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Early Signals: de Blasio Plays It Safe But Sharp

By RICHARD STEIER
Posted 12/9/13

You could almost feel the air being let out of the room Dec. 4 when Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio walked in and announced the appointment of three senior members of his administration and none of them was named Bill Bratton.

The Bratton hiring would come the following morning, but his tapping of Tony Shorris as First Deputy Mayor, while it didn’t set many pulses racing, may prove just as important, if not more so. Because just as Mr. Bratton, warts and all, is a top police professional, Mr. Shorris—who has been known to raise a few hackles himself—has the kind of background and talent that make him, now that he’s re-entered the public consciousness, seem like an equally obvious choice to, as Mr. de Blasio put it, “run the day-to-day operations of government” and “implement our agenda.”

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