New Yorkers call Mayor Bill de Blasio a lot of things. Many of them cannot be reprinted on a family website. But after almost eight years in office, the soon-to-depart mayor has an oddly sentimental choice for his favorite nickname.
“I did not, in recent years, love Big Bird. But it does have historical resonance," the similarly tall (but less feathered) mayor said at his daily news conference Thursday, in response to a question about the various monikers he's had over the years.
"People called me that way back when in high school and all. It brought me back, it has certain nostalgic value. He’s a positive character, he’s one of the better ‘Sesame Street’ characters. That one, I wouldn’t say it made my heart sing, but it had something good to it."
The 6'5" mayor, whose final term ends in less than seven months, has cut loose much more frequently of late -- coming to one recent news conference fully bedecked in Nets gear and munching on Shake Shack fries during another.
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