BIG CROWD WATCHES AS WHALEN SWORN IN.(Local)

Byline: Elizabeth Schwartz Staff writer

With hundreds looking on, Thomas M. Whalen III was sworn into office Sunday evening for his second full term as the mayor of Albany.

Whalen was sworn in at about 6:40 p.m., just after the city's First Night parade down Washington Avenue and just prior to the festivities of Albany's fourth annual New Year's Eve celebration.

Judge James T. Foley, senior judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, administered the oath of office. Whalen's wife, Denis,

held the Bible used in the ceremony.

During a short speech, Whalen vowed not to use urban problems in Albany as an excuse for not improving …