NEW YORK CITY—Mayor Bill de Blasio took over his Twitter account briefly on Monday and answered questions directly from New Yorkers about everything from his height to what he's doing to combat homelessness.
I'm excited to take your questions for the next few minutes. The team says I need a hashtag. Let's use: #bdbchat.
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015The questions ranged from the light-hearted to the serious. De Blasio told Twitter user Gabriella R that he was 6 feet 6 inches tall.
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015He also said that funnel cakes were his favorite boardwalk food.
Funnel cakes, of course! https://t.co/Z8P5R5usLc
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015Avi Greenberger wanted to know what de Blasio was doing to combat homelessness in the city and Jessica Niestzche wanted the rent guidelines ruling explained in 140 characters or less.
We're investing 1 bil over 4 yrs to keep people in their homes & working to get people off the sts & into shelters. https://t.co/16JA3IHMDo
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015We passed rent freeze if your lease is up for renewal this fall (1 yr, no increase; 2 yr, 2% increase) https://t.co/Bt0zDdAq1c
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015In all, de Blasio answered 11 questions.
The public interaction comes as the mayor is struggling with his lowest ever approval rating.
The most recent Quinnipiac poll, from earlier this month, showed 44 percent of voters disapproved of the job de Blasio was doing versus 44 percent who did approve.
The poll also found that 47 percent of voters say de Blasio did not deserve re-election to the second term the mayor has said he plans to seek.
The low ratings come in the wake of a public feud with Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the perception that the city's homeless population and shootings are on the rise, a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' disease in the South Bronx, the possible removal of pedestrian plazas in Times Square to combat topless women and costumed characters and a bruising public relations battle with e-hail service Uber.
Experts said de Blasio wasn't doing a good enough job of getting his message directly out to the public.
"If there is truly a misunderstanding about how the city is doing on these important issues, then he needs to get out there and address it directly with the public," said Jeanne Zaino, a professor of political science at Iona College.
That has started to change recently.
The mayor appeared last week on WNYC's Brian Lehrer Show and took questions from the public. De Blasio also appeared on Hot 97's morning show.
The mayor also shook hands with members of the public and handed out emergency preparedness information during a fair on Lower Manhattan last week.
On Saturday, de Blasio and First Lady Chirlane McCray were out in Brooklyn spreading the word about one of his signature policy achievements so far, universal Pre-K.
On Sunday, de Blasio penned a lengthy op-ed in the Daily News where he touted many of his successes in a direct appeal to the public.
During the brief Twitter chat, the mayor had a chance to tout everything from his affordable housing plan to his goals for improving public education.
Official public review starts next month. City committing to 1200 new affordable apartments in first phase. https://t.co/mlSjgu0BCs
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015Moved away from over-reliance on high-stakes testing and ended the misleading grading of schools. https://t.co/4rM0Pvpaee
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015In his final tweet, de Blasio seemed to imply that more chats with the public were ahead.
Alright folks, have to run. Great first #BDBchat. Thanks for the questions!
— Bill de Blasio (@BilldeBlasio) August 31, 2015
