Photo: Flickr/kevdiaphoto/Creative Commons

NEW YORK — Welcome to office, Mayor Bill de Blasio. Now get to work.

That’s the message from more than two dozen Gotham Gazette readers who submitted their advice and top concerns to de Blasio on the eve of his inauguration. The crowdsourced submissions to our "Minute With The Next Mayor" project touched on affordable housing, unemployment and homelessness,  transportation, public health and the preservation of libraries.

Many who shared their views said they are looking forward to the change from the outgoing Bloomberg administration. Some are delighted with de Blasio's style and speeches so far, particularly his “tale of two cities” narrative that touches on deep concerns of many New Yorkers. "Your wisdom and humanity are just what is needed," wrote reader Shelley L. Ackerman.

The lack of affordable housing was on the minds of a number of those who submitted their thoughts. "The diminishing of rent-stabilized apartments and the 170,000+ wait list for section 8 housing, and serious issues with substandard housing conditions must be addressed," wrote reader Alfia, who added a concern that "the city is losing lifelong residents and those who have called NYC their home for decades."  

Reader Cathy Lisa Schenider wrote that de Blasio should first focus not only on substandard housing, but also homelessness, especially homeless children, substandard wages and unemployment, as well as police reform, and poorly resourced schools and neighborhoods.

"The biggest issue is poverty," wrote reader Katha Pollitt, who also happens to be political columnist for The Nation. "De Blasio was elected because the ‘Tale of Two Cities’ message spoke to people's concerns. Now, act!"

Reader Beatrix submitted a post inspired by “Invisible Child,” a recent feature in The New York Times about a homeless family. "The thousands of homeless are struggling to get their lives back," she wrote. "I ask our future Mayor to make it his priority to provide decent housing for those people now in homeless shelters: built new home restore dilapidated houses, stop building luxury office spaces."

According to the Coalition for the Homeless, homelessness in New York has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression. More people are sleeping in shelters than ever before. This includes an estimated 12,500 families and 22,100 children in shelters each night.

Reader concerns about a resource gap went beyond housing and homelessness, reflecting worries that city services and public amenities are being unfairly divided.

For reader Merrill Frank, the top concern is improving transit to shorten wait times and increase non-rush hour frequency. “When transit service is increased,” he wrote, “working class job prospects are improved and property values are enhanced.”

Reader Adam Lynn applauded de Blasio’s stance against stop-and-frisk policing, but said he would like to see more attention directed toward public health and the HIV/AIDS crisis among men of color. “If we are to address the inequities in our criminal justice system, we must also tackle how the ‘tale of two cities’ is allowing AIDS to spread among the most vulnerable, unnoticed in the gilded corners of our city.”

The shuttering and redevelopment of Long Island College Hospital, the top issue for reader Robert Stone, was also a key campaign issue for de Blasio, who was arrested at a demonstration in July protesting the closing of the hospital. Stone wrote, “I'd like him to fulfill his promise to keep Long Island College Hospital as a full-service facility with a functioning ER and Ped [Pediatric] ER.”

For several readers, the divide is also affecting the city’s public library systems. They raised concerns about the redevelopment of the NYPL’s main research branch on 42nd Street and the sale of the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.

Reader David Lewis wrote, “The NY Public Library's outrageously misguided $350-million-plus Central Library Plan (CLP) demands an audit and radical revision.” The CLP would redevelop the main research branch into a lending library and close two existing midtown branches.

Also asking de Blasio to reverse the city’s support of the CLP was reader Carol HK. “Please take back the $150 million of taxpayer money offered to the Library and use it for low-income housing,” she wrote. “Over 20,000 children are in homeless families — a sin and scandal in our wealthy city.”

With a new year and a new mayor, our readers are looking forward to the next chapter of de Blasio’s “tale.” Based on the concerns raised in our project, he has his work cut out for him.

Meral Agish is a Brooklyn-based reporter and student at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism. Valentina Cordero is a Manhattan-based journalist, writer and editorial assistant. She is also student at CUNY Graduate School of Journalism

The “Minute with the Mayor” project was jointly produced with Meral Agish, Julia Alsop, Jaclyn Anglis, Kaara Baptiste, Valentina Cordero, A. Adam Glenn, Pamela Granda, Jennifer Lehman,  Steven Trader and Max Willens of the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism.

Photo by Bill Alatriste/City Council

NEW YORK — The historic overhaul of New York City government this year goes well beyond the mayor's office.

There are 21 new members of the City Council, four new borough presidents, and fresh, yet familiar, faces in the offices of Brooklyn district attorney, comptroller, and public advocate. With the city’s politics taking an increasingly liberal turn, there are few outright conservatives left in city government.

“Reapportionment and term limits combined to make the City Council younger, a little bit further to the left, perhaps less a product of traditional political organizations or machines, and demographically, a little more like the population of the city,” said Kenneth Sherrill, Chair of the Political Science Department at Hunter College.

New city officials include the first Mexican-American on City Council; old friends of incoming Police Commissioner Bill Bratton from his tenure during the 1990s; yet another member of the Queens Vallone clan; and a progressive new Brooklyn D.A., who has said he wants to re-train the borough's police officers. We've rounded up the full list here.

Citywide

Mayor

Bill de Blasio - De Blasio has been involved in New York City politics since he helped the last progressive mayor, David Dinkins, get elected in 1989. Between that first campaign and his mayoral victory, De Blasio served as the regional director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, helped Hillary Clinton get elected to the U.S. Senate, spent eight years representing some of Brooklyn’s wealthier neighborhoods on the City Council, and, most recently, served as the city’s public advocate. In an attempt to deliver on a key campaign promise early on, De Blasio has spent the last few weeks drumming up support in Albany for a small tax on the wealthy to fund universal pre-K. Dinkins, somewhat ironically and extremely publicly, recently told him to reconsider, saying “we might have more success” with a commuter tax.

Comptroller

Scott Stringer - Stringer left his post as Manhattan Borough President and took on former Gov. Elliot Spitzer in order to ascend to this quietly powerful office overseeing city finances. He brings with him experience as a trustee of the massiveNYCERS pension fund and a track record of spearheadingpopulist economic initiatives, including the New York City Taxpayer Receipt, a website that allows constituents totrack their tax dollars.

Public Advocate

Letitia "Tish" James - James has served Central Brooklyn on the City Council since 2003 and has opposed several major development and rezoning projects, including Atlantic Yards, which, for years, riled up residents around what is now the Barclays Center. Most recently, James joined progressive groups in calling for higher wages and a change in the city’s economic development policies, including more stringent requirements for banks and corporations that receive city subsidies.

Borough-wide offices

Brooklyn District Attorney

Kenneth P. Thompson - Thompson had tobeat incumbent Charles Hynes twice - first, in the primary, when Hynes was a Democrat, and again when Hynes became a Republican for the general election. In anacceptance speech, the first black Brooklyn DA said voters had chosen him as an alternative to "false accusation, fear-mongering, and race-baiting." As a federal attorney, Thompson prosecutedpolice brutality in Brooklyn and now aims to reduce false arrests byassigning prosecutors to police precincts in East New York and Brownsville. “It is not right to have someone subjected to stop-and-frisk, snake through the system and spend two days in jail just to get out," hetold the Daily News.

Brooklyn Borough President

Eric Adams (D, WF) - Counted as anold friend by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, Adams served 22 years in the NYPD before moving on to the State Senate, where he has represented Crown Heights, Flatbush, Sunset Park and Park Slope for the last eight years. A vocal critic of former Commissioner Ray Kelly when stop-and-frisk was on trial, Adams advocates for a "symbiotic relationship" between the police and the community.

Manhattan Borough President

Gale Brewer (D) - Brewer has been a Council member for the Upper West Side and North Clinton since 2002. Her most recent political efforts include a push tomake food trucks greener and to get the city toseek federal funding to expand CitiBike.

Queens Borough President

Melinda Katz (D) - Katz represented Forest Hills, Rego Park, Kew Gardens and other pockets of Queens during her seven-year tenure on the City Council between 2002 and 2009. While on the Council, she was chair of the land use committee, and played a key role in moving forward the massive rezoning the city underwent during the Bloomberg administration.

Staten Island Borough President

James Oddo (R) - After 15 years on the City Council, Oddo is passing his title of Republican minority leader on to fellow Staten Island politician Vincent Ignizio. When it comes to Sandy relief, Oddosupports an "acquisition for redevelopment" plan that would buy out homeowners, open Midland Beach up to developers, and give former residents the option of moving back in.

City Council

Manhattan

Corey Johnson (D) - D3 - Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, West Village- Johnson, a prominent activist in the LGBT community, will take outgoing Speaker Christine Quinn's seat. Johnson most recently served as Chair of Community Board 4, which also made him aboard member of the Hudson Yards Development Corp. Johnson built much of his campaign around affordable housing, but has been thesubject of controversy as a former employee of GFI Development Co., which has erected its fair share of Brooklyn condos.

Ben Kallos (D) - D5 - Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island - Kallos, a lawyer and lifelong Upper East Sider, advocated for state constitutional reform as the Executive Director of the groupEffectiveNY and has put the issues of government accountability and transparency at the forefront of his campaign. He has also pledged to try toaid local businesses affected by the interminable Second Avenue subway construction.

Hellen Rosenthal (D) - D6 - Upper West Side and North Clinton - Rosenthal, who is coming from a post in the City Hall Budget Office, has been amajor supporter of participatory budgeting and has advocated bringing it to her district, where, in the past, she served as Chair of Community Board 7.

Mark Levine (D, WF) - D7 - parts of Morningside Heights, Hamilton Heights/West Harlem, Manhattan Valley, Washington Heights, and part of UWS - Over the course of his uptown political career, Levine founded the Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan and a credit union called the Neighborhood Trust. He also briefly ran the New York chapter of the controversial Teach for America program, of which he was an early participant. Levine's proposals for city schools includeexpanding the curriculum to teach about LGBT history, animal welfare, and environmental issues.

Brooklyn

Laurie Cumbo (D) - D35 - Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and part of Bedford Stuyvesant - Cumbo is best known in Brooklyn for her leadership and expansion ofMoCADA, the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts, and other cultural programs she has jump-started. But Cumbo has had a rough start as a Council member. She already had toapologize to her new constituents for racially chargedcomments she made about the 'knockout attacks' in Crown Heights last month.

Robert Cornegy, Jr. (D) -D36- Bedford Stuvesant and parts of Crown Heights - Cornegy is transitioning from a position as Legislative Analyst for the Council's Aging and Veterans Committee. The former district leader and president of VIDA, Central Brooklyn's Vanguard Independent Democratic Association,eked out a primary win in a race that ended with a highly contested recount.

Rafael Espinal, Jr. (D) - D37- Cypress Hills, Bushwick, East New York, City Line, Ocean Hill, Brownsville - Two years ago, Espinal, then 27, became the youngest member of the State Assembly, representing District 54. Most recently, hesponsored legislation related to domestic abuse and, in the past, has sponsored bills that would require insurance companies to expand women's health coverage. Espinal has said he is determined to repair the infrastructure in neighborhoods that have been "completely ignored" by the city, like Cypress Hills, where he grew up.

Carlos Menchaca (D) - D38 - Bayridge Towers, Greenwood Heights, Red Hook, Sunset Park, Windsor Terrace - Menchaca'srelief efforts in Red Hook following Hurricane Sandy helped him get the support he needed to beat his district's incumbent. Now, he and incoming Council Member Mark Treyger want tostart a Sandy relief committee on the City Council. Proudly claiming the dual titles of "first Mexican-American on the City Council" and "first openly gay legislator in Brooklyn," Menchaca cut his teeth in the offices of outgoing Borough President Marty Markowitz and outgoing Speaker Christine Quinn.

Inez Barron (D) - D42 - NEIGHBORHOODS - In her five years representing State Assembly District 60, Barron hastaken a progressive stance on issues from gun regulation to sex education. She alsofought to end mayoral control of city schools after a decades-long career as a public school teacher and administrator. Barron's more incendiary husband, Charles, is passing her the torch in their Council district.

Alan Maisel (D) - D46 - Canarsie, Mill Basin, Marine Park, Bergen Beach, Gerritsen Beach, part of Sheepshead Bay - Environmental issues and public safety, including 'fracking' regulation, have been prominent among the legislation Maisel hassponsored in his tenure serving State Assembly District 59. Much of Maisel's civic work in Brooklyn has been done through the international Jewish organization B'nai B'rith, although he has also served on his local school and community boards.

Mark Treyger (D) - D47 - Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Coney Island, and Sea Gate - After Superstorm Sandy hit, Treyger founded STRONG, the Sandy Task Force Recovery Organized by Neighborhood Groups, and is now joining forces with fellow incoming Council Member Carlos Menchaca to call fora Sandy relief committee on the City Council. Treyger, long active in local politics, has been a high school teacher since 2005, with strong involvement in the United Federation of Teachers.

Chaim Deutsch (D) - D48 - Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, and Brighton Beach - Over the past 20 years, Deutsch, who has a strong foothold in Brooklyn's Jewish community, has taken community safety into his own hands as president of the Flatbush Shomrim Safety Patrol. He founded the Patrol in the early 1990s in response to rising crime and has worked closely with both Commissioner Bill Bratton and outgoing police Commissioner Ray Kelly. Deutsch even held an appreciation ceremony for Kelly, during which hepresented the city’s top cop with a mezuzah, which Jews hang in their doorways for protection. He alsopraised Bratton for having "excelled at police-community relations and law enforcement strategies" during his previous tenure on the NYPD.

Antonio Reynoso - D34 - Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn; Ridgewood in Queens - Reynoso is taking the seat of his former boss, Councilwoman Diana Reyna, who he has been working for since 2007, most recently as her Chief of Staff. A Williamsburg native, Reynoso has made affordable housing his top issue, speaking out frequently about the neighborhood's luxury makeover. He beat out a seasoned politician, former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, who was forced out of the Assembly earlier this year following a sexual harassment case.

Queens

Paul Vallone, Jr. (D) - D19 - College Point, Auburndale-Flushing, Bayside, Whitestone, Bay Terrace, Douglaston, and Little Neck - Leaving his practice at Queens law firm Vallone and Vallone to take a seat on the City Council, Vallone seems to be leaving onefamily business for another. His father, former Speaker Peter Vallone, Sr., served on the City Council for 25 years, leaving in 2001, when his brother, Peter, Jr., was elected to represent the 22nd District (his term is up this year). Beyond his family ties, Vallone has established thousands of dollars in scholarship funds for Queens high school students and based his campaign platform on a mix of progressive issues — such as women's access to birth control — and local issues like noise pollution from overhead flights.

Costa Constantinides (D) - D22 - Astoria, Long Island City, part of Jackson Heights, Rikers Island, Randalls Island, and Wards Island - In the district that includes the city's largest jail, Constantinides earned valuable campaign support from the Correctional Officers Benevolent Association. Constantinides aims to reduce both crime and unemployment by hiring more police officers. He has also been active in the fight for voter rights throughout the state as a member of the New York Democratic Lawyers Council, and says it's time to dump thehundreds of outdoor “trailer classrooms” that are disproportionately found in Queens schools.

Rory Lancman (D) - D24 - Briarwood, Fresh Meadows, Hillcrest Estates, Hillcrest, Jamaica Estates, Jamaica Hills, Kew Gardens Hills, Utopia Estates, and parts of Forest Hills, Flushing, Jamaica and Rego Park - When Lancman attempted to run for Anthony Weiner's old seat in Congress last year,WNYC reported that he had made some enemies and that one source had even called him the "most hated member of the state Assembly." Lancman, a lawyer who served Assembly District 25 for six years, has also passed a significant volume of legislation, including theLibel Terrorism Protection Act, which aims to protect journalists writing about terrorism abroad from being hit with defamation lawsuits, and a host of bills related to equality andsafety in the workplace.

Daneek Miller (D) - D27 - St. Albans, Hollis, Cambria Heights, Jamaica, Baisley Park, Addisleigh Park, and parts of Queens Village, Rosedale, and Springfield Gardens - In December, Millerreceived a "Champion of Labor" Award, along with Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Letitia James. In Southeast Queens, where subway service is spotty, Miller has championed bus drivers and riders as president of the local chapter of the Amalgamated Transportation Union. He also co-founded a mentor program called Brothers Unlimited.

Bronx

Andrew Cohen (D) - D11 - Kingsbridge, Riverdale, Woodlawn, Norwood, and parts of Bedford Park, Wakefield, and Bronx Park East - Cohen, a Riverdale attorney, has had a long career in law, including several years as a court attorney to a Bronx Supreme Court Justice, legal counsel to State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, and a stint as an assistant adjunct at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He has called for raising the minimum wage and has gained the support of the United Federation of Teachers.

Ritchie Torres (D) - D15 - Bathgate, Belmont, Crotona, Fordham, East Tremont, Van Nest and West Farms - Torres, only 24, is one of many young Latino Democrats making their way into city politics. He has worked with Councilman James Vacca since his 2005 campaign and was named his housing director in 2011. Torres, who grew up in NYCHA housing, has worked to create tenants' associations and to advocate for basic rights of NYCHA residents in the Bronx, like building improvements andheating.

Vanessa Gibson (D) - D16 - West Bronx, Morrisania, Highbridge, and Melrose - A Bronx transplant from Brooklyn, Gibson was elected to State Assembly District 77 in 2009, where she has focused on housing and social services. She began her political career as the Bronx district office manager for Assemblywoman Aurelia Greene.

Staten Island

Steven Matteo (R) - D50 - in Brooklyn, parts of Dyker Heights, Bensonhurst, and Bath Beach; in Staten Island, Arrochar, Bulls Head, Concord, Dongan Hill, Emerson Hill, Fort Wadsworth, Grant City, Graniteville, Grasmere, Island of Meadows, Midland Beach, New Dorp, Prall's Island, Richmondtown, South Beach, Todt Hill, Travis, Westerleigh, Willowbrook - Sandy relief is still the number one priority in Staten Island, but Matteo has identified other issues affecting residents, including rampantprescription drug use. Matteo also said hehopes to work with the mayor  "to wrestle toll setting authority” from the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

This is an updated version which corrects the number of incoming City Council members to 21 and adds information on Councilman Antonio Reynoso.

NEW YORK — Transportation Alternatives Executive Director Paul Steely White gambles that incoming Police Commissioner Bill Bratton will land on the cover of Time magazine for “drastically reducing traffic fatalities.”

City Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras anticipates a crush of visitors to Flushing Meadows Corona Park in her Queens district for the 50th and 75th anniversaries of New York’s two World Fairs. 

And Bill Mahoney of the New York Public Interest Research Group prophesizes that a state elections worker will set a world record for on-the-job Solitaire.

In our annual look at predictions for the year ahead, our panel of elected officials and policy experts have once again agreed to pin their reputations as soothsayers on everything from who might win the World Series to campaign finance reform.

Of course, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio figured prominently in the predictions. (Representatives for de Blasio responded to our requests for a contribution from the incoming mayor by saying, simply, “Ha.”)

Karen Scharff of Citizen Action of New York predicts that de Blasio’s plan for universal pre-k in the city will get the go-ahead in Albany — and have a ripple effect across the state. “The context of inequality combined with public outcry about school cuts will lead the Legislature to increase school aid over the governor's budget and to expand full day pre-K statewide,” she wrote.

Jaron Benjamin of the Metropolitan Council on Housing also posited that de Blasio would cause change across the state. “After deciding he can't ‘out-liberal’ de Blasio, Gov. Cuomo flexes his muscle as a fiscal conservative in preparation for a presidential run in 2016,” Benjamin said.

Former Assemblyman and columnist Michael Benjamin predicted that tension between de Blasio and Gov. Cuomo arising from their agendas would be the big story of 2014.

“Under de Blasio — the liberals’ rangy, populist everyman, government expansion threatens to return in spades,” he pronounced. “Consequently, Andrew Cuomo will need every elbow, shirt grab and arm bar to keep the big man from scoring points for the progressive agenda. This will be the political battle to watch in 2014.”

Ben Max of the civic website DecideNYC expects that the next year will see de Blasio’s administration wrestling with his predecessor’s legacy, “deciding what to finish, continue, adjust, or scrap altogether.

“Many New Yorkers will be wary of progress being undone, while others will be awaiting the true progressive dawn,” Max said in his prediction.

Other mayoral predictions were less serious.

Gale Brewer, the Manhattan borough president-elect, predicted that the Second Avenue subway would be renamed “The Dante” and rerouted to Brooklyn Tech where the teen attends high school.

Meanwhile, Councilman Jimmy Vacca of the Bronx predicts that the struggling New York Knicks will recruit the 6-foot-5 de Blasio as its “power forward.”

To read more predictions from our panel, click through the slides below. Have some predictions of your own? Feeling lucky? Comment below.

With State Government Editor David Howard King and City Government Reporter Chester Soria.

A Latino advocacy organization is calling attention to what it says is a “disturbing pattern” of “marginal inclusion” of Hispanics among Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio’s top-level appointments.

In a letter sent over the weekend, Angelo Falcón of the National Institute for Latino Policy said his goal was not to impose “some sort of Latino quota system” for de Blasio appointments but to “point out that there appears to be a blind spot.”

While De Blasio announced the appointment of Lillian Barrios-Paoli as a deputy mayor for human and health services and Gladys Carrion as commissioner of the Administration for Children’s Services — both Hispanics — in recent days, his appointees have so far been, well, predominantly white.

Just today, the mayor-elect announced that Alicia Glen, who is currently employed at Goldman Sachs, would serve as his new deputy mayor for housing and economic development. Laura Santucci, who is running the transition team, will serve as his chief of staff.  

He has also appointed Bill Bratton as police commissioner and Dean Fuleihan as budget director.

To be fair, it’s still early in the transition and there are a number of high-profile positions yet to be filled — including schools chancellor.

Be that as it may, Falcon points out that his organization has “documented the underrepresentation of Latinos” in both the mayor-elect’s Transition Team and Inaugural Committee, as well as among members of a recently announced campaign to push for universal pre-kindergarten programs.

Falcon said his group wants to make sure de Blasio doesn’t make the same mistakes as the Bloomberg administration, which failed to create a cabinet that represented the diversity of the city.

“We are monitoring your track record with Latino appointments at this early stage to do what we can to point out to you personally the importance of addressing this problem fully to make up for more than 20 years of the marginalization of our community from this city's governance,” Falcon wrote in his letter.

NEW YORK — The City Council is expected to mark its final all-member meeting of the year on a note of legislative triumph — and by saying goodbye to nearly two dozen outgoing colleagues.

Speaker Christine Quinn and 21 other Council members are departing City Hall. Outgoing members are scurrying to leave their lasting impressions for a Council that has already built up a legislative reputation for urban and social policy.

The city’s possible ban of foam food service products and increased regulation of electronic cigarettes are at the top of Thursday’s agenda of the Council’s last stated meeting of the year. With Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s endorsement of both pieces of legislation, observers say both are likely to succeed and round out both Bloomberg and Quinn’s time in office.

“I’m proud to say that, in getting these things to where they are, we didn’t sacrifice the quality of the legislation for speed,” Queens Councilman James Gennaro said. “We’re moving at a brisk pace, but it’ll be the same quality legislation that has been the hallmark of Chris Quinn’s City Council — comprehensive and with a lot of stakeholder involvement.”

Gennaro, the lead sponsor of the bill that would regulate electronic cigarettes, said he was cautiously optimistic about the legislation. The Democrat was also a leading force behind the recent law that increased the smoking age to 21 from 18.

If the e-cigarettes bill is passed, it will be his 47th bill to be enacted. The legislation makes it so that all rules on tobacco products would also apply to the vapor-based devices. If signed into law, it will add to the legacy of  both Bloomberg and Quinn as pioneering policymakers working to limit tobacco use.

More Leftovers

As of mid-December, the Council still had 34 bills laid over in committee, otherwise known as legislative limbo.

Among them are bills to reform the elections runoff, a bill on social media privacy and another that would have enforced the city’s waste management plan by limiting capacity on waste trucks.

Any one of these bills might yet see a vote in the new Council. If any pending bill is not passed Thursday, they will die — at least until the new Council meets in January. The bill’s primary sponsor, if he or she is still in the Council when the session begins in 2014, can revive and reintroduce previous bills into committee.

If the legislation’s primary sponsor isn’t in the new Council, the secondary signatory may choose to revive it. But if neither primary nor secondary sponsors are around, any member can take the reins of the bills after two to three months into the New Year.

If a bill is passed by the Council but not signed by Mayor Bloomberg before Dec. 31, it still has 30 days since its passage to be signed or vetoed by whomever is at the mayor’s desk — be it Bloomberg or de Blasio.

A spokeswoman for Bloomberg did not specify how close the last bill signing might be to de Blasio’s inauguration on New Year’s Day.

If the Council passes a bill on Dec. 19, the Mayor has until Jan. 18 to veto a bill. As usual, any bills passed by the Council but unchallenged by the mayor automatically become law according to whatever timeline outlined by a respective bill.

If Bloomberg does happen to veto any bills passed by the Council before the end of the year — however unlikely — the Council still needs to wait to receive the mayor’s veto. Because the same Council that passed the bill isn’t scheduled to meet again, the new Council will need to receive the veto, after which members have 30 days to override.

Council’s Coda

The speaker’s office has had final say on which bills the Council deliberates since Quinn was raised to the speaker’s seat in 2006. In the last three years, Bloomberg signed 245 bills passed through Council into law.

It took three years for the Council to vote on and approve a paid sick bill that satisfied both labor groups and the business community, a compromise largely attributed to the speaker’s office. The law goes into effect on April 1, 2014.

Quinn was widely criticized by advocates even when the bill was passed, given the time it took to come to an agreement. Comparatively, the last few months have been easier for lawmakers.

The outgoing speaker publicly invited her colleagues on the Council to put forth any legislative priorities before the year’s end. She expressly extended the offer to those who — like her — would not be back in 2014.

“She asked everybody what bills we want passed. I had something like 40 bills on the list, so we whittled them down,” joked Councilwoman Gale Brewer, who is moving on to the Manhattan Borough President’s office and was the primary sponsor of the paid sick leave bill.

“It’s very encouraging. I’m very excited, and I’m very appreciative of the speaker,” said Brewer, who has already ushered in 34 bills over the last decade — including paid sick leave.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's pick for city budget director was once referred to as the "right arm" of state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver by the longtime power broker himself.

While the selection of Dean Fuleihan is interesting for a number of reasons, it is likely that one of the main draws for bringing him into the new city administration is his long experience in Albany. After all, key initiatives that de Blasio proposed on the campaign trail — such as universal pre-kindergarten — will require the assent of state lawmakers as well as a deft hand with the city budget.

Fulehain, who left the Assembly in 2011 after 33 years and is now the an executive vice president for SUNY's College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, has both the experience in finances and rough-and-tumble state politics for the job.

He has also been embraced by both the business sector as well as liberal Democrats.

Kathy Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, told the Albany Times-Union that Fulehain will be "a great asset to the city and mayor-elect." Meanwhile, Democrat state Sen. Liz Krueger and state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman — both heavywheight liberals in the state — also praised the pick.

"Dean is a consummate professional who understands budget, policy, and politics. He will be an invaluable addition to the mayor's team here at home and in Albany," Krueger said in an emailed statement. "Most importantly it shows that de Blasio is well aware that he needs people in his administration with ties to Albany to help get his progressive vision for the city passed."

Of course, Silver was equally effusive about the pick. "I can say from first-hand experience that, having worked with him for more than 20 years, Dean will be an indispensable member of the de Blasio administration and his advice and counsel will be invaluable," he said in a statement posted on the Assembly website.

Fulehain succeeds Mark Page at the Office of Management and Budget, which has overseen a balanced budget for the past 12 years of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration. Some advocates and lawmakers have criticized the Bloomberg administration's balancing of the city's books on one-shots, and by neglecting to deal with retroactive pay raises for municipal union workers.

Some budget analysts also see the city's financials as the most significant hurdle for de Blasio's "progressive" agenda.

Biography

Who: Dan Fuleihan

Position: Budget Director

Current: Executive vice president for strategic partnerships, SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering

Previous: A series of jobs with state government going back to at least 1978 — most significantly as both secretary to the Assembly Ways and Means Committee between 1997 and 2011; and as secretary to the speaker for program and policy from 1992 to 2011.

Education: Graduate studies at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University; B.A. in economics from Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's transition team is promising an inauguration in early January that will feature "an unprecedented level of access for the people of New York to their newly-elected leaders."

The team announced today that not only will tickets to the New Year's Day swearing-in be made available to the general public, the mayor-elect and his wife will be on hand to greet New Yorkers after the event at City Hall. The couple also plans to open up Gracie Mansion — the "people's house" — for a meet-and-greet with New Yorkers a few days later.

The de Blasio family announced last week they had decided to move into the Yorkville mansion. Under Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the luxury home has been used for events and ceremonies.

De Blasio, who won a landslide election in November on what he framed as a "progressive" vision for the city, will be inaugurated along with Public Advocate-elect Letitia James and Comptroller-elect Scott Stringer.

The inauguration takes place on the steps of City Hall at noon on Jan. 1, 2014. The Gracie Mansion opens to the public at noon on Jan. 5, 2014.

Information on how the public can get tickets to the events will be made available in the coming days.

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio's transition team has announced that outgoing Commissioner for the Aging Lilliam Barrios-Paoli will be the city’s new deputy mayor for health and human services.

“I’ve spent the bulk of my career trying to work for and help the poor. It is incredibly exciting for me to be in an administration that really makes that central tenant — not just an afterthought, not just something that would be good to do — but makes it a central, central thing,” Barrios-Paoli said after her appointment was announced on Thursday.

As deputy mayor for Health and Human Services, Barrios-Paoli will play a key role in bringing many of the mayor-elect's campaign promises to fruition. The mayor-elect repeatedly referred to his agenda of eliminating the “tale of two cities” and ongoing inequality. He often invoked the New York Times’ five-part investigation into the city’s homelessness dilemma, told through the eyes of 11-year-old Dasani, who lives in a decrepit Brooklyn shelter with her parents and seven siblings.

“We’re going to use every thing we have to start to turn around this tale of two cities. And I can assure you that we will quickly, quickly focus on the Auburn facility, and we will not allow what’s happening there to continue. The fact is that to make fundamental change will take a lot of steps,” de Blasio said. “We must get to work on this right away. We can’t let children of this city like Dasani down, and I know we have more tools at our disposal than we’re using right now.”

De Blsio said Barrios-Paoli is the person who can best creatively use those tools.

“A combination of values and experience was absolutely crucial,” de Blasio said of Barrios-Paoli. “I think very few people in this city have a stronger understanding of what New York City’s government is capable of doing to help its people.”

Barrios-Paoli’s responsibilities will be largely the same as those of her predecessors. She will be responsible for coordinating all of the city’s social service programs through its many city agencies, including the Department for the Aging, where she did her most recent stint under the Bloomberg administration. She’ll also be the administration’s point person for the Administration for Children’s Services; Commission for Economic Opportunity; Department of Health and Mental Hygiene; Office of the Chief Medical Examiner; Department of Homeless Services; Human Resources Administration; Department of Juvenile Justice; the Department of Correction; and Department of Probation.

Barrios-Paoli also previously served as head of the Human Resources Administration under Rudy Giuliani, a job that was cut short in 1997, reportedly for her a frank and forthright approach that upset City Hall at the time. She wasn’t shy about admiting some of the city’s ongoing failures at today’s announcement.

Asked by reporters to critique some of the government’s missteps on homelessness and inequality, Barrios-Paoli was blunt.

“You don’t stop prevention to save money, because you’ll end up paying in correcting the problem afterwards. And that’s a mistake that government makes in all kinds of fields,” Barrios-Paoli said, adding that the city ends up shifting the cost by cutting youth programs to pay more for prisons.

Barrios-Paoli, who spent time as a nun before entering public service, added that the city has been punitive to many of the city’s poorest. She argued that the city needs to change its attitude.

“So yes, I would have done many things differently. But now I’m getting the opportunity,” she added. “So we’ll see if i can deliver."

“I have faith she can deliver,” de Blasio quipped.

Elected leaders and advocacy organizations around the city lavished praise on de Blasio’s pick today. A number of City Council members, many of whom openly celebrated Barrios-Paoli’s work as head of the aging department before her new appointment, said they were encouraged by the news.

“It’s clear that we need to turn over a new leaf when it comes to how this city looks to support struggling New Yorkers. Lilliam Barrios-Paoli is a great choice for deputy mayor of Health and Human Services,” wrote Councilwoman Annabel Palma, chair of the Council’s general welfare committee, in a statement on Thursday. “She has the experience and vision needed to ensure that the City supports the health and stability of working families.”

Igal Jellinek of the Council of Senior Centers and Services celebrated Barrios-Paoli’s extensive record in government and nonprofit realms.

“Mayor-elect Bill DeBlasio has made the perfect choice for his deputy mayor for health and human services by naming Lilliam Barrios Paoli for this position, “Jellinek said. “Ms. Paoli brings intelligence, skills and compassion as she has been a strong and effective voice on behalf of older New Yorkers as commissioner for Department for the Aging.”

Linda Gibbs, the outgoing deputy mayor for health and human services, agreed.

“Congrats to new NYC Dep Mayor for HHS, Lilliam Barrios Paoli, a true warrior in the fight against inequality and injustice,” Gibbs tweeted soon after the announcment.

The City Council took the biggest leap yet in ensuring the Bronx’s long-vacant Kingsbridge Armory development into an ice-skating rink complex, approving the project and closing out the largest hurdle in the land-use review process.

The councilman for the district that includes the armory, Fernando Cabrera, hailed the development deal on Tuesday as “simply incredible” despite vowing to vote against the project as recently as a day before. The Bronx legislator didn’t answer a reporter’s question on what specially changed his mind overnight, instead calling himself the catalyst for the project.

“I’m very content and happy with the resolution we came to,” Cabrera said.

Part of that resolution, Cabrera said, will includes 180 living-wage jobs, almost 1,000 construction jobs, $250,000 to address traffic concerns in the armory’s neighboring area and $150,000 targeted to help local small businesses.

Cabrera refused to answer any questions about reports that he attempted to secure $100,000 a year for 99 years to Community Action Unlimited through the deal’s community benefits agreement. The group is associated with New Life Outreach, the church where Cabrera serves as pastor.

But he previously defended himself against the allegations.

“I find that offensive,” he told the New York Daily News on Sunday. “For those who make assumptions, I say assumptions are the lowest form of knowledge.”