New York — Billionaire businessman Michael Bloomberg was sworn in as mayor of New York City on Tuesday and issued a call for shared sacrifice to tackle the city's problems.
"To meet the challenges facing our city, we must work together to draw upon the energy, entrepreneurship and talent of all New Yorkers," Bloomberg said in a New Year's Day inaugural address. "We are the toughest, most resilient and most determined people on the planet.
"Throughout our history, New Yorkers have made the sacrifices necessary to achieve a better tomorrow, and there will be a better tomorrow," he added.
The 59-year-old political novice enters office faced with three consecutive years of budget gaps greater than $3 billion, an underperforming 1.1-million student school system and a citizenry still jittery from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack, subsequent anthrax attacks and countless false alarms.
Saying that New York would have to learn to make do with less, he announced a 20 percent cut in staffing at the mayor's office. Bloomberg then challenged the city council, the public advocate, the comptroller and the borough presidents to do the same, a proposal met with scattered boos from the politically connected audience outside City Hall.
"We cannot ask of others what we are not willing to do ourselves," Bloomberg declared.
The new mayor's task is made even more overwhelming because Bloomberg, who made his fortune on Wall Street and from Bloomberg L.P. the financial information company he founded has never before held a public office.
In the noontime ceremony, a giant American flag unfurled behind the podium after Bloomberg stepped outside from the doors of City Hall to become the city's 108th mayor. Bloomberg wore an American flag pin on the lapel of his dark overcoat in the freezing weather.
To business owners, he said: "This is no time to leave the Big Apple. Your future is New York. ... New York is safe, strong, open for business and ready to lead the world in the 21st century."
More than 4,000 invited guests braved the weather for the inaugural, including Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer and former mayors David Dinkins and Ed Koch.
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