The Many Lives of Michael Bloomberg

by Eleanor Randolph

  18. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 97.

  19. New York City Municipal Archives, Letter from Ester Fuchs with names of chancellors being proposed, July 8, 2002, Madonia, 22677, box 3 of 8, project issues, 2000–2003.

  20. Joel Klein, Lessons of Hope: How to Fix Our Schools (New York: HarperCollins, 2014), 20–21.

  21. Michael Tomasky, “No Experience Required,” New York, August 12, 2002.

  22. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 103.

  23. Author interview with David Yassky, June 1, 2016.

  24. Jennifer Medina, “On New York School Tests, Warnings Signs Ignored,” New York Times, October 10, 2010; Jennifer Medina, “State Long Ignored Red Flags on Test Scores,” New York Times, October 11, 2001.

  25. Joel Klein, Lessons of Hope, 35.

  26. Ibid., 36.

  27. Jelani Cobb, “Class Notes,” The New Yorker, August 31, 2015.

  28. Nyc.gov/schoolportals for Jamaica Gateway to the Sciences; Queens Collegiate; Hillside Arts and Letters Academy; the High School for Community Leadership, in 2016.

  29. Eliza Shapiro, “$773 Million Later, de Blasio Ends Signature Initiative to Improve Failing Schools,” New York Times, February 26, 2019.

  30. James J. Kemple, “High School Closures in New York City; Impacts on Student Academic Outcomes, Attendance and Mobility,” NYU/Steinhardt, November 2015, p. 49, https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/sg158/PDFs/hs_closures/HighSchoolClosuresinNewYorkCity_ResearchAllianceforNYCSChools_pdf.pdf.

  31. Author interview with Sean Patrick Corcoran, November 11, 2016.

  32. Sean P. Corcoran, Jennifer L. Jennings, Sarah Cohodes, and Carolyn Sattin-Bajaj, “Leveling the Playing Field for High School Choice: Results from a Field Experiment of Informational Interventions,” Executive Summary, NYC High School Admissions Study, 2015–16 school year, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57b20ecbe6f2e157a74c4a3a/t/5ac2371f70a6ad85f4e9bbda/1522677535909/Leveling+the+Playing+Field+for+High+School+Choice+Executive+Summary+%2803_29_18%29.pdf.

  33. Lori Nathanson, Sean Corcoran (IESP), and Christine Baker-Smith, “A Report on the Placements of Low-Achieving Students,” Research Alliance for New York City Schools, NYU Steinhardt, 2013.

  34. Ibid.

  35. “How Do Charter School Lotteries Work?,” New York City Charter School Center, 2013–14, https://www.nyccharterschools.org/sites/default/files/resources/LOTTERIES082713.pdf.

  36. Raymond Domanico, director of research, New York City Independent Budget Office, “School Indicators for New York City Charter Schools, 2013-14 School Year,” July 2015, pp. 4, 15, http://www.ibo.nyc.ny.us/iboreports/school-indicators-for-new-york-city-charter-schools-2013-2014-school-year-july-2015.pdf.

  37. “Study Finds New York City Charter Schools Remain Positive, but with Pockets of Concern,” Center for Research on Education Outcomes, Stanford University, February 20, 2013.

  38. Sharon Otterman, “Charter Schools Among 12 Chosen to Close,” New York Times, December 7, 2010.

  39. Elizabeth A. Harris, “Report Faults Charter School Rules on Discipline of Students,” New York Times, February 12, 2015; Paula Davis et al., “Civil Rights Suspended: An Analysis of New York City Charter School Discipline Policies,” Advocates for Children of New York, February 2015, https://www.advocatesforchildren.org/sites/default/files/library/civil_rights_suspended.pdf?pt=1.

  40. “Mike Bloomberg Details NYC’s Bold Education Reform Efforts at U.S. Conference of Mayors Winter Meeting,” Washington, D.C. NYC.gov, January 20, 2012, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/028-12/mayor-bloomberg-details-new-york-city-s-bold-education-reform-efforts-u-s-conference-mayors.

  41. Author interview with David Weiner, October 13, 2014.

  42. Azi Paybarah, “Bloomberg on Randi Weingarten and the New York Education Model,” New York Observer, November 17, 2008.

  43. “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#/1.

  44. Jennifer A. O’Day, Catherine S. Bitter, and Louis M. Gomez, “Improving Instruction in New York City,” in Education Reform in New York City, Ambitious Change in the Nation’s Most Complex School System (Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press, 2011), 121.

  45. Stacey Childress and Tonika Cheek Clayton, “Focusing on Results at New York City Department of Education,” Public Education Leadership Project at Harvard University June 17, 2008, p. 3, http://pelp.fas.harvard.edu/files/hbs-test/files/pel054p2.pdf.

  46. O’Day, Bitter, and Gomez, “Improving Instruction in New York City,” 90–91; Stacey Childress, Monica Higgins, Ann Ishimaru, and Sola Takahashi, “Managing for Results at the New York City Department of Education,” Digital Access to Scholarship at Harvard, 2011.

  47. Childress and Clayton, “Focusing on Results at New York City Department of Education.”

  48. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 131.

  49. Ibid., Klein, Lessons of Hope, p. 47.

  50. Ibid.

  51. Ibid.

  52. Jennifer Medina, “On New York School Tests, Warning Signs Ignored,” New York Times, October 10, 2010.

  53. “Mayor Bloomberg Introduces American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten at National Press Club Breakfast,” NYC.gov, November 17, 2008, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/457-08/mayor-bloomberg-introduces-american-federation-teachers-president-randi-weingarten-national.

  54. O’Day, Bitter, and Gomez, Part 1, Chapter 3, Leanna Stiefel and Amy Ellen Schwartz, Education Reform in New York City, 55.

  55. Author interview with Randi Weingarten, October 10, 2016.

  56. “Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Klein and UFT President Weingarten Announce Schoolwide Bonus Plan to Reward Teachers at Schools That Raise Student Achievement,” press release, NYC.gov, October 17, 2007.

  57. Jennifer Li, “What New York City’s Experiment with Schoolwide Performance Bonuses Tells Us About Pay for Performance,” research brief, Rand Corporation, 2011.

  58. Author interview, Michael Bloomberg, August 16, 2018.

  59. Sharon Otterman, “New York City Abandons Teacher Bonus Program,” New York Times, July 17, 2011, fhttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/education/18rand.html.

  60. Mary Ann Giordano and Anna Phillips, “Mayor Hits Nerve in Remarks on Class Sizes and Teachers,” New York Times, December 2, 2011.

  61. Sharon Otterman, “Judge Voids City School Closings,” New York Times, March 26, 2010.

  62. Email to author from Howard Wolfson, December 14, 2018.

  63. Ben Chapman, Ben Lesser, and James Fanelli, “More Than a Dozen Teachers Earned Lowest Scores on Controversial Rankings,” New York Daily News, March 12, 2012, https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/dozen-teachers-earned-lowest-scores-controversial-rankings-article-1.1028113.

  64. O’Day, Bitter, and Gomez, “Improving Instruction in New York City,” 129.

  65. Joseph Viteritti, “Stumbling Through: How Joel Klein Reinvented the New York City Schools,” Journal of School Choice (v6:n3, 2012): 411–22; author interview with Joseph Viteritti, August 11, 2016.

  66. Author interview with Eric Nadelstern, February 10, 2015.

  67. Author interview with Joel Klein, November 25, 2014.

  68. A.G. Sulzberger, “Democrats Lash Out at Mayor over Control of Public Schools,” New York Times, July 19, 2009; author interviews with Bloomberg staff, 2017 and 2018, and with Albany politicians, 2009 and 2018.

  69. Jennifer Medina, “The Brief Life and Impending Death of a Board of Education,” New York Times, August 8, 2009; author interviews with Micah Lasher, Bloomberg aide, in Albany, 2014 and 2017.

  70. Sharon Otterman and Jennifer Medina,“Klein Resigning as Chancellor of City Schools,” New York Times, November 10, 2010.

  71. Sergio Hernandez, Villa
ge Voice intern, sued for Cathie Black emails, https://www.villagevoice.com/2011/05/26/michael-bloomberg-sued-by-reporter-over-cathie-black-freedom-of-information-requests/; emails released, seventy-eight pages made widely available by the New York Daily News, the Gotham Gazette, the Daily Beast, https://archive.org/stream/695715-cathie-black-emails/695715-cathie-black-emails_djvu.txt.

  72. Author interview with Michael Bloomberg, Klein book party, 2014.

  73. Mike Bloomberg’s own record on education progress, https://www.mikebloomberg.com/global-impact/education/.

  74. Leanne Stiefel, Amy Ellen Schwartz, and Matthew Wiswall, “Does Small High School Reform Lift Urban Districts? Evidence from New York City,” SAGE Journals, June 25, 2016, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0013189x15579187.

  75. “Small Schools Work in New York,” editorial, New York Times, October 18, 2014.

  76. Al Baker, “With Legacy on His Mind, Mayor Adds More Schools,” New York Times, April 2, 2013.

  77. O’Day, Bitter, and Gomez, Education Reform in New York City, 1.

  78. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 132.

  79. Sam Roberts, “David Rogers, 88; Took On New York’s School Board,” obituary, New York Times, March 8, 2019.

  80. Diane Ravitch, “Breaking News: Mayor-Elect Chooses an Educator to Lead NYC Schools,” Diane Ravitch’s Blog, December 30, 2013.

  81. “Michael Bloomberg on Education, Inside the Tweed Courthouse,” YouTube, published on October 25, 2007, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSCcQROsOAc.

  82. Ibid.

  CHAPTER 15: OFF HOURS

  1. Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg by Bloomberg, revised and updated, digital (Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2019), 484–486.

  2. Sara Kugler, “NYC Mayor Has His Own Air Crash Experience,” Associated Press, October 14, 2006.

  3. Bloomberg, Bloomberg by Bloomberg (2019), 487–493.

  4. Author interview with Michael Bloomberg, August 16, 2018.

  5. Allen Salkin, “Homes Sweet Homes,” New York, April 15, 2002, http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/politics/newyork/features/5890/#print.

  6. Author talk with Bloomberg at book party, April 16, 2017.

  7. Ibid.

  8. Percy Boomer, On Learning Golf (1946; New York: Knopf, 2008, digital), 319.

  9. “Bloomberg: Illegal Immigrants Help Golfers,” UPI, April 1, 2006, https://www.upi.com/Bloomberg-Illegal-immigrants-help-golfers/85421143938311/.

  10. Author interview with John Gambling, radio host, April 18, 2014.

  11. Michael Barbaro and David Chen, “For Bloomberg, Golf’s a Foe with No Term Limits,” New York Times, June 17, 2009.

  12. Ibid., Author interview with Michael Bloomberg, August 16, 2018.

  13. Author interviews on background with Bloomberg golfing partners, 2014 and 2017.

  14. Ben Terris, “Does Donald Trump Cheat at Golf?,” Washington Post, September 4, 2015.

  15. Author interviews with golfing partners, background, 2017.

  16. Vincent Barone, “LaTourette Park and Golf Course Traffic Light Installed on Richmond Hill Road,” SILive, July 1, 2014.

  17. Alyssa Melillo, “Club Lobbies for Road Removal,” Southampton Press, June 16, 2016; author interview with Melillo.

  18. Grace Cassidy, “Michael Bloomberg Still wants a Reroute of Tuckahoe Road,” Curbed Hamptons, May 5, 2017; Grace Cassidy, “Tuckahoe Road Closes for U.S. Open,” Curbed Hamptons, June 7, 2018, https://hamptons.curbed.com/2018/6/7/17437278/us-open-golf-tuckahoe-road-closure.

  CHAPTER 16: BLOOMBERG’S BULLDOG

  1. Joseph Goldstein, “Judge Rejects New York’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy,” New York Times, August 12, 2013; Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al., Case 1:08-cv-01034-SAS-HBP-Document 373, Filed 8/12/13; Scheindlin ruling, p. 196.

  2. Ray Kelly, Vigilance: My Life Servicing America and Protecting Its Empire City (New York: Hachette, 2015), 26.

  3. Ibid., 175.

  4. Chris McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition (New York: Skyhorse, 2017), 73.

  5. Author interviews with Bloomberg aides and advisers, background, 2014.

  6. Joseph Goldstein, “Weekly Police Briefing Offers Snapshot of Department and Its Leader,” New York Times, February 11, 2013.

  7. Christopher Dickey, “Al Qaeda Terror Threat to New York City and U.S. Trains Remains High,” Daily Beast, May 6, 2011, https://www.thedailybeast.com/al-qaeda-terror-threat-to-new-york-city-and-us-trains-remains-high.

  8. Author interview with Ray Kelly, April 26, 2016.

  9. Kelly, Vigilance, 177.

  10. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 78.

  11. Al Baker and William K. Rashbaum, “Police Find Car Bomb in Times Square,” New York Times, May 1, 2010.

  12. Kelly, Vigilance, 13.

  13. Eric Lichtblau, “Trucker Sentenced to 20 Years in Plot Against Brooklyn Bridge,” New York Times, October 29, 2003.

  14. Author interview with Ray Kelly, April 26, 2016.

  15. Al Baker and Kate Taylor, “Bloomberg Defends Police’s Monitoring of Muslim Students on Web,” New York Times, February 22, 2012.

  16. Jason Horowitz, “Mosque Debate: New Yorkers Take a Dim View of Rabble-Rousing Outsiders,” Washington Post, August 19, 2010.

  17. Bill Hutchinson, “Tea Party Leader Mark Williams Says Muslims Worship a Terrorist ‘Monkey God,’ Blasts Ground Zero Mosque,” New York Daily News, May 19, 2010.

  18. Michael Barbaro, “Mayor’s Stand on Muslim Center has Deep Roots,” New York Times, August 12, 2010.

  19. “Mayor Bloomberg Discusses the Landmarks Preservation Commission Vote on 45-47 Park Place,” YouTube, video, published on August 3, 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXm_fUDfJZQ; http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/337-10/mayor-bloomberg-the-landmarks-preservation-commission-vote-45-47-park-place#/0.

  20. Barbaro, “Mayors Stance on Muslim Center Has Deep Roots.”

  21. Author interviews with Jonathan Lemire, Associated Press, March 3, 2016, and 2017; U.S. Constitution, 2nd Amendment.

  22. Michael Cooper, “Mayor’s Response Breaks with the Past,” New York Times, April 1, 2002.

  23. “NYC Mayor Bloomberg Sworn in for 2nd Term,” CrownHeights.info, January 2, 2006, http://crownheights.info/general/1282/nyc-mayor-bloomberg-sworn-in-for-2nd-term/.

  24. “Mayor Bloomberg, Boston Mayor Menino and Mayors from Around the United States Stand Up Together in the Fight Against Illegal Guns,” NYC.gov, April 25, 2006, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/129-06/mayor-bloomberg-boston-mayor-menino-mayors-around-united-states-stand-up-together-in#/2.

  25. “Mayor Bloomberg Announces the Filing of Federal Lawsuit Against Rogue Gun Dealers,” official press release, NYC.gov, May 15, 2006, https://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/156-06/mayor-bloomberg-the-filing-federal-lawsuit-against-rogue-gun-dealers.

  26. Ibid.

  27. Rhonda Cook, “Smyrna Gun Shop Owner Loses Another Round in Legal Fight with New York,” Atlanta Journal-Constitution, May 5, 2011.

  28. Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor, “Over 250 Illegal Guns Sold in Undercover NYPD Investigation: 19 indicted,” Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York, NYC.gov, August 19, 2013, http://www.nyc.gov/html/snp/downloads/pdf/GUNS.pdf.

  29. Barry Paddock, “NYPD Announces 250 Illegal Firearms Seized” New York Daily News, August 20, 2013; court citation, http://www.nyc.gov/html/snp/downloads/pdf/WALKER-CAMPBELL-Ind.pdf.

  30. Tim Craig, “NYC Defends Running Stings of Va. Gun Sales,” Washington Post, May 11, 2007.

  31. Letter from Michael A. Battle, director of the executive office for United States Attorneys, to John Feinblatt, February 6, 2007. Text made available by NYC Mayor press office. Online at https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2013/04/michael_bloombergs_gun_stings.html.

  32. Kelly, Vigilance, 189.

  33. Ibid., 190.

  34. Jeffrey Toobin, “Rights and Wrongs: A Judge Takes on Stop-and-Frisk,” The N
ew Yorker, May 27, 2013.

  35. Ibid.

  36. New York Civil Liberties Union, Annual Stop and Frisk Numbers, https://www.nyclu.org/en/stop-and-frisk-data.

  37. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 88.

  38. Ibid.

  39. Michael Bloomberg, “Michael Bloomberg: ‘Stop and Frisk’ Keeps New York Safe,” opinion, Washington Post, August 18, 2013.

  40. Kate Taylor, “Stop and Frisk Policy ‘Saves Lives,’ Mayor Tells Black Congregation,” New York Times, June 10, 2012; “Mayor Bloomberg Speaks at First Baptist Church of Brownsville,” YouTube video, published on June 22, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Epj_h8rK7NM.

  41. “Mayor Bloomberg Speaks at First Baptist Church of Brownsville” video.

  42. Karl Herchenroeder tape. It eventually made its way to YouTube: “Bloomberg’s Remarks at the Aspen Institute About Minorities and Guns,” published on February 16, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L0Zq0MusGA.

  43. Floyd, et al. v. City of New York, et al., Center for Constitutional Rights, https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/floyd-et-al-v-city-new-york-et-al.

  44. Ibid., Goldstein, “Judge Rejects New York’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy.”

  45. Ibid., Goldstein, New York Times report on ruling (August 12, 2013): p. 113 (116 in Scheindlin ruling).

  46. Scheindlin ruling, 196.

  47. Goldstein, “Judge Rejects New York’s Stop-and-Frisk Policy.”

  48. Author interview with Ray Kelly.

  49. Joseph Goldstein, “Court Blocks Stop and Frisk Changes for New York Police,” New York Times, October 31, 2013.

  50. Kelly, Vigilance, 294.

  51. Colin Moynihan, “New York Is Said to Settle Suits over Arrests at 2004 Convention,” New York Times, December 23, 2013.

  52. McNickle, Bloomberg: A Billionaire’s Ambition, 90.

  53. “Trouble with Marijuana Arrests,” editorial, New York Times, September 27, 2011.

  54. Michael Bloomberg: “ ‘Stop and Frisk’ Keeps New York Safe,” Washington Post, August 18, 2013.

  CHAPTER 17: THE FORGOTTEN ISLAND

  1. Mariya Moseley, “Rikers Island was Named After a Judge Who was Eager to Uphold Slavery,” Essence, April 6, 2017.