Mayor de Blasio is digging into his family history in Italy.
On vacation with his family, de Blasio visited the home of his maternal grandmother in the small town of Grassano Thursday. He was greeted with fanfare, and even generated his own hashtag as small newspapers tweeted about him with #WelcomeHomeBill.
He told the crowd there, "For our family, this is an incredible moment to experience the love and support of our ancestral hometown."
Earlier, he and he family were welcomed in Sant'Agata near Naples, where his grandfather was born. A large crowd met him outside town hall, and the local mayor and a cousin who lives in a nearby city also greeted him.
De Blasio was given honorary citizenship of Sant'Agata during a ceremony in the town's main square.
His next stop will be Venice.
