De Blasio offering 1,000 inauguration tickets for public

Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio opened up his Jan. 1 inauguration to the public with 1,000 tickets to the City Hall swearing-in ceremony.

Tickets were being offered online on a first-come-first-serve basis, but they were grabbed in about two hours, according to a Twitter post from de Blasio's transition team.

De Blasio and the soon-to-be first lady Chirlane McCray are slated to greet event attendees at City Hall after the ceremony, in which Public Advocate-elect Letitia James and Comptroller-elect Scott Stringer also will be sworn into office.

"Mayor-elect de Blasio is committed to ensuring that this is truly an event for all New Yorkers," said event chair Gabrielle Fialkoff. "Inauguration 2014 will be one of the most open and accessible events of its kind in New York City's history."

There will be an additional opportunity for New Yorkers to meet their new mayor at an open house at Gracie Mansion Jan. 5.