<p><img src="https://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5fe37bededf8920018093847-2400/bill-de-blasio-nyc-mayor-sleep-2020.jpg" border="0" alt="bill de blasio nyc mayor sleep 2020" data-mce-source="Xinhua/Wang Ying via Getty Images" data-mce-caption="New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (center) waits in line to vote outside an early voting site in Brooklyn of New York, the United States, Oct. 27, 2020."></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><p>New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio offered his thoughts on what a tumultuous 2020 has taught him during a press conference on Wednesday.</p><p>"I learned the value of sleep," the mayor said when asked what he learned about himself during the trying year, according to a reporter for the local NY1 TV station.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation=""><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I learned the value of sleep, <a href="https://twitter.com/NYCMayor'ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYCMayor</a> says when asked to reflect back on this year and what hes learned about himself. In the beginning I was trying to communicate, I now realize I wish I had been able to communicate this better.. this job requires so much detail work</p> Gloria Pazmino (@GloriaPazmino) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1341778945059004416'ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p></p><p>The Big Apple was the hardest hit US city at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 24,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in the city so far, with an average of more than 700 deaths per day at the peak in early April.</p><p>De Blasio has taken heat over his two terms for being somewhat of an absentee mayor, with local tabloids chronicling his pre-COVID <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nyc-mayor-bill-de-blasio-goes-ymca-announcing-closure-gyms-2020-3">jaunts to the Park Slope YMCA in Brooklyn</a> and his <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/10/22/de-blasio-walks-off-for-strolls-as-city-struggles-to-get-by/">midday strolls</a> through Prospect Park along with other scenic areas during the pandemic.</p><p>He also came under criticism for his messaging at the outset of the pandemic, initially telling constituents to keep going about their daily lives while some of his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/16/nyregion/coronavirus-bill-de-blasio.html">top staffers were advising him to act swiftly</a> to mitigate disaster.</p><p>At his Wednesday press conference, de Blasio reflected on how he communicated to the public about the virus, and how his job "requires so much detail work."</p><p>"In the beginning I was trying to communicate, I now realize I wish I had been able to communicate this better ... this job requires so much detail work," the mayor said.</p><p>With the 2021 mayoral election approaching as de Blasio nears his term limit, Hizzoner said his successor will be "in for a very intense education" in a job that can "make it hard to think," according to Katie Honan of the Wall Street Journal.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation=""><p lang="en" dir="ltr">His biggest personal challenge has usually been not getting enough sleep, but I think we all knew that already.<br><br>The next mayor, "they're in for a very intense education, this jobs requires so much detail work, so much hands-on work ..." that it can "make it hard to think"</p> katie honan (@katie_honan) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1341779057797718017'ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 23, 2020</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>"You have to stop, breathe, and really take a moment to think," de Blasio said.</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-de-blasio-2020-taught-value-of-sleep-quote-2020-12#comments">Join the conversation about this story »</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-if-jump-off-international-space-station-2018-6">What would happen if you jumped off the International Space Station</a></p>
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