- Washington 01/23/2013 by L Perry (WBAI)

23 days and 2 snowstorms into the job, Mayor de Blasio went to Washington to deliver remarks at the U.S. Conference of Mayors.  He spoke about shared opportunity and shared prosperity.  "Mayors have been at the forefront of the economic recovery in the last five years." He said, without the mayors working together the distance between main street and wall street would be much further. "I wish we could say that we could thank the
Congress, but let’s be honest. That’s not where the progress is coming from. It’s coming from you. And that’s something that we need to build upon."

de Blasio continued to say the city needs universal pre-k to be paid for by tax on the very reich, even though Governor Cuomo has said he would find the money needed for pre-k once the city is ready. The Mayor said, "My plan, I want to remind you, is a five-year plan, $530 million each year for five years, $2.6 billion combined over five years. We can’t do that plan properly if we don’t have that money locked in. And I want revenue that the people of New York City provide and control."  This came just hours after Governor Cuomo was quoted in the The New York Times saying the mayor's tax hike was unnecessary. Mayor de Blasio will travel to Albany on Monday to testify about his plan.