Mayor Bloomberg delivered his fourth State of the City address Tuesday afternoon at Hostos Community College in the South Bronx. Last year, he spoke at the Silvercup Film Studio in Queens (old timers knew it as a bakery). And the setting two years ago was the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

All the newspapers amply reported the speech, which leaves us free to comment on its content, its import, his opponents’ reactions, and its significance to his campaign.

(1) The mayor has learned a great deal in three years on how to give a public address. Although he is never eloquent, his speech was workmanlike. His use of living props was professional, although derivative of the State of the Union and the State of the State. He was proficient in raising issues he wanted to address, and spoke effectively and at length about a great variety of topics.

(2) The speech was political. He counted up his achievements, documented by a barrage of credible statistics. Three key indicators – murders, fire deaths, and traffic fatalities – were all down. In these cases, down is good. The total of civilians killed in fires was the lowest since 1910.Not to detract from that achievement, but it is true that at that time many more structures were built of wood.

Reducing the number of homicides, already relatively low, is an accomplishment properly noted. Commissioner Ray Kelly must deserve some credit for his work. Mayor Bloomberg deserves credit for appointing him, rather than prevailing on Bernard Kerik to stay on the job.

The mayor is rightly proud that murders declined 14% from the totals in the 1990s.Is there anyone we know who was involved in reducing New York City’s murders by 70% in the eight years from 1994 to 2001? If there be, you would not have learned his name from the speech.

The mayor also avoided discussing the city’s enormous financial problems. His formula for continued economic recovery was more capital spending, most of it by public agencies, and enhancing the quality of life through continued improvement in service delivery. He promised that the $400 rebate that homeowners received last year on their real estate taxes would be given again this year. There was nothing else on tax increases or decreases.

(3) Not all the goals he set out can be met in the near future. He will do what he can, but at some point the numerous proposals resemble a wish list, which may be even longer than a laundry list. He has never discussed his enemies list, although one would assume that the Dolans of Cablevision have a high place on it.

Still, he did keep a record of the campaign promises he made in 2001. An analysis of their implementation was done by Ivory (Bradley Tusk), before his departure to become Deputy Governor of Illinois. A high percentage of goals was achieved, and some of those not accomplished were reconsidered in light of better information. The mayor’s staff should prepare, update, and periodically disclose progress on the commitments he made in Tuesday’s speech.

(4) The mayor sees the health of the city’s economy as the key to its future. He wants to create jobs through public works, and through a “business-friendly” attitude on the part of city government. He did not speak of the ticket blitz that has hit many small businessmen responsible for sidewalk cleanup. Nor did he speak of reducing the city’s high taxes, which, along with high state taxes, are considered a disincentive to locating businesses here.

(5) Copying the staging of the State of the Union address delivered by the President in the Chamber of the House of Representatives, the mayor entered through the rear of the auditorium and walked down the aisle to stage right, greeting people and being greeted as he made his way through the crowd. When he exited, he walked down from stage left to the western aisle and greeted people on that side of the auditorium. He spoke in front of a mass of flags, which made it appear from one angle as if he were wearing an orange hat.

(6) The audience contained a large number of city employees and journalists. The mayor received a standing ovation when he was introduced by Willie Colon, the entertainer. The mayor’s remarks were frequently interrupted by applause, but never by laughter. He sounded very purposeful, what today they call “on message.”

(7) His best line was addressed to the Manhattan borough president C. Virginia Fields: “Yes, Virginia…” I thought he would continue on to tell her that there is a Santa Claus, which is what an editor of the old New York Sun, Francis Pharcellus Church, wrote to 8-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon of 115 W. 95th St. in September 1897, in response to the girl’s inquiry. That building is now owned by the Studio School, which has promised to install an appropriate plaque.

Apart from very senior elected officials, young soldiers, and symbolic city employees and a child who was promoted to fourth grade after going to summer school, the mayor singled out for introduction Edward I. Koch, the former mayor, and the former congressman and Bronx borough president, Herman Badillo, who was seated on the platform. Mr. Badillo had opposed Mr. Bloomberg in the 2001 Republican primary, and, since then, the two men have not been close. Mr. Badillo did very valuable work in setting academic standards when he chaired the board of trustees of the City University. In that position, he was involved in a controversy at Hostos Community College by demanding that its seniors show some ability to read and write English before graduating from a city college in the United States.

(8) At one point, the mayor spoke of personal matters, which is unusual for him. He said that, after his father died, his mother had to go back to work, and that he took out loans to help pay for his higher education. (He graduated from Johns Hopkins, and then Harvard Business School.)

“I never had anything handed to me,” he said. I had not heard him speak that way before. It is his answer to the charge that he is a billionaire and therefore, ipso facto, out of touch with ordinary people. The mayor said, in effect, “Yes, I am rich now, but I grew up lower middle-class, just like many of you, and whatever I got, I earned.”

(9) To conclude, the mayor showed that he has a message, and backed by a substantial advertising campaign, he will be able to bring it to the attention of the people of New York. His opponents have the dual challenge of convincing people that he has performed so badly he should be thrown out, and that they should be the one, over all the others, to replace him.[??]

Anyone skeptical about the mayor should read the statements of the six mayoral aspirants published under their pictures in yesterday’s New York Sun, and see what they can find that is affordable, comprehensible, and parsable.

Missing from the speech was a plan to pay for the initiatives, and what to do about the budget due for approval in June, which now has a gap exceeding $2 billion. The mayor’s strong enthusiasm for the Campaign for Fiscal Equity case for more money for education will last until he gets the bill for the city’s share, which will be in the high 9 or low 10 figures.

His defense on that issue is that the preliminary budget estimates must be prepared and released in a few weeks, and that is the time when fiscal matters will be discussed. Why spoil a good party for his family by disclosing that the birthday boy has a serious illness, or that the family faces eviction for nonpayment of rent?

The mayor could have given a serious analysis of the city’s financial problems, but that would not have helped him set the tone for his campaign for re-election. We may have learned from the presidential campaign that the winning strategy is to steer straight ahead, ignoring unpleasant realities; otherwise you appear to flip-flop, uncertain which path to choose. Nobody likes a flip-flopper, and it is difficult enough for the mayor to overcome resentment at his self-earned wealth, rather than appear to be feckless in leadership, worried about the future, and unsure of his course.

Election years bring out the best and the worst in people. The 2005 adventure has just begun.

Mr. Stern, a former city parks commissioner, is the director of New York Civic.