President Barack Obama: We have lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with. … He no longer belongs to us — he belongs to the ages."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Today, we lost one of the most transformative and influential figures in modern history. Nelson Mandela was a global icon who broke the back of apartheid in South Africa and inspired generations of people around the world with his spirit of resolve and reconciliation."
Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio: We live in a far better world today because of the life and work of Nelson Mandela. He met hatred with reason, intolerance with resolve. For so many of us, the fight for a free South Africa … brought us together, and inspired us to confront oppression abroad — and also here at home."
