New York Times New York City Poll, June 2003

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This special topic poll, conducted June 6-10, 2003, was undertaken in order to assess respondents' opinions of the long-range view for New York City, the city's economic and financial status, and social issues affecting the city. Respondents were asked to give their opinions on New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, his overall job performance, his handling of the city budget and economy, whether he payed too much attention to Manhattan at the expense of the other boroughs, whether the Bloomberg administration had made significant progress balancing the budget, the effect Mayor Bloomberg had on the economy, and how much of the blame for the poor economy should be attributed to Mayor Bloomberg. Respondents were asked how knowledgeable they were of Mayor Bloomberg's budget plans, whether they approved of George Pataki's performance as governor and his handling of New York City's budget problems, whether they approved of Joseph Bruno's performance as State Senate Majority Leader and the New York State legislature's handling of New York City's budget problems, how much of the poor economy should be attributed to Governor Pataki, how much of the responsibility should be attributed to former mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and how much of the responsibility should be attributed to the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Views were sought on whether respondents planned to live in the same place, a different place within New York City, or outside of New York City in four years, whether within the last year New York City had improved, worsened, or stayed the same, the overall condition of New York City, whether the city's economy was improving, worsening, or not changing, whether compared to one year ago, the city's economy was better, worse, or the same, whether respondents worried that within the next 12 months they or a family member would lose their jobs, the severity of the current economic situation, and whether the city's economic situation affected day-to-day life, and if so, what its greatest effect was given the city's economic situation. Respondents were asked whether the best course of action would be to raise taxes, reduce services, or borrow money. If respondents thought raising taxes was the best solution, they were queried on which taxes should be raised and if they thought reducing services was the best solution, they were queried on what services should be reduced or cut. Information was gathered on whether city service reductions or city employee layoffs would affect the respondents' families, whether certain cuts in services would be bad for the city, which city services should not be cut or reduced, which one city service should not experience cuts or reductions, if at all possible, whether income tax increases for individuals and couples making $100,000 and $150,000, respectively, were reasonable, whether raising the sales tax to 8.5 percent was reasonable, and whether increasing property taxes by 18.5 percent was reasonable. Opinions were gathered on whether city employees were doing enough to help the city, whether city employees should pay a greater percentage of their health insurance, whether the city work week should increase from 35-37 hours to 40 hours, whether there should be decreases in vacation and holiday time for city employees, whether future pension benefits for city employees should be reduced, and whether placing video-slot machines in off-track betting parlors would be beneficial or harmful. Further questions addressed an increase of homeless individuals in the last few months, the ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, an increase of bus and subway fares to $2 and whether the increase had an effect on respondents, respondents' knowledge of Mayor Bloomberg's non-partisan election proposal, whether New York City should have non-partisan elections, the name of the respondent's staterepresentative, and the name of the respondent's state senator. Background variables include age, sex, education, ethnicity, length of residence in New York City, condition of respondent's finances, smoking status, employment status, union status, whether the respondent was a city employee, residential status (renter or homeowner), voting status, whether the respondent was the parent or guardian of a child under 18 living in the same residence, whether children under 18 were enrolled in public, private, or parochial school, whether the respondent voted in the 2001 mayoral election, and if so, whether the respondent voted for Mark Green or Michael Bloomberg, borough of residence, religious orientation, marital status, political orientation, political ideology, and household income.

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Restrictions View help for Restrictions

This data collection may not be used for any purpose other than statistical reporting and analysis. Use of these data to learn the identity of any person or establishment is prohibited.

Distributor(s) View help for Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research

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Sample View help for Sample

A variation of random-digit dialing using primary sampling units (PSUs) was employed, consisting of blocks of 100 telephone numbers identical through the eighth digit and stratified by geographic region, area code, and size of place. Within households, respondents were selected using a method developed by Leslie Kish and modified by Charles Backstrom and Gerald Hursh (see Backstrom and Hursh, SURVEY RESEARCH. Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 1963).

Universe View help for Universe

Adult population of New York City aged 18 and over having a telephone at home.

Data Source View help for Data Source

telephone interviews

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Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2003-12-11

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