Former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio at Athens Democracy Forum 2025

The Mayor of Athens, Haris Doukas, welcomed the eight-year Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, to City Hall.

The two, wrong the model of the Athens Democracy Forum, volition person the accidental to sermon the large challenges facing cities today. What relation tin – and should – cities play successful supporting ideology and governance, successful an epoch wherever spot successful institutions is shaken and integer platforms mostly find nationalist debate?

The treatment astatine the Athens Conservatory, entitled Think Global, Act Local: Lessons from Athens and New York, volition beryllium moderated by Jyoti Thottam, Senior Editor of the New York Times. You tin ticker it live, connected Thursday, October 2 astatine 3:00 PM (language of the event: English), astatine athensdemocracyforum.com.

The Athens Democracy Forum is organized by the Democracy and Culture Foundation successful collaboration with The New York Times and the City of Athens.
Who is Bill de Blasio

Bill de Blasio is an American person who served arsenic the 109th Mayor of New York City from 2014 to 2021. A subordinate of the Democratic Party, helium served arsenic the New York City Public Advocate from 2010 to 2013. Bill de Blasio began his vocation arsenic an elected authoritative connected the New York City Council, representing the 39th territory successful Brooklyn from 2002 to 2009.

As Mayor, during the Covid-19 pandemic, helium transformed New York City into the safest metropolis successful his country.

In 2014, helium made aboriginal puerility acquisition a cosmopolitan close successful each 5 boroughs. New York City’s cosmopolitan Pre-K and 3-K programs person go nationalist models.

During his tenure, the metropolis funded the preservation and operation of much than 200,000 affordable lodging units, the astir of immoderate City successful New York City history. In 2019, de Blasio unveiled a groundbreaking, national, six-pronged enactment program to extremity chronic homelessness. The Journey Home inaugural was designed to summation entree to lodging and healthcare, on with nonstop interventions for stateless radical surviving connected the streets.

True to his run committedness to extremity a “tale of 2 cities,” de Blasio implemented policies that successfully reduced income inequality among New Yorkers and fought with them to unafraid a $15 an hr minimum wage for all.