On day three of NY1's City Poll, we take a look at Mayor Bill de Blasio's relationship with Gov. Andrew Cuomo and see how New Yorkers compare de Blasio to his predecessor, Michael Bloomberg. NY1’s Grace Rauh crunches the numbers.
It is no secret that Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio do not always see eye to eye.
The Democrats have clashed over everything from pre-kindergarten funding to Ebola cases. And just last week, Cuomo shot down an affordable housing plan from the mayor only a few hours after he announced it.
Our exclusive NY1-Baruch College City Poll looks at their relationship through the lens of last month's snowstorm, better known as the blizzard that never was.
An overwhelming number of New Yorkers say the governor made the right decision by closing the subways and imposing a travel ban in advance of the storm: 80 percent say it was better to have been cautious, 18 percent say the governor overreacted.
“Four out of five believe that he made the right call. So the governor gets high marks on that. Where he doesn't get high marks is that he didn't inform the mayor,” said Doug Muzzio of Baruch College.
The mayor was told about the governor's decision just 15 minutes before he was scheduled to publicly announce it: 63 percent say the governor should have consulted with de Blasio about it; 33% said he should not have.
We asked New Yorkers to compare de Blasio to his predecessor, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and 48 percent say Bloomberg was a better manager than de Blasio, but 52 percent say de Blasio cares more about people like themselves.
“The picture that most people have is reflected in the poll is that Mike Bloomberg was a competent manager but he really didn't care about the common folk, while Bill de Blasio is much more in tune with them and may not be as good a manager,” said Muzzio.
Most New Yorkers, 54 percent, say they do not miss the former mayor.