Poll: Bloomberg is a Chilly Willy, But That's OK

Mike Bloomberg is cold, businesslike, and out of touch with the needs of everyday New Yorkers -- but what the heck, this is New York and no one's looking for a mayoral hug.

A Quinnipiac poll out today reports that most New Yorkers find Bloomberg -- surprise! -- a distant billionaire by 55-30 percent. But he's still got approval ratings of better than 2-1. By a score of 64-28, New Yorkers still like Mike, the Q poll found, although that's the lowest mark of his second term.

The Mayatollah also beats Comptroller Bill Thompson 49-35, just a point below his mark a month ago of 50-33. Bloomberg bests non-candidate Anthony Weiner  46-36, down two points from the 48-35 he was at in February.

"New Yorkers don't warm up to Mayor Mike, but they give him high marks for doing his job," says poll veteran Maurice Carroll.

Bloomberg gets fair marks on his handling of the public schools -- 47-40 percent approve of the way he's handled that part of his job, and by 46-33 they think his takeover of the school system has been a success.

But in a revealing pattern, those numbers collapse when only those who actually have kids in public schools  are asked the same questions: 54-41 percent of school parents disapprove of Bloomberg's performance, and by a narrow 42-40 percent they don't even think the whole takeover has been a success.

Those are tough numbers for a mayor engaged in a massive campaign to get his one-person school control renewed by the state legislature. Overall,  53-47 percent of those interviewed said Bloomberg should share control with the City Council, and by 50-41, voters would have the borough presidents have a say.

And Bloomberg's schools chancellor, Joel Klein, doesn't fare too well in the poll. Klein gets a slim 37-35 percent approval. But he's a lot less popular among black and Latino voters who are the overwhelming majority of public school parents. Among blacks, only 34 percent approve of Klein, with a 42 percent disapproval rating; Hispanics rated Klein 34-37. He does much better among white voters who gave him a 41-28 percent stamp of approval.