On day three of his extended visit to the Bronx, Mayor de Blasio announced a crackdown on parking placard abuse, cleaned up graffiti and fielded questions at a town hall meeting. But the Red Sox fan has steered clear of Yankee Stadium. NY1's Grace Rauh has been following the mayor on his tour and filed the following report.
At a town hall meeting Wednesday night, Bronx residents grilled Mayor Bill de Blasio on everything from unwelcome encounters with raccoons —
"It costs $11,000 for my insurance to get the raccoons out of my house," one man said.
"Do not shoot raccoons," de Blasio responded.
— to the mayor's plan to close Rikers Island.
De Blasio: We do agree with closing Rikers….We've given a 10-year timeline.
Town hall attendee: People can't wait for 10 years.
De Blasio: We are not going to get into a back-and-forth. I am trying to answer your questions.
There were even emotional pleas from the audience for help.
"Don't overlook me this time, Mr. de Blasio!" one woman said to the mayor.
Earlier in the day, the mayor announced a crackdown on abuses of parking placards, which give some government workers special parking privileges.
"The bottom line is, All New Yorkers need to know that our city employees are here to serve you, not serve themselves," de Blasio said at a press conference earlier in the day. "And we will be very resolute in cracking down on any inappropriate behavior."
The city recently issued 50,000 new parking placards for school employees. The move has been criticized as an election-year gift to teachers.
De Blasio's busy day also included a graffiti clean-up event. But so far he has not taken in a Yankees game.
The mayor, a Red Sox fan, told a reporter that he does not intend to see them play this week, despite the fact that they are at home.
Overall, however, the mayor seems to be enjoying the week-long "City Hall in your borough" visits so much that he's promised to make them an annual event, provided New Yorkers vote to give him a second term.