Michael Bloomberg has been mayor of New York for a considerate length of time. Of all the 108 mayors the city has seen, Bloomberg definitely goes down as one of the more unique mayors. His approach to running New York is different; he runs New York in the form of a business. A lot of his actions are based off of business tactics he learned from being the CEO of a company he founded.
Bloomberg was a man who knew little about politics. All he knew was how to effectively and successfully run a business. A lot of his approaches towards dealing with New York avoided the aspect of politics. To Bloomberg, partisanship wasn’t a significant issue. I took him as a man who sort of followed his own ideals and his own vision; almost in a sense similar to Robert Moses as Christina said. With the “Bloomberg Way”, he managed to get a lot of work done on New York over the course of his terms.
The big issue I think that exists among us is whether or not a corporate mayor is an appropriate mayor for New York City. We have seen the results of Bloomberg’s work, but are we satisfied? Are his methods and ideologies the right ones for the future of New York? Also, if not, what would the alternative be? We’ve spent many years within the structure of New York being run as a business. Should a mayor with different ideologies succeed Bloomberg, are we prepared as a city to stray from Bloomberg’s system? I believe we would be, however, this issue depends on timing. At this point in time, our economy isn’t golden, and for a city to thrive, I believe a strong economic base is necessary. For this strong economic base to develop I feel that it is necessary for a corporate mayor to lead us considering his strong background in business. Then again, I am almost throwing black and white statements. The focus on effective economic action may hinder the development of solutions to various social issues. Nonetheless, I await the next election to see where New York stands.
