New York City (NYC) Poll * March 16, 2011 * Mayor's Approval Rating At Low - Quinnipiac University

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New York City voters disapprove 51 – 39 percent of the job Mayor Michael Bloomberg is doing, his lowest score since a 51 – 37 percent disapproval November 23, 2003, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Only Manhattan voters approve of Mayor Bloomberg’s job performance, 55 – 34 percent, while disapproval in the other boroughs ranges from 49 – 35 percent in The Bronx to 66 – 27 percent on Staten Island, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.

Republicans approve 47 – 42 percent, while disapproval is 52 – 39 percent among Democrats and 51 – 40 percent among independent voters.

Bloomberg has the lowest score of any citywide elected. Other officials score their highest approval ratings ever:

• 44 – 16 percent for Public Advocate Bill de Blasio;
• 54 – 16 percent for City Comptroller John Liu;
• 55 – 25 percent for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
  Police Commissioner Ray Kelly gets a 67 – 20 percent approval, including 57 – 27 percent among black voters. The new Schools Chancellor, Cathleen Black, gets a negative 17 – 49 percent approval rating, with 34 percent undecided.
  New York City voters give President Barack Obama a 70 – 26 percent job approval.
  “Is it the snow, the third-term blahs, the weekends away, the presidential chatter? 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,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

“President Barack Obama’s job approval is inching up in a lot of places. In New York City, it’s zooming. Starting with the lame-duck congressional session, he’s looking better.”

Rating the Bloomberg Administration’s overall handling of snow removal this winter:

• 2 percent say excellent;
• 26 percent say good;
• 31 percent say not so good;
• 38 percent say poor.

Mayor Bloomberg favors Manhattan over the other boroughs, voters say 70 – 22 percent. Opinions range from 52 – 34 percent in Manhattan to 84 – 11 percent on Staten Island.

New York City voters say 72 – 25 percent that where the mayor goes on weekends or vacations is a private matter and the public does not have a right to know. All groups support this opinion by large margins. This is little changed from an 80 – 18 percent finding on this question in a February 4, 2004, Quinnipiac University poll.

The media should not follow the mayor and report on his time-off activity, New York City voters say 79 – 17 percent.

But when the mayor leaves the city, he should have to say who is in charge, voters say 84 – 13 percent. And voters say 72 – 26 percent that the mayor should report the whereabouts of the person left in charge of the city.

By a 56 – 38 percent margin, New York City voters do not believe Bloomberg when he says he is not interested in running for president. Voters say 74 – 18 percent that he would not make a good president, his lowest score ever. The negative rating is shared by Republicans 70 – 25 percent, Democrats 75 – 17 percent and independent voters 74 – 21 percent.

But 67 percent of New York City voters say Bloomberg’s involvement in national issues is good for the city, while 28 percent say his involvement distracts him from the day-to-day business of running the city.

“Wherever Mayor Mike wants to fly away to is his business, New Yorkers say, just as they said years ago. Leave him alone, they tell the press,” Carroll said. “But when the mayor’s away, voters want to know who’s in charge – and where they are.”

From March 8 – 14, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,115 registered voters with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones.



The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio and the nation as a public service and for research.


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For more data or RSS feed– http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 

Half Of Advisory Panel Recommends Denying Waiver For Schools Chancellor Pick - NY1.com

It seems the Advisory Panel respects the state education law more than Mayor Bloomberg - why does he think he's above the law..?

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At least half of an advisory panel has recommended the state education department deny a waiver to Cathie Black, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's pick for schools chancellor.

After meeting behind closed doors, two members voted in favor of granting the waiver, four voted against, and two voted "not at this time."

Those who voted "not at this time" indicated they would likely reconsider recommending the waiver if the application were to be resubmitted with new conditions -- for instance, if Black were to be joined a co-chancellor with educational experience.

The ultimate decision lies with State Education Commissioner David Steiner, who confirms to NY1 that he had told the panel before it deliberated that his first choice was to make the city reapply for Black's waiver with a different structure, like the inclusion of a chief academic officer.

It is not clear when Steiner will make his final decision.

In a statement, he said, "I want to thank all of the members for the advisory panel for the seriousness of purpose which they brought to their evaluation of Ms. Black’s qualifications for a school district leader’s certificate. I will weigh their advice and insight as I consider the decision before me."

The waiver is required by law for Black to become chancellor, since the publishing executive does not have the traditional education certification.

There had been some concerns expressed about whether those on the panel were too close to the Bloomberg administration.

Yesterday, a group of parents hand-delivered a petition with more than 12,000 signatures to Steiner, urging him not to grant Black the waiver.

Meanwhile, Black's college transcript from Trinity College has been released, and it shows that while she majored in English and took courses in Italian and theology, she did not take any courses in education.

In the transcript released publicly, the grades and grade point average have been blacked out. The state cited privacy reasons for doing so.

Also, a new poll released today finds a majority of New Yorkers do not believe Black has the right experience to be schools chancellor.

The Quinnipiac University poll found 64 percent of those surveyed think a schools chancellor needs education experience more than management experience. Only 26 percent said that managerial experience carries more weight.

The poll also found Bloomberg's approval rating has hit a five-year low, with just 55 percent of those polled approve of the job he is doing.

About 1,300 registered voters were surveyed for the poll from November 16-21, and the survey has a margin of error of +/- 2.7 percentage points.

Quinnipiac Poll Finds More than Half City Voters Oppose Cathie Black for School Chancellor - NYPOST.com

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More than half of city voters don’t think Cathie Black, Mayor Bloomberg’s pick to be the next schools chancellor, has the right kind of experience for the job, according to a poll released today.

The survey from Quinnipiac University found that 51 percent of respondants don’t think Black, with her past gigs running Hearst Magazines and serving on numerous corporate boards, is up to managing the city Department of Education.

Twenty-six percent think she is qualified and 23 percent are undecided, according to the poll.

The numbers are even worse for people with children in public schools.

Sixty-two percent in that category disapprove of Bloomberg appointing Black and 63 percent said she does not have the right kind of experience.

"The only positive sign for her is that about one quarter of voters don’t know enough to say whether they approve or disapprove of her appointment," said Maurice Carroll, the director of Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"There’s some room for the spinners to make Bloomberg’s case."

The poll had more bad news for Hizzoner — his approval numbers are the lowest they’ve been since his first term.

Only 55 percent of voters approve of the job Bloomberg is doing, his lowest tally since June 2005.