June 30, 2010 - Bloomberg Unscathed By New York City Budget Cuts, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; City Workers Aren't Doing Fair Share, Voters Say Word format New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is unhurt - and unhelped - by the recent announcement of a city budget with some service cuts, with a 57 - 33 percent overall approval rating and a negative 45 - 47 percent approval for his handling of the city budget, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. This compares to a 57 - 29 percent approval for Mayor Bloomberg, with a 47 - 44 percent approval for his handling of the budget in a May 21 survey by the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University. New York City voters disapprove 52 - 25 percent of the City Council's handling of the budget and disapprove 36 - 29 percent of Council Speaker Christine Quinn's work on the budget. But Speaker Quinn still gets a 45 - 27 percent overall approval rating, compared to 44 - 26 percent May 21. Union workers are not doing their fair share to ease New York City's financial problems, voters say 56 - 31 percent. Even Democrats say 49 - 36 percent that union workers aren't doing their share. Voters in union households back union workers 50 - 42 percent. Anti-union sentiment ranges from 50 - 36 percent in The Bronx to 66 - 19 percent in Manhattan and is equally strong among men and women. "It seems to be open season on public employees. New Yorkers think they're not doing their fair share to help with the city's budget woes. Even union households are mixed on this issue," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. "The budget didn't help - or hurt - anyone's approval numbers. Bloomberg still comes out plus on job approval but he's rated negative on handling the budget. Council Speaker Christine Quinn's budget performance comes out worse than his and the City Council overall worse than either of them," Carroll added. New York City voters approve 47 - 17 percent of the job City Comptroller John Liu is doing, with 36 percent undecided, and approve 35 - 17 percent of the job Public Advocate Bill de Blasio is doing, with 48 percent undecided. "Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu are starting to establish public personalities. A lot of New Yorkers still don't know enough about them to give them job- approval ratings but the 'don't know' responses are shrinking a little," Carroll said. A total of 92 percent of New York City voters still say the city's budget problems are "very serious" or "somewhat serious," compared to 90 percent May 21. Voters oppose layoffs for city employees 68 - 27 percent, but support furloughs 51 - 36 percent, and back a wage freeze for these workers 62 - 33 percent. Even union households back a wage freeze 57 - 38 percent. No layoffs for public school teachers, voters say 82 - 16 percent. But by a very narrow 50 - 47 percent margin, voters support a wage freeze for teachers. Union households split 49 - 49 percent on a teacher wage freeze. Voters also oppose 63 - 32 percent reducing pension benefits for city workers. Only Republicans back the idea, 50 - 47 percent. "We're as worried as ever about the city budget, but we still balk at layoffs. Employee furloughs and a wage freeze win public support," Carroll said. "Teachers, whose union looks like the bad guys across the Hudson in New Jersey, do marginally better than their municipal co-workers, in the New York City poll." From June 21 - 28, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,183 New York City registered voters, with a margin of error of +/- 2.9 percentage points. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and nationwide as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 1. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling his job as Mayor? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 57% 65% 56% 58% 68% 41% 54% 49% Disapprove 33 31 33 34 25 46 32 41 DK/NA 10 3 11 8 7 13 14 10 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 57% 53% 62% 55% 59% 60% 54% Disapprove 34 38 28 33 32 33 34 DK/NA 10 9 10 12 9 8 12 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling his job as Mayor? (*High also 75% Oct 2008, Mar 2008, Jan 2007 & Nov 2005) APPROVE....... DIS.. High Low High Jun 30 May 21 Mar 23 Feb 17 Oct 21 Jul 2 Jul 2 2010 2010 2010 2010 2008* 2003 2003 Approve 57 57 61 61 75 31 31 Disapprove 33 29 27 30 20 60 60 DK/NA 10 14 12 9 6 8 8 2. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 66% 80% 65% 68% 79% 54% 58% 64% Disapprove 20 12 21 20 10 32 25 26 DK/NA 14 9 14 12 11 14 17 11 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 60% 67% 64% 69% 77% 68% 65% Disapprove 27 20 20 17 16 22 19 DK/NA 13 14 15 14 7 10 16 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Ray Kelly is handling his job as Police Commissioner? (*High also 70% Feb 2010, Mar 2006 & Feb 2006) APPROVE....... DIS.. High Low High Jun 30 May 24 Feb 18 Jul 28 May 24 Jan 16 Jan 16 2010 2010 2010 2009 2010* 2007 2007 Approve 66 70 70 67 70 52 52 Disapprove 20 17 16 20 17 34 34 DK/NA 14 13 14 13 13 14 14 3. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joel Klein is handling his job as New York City Schools Chancellor? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 37% 36% 39% 38% 39% 40% 34% 33% Disapprove 41 39 41 43 36 45 44 52 DK/NA 22 25 20 19 26 15 22 15 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 39% 35% 40% 36% 37% 42% 33% Disapprove 45 41 38 40 46 36 46 DK/NA 16 24 22 23 17 22 22 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Joel Klein is handling his job as New York City Schools Chancellor? APPROVE....... High Low Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 24 Feb 26 May 21 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2003 2010 Approve 37 30 39 37 44 46 30 Disapprove 41 48 40 35 36 27 48 DK/NA 22 22 21 28 20 28 22 4. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill de Blasio is handling his job as Public Advocate? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 35% 35% 38% 33% 33% 42% 36% 37% Disapprove 17 22 15 20 17 18 18 18 DK/NA 48 43 47 47 50 40 46 45 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 31% 39% 33% 35% 38% 37% 34% Disapprove 20 17 18 13 18 19 15 DK/NA 48 44 49 51 44 45 50 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bill de Blasio is handling his job as Public Advocate? Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 2010 Approve 35 34 37 Disapprove 17 16 13 DK/NA 48 50 50 5. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling her job as City Council Speaker? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 45% 37% 50% 42% 47% 50% 42% 43% Disapprove 27 37 22 34 27 28 23 34 DK/NA 28 26 29 23 27 22 35 23 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 43% 42% 49% 46% 46% 40% 49% Disapprove 24 30 26 27 27 35 20 DK/NA 33 28 25 27 26 24 31 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling her job as City Council Speaker? APPROVE....... High Low Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 Feb 24 Jan 27 Mar 14 Nov 25 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2007 2008 Approve 45 44 44 42 43 51 40 Disapprove 27 26 28 25 23 12 29 DK/NA 28 30 27 33 34 37 31 6. Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Liu is handling his job as City Comptroller? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 47% 37% 51% 44% 43% 58% 45% 52% Disapprove 17 31 13 20 17 13 24 16 DK/NA 36 32 36 36 40 29 32 31 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 48% 48% 40% 50% 54% 52% 42% Disapprove 15 19 22 12 13 17 17 DK/NA 38 33 37 39 33 31 41 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way John Liu is handling his job as City Comptroller? Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 2010 Approve 47 49 44 Disapprove 17 13 11 DK/NA 36 38 45 7. In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York City today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Very satisfied 6% 8% 7% 4% 8% 4% 4% 4% Smwht satisfied 43 39 45 43 49 39 37 41 Smwht dissatisfied 30 26 29 30 27 31 36 33 Very dissatisfied 20 26 19 21 15 25 22 21 DK/NA 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 2 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Very satisfied 6% 4% 9% 6% 2% 7% 5% Smwht satisfied 39 44 45 42 40 45 41 Smwht dissatisfied 33 27 29 29 34 28 31 Very dissatisfied 21 23 15 21 21 18 22 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 4 2 1 TREND: In general, how satisfied are you with the way things are going in New York City today? Are you very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? VERY+SMWHT... High Low Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 Jul 28 Jun 16 Feb 11 Jul 2 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 1998 2003 Very satisfied 6 7 8 8 8 18 7 Smwht satisfied 43 44 51 51 51 58 23 Smwht dissatisfied 30 32 26 26 27 18 32 Very dissatisfied 20 16 14 14 13 5 38 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 8. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling the city budget? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 45% 55% 42% 49% 57% 30% 42% 37% Disapprove 47 39 50 42 34 62 52 56 DK/NA 9 6 8 9 9 8 7 7 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 35% 43% 49% 47% 48% 53% 38% Disapprove 55 50 41 43 44 40 52 DK/NA 9 7 10 10 8 8 10 TREND: Do you approve or disapprove of the way Michael Bloomberg is handling the city budget? (*High also 55% Jan 2009) APPROVE....... High Low Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Feb 17 May 7 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2010 2003 Approve 45 47 55 54 54 55 28 Disapprove 47 44 35 34 38 35 63 DK/NA 9 9 10 12 9 10 9 9. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Christine Quinn is handling the city budget? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 29% 28% 30% 29% 28% 32% 29% 25% Disapprove 36 43 35 36 29 41 42 45 DK/NA 35 30 35 35 42 28 29 30 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 29% 26% 32% 27% 32% 32% 26% Disapprove 38 38 31 39 36 39 34 DK/NA 33 36 37 34 32 29 41 10. Do you approve or disapprove of the way the City Council is handling the city budget? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Approve 25% 25% 27% 23% 27% 27% 22% 23% Disapprove 52 52 50 56 44 57 60 58 DK/NA 23 22 23 21 29 16 17 19 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Approve 22% 25% 29% 24% 27% 28% 23% Disapprove 54 53 45 55 55 53 51 DK/NA 24 22 26 21 18 19 26 11. To balance the city budget, if you had to choose, would you prefer - raising taxes or cutting government programs and services? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Raising taxes 48% 20% 58% 44% 43% 49% 56% 51% Cutting services 36 70 25 40 46 31 26 36 DK/NA 16 10 17 15 12 20 18 13 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Raising taxes 49% 49% 54% 46% 33% 45% 52% Cutting services 30 36 31 39 54 42 30 DK/NA 21 15 15 16 13 13 18 TREND: To balance the city budget, if you had to choose, would you prefer raising taxes or cutting government programs and services? Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Jan 28 Nov 25 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009 2008 Raising taxes 48 45 43 52 53 46 48 Cutting services 36 40 45 37 39 39 37 DK/NA 16 14 13 11 8 15 15 12. How serious do you think New York City's budget problems are - very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, not at all serious? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Very serious 65% 61% 65% 66% 61% 73% 70% 71% Smwht serious 27 29 27 29 33 23 20 24 Not too serious 4 6 6 3 3 3 6 2 Not at all serious 2 4 1 1 - 1 4 2 DK/NA 1 1 1 1 2 - 1 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Very serious 70% 67% 63% 60% 75% 62% 68% Smwht serious 24 24 30 32 22 30 25 Not too serious 4 5 5 4 2 4 4 Not at all serious 1 2 1 4 1 3 1 DK/NA 1 2 1 - - 2 1 TREND: How serious do you think New York City's budget problems are - very serious, somewhat serious, not too serious, or not at all serious? (*High also 95% Jan 2009) VERY+SMWHT.... High Low Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 Mar 24 Feb 25 Feb 25 Jul 17 2010 2010 2010 2009 2009 2009* 2002 Very serious 65 60 53 65 61 61 46 Smwht serious 27 30 39 29 34 34 41 Not too serious 4 6 5 3 3 3 9 Not at all serious 2 1 1 - 1 1 1 DK/NA 1 2 1 2 1 1 3 13. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - layoffs for city employees? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Support 27% 49% 21% 33% 38% 14% 21% 19% Oppose 68 49 74 60 56 80 78 76 DK/NA 5 3 4 7 6 5 1 5 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 18% 27% 36% 27% 19% 35% 20% Oppose 78 67 60 68 76 59 76 DK/NA 4 6 4 5 5 6 4 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose layoffs for city employees? Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 2010 Support 27 32 32 Oppose 68 63 63 DK/NA 5 6 5 14. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - furloughs for city employees? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Support 51% 61% 47% 55% 56% 49% 44% 43% Oppose 36 31 39 32 33 37 46 47 DK/NA 13 8 14 13 11 15 10 10 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 51% 46% 57% 50% 48% 56% 46% Oppose 36 37 32 35 45 33 39 DK/NA 13 16 10 15 7 12 15 TREND: To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose furloughs for city employees? Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 2010 Support 51 50 50 Oppose 36 41 34 DK/NA 13 9 16 15. To help balance the city budget, would you support or oppose - a wage freeze for city workers? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Support 62% 78% 57% 70% 72% 48% 53% 57% Oppose 33 20 38 25 24 47 42 38 DK/NA 5 2 5 6 4 4 6 4 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 56% 60% 68% 61% 64% 69% 56% Oppose 38 34 29 33 32 26 38 DK/NA 6 6 3 6 4 5 5 TREND: To help balance the city budget, would you support or oppose a wage freeze for city workers? Jun 30 May 21 Feb 17 2010 2010 2010 Support 62 60 63 Oppose 33 35 31 DK/NA 5 5 6 16. To help balance the city budget, would you support or oppose - reducing pension benefits for city workers? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Support 32% 50% 24% 42% 42% 22% 24% 21% Oppose 63 47 72 50 52 76 73 75 DK/NA 5 3 4 7 6 3 3 4 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 21% 33% 42% 32% 22% 40% 26% Oppose 75 62 53 63 74 57 68 DK/NA 4 5 5 5 4 4 6 17. To help balance the city budget would you support or oppose - layoffs for public school teachers? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Support 16% 39% 9% 19% 24% 10% 6% 13% Oppose 82 61 89 78 73 90 93 86 DK/NA 2 - 2 3 3 - 2 1 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 13% 18% 17% 13% 13% 20% 12% Oppose 84 79 81 85 84 78 86 DK/NA 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 18. To help balance the city budget, would you support or oppose - a wage freeze for public school teachers? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Support 50% 64% 45% 58% 59% 42% 39% 49% Oppose 47 35 52 38 38 57 60 49 DK/NA 3 1 3 4 4 1 1 2 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Support 44% 47% 51% 54% 57% 55% 46% Oppose 54 49 46 42 42 42 51 DK/NA 3 4 2 3 1 3 3 19. Do you think union workers are doing their fair share to ease New York City's financial problems or not? Union Tot Rep Dem Ind Wht Blk Hisp HsHld Yes 31% 24% 36% 23% 27% 37% 29% 50% No 56 69 49 67 60 50 61 42 DK/NA 13 7 15 10 12 13 10 8 Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Men Wom Yes 36% 33% 19% 34% 35% 31% 30% No 50 54 66 55 52 58 55 DK/NA 14 13 15 11 14 11 14 TREND: Do you think union workers are doing their fair share to ease New York City's financial problems or not? Jun 30 May 7 2010 2003 Yes 31 41 No 56 47 DK/NA 13 13
