City, Featured - Wednesday, November 4, 2009 8:30 - 0 Comments
Reviewing Last Night’s Unexpectedly Dramatic Mayoral Election
Like most of the New York media, we expected yesterday’s mayoral election to be a quick, uneventful affirmation of incumbent mayor Michael Bloomberg’s popularity, which is probably why NYU Local was one of the only blogs covering the election live. And except for a nude attacker outside a polling station, most of the day was generally pretty boring. For the first few minutes after polls had closed, the slaughtering of Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent Bill Thompson seemed imminent — the gap had widened to over 30 percentage points at one point. As we noted in our post last night, the New York Times (and apparently NBC) both declared Bloomberg victorious early, even with more than 80% of precincts yet to report their votes.
However, as votes from the outer boroughs were counted, Bloomberg’s commanding lead rapidly became slimmer and slimmer until Hizzoner was only one percentage point ahead of Thompson. Reporters on NY1, which refrained from declaring a victor early, were visibly stunned. NBC officially retracted their endorsement and the Times changed their headline from “Bloomberg wins” to “Bloomberg projected to win.” Not only had the tables turned in a matter of minutes, but the city’s richest and most powerful man was also close to losing his job. For about a moment here, the biggest upset in recent New York history was in reach.
City, Featured - Tuesday, November 3, 2009 8:00 - 17 Comments
Following Today’s NYC Mayoral Election (With Updates)
After months of fiery campaigning, the 2009 mayoral election is taking hold of New York City today. And in case you haven’t seen the flyers, posters, TV ads, online ads, buttons, bumper stickers, etc., incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg — running on the Independent and Republican ticket — is heavily favored to win over Democrat William Thompson. More specifically, Bloomberg leads by 12%, which is actually a stark decrease from a few weeks ago, according to the latest Quinnipiac poll.
More than any other in recent memory, the hype around this particular election has New York voters in a fuss. Not only has Bloomberg funded his campaign with nearly $100 million of his own money — the most in United States history — but Hizzoner is also about to be elected to his third consecutive term (necessitating a City Council-approved amendment). Naturally, New Yorkers of all backgrounds are crying foul over the thought of the city’s wealthiest man essentially buying his power.
Gawker’s anti-endorsement echoes typical resentment: “[Bloomberg] has been unable to win any political battle with anyone he couldn’t literally buy off” (Also: “He is personally a jerk. He is a thin-skinned, unpleasant, sanctimonious asshole”). Even the New York Times, which unsurprisingly endorsed Bloomberg, ran an op-ed last night from a former chief criticizing the Mayor’s absurd spending: “He could have saved himself a few hundred million dollars and New Yorkers could feel as though he was asking for their votes rather than buying them.”
City - Monday, October 26, 2009 10:15 - 1 Comment
Bloomberg Sets U.S. Record for Most Money Spent on Campaign
The New York Times reported on Friday that Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the richest man in New York City, has spent $85 million on his current re-election campaign — a U.S. record for most personal money spent in a campaign for public office. Even with the election a little over a week away (Nov. 3), Bloomberg may wind up spending up to $140 million. This includes $30.5 million spent on television advertisements.
By comparison, Bloomberg’s Democratic opponent Bill Thompson has spent only $6 million. Get the point now?
Despite the obvious outcry from populist interest groups, spending money obviously comes with some benefits: Bloomberg is pretty much a lock to win next week’s election, securing his third term as mayor despite harsh attacks from Thompson. Chances are he’s even bought your friends over too. Hundreds of students (including high schoolers) are getting paid to help out in his campaign. Thanks for the beer money, Mr. Mayor!
City - Friday, September 18, 2009 15:30 - 1 Comment
Paterson’s Endorsement in the NYC Mayoral Race
Obviously, he’s endorsing Bloomberg’s Democratic challenger, City Comptroller Bill Thompson. He’s a Democrat, and it would be highly unusual for him to break with the party on something like this.
Interestingly, though, his endorsement was somewhat less than unreserved. For one thing, he went out of his way to announce that endorsing Bloomberg’s opponent was “in no way a putdown” of the current mayor. And he was careful to praise both Bloomberg and Thompson, saying that they have both “performed a fine service to the people of the city of New York.”
Sounds like Paterson, although he’s willing to play ball for his own team, doesn’t want to distance himself from the mayor too much. Which makes sense: Bloomberg’s approval numbers are rock solid, while Paterson’s are practically Cheney-esque. Plus, odds are they’re going wind up continuing to work together in the future: given Bloomberg’s popularity, and the fact that he has name recognition far beyond any other current mayor in America, I’d be astounded if he didn’t win reelection.
Photo by Flickr user Center for American Progress used under a Creative Commons license.
Opinion - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 14:00 - 0 Comments
Bloomberg and City Council Facing Dead End
Mayor Bloomberg and a large contingent of city council members are currently mulling over a possible plan to extend their current 8-year (2-term) limit in office by adding an additional 4-year term. Bloomberg was originally for term limits when he came into office, but as his adminstration’s expiration date rapidly approaches, he seems to be refining this position. Term limits only came into existence in NYC in the last decade when the citizens voted twice, in ‘93 and ‘96, for a 2-term limit on many elected positions including the Mayor, City Council, and others. It is suspected that if the council seeks to overturn the term limits it will do so not by consulting you, the voter, but through the passage of legislation voted upon by the very members whose political future it determines (this is within the council’s power, but it’s a move many worry will be wildly unpopular). Continue…
