Mayor Rudolph Giuliani today bade farewell to the city he led for the past eight years, calling for a "soaring, beautiful" memorial to be built on the site of Ground Zero.
Mayor Giuliani, speaking just four days ahead of his final day in office, further defended the tough stance on crime and homelessness his administration took and praised New York's diversity as the source of strength pulling the city through the difficult aftermath of September 11th's deadly attacks.
"This place has to be sanctified," Mayor Giuliani said during his farewell address, delivered at a church situated just blocks from ground Zero.
"This place has to become a place which, when anybody comes here, they are going to feel the great power and emotion of what it means to be an American."
Although many in the city's black and Hispanic communites have decried what was seen as Mayor Giuliani's knee-jerk support for New York's Police Department during highly controversial police brutality scandals, the mayor insisted his policing strategy has been highly effective.
"The reality is that the model that was adopted for dealing with crime in New York City is the very, very best way to ensure you can make your city safe," Mayor Giuliani said.
"I felt that my job as the mayor was to turn around the city, because I believed - rightly or wrongly - that we had one last chance to do that," he added. "That created a lot of hostility, a lot of anger. I knew it would."
Mayor Giuliani, a Republican, has served two terms as New York City's mayor since 1993. Term limits prevent him from seeking a third term in office and he will be succeeded next month by billionaire media mogul Mr Michael Bloomberg.
AFP