New York wakes up with 'Mayor Mike' at the helm

For eight years, Rudolph Giuliani played father to the eight million people who live in New York City. He infuriated them, soothed them, scolded them, sheltered them from crime and, when terrible tragedy struck on 11 September, he reassured and consoled them. But suddenly this morning, Rudy, who never seemed to sleep, will be gone.

For New Yorkers, the turning of the year means far more than hanging a new calendar. The city last night bade farewell with relief to 2001, a year that will always be equated to the attacks on the twin towers and the loss of 3,000 innocent lives.

But it finds itself peering at a futurethat is uncertain and clouded. A $4bn (£2.7bn) budget deficit looms, a large hole in lower Manhattan, gouged out by al-Qa'ida, must be filled again, and "Mayor Mike" has taken over as head of the household. Michael Bloomberg is a dynamic businessman; how he will fare in his new job, nobody really knows.

So, as revellers began to pour into the Times Square area last night to bring 2002 in, the atmosphere was more complicated than in previous years. A solemn tone was set when bells in churches, mosques and synagogues were sounded across the city to honour the dead from September.

The event, which was expected to draw about half a million people and a worldwide television audience of more than one billion, was marred by stringent security measures.

Most startling perhaps was the decision to equip scores of police officers with devices to detect radioactivity in case of a nuclear terrorist attack.

One innovation was a brief ceremony to mark the transfer of the mayoral responsibilities from Mr Giuliani to Mr Bloomberg. A more formal inauguration will be held at City Hall this morning, where the new mayor is expected to make his first formal speech since he won the office on voting day on 7 November.

Mr Bloomberg, 59, who will simultaneously relinquish his post as chief executive officer of the financial news company that bears his name, has given little away about how he means to run the city since his election victory, for which he paid $69m out of his own pocket.

He has signalled, however, that he will not be a Rudy II. He will not hold daily press conferences. He will try to keep his private life private.

This may be hard. Much is expected of a big city mayor in America. In New York, especially after Mr Giuliani, they are expected almost to play God.