'Bye, Sh**head!' New York Mayor Bill de Blasio Forced to Hold Final Presser Indoors Due to Protests

The Democrat's term will come to an end on New Year's Eve. His successor, former police officer Eric Adams, will have his swearing-in ceremony in Times Square right after the holiday celebrations.

Outgoing New York Mayor Bill de Blasio, who held his last press conferences on Thursday, had to organise the final event indoors, as numerous protesters gathered outside City Hall, blasting the politician for his poor performance.

Reports suggested that the protesters were yelling at him, while some could be seen holding anti-de Blasio signs, including a banner saying: "Buh-bye sh*t head. Thanks for f***ing up our city".

Bill de Blasio @NYCMayor last day at city hall was today. He was supposed to make a grand farewell, but protestors and the press made him hide inside all day. He walked down a stairway for the 5pm news, and then hide out until dark, slinking out the backdoor. pic.twitter.com/eAFHS3O2Nw

— Roibeard De Una 🇵🇸 🇮🇪 (@RoibearddeUna) December 31, 2021

The anti-@NYCMayor protestors have now moved down Broadway after successfully getting the @nycmayor’s team to move the whole show inside pic.twitter.com/P4W1PacFbN

— Courtney Gross (@courtneycgross) December 30, 2021

“They brought all the cameras inside, he’s scared” remarks one cop as the media moves into City Hall for de Blasio’s sendoff. The protestors are disappointed pic.twitter.com/q6cXnH23Vo

— Liam Quigley (@_elkue) December 30, 2021

The mayor is handing the city over to Eric Adams amid a deep crisis: New York now has the worst murder rate in ten years (500 murders in 2021), which de Blasio blames on lockdowns. Overall crimes rates also soured in the last year, rising 6.13 percent over 2020 through 26 December.

The critics of the outgoing mayor link the spike in crime to his bail reform, which resulted in "the lowest rate of incarceration of any major [US] city" and to his decision to cut the NYPD budget by $1 billion last year.