Speaking almost at the midpoint of his first term in office, Mayor Bill de Blasio says some mistakes have been made and that they are all his own. But in a sit-down interview session with reporters, the mayor was not interested in dwelling for too long on areas he thought had gone wrong. Instead, he tried to sound optimistic about his agenda for the next two years.

With 2015 coming to a close, it's the end of a bumpy year for Mayor de Blasio.

"At this level of play and at this volume, there’s going to be mistakes," de Blasio said. "My job is to make fewer and fewer mistakes. My job is to, you know, always learn from everything.

"One thing I do pride myself on is if I make a mistake I try to learn from it."

It's been a year defined by political challenges for City Hall. The mayor's affordable housing plan was panned by local advisory boards around the city. He engaged in a bruising battle with the taxi and ride-sharing company Uber. And his Albany agenda is in question after public clashes with Governor Cuomo.

At a sit-down press conference with reporters, the mayor defended his decision to skewer the Governor last summer. In a June interview with NY1, de Blasio accused Cuomo of carrying out vendettas against people perceived of crossing him.

"I’m satisfied it was the right approach," de Blasio said. "And there's certainly been some good work we've done together with the Governor and with Albany in recent months."

The mayor faced several questions about the city's near-record level of homelessness and his administration's response. He recently announced plans to overhaul the Department of Homeless Services and increase the city's outreach to people living on the street.

"This problem is not going away overnight," de Blasio said. "I need to be clearer about that. I need to be blunter about it. I need to show people we’re firing on every cylinder."

On a personal note, the mayor spoke about the affect the job has had on his family life.

"I miss, you know, the privacy," the mayor said. "I miss being able to be with my family in public and just be with my family."

As for the mayor's holiday plans he says he is still working them out with his family.