Mayor Michael Bloomberg is kicking his re-election campaign into high gear as he opens campaign offices in all five boroughs this weekend.
The mayor opened campaign offices in the Bronx and Forest Hills, Queens on Saturday, and is expected to open offices in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Staten Island on Sunday.
The Bronx and Queens campaign offices were packed with supporters who carried signs and cheered “Four more years!” at the mayor’s arrival.
The mayor avoided criticism of his rivals, touted some of his most well-known initiatives and claimed the city has greatly improved under his administration.
“Do you remember life without 311? Neither do I,” he said. “Do you remember when you had to breathe someone else’s cigarette smoke? I remember that.”
He also stressed the need to continue his executive agenda.
“We’ve got an awful lot of work to do, but if we put New York ahead from partisan politics, if we go out and to explain to everybody, there may not be any easy, painless way, but there is a right way,” continued Bloomberg. “The right way of hard work, and being accountable and being inclusive, of knowing that we can do it if we can just pull together.”
The billionaire mayor does not need campaign contributions, but he asked the gathered crowds to offer as much time as they could to aid his campaign.
“I need you to help me. Come out, volunteer, make calls, knock on doorbells, hand out literature in the subway and bus stops. Get involved and stay involved,” he said.
His staff has been working at the Manhattan headquarters since January.
The latest campaign filings show Bloomberg has spent nearly $3 million on his re-election bid so far, and his operation is significantly larger than his competitors.
The mayor’s chief Democratic rival, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, hopes to catch up soon by tapping into the Democratic Party’s political networks.
“We’re going to have 30, 40 offices throughout the city. We’re going to go against [Bloomberg] toe to toe,” said Eduardo Castell, Thompson’s campaign manager. “We’re going to earn it, he’s going to buy it.”
Bloomberg’s new offices opened as he appears to be close to an agreement to run once again on the controversial Independence Party line.
Two founding members of the party said Friday that they will back Bloomberg’s bid to become the Independent nominee for mayor and are encouraging the rest of the party to formally endorse him.
In exchange, Bloomberg has agreed to reconsider the viability of nonpartisan elections. He also agreed to try to settle a dispute between the state and city factions of the Independence Party.
The mayor pushed the city council to change the term limits law last year, enabling him and other officials to run for third terms.
(Source: NY1)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
One Response
Yippee!
I would like to wish all of my fellow Yeshiva World News bloggers a very zeese and freilichen Yom Tov. Please, please, please don’t work too hard. I doubt I will be able to blog until after Yom Tov. All of my children are home and there is lot’s of work to do!