BILL DE BLASIO

My professional life has been about public service. My personal life I define very intently through my family.

I've always had a very positive relationship with the municipal labor unions - a respectful relationship.

There are a lot of different demands on the campaign trail, but what matters most is that you connect with voters and take the time to really hear their concerns.

I think unionization is good public policy. I think when families secure their economic future, that's good for everyone.

I think a lot of the best ideas come from the grassroots; I'm someone who does not like a bunker mentality and does not like groupthink.

At a certain point, particularly in his third term, Mayor Bloomberg lost touch with the people he was serving.

There are families of every kind. I think a lot of people are struggling to make sense of their identity in a very complicated world.

I come personally from a broken family, divorced very early in my childhood, a family with its own share of troubles, so I think that was very influential in both me believing that someday I would consistently devote myself to my own family that I created, but I think it also really affects my view of the world.

While this has been a private part of my family's life, it is now clear a media story will soon emerge. My father tragically ended his life while battling terminal cancer in 1979.

I am very much a Red Sox fan; I can name you more players than you could possibly imagine. It's just part of who I am.

As N.Y.C. Public Advocate, I released a report that showed that stop-and-frisks of African Americans in 2012 were barely half as likely to yield a weapon as those of white New Yorkers - and a third less likely to yield contraband. Despite this evidence, the vast majority of those stopped are young black and Latino men.

I have my loyalty to the team of my youth. Everyone I knew was a Red Sox fan. The team that I grew up with was constantly the underdog but managed to prevail.

I love the MLB app, because I'm a pretty obsessed baseball fan.

There is nothing wrong with listening. You can listen to people; you can hear people's concerns. You can keep an open mind and still be perfectly strong.

Going back to high school and college, I believed I would be involved in public service. I literally could not conceptualize anything else.

My wife and family, to say the least, are the center of my life; they are my grounding. I don't want to sound schmaltzy, but they are my inspiration and you name it.

I didn't set out with the notion of running for elective office; it sort of grew over time. And I honestly at times questioned if progressive change can be effected through elected office.

Everyone I knew was a Red Sox fan. Living up there in 1967 - the Impossible Dream season - that moment was incredibly compelling. I just naturally gravitated to the team. Nineteen seventy-five was arguably the greatest World Series of all time.

My parents were divorced when I was young. I was really brought up by my mother's side of the family.

I think small business is struggling in New York City. It's a fantastic market, it's a very appealing market, there's lots of opportunity, at the same time it's a very difficult place to build a small business.

I think Bloomberg's broad vision of the environment in New York City is something I agree with. I broadly stand with his vision for how to deal with climate change and prepare for future weather events.

I have an activist's desire to improve people's lives.

I have a bold plan to break from the Bloomberg years, and end the 'Tale of Two Cities' by providing real opportunity to all New Yorkers, no matter where they live.

Clearly, Mayor Bloomberg did some things right. I think he did a very good job on public health. He did a very good job on environment. I think he was right to achieve mayoral control of education. I don't think he then applied it the right way.

I'm someone who does not like a bunker mentality and does not like groupthink.