New mayor for New York

Media tycoon Michael Bloomberg takes over as mayor

The new mayor of New York, billionaire financier Michael Bloomberg, has been sworn in during an inauguration ceremony on the steps of the City Hall.

We are the toughest, most resilient and most determined people on the planet.

Michael Bloomberg

On a freezing New Year's Day, the City's 108th mayor took the oath of allegiance, in a ceremony watched by half a million people and accompanied by a blizzard of red, white and blue confetti.

"We will rebuild, renew and remain the capital of the free world," Mr Bloomberg said.

"We are the toughest, most resilient and most determined people on the planet...There will be a better tomorrow."

The 59-year-old businessman replaces Rudolf Giuliani, who ran the city for the past eight years.

Challenges ahead

He faces the immense task of trying to reconstruct the area around the World Trade Center and to bring back the jobs lost in the wake of the 11 September attacks.

Hillary Clinton was among the guests

Mr Bloomberg acknowledged the tough financial road ahead, but insisted New York would emerge improved.

He pledged to cut the staff of the mayor's office by 20% in an effort to slash costs and urged other city offices to follow suit.

"We will not be able to afford all we want. We will not even be able to afford everything we have."

However, he said, "we will emerge from short-term pain to long-term gain".

Farewell Giuliani

New Year's Eve marked the last official engagement of former mayor Giuliani.

A crystal ball symbolising 2002 was dropped at the stroke of midnight from a flagpole in Times Square, bearing inscriptions honouring victims of the World Trade Center terror attacks.

Mr Giuliani's leadership in the aftermath of the attacks - a period which also saw anthrax mail attacks on media organisations and the crash of an airliner in Queens - won praise both at home and abroad.

Four minutes after midnight, to the strains of Frank Sinatra's song New York, New York, Mr Giuliani swore in Mr Bloomberg as the new mayor in an unofficial ceremony.