De Blasio: Work On Building New Administration To Begin On Tuesday

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) – New York City mayor-elect Bill de Blasio is remaining coy about key appointments to his new administration.

As WCBS 880’s Rich Lamb reported, members of the press caught up with de Blasio on Fifth Avenue just before he marched in the Veterans Day Parade.

De Blasio was elected last week and takes office Jan. 1. He returned to New York after spending several days in Puerto Rico for a political conference and some vacation time.

“It was great to have a couple of days off and it was also really wonderful to meet with some of the Puerto Rican leaders there, including the mayor of San Juan yesterday and the governor on Thursday night. And it was really downtime. The work in earnest of the transition will begin on Tuesday,” said de Blasio.

Last week, the Democrat named four people to run his transition team. But he’s yet to appoint any deputy mayors or agency commissioners.

“We’ll have announcements in the coming days about our approach and timeline,” de Blasio said.

He also said he would stay out of the process to select a new City Council speaker. The council members themselves will vote.

The mayor-elect said his family has not yet decided whether they’ll move from Park Slope into Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side.

De Blasio also spoke movingly about his father ahead of the parade. He says the World War II veteran suffered “physical and emotional” scars.

Earlier this fall, the mayor-elect revealed that his father committed suicide in 1979 amid a battle with cancer.

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