NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio: Past, Present and Future in Photos

NEW YORK CITY — Bill de Blasio won New York City's mayoral seat by a landslide eight years ago. The liberal politician promised radical reforms that would remold the NYPD and level out the wealthy and poor classes of the nation's biggest city.

From instituting universal pre-kindergarten to halting police stop-and-frisk, de Blasio made good on some of his proposed offerings. The mayor's two terms, however, will leave behind a legacy deeply transformed by his relationship with the NYPD and public dissonance brought by accusations against former Gov. Cuomo.

“I want people to remember that we needed to fight inequality and we did. And it can be done," de Blasio said in a recent interview with the Associated Press. The mayor also reflected on his strained relationship with the media and according to AP, stated that he wished he had been a better communicator.

The mayor hasn't always had the smoothest relationship with the media. In the beginning of his first term de Blasio was photographed eating a slice of pizza with a fork and knife, something that New Yorkers still scrutinize him for doing, greatly overshadowing many of the progressive items on his agenda.

While de Blasio remains tight lipped about what's to come, he does promise AP that he will remian in the public service.

Check out photos below highlighting NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio's two terms in office:

Democratic presidential candidate and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks to the media before the Democratic primary debate, June 27, 2019, in Miami. Some New Yorkers questioned de Blasio's focus on the mayor's job when he launched a muddling bid for president. He has remained coy on his future plans when asked if he's going to run for governor.

New York Democratic mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio embraces his son Dante, left, daughter Chiara, second from left, and wife, Chirlane McCray, right, after polls closed in the city's primary election in New York, Sept. 10, 2013. De Blasio swept into the New York City mayor's office eight years ago promising a liberal remolding of the nation's largest city that would level deep inequities and reform police practices.

In this June 17, 2012, file photo, the Rev. Al Sharpton, center, walks with demonstrators during a silent march to end New York's "stop-and-frisk" program, May 22, 2013. De Blasio swept into the New York City mayor's office eight years ago promising to level deep inequities and reform police practices, which curbed police stop-and-frisk tactic.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio hugs a child after reading a book to a pre-kindergarten class at P.S. 130 in New York, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2014. De Blasio swept into the New York City mayor's office eight years ago promising a liberal remolding of the nation's largest city, delivering on a promise to offer universal pre-kindergarten.

New York City Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio, right, holds a news briefing, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, in New York. As he closes out the final days in the mayor's office, de Blasio acknowledged he had a strained relationship with the media, and made errors along the way.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray, arrive for the funeral of slain New York City police Officer Rafael Ramos, Saturday, December 27, 2014, in New York. De Blasio's relationship with the city's police force has been difficult...pledging to overhaul the department's interactions with the public and curtailing police tactics of stopping, questioning and frisking mostly Black and Hispanic people on the street en masse.

Demonstrators rally with signs calling on New York Mayor Bill de Blasio to fire police Officer Daniel Pantaleo, who caused the death of Eric Garner with a chokehold, Friday, Aug. 2, 2019, in New York. De Blasio's handling of the investigation into Garner's killing angered officers and many police reform advocates who worked to elect de Blasio.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, left, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo attend a meeting at the State Capitol on Monday, January 27, 2014, in Albany, New York. When New York City became the epicenter of the pandemic, de Blasio's attempts to manage the response were frequently defined by the ongoing public feuding with then-Gov. Cuomo.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio wears a protective mask while greeting students as they arrive for in-person classes outside Public School 188 The Island School, Tuesday, September 29, 2020, in New York. As de Blasio closes out the final days in the mayor's office, he is contemplating a run for higher office, a bet that his early achievements and his steering the city of 8.8 million through the pandemic will stick with New Yorkers.

The Associated Press contributed to this post.