The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg

by Eleanor Randolph

  15. Author interviews with Kathryn Wylde, January 16, 2014, and March 6, 2018.

  16. Michael Cooper, “New York City Budget: The Deal,” New York Times, June 20, 2002.

  17. Ibid.

  18. Michael Cooper, “Officials Brace for a Budget That Spreads the Pain Around,” New York Times, February 13, 2002.

  19. Jennifer Steinhauer, “The Mouse as Sacred Cow: Mayor’s Cuts Spare Technology,” New York Times, May 28, 2002.

  20. “Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Delivers Speech on Economic Development and Job Creation,” NYC.gov, October 21, 2003, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/293-03/mayor-michael-bloomberg-delivers-speech-economic-development-job-creation.

  21. Cooper, “New York City Budget.”

  22. Michael Cooper, “Cigarettes up to $7 a Pack with New Tax,” New York Times, July 1, 2002.

  23. Tali Elfassy, Stella S. Yi, and Susan M. Kansagra, “Trends in Cigarette, Cigar, and Smokeless Tobacco Use Among New York City Public High School Youth Smokers, 2001–2013,” ResearchGate, posted online June 11, 2015, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/278666691_Trends_in_cigarette_cigar_and_smokeless_tobacco_use_among_New_York_City_public_high_school_youth_smokers_2001-2013.

  24. Michael Cooper, “Mayor Signs Property Tax Increase into Law,” New York Times, December 3, 2002.

  25. “Ferrer Or Miller Beat Mayor Bloomberg, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds,” Quinnipiac Poll, November 25, 2003, https://poll.qu.edu/search-releases/search-results/release-detail?ReleaseID=365&What=&strArea=3;0;&strTime=28.

  26. Jennifer Steinhauer and Marjorie Connelly, “New Yorkers Have Growing Pessimism About the City,” New York Times, June 12, 2003.

  CHAPTER 12: THE “NANNY” MAYOR

  1. Dana Rubinstein, “Bloomberg: ‘Just Before You Die, Remember You Got Three Extra Years,’ ” Capital New York, June 1, 2012.

  2. Author interview with Dr. Al Sommer, July 22, 2014.

  3. Ibid.

  4. Ibid.

  5. Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, history, https://www.jhsph.edu/about/history/index.html.

  6. James Bennet, “The Bloomberg Way,” The Atlantic, November 2012.

  7. Tom Nugent, “Life on the Cutting Edge,” Oberlin Alumni Magazine, Fall 2006, http://www2.oberlin.edu/alummag/fall2006/life-on-the-cutting-edge.html.

  8. Dr. Tom Frieden official bio, Vital Strategies, http://www.vitalstrategies.org/executive-team/dr-tom-frieden/.

  9. Author interview with Dr.Tom Frieden, February 24, 2015.

  10. Dr. Tom Farley, Saving Gotham: A Billionaire Mayor, Activist Doctors, and the Fight for Eight Million Lives (New York: W. W. Norton, 2015), 29.

  11. New York City Municipal Archives, Bloomberg administration, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, Daniel L. Doctoroff, Box 22665, Projects, 2002, Box 1 of 1; Health file.

  12. Ibid.

  13. Author interview with Michael Bloomberg, May 27, 2015.

  14. Ibid., Author interview with Dr. Tom Frieden.

  15. New York State Clean Indoor Air Act “Smoking Regulations in New York,” Public Health Law, Article 13-E, July 24, 2003, https://smoking.uslegal.com/smoking-regulations-in-new-york/.

  16. Matt Coneybeare, “Vintage Photograph from 1943 Shows Famous ‘Smoking’ Camel Billboard in Times Square,” Viewing NYC, September 6, 2017, https://viewing.nyc/vintage-photograph-from-1943-shows-famous-smoking-camel-billboard-in-times-square/.

  17. Bill Keller, “The Smoke Nazis,” New York Times, October 19, 2002.

  18. Author interview with Ed Skyler, March 14, 2014.

  19. Jennifer Steinhauer, “Bloomberg, Heckled, Presses Smoking Curbs,” New York Times, October 11, 2002.

  20. Author interviews with Gerard Maegher, June 2017, 2018.

  21. Tina Moore, “Mayor Bloomberg Visits Old Town Bar to Celebrate 10th Annivesary of Smoke-Free Air Act,” New York Daily News, March 27, 2013.

  22. “Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids (2005),” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, Medicine, https://www.nap.edu/read/10490/chapter/1.

  23. Sewell Chan, “A New Condom in Town, This One Named ‘NYC,’ ” New York Times, February 15, 2007.

  24. “NYC Condoms,” New York City Health Department release, NYC.gov, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/condom.page.

  25. Ibid., Chan, “A New Condom in Town.”

  26. Ibid., Farley, Saving Gotham, 120.

  27. Melinda Wenner Moyer, “It’s Time to End the War on Salt,” Scientific American, July 8, 2011.

  28. Farley, Saving Gotham, 120.

  29. Ibid.

  30. Christine J. Curtis, Jenifer Clapp, Sarah A. Niederman, Shu Wen Ng, and Sonya Y. Angell, “US Food Industry Progress During the National Salt Reduction Initiative: 2009–2014,” American Journal of Public Health (106[10]): 1815–19, National Center for Biotechnology Information, published online October 2016, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5024394/.

  31. Author interview with Dr. Tom Frieden; Farley, Saving Gotham, 61; author interview with Dr. Thomas Farley, March 13, 2015.

  32. Ibid., Farley, Saving Gotham, 209.

  33. Ibid., 210.

  34. CBS News, “Palin Mocks Bloomberg, Drinks Big Gulp,” video, YouTube, posted on March 16, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebRyYrqMrXU.

  35. Holly Yan, “No Soda Ban Here: Mississippi Passes ‘Anti-Bloomberg’ Bill,” CNN, March 21, 2013, https://www.cnn.com/2013/03/21/us/mississippi-anti-bloomberg-bill/index.html.

  36. Holly West, “NC Gets ‘Anti-Bloomberg’ Law,” posted by Rose Hoban, North Carolina Health News, July 19, 2013, https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2013/07/19/nc-gets-anti-bloomberg-law.

  37. Tina Susman, “N.Y. Mayor ‘Shocked’ by Soda Law Ruling, Takes Shot at Mississippi Law,” Los Angeles Times, March 15, 2013.

  38. Dave Mosher, “The Sweetest Drinks in the US: These Bestselling Beverages Have the Most Sugar Per Ounce,” Business Insider, July 25, 2017, http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.htm.

  39. Ibid., Farley, Saving Gotham, 213.

  40. Ibid., 216.

  41. Justia Opinion Summary, New York Statewide Coalition of Hispanic Chambers of Commerce v. New York City Dep’t of Health & Mental Hygiene, Justia US Law, 2012, https://law.justia.com/cases/new-york/court-of-appeals/2014/134-0.html.

  42. Michael M. Grynbaum, “New York’s Ban on Big Sodas is Rejected by Final Court,” New York Times, June 26, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/27/nyregion/city-loses-final-appeal-on-limiting-sales-of-large-sodas.html.

  43. John Kell, “Bottled Water Contiues to Take the Fizz out of Diet Soda,” Fortune, April 19, 2017, http://fortune.com/2017/04/19/coca-cola-pepsi-dr-pepper-soda-water/.

  44. Justin McCarthy, “Americans More Likely to Avoid Drinking Soda Than Before,” Gallup.com, July 28, 2014, https://news.gallup.com/poll/174137/americans-likely-avoid-drinking-soda.aspx.

  45. Rebecca Rifkin, “Majority of Americans Say They Try to Avoid Drinking Soda,” Gallup.com, August 3, 2015, https://news.gallup.com/poll/184436/majority-americans-say-try-avoid-drinking-soda.aspx.

  46. Ryan Jaslow, “New York Raises Smoking Age to 21,” CBS News, November 19, 2013, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nyc-raises-smoking-age-to-21-sets-cigarette-pack-minimum-price-at-1050/.

  47. David Walpuck, “The ABC’s of New York City’s Restaurant Grades,” Food Safety News, June 4, 2013.

  48.Jennifer Glickel, “Health Department Launches Graphic Campaign Against Holiday Binge Drinking,” DNAinfo, November 30, 2010; Lucas I. Alpert, “City Department of Health’s New Ads Aim to Rein In Holiday Binge Drinking,” New York Daily News, December 1, 2010.

  49. James Bennet, “The Bloomberg Way,” The Atlantic, November 2012, https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/11/the-bloomberg-way/309136/.

  50. Colin Campbell, “Jewish Pols Demand Bloomberg Apologize for 10,000 Guys in Black Hats Remark,” New York Observer, October 26, 2012, ht
tp://observer.com/2012/10/jewish-pols-demand-bloomberg-apologize-over-10000-guys-in-black-hats-remark/.

  51. “Trends in Cigarette Use Among Adults in New York City, 2002–2010,” Epi Data Brief, New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, November 2011, https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/epi/databrief12.pdf.

  52. Mireya Navarro, “City Issues Rule to Ban Dirtiest Oils at Buildings, New York Times, April 21, 2011.

  53. Matt Flegenheimer, “After Decades, a Water Tunnel Can Now Serve All of Manhattan,” New York Times, October 16, 2013.

  54. Michael Dhar, “Did Mayor Mike Bloomberg Make New Yorkers Healthier?” Scientific American, December 10, 2013.

  55. “Mayor Bloomberg: New Yorkers Living Longer than Ever,” CBS NewYork, December 27, 2011, http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/12/27/mayor-bloomberg-new-yorkers-living-longer-than-ever/.

  CHAPTER 13: THE GEEK SQUAD

  1. Steven Johnson, “What a Hundred Million Calls to 311 Reveal About New York,” Wired, November 10, 2010.

  2. “Mayor Bloomberg Reveals Sources of Mysterious but Harmless Maple Syrup Odors,” NYC.gov, February 5, 2009, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/059-09/mayor-bloomberg-reveals-sources-mysterious-harmless-maple-syrup-odors.

  3. Miriam Kreinin Souccar, “Next Mayor Faces Big Technical Gap; on DoITT List, New Commissioner,” Crains, Monday, June 11, 2001.

  4. Jennifer Steinhauer, “The Mouse as Sacred Cow: Mayor’s Cuts Spare Technology,” New York Times, May 28, 2002; author interview with Ester Fuchs, May 3, 2017.

  5. Taewoo Nam and Theresa A. Pardo, “Identifying Success Factors and Challenges of 311-Driven Service Integration: A Comparative Study of NYC311 and Philly311,” Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2013.

  6. Author interview with Gino Menchini, October 19, 2018.

  7. “Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, State of the City Address,” NYC.gov, January 30, 2002, http://www.nyc.gov/html/om/html/2002a/state_city.html.

  8. Author interview with Ester Fuchs, May 3, 2017.

  9. New York City Municipal Archives, Emma Bloomberg, 22683, 4 of 4, Project/issues 2002, NYC 3-1-1 Workng Committee Project Status report, 12-3-02.

  10. Ibid.

  11. Emma Bloomberg, New York City Municipal Archives, 22683 4 of 4, Project Issues, 9-25-01.

  12. Author interviews with aides, Bill Cunningham, and others, 2014 and 2016.

  13. Chaleampon Ritthichai, “On Noise,” Gotham Gazette, July 12, 2004.

  14. Winnie Hu, “That Jingle of Mr. Softee’s? It’s the Sound of Compromise,” New York Times, December 14, 2005, https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/14/nyregion/that-jingle-of-mr-softees-its-the-sound-of-compromise.html.

  15. Author interview with Bill Cunningham, July 11, 2015, and July 15, 2017.

  16. Alex Howard, “Predictive Data Analytics Is Saving Lives and Taxpayer Dollars in New York City: Explains Why Applying Data Science to Regulatory Data Is Necessary to Use City Resources Better,” The O’Reilly Factor, FoxNews, June 26, 2012.

  17. Debashis Basu, “Data Science for Smart Cities,” Business Standard, April 17, 2016.

  18. Kia Gregory, “New York Tries to Rid Its Sewers of FOG (Fat, Oil and Grease),” New York Times, February 14, 2014; https://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/15/nyregion/new-york-tries-to-clear-its-sewers-of-fog-fat-oil-and-grease.html.

  19. “About the Business Integrity Commission,” Business Integrity Commission, NYC.gov, https://www1.nyc.gov/site/bic/about/about-bic.page.

  20. Alan Feuer, “The Mayor’s Geek Squad,” New York Times, March 23, 2013.

  21. Basu, “Data Science for Smart Cities”; Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier, “Big Data in the Big Apple,” Slate, March 6, 2013.

  22. Mayer-Schönberger and Cukier, “Big Data in the Big Apple.”

  23. Email to author from Edward Skyler, July 11, 2017.

  24. Author interviews with aides and former city officials, background, 2013 and 2014.

  25. “Report from Former New York City Deputy Mayor for Operations Cas Holloway in Response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Critique of the Emergency Communications Transformation Program,” January 16, 2015, p. 4.

  26. Author’s timing of event.

  27. Michael Cooper, “The Blackout of 2003: The Mayor; Bloomberg Cast as a Figure of Calm Authority,” New York Times, August 15, 2003.

  28. Ibid.

  29. New York City Municipal Archives, Emma Bloomberg, 22683, box 1 of 2, project issue files, 83 NYC Archives. First report on August 14, 2003, blackout.

  30. Michael Barbaro, “Blizzard Mystery Solved? Air Bloomberg Was Seen in Bermuda,” New York Times, January 11, 2011.

  31. Alison Gendar, Lisa L. Colangelo, Kathleen Lucadamo, and Helen Kennedy, “Mayor Bloomberg Apologizes for Snow Screw-ups During Blizzard of 2010, Defends Sanitation Department,” New York Daily News, December 29, 2010.

  32. Elizabeth Weinstein and Skip Funk, “Preliminary Review of the City’s Response to the December 2010 Blizzard: Report and Recommendations to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; Elizabeth Weinstein, Director, Mayor’s Office of Operations; Skip Funk, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Citywide Emergency Communications,” NYC.gov, January 10, 2011.

  33. “Mayor Bloomberg Announces Completion of Major Milestones in 911 System Overhaul Sought by City for Decades,” press release, NYC.gov, January 5, 2012, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/004-12/mayor-bloomberg-completion-major-milestones-911-system-overhaul-sought-the-city#/4.

  34. Report by New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer on Emergency Communications Transformation Project upgrade, August 5, 2014, SR15-063S.

  35. Author interview with Mark Peters, commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation, 13, 2015.

  36. Author interview with Cas Holloway, July 2014.

  37. Report from former Deputy Caswell Holloway responding to criticism of 911, January 16, 2015; author interview with Holloway, 2015.

  38. “SAIC Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Prepared Remarks of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara,” United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York, U.S. Department of Justice, March 14, 2012, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/saic-deferred-prosecution-agreement-prepared-remarks-us-attorney-preet-bharara.

  39. Sewell Chan, “New Scanners for Tracking City Workers,” New York Times, January 23, 2007.

  40. Ibid., “SAIC Deferred Prosecution Agreement, Prepared Remarks of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.”

  41. Benjamin Weiser, “Three Contractors Sentenced to 20 Years in CityTime Corruption Case,” New York Times, April 28, 2014.

  42. Greg B. Smith, “Mayoral Candidate Bill Thompson Failed Repeatedly as Controller to Intervene as Payroll System CityTime Ballooned in Costs,” New York Daily News, July 1, 2013.

  43. David Chen, “Years Before Fraud Indictment, City Official Warned About Payroll Project,” New York Times, December 20, 2010.

  44. Colin Campbell, “Mayor Bloomberg on CityTime: ‘We Were Lucky Because of the Fraud,’ ” New York Observer, July 26, 2013, http://observer.com/2013/07/mayor-bloomberg-on-citytime-we-were-lucky-because-of-the-fraud/.

  45. David Seifman, “Bloomberg Claims City Did ‘Pretty Good Job’ with Scandal-Plagued CityTime,” New York Post, May 27, 2011.

  46. Author interview with former Bloomberg company employee, background, 2017.

  47. “Bloomberg Chair Steps Down,” CNN Money, March 5, 2001, http://money.cnn.com/2001/03/05/news/bloomberg/.

  48. Celeste Katz, “Three Guilty in NY CityTime Corruption Scandal,” New York Daily News, November 22, 2013.

  49. Author interview with city administrator, background, 2017.

  50. “A Plan to Make New York the Nation’s Leading Digital City,” NYC press release, digital announcement, NYC.gov, May 16, 2011, http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/158-11/mayor-bloomberg-chief-digital-officer-rachel-sterne-em-road-map-the-digital#/2.

  51. “New York City’s Growing High-Tech Industry,” Report from Office of State Comptroller, Re
port 2-2015, April, 2014.

  52. Robert Dominguez, “Tech Zone,” New York Daily News, October 11, 2013.

  CHAPTER 14: THAT PUBLIC SCHOOL BUSINESS

  1. David M. Herszenhorn, “Mayor Accepts Blame for Lag in Suspensions,” New York Times, December 13, 2003.

  2. “Mayor Bloomberg Discusses Remarkable Progress in New York City Schools and the Challenges of the Knowledge Economy at Education Nation Summit,” NYC Public Library, October 8, 2013, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/323-13/mayor-bloomberg-remarkable-progress-new-york-city-schools-the-challenges-the/#/0.

  3. “Mayor Bloomberg Announces Tentative Agreement with the United Federation of Teachers Nearly One Year Before Expiration of Current Contract,” NYC.gov, November 8, 2006, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/388-06/mayor-bloomberg-tentative-agreement-the-united-federation-teachers-nearly-one#/0.

  4. Catherine Gewertz, “N.Y.C. Mayor Gains Control over Schools,” Education Week, July 19, 2002, https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2002/06/19/41nyc.h21.html; James C. McKinley Jr., “State Senate Passes Bill Giving Mayor Control of Schools,” New York Times, June 12, 2002.

  5. Chris McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition (New York: Skyhorse, 2017), 100.

  6. Author interview with Merryl Tisch, November 13, 2015.

  7. “Silence was Golden for Michael Bloomberg,” Opinion, New York Post, June 23, 2013.

  8. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 100.

  9. Ibid., Author interview with Merryl Tisch.

  10. David M. Herszenhorn, “Bloomberg Wins on School Tests After Firing Foes,” New York Times, March 16, 2004.

  11. Ibid.

  12. Eric Nadelstern, 10 Lessons from New York City Schools: What Really Works to Improve Education (New York: Teachers College Press, 2013), 57.

  13. Michael Cooper, “So Long School Bureaucrats: 110 Livingston Is Being Sold,” New York Times, July 9, 2003.

  14. Jennifer Steinhauer, “Mayor Wants Tweed Building for School Use,” New York Times, March 19, 2002.

  15. Ibid.

  16. Nadelstern, 10 Lessons, 15–16.

  17. “A Slimmed-Down Education Department,” editorial, New York Times, December 4, 2002.