New Yorkers expected a lot from Bill de Blasio when he took office on Jan. 1, 2014 — and in many corners, they got exactly what he promised.
At City Hall, in front of a crowd that included Bill and Hillary Clinton, Gov. Cuomo and outgoing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, he pledged to bring paid sick leave to 300,000 more workers, reform stop-and-frisk and bring full-day prekindergarten to every 4-year-old in the five boroughs.
Two years later, paid sick leave is the law, stop-and-frisks are down dramatically — without a major crime spike — and this September, 65,504 schoolkids had a seat in prekindergarten.
But midway through his term, de Blasio is taking no victory laps, and if he did, New Yorkers would probably run him out of town.
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He’s mired in record-low approval ratings and a feud with Cuomo — a one-time friend — and is retooling his cabinet to manage a homeless crisis that until recently he denied existed.
His troubles have surprised observers, given his rep as the brilliant operative who helped Hillary Clinton snag the U.S. Senate seat from New York.
“He is more comfortable exercising the levers of power now, but he’s more unsteady politically than would have been expected given his experiences,” said former City Councilman Kenneth Fisher (D-Brooklyn).
De Blasio has said he has done poorly communicating, pledging more town halls and call-in radio appearances.
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But some of his problems are entirely of his own making — as in August when he had a 100-minute gym session at the Brooklyn YMCA during a hostage standoff on Staten Island that left a firefighter badly wounded. De Blasio insisted he was in touch with teams on the scene, but it certainly looked bad.
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“You can say being there is just optics, but what are you saying? You’re saying it doesn’t matter what the public sees,” said William Cunningham, Bloomberg’s first-term communications director. “That’s how the public judges you during a crisis.”
To gauge how he’s doing, the Daily News examined key issues and challenges facing the mayor — from achieving affordable housing goals to handling the nation’s largest public school system — midway through his term.
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In some cases, he’s improved — including on his habit of being late — but he is dogged by serious problems, on issues like homelessness. The good news for New Yorkers is the midterm might also be the turning point.
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“Sometimes it takes a couple of years to realize that certain things aren’t working.” said Kenneth Sherrill, a political science professor emeritus at Hunter College.
