CITY HALL — New Yorkers believe Mayor Michael Bloomberg is flailing in his third term, new poll numbers show.
More than half of city voters say the mayor has lost focus after taking office for the third time in 2010, according to a new Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday.
The numbers also show that, after a brief boost to 55 percent following his handling of Hurricane Irene, his approval rating has sunk again, with only 47 percent of those polled giving the mayor the thumbs up — close to the 45 percent that approved of the mayor back in July.
“The job-approval bounce Mayor Michael Bloomberg got from his handling of Tropical Storm Irene has faded. He’s back in the third-term blahs and slightly more than half of the neighbors think Hizzoner has lost focus,” Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement announcing the results.
Bloomberg's poll numbers dipped below 40 percent in March following the disastrous response to the Christmas blizzard and the controversy over now-departed schools chancellor Cathie Black. The mayor's all-time high in the Quinnipiac poll was 75 percent, achieved most recently in 2008, and he hit a low of 31 percent in July 2003.
Manhattan voters remain Bloomberg’s strongest supporters, with 56 percent saying they approve of the way he’s handling his job and a slight majority — 51 percent — saying he’s kept his focus in his third term.
In terms of his successor, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly leads the pack of potential 2013 mayoral candidates, with 25 percent of voters polled saying they favor him, the numbers show.
Kelly has a sky-high approval rating, with 66 percent of those polled stating they like the job he’s doing, though there is a clear divide along race lines, with 78 of white voters saying they approve, versus just 51 percent of black voters.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn comes in second with 17 percent, followed by Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (14 percent) and City Comptroller John Liu (10 percent).
Former City Comptroller William Thompson, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer all polled in the single digits.
With Kelly not in the race, Quinn would have the clear advantage, with 22 percent of the vote, the numbers show.
Kelly has never indicated that he intends to run.
The poll of 1,068 registered voters, surveyed from Oct. 12-16, has a margin of error of plus or minus three percent.
