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De Blasio Announces Move to Gracie Mansion

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NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio and his family will be moving to Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s upper east side rather than staying in their Park Slope home
NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio and his family will be moving to Gracie Mansion on Manhattan’s upper east side rather than staying in their Park Slope home
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio has finally decided to make his home in Gracie Mansion. The decision followed much deliberation, the announcement was made on Wednesday, December 11. “It’s a tough decision,” said a statement from Bill, Chirlane, Chiara, and Dante. “Brooklyn is our home and Park Slope is our neighborhood. And we love these places. In many ways, they’ve come to define who we are.” However … “For a variety of reasons, like logistical and security concerns, we’ve decided to move to Gracie Mansion.”

“While this is a temporary move for us, it is one that we are very proud to make,” the statement elaborated. “Even while we move to Gracie Mansion for a spell, we’ll be keeping our home in Brooklyn and stopping by our favorite spots like The Purity Diner and Bar Toto as often as we can. And don’t bet against seeing us at the Park Slope YMCA occasionally.”

According to New York Magazine, the move from the Park Slope row house where de Blasio makes monthly mortgage payments of $3,300, has its advantages. The new digs are situated on the picturesque block of 88th Street and East End Avenue on the Upper East Side and is filled with 214 years of history since it has housed nine mayors in the last seven decades, Fiorello La Guardia being the first.

Gracie Mansion has stayed empty for the past 12 years, however, as Mayor Michael Bloomberg did not reside in the Mayoral residence but opted to stay at his own home instead.

Furthermore, New York Magazine reported that Bloomberg has stood opposed to mayors moving into the residence.”A lot of people want to be mayor — you don’t have to give them extra money as a housing allowance,” he reportedly said last year. “And I think, you know, everybody’s going to understand if a mayor lives there, then what they’re doing is they’re costing this city a lot of money and depriving the rest of the city of one of the great facilities any city has.”

Additionally, and to the contrary, Bloomberg pitched in $7 million to update the mansion, using his own “longtime decorator.” Since, “new floors, plumbing, lighting and ventilation, as well as fanciful touches like a four-post mahogany bed, an 1820s chandelier and fake-bamboo furniture” have been added. The kitchen was also recently renovated to the tune of $1.25 million.

Other amenities the de Blasio’s can look forward to is four bedrooms, twelve full-time employees, kitchen and gardening staffs, and a statue of George Washington. Additionally, a British cannonball that destroyed a home on the property during the Revolutionary War can be found in the mansion.

Dante de Blasio’s commute to his Fort Greene high school will now be far longer, requiring the long walk from East End Avenue to the Lexington Avenue subway plus a 30-minute subway ride. This is what influenced the teenager to push for staing in Brooklyn, according to reports.

Overall, according to former Mayor Ed Koch, Bloomberg’s opinion that the mayor not take advantage of the office’s real estate perks is “like asking the president not to live at the White House.”

“People who live there every day provide a warmth and a special air to that house,” Koch reportedly said while recalling a dinner there following his election, when he was still considering keeping his rent-controlled apartment in the Village. “I said to myself, ‘Anybody who can live here and doesn’t has got to be nuts, so I changed my mind.'”

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