Third Term's A Charm? Mayor's Approval Rating Spiraling
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Mayor Mike Bloomberg's popularity has hit a sinkhole. His job approval rating is the lowest it has been in six years.
So why is it that many New Yorkers currently don't like Mike?
Talk about taking the plunge. The mayor's job approval rating is continuing a dizzying downward spiral that has seen fewer and fewer New Yorkers support him as the years go on.
"I do think he's starting to suffer from that thing that happens to [people] who have been in power for a long time, which is he starts to think he's infallible and he can't make a mistake and so he does make mistakes," Upper West Side resident Dan Oreskes told CBS 2's Marcia Kramer on Wednesday.
WCBS 880's Marla Diamond On The Curse
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The mayor's popularity has fallen 9 points since last October. In the intervening months there has been the blizzard debacle that left the streets unplowed for days; the disastrous hiring and firing of Schools Chancellor Cathie Black and a difficult economy that has forced service cuts.
In the summer of 2008 the mayor's approval rating was 67 percent, according to a New York Times/CBS poll. It fell to 60 percent in 2009, 54 percent in 2010 and it is now at 45 percent.
To some it's the arrogance of being Mike.
"I would compare him as a better hairstyle than Donald Trump," one man said.
"I don't think he has the touch on people who actually make this city run, you know?" added Stephanie Miller of Washington Heights.
"He's the non-populist mayor who told people not to smoke, not to take salt and to exercise at the same time; having Cathie Black; the blizzard and the garbage dump in his third term, so you put that together and what do you come up with? Bloomberg fatigue," political consultant Hank Sheinkopf said.
Greg David, contributor to Crain's New York Business and director of the business reporting program at the CUNY graduate school, told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond Bloomberg is suffering through the curse of the third-term mayor.
"It's almost like he didn't look at the history books when he decided to run again, or you know, he decided that he was above the history books, because third terms in New York have been disastrous for everybody who has had one," he says. "Remember that mayor said that he was going to steer the city through the tough times of the financial crisis when he decided to run for reelection and people don't feel like things are that good."
Although some are clearly tired of Mayor Bloomberg, he's not at the low point of his popularity by any means. Believe it or not in the summer of 2003 just 24 percent of New Yorkers thought he was doing a good job.
The mayor's spokesman said that despite a failing economy the mayor is making headway by keeping crime down, helping to create jobs and improving student test scores.
The mayor may be unpopular, but he is getting support from purse-tightening New Yorkers for one of his pet projects - bringing a Walmart to the five boroughs.
What do you think of Bloomberg? Let us know below...
