Although he pulled off a citywide win in an unexpectedly close race yesterday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg lost heavily in northern Manhattan, where City Comptroller William Thompson outpolled him almost two to one.
A poster for challenger Bill Thompson, who outpolled Mayor Michael Bloomberg heavily in northern Manhattan but lost citywide. Photo: Kibkabe Araya
Voters in neighborhoods north of 96th Street said in interviews on Wednesday that they felt Bloomberg didn’t do enough to help their section of the city during his first two terms.
“He did nothing for the poor people,” said Mike Garcia, 49, of Inwood, adding that Bloomberg only appears to care about neighborhoods “from 96 down.”
Many voters who supported Thompson said their choice was more of a vote against Bloomberg. That matched up with citywide exit polls: A New York Times survey found that 77 percent of Thompson supporters explained their vote as dislike for Bloomberg.
The mayor won the election after spending $90 million of his own money, compared to Thompson’s $6 million campaign. Despite the heavy spending, Bloomberg’s margin of victory narrowed from previous campaigns. He received 100,000 fewer votes than in 2005, when elected to his second term.
Last fall, Bloomberg succeeded in a controversial bid to overturn a term-limit measure that had been approved by city voters, allowing him to run for a third term. Many voters resented the change, which Thompson paraded as a central campaign issue.
“The abuse of power and money turned my stomach,” said Ebony Peay, 30, who used to work as an executive assistant for Bloomberg’s financial company. “My vote was a vote against Bloomberg, rather than for Thompson.”
Jesus Campbell, 48, didn’t vote but said he supported Thompson. “We gave Bloomberg eight years. I want to see someone new,” he said.
Columbia University political science professor Robert Y. Shapiro said he wasn’t surprised that Thompson, an African-American, was able to beat Bloomberg in northern Manhattan.
“The population north of 96th Street is heavily minority — black and Latino,” Shapiro said, adding that other people may have been disgruntled by the amount of money the mayor spent.
Bloomberg campaign officials didn’t return calls for comment on Wednesday.
Beyond the term limit and campaign spending controversies, voters had a range of complaints about Bloomberg’s first terms, from smoking laws to subway fare increases to education.
Doreen Palmer, a field coordinator for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said she voted for Thompson because she felt Bloomberg has done little to help low-income residents get access to affordable housing.
Deborah Hoehn, a secretary in East Harlem, said she was furious that Bloomberg won again. She said the mayor’s education policy has been bad for the city.
“You can’t run a school like a business,” she said. “Bloomberg and the City Council should be ridden out of town on a rail.”
Others said that his work to reform the schools was one of Bloomberg’s strong suits. Emil Bretzger, 75, a retired teacher, called him the “best mayor here during my life … first one to even attack education.”
Voter turnout was low citywide on Tuesday, with only about 25 percent of voters going to the polls. Numbers were slightly lower in northern Manhattan, where only 23 percent showed up.
“I just couldn’t get wrapped up in politics, so I took a break from it,” said Thomas Brown, 40, of Manhattan Valley. “The Yankees are giving me enough stress right now.”
Last-minute polls showed Bloomberg with a double-digit lead over Thompson heading into Election Day. Some people said that kept them away from the polls.
Rawn Cubstead, 51, of Morningside Heights, supported Thompson but didn’t vote because he was convinced it wouldn’t matter. “I figured Thompson didn’t have a chance,” he said. “The guy had no money and he was up against the richest man in New York.”
Denise Horne, 52, didn’t vote and wasn’t sure whom she preferred. But she’s hopeful that Bloomberg will have a successful third term.
“No matter what you say about the man, he knows how to run a city,” she said. “He’s got an iron fist, you know. We need someone strong at this time. We’re in a mess.”
Kibkabe Araya, Nusha Balyan, Sara Bertin, Edward Chun, Sarah Fitzpatrick, Bradley Gallo, Kethevane Gorjestani, Jennifer Howard, Jehangir Irani, Jane Lee, Olivia Manders, Kiran Moodley, Shehrbano Saiyid, Zack Seward and Amikka Smith contributed to this report.
Comments on this entry are closed.