Poll: More Than Half of New Yorkers Disapprove of Bloomberg's Handling of OWS

A new Quinnipiac poll shows that fifty-one percent of New Yorkers disapprove of the way the mayor has handled Occupy Wall Street. Despite this, Bloomberg has a steady overall approval rating of 49 percent. Sixty-two percent like the man personally, and 52 percent approve of "most of his policies." Other factoids from the poll:

• There's a wide racial gap in how people view the police force's handling of the protests. White voters approve 60-37 percent while black voters disapprove 59-36 percent. Hispanic voters are split 44-43 percent.
• Bloomberg's overall job approval rating is basically the same as what it was back in October.
• Re: the NYPD's contentious handling of the press at protests: the approval rating among NYC voters is 44 - 41 percent.
• On the City Council's living wage proposal that would raise workers' wages in city-subsidized developments: "The 'Living Wage' proposal currently before the New York City Council is a "good idea," voters say 74 - 19 percent. Support is 56 - 39 percent among Republicans, 83 - 11 percent among Democrats and 67 - 25 percent among independent voters."
• Voters agree 68 - 24 percent with the views of OWS and "say 81 - 15 percent that it's OK for them to protest."

Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, says in the release that "Pretty much the whole city has followed the protest story. New Yorkers say they understand the message and more than two-thirds of them agree with it. They'd like to see tougher regulation of banks and brokers. And they want to see a reduction in the income gap between rich and poor."

[rgray@villagevoice.com] [@_rosiegray]

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