Mayor Rudy says farewell to Big Apple
New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said goodbye today to the city where he battled crime, his critics and the September 11 crisis across eight years in City Hall.
‘‘Although I have to leave you as mayor soon, I resume the much more honourable title of citizen of New York, and citizen of the United States,’’ Giuliani said, standing on the altar of St Paul’s Chapel, one block east of the site of the World Trade Centre.
Giuliani, 57, leaves on the highest note of his administration: his acclaimed handling of the city following the terrorist attacks that collapsed the towers and killed more than 2,900 people.
The mayor explained that when he took office, he was determined to take a different approach than his predecessors - even though he knew it would cause ‘‘hostility and anger’’ among his critics.
‘‘When I became mayor of New York City in 1993, it seemed to me that I had to do something different than other mayors,’’ Giuliani said. ‘‘It seemed I had to totally change the direction and course of New York City.’’
During his time in office, Giuliani helped drastically slash the city’s crime rates, renovated Times Square and made New York a tourist attraction once again. He also was named Time magazine’s ‘‘person of the year’’ for 2001.
But his relationship with the city’s minority communities was strained, particularly after the fatal police shooting of one black man, and a brutal attack by police on another.
Giuliani, a Republican, was barred by term limits law from seeking a third consecutive term. His last day in City Hall will be on December 31, with the man he endorsed - billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg - taking over on New Year’s Day.
