Why Bill de Blasio Is Finally Having Fun as Mayor

Mr. de Blasio is stepping out of the shadow of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is facing various scandals, and emerging as a cheerleader for New York City’s recovery.

He braved the 85-foot plunge on the Cyclone roller coaster to celebrate the reopening of Coney Island. He stood with the actor Lin-Manuel Miranda in the middle of Times Square to announce that Broadway was coming back. He savored a Krispy Kreme doughnut — free for people who get vaccinated — on camera as if it were a fresh croissant from Paris, or at least his favored patisserie in Brooklyn. It only took seven years and change, but it appears that Bill de Blasio is finally having fun as mayor. His spirits have been buoyed by a confluence of events: a feeling of hope as millions of New Yorkers get vaccinated after a devastating year; an influx of federal funding to shore up the city’s finances.