NYC-WTC_000230783

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

WASHINGTON POST, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8,2001

An Undefined ' Bloomberg ran as Rudolph W. Giuliani’s suiTfr gate and successor, mixing fiscal conservatism with social hheralisiiL But his is the antithesis of Bloomberg Giuliani’s primahscream style. Bloomberg is abort and dapper, tasseled and gilded, and he shocked New York's political est^lishment by beating

To Lead N.Y. Green, the city’s twotenn public advocate. ; Green’s 12-point lead evaporated in the last two weeks, as Bloomberg ran hundreds of ads— includiitg four $100,000 spots diirirg the World Novice Inherits Huge Task Series—on a dozen television stations. Many of the ads featured blistering attacks, portraying Green as an arrant liberal who would delfflfe Giu- Michael Powell and Ben White Imi’sdty. Washington Post Staff Vritert S The Democratic Party itself was a kingdom di­ vided into feuding ethnic and racial fiefdoms, Sev- NEW YORK, Nov. 7—Mchael Bloomberg, one of ,3 leading Latino politicians simply sat out the the two or three richest men in this richest of Amer- „ general election after Green, who is white, defeat­ lean dties, awoke today as the mayor-elect of this^^ ed Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, large and frag3e metropolis. who is of Puerto Rican descent, in a tough prima- He had upset Democrat Mark Green latelhesday, ty. “There is no party anymore," said Ed Ott, polit­ after spending more money—at least $55 million— ' ical director of the Central Labor CoundL "The on a mayoral race than anyone in history. He is a nov­ Democrats have to figure out what it means to be- ice politician who has never held elected office, a59- , In^ to a party again." year-old businessman who must restore the city's J Bloomberg, who is the founder and CEO of the confidence as he tries to slash billions of dollars from,, business and media empire Bloomberg L.P.. its budget And he’d like to avoid dedmating schools. tapped New Yorkers’ fears of economic collapse af­ and Ebines, parks and hospitals. ter the attack on the World Tirade Center, offering But his campaign rarely hinted at the specifics of himself as a captain in stormy seas. The pitch was his strategy, and in a cameo appearance at City Hafl perfect for New ^rk, as the city has long been fa­ today he did little more than project his trademark miliar with the mogul style. selkonfidence, i “New York doesn’t have a culture that looks *We are going to go through a period wherejob re-^ down on money," said Mitchell Moss, director of tention b going to be a very serious problem," . the Thub Urban Research Center at New York Bloomberg acknowledged. 1 ... have a situation'' University and an adviser to Bloomberg. “Unlike where we don’t have the revenue to do the things Fd ChlifoTTua, which is driven by glamour, we are lilwtodo." ___ , - - driven money. We like billionaires." : Media baron Randolph Hearst twice ran for mayor at the turn of the last century, and Govs, Nelson Rockefeller and Averill Harriman were nien of considerable fortunes. I But none ^lent so prodigiously as Bloomberg, who was a tifefong Democrat who heesme a R& pelican shortly before announcing his mayoral bid. Waving off the city’s campaign finance laws— which limit spending in exchange for giving candi- . dates public funds—he lavished close to $60 mil­ lion on his campaipi, paying more than the going rate for top campaign profewionals. i He spent $23 rniliion on' television ads and $4.5 million more for the services of (ormer presi­ dent Bill Clinton’s pollster, Doug Schoen. And he paid Moss and Columbia University's Ester Fuchs to advise him on policy. ' Bloomberg’s cash countered Green’s seeming ^eatest advantage; an Election Day field opera­ tion. Every major labor union in the city endorsed Green, and they sent thousands of workers troop­ ing into the streets. Bloomberg countered by ' opening his wallet and buying his own field opera­ tion, putting more than l,0(K) workers out there, campaign operatives said. ■Still, an air of mystery attends to Bloomberg. Few mayors have taken office with a higher me-

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NYC-WTC_000230783