Mayor De Blasio On 'Honeymoon' With Voters Early In First Term, According To Poll

By Colby Hamilton

CIVIC CENTER — Mayor Bill de Blasio is enjoying a "honeymoon" with New York City voters, with 67 percent of them feeling optimistic about the upcoming four years, according to a new poll.

The Quinnipiac University poll released Thursday added that 53 percent said de Blasio had done a good job so far during his first two weeks in office.

“New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is having a honeymoon," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in a statement. "Two thirds of New Yorkers are optimistic about the new City Hall team.”

Yet voters were also divided on a number of issues at the outset of de Blasio's administration.

On the one hand, voters back some of his key policy initiatives.

By a nearly two-to-one margin, voters support de Blasio’s push to raise taxes on New York City residents earning $500,000 a year or more to pay for universal pre-kindergarten and expanded after school programs.

Voters also appear to support de Blasio’s vision of New York City as a “Tale of Two Cities.” When asked if income inequality was serious in the city, 84 percent of those surveyed it was very or somewhat serious, with 66 percent saying the supported government efforts to try to reduce income inequality.

However, while voters supported de Blasio’s pick of Bill Bratton for police commissioner (59 percent), only 48 percent agreed that the NYPD could reduce stop-and-frisk and still keep the city safe, while 62 percent said the police force was currently doing a good job.

New York City voters are also decidedly against de Blasio’s promised push to ban horse carriages in the city, with 61 percent saying it’s a bad idea.

They were even more divided on the role de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane, should play in shaping his public policy. While 27 percent said she should play a major role, 66 percent said she should play either a minor role or no role at all.

The poll was conducted from Jan. 9 - 15 and surveyed 1,288 New York City voters using landline and cellular phones. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.