Abandoning his presidential bid, Mayor Bill de Blasio was back to work at City Hall somewhat bright and early Monday.

Four months on the campaign trail, and perhaps with some city business was the backburner, de Blasio was back on the job. He kicked off the work week with a rally for retirement security.

 

He is pushing legislation to set up retirement accounts for private sector employees who work at businesses with 10 or more employees. If the City Council approves the legislation, employees would automatically be enrolled in the savings plan.

"You should not have to work until you die. You should be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor," the mayor said at a news conference announcing the proposal. "You should be able to have some time in your life where you retire in dignity."

The city would be on the hook for a small initial upfront cost for the retirement savings program, according to the mayor, with most of the contributions coming from employees. Speaking to NY1, de Blasio argues it's a safety net for New Yorkers unsure how to shop for a third-party money manager to build retirement savings.

He first pitched the idea in 2016. "We absolutely cannot accept the status-quo where people work all their lives only to be left with nothing," he said back then.

Now, it's being rebooted. "We are going to buckle down and make these changes and make this city stronger," de Blasio said Monday.

The announcement still echoed de Blasio as the presidential candidate, pitching proposals for working people.

Still, on Monday, the mayor claimed to be liberated now from the campaign trail, turning his focus back to New Yorkers. He even served as the judge for the San Gennaro's meatball-eating contest Saturday.

"Obviously, when you go out there and try to get something done and it doesn't work out, it's on one level sad. On another level, I feel like I raised some really important issues," de Blasio said. "And, yeah, it's nice to not have to schlep around."

At the same time, the mayor is not letting go of the national stage. He will continue to operate his political action committee, Fairness PAC, which has already raised some questions about its fundraising practices.

"We consistently did things the right way, we consistently did them the legal way, and we are going to keep doing that," de Blasio said.

The mayor still has some proposals from the campaign trail he wants to push, such as a "robot tax," although it's not confirmed if he will use the PAC for those goals.

NY1 is told that the day-to-day operations of the presidential campaign will wrap up by the end of this month.

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