Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Mayor Mike Bloomberg's approval rating hits lowest point in 8 years, 51% disapprove of his job: poll

Wednesday, March 16th 2011, 7:20 AM

Just 39% of city voters think Mayor Bloomberg is doing a good job, while 51% don't, the Quinnipiac University poll found.
Miller for News
Just 39% of city voters think Mayor Bloomberg is doing a good job, while 51% don't, the Quinnipiac University poll found.

The snow may have melted but the cold feelings linger: A new poll out Wednesday gives Mayor Bloomberg his lowest approval rating in eight years.

Just 39% of city voters think Bloomberg is doing a good job, while 51% don't, the Quinnipiac University poll found.

Those are the mayor's lowest numbers since July 2003, when Bloomberg raised property taxes and proposed a smoking ban.

The stumble comes after Hizzoner botched the late December blizzard that buried New York for days, stranding ambulances on unplowed streets. The mayor had to hastily fly back to the city from his Bermuda getaway to deal with the crisis.

Bloomberg's advisers had spent the previous year talking him up as a presidential candidate, but that now seems an unlikely path for him, especially with President Obama's approval rebounding to 70% in the city.

"Is it the snow? The third-term blahs? The weekends away? The presidential chatter?" asked Quinnipiac poll director Maurice Carroll. "Whatever the explanation, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's once-upon-a-time stretch of 70-plus job approval numbers has gone south. This is his first negative number since 2003."

Joining Bloomberg in the cellar is new schools Chancellor Cathie Black, who has an approval rating of only 17%, with 34% undecided.

Every other citywide elected official has higher approval ratings than both: 55% like City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Chelsea), 54% like Controller John Liu, and 44% approve of Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.

Police Commissioner Ray Kelly's approval rating remains sterling at 67%.

The poll of 1,115 registered voters, with a 2.9% margin of error, had other grim news for Bloomberg: 70% say he favors Manhattan over the outer boroughs, and 74% say he would not make a good President.

However, 72% of voters said the public doesn't have a right to know where Bloomberg goes on the weekends, although 84% said the mayor should announce who is in charge when he is away.

The City Council is considering legislation requiring the mayor to do so, after he refused to say where he was during the December blizzard or who was running the city in his absence.

alisberg@nydailynews.com

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