8 Years is Enough: NYers to Bloomberg

NBC NEW YORK:

Despite consistently strong approval ratings for the job Michael Bloomberg has done as mayor, most New Yorkers say it’s time to give someone else a shot, a new poll finds.

Fifty-five percent of New Yorkers don’t think Bloomberg deserves a third term, according to the poll conducted by The New York Times, Cornell University and NY1. Forty percent of city residents say the billionaire bachelor should stay in power.

Yet for the last four years, a steady 60 percent of New Yorkers agree Bloomberg has handled his job well. They say the overall quality of life in the city has gotten better and crime has gone down. So why don’t they want him back in office?

Term limits. Nearly 60 percent of those surveyed disapprove of the city council’s move to extend term limits from two to three. Bloomberg exercised his vast power, acumen and political connections to get the law changed, but New Yorkers still don’t think he’s above it.

While the mayor has endeavored to craft a local, national and international image of himself as an innovative, independent thinker with a track record of proven results, New Yorkers are hard-pressed to point out any single achievement that defines Bloomberg’s tenure as mayor, according to the Times. More than a third of those polled couldn’t identify the best thing Bloomberg has done since he took office in 2001.

City residents, frustrated by what they perceive to be increasing taxes, reduced affordable housing and an ever-worsening subway and bus system that they are forced to help bail out, are ready for change, the poll indicates. About 51 percent of poll respondents believe the city is on the wrong track, while 40 percent say things are going in the right direction. They say a fresh perspective on things could be what the city needs to move forward.

Still, the deep-pocketed Bloomberg has a gigantic advantage over City Comptroller William Thompson in the upcoming mayoral election. A recognizable figure with financial prowess is comforting to the public in today’s uncertain economic times. Bloomberg’s familiar face and voice have been plastered on ads across all mediums in all five boroughs while Thompson has yet to even begin advertising in a major way.

The mayor has poured more than seven times the amount of money into his campaign that Thompson has and could spend up to $100 million when all is said and done to secure a third term, according to the Times. Incumbency helps, but money is why Rep. Anthony Weiner backed out of the race, saying, “it’s not a fair fight.” It’d be like going up against Mike Tyson without any gloves.

Poll findings were based on telephone interviews conducted May 29-June 3 with 683 adults across the five boroughs.