A better New York City? 6 smart takes on Michael Bloomberg's legacy

People don’t remember — when [former Mayor Rudy] Giuliani was going out and I was coming in, it was supposed to be the end of the world. Nobody knew what a billionaire would do. They thought I would destroy the city. That did not happen. [New York]

Commentators jeered about "Mommy Mayor" and the "Nanny State." Mr. Bloomberg pushed past the catcalls and got a bill through the City Council that in addition to the ban, included money for cessation programs and steep taxes on cigarettes. The smoking rate for adults declined by a third, and for young people by half.

Since New York City passed its law, 500 other cities in the United States and 35 states enacted smoke-free legislation. In March 2004, a national smoking ban in public places was adopted by the Republic of Ireland, making it the first country in Europe to have one; anyone who had frequented Irish pubs fogged with smoke might have thought they would be the last places on earth to stub out cigarettes. [New York Times]

In some sense, yes, consumers should have done the research on trans fats and reached the conclusion that it would be better to avoid them and then waited for the process of market competition to give them more options free of the stuff. But in the real world Bloomberg-the-paternalist knows that it doesn't work that way and sometimes what makes sense is to act collectively on behalf of the research-based conclusion.

But when it comes to high finance, the emotional side of Bloomberg's elitism takes precedence over the intellectual side. When the question is gigantic sodas, Bloomberg sees exploited marks and decides to rescue them from themselves. But when the question is financial products, Bloomberg sides with the con artists and says the marks are only suffering because they're not smart enough. [Slate]

At least as important as his wealth and managerial acumen, Bloomberg brought to City Hall a largeness of ambition that makes the candidates for his job (and, frankly, many of his predecessors) loom small by comparison. It's not just a matter of ego; Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani had plenty of that. It's a mind-set. Before he became associated with Wall Street, Bloomberg studied to be an engineer. Engineering is not just a set of skills. It favors innovative solutions over incremental fixes, calculation over consensus.

Bloomberg's initiatives were not always well sold, but they were never small ball. No one since Robert Moses has so dramatically changed the face of the city. [New York Times]

Nearly 40 percent of the city's landmass will have been rezoned by the end of Bloomberg's reign — probably his most significant legacy, especially considering the new construction the zoning changes enabled. The particulars vary by neighborhood, but the driving idea has been unvarying: Development equals economic growth.

Yet success drives up rents and strains the finances of longtime middle-class residents. Nearly one third of New York's renters now spend more than half their monthly income on shelter… As the proportion of millionaires climbs, so does the share of New Yorkers living at or near the poverty line. [New York]

Bloomberg's last budget also contains some daunting costs, left for the next mayor to resolve. Pensions and other benefits add an average 72 percent to most city employees' salaries; in the case of policemen and firemen, the expense of these benefits exceeds the workers' pay... In next year's budget, the cost of pensions and other benefits will exceed 23 billion dollars, more than the city spends to deliver all municipal services, including police, fire, sanitation, welfare, and education. [The New Yorker]

Many people who were bitterly and reasonably opposed to Bloomberg's extension of his own term limits, now, given the options, might vote for several more.

City life began changing before Michael Bloomberg, and then, under him, morphed ever quicker. Cities, so long in decline, are now economic engines and wealth magnates. Where big city politics has traditionally produced a political class that is a breed apart from the brains and talent that is a modern city's true product, Bloomberg's term has helped upend that divide. [The Guardian]