A few weeks back, Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio tore the house down with his speech about retiring the inhumane carriage horse industry at NYCLASS' Animal Hero Awards event. But it’s this line in particular I keep thinking about:

—   Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio

That quote isn’t from one of our amazing volunteers or a donors — it’s not a line from one of Allie’s (many) emails. No, this is the Mayor-elect of the greatest city on earth talking about how he’s one of us. Telling us how he’s going to work with us to create a New York City where animals can live better lives. That’s just amazing.

We still need to hit $15,000 raised online by the time the ball drops for the New Year — can you contribute $5 or more this morning to help us get there?

NYCLASS and the animals of New York City have so much to celebrate this year.

We defeated Christine Quinn, elected a pro-animal Mayor, pushed the puppy mill bill through the state legislature, and shifted the balance of the City Council. And this week, with Melissa Mark-Viverito winning the race to become the next Speaker.

Now we have a pro-animal Mayor, Speaker, and City Council.

Add that to the clout we’ve built as a political organization in this town and we have the makings of a dang good 2014 for animals in New York. But in order to make that happen we have to hit the ground running by hitting this $15,000 fundraising goal.

Chip in $5 or more toward our year-end fundraiser so we’re ready for 2014 >>

This year was great. Next year will be even better. Make sure we’re ready.