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 As the independent billionaire politician bids farewell to City
Hall by touting his accomplishments during 12 years in office,
academics, urban planning experts and political pundits say the mark
he made on New York is indelible and strong.
While Bloomberg's final term was marred by a failed attempt to
outlaw large sugary drinks and the furor over stop-and-frisk
policing, he stands as one of the most successful mayors in New York
history, they contend.
The former Wall Street executive and founder of a media company that
bears his name leaves a city with lower crime rates, more parks, and
new urban landmarks such as the Barclays Center, an indoor arena
built over a Brooklyn train yard.
"This will go down as, without question, one of the most influential
and successful mayoralties in the history of the city," said David
Birdsell, dean of the School of Public Affairs at the City
University of New York's Baruch College.
Bloomberg — a longtime Democrat who became a Republican in 2001 to
get on the ballot, and later dropped his party affiliation — ranked
No. 2 on a list of the greatest New York mayors published recently
by City & State, a website that covers government and politics.
If a tie were permitted, he would have tied with top-ranking
Fiorello LaGuardia, said Birdsell who helped compile the City &
State list. LaGuardia, so legendary that not just an airport but a
Broadway musical took his name, governed the city during the Great
Depression and World War II.
"Rarely are individuals in any field recognized among the greats of
history during their own lifetimes, so the fact that our panel
ranked Michael Bloomberg nearly at the top of this list while he is
still in office is striking," City & State wrote.
Experts can tick off a long list of accomplishments. The 10-year-old
anti-smoking campaign is credited with some 10,000 fewer deaths and
served as a blueprint for other cities; more than 850 acres of land
was added to city parks; and the decade-old 311 call center has
grown to handle millions of non-emergency requests each year.
Crime is down, a success that Bloomberg credits in part to the New
York Police Department's stop-and-frisk strategy. But a judge
earlier this year ruled that the controversial tactic, seen as
targeting young minorities, amounted to "indirect racial profiling."
Overall crime rates fell by a third during Bloomberg's three terms,
a decrease reflected in once-blighted neighborhoods that are now
blossoming, and tourism rates setting record highs.
"That's a fundamentally positive aspect of life that's had very
far-reaching effect," said John Mollenkopf, director of the Center
for Urban Research at the City of New York Graduate Center.
STEERING THROUGH DISASTER, RECESSION
Bloomberg guided New York through the years after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks, amid fears that the shaken city's economy could be
devastated.
"It is easy to imagine ways that a less strategic mayor could have
gotten in the way of that recovery," said Birdsell.
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Bloomberg is credited as well with helping steer the city through
the recession that began in 2007. Yet, his effort to capitalize on
that success by arguing he was uniquely suited to remain mayor
despite term limits rankled some people.
He engineered a change in the voter-approved term limits law in 2009
so he could run for a third term, but voters gave him a remarkably
slim margin of victory.
"That affected his legacy, because people will always remember him
as the person who got a third term against the peoples' will," said
Norman Siegel, a civil liberties attorney and former head of the New
York Civil Liberties Union.
"CEO MAYOR"
Bloomberg's most telling legacy may be, in one sense, himself, said
Tom Wright, executive director of the Regional Plan Association, an
urban research and advocacy group.
When he first ran for office, Bloomberg was an unlikely candidate
with no political experience or constituency. He spent more than
$100 million of his own fortune to win in 2001.
Throughout his tenure, he showed a continued willingness to back his
policy priorities with his pocketbook.
"He was elected as a CEO mayor who ran on a platform of keeping
crime down, balancing the budget, and trying to take control of the
schools. And that was kind of it. He really didn't have much," said
Wright. "Now, here he is leaving 12 years later, hailed as an urban
visionary."
Bloomberg moves on to his new consulting firm Bloomberg Associates,
designed to help other cities worldwide achieve the same
accomplishments as has New York.
City voters put their own stamp on Bloomberg's legacy by electing
Bill de Blasio, who will be the first Democratic mayor in 20 years
and could scarcely be more different than Bloomberg, said Doug
Muzzio, professor of politics and public opinion at Baruch College.
"New Yorkers elected a mayor who presented himself and was correctly
perceived to be a repudiation in many ways of (Bloomberg)," Muzzio
said.
Voters may well have tired of Bloomberg's approach, such as his
effort to bar restaurants, movie theaters and other businesses from
selling large sodas and other sugary beverages. The proposal failed
in court, which said Bloomberg had overstepped his authority.
"He had this idea that he knew what was best for everybody," said
Siegel. "I don't think he respected the average New Yorker's ability
to figure out what was in their best interest."
(Reporting by Ellen Wulfhorst; editing by Scott Malone and Gunna
Dickson)
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