Bloomberg Mishandled Occupy Wall Street, Says Majority Of Voters In Survey

(Flickr User Runs With Scissors)

A Quinnipiac University poll released today found that NYC voters disapprove of the way Mayor Bloomberg has handled the Occupy Wall Street protests, by a margin of 51 - 42 percent. About 50 percent of voters approve of the way the NYPD has handled the protests, with 45 percent disapproving (and 5 percent unsure). But when asked about overall NYPD performance—particularly Commissioner Ray Kelly—voters expressed satisfaction! 66 percent of those polled said they approved of Kelly's work (with the highest response coming from independent voters, at 71 percent). Ray Kelly 2013? Some more interesting findings:

62 percent approve of the way the New York City police are doing their job. (Though only 47 percent of black voters approve of Kelly.)
Voters like Bloomberg as a person (64 - 24 percent) but 50 percent believe the mayor has lost his focus in his third term.
More Republicans say they've been following the Occupy Wall Street protests "very closely" than Democrats, with a breakdown of 43 percent (Republican) and 31 percent (Democrats).
68 percent of all NYC voters say they agree with Occupy Wall Street protesters, and 84 precent of black voters say they approve, more than any other racial group.
Only 31 percent say they really understand the views of the Occupy Wall Street protesters.

The survey also showed overwhelming support for a living wage bill being considered by the City Council. 74 percent of all voters say they approve of the bill, which would require large businesses that benefit from taxpayer subsidies to pay employees at least $10 an hour with benefits, or $11.50 an hour without benefits. And it seems Bloomberg's attempt to persuade voters that a living wage bill would drive jobs out of NYC isn't gaining much traction. 56 percent of voters surveyed said they did not believe paying a living wage would cost NYC jobs.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By John Del Signore in News on December 14, 2011 10:44 AM

Comments [rss]

chee1rs

OWS ..... what is that ???

LittleBiggyGirl

is bloomberg the real villain in the plight of #ows ?
http://littlebiggy.org/4660547

Vas

The Dream Of The 99%
http://vimeo.com/33009790

"Tim Osman"

Does anyone else think that all these polls actually serve to shape the opinions of people that weren't polled?

mistermarkdavis

That's better than his over-all approval ratings.

Chris Malone

For "Diablofreak"

Amount of Gothamist Readers who take the time to read the poll results and understand them for what they are: 1%

Amount of Gothamist readers who will simply take the article's presentation at face value as fact of what the polls represent and use it to support whatever preconceived notion they have: 99%

;^)

Guest

Hey JDS, in your haste to put the most negative poll result about the police you can find, you misread the poll. According to the poll, Ray Kelly has a 55 percent approval rating among black voters. Only 35 percent disapprove of the job he is doing.

Guest

Can you please state your source for this info? Somehow I just can't believe that Kelly has that approval rating with ANY group. Who knows, maybe I am wrong.

Guest

Sure,

http://www.quinnipiac.edu/x130...

Fyi, the question was "Do you approve or disapprove of the way - Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? "

"Tim Osman"

When you compare Kelly to his predecessor it's easy to see why his rating is high, someone set the bar pretty damn low

Guest

TY.

diablofreak

shouldn't everything be split 99% to 1%?

Ian MacAllen

Yes, but 31% of people are confused about how wealthy they actually are.

Jereremy

*aren't.

Ian MacAllen

It was badly written. I'll go again:

Yes. However, 31% of the people incorrectly believe they are part of the 1%.

Jereremy

Oh, totally.

Guest

I love that 68% agree with OWS, but only 31% understand it. Good job throwing your weight behind something you don't understand. Classic!

mistermarkdavis

Some people can look at a complex issue and realize they don't have all the answers.

Guest

Yes, and most people realize that throwing their weight behind something they don't fully realize is dumb and can lead to big problems. See the Republican party for more examples of this.