Former NYPD detective and renowned private investigator Bo Dietl announced his bid for New York City mayor as an independent candidate against Democratic incumbent Mayor Bill de Blasio, saying he has the solution to the city’s problems.

“De Blasio is a corrupt person and he has to be taken task,” Dietl said. “This is the CEO of a major city. He starts his day getting up at 9:30 am, goes to Brooklyn, has his coffee and then he is at City Hall after 12 o’clock.”

At his announcement outside City Hall, Dietl launched his independent bid, running on his own party line called NYC Cares. Dietl created the line after the Board of Election denied him the chance to register as a Democrat due to a paperwork error. The campaign will be centered on crime and homelessness, according to Dietl. 

In September, Dietl told Breitbart News he planned to challenge “Big Bird” de Blasio and would switch his party affiliation to primary against the mayor. He sent his new registration to the Board of Election in August, changing his residence from Nassau County to Manhattan, along with his party registration from Republican to Democrat. However, Dietl checked the boxes for both the Democrat and Independence party, causing the Board clerk to invalidating his form and leaving his party registration to become ‘blank’ or not affiliated with a party. To correct the error, Dietl filled out the affidavit, notarized it, and was told it would no longer be a problem going forward. 

“It was a mistake when I checked both Democratic and Independence lines because I also wanted the Independence party line while running as a Democrat,” Dietl told Breitbart News. “They asked me to fill out the affidavit, get it notarized, and was told it was going to be accepted by the general counsel by the Democratic Party and the Democratic heads at the Board of Elections. They told me it would be corrected by January 2nd and when I came back from vacation, I was told they were not accepting it.”

Dietl called foul and put the blame on the mayor for “trying to play a game” by knocking him out as a Democratic contender. 

“The mayor is trying to play a game and knock me out as running as a Democrat and it’s not going to happen,” Dietl said. “I have two attorneys and I am going to fight this. What right does this mayor have to keep me from running. What is he afraid of me. He thinks he controls the Board of Election.”

A frequent critic of de Blasio, who he refers to as “Big Bird,” Dietl promised if elected he would set up an independent counsel to investigate the now-closed investigations of the mayor’s campaign finance activities. 

“De Blasio is certainly guilty,” Dietl said. “Stevie Wonder could see this. I don’t mean to be offensive to blind people. It’s just so obvious.”

Dietl added, “I want Cuomo to have an independent investigation on the civil aspect of [de Blasio] campaign finance. The law’s been violated.”

On the homeless crisis plaguing the city, Dietl unveiled his proposal, saying the mayor has ignored the problem for years, only recently offering a non-solution proposal of “ineptitude and wasteful mismanagement.” The proposal from Dietl focuses on expanding affordable housing, utilizing the city’s vacant facilities by converting them into temporary sanctuaries, and changing the law mandating that its illegal to force the homeless into shelters unless the weather drops below 32 degrees.

“Enough is enough,” Dietl said. “The city has slid too far downhill. You can’t go to work without tripping over homeless people. ‘Big Bird’ de Blasio wants to try to sweep the problem out of sight. It won’t work. It’s time for real compassionate action to improve the quality of life in the boroughs for all New Yorkers, and to lift up those who need it most.”  

Dietl stated he can work better with President Donald Trump than De Blasio, who Dietl says continuously disrespects the president.

“You can’t stick your finger up at the president of the United States, whether you like Donald Trump or not,” Dietl said. “Trump will cut federal aid because he is very mad at de Blasio. There’ll probably be a $7 billion deficit. Where do you think he’s going to get the money? There’s going to be city taxes on property.”

Regarding campaign fundraising, Dietl told reporters he plans to raise over $15 million.

According to the latest campaign filing, Dietl has raised $390,471 for his bid and has spent roughly $82,000, mostly on advertisement. De Blasio, on the other hand, has raised $3.7 million and has so far spent $1.4 million.