeating Green, 62% to 38%. In the November 3 general election, De Blasio defeated Republican Alex Zablocki, 78% to 18%. De Blasio was inaugurated as New York City's third Public Advocate on January 1, 2010. In his inauguration speech, he criticized the Bloomberg administration, especially its homelessness and education policies.

Tenure

In June 2010, de Blasio opposed a New York City Housing Authority decision to cut the number of Section 8 vouchers issued to low-income New Yorkers. The cut was announced after the NYCHA discovered it could not pay for approximately 2,600 vouchers that had already been issued. Two months later, he launched an online "NYC's Worst Landlords Watchlist" to track landlords who had failed to repair dangerous living conditions. The list drew widespread media coverage and highlighted hundreds of landlords across the city. "We want these landlords to feel like they're being watched," de Blasio told the New York Daily News. "We need to shine a light on these folks to shame them into action."

De Blasio has criticized Citizens United, the January 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision that overturned parts of the 2002 McCain–Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act. He argued that "corporations should not be allowed to buy elections" and launched a national campaign by elected officials to reverse the decision's effects.

As public advocate, de Blasio repeatedly criticized Bloomberg's education policies. He called for Cathie Black, Bloomberg's nominee for New York City Schools Chancellor, to take part in public forums and criticized her for sending her own children to private schools. In March 2010, he spoke against an MTA proposal to eliminate free MetroCards for students, arguing the measure would take a significant toll on school attendance. Three months later, he voiced opposition to the mayor's proposed budget containing more than $34 million in cuts to childcare services. In June 2011, de Blasio outlined a plan to improve the process of school co-location, by which multiple schools are housed in one building. His study found community input was often ignored by the city's Department of Education, resulting in top-down decisions made without sufficient regard for negative impacts. He outlined eight solutions to improve the process and incorporate community opinion into the decision-making process. In the same month, he criticized a Bloomberg administration proposal to lay off more than 4,600 teachers to balance the city's budget; de Blasio organized parents and communities against the proposed cuts and staged a last-minute call-a-thon. Bloomberg restored the funding, agreeing to find savings elsewhere in the budget.

Mayor of New York City (2014–2021)

2013 election

On January 27, 2013, de Blasio announced his candidacy for mayor of New York City in the fall election. The Democratic primary race included nine candidates, among them Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner, and former New York City Comptroller and 2009 mayoral nominee Bill Thompson. After Weiner joined the race in April, early polls showed de Blasio in fourth or fifth place. Despite his poor starting position, de Blasio gained the endorsements of major Democratic clubs, such as the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan, and New York City's largest trade union, SEIU Local 1199. Celebrities such as Alec Baldwin and Sarah Jessica Parker endorsed him, as did prominent politicians such as former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Congresswoman Yvette Clarke. By August, singer Harry Belafonte and actress Susan Sarandon had also endorsed de Blasio.

De Blasio drew attention to issues of economic inequality in New York City, which he called a "tale of two cities". He gained media attention during the campaign when he and a dozen others, including city councillor Stephen Levin, were arrested while protesting the closing of Long Island College Hospital. De Blasio and Levin were released a few hours later with disorderly conduct summonses. Fellow Democratic mayoral hopefuls Weiner and City Comptroller John Liu were also at the protest but were not arrested.

During his mayoral campaign, de Blasio outlined a plan to raise taxes on residents earning more than $500,000 a year to pay for universal pre-kindergarten programs and to expand after-school programs at middle schools. He also pledged to invest $150 million annually into the City University of New York to lower tuition and improve degree programs. In September 2013, de Blasio voiced his opposition to charter schools, maintaining that their funding saps resources from classes like art, physical education and after-school programs. He outlined a plan to discontinue the policy of offering rent-free space to the city's 183 charter schools and to place a moratorium on the co-location of charter schools in public school buildings.

In August 2013, the de Blasio campaign released a television advertisement featuring de Blasio's then-15-year-old son, Dante, talking about his father's plans to "'really break from the Bloomberg years.'" Time called it "The Ad That Won the New York Mayor's Race", noting that after it ran, "de Blasio built a steady lead that he never relinquished." Quinn was attacked by a number of groups including NYCLASS with their "Anybody But Quinn" campaign, allowing de Blasio to move up in the polls. By mid-August, he emerged as the new leader among the Democrats. He reached 43% in a Quinnipiac poll released a week before the primary.

2017 election

In 2017, de Blasio won reelection to a second term, defeating Republican Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, 65.2%–27.2%.

Tenure

De Blasio was sworn into office on January 1, 2014, by former President Bill Clinton. In his inaugural address, he reiterated his campaign pledge to address "economic and social inequalities" within the city. The New York Times noted that "The elevation of an assertive, tax-the-rich liberal to the nation's most prominent municipal office has fanned hopes that hot-button causes like universal prekindergarten and low-wage worker benefits... could be aided by the imprimatur of being proved workable in New York."

On January 10, 2014, the mayor received light-hearted criticism after a photoshoot where he ate a pizza with a knife and fork at a Staten Island pizzeria. In defense, de Blasio said that it was traditional in Italy to eat pizza in such a manner. Marc Cosentino, the owner of the pizzeria, later auctioned off the notorious fork for $2,500 to raise money for the Tunnel to Towers Foundation. The incident was variously dubbed "Forkgate", "Pizzagate", and "Pizzaghazi".

At a February 2, 2014 Groundhog Day ceremony, de Blasio accidentally dropped a groundhog named Charlotte onto the ground in front of "shocked schoolchildren". Charlotte died of internal injuries on February 9, 2014, although the Staten Island Zoo did not make this fact public until several months later.

In the first weeks of de Blasio's mayoralty, New York City was struck by a series of snowstorms. De Blasio was criticized by Upper East Side residents who said efforts to clear the snow seemed to be lagging in their neighborhood. De Blasio apologized the next day, saying that "more could have been done to serve the Upper East Side." On February 13, heavy snowstorms hit the East Coast again. Under instructions from De Blasio and School Chancellor Carmen Fariña, the city's public schools were kept open. This decision was criticized by teacher unions, parents and the media as 9.5 inches of snow fell that day. By the middle of February, the city had added $35 million to the Sanitation Department's budget for snow removal.

De Blasio had mixed approval ratings during his mayoralty, but had low approval ratings upon leaving office.

In 2016, de Blasio expressed support for the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act that would allow relatives of victims of the September 11 attacks to sue Saudi Arabia for its government's alleged role in the attacks.

2020 presidential campaign

On May 16, 2019, de Blasio announced that he would seek the Democratic nomination for president after releasing a YouTube video in which he said, "I'm Bill de Blasio, and I'm running for president because it's time we put working people first." He was the first incumbent mayor of New York City to run for president since John Lindsay, who ran for the Democratic nomination in 1972.

During his campaign, de Blasio expressed support for increasing the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour. On June 19, 2019, he said, "We have to make sure there is a peace settlement in Afghanistan; it obviously has to involve the Taliban. Until that point, I don't think it's sensible to take out our troops." De Blasio advocated a robot tax and proposed to make large corporations responsible for five years of income tax from jobs that are automated away.

De Blasio's campaign failed to gain traction. He was unable to qualify for Democratic primary debates in September and October, which were seen as necessary events for his campaign to maintain viability. He regularly polled at 0% among Democratic primary voters, including in his home state. A May 2019 Quinnipiac University poll of New York City voters found that 76% did not want de Blasio to run for president. After failing to qualify for the third round of primary debates, de Blasio announced the suspension of his campaign on September 20, 2019. On February 14, 2020, de Blasio endorsed Sanders.

In May 2023, the Federal Election Commission issued a $53,000 fine against de Blasio's campaign for accepting improper contributions. In January 2025, a judge ruled that de Blasio was responsible for all costs associated with his mayoral security detail's out-of-state travel in connection with his presidential bid; the total cost was $475,000.

Post-mayoral career

In 2022, de Blasio ran for the U.S. House of Representatives in the newly redrawn 10th congressional district. After receiving scant support in public polls, he withdrew from the race on July 19 and stated that he was done with "electoral politics". During the fall of 2022 he was a visiting fellow at the Institute of Politics (IOP) at Harvard University. During 2023 he was the Marnold Visiting Scholar from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at the New York University (NYU). During the Winter of 2024 he was the Harry A. and Margaret D. Towsley Foundation Policymaker in Residence from the Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan (UMich, U-M, or Michigan).

In September 2025, de Blasio endorsed Zohran Mamdani for mayor of New York City. On October 28, 2025, The Times of London published an article falsely claiming to feature quotes by de Blasio that expressed negative views about Mamdani's campaign. The article was deleted two hours after publication. The actual interviewee was later revealed to be Bill DeBlasio, a wine importer living in Huntington Station, New York. DeBlasio used ChatGPT to generate a response to the reporter's initial email, and received an interview through his home's Ring doorbell. On October 30, The Nation published an article by the former mayor de Blasio about the incident, stating that he gave the reporter some credit for apologizing to him directly, but expressing concern about the state of journalism "in a hyper-partisan era when standards of objectivity and decency are decaying week by week".

Personal life

De Blasio and his wife, activist and poet Chirlane McCray, met while both were working for Mayor David Dinkins' administration and married in 1994. The couple honeymooned in Cuba in violation of a US travel ban. They lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn before they moved to Gracie Mansion, the traditional residence of New York City mayors. They have two children: Dante, a graduate of Brooklyn Technical High School who graduated from Yale University in 2019, and Chiara, a student at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California. Chiara addressed her drug use and depression in late December 2013 in a four-minute video which de Blasio's mayoral transition team released.

In July 2023, De Blasio and McCray announced their separation. The couple added that they intended to start dating other people, but that they would not seek a divorce and would continue to share their Park Slope residence. Since that time, de Blasio has reportedly dated multiple women. In February 2025, he announced that he was dating journalist Nomiki Konst. In December 2025, de Blasio announced he had split with Konst and was dating Roxanna Valenzuela, mayor of South Tucson. At 6 ft 5+7⁄8 in (1.98 m), De Blasio is the tallest mayor in New York City's history.

De Blasio, an Italian American, occasionally gives interviews, press conferences, and speeches in Italian. He appeared as himself as mayor on The Good Wife in 2014, a TV show he said he was "deeply obsessed" with.

De Blasio is a passionate fan of the Boston Red Sox and he has a "deep devotion" to the New York Yankees' archrivals.

Religion

De Blasio has described himself as "spiritual but not religious". His mother rejected her Catholic faith. He did not attend church in his early life.

Net worth

According to Forbes, De Blasio and his wife had a net worth of $2.5 million as of August 2019.