NEW YORK MAYOR BEGINS SECOND TERM TARGETING DRUGS, TAXES

NEW YORK--Mayor Rudolph Giuliani began his second term Thursday by
promising to lead New York into an era of sustained prosperity, better
schools and lower crime, cementing the Big Apple's reputation as "the
undisputed capital of the world."

After years of resignation toward the ills of urban life, New York has
emerged as "a city of resurgence and a city of progress," Giuliani said.
"The best days are yet to come," he said.

Standing without an overcoat despite freezing temperatures, Giuliani took
the oath at City Hall before 5,000 invited guests, including his wife,
Donna Hanover, and their two children, Andrew and Caroline.

Unlike Giuliani's first inauguration in 1994, his 11 -year-old son behaved
himself this time, sitting quietly next to his father. Giuliani was
upstaged four years ago when Andrew, then 7, joined his father at the
lectern and repeated some of the mayor's key lines, pumping his fist for
emphasis. Giuliani earned a return trip to City Hall by trouncing Democrat
Ruth Messinger in November, becoming the first Republican to win
back-to-back elections since Fiorello La Guardia, who served from 1934 to
1945. Giuliani begins his second term at a time when the city has seen its
fortunes soar, in part from a sharply reduced crime rate, a boom in tourism
and a bull market on Wall Street. In light of the turnaround, the mayor has
attracted notice as a prospect for national office and he has refused to
pledge to serve his full, four-year term.

In a half-hour speech that was short on specifics and surprises, Giuliani
sketched an unwaveringly upbeat picture of life in the city. He asserted
his administration had achieved an unrivaled change in direction, and that
the challenge now was to make permanent those improvements "with no one
left out, and no one left behind." Giuliani reassured New Yorkers he would
continue his campaign against street crime by hiring 1,600 more police
officers and expanding anti-drug initiatives.

"We can put unrelenting pressure on the people who try to destroy the lives
of our children -the drug dealers," he said.

Giuliani also said schools should end "social promotions," in which
students are advanced even if they fail to meet requirements to enter the
next grade.

Copyright Los Angeles Times