Books And Other Works
Bloomberg, with Matthew Winkler, wrote an autobiography, Bloomberg by Bloomberg, published in 1997 by Wiley. A second edition was released in 2019, ahead of Bloomberg’s presidential run. Bloomberg and former Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope co-authored Climate of Hope: How Cities, Businesses, and Citizens Can Save the Planet , published by St. Martin’s Press the book appeared on the New York Times hardcover nonfiction best-seller list. Bloomberg has written a number of op-eds in the New York Times about various issues, including an op-ed supporting state and local efforts to fight climate change , an op-ed about his donation of $1.8 billion in financial aid for college students and support for need-blind admission policies an op-ed supporting a ban on flavored e-cigarettes and an op-ed supporting policies to reduce economic inequality .
Mike Bloomberg: 5 Fast Facts You Need To Know
GettyFormer New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg in January, 2019.
Former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg announced on Sunday, after much speculation, that he is running for president of the United States in 2020. Bloomberg, a billionaire from Massachusetts who became mayor of New York City shortly after the terror attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, will run as a Democrat and said he is running to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America.
Heres what you need to know about Mike Bloomberg.
Bloomberg Claims Gains On Carbon Footprint As Mayor
As Michael Bloomberg campaigns for president, he reminds Democratic primary voters about what he did as New York City mayor for 12 years. That includes his efforts to combat climate change, work that he continued after leaving office.
“And I might point out when it comes to climate change, we cut New York Citys carbon footprint twice as much as the rest of the country, and we can do that again,” Bloomberg told a crowd at the opening of his campaign headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.. “And we have to do that, or we just dont have a future.”
We wondered if Bloombergs claim about New York Citys smaller carbon footprint is accurate.
For evidence of his claim, campaign spokeswoman Julie Wood sent us a city report published in 2017 and data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 2002 to 2013, the period Bloomberg served as mayor.
The city report, released under Mayor Bill DeBlasios administration, shows the city reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 14.8 percent in 2015 compared with 2005 levels. The city began measuring its carbon footprint under Bloomberg, with the earliest data from 2005.
For the country as a whole, data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Greenhouse Gas Inventory Data Explorer show that greenhouse gas emissions decreased 6.8 percent between 2002 and 2013, when Bloomberg was mayor.
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Reilly called Bloombergs statement “basically accurate.”
We rate his claim Mostly True.
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How A String Of Flukes Helped Pave The Way For Mayor Michael Bloomberg
He was told he would lose. In any other year, he probably would have. But 2001 was not any other year.
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Michael R. Bloomberg was not entirely picky.
And several months before Mr. Bloomberg announced his 2001 bid to fill the looming vacancy at City Hall, some of those friends were worried about him. One of them, Senator John McCain, sent word to the sitting mayor, Rudolph W. Giuliani, asking him to talk Mr. Bloomberg through the grim realities of what even some aides viewed as an electoral suicide mission.
Mr. Giuliani agreed. Youre going to lose, he told Mr. Bloomberg flatly during a meeting at the mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion. This position was sensible. Mr. Bloomberg, a rhetorically challenged political newcomer and longtime Democrat, would be running as a Republican in a Democratic town that had grown weary of its Republican incumbent.
The warning was no use. Mr. Bloomberg had been paying people for months to explain these risks to him. The next morning, he often said privately, imagining the day after a defeat, Im still better off than the next guy.
He never much improved as a candidate. By January, he was mayor anyway.
In a flash, the October endorsement from Mr. Giuliani, the lame-duck leader suddenly elevated to temporary political deity, also became the highest of municipal blessings.
Take Care Of Your Kids
On the 10th anniversary of the attacks, as bagpipers played and New York paused to reflect, Bloomberg presided over the opening of the 9/11 Memorial, a milestone that drew President Barack Obama and more than 10,000 relatives of the dead.
Soaring over the ceremony was the rising symbol of New Yorks recovery 82 of the 104 stories that would become the new World Trade Center.
We can never un-see what happened here, Bloomberg told the crowd assembled alongside two memorial pools tracing the footprints of the fallen towers. Etched in bronze parapets were the nearly 3,000 names of the dead, including that of Peter Alderman.
Over the years, Bloomberg had prodded the city to move past its collective grief. Giuliani had envisioned Ground Zero as a 16-acre memorial. Bloomberg wanted a smaller memorial and pushed for new offices and schools. He warned of turning downtown into a cemetery.
When he spoke to relatives of the dead still in the throes of grief, Bloomberg felt the urge to say, Suck it up, as his parents had taught him.
I thought to myself, Its tragic, but youve got to take care of your kids, he said. You dont want to be crying. You want to be talking about the future What can I do to help your kids?’ ‘What can I do to help you? rather than look back. Looking back isnt going to help.
On another wall, behind glass, was a campaign flier with the date in white letters Tuesday, Sept. 11 reminding voters to support a Republican on that days ballot.
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A Life Of Influence And Impact
Upon leaving City Hall, Bloomberg returned to the company he founded while also devoting more time to philanthropy, which has been a top priority for him throughout his career. Today, Bloomberg Philanthropies employs a unique data-driven approach to global change that grows out of his experiences as an entrepreneur and mayor. Bloomberg has pledged to give away nearly all his money during his lifetime and has so far donated $11.1 billion to a wide variety of causes and organizations.
In addition to Bloomberg Philanthropies five areas of focus public health, arts and culture, the environment, education, and government innovation Bloomberg continues to support projects of great importance to him, including his alma mater, Johns Hopkins University. He served as chairman of the board of trustees from 1996 to 2001, and the universitys School of Hygiene and Public Health is named the Bloomberg School of Public Health in recognition of his commitment and support. In 2018, he gave $1.8 billion to allow Johns Hopkins to permanently accept and enroll students without regard to their ability to pay the largest gift in the history of American higher education.
Mike gave $1.8 billion to his alma mater Johns Hopkins to forever guarantee need-blind admissions for all students.
Mike gave $1.8 billion to his alma mater Johns Hopkins to forever guarantee need-blind admissions for all students.
He Revived New Yorks Economy And Budget
When Bloomberg took office in 2002, the citys economy was still damaged from the terrorist attack that occurred only months earlier, leaving the incoming mayor with a $5 billion budget deficit. Bloomberg, who developed a fondness for numbers early in his career as a Wall Street executive later making the bulk of his wealth as the founder of Bloomberg LP took on the task of balancing the citys budget.
In his first year in office, the mayor focused on reducing government spending by cutting back on staff, scaling back on city services, eventually raising taxes and borrowing money as well. Raising property taxes by 18.5% in 2003 provided the city with a big boost in much-needed revenue, which made it possible for the city to lower the income tax rate by 7% in 2007, as its economic wounds began to heal. He very deliberately, early on, made the choice that rather than really jamming down services, he was going to hold the service level and raise taxes, director of the Office of Management and Budget, Mark Page told The New York Times in 2007.
After the Great Recession of 2007-2009, the citys economy quickly rebounded. Private-sector jobs increased by nearly 10% in Bloombergs last four years in office, well above the nationwide average, according to The New Yorker. Tourism increased under Bloomberg, with an average of 50 million tourists making their way to the city annually by the end of his third term, up from the 32-million national average when he took office.
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Seven Years Of Mayoral Control
This is one in a series, to run between now and Election Day, examining Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s record in key areas. For more on the mayor’s eight years see:
Patron of the Arts: Even in the face of the faltering economy Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken steps to insure New York’s cultural institutions survive and thrive.
An Increase in Homelessness: Despite the mayor’s pledges and new programs, the number of families in city shelters continues to climb.
Steps Toward Sustainability: The announcement of PlanNYC 2030 in 2007 heralded a new emphasis by the Bloomberg administration on reducing pollution and confronting climate change.
The MetroCard Mayor?: Michael Bloomberg has made major steps to improve transportation in the city — except when it comes to the subway system.
Confronting the Challenges of Boom and Bust: James Parrott looks at the last eight years and finds that, despite the mayor’s huge success as an innovative businessman, his management of New York City’s economic fortunes has been pretty conventional.
Governing a City of Newcomers: Always a supporter of immigrants, Michael Bloomberg during the election season, has announced more initiatives to aid the foreign born — and advocates will be watching to make sure these go beyond campaign promises.
Redefining Poverty — Then What?: Michael Bloomberg won widespread praise for his push to change the way governments measure poverty. Reactions to what he has done after are less effusive.
Michael Bloomberg Is Trying To Hide His Republican New York City Mayoral Record
Wherever youre reading this, theres probably a Bloomberg ad running alongside it.
These ads have amplified, across the country, a Bloomberg who was an ally of teachers and education equity, was dedicated to expanding affordable housing, was a champion of the working class and will build on those successes to rebuild America.
Bloomberg, the Great and Powerful.
Take it from someone who lived under Bloomberg, who served with him, who fought against him if you look behind the curtain, as I hope millions will in tonight’s debate, that image begins to melt away.
His advertisements hide his failures on housing the termination of Section 8, the capitulation to a real estate industry that led to rents rising and neighborhoods falling, the drastic increase in homelessness that was met with an oblivious response. Mayor Bloombergs policies created an affordable housing and homelessness crisis in New York City that has extended and exacerbated far beyond his tenure, creating a city that is the most expensive it has ever been.
His money obscures the reality that through his tenure and beyond, 75,000 public school teachers in our city were left without a contract without job or salary security. When his ads boast of a balanced budget, they neglect to mention that balance came on the backs of suffering city employees. Those ads do not discuss his long history of denying benefits to working people, even those working for his own government he cut costs, then passed the buck.
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Other Educational And Research Philanthropy
Through Bloomberg Philanthropies, Bloomberg established the American Talent Initiative in 2016 which is committed to increasing the number of lower-income high-achieving students attending elite colleges. Bloomberg Philanthropies also supports CollegePoint which has provided advising to lower- and moderate-income high school students since 2014.
In 2016, the Museum of Science, Boston announced a $50 million gift from Bloomberg. The donation marks Bloomberg’s fourth gift to the museum, which he credits with sparking his intellectual curiosity as a patron and student during his youth in Medford, Massachusetts. The endowment supported the museum’s education division, named the William and Charlotte Bloomberg Science Education Center in honor of Bloomberg’s parents. It is the largest donation in the museum’s 186-year history.
In 2015, Bloomberg donated $100 million to Cornell Tech, the applied sciences graduate school of Cornell University, to construct the first academic building, “The Bloomberg Center”, on the school’s Roosevelt Island campus.
In 1996, Bloomberg endowed the William Henry Bloomberg Professorship at Harvard University with a $3 million gift in honor of his father, who died in 1963, saying, “throughout his life, he recognized the importance of reaching out to the nonprofit sector to help better the welfare of the entire community.”
Early Life And Financial Career
Michael Rubens Bloomberg was born on February 14, 1942, in Boston, Massachusetts. The son of a bookkeeper, Bloomberg put himself through Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, where he earned a Master of Business Administration degree in 1966. His first Wall Street job was with Salomon Brothers, where he quickly climbed the ladder, becoming partner in 1972.
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Involvement In 2018 Midterms
On June 20, 2018, Bloomberg announced he would spend $80 million supporting Democratic candidates in the 2018 midterms.
He released a statement that said the following:
| â |
Republicans in Congress have had almost two years to prove they could govern responsibly. They failed. As we approach the 2018 midterms, it’s critical that we elect people who will lead in ways that this Congress wonât â both by seeking to legislate in a bipartisan way, and by upholding the checks and balances that the Founding Fathers set up to safeguard ethics, prevent the abuse of power, and preserve the rule of law. And so this fall, I’m going to support Democrats in their efforts to win control of the House. To be clear: I have plenty of disagreements with some Democrats, especially those who seek to make this election about impeachment. Nothing could be more irresponsible. But I believe that âWe the Peopleâ cannot afford to elect another Congress that lacks the courage to reach across the aisle and the independence to assert its constitutional authority. And so I will support Democratic candidates who are committed to doing both. |
â |
| âMichael Bloomberg |
On October 2, 2018, Bloomberg announced he would donate $20 million to the Senate Majority PAC.
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Lifting New York City
In 2001, just weeks after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Bloomberg was elected mayor of New York City. He and his team rallied New Yorkers and led the citys resurgence, writing one of the great comeback stories in American history. He turned around a broken public school system by raising standards and making new investments in schools. He spurred economic growth and record levels of job creation by revitalizing old industrial areas, helping small businesses open and expand, and connecting New Yorkers to new skills and jobs. Thanks to policies he put in place, the city recovered from the global recession far faster and stronger than the country overall.
Mayor Bloombergs passion for public health led to ambitious new strategies that became national models, including a ban on smoking in all indoor workplaces, as well as at parks and beaches. Life expectancy grew by three years during his time in office. He also launched cutting-edge anti-poverty efforts, including the Young Mens Initiative and the Center for Economic Opportunity, whose ground-breaking programs have been replicated across the country. As a result, New York Citys welfare rolls fell 25 percent, and New York was the only big city in the country not to experience an increase in poverty between 2000 and 2012.
Mayor Bloomberg also created innovative plans to fight climate change and promote sustainable development, which helped cut the citys carbon footprint by 13 percent.
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Michael Bloomberg To Run For Third Term As New York City Mayor Despite Term Limit Laws
Mayor Bloomberg wants another bite of the Big Apple.
The billionaire businessman ended months of speculation about his future Tuesday, when sources revealed he will work to rewrite city rules and seek a third term.
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Bloomberg will announce his bold move Thursday, but the plan is facing fierce opposition from government advocacy groups and pols who hope to succeed him in 2009.
GONZALEZ: THIRD TERM? THAT’S RICH!
“People are assuming no one else can lead this city. I don’t believe that,” said city Controller William Thompson, who vowed to still run for mayor next year.
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Bloomberg is expected to seek and win a change in city legislation that would extend the term limit ceiling to three terms from from two, a source who was briefed on his plans told the Daily News.
Twenty-six of 51 City Council members have agreed to support the bill, ensuring its passage, one Council member said.
The legislation – which would allow the controller, public advocate and 35 term-limited Council members to run again – would sidestep a ballot referendum.
The mayor has eyed a third term for months but made his decision last weekend, with the sinking economy swaying him, the source said.
Bloomberg also cleared a major hurdle this week when billionaire Ronald Lauder, whose fortune bankrolled the original term limits initiative, agreed to back him for four more years.