Results tagged “mayorbloomberg”

They say he runs the city like a business, so it's only fitting that after a poorer-than-expected performance in last week's election, Mayor Bloomberg's campaign workers are afraid they won't get big bonuses this year. In past elections, the billionaire former bond trader and media mogul has paid out-of-pocket bonuses of as much as $400,000 — "a highly unusual perk in municipal politics, a world not typically associated with lavish pay," the Times reports. But after defeating Democratic rival Bill Thompson by just 4.6 percentage points, campaign workers are starting to worry about paltry bonuses.

City Comptroller Bill Thompson has no regrets about his mayoral campaign or his narrow loss, telling the Daily News, "I just stopped [the what if thoughts]. That's not helpful. When I woke up Wednesday, I would have liked to have woken up having won. But I was proud of the campaign." (Still, others are what-if-ing.) He is meeting with Mayor Bloomberg next week and said of the election,"It wasn't just the term limit issue. You talk about the affordability issue in the city of New York and people not being able to afford to stay and live here. He should listen to what the voters said on Tuesday night."

Bad news for the cabbie who kicked the embracing gay couple to the curb on Monday night — Mayor Bloomberg has gotten involved! The NY Post reports that he declared everyone has the right to ride in a cab (duh), and added, "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace. Somebody's orientation has absolutely nothing to do with whether they can ride a taxi. That kind of attitude doesn't fit with what this city's become."

Now that he's going to be mayor for another four years, Mayor Bloomberg has been reaching out to the Democrats. Yesterday, he had coffee with Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio (their klatsch is pictured at left) but City Comptroller-elect John Liu declined to meet with Bloomberg, saying he was too busy. But the NY Times points out Liu later said, "A long time ago, the people of New York decided there would be no king nor a monarch in New York City."

The oh-so-close mayoral race continues to be thorn in many Democrats' side—and many are bitter. State Senator Eric Schneiderman (D-Manhattan) tells the NY Times, “Bill Thompson was always closer than people thought, and on our side, if people had been behind him more, there would have been more checks, more endorsements, more attention, and that might have made the difference. It really is disgraceful that a lot of people in the Democratic Party stayed home or kept their checkbooks closed."

Mayor Bloomberg's narrower-than-expected election win over Comptroller Bill Thompson has left people wondering not only what could have been if Thompson got more support but what might have happened if Rep. Anthony Weiner had run against Bloomberg instead. Politico reports that when Weiner said last night that maybe President Obama should have stumped for Thompson, “Maybe one of those Corzine trips could have been better spent in New York. Who knows?" a White House official fired back, "Maybe Anthony Weiner should have manned-up and run against Michael Bloomberg."

Apparently, today's a bad day to be the richest and most powerful person in New York City. In the wake of last night's not-as-big-as-predicted victory over Democrat Bill Thompson, the press has decided that Mayor Bloomberg's easy days are behind him. The Times thinks that for the first time in years, the mayor "finds himself governing New York City from a most unaccustomed vantage point: Vulnerability" — a fact that "could have profound implications for the tenor of a third Bloomberg term, not least that it is likely to hinder the mayor’s well-honed ability to cow Democrats and liberal interest groups."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg won his controversial third term by beating Comptroller William Thompson by a much smaller than predicted margin. See the updates below for how the election night unfolded.

Tomorrow is Election Day—make sure you know where to vote and if you still need help with your choices, Gotham Gazette's Guide For The Last Minute Voter is a good resource—and the big election is the mayoral race between Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson. Both candidates crammed their weekend full of campaign stops, phone calls, ads, etc., because turnout is the wild card.

Yesterday, mayoral candidates Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller Bill Thompson campaigned with just days away until the election. And they made sure to encourage voters to get out the vote: NY1 reports that Bloomberg went to a "get out of the vote" rally in Queens while Thompson said, "This is all about turnout and really a question of who comes out and votes. So I think he's concerned, not just because his votes may stay home, I think he's concerned about the change that people in New York City are indicating all across the city. They'd like to see a new mayor, they'd like to see change in City Hall."

A new Marist poll showed that incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg leads challenger City Comptroller William Thompson by 15 points among likely voters, 53% to 38%. What's more, the poll notes, "Mayor Bloomberg’s action to extend term limits from two to three terms is not a deciding factor for 45% of voters. Although a large proportion of voters — 43% — says it makes them less likely to vote for the mayor, this number has not grown through the course of the campaign."

Last night, after an 11 minute takedown of Fox News, The Daily Show set its sights on our own mayoral race. Term limits turnaround? Check. President Obama's, uh, endorsement of Thompson? Check. And, yes, they did totally put Mayor Bloomberg next to a graphic of Richie Rich—and Jon Stewart did say they were the same height.

Last night, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson squared off for their second and final mayoral debate. And it was a feisty affair, with just a week till the election: The Post called it a "Yankees basebrawl", the Daily News noted how they "pulled out all the stops", and the NY Times noted how Bloomberg "pound[ed]" Thompson. Some highlighted soundbites:

Tonight will be the second and final debate between mayoral candidates Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson. The first debate saw both men in attack mode, with no clear winner. CityRoom says Thompson, "Far behind in the polls, and running out of time...must deliver the political equivalent of an Oscar-performance Tuesday night." The debate will air on WABC 7 at 7 p.m.

Earlier today, City Council Speaker Christine endorsed Comptroller Bill Thompson for mayor, saying, "I think one of my important points about term limits was that it was important for people to have choice and option. I believe Bill Thompson’s been a good comptroller. I think he would be a good mayor and I think it’s very important that the Democrats are united.” Quinn is, of course, close with Mayor Bloomberg and CityRoom reports that Quinn's endorsement was delayed " as payback for Ms. Quinn’s failure to support Mr. Thompson over the last year," even after he clinched the nomination.

A new Quinnipiac poll shows that Mayor Bloomberg is leading the mayoral race, with 53% of likely voters picking him, while challenger Comptroller Bill Thompson gets 35% of likely voters. PolitickerNY reports, "A two-term incumbent just barely over 50 percent would normally have lots to worry about, if he were being challenged by someone who had convinced the public there was an electable alternative. Thompson, unable to crack 40 percent in public opinion polls, does not seem to have made that case effectively." Now the word "blowout" is being mentioned.

After campaign records showed that Mayor Bloomberg had spent $85 million (through Friday) on his third term mayoral bid, people were amazed—it was, according to the NY TImes, the most anyone had personally spent on any sort of U.S. public office—and disgusted. But the Mayor defended the amount, saying yesterday at an event in Queens, "It costs a lot of money to get a message out and I'm trying to show what we've done and tell people."

By spending $85 million on his third mayoral campaign so far, Mayor Bloomberg entered the history books. The NY Times proclaims, "He has now spent more of his own money than any other individual in United States history in the pursuit of public office," and say the billionaire "is on pace to spend between $110 million and $140 million before the election on Nov. 3."

The latest Marist poll reveals that Mayor Bloomberg has opened up his lead against challenger City Comptroller Bill Thompson to 16 points amongst likely voters, with the incumbent receiving 52% to Thompson's 36%. Marist notes, "Last month, Bloomberg led Thompson among this group of voters by 9 percentage points — 52% to 43%, respectively. Although Bloomberg’s support is unchanged, Thompson has lost ground."

After accusations that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani was race-baiting while touting Mayor Bloomberg for re-election , the incumbent candidate tried to address the issue. Bloomberg said, "I am phenomenally proud of our record of bringing people together from all neighborhoods and every community. And I think we’ve successfully resisted attempts to divide the city... For the past eight years, I’ve worked well with virtually everyone. I don’t point fingers. I try to lower the volume, the temperature, and not raise it. I’m not going to try to raise it now."

In Borough Park yesterday, it was Giuliani Time! Former mayor Rudy Giuliani campaigned on behalf of Mayor Bloomberg and struck an ominous note at the Jewish Community Council breakfast, "I worry daily that the city might be turned back to the way it was, to the way it was before 1993. And you know exactly what I’m talking about."

Earlier this week, Mayor Bloomberg and Comptroller Thompson met in the first mayoral debate. The NY Times notes that "moderators asked questions about manicures, pedicures, Roman Polanski and Big Macs. They did not, however, ask about the economy," despite unemployment, foreclosure and budget issues plaguing the city. Why was that? Apparently they ran out of time! NY1's political director explained, "Had we not asked about the ‘nanny state’ or N.Y.P.D. tactics or education or homelessness, someone would be asking us about that omission."

Yes, the mayor of Moscow has called war against snow—hey, it's expensive to shovel— and "will marshal the Russian air force and air defense systems to intercept advancing storm fronts and hit them with dry ice and silver iodine particles." The Daily News has an editorial denouncing the idea—and prefaces it with, "Mayor Bloomberg, stop reading this editorial. Right now. Thank you," lest our mayor get any ideas. (Well, a Russian lawmaker did say, "If it works out, Chicago or Montreal may want to copy us.")

Yesterday, the city's largest Spanish newspaper, El Diario, endorsed City Comptroller Bill Thompson for Mayor. In its front page editorial, it says, "After a decade misspent lionizing the rich and their excesses, too many New Yorkers are paying the price for the decisions made in Washington, on Wall Street and in City Hall. What New York City needs is an executive with a balanced perspective towards development and growth, where families most in need are a high priority. This leader is Bill Thompson."

Mayor Bloomberg and former mayor Rudy Giuliani are becoming buddies on the campaign trail, but they're rivals when it comes to baseball. The Mayor and his predecessor are squabbling over coveted seats in the box beside the Yankees dugout at the American League Championship Series, according to Page Six, which reports that the competition for "front-row supremacy" on Friday will be almost "almost as exciting as the contest on the field." We're not so sure about that, but it's certainly interesting in light of the fact that Bloomberg declared that Giuliani would make a good governor at this week's mayoral debate.

Mayor Bloomberg's $7.5 billion plan to build or preserve city-financed residences for low-, moderate-, and middle-income families has constructed and protected 94,000 units over the past seven years — but over the same period the city's richest man has been unable to prevent rents from skyrocketing on some 200,000 other "affordable" units.

Since Mayor Bloomberg was busy preparing for a mayoral debate and a standing agreement with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board separates his private and political dealings, he wasn't involved when Bloomberg LP purchased BusinessWeek yesterday. But he thought it was a solid move on his media company's part, "I think it’s a great magazine."

Last night's first mayoral debate between incumbent Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson showed both men in attack mode: Bloomberg went after Thompson's record heading the Board of Education and accepting donations from pension funds that the city uses while Thompson reminded voters how Bloomberg maneuvered for the term limits and extension and how he's spent $65 million on his campaign so far. You can watch the debate at NY1, but here are some highlights:

Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Democratic City Comptroller Bill Thompson will go head-to-head tonight in their first debate, which will be hosted and televised by NY1.

With just under 4 weeks to go before the mayoral election, Mayor Bloomberg and City Comptroller William Thompson will march in the Fifth Avenue Columbus Day parade today. And tomorrow is their first debate—some veterans have suggestions (Mark Green to Thompson: ""Don't try for a knockout, because it can't happen"). Thompson skipped two parades yesterday (Bloomberg was at the Bronx Columbus Day Parade and the Hispanic Day Parade in Manhattan), apparently to prepare for the debate.