Mayor Bill de Blasio's difficult summer continues with new poll numbers showing his negative ratings among voters are still higher than his positives. The Mayor took time today to highlight some other numbers — improved test scores in city schools but as Zack Fink reports, questions about multiple investigations into City Hall continue to dominate the conversation.

For Mayor de Blasio, it was some good news that came out on Friday that he was trying to highlight three days later: State test scores for students have once again ticked up, particularly in English.

"New York City students closed the gap with the rest of New York State on the English exam," the mayor said. "That has never happened before."

But on the same day, a new Quinnipiac University Poll found that the Mayor's poll numbers remain virtually unchanged from their record lows of just over two months ago.

According to the poll, voters approve of Mayor de Blasio by a margin of 42%, but disapprove by 51%. In May that number was its worst ever for the Mayor with 41% approving and 52% disapproving.

"Polls go up, polls go down," said Senior de Blasio advisor Phil Walzak. "And this election is still a year and a half away. I think what the people of New York are going to be focused on is who is providing safe streets, who's keeping crime at historic lows."

But the numbers that have shown improvement since May are head to head matchups between the Mayor and potential Democratic primary challengers.

"This particular poll suggests that the Mayor is in a strong position in a primary election," de Blasio advisor Walzak said. "And I think that is because of the kinds of issues the Mayor has delivered on."

The Mayor continues to be dogged by headlines about multiple investigations into his administration, including most recently, the sale of Long Island College Hospital.

"I don't know enough yet about any potential investigation into Long Island College Hospital," the mayor said. "I can tell you a couple of things. First of all, we are willing to cooperate in any way. We did everything appropriately there."

But on Monday, it was an opportunity for the Mayor to ignore all the negative publicity and upside down poll numbers and present a rosier picture of the City in an area where he has fared better - education.

"There is something that is really wonderful that has happened for this city," de Blasio said.

Mayor de Blasio says not only are there improving test scores, but you couple that with a gradution rate above 70% and that alone makes the case for a multi-year extension of Mayoral control of City schools.