Gracie Mansion likely to become home again

Mayoral candidates would reside with "ghosts of former mayors going back to La Guardia"

Not only will the 2013 New York City election bring a new mayor to work in City Hall, it will also likely bring a new mayor to turn the Gracie Mansion property into a home again, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Current Mayor Michael Bloomberg does not live in Gracie Mansion, located at 88th Street and East End Avenue in Yorkville, though he does host events there, according to the Journal. He chooses to live in his East 79th Street townhouse, a decision that he announced during his first mayoral run in 2001. With the exception of Bloomberg, Gracie Mansion has housed every mayor since Fiorello La Guardia in 1942.

According to the Journal, the two declared candidates for the mayoral run, Bill Thompson, former city comptroller, and Tom Allon, a media executive, have indicated they will move into Gracie Mansion if they win. Despite a federal fundraising investigation, City Comptroller John Liu says he is contemplating a run for mayor and would live in Gracie Mansion.

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Meanwhile, potential candidates City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio declined to discuss with the Journal whether they would settle there if elected.

Former Mayor Ed Koch told the Journal that it’s special to live in a home where “the ghosts of former mayors going back to La Guardia are with you.” [WSJ]