Mayor Bloomberg with Carl Pope of the Sierra Club
John Stuart Mill, who a lot of people consider to be the forefather of Liberalism, said that the goal of government, was to pursue the ‘greatest good, for the greatest number of people’. Mike Bloomberg stepped on plenty of toes and insulted a lot of people through his arrogance and peevishness. But when you examine his results, you have to admit that he was not there to grind his ax, line his own pockets, spread his prejudice or pursue power for the sake of power. He worked for the betterment of society and he largely succeeded.
Crime and law enforcement
Bloomberg took over from Giuliani, who, despite his demagoguery, and everything evil he is doing today, did cut crime a lot in NYC. Bloomberg felt pressured to continue on reducing crime, and used the one tool left over from Giuliani, Stop-and-frisk. The causes of crime are complex and poorly understood even now; less so back then. Bloomberg used the only tool he had, and it seemed to work for him- hence the stubborness with which he defended it. However if you judge Bloomberg on his results- he did reduce homicides by a good 40% during his terms. Are black and brown people better off in their neighborhoods? Undoubtedly.
As a consequence of the drop in crime, there was also a drop in incarceration. The number of people incarcerated fell by 30% during his watch. Are black and brown people better off in this regime? Undoubtedly.
If you dig into the numbers, part of the reason why NYC has a lower homicide rate than Chicago, is that there are fewer gun homicides. The proportion of murders committed with guns is much lower in NYC than elsewhere, proving that Bloomberg was and is absolutely correct in focusing on guns as the real scourge of Urban America. There is no gun violence problem in Idaho, Iowa or Vermont. There is a severe gun violence problem in Urban America. And Bloomberg stuck out his neck to do something about this scourge. If you are a black or brown person- which of these cities would you feel the safest in? The answer is self evident.
Education
Bloomberg closed a number of low performing schools, and replaced them with new smaller schools, some public, some charter, where teachers were placed based on merit and fit instead of seniority. This is certainly a minefield that Bloomberg waded into. But the results speak for themselves:
Graduation rate rose a good 40%. If you are at all a proponent of public education, you have to applaud this achievement. I know there is a lot of resistance to Charter schools among the left. Let’s not confuse the real Great Satan, which is for-profit education, which non-profit charters, which proliferated under Bloomberg (and other pro-charter Dems like Cory Booker).
School funding increased under Bloomberg, but more importantly, it increased more for the high-poverty schools: Between 2001 and 2008 high poverty schools gained $5,273 per pupil vs. $3,962 per pupil for the lowest poverty schools.
For a more in depth evaluation of Bloomberg’s record on schools, read this article in the Atlantic.
NYC scrapbook
After 9/11, NYC was at a crossroad. Mayor Bloomberg came into office right at that moment, and transformed New York into the Economic, Cultural, Artistic and Financial capital of the world. The greatest city in the world once again.
WTC Transportation Hub
Bloomberg turned a good part of Time Square into a permanent pedestrian plaza. This is in addition to a large number of pedestrian plazas he has added in the city:
Under his watch, 350 miles of bike lanes were added.
The ingenius High Line Park which repurposed a disused railway.
Bloomberg revitalized a number of waterfront locations. The Gantry Plaza Park is one:
The whimsical Domino Park is another. The playground mimiced a sugar factory. While the real sugar factory in the background is slated to be rebuilt from the inside out while maintaining the old facade.
DeKalb Market Hall. A revitalized Brooklyn emerged as the cultural capital of the US post 9/11.
Hudson Eats is another must-visit market/food court, built during the time the whole WTC site was rebuilt.
NYC underwent a huge construction boom during the Bloomberg years. What is noteworthy is Mayor Bloomberg’s focus on public spaces. Yes. It is a playground for the rich. But it is also a livable city for all because of Mayor Bloomberg’s urbanist visions and the brilliant people he had hired to do urban planning.
Where the rubber hits the road
Being the mayor of a big city in America, is the ultimate Do or Die position. All the crime, poverty, underperforming schools, inequality and policing issues all come to a head in our large cities. And the Mayor’s office is where the buck always stops. Ideology and good intentions count for nothing. Action and results are the only thing that matter in this milieu. Mike Bloomberg was able to do a tremendous amount of good for all New Yorkers in his three terms. It is not surprising that he is endorsed by San Francisco Mayor London Breed, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, DC mayor Muriel Bowser, and former LA mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. If you are a Democrat because you believe in the Greatest Good for the Greatest Number of People, the choice is clear.
