De Blasio, denied seat in Congress, heads to Harvard

Ex-mayor once represented Brooklyn district in Council

August 24, 2022 Karen Matthews, Associated Press

Then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks at the opening of New York's Wollman Rink in Central Park on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. AP Photo/Brittainy Newman, File

Share this:

Former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is headed to Harvard this fall as a teaching fellow at the university’s schools of government and public health.

De Blasio, a Democrat who served as mayor from from 2014 to 2021, will take part in “a variety of discussions, events, and programming” at the Institute of Politics at the Harvard Kennedy School and will teach classes on leadership and public service at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, the schools said in separate announcements Wednesday.

Kim Janey, the former acting mayor of Boston, will also serve as a fellow at the public health school.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mayor de Blasio and Mayor Janey to campus as Menschel Senior Leadership Fellows,” Dean Michelle A. Williams said.

Williams said both officials grappled with public health crises including COVID-19, homelessness and the opioid epidemic.

“Their insights and their mentorship will be tremendously helpful to students who aspire to public office, as well as to those who are looking to lead in other sectors,” she said.

At the Institute of Politics, de Blasio will be joined by other fellows including former Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven.

Setti Warren, interim director of the institute, said de Blasio’s “decades of experience in local government, federal agencies, national campaigns, and running the largest city in the country will provide invaluable insight to our students and the Harvard community.”

De Blasio said he looked forward to teaching a new generation of leaders and activists. “My key message to them: we CAN make bold progressive change. I know because I’ve lived it,” the former mayor tweeted.

De Blasio, who grew up in Massachusetts and is a die-hard Boston Red Sox fan, was prevented by term limits from seeking a third four-year term as mayor.

After an unsuccessful campaign for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, de Blasio flirted this year with running for governor of New York and later mounted a brief run for a congressional district that includes his Brooklyn home. Former federal prosecutor and Trump impeachment counsel Daniel Goldman secured the Democratic nomination for that seat in a primary Tuesday.