[Video below.] Below is the text of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s victory speech on Thursday night, delivered at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in Midtown Manhattan, as
transcribed by The New York Times:
Thank you. Gracias. What a week this is turning out to be. Tonight, a hard-fought victory in a very difficult year, and – who knows? – maybe in a few days, the biggest victory parade that Broadway has ever seen.
Thank you, Jimmy Fallon, that was maybe the nicest thing a Red Sox fan ever said about a Yankees fan, and I appreciate it.
Today voters from every borough and every background and every neighborhood and every nationality, from every party and every persuasion, went to the polls and they chose progress.
More progress in our schools, more progress fighting crime and poverty, more progress creating jobs and affordable housing. And more progress building a greener and healthier city.
The voters have spoken, and now, it’s up to us to deliver. Can we do it?
I know we can. And I know we will.
Our city and our country, as we all know, are going through some very difficult times. We’re in the midst of the worst national recession we’ve had in decades, and these are tough times, even for our tough town. Tonight, throughout the nation, the public has been very clear, and some incumbents have learned that they are tired of politics as usual.
The public wants their leaders from both parties to get things done. They want more independence, and less partisanship, and a government that is free of the special interests.
And that’s what we’ve done in New York City. And that’s why New Yorkers have defied tonight’s trend and said yes, instead of no.
Now, a little while ago, I received a very gracious call from Comptroller Bill Thompson. Come on – Bill is a good man, who I’ve always enjoyed working with, and in all fairness, he ran a spirited campaign and he put up a tough fight. He deserves a round of applause. Come on.
And I think Bill Thompson for his service to the city, and I also want to congratulate our new comptroller, the first Asian-American elected to citywide office, John Liu. And our new public advocate, Bill de Blasio.
I look forward to working with them and all of Bill Thompson’s supporters, because at the end of the day, we all agree on a heck of a lot more than we disagree on, especially our love of New York City.
Now, we’ve come so far in these past few years by staying united, and that’s how we’re going to climb out of this national recession together. Over the past year, in the subway and in diners all around the city, I’ve talked with men and women who are struggling to get by. Some have lost their jobs, others fight every month to pay the rent or the mortgage. I know it’s not easy out there. But I also know this: while we can’t fix the national recession, we can and we will get our city through these tough times. And we’ll come out stronger than ever.
And I’m committed to working twice as hard, in the next four years, as I did in the past eight. And during the good times, we showed that New York City could outperform the nation in creating jobs, improving schools, fighting climate change, even extending life expectancy. And now in these tough times, we’re going to show that we can keep outperforming the rest of the country.
Over the next four years we’re going to make the safest big city in the country even safer. We’ve driven crime down so low the experts are now wondering if it can go any lower. Well let me tell you something: We’re determined to find out.
We’re also going to keep improving what is far and away the best public school system of any big city in the country. We’ve made amazing progress these last eight years and we’re just getting started. We’re also going to make New York the most environmentally friendly city in the country. And more trees in every neighborhood: 1 million trees.
We’re going to have the most ambitious job-creation strategy in the country, with new jobs and small business from the South Bronx to Coney Island.
We’ll extend the most ambitious public health agenda in the country and complete the largest affordable-housing plan in the country. We’ll offer more immigrant adults English-language classes so they can fully contribute to our economy. And we’ll continue to fight for real immigration reform in Washington because Nueva York es una ciudad donde adoremos todos las culturas.
We’ll do all of this and a lot more. If you think you’ve seen progress over the last eight years, I’ve got news for you: You ain’t seen nothing yet.
Well, conventional wisdom says historically third terms haven’t been too successful. But we’ve spent the last eight years defying conventional wisdom. If you remember, after 9/11, when the pundits said it would take decades for us to recover, we proved them wrong. When they said crime could only go up, not down, we proved them wrong. When they said nothing could be done to close the ethnic achievement gap in the schools, we proved them wrong. We’ve proven the experts wrong again and again and again and we’re not stopping now.
We’re going to make the next four years the best yet and we’re going to do it with the same independent approach we’ve always taken: making decisions based on the facts, not the politics. Doing the right thing, not the easy thing. And taking the best ideas, no matter where they come from. That’s what being independent is all about.
I couldn’t be more honored to be the first independent to be elected mayor in the city’s modern history. New Yorkers want a mayor who can stretch across the aisle and bring people together. That’s what we’ve done over the past eight years and that’s what we did in this election. We’ve built the most diverse coalition of supporters this city has ever seen: thousands and thousands of people who gave their time and energy to this campaign: college students and seniors, union members and small-business owners, New Yorkers from every community, speaking just about every imaginable language, reaching out to every single voter in every neighborhood. Handing out literature, making phone calls, stuffing envelopes and, up to this evening, knocking on more than two million doors. Make no mistake: you make this happen. Actually, this is the first time I’ve seen any of you standing still. None of this, none of this would have been possible without all of you. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
I’ve also had the singles best campaign staff ever assembled, led by the tireless and talented Bradley Tusk. Bradley did an amazing job as our campaign manager, and I know he would be the first to say that it was a total team effort.
Day after day, they work literally around the clock to get our message of progress out there, and they did it with tremendous integrity and passion, and I am forever grateful and finally, finally I want to thank the women in my life, who have always given me their love and support, both on and ff the campaign trail: my daughters, Emma and Georgina; my sister, Marjorie, and her two daughters; Diana, of course; and my mother, Charlotte, who is celebrating our victory. My mother is celebrating our victory at home in Medford tonight. When I talked to her on the phone I said, ‘Just one glass of Champagne,’ but she told me to mind my own business.
Tonight we’re going to enjoy this celebration. We’ve earned it. But tomorrow, you have my word. I’ll be back at work bright and early. I can’t wait. I love this city. I love it for all the reasons that you do: the energy, the excitement, the people, but I think I love it most because this is the place where no matter who you are, no matter where you come from, if you work hard enough and have a little luck along the way, nothing can stop you from your greatest dreams. Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not possible, because I know it is.
And working together, I have no doubt that our best days are still ahead. Our best years are still ahead. Now, can we do it? Will you help me? Will you help make the greatest city in the world even better? Will the Yankees win Game 6? You better believe it. God bless. Enjoy the night. Or, as we say in Gaelic, Disfruta la noche. Thank you and God bless New York City.
Click below for a video report of Bloomberg’s victory:
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