Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today welcomed 13 newly-elected mayors from across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to New York’s historic City Hall for a working lunch to discuss the challenges they all face as city leaders and to share information on the successful approaches New York City has taken to overcome these challenges.

“We’ve learned so much as we transformed New York over the last six years by using accountability and innovation, and by investing in the future,” Mayor Bloomberg said. “Whether you’re the mayor of 18,000 or 8 million people, the goals are the same: clean streets; strong schools; a robust local economy; open and accountable government and, above all, safe neighborhoods. I welcome the chance to share our success in those areas with other mayors, and to hear about their own particular strategies and challenges.”

During lunch, Mayor Bloomberg shared information on a number of the Administration’s key initiatives, including: PlaNYC, his far-reaching plan to fight global warming and create a more livable city; the 311 Customer Service Center which has dramatically improved the accessibility of City services; and innovative reforms that are improving schools in the nation’s largest school district. The Mayor also invited the newly-elected leaders to join Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a nonpartisan coalition of more than 270 mayors from across the county whose goal is to keep illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of criminals. Following lunch, Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications Commissioner Paul Cosgrave took the mayors on a tour of the 311 Customer Service Center.

The mayors-elect who attended today’s event include: Mary Foster, Mayor Elect of Peekskill, New York; Steven Gold, Mayor Elect of Beacon, New York; Scott Johnson, Mayor Elect of Saratoga Springs, New York; Michael Manning, Mayor Elect of Watervliet, New York; David Roefaro, Mayor Elect of Utica, New York; Richard “Rick” Scalera, Mayor Elect of Hudson, New York; Ann Thane, Mayor Elect of Amsterdam, New York; New York; John Tkazyik, Mayor Elect of Poughkeepsie, New York; Clinton Young, Mayor Elect of Mount Vernon, New York; John Bencivengo, Mayor Elect of Hamilton, New Jersey; Thomas Kelaher, Mayor Elect of Toms River, New Jersey; April Almon, Mayor of East Haven, Connecticut and Bill Finch, Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut.

Mayors who have previously come to New York to meet with Mayor Bloomberg and learn about New York City’s innovative approaches to the challenges facing local leaders include Mayors Adrian Fenty of Washington, DC; Antonio Villaraigosa of Los Angeles, California; Cory Booker of Newark, New Jersey; Bill White of Houston, Texas; Michael Nutter of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Shelia Dixon of Baltimore, Maryland; Chris Coleman of St. Paul, Minnesota; Gavin Newsome of San Francisco, California; Jamshid ‘Jimmy’ Delshad of Beverly Hills, California; (Premier) Steve Bracks of Victoria, Australia; Sam Sullivan of Vancouver, Canada; and Flemming Knudsen of Aarhus, Denmark.