Michael Bloomberg

Michael Bloomberg
108th Mayor of New York City
Incumbent
Assumed office January 1, 2002
Preceded by	Rudolph W. Giuliani
Personal details
Born	Michael Bloomberg (1942-02-14) February 14, 1942 Boston, Massachusetts
Died	Michael Bloomberg
Resting place	Michael Bloomberg
Political party	Democratic (1960-2001) Republican (2001–2007) Independent (2007–Present)
Spouse	Susan Brown (divorced)
Parent	Michael Bloomberg
Alma mater	Johns Hopkins University

Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born 14 February 1942) is an American businessman, philanthropist, and the founder of Bloomberg L.P., currently serving as the Mayor of New York City. He was a general partner at Salomon Brothers before founding the financial software service company in 1981. Although a lifelong Democrat, he ran on the Republican ballot and was elected mayor in 2001, and was reelected to a second term in 2005. He is frequently mentioned as a possible independent candidate for the 2008 presidential election and fueled that speculation when he left the Republican Party in June 2007.

Personal life and business career

Bloomberg was born to a Jewish family of Russian and Polish ancestry, at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, in the Boston neighborhood of Brighton on 14 February 1942. His parents were Charlotte Rubens, living in 2006, and William Henry Bloomberg, who was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts, the son of Elick Bloomberg, a Russian Jewish immigrant and a real-estate agent. He lived at 100 Brainerd Road, in the Boston neighborhood of Allston, until he was two years old, when the family moved to Atherton Road, in Brookline, Massachusetts. When he was four, his family moved to Medford, Massachusetts, a Boston suburb. He lived there until after he graduated from college. He attended Johns Hopkins University, where he joined Phi Kappa Psi, and graduated in 1964 with a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degree in electrical engineering. Later he received his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from Harvard Business School. He is an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America.

Bloomberg married Yorkshire-born Susan Brown. After 19 years of marriage, they divorced in 1993. They had two daughters, Georgina Bloomberg (who has been featured on Born Rich, a documentary film about the children of the extremely wealthy) and Emma Bloomberg. Georgina was romantically linked in 2007 with Cian O'Connor, the Irish showjumper whose 2004 Olympic gold medal was withdrawn. His current girlfriend is former New York state banking superintendent Diana Taylor. His younger sister, Marjorie Tiven, is Commissioner of the New York City Commission for the United Nations, Consular Corps and Protocol. His mother, Charlotte Bloomberg (born 3 January 1909), is reported to be in very good health for her age.

Bloomberg was a general partner at Salomon Brothers, where he headed equity trading, sales and, later, systems development. He made his fortune with his own company, Bloomberg L.P., selling financial information terminals to Wall Street firms; the company also began a radio network (the flagship station is 1130 WBBR-AM in New York City).

Bloomberg is among the world's richest people. He was ranked 34th by Forbes magazine in its list of 400 Richest Americans in September 2006. He was ranked 142nd in its list of the The World's Billionaires in March 2007. Bloomberg has written an autobiography, Bloomberg by Bloomberg (1997, ISBN 0-471-15545-4).

Bloomberg does not reside in Gracie Mansion, the official mayor's mansion, but at his own home elsewhere on the Upper East Side (17 East 79th Street between Madison and Fifth Avenues). He maintains his home address in the white pages and often rides the subway to City Hall. Bloomberg also owns a home in the British territory of Bermuda.

Bloomberg currently serves as an ex-officio trustee of the Museum of Modern Art.

Philanthropy

Forbes and other sources report his net worth at US$5.5 billion, which, in addition to aiding his political career, has allowed him to engage in substantial philanthropy, including the donation of over US$300 million to Johns Hopkins University, where he served as the chairman of the board from 1996 to 2002.

According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Mr. Bloomberg donated and or pledged $138 million in 2004, $144 million in 2005 and $165 million in 2006. 2006 recipients include the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health; World Lung Foundation and the World Health Organization.

According to The New York Times, Mr. Bloomberg has been an “anonymous donor” to the Carnegie Corporation each year for the last several years with gifts ranging from $5-$20 million. The Carnegie Corporation has distributed this contribution to hundreds of New York City organizations ranging from the Dance Theater of Harlem to Gilda’s Club, a not-for-profit organization that provides support to people and families living with cancer.

In 1996, Bloomberg endowed the William Henry Bloomberg Professorship at Harvard with a $3 million gift in honor of his father, who died in 1963, saying, "throughout his life, he recognized the importance of reaching out to the nonprofit sector to help better the welfare of the entire community." He also endowed his hometown synagogue, which was renamed for his parents, Temple Shalom, the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Jewish Community Center of Medford.

His charitable contributions were such that he was ranked seventh in the United States in philanthropic endeavors.

Harassment controversies

Bloomberg has been sued over allegations about sexual harassment and discrimination at his companies. Allegedly, he said "I'd do her" in reference to a female employee, and complained when one woman became pregnant. He was also accused of failing to investigate a sexual assault alleged to have been perpetrated by one of his company's executives. All lawsuits over these issues were withdrawn or settled outside of the courts.

Awards and honors

In February 2003, Bloomberg received the "Award for Distinguished Leadership in Global Capital Markets" from the Yale School of Management. He was named the 39th most influential person in the world in the 2007 Time 100. At the 2007 Commencement exercises for Tufts University, Mayor Bloomberg, a native of Medford, Massachusetts, delivered the commencement address at graduation. He was also awarded an honorary degree in Public Service from the university.

Political career

2001 election

In 2001, the incumbent mayor, Rudy Giuliani, was ineligible for re-election, as New York limits the mayoralty to two terms. Several well-known New York City politicians aspired to succeed him. Bloomberg, a lifelong member of the Democratic Party, decided to run for mayor as a member of the Republican Party.

Voting in the primary began on the morning of 11 September 2001. Later that day, however, because of the World Trade Center September 11, 2001 attacks, the primary was postponed. In the rescheduled primary, Bloomberg defeated Herman Badillo, a former Congressman, to become the Republican nominee. The Democratic primary did not produce a first-round winner. There was a runoff, in which the nomination went to New York City Public Advocate Mark J. Green.

In the general election, Bloomberg had Giuliani's endorsement. He also enjoyed a huge spending advantage. New York City's campaign finance law restricted the contributions a candidate could accept, but Bloomberg exercised his right to opt out of this law, attracting some criticism. He spent some $73 million of his own money on his campaign, outspending Green by five to one. One of the major themes of his campaign was that, with the city's economy suffering from the effects of the attacks, it needed a mayor with business experience.

In addition to being the Republican nominee, Bloomberg had the ballot line of the controversial Independence Party, in which "Social Therapy" leaders Fred Newman and Lenora Fulani exert strong influence. The latter proved important, as Bloomberg's votes on that line exceeded his margin of victory over Green. (Under New York's fusion rules, a candidate can run on more than one party's line and combine all the votes received on all lines. Green, the Democrat, also had the ballot line of the Working Families Party.) Another factor was the vote on Staten Island, which has traditionally been far friendlier to Republicans than the rest of the city. Bloomberg crushed Green in that borough, taking 75% of the vote there. Overall, Bloomberg won 50% to 48%.

Bloomberg declined the mayor's salary, accepting remuneration of $1.00 annually. He is considered a social-liberal, who is pro-choice, in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage and an advocate for stricter gun control laws.

Bloomberg's election marked the first time in New York City history that two Republicans had been elected mayor consecutively.

2005 election

Bloomberg seconds after being sworn in for 2nd term as Mayor of New York City on 1 January 2006.

Bloomberg was re-elected mayor in November 2005 by a margin of 20%, the widest margin ever for a Republican mayor of New York. [5]

Bloomberg had spent over $66 million on his campaign by late October 2005, and was projected to exceed the record of $74 million he spent on the previous election. He chose not to use public campaign funds and therefore his campaign was not subject to the restrictions imposed on candidates who accept such funding.

In late 2004 or early 2005, he gave the Independence Party $250,000 to fund a phone bank seeking to recruit volunteers for his re-election campaign. [6]

Former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer won the Democratic nomination to oppose Bloomberg in the general election; there was no opposition in the Republican primary, as Bloomberg's campaign successfully sued to keep Thomas Ognibene off the ballot. Ognibene, who ultimately ran on the Conservative Party ticket, accused Bloomberg of betraying Republican Party ideals.

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Bloomberg visiting with Grand Rabbi Moshe Leib Rabinovich of the Munkacs Hasidic sect in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 2004

Bloomberg was the most prominent Republican to oppose the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the United States. [7] Though a Republican at the time, Bloomberg is a staunch supporter of abortion rights and did not believe that Roberts was committed to maintaining Roe v. Wade.

In addition to receiving Republican support, Bloomberg obtained the endorsements of several prominent Democrats: former Democratic Mayor Ed Koch, former Democratic governor Hugh Carey, former Democratic City Council Speaker Peter Vallone, his son, Councilman Peter Vallone, Jr., former Democratic Congressman Floyd Flake (who had previously endorsed Bloomberg in 2001), and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. [8]

Policies as mayor

Bloomberg giving a speech in August 2004.

Bloomberg has said he wants reforming public education to be the legacy of his first term and addressing poverty to be the legacy of his second. He is known as a political pragmatist and for a managerial style that reflects his experience in the private sector. Bloomberg has chosen to apply a statistical, results-based approach to city management, appointing city commissioners based on their expertise and granting them wide autonomy in their decision-making. Breaking with 190 years of tradition, Bloomberg implemented a "bullpen" open office plan, reminiscent of a Wall Street trading floor, in which dozens of aides and managerial staff are seated together in a large chamber. The design is intended to promote accountability and accessibility.

Education

Bloomberg's first mayoralty coincided with a major shift of authority over the city's public school system from the state government to the city government. From 1968 until 2000, New York City's schools were managed by the Board of Education, which was comprised of seven members. Only two of the seven were appointed by the mayor, which meant the City had a minority of representatives on the board and the mayor's ability to shape education policy was greatly diminished. In addition to the Board, 25 local school boards also played a part in running the system. In 2000, the local boards and Board of Education were abolished and replaced with a new mayoral agency, the Department of Education.

Bloomberg appointed Joel Klein as Schools Chancellor to run the new department, which was based at the renovated Tweed Courthouse near City Hall. Under Bloomberg and Chancellor Klein, test scores have risen and the City has obtained a higher percentage of funding from the state budget. Bloomberg opposes social promotion, and favors after-school and summer-school programs to help schoolchildren catch up, rather than allowing them to advance to the next grade level where they may be unprepared. Despite often tense relations with teachers' unions, he avoided a teacher strike by concluding a contract negotiation in which teachers received an average raise of 15% in exchange for givebacks and productivity increases.

Bloomberg has enforced a strengthened cell-phone ban in city schools that had its roots dating to a 1988 school system ban on pagers. The ban is controversial among some parents, who are concerned with their ability to contact their children. Administration representatives have noted that students are distracted in class by cell phones and often use them inappropriately, in some instances sending and receiving text messages, taking photographs, surfing the Internet, and playing video games, and that cell-phone bans exist in other cities including Detroit and Philadelphia.

On May 27, 2007 Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the four-year high school graduation rate in New York City has reached 60%, the highest level since the City began calculating the rate in 1986 and an 18% increase since the Mayor assumed control of the public schools in 2002.

Social policy

Bloomberg supports the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York. Reflecting this, he appealed a decision finding the limiting of same-sex marriage unconstitutional. "My personal opinion is that anybody should be allowed to marry anybody. I don't happen to think we should put restrictions on who you should marry.... What the city doesn't want to have happen is people getting a marriage license and then six months, or one year later, or two years later, finding out it's meaningless," he has said.

Public health

Bloomberg has donated millions of dollars to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and appointed Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, an epidemiologist with a reputation for activism and scientific rigor, to be his Health Commissioner. Under Frieden the city Health Department has made HIV, diabetes and hypertension priorities.

Bloomberg extended New York City's smoking ban to all commercial establishments, including bars and nightclubs. This reform removed the last indoor public areas in which one could smoke in the city. The smoking ban took effect in March 2003. Bloomberg's smoking ban was considered trend-setting and many municipalities in North America and Europe have subsequently enacted similar bans.

In June 2005 Bloomberg signed the Potty Parity bill requiring more women's toilets in newly opened public places such as bars, theaters, stadiums and convention facilities

On 5 December 2006, New York became the first city in the United States to ban trans-fat from all restaurants. It will go into effect in July of 2008.

Environment

Bloomberg is one of the most active big city mayors in the issue of the environment. On April 22 2007 he announced PLANYC: an aggressive program to achieve vastly improve New York City's environmental sustainability by 2030. On May 23 2007 Bloomberg announced that by 2012 all of the city's Yellow Cabs will be hybrid cars. PLANYC aims to improve the city's sustainability through a multi-pronged approach that includes, among other things, the adoption of traffic congestion pricing based upon a system currently used in London and Singapore. Bloomberg contends this measure will reduce pollution and traffic congestion while raising revenue for the city. He has also pledged to plant one million trees in New York City, which will clean the air and boost property values.

Immigration

Bloomberg is a supporter of immigration reform to secure the rights of illegal immigrants, who comprise a large part of the population of New York City. He argues that deportation breaks up families and scares illegal immigrants away from cooperating with law enforcement or accessing vital social services; as such, he supports proposals like those put forth by U.S. Senators Ted Kennedy and John McCain, which would normalize the status of otherwise law-abiding illegal immigrants already present. Bloomberg also believes that border enforcement is somewhat futile. He told the US Senate Judiciary Committee Field Hearing on Federal Immigration Legislation on 5 July 2006: "It is as if we expect border control agents to do what a century of communism could not: Defeat the natural forces of supply and demand and defeat the natural human instinct for freedom and opportunity. You might as well sit on the beach and tell the tide not to come in." Of course, this ignored the fact that nations all over the world, and throughout history, have controlled their borders.

He also issued Executive Order 41 on 17 September 2003 which instructs city employees not to ask nor to disclose information about immigration status unless required by law or organizational mission. This assured that New York City would be a sanctuary for illegal aliens violating federal law.

Crime and security

During Bloomberg's tenure, the reduction of crime that began near the end of Mayor David Dinkins's tenure [9] [10] has continued. Bloomberg's approach to the issue has been more low-key than that of Giuliani, who was often criticized by advocates for the homeless and civil rights groups. However, there exists some criticism that the reduced-crime statistics are frequently falsified or doctored to exaggerate the reduction. [11] [12] [13]

Since 2003, Bloomberg has become increasingly assertive in demanding that federal homeland security funds be distributed to municipalities based on risk — such as New York City — and population rather than any other measure. In an appearance before the United States Senate he argued that federal security funds should not be indiscriminately distributed, spread like "peanut butter."

Gun control

Bloomberg is a strong advocate of gun control and made it a major issue of his administration in his second inaugural address. Most of the beneficiaries of his donations to Congressional candidates, however, have been opponents of gun control. Those incumbent Congressmen have had high ratings ("A" to "B+") from interest groups (e.g., National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America) which oppose gun control.

Bloomberg once said, "I don't know why people carry guns. Guns kill people...". Bloomberg is also a co-chair and founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization of 210 mayors whose stated goal is working toward eradicating the use of illegal firearms by criminals.

In 2006, Bloomberg conducted a number of sting operations in gun stores outside his state. In these, city-paid private investigators attempted to illegally purchase handguns for other people (known as a "straw purchase"). Bloomberg then brought civil charges against stores which did not submit to extensive monitoring from representatives of New York City. Reaction to the sting operations was overwhelmingly negative in states where he conducted his sting, prompting an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms to determine whether Bloomberg's "sting" violated any federal gun purchase laws. Many Second Amendment advocacy groups referred to the mayor's actions as "vigilante." The Virginia Citizen's Defense League held a raffle, dubbed the "Bloomberg Gun Giveaway" to help raise sales at affected stores within the commonwealth.. The Commonwealth of Virginia overwhelmingly passed legislation against simulated straw purchases such as this, and communicated such personally to Mr. Bloomberg (Attorney General McDonnell's press release).

Budgeting

Facing a severe fiscal crisis after the September 11, 2001 attacks, Bloomberg introduced a $3 billion tax increase in the middle of the fiscal 2003 year. The move is credited with stabilizing the city's finances, which have since recovered. Some critics, however, opined that he should have instead sought to cut government spending instead of raising taxes.

In 2004 and 2005, the city experienced record surpluses, but financial experts and Bloomberg administration officials warned about unfunded future pension costs owed to city workers. In response, in 2006 Bloomberg unilaterally set aside $2 billion for a city-retirees' health fund. Some critics, however, characterized this move as representing a lack of political courage on Bloomberg's part insofar as he did it to avoid facing the prospect of reducing New York City government payrolls, a move which they argued would have provided a more fiscally responsible long-term solution. Some of these critics claim that bloated government payrolls are one of the main reasons why New York City has one of the highest tax rates in the United States.

Development

Mayor Bloomberg and his Deputy Mayor for Economic Development & Rebuilding Daniel L. Doctoroff have overseen one of New York City’s most dramatic economic resurgences, spearheading the effort to reverse New York’s fiscal crisis after the attacks of 9/11 through a five-borough economic development strategy. By focusing on making New York’s economy more diverse, its business climate more hospitable, and its communities more livable, they have helped lead New York to its strongest economic position in decades. In 2005, the city achieved record levels of jobs, visitors, population, and the greatest number of housing starts since the 1960s.

Poverty

Bloomberg plans to make poverty reduction the central focus of his second term. In 2006 he appointed a Commission on Economic Opportunity to come up with innovative ideas to address poverty in the city. The commission's initial report was released in September 2006.

According to the United States Census Bureau the city's poverty rate of 19 percent in 2004 had not changed since 2001, while in Manhattan the earnings of the top fifth of earners ($330,244 on average) were 41 times the earnings of the bottom fifth ($8,019 on average). Bronx County is the second poorest urban county in the United States, with a per capita income of $13,595 (after El Paso County, Texas); Kings County, which is coterminous with Brooklyn, has a per capita of $16,775, which is lower than the 2000 per capita income of New Orleans. In 2004, the Census' American Community Survey reported, Latinos had the highest poverty rate in the city (29 percent), compared to Blacks (21 percent), Asians (18 percent) and non-Latino Whites (11 percent). Although in 2005 Latinos made up 28 percent of the New York City's total population, they made up 42 percent of its poverty population. The Mayor's Commission, however, has been criticized by advocacy groups like the National Institute for Latino Policy, for not addressing the problem of high and persistent poverty in the Latino community, pointing to the underrepresentation of Latinos on the Commission (only 4 out of 32 commissioners are Latino) and its leadership (no Latinos).

The Mayor's Commission issued a 52-page report on September 18, 2006 entitled, Increasing Opportunity and Reducing Poverty in New York City. arguing that it would be counterproductive to try to focus on everyone's problems, and instead would concentrate on three groups: very young children, young adults, and the working poor. By targeting these critical groups, the Commission believes it can best combat poverty overall. However, the focus has been criticized by those who would like a focus on other groups—including the elderly, the unemployed, the homeless, and those recently released from prison. The New York Times reported that little new city money is likely to be invested to fight poverty; management reform will be the main source of improvements. For example, the Times noted that food stamp administration will be important for all three of the groups targeted by the commission. Food stamps are fully funded by the federal government, so any expansion of their use is a cost-free reform for the city.

The Commission is expecting reports and plans by city agencies on how they each plan to address the issues raised in the Commission's report by November 2006, and will need to get City Council and State Legislative authorization for parts of its plan. The planning and implementation of the Commission's recommendations are under the leadership of Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs, who is credited with being the person in the Administration who convinced Mayor Bloomberg to make poverty reduction a major theme of his second and final term.

The Mayor also announced that he plans to explore the use of cash incentives to poor parents to get them to keep their children in school and promote other constructive behaviors. On June 18, 2007, city officials released details of an experimental two-year Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, known as Opportunity NYC, which will make "healthy lifestyle payments" to recipients who exhibit behaviors that are deemed conducive to self-sufficiency . Bloomberg cited successes with similar programs in Brazil and Mexico. The pilot program is expected to have approximately 14,000 participants and will be funded by the private sector, rather than city tax dollars.

Technology

Bloomberg came into office with a view that technology could not only make New York City government more efficient and responsive, but more transparent as well. His first major technology initiative was the consolidation of the City of New York's thousands of individual agency phone numbers into one three-digit number, 3-1-1. Bloomberg felt that a single phone number would be easy for New Yorkers to remember. The 311 deployment was of such importance that he assigned his daughter, Emma Bloomberg, to work closely with Commissioner Gino P. Menchini of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) to ensure that the project moved along swiftly. With his daughter on board, he felt many of the typical institutional obstacles that hinder rapid progress in a large bureaucracy like New York City would be removed. Although the project was greeted with skepticism, in 2003, 311 went live and it has since become one of the hallmark achievements of the Bloomberg Administration. In June of 2007, 311 received its 50 millionth call.

Another of Bloomberg’s technology initiatives was the creation of NYC TV. By virtue of the franchise agreements with the cable operators, New York City had always had access to valuable spectrum on local cable providers Cablevision and Time Warner Cable, but had made little use of the channels. Upon taking office in 2002, Bloomberg tapped two former campaign aides to revamp the City’s cable channels. In 2003, Bloomberg unveiled their creation, a network called NYC TV. The innovation was that, unlike typical municipal channels, NYC TV would be focused on local lifestyle and events, parks, history and culture. Some members of the New York City Council initially criticized the network for being overly preoccupied with ratings. Nonetheless, the network gained early traction, most notably for its coverage of the local fashion industry. Since its inception, NYC TV has gone on to absorb local broadcaster WNYE-TV and has emerged as the largest local broadcast network in the New York region with one full power broadcast station, five cable stations, and one FM Radio station. Today all these entities are organized under the name NYC Media Group. By many regards, Bloomberg’s belief that NYC TV could reinvent the local television landscape has largely held true. In 2006, WNBC entered into a large syndication agreement to air over 100 hours of NYC TV’s original shows. The network has won over 20 New York Emmys since its inception, and series such as “Secrets of New York” are being distributed nationally on PBS, DiSH Network, airlines and overseas.

Housing

Over the three years prior to June 2006, housing rents in New York City rose faster than inflation while inflation-adjusted incomes fell, according to a report by New York University.

The report indicated that New Yorkers with low or moderate incomes spent increasing proportions of their wages and salaries on housing costs. The quantity of units available at rents affordable to city households earning 42 percent or less fell by 205,000 units in three years prior to the report. Lower-income residents had greater difficulty with the housing cost changes. During the period from 2002 to 2005, low-income families (in private-market housing) spent 43.9 percent of their incomes on rent, on average. [14]

Bloomberg has increased city funding for the new development of affordable housing.

Support for Republicans beyond New York area

Since 2000, Bloomberg has given $29,200 in donations to eleven candidates for the United States Congress. Nine of these candidates were Republicans: John E. Stevens, Harold Rogers, John McCain, Richard C. Shelby, Lynette Boggs McDonald, Vito Fossella, Peter T. King, James T. Walsh, Michael Oxley. Their voting records on social and economic issues are characteristic of conservative Republicans.

World Trade Center responder death benefits

On 14 August 2006, Governor George Pataki signed legislation ordering the city to pay increased amounts in death benefits for rescue workers or "first responders", such as fire department and police department members who later died from illnesses such as cancer after working at the World Trade Center site.

The mayor objected to this, arguing that the increased cost of $5 million to $10 million a year would be unduly burdensome for the city. The responders and the city additionally conflicted with each other over the issue of payments for health costs of the living among the first responders. On 17 October 2006, federal judge Alvin K. Hellerstein rejected New York City's motion to dismiss lawsuits that requested health payments to the first responders.

2004 Republican National Convention

While Bloomberg was mayor, New York City hosted the 2004 Republican National Convention, to the opposition of thousands of residents of the heavily Democratic city.

The mayor was particularly criticized for his handling of protest activity [15]. Almost 2000 protesters were detained at a former bus garage on Pier 57 characterized by opponents as a "Guantanamo on the Hudson." [16]

The Parks Department denied a permit for an anti-war march organized by United for Peace and Justice to terminate at Central Park's Great Lawn, and also denied a permit for the group's rally there. Critics cited this as abridging First Amendment rights. Defenders claim the decision was due to the fact that the Central Park Conservancy had spent tens of millions of dollars during the 1990s on redoing the lawn and on adding a new drainage system, and a march and/or rally would have virtually destroyed the lawn and taken several months to repair before it could be again used, and thus any large organized gatherings on the lawn are prohibited, except for the annual free concerts by the New York Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera.

The National Council of Arab Americans and the ANSWER Coalition, two groups sponsoring a planned march and rally, have sued the city in federal court for the denial of the Great Lawn permits. In addition to claiming that a large gathering would have damaged the newly renovated Great Lawn, the city also claimed it could not provide adequate police protection, and that the protesters failed to provide a rain date for the gathering. The July 31, 2006 edition of the The New York Times reported that court documents appeared to indicate the Parks Department turned down the permits in order to shield Republican visitors from the protests. The documents include several emails and legal memoranda from city officials.

Bloomberg gave a sworn statement in which he claimed to have "no unique personal knowledge" about the permit denials. However, several of the documents in question indicate that Bloomberg received regular updates regarding the status of the permits. For example, an email from Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe informed Bloomberg that "following your call," he received assurance that the denial letter would go out on July 11. Benepe also went to the Great Lawn himself to see if there was any activity and personally emailed the mayor to let him know there was no demonstration there.

Statements concerning the Iraq war

In 2004, during a joint news conference with first lady Laura Bush in lower Manhattan, he came to her support on the topic of Iraq, saying, "Don't forget that the war started not very many blocks from here."

In March, 2007, during a news conference in Staten Island, Bloomberg declared his strong opposition to legislation proposed in Congress calling for a clear timetable for troop withdrawal. He said, "We ask our young men and women to go over and to fight, and if you have a deadline knowing they're pulling out, how can you expect them to defend this country? How can you expect them to go out and put their lives at risk? I just think that's untenable and that this is not a responsible piece of legislation. It is totally separate of how we're conducting the war. It's totally separate of whether we should have been there. The issue that you asked about is plain and simple: Should the Congress pass a law forcing the president to withdraw troops at a given point in time? I think that is not something that is in the country's interest or in the military's interest."

Post-Mayoral plans

Bloomberg's term as mayor ends on December 31, 2009. He is banned by term limits from being re-elected in November 2009, however, he can be elected mayor again after a four-year wait. The election means that the Republicans have won the previous four mayoral elections (although Bloomberg's decision to leave the Republican Party and be declared an independent on June 19, 2007 resulted in the Republican Party losing the mayor's seat prior to the expiration of his second term). Bloomberg joins Rudy Giuliani and Fiorello LaGuardia as re-elected Republican mayors in this mostly Democratic city. (John Lindsay was also elected mayor of New York twice while a registered Republican; however, Lindsay did not receive the Republican Party nomination during his campaign for re-election, and he switched to the Democratic Party during his second term.)

Mayor Bloomberg has repeatedly stated his intention to return to a life of philanthropy once his eight-year tenure in office expires. In pursuit of this goal, he has purchased a prospective headquarters for his planned foundation on the Upper East Side, originally built by Stuyvesant Fish, for $45 million.

Possible 2008 presidential campaign

Despite public statements by Bloomberg denying plans for a Presidential run in 2008, many pundits have cited events that lead them to believe that Bloomberg will announce a campaign at a later date. These include several attempts by political leaders and organizers to bring him into the race:

• In summer 2006, he met with Al From of the centrist group the Democratic Leadership Council to talk about the logistics of a possible run.

• In November 2006 Virginia Independent leaders, Carey Campbell, Gail Parker, and Joe Oddo launched www.DraftMichael.com, and filed the Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg for President with the Federal Elections Commission. By July 2007 they had Chairman for nearly every state in the nation leading the 'Draft Michael Bloomberg' effort.

• Bloomberg re-launched his personal website (http://www.mikebloomberg.com), which had been defunct since his successful election to a second mayoral term. Writing in the New York Sun, Jill Gardiner noted Bloomberg's site was conspicuously red white and blue and "strikingly similar to the sites of the 2008 presidential candidates.", as well as the domain name (http://mike2008.com) redirecting to his personal website.

• After a conversation with Bloomberg, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska suggested that he and Bloomberg could run on a shared independent ticket for the presidency.

• On This Week on June 10, 2007, anchor George Stephanopoulos included panelist Jay Carney who mentioned a conversation between Bloomberg and top staffers where he heard Bloomberg ask approximately how much a presidential campaign would cost. Carney said that one staffer replied "around $500 million." According to a Washington Post article, a $500 million budget would allow Bloomberg to circumvent many of the common obstacles faced by third party candidates seeking the White House.

On June 19, 2007, Bloomberg left the Republican Party, filing as an Independent after a speech criticizing the current political climate in Washington.

On August 2, 2007 Draft Michael Bloomberg Director Gail Parker launched a "Heartland of the Homeland tour to Draft Michael Bloomberg for President". Through August 18th Parker visited with media, and Draft Bloomberg state chairs in North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansans, Oklahoma and Nebraska. Parker collected petition signatures in Arkansas. She focused on organizing petition drives in two of the nation's most difficult states (Oklahoma, and North Carolina).

Political positions

Bloomberg holds a variety of different politicial positions which are generally centrist, drawing from both Democratic Party and Republican Party positions on different key American issues.

Social issues

On the major issue of abortion, Bloomberg is considered pro-choice. He supports abortion rights, stating: "Reproductive choice is a fundamental human right and we can never take it for granted, on this issue, you're either with us or against us." He has criticized politicians who support abortion rights but then also support other candidates who oppose it. His comments may have been directed at New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a supporter of abortion rights who supported Bob Casey an opposer of abortion rights, in the 2006 Senate election.

Bloomberg tends to be liberal about his policies towards many social issues; for instance, Bloomberg supports governmental funding for stem cell research, calling the Republican position on the issue "insanity," while also supporting same-sex marriage with the rationale that “I think anybody should be allowed to marry anybody"

However, he continues to support the strict drug laws that have been established in New York City and enforced by the New York Police Department (NYPD), despite having admitted to smoking marijuana in the past and "[enjoying] it."

Domestic issues

On crime, he has the decline in New York criminal activity that occurred throughout Rudy Giuliani's tenure. Bloomberg however is against the death penalty, stating, "I'd rather lock somebody up and throw away the key and put them in hard labor, the ultimate penalty that the law will allow, but I'm opposed to the death penalty."

In addition to his anti-crime work, Bloomberg is an avid supporter of gun control stating, "I don't know why people carry guns. Guns kill people." As mayor he increased the mandatory minimum sentence for illegal possession of a loaded handgun. In regards to the change, Bloomberg commented, "Illegal guns don't belong on our streets and we're sending that message loud and clear,we're determined to see that gun dealers who break the law are held accountable, and that criminals who carry illegal loaded guns serve serious time behind bars." Bloomberg formed Mayors Against Illegal Guns in May 2007, an organization made up of 210 mayors who are supportive of gun control.

Bloomberg has also shown involvement in education reform as the mayor, replacing the school board set up by the state with direct mayoral control over public education. He raised the salaries of teachers by 15% while the test scores of students in the city and the graduation rate rose as well. Bloomberg is opposed to the promotion of students to the next grade level for strictly social reasons citing that students should only be promoted when they are adequately prepared for the next grade level. He favors after school programs to help students that are behind. As mayor, Bloomberg strengthened the cell-phone ban in schools.

In dealing with the global warming debate, and New York's role it it, he has enacted a plan called "PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York" to fight global warming, protect the environment and prepare New York for the projected 1 million more people expected to be living in the city by the year 2030. Bloomberg has also been involved in motivating other cities to make changes, delivering the keynote address at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit and stating, "[W]e now know beyond a doubt that global warming is a reality. And the question we must all answer is, “What are we going to do about it?" Bloomberg also talked about how he would go about fighting climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions, using cleaner and more efficient fuels, and encouraging public transportation.

On issues of domestic and homeland security, Bloomberg has attacked social conservatives on immigration calling their stance unrealistic, "We're not going to deport 12 million people, so let's stop this fiction." He supports a worker ID database that uses DNA and fingerprint technology to keep record of all workers to verify their status. Bloomberg believes that law abiding immigrants should be given citizenship and supports the congressional efforts of John McCain and Ted Kennedy in Immigration Reform. Regarding border security Bloomberg compared it to the tide stating, "It is as if we expect border control agents to do what a century of communism could not: Defeat the natural forces of supply and demand and defeat the natural human instinct for freedom and opportunity. You might as well sit on the beach and tell the tide not to come in."

Bloomberg believes that the September 11, 2001 attacks were not intended to be solitary events. When he assumed office he set up a Counterterrorism Bureau which works along with the NYPD intelligence division to gather information about terrorism affecting New York worldwide. He feels that funding for Homeland Security by the federal government should be distributed by risk, where cities that are considered to have the highest threat for a terrorist attack would get the most money. Bloomberg is also a supporter of the USA PATRIOT Act.

Economic issues

Economically, Bloomberg tends to be conservative, expressing a distaste of taxes stating, "Taxes are not good things, but if you want services, somebody's got to pay for them so they're a necessary evil." As mayor he did raise property taxes to fund budget projects, however in January 2007 he proposed cuts in property taxes by 5% and cuts in sales taxes including the elimination of taxes on clothing and footware. Bloomberg pointed to the Wall Street profits, and real estate market as evidence that the city's economy is booming and could handle a tax break. These policies reflect the perception of Bloomberg as a fiscal conservative.

This fiscal conservativism also led him to eliminate the previous $6 Billion deficit when he assumed office. He balanced the budget of New York City by raising property taxes and making cuts to city agencies excluding the Police and Fire Departments. As a businessman, Bloomberg is respected by the business community and governs with a pro-business platform. He is in favor of providing tax breaks to big corporations for the good of the whole community. As mayor Bloomberg lobbied to the CEO of Goldman Sachs to establish their headquarters across from Ground zero by promising $1.65 billion in tax breaks. In regards to the deal Bloomberg stated, "This [New York City] is where the best want to live and work. So I told him [CEO of Goldman Sachs], `We can help with minimizing taxes. Minimizing your rent. Improving security. But in the end, this is about people.'"

He has had a less cordial relationship with unions as mayor; in 2002, when New York City's transit workers threatened to strike, Bloomberg responded by riding a mountain bike through the city to show how the city could deal with the transit strike finding alternate means of transportation and not pandering to the unions.

Bloomberg is a staunch advocate of free trade and is strongly opposed to protectionism stating, "The things that we have to worry about is this protectionist movement that has reared its head again in this country...." He worries about the growth of China and fears the lessening gap between the United States and other countries, "The rest of the world is catching up, and, there are people that say, surpassing us. I hope they are wrong. I hope those who think we are still in good shape are right. But nevertheless, the time to address these issues is right now."

More liberally, Bloomberg puts a strong emphasis on public health and welfare, adopting many liberal polcies. As the mayor he made HIV, diabetes and hypertension all top priorities. He extended the city's smoking ban to all commercial establishments and implemented a trans fat ban in restaurants. He also launched a program called Opportunity NYC which is the nation's first-ever conditional cash transfer pilot program designed to help New Yorkers break the cycle of poverty in the city. He instituted a $7.5 Billion municipal affordable housing plan, the largest in the nation, that is supposed to provide 500,000 New Yorkers with housing. Bloomberg is concerned about poverty and growing class divisions stating, "This society cannot go forward, the way we have been going forward, where the gap between the rich and the poor keeps growing."

Foreign policy

As mayor, Bloomberg has made trips to Mexico, England, Ireland, and Israel in the first four months of 2007, during his consideration of a Presidential campaign. Bloomberg supports the war in Iraq and the rationale for going in. He stated, "Don't forget that the war started not very many blocks from here" alluding to Ground Zero. In regards to the global War on Terrorism including Iraq he said, "It's not only to protect Americans. It's America's responsibility to protect people around the world who want to be free." Bloomberg expresses criticism about Democrats in Congress who want to set a timetable for withdraw from Iraq calling them, "irresponsible."

External links

• Grading Mayoral Control, City Journal, Summer 2007
• Mike Bloomberg official site
• CityMayors.com profile
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Michael Bloomberg biography
• Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition webpage
• Michael Bloomberg at Curlie

Media

• NYC TV
• 2007 Time 100 at Time.com
• America's Best Leaders: Michael Bloomberg October 22, 2006
• Ferrer, Ognibene Take Shots At Absent Mayor In First Debate October 6, 2005
• The Mayor And His Money October 3, 2005
• Video of speech at cornerstone laying ceremony for the Freedom Tower July 4, 2004
• Primal Fear Short piece supporting a Badillo-Bloomberg Republican primary, Summer 2001

Campaign

• Americans for Bloomberg
• Mike Bloomberg for President
• Committee to Draft Michael Bloomberg for President website
• Petition site to encourage Michael Bloomberg to run for President
• Gotham Gazette 2005 webpage
• New York Times 2005 Endorsement
• Campaign contributions made by Michael Bloomberg

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