After being sworn in as mayor for the third time, Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged the contentious, controversial bid to overturn term limits and his $102 million mayoral campaign and told New Yorkers, "As I stand here today, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve New Yorkers for four more years - and to be the first Independent to have the honor of taking the oath. I recognize - I understand - that this term is a special opportunity, one that comes with extraordinary responsibilities."
The NY Times found that he struck a "humbler" tone and that "at 67 looks grayer and thinner than when he first entered politics not long after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack." The Daily News noted his promises "to launch a national push for immigration reform, to streamline the path for entrepreneurs to start new businesses in New York, and to shuffle leaders between agencies to generate new ideas," but the Post found "'Innovation' also became the byword for how the city would create jobs, improve schools, reduce crime and fight terrorism as it faces a $4.1 billion deficit in the next fiscal year. But there were no specifics on what might those innovations might entail.
Fun fact: Bloomberg didn't touch his family Bible during the swearing-in until the very end of the oath of office. He's still mayor because, according to his spokesman, "neither a Bible nor a hand placed upon it is required to be successfully sworn in." And you can read Bloomberg's inaugural address here; the Post's Andrea Pesyer called it a "tired case of deja vu...'I, Michael Ruben Bloomberg' blah blah blah 'solemnly swear' blah blah “so help me God.'"
