NY1 Exclusive: Mayor's Approval Rating Weathers The Storm, Poll Finds
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg's star is back on the rise after getting beaten up by the December blizzard, according to an exclusive NY1/Marist poll released Thursday.
View the full poll results.
The survey shows that after a rough start to the new year, brought on by the failed cleanup linked to the storm, Bloomberg's approval rating is inching up with 44 percent of city voters who say he's doing an excellent or a good job.
In early January, just 37 percent of voters were willing to say the same.
For the first time since October 2009, a majority of voters also say the city is headed in the right direction.
"Whether people think the city is heading in the right direction or wrong direction is a critical barometer of how they are going to assess the mayor," said Lee Miringoff of the Marist Polling Institute.
When it comes to the mayor's new schools chancellor things aren't nearly as rosy.
Just 21 percent of city voters gave Cathie Black top marks. Thirty-five percent say she's doing a fair job, while 19 percent say she's doing poorly. Twenty-six percent say they're unsure or haven't heard of her.
Union workers also got some bad news. Just 23 percent of voters think they should get pay raises roughly on par with what they've received in the past.
"There's not a groundswell here that there should be a lot of money now going in that direction. That's a change from what we've seen in the past," Miringoff said.
The numbers may have something to do with the fact that New Yorkers say they are cutting back on their own expenses.
According to the poll, 20 percent delayed or skipped a trip to the doctor in the last year to save money; 19 percent delayed or refused to buy needed medication for the same reason; and 15 percent say they've moved to a cheaper home.
The poll also finds a majority of New Yorkers are eating out less, and spending less money on clothes and entertainment.
This citywide telephone survey of 657 residents was conducted January 24th through the 31st and has a margin of error between 4 and 5.5 percentage points.