Poll Shows Mayor's Approval Rating Reaching Statuesque Height of 75%

A new Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll, the first released since the November 8 election, found that Mayor Bloomberg has reached his highest approval rating ever, 75%.

The poll found that 80% of white voters support him, while 74% of black voters and 67% of Hispanic voters gave him positive ratings. Just two and a half years ago, Mayor Bloomberg's approval rating was at only 32%, according to a Quinnipiac poll. The longtime political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, called the numbers "a post election high."

"It's unlikely that it remains at that level," he said. "Depending upon how he deals with the fiscal crisis, his ratings might drop significantly. But this is not a mayor driven by polling numbers."

Yesterday's poll also asked New Yorkers what they think the mayor should focus on in his second term.

The largest group of people, 30%, named education.

During his campaign, Mr. Bloomberg said education would remain his top priority in his second term.

This fall, as he was running, he outlined three education proposals - creating new high schools, allowing the mayor to create an unlimited number of charter schools, and dedicating more resources and attention to the city's youngest students.

Yesterday he detailed the high school plan and vowed to follow through on his other campaign proposals as well. "And now, that is exactly what we're going to do," he said at his morning announcement. "Make no mistake about it, we're going to keep our campaign promises."

While New Yorkers say education is their top priority, they also have strong opinions about the redevelopment of the World Trade Center Site, another area Mr. Bloomberg has promised to make a focus of attention in his second term.

Forty-eight percent of voters said they supported Mr. Bloomberg's proposal to build apartments and not just offices at ground zero, while 37% said they were opposed to that idea. A full 61% of voters also said the mayor, not the governor, should be in charge of rebuilding decisions, while just 15% opposed mayoral control of redevelopment. Currently the mayor controls the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation jointly with the governor.

In the late stages of his campaign, Mr. Bloomberg said he wanted to take on a more powerful role in Lower Manhattan, possibly kicking the Trade Center site leaseholder, Larry Silverstein, off the project.

Yesterday the mayor said he still supports the iconic Freedom Tower, but he said it's important to think about the site as more than just an office park.

"What you don't want to do is just have a place that is barren at night," he said. "Building a downtown, which some cities have tragically done, that empties out at 5 or 6 o'clock and there's nobody on the streets is not the road to having a successful city nor making the commercial space very valuable."