ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  -- New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the fiscal conservative who led the city back to prosperity after the 2001 attacks, is now seeing his popularity slip after he suspended term limits to stay in office to confront the city's current economic crisis.


Stan Brooks reports.
   
A new Marist College Poll finds Bloomberg's approval rating has slipped 9 points -- to 59 percent -- since last month, when term limits in the city were extended at his bidding. It's the first time since 2005 that the poll reported his job performance rating slipped into the 50 percent range.

The poll reports that 43 percent of voters disagree with the change in term limits, and 48 percent want the courts to overturn it. Just 30 percent of voters favored the change, yet 42 percent think it should be upheld by the courts.

``Typically incumbents don't do well with a faltering economy, because those programs get laid at the doorsteps of chief executives,'' said Lee Miringoff, of the Marist Poll. ``But Bloomberg is an interesting case because his reason for being in office is his fiscal strength, and the reason for his extension of term limits is his fiscal strength.''

``Mayor Bloomberg has never been afraid to make the kind of tough decisions needed to get the city through these tough times and back on steady footing again,'' Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser said.

Since he's decided to pursue a third term, 40 percent of New York City voters say they are less likely to support him, compared to 19 percent who say they are more likely to. Another 41 percent say his decision on term limits makes no difference for their vote.

The poll also found that 28 percent of voters thought Bloomberg was doing a fair job, while 11 percent say he's performing poorly as mayor.

New York City voters are split over whether the boroughs need to follow a different course: 47 percent believe the city is headed in the wrong direction, while 45 percent feel it's on track. That's compared to 63 percent saying the city was moving in the right direction in March 2006, with only 30 percent thinking it was going the wrong way.

The poll surveyed 696 New York City registered voters by phone between Nov. 17 and 19. The results have a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percent.

Meanwhile, a recent Siena College Poll found that New York Gov. David Paterson had a 64 percent approval rating -- his highest since taking office in March. His job performance rating is 55 percent positive, 41 percent negative, virtually unchanged from October. But, a recent Marist Poll found Paterson's approval rating had declined to 51 percent from 57 percent the month before.

On the Net: http://www.maristpoll.marist.edu/