He jumped on the desk to raucous applause. He cracked jokes. And he bid a heartfelt farewell Tuesday to the office he called “the greatest privilege of my life.”
At 5:11 p.m., Michael Bloomberg walked out of City Hall for the last time as mayor, cheered by hundreds of staffers and his daughter Georgina, who had given birth to his first grandchild just a week ago.
“If I wasn’t happy today, I don’t know when I would be happy,” said Bloomberg, whose mood was upbeat.
As he emerged, huge gold balloons in the shape of the numbers “108” — for 108th mayor — were released.
Outside the City Hall gates, firefighters formed a gantlet to see him off before he ducked into the subway to go home.
Earlier, Bloomberg spoke to a group of faith leaders in his last public event as mayor. “I’ve been mayor now for 11 years, 364 days, and about 9 hours — but who’s counting,” he said.
He recalled taking up his post soon after 9/11.
“New Yorkers were recovering both physically and spiritually from the darkest day in our history, and together then we talked about rebuilding New York,” he said. “It’s fair to say that we’ve succeeded in truly spectacular fashion.
“Serving as mayor, working alongside you for the betterment of New York City, has really been the greatest privilege of my life. We are leaving the next administration a great hand to play, and I think the best days for New York City are still to come.”
He spent the rest of the day saying his goodbyes to staffers who flocked to the City Hall bullpen, many bringing their families along.
“He stood on the desk and rocked,” said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.
Bloomberg made jokes but also expressed gratitude. “We’ve shown this country and the world that you can have a great city that includes everyone, that gives opportunity to everybody, lets them practice their religion, say what they want to say, and love whoever they want to love,” he told his staffers. “And it’s all because of you.”
He said he left a parting note for Bill de Blasio with a succinct piece of advice: “Do what you think is right.”
Bloomberg planned to celebrate the New Year hosting a party for friends and family, but said he would still get every second out of his tenure.
“I will still be on call ’til 11:59:59,” he said.
