Gianni Cipriano for The New York Times

Mayor Bill de Blasio watched on Thursday as his wife, Chirlane McCray, danced to folk music  in Grassano, Italy.

In an Ancestral Town, De Blasio Is Celebrated

By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM and GAIA PIANIGIANI 48 minutes ago

A second ancestral visit for New York City mayor whose grandmother left Italy 111 years ago.

Carmine Donnola, a longtime Grassano resident, said Mr. de Blasio’s return was a significant moment for a town seeking some hope. In Piazza Purgatorio on Thursday morning, Mr. Donnola handed a poem to a visitor; he planned to present it to the mayor later that day.

The poem was written in Italian. But its title was, simply, 

 “Bill”:

In the little piazza with cobblestones

Where your grandmother was born

Grassano now cheers up