Last October, I put forward a plan to fund universal Pre-K and expanded after-school with a small tax surcharge on New Yorkers making more than $500,000 a year. It may not be popular at a lot of fancy cocktail parties -- here are five reasons why I'm okay with that.

It's time for a new education mantra: start early.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama threw down the gauntlet and called for pre-kindergarten for every child who needs it.

It was a historic commitment, all the more so because it came on the heels of...

I was there on September 5 at the Democratic National Convention for one of the most powerful moments of this presidential campaign, when my former boss Bill Clinton exhorted the crowd and the nation to a vision of shared prosperity and real investment in our future.

But getting there is...

Billions of dollars spent at our airports since 9/11 have bought many of us peace of mind when we fly. We consent to the x-rayed bags, the metal detectors, the undoing of belts, the removing of shoes, and even the infamous pat-down -- all because they contribute to our collective...

The following piece is based on a speech on economic growth delivered by Public Advocate Bill de Blasio at NYU's Wagner School of Public Service. The full speech is available here.

10 percent.

Our city, the undisputed capital of world commerce and American ingenuity, has...

By Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray

Every parent knows the dread of waking up to find your child sick with the flu. Or receiving that teacher's call that your child has a terrible cough and must be picked up. Right away.

We all have the same impulse...

On September 11, 2001, police officer Alonzo Harris rushed into the World Trade Center, without second thought, doing his job, protecting his fellow New Yorkers. He survived the collapse of the South Tower, diving under a parked car as dust fell and the ugly thick plume of smoke rose. Officer...

Today marks the unfortunate two-year anniversary of the Supreme Court's Citizens United ruling that opened the floodgates for undisclosed spending in our elections. In just two years, we are already all too familiar with how this landmark ruling has transformed campaigns and elections in this country, threatening the fabric of...

Of all the troubling aspects of the Bloomberg Administration's decision to remove demonstrators from Zuccotti Park on November 15th, none proved more damaging to our city's democracy than the exclusion and harassment of the press.

The sequence of events on that day has no parallel in recent memory. Just after...

No facet of our country's immigration debate is more heartless or economically foolish than our failure to support undocumented children who have grown up on American soil. These young people have gone to school alongside their native-born peers and in many cases have shown themselves to be outstanding scholars, athletes...

Osama bin Laden's death has generated a swell of palpable emotion across the nation and especially here in New York City. Following the September 11 attacks and our subsequent invasion of Afghanistan, it has been a priority of this country and this city to bring Osama bin Laden to justice....

To Chancellor Walcott:

For the past nine years our schools have been run by a top-down bureaucracy that too often alienates public school parents. To your great credit, you have said that you want to engage parents and communities more than in the past. But you have also said that...

It comes as no surprise that newly empowered Republicans on Capitol Hill are revving up for fresh attacks on women's reproductive health care. Just last week, Congressman Pence (R-IN) has led the drumbeat to strip federal funding for Title X, the nation's family planning program, which provides women with access...

The carriage horses of Central Park have been enduring the beginnings of another long, harsh winter. After years of trying to reform the industry, the time has come for New York City to turn the page, and finally embrace safer, more humane alternatives to the horse-drawn carriages.

London, Paris, Las...

At the beginning of this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that amplified the power of our country's already powerful corporations by giving them free reign to spend without limit or restraint in our elections. This decision, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, opened new avenues for corporate...

Earlier this year, Justice Stevens ended his powerful dissent in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission with the following words: "While American democracy is imperfect, few outside the majority of this Court would have thought its flaws included a dearth of corporate money in politics." While many have focused on...

By Bill de Blasio and Chirlane McCray

When we first started dating, we faced many challenges as an interracial couple. Resistance came from friends and even family, but there was one experience more direct and threatening than all the rest. It was 1991 and Jungle Fever, a Spike Lee film...

New York City's election laws are notoriously outdated and arcane, and many of them simply do not make sense. Candidates throughout New York City face trying battles to get on and stay on the ballot. Many are kicked off over extremely minor errors, from typos to the misspelling of a...

Over a six-week period this summer, our volunteers and supporters took to the streets to talk to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers about the key issues facing our City. In the end, they collected signatures from more than 125,000 New Yorkers to put my name on the ballot for...

Over the last six years, six states have legalized gay marriage - a real sign of progress. For our nation to become a place where all people are free to marry whomever they chose, this battle must now be fought and won on the local level, right here in New...