Snowstorm presents new NYC mayor with early test

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was handed an early test just a day after his inauguration.

A fierce nor’easter slammed into the city, challenging his lack of management experience, and bore a resemblance to major snowstorms that crippled previous mayors.

The stakes may have been even higher for de Blasio because he had delivered fierce criticisms of how his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg, handled the city’s response to a 2010 blizzard.

But pundits say the new mayor appears to have weathered the storm successfully.

He projected an aura of command while flanked by commissioners and state-of-the-art technology.

But he also exuded a regular-guy appeal when he shoveled the sidewalk in front of his Brooklyn home.

De Blasio denied his criticisms of Bloomberg upped the pressure on his own performance.