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Despite scandal, Mayor Bloomberg flies to top in polls – Metro US

Despite scandal, Mayor Bloomberg flies to top in polls

It seems Hurricane Irene put the wind back into Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s sails — he earned some of his highest approval ratings this month.

During a Quinnipiac University poll conducted between Sept. 1 and Sept. 6, Bloomberg’s job approval rating shot up nearly 10 points since July, to 54 percent.

Across the boroughs, 86 percent of people supported Bloomberg’s response to Hurricane Irene, and 90 percent backed his decision to evacuate neighborhoods.

“The critics cried ‘overkill,’” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. “But most people agreed with the mayor, ‘Better safe than sorry.’”

The ratings are Bloomberg’s highest ranking since the December blizzard, but they came at a time of criticism. The polling period occurred when the public learned the truth about former Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith, who the mayor said had resigned to pursue other work, but had been arrested for an alleged domestic dispute days before resigning.

Bloomberg was blasted for his failure to reveal the arrest.

“This survey was conducted after Hurricane Irene and during the storm about [former] Deputy Mayor Stephen Goldsmith’s arrest — but maybe that second storm is a tempest in a teapot,” Carroll offered.

Follow Emily Anne Epstein on Twitter @EmilyatMetro.