Dante de Blasio Ready To Use His 'Influence' To Help His Dad Run NYC
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Dante de Blasio has been named one of Time magazine's 16 most influential teenagers of 2013. The campaign ad featuring the teen and his trademark Afro certainly helped dad, Bill, get elected mayor.
But, it doesn't stop there.
Dante de Blasio has strong views about running the city, and, his mother said, he won't be shy about sharing them, CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported Wednesday.
At Brooklyn Tech High School, where the city's soon-to-be first son is a star of the debating team, not all the kids are impressed with Time's decision to crown Dante one of the most influential teenagers of the year.
"I don't feel that he's that influential at all," Gary Chelman said.
"A lot of the kids in our school have the potential for being influential," Zenith Winner added.
"I've never heard any words that he's ever said. I've only seen him so I don't know how I've ever been influenced by him. I feel that that's sort of a random pick," Robin O'Hara added.
Those kids are obviously not thinking about the fact that Dante will have the ear of the big guy running the city of New York. His mother, Chirlane McCray, confided to Kramer that Dante is not only smart, he's interested in government in a big, big way.
"Dante's very interested in government and different forms of government," McCray said.
When asked if he is going to run for elected office one day, McCray didn't rule it out.
"Maybe. You know? Maybe. He studied the Roman Empire. He has favorite leaders," she said. "He really has strong ideas and opinions about how to run a government."
On his Facebook page Dante says he is inspired by an eclectic group of people -- former President Theodore Roosevelt, Niccolo Machiavelli, the founder of modern political science, and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.
His favorite television shows include "60 Minutes" and the political satire of the "Colbert Report."
McCray said she fully expects Dante to share his views on running things with his father after he takes office on Jan. 1.
"He will be giving lots of advice. He's a history buff. Even in his spare time he's reading about different societies, civilizations and taking notes," she said.
The commercials Dante did for his dad helped him win. There are plenty of classmates who know that and are impressed.
"Pretty amazing," one student said.
"It makes me kind of motivated to do better. I occasionally see him around at the library. Pretty cool to have the son of the mayor at the school," Kelfang Tsering added.
So what else does Dante like?
Playing Grand Theft Auto, reading books by Kurt Vonnegut and the music of the Rolling Stones, Ozzy Osbourne, Megadeth and Iron Maiden.
Other on the Time list of influential teens include Justin Bieber, President Barack Obama's daughter, Malia, and Kardashian kids Kendall and Kylie Jenner.
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