Reading this Times piece on Bloomberg pondering his legacy in the midst of slagging poll numbers and malaise towards his tenure, we almost feel pangs of pity for the mayor. A Columbia professor and former adviser describes him as a martyr who's "willing to sacrifice short-term standing in the polls for what he believes to be in the best interest of the city." And Bloomberg himself told an interviewer, "Every time you make a decision, you lost half the people. After five decision, there's only you and your mother, and I'm not sure about her." Damn those laws that force mayors to run for third terms! more ›

Despite Public Advocate Bill de Blasio's best efforts to hip voters to the term limits proposal on the back of the ballot, only about half of the voters who showed up at the polls Tuesday actually weighed in on the issue. "What proposals?" asked one bewildered Twitter user after the fact. "On the back you say? But I wasn't told. Are you sure?" How did I get here? These aren't my socks. You're not my son! more ›

In next week's election, voters will have the chance to vote to restore two consecutive four-year terms for the city's Mayor. And guess who will be voting "yes" on that measure? That's right, third-term Mayor Bloomberg. But it's okay, because his third term was an emergency. more ›

While we huff and puff over whether term limits should stay at three or go back to two, Chicago got the shocking news that its mayor, Richard Daley, will step down next year. Daley, who was first elected in 1989, and his father have been mayor of Chicago for 42 of the past 55 years. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel has expressed interest in the job, saying earlier this year, "I hope Mayor Daley seeks reelection. I will work and support him if he seeks reelection. But if Mayor Daley doesn't, one day I would like to run for mayor of the city of Chicago. That's always been an aspiration of mine even when I was in the House of Representatives." more ›

Even though Mayor Bloomberg won a third election after raising the Mayoral term limits from two to three, a New York Times poll says New Yorkers are still bitter about those voter referendums the Mayor overturned when he asked the City Council to rewrite that law. About 73% of New Yorkers say they'll gladly restore the term limits to two when asked to vote on them this November. more ›

Councilman Jumaane Williams (D-Brooklyn) was elected last fall, but he's really hoping he can be re-elected another two times. Why? Well, for one, when city employees complete 10 years of service, they are eligible for city pensions. The Wall Street Journal reports that in his testimony to the City Charter Revision Commission, which is reviewing the term limits issue (remember, they were extended from two terms to three), Williams wrote, "I believe three terms is necessary to do the best job possible... Of course, I would love three four-year terms. For one, it would be great to have the possibility to reach the 10-year mark in terms of city pension for my family." more ›

During a Crain's NY breakfast forum, City Comptroller John Liu was asked about the debate over whether to keep term limits to three terms (the City Charter Revision Commission has been holding hearings). According to the Observer, he replied, "I do think that three terms makes more sense than two terms, specifically for legislative office.... I don't believe that there should be term limits. It's a paternalistic way of treating voters." But, Liu "said he would prefer to see the matter put to voters in a referendum--as a private citizen, he said, he voted against term limits twice"—Liu also voted against extending term limits in 2008. more ›

Another of Mayor Bloomberg's top aides, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler, will abandon his post to pursue a career in the world of finance, City Hall sources say. The 36-year-old has served eight years, starting as press secretary, but beginning in May he'll be mostly concerned with "public affairs, government relations and investor relations" at Citigroup.The mayor confirmed the departure in a statement, saying Skyler was “Never afraid of telling me what he thinks.” more ›

Although he still has an approval rating of over 60 percent, New Yorkers don't want Mayor Bloomberg to run for a fourth term, according to a new study. A Qunnipiac poll revealed that despite the Mayor's popularity, 58 percent of voters say they won't cast a ballot for him if he tries to run again. more ›

Well, look at that: Former City Councilman David Yassky has been named head of the Taxi and Limousine Commission by Mayor Bloomberg, who is now serving his third term as mayor—a position made possible by Councilman Yassky's vote to extend term limits. Yassky, whose district included the progressive neighborhoods of Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights when he served on the City Council from 2002 to 2009, paid a price at the polls for his term extension position when he ran for Comptroller. But all that's forgotten now; he'll be making $192,198 as TLC head. In his radio address, Bloomberg didn't mention the term extension vote, but noted that Yassky "led the way in introducing hybrid taxis to the city." more ›

According to the NY Post's sources, "Mayor Bloomberg is planning to convene a Charter Revision Commission in the coming year... Reimposing term limits for city politicians is one issue definitely on the table, sources said. And the mayor might also press to eliminate the Public Advocate's Office -- a position he's publicly said is no longer needed. He may also seek to clip the wings of the city's five borough presidents -- who earn $160,000 a year for government jobs that have largely become advisory since 1989." He's supposed to decide whether he'll convene the commission next month—maybe by then we'll stop laughing about the idea of him reimposing term limits by then. more ›

Though the end result of last night's mayoral election doesn't come as much of a surprise, the closeness of the race shocked a lot of onlookers. After running a record-breaking $100 million campaign that won major endorsements and blanketed the city in nearly non-stop advertising, Mayor Bloomberg defeated the underfunded Democratic candidate Bill Thompson by only 5 percent of the vote, winning with 51 percent to his rival's 46. This comes after polls from the days before the election predicted Bloomberg ahead by double digit — some even anticipating a win almost as large as his 20 percent victory in 2005. The pollsters might have some explaining to do. more ›

Last night, after an 11 minute takedown of Fox News, The Daily Show set its sights on our own mayoral race. Term limits turnaround? Check. President Obama's, uh, endorsement of Thompson? Check. And, yes, they did totally put Mayor Bloomberg next to a graphic of Richie Rich—and Jon Stewart did say they were the same height. more ›

Yesterday, the city's largest Spanish newspaper, El Diario, endorsed City Comptroller Bill Thompson for Mayor. In its front page editorial, it says, "After a decade misspent lionizing the rich and their excesses, too many New Yorkers are paying the price for the decisions made in Washington, on Wall Street and in City Hall. What New York City needs is an executive with a balanced perspective towards development and growth, where families most in need are a high priority. This leader is Bill Thompson." more ›

It's been just over a year since Mayor Bloomberg made his pitch for extending term limits to three terms and since then, the City Council approved it and the Mayor launched a (pricey) third term re-election bid. With a month to go before the election, the NY Times finds that while New Yorkers like Bloomberg, but many are still sore about term limits. more ›

Now that President Obama has officially opened himself up for criticism about the role he has taken in shaping New York's local politics, some Democrats are openly questioning where the presidential love for Bill Thompson is. One Democrat today is quoted as saying, "The first black President who tells the first black governor to get out, and he won't help the guy who wants to be the second black mayor? The irony is thick." more ›

Governor Paterson finally endorsed Bill Thompson for mayor in a press conference yesterday. In what seemed to be a guarded statement not meant to attack Mayor Bloomberg, Paterson said, "I don’t find the mayor’s policies necessarily to be negative, but I think that it is time for a change, and we get someone such as Bill Thompson." more ›

Can we get Mayor Bloomberg to say that he will not run for a fourth term in writing? A couple of weeks after the mayor left the door open about the possibility of extending term limits a second time and attempting to stay in office for a total of sixteen years, he once again alluded to the notion of four more (more) years. This time the slip came during his weekly radio broadcast while the mayor was discussing a campaign initiative which would have 120,000 New Yorkers graduating community colleges by 2020. He said, "Community colleges are really a step for a lot of people. We did it as part of something where I was trying to lay out in the campaign [what] you would do in a fourth term, which I think you have a responsibility to do." Just as with the last instance of the mayor expanding his horizons, a spokesman was quick to insist afterward that Bloomberg intended to say his third term. The city college graduation plan would actually come at the end of a fifth Bloomberg term, which the mayor has not yet commented on. more ›

A day after Mayor Bloomberg got people talking with some comments that seemed to leave the door open for the possibility of bonus term in office in four years time, he took out any room for the imagination. On his weekly radio show, the mayor said, "12 years would be quite enough. I would be 71 ... not that there's anything wrong with 71." On Thursday Bloomberg gave the sort of vague response to a question about a possible fourth term that rekindled the sort of speculation that kept him in the headlines as a potential third party candidate for president in 2008. His answer also conjured up his last reversal on term limits—Politico said he was "looking a little like Putin." On the airwaves yesterday, Bloomberg said, "N-O. Under any circumstances," and said he thinks he'd get "tired and bored" with sixteen years as mayor. more ›

Now we may have some insight as to why Mayor Bloomberg isn't exactly, um, fond of answering questions on term limits. Throughout the mayor's gradual reversal of his term limits stance last year, he made it clear that he was for the concept, but had begun having doubts on whether the limit should be two or three. Yesterday, when asked whether he would guarantee not running for a fourth term, the mayor gave a standard answer of the law not allowing it...and then responded to a follow-up pushing him this way, "But it does now. It permits only three terms, so I don’t know. Talk to your City Council. Let me point out that I had no intention of running for a (third) term up until near the end, as you know. The City Council changed the law. It’s up to the voters whether they want four more years." Is it time to cue The Price is Right Ciffhangers yodeling music? more ›

Some follow-up to Mayor Bloomberg's exchange with Observer (and PolitickerNY) reporter Azi Paybarah. The NY Times described that the mayor "seemed to reach new heights of peevishness, calling a reporter who posed a question he did not like 'a disgrace.'" (The question was whether the mayor, who spoke of an economic turnaround, oversold his pitch for overturning term limits.) CBS 2 reported, "Many would say the reporter's question was relevant, especially since the city's failing economy is one of the reasons Bloomberg sought an exemption from term limits." Paybarah's editor Josh Benson told the Daily News, "It was a reasonable question. We're comfortable leaving it to everyone else to judge the quality of the response." A spokewoman for City Comptroller and mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson said, "What’s disgraceful is the Mayor’s refusal to answer the tough questions. Calling people names, having staff block cameras and bullying the press aren’t going to stop people from asking the mayor to explain his term limits bait and switch." The Mayor apologized, though indirectly; according to Paybarah, Bloomberg's press secretary Stu Loeser "called to relay an apology from the mayor." more ›

Is the unofficial first rule of Mayor Bloomberg-Press Fight Club "Don't ask Mayor Bloomberg about term limits"? That's what it seems like when you watch this video from PolitickerNY's Azi Paybarah. Bloomberg, at a press conference touting how the city received $32 million in federal stimulus money for job training, said of the economy, "I’m reasonably optimistic that we’ve turned the corner" on the recession. So Paybarah asked if, since the economy was turning around, that meant Bloomberg oversold his pitch for overturning term limits—which the mayor didn't think was a "serious" question. more ›

Many months after the City Council voted to approve extending term limits, an appeals court has upheld a lower court's ruling that Mayor Bloomberg can run for a third term. CityRoom says, "To the term limits opponents who hoped the courts would overthrow a law allowing city elected officials to run for a third term this fall, the fight is essentially over." One lawyer for the plaintiffs, Norman Siegel, wasn't sure if there would be another appeal but did say it was "a dark day for democracy and for the voters of New York City." Last November, Mayor Bloomberg had signed the bill after hearing from angry as well as pleased New Yorkers. more ›

Opponents of extending term limits staged a rally on the steps of City Hall today as a last ditch plea to the Department of Justice to get in the way of Mayor Bloomberg's hopes for a third term. Tomorrow is the deadline for the Department to decide whether the term limits extension passed by City Council in November should be tossed out on the grounds that it unfairly impedes minority voters. more ›

Today isn't the best news day in Bloomberg '09 headquarters. The mayor met the GOP's borough chairs and didn't leave with anything close to the stamp of approval—aka three of five votes—to get back on the Republican line on the November ballot. Bloomberg told reporters after, "We talked about elections and politics obviously, and I said the last two times I ran, I ran on the Republican line and I’d be honored to run again. We’ll see what they decide to do." more ›

While few seem to believe that Mayor Bloomberg is very vulnerable in his quest for a third term, today's Daily News suggests that there quietly is a sound rival stepping up to keep his power in check—believe it or not, Speaker Christine Quinn. Quinn has long been viewed by critics as a "Deputy Mayor of the City Council" due to her close allegiance with Bloomberg. But some think that their political marriage is in the past since it might have been partially motivated by Quinn's hopes to ride the mayor's coattails into her own mayoral run, something she was planning on before term limits were extended (incidentally, a bill she backed). The News cites her spurning Bloomberg's plan to raise the sales tax in favor of a half-millionaire's tax instead, her overriding Bloomberg's veto of a bill easing residency requirements on DC37 members and pressuring the mayor to junk a $117 million plan to revamp the city's senior centers. The column says that her recent behavior "makes you wish she was running after all." Quinn 2013? more ›

Yesterday began Mark Green's quest to become Public Advocate once again. And he can already claim one victory, apparently pushing out Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell who said, "I don't think Mark Green can be beaten." That still leaves a crowded field of Democrats vying for the office including Councilmen Bill DiBlasio, Eric Giola and John Liu who all appear to be pushing forward in their bids. more ›

Fancy that: After kicking open the doors to a third term bid, Mayor Bloomberg's approval rating has gone up to 69%, from 66% in November, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. Quinnipiac points out this "puts him back on a track of 69 percent or higher approval ratings in every other poll since he began his second term." Interestingly enough, respondents still approved of term limits 69-25% and disapproved of the City Council's decision to extend them 56-42% (they just seem like to Mayor Bloomberg?). more ›

Former mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared on Good Day, New York this morning, and immediately Rosanna Scotto asked him if it wasn't a blessing in disguise that he's not president, given how crappy everything seems to be right now. Giuliani hastily said, "You don't look at it that way," and spoke of the honor of serving the country. He also called Obama "very nice guy" and that after an election, everyone "becomes an American again" (as opposed to being partisan) and that he's rooting for him. He demurred on the 2010 question, pointing out that there are lots of things happening before then—like the 2009 mayoral election—and said that starting a campaign now, with the economy so terrible, wasn't a great idea. As for term limits, Giuliani (who only mentioned September 11th once!) said that he supported Mayor Bloomberg and think he's the man for the job. more ›

Federal Judge Charles Sifton dismissed a lawsuit challenging the Mayor's (oh, and City Council's) extension of term limits that paves the way for Mayor Bloomberg to run for a third term. According to the AP, the judge found "the lawsuit's claim that the mayor and current second-term City Council members merely want to maintain their hold on power has no foundation in the record." Plus, CityRoom reports, Sifton "found that under state law, the Council was not required to conduct a referendum before adopting the term limits amendment." So, suck it, voters! Update: The plaintiffs, who include former SI Beep Guy Molinari and City Comptroller Bill Thompson, will decide whether to appeal later this week. more ›