Judging by a recent surge in the polls, Bill de Blasio has profited handsomely from his long-cultivated stance as the “anti-Bloomberg†outsider candidate in the Democratic mayoral primary. Now he is doubling down on his “tale of two cities†rhetoric in a new 30-second commercial, “Change This City,†which ties Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg to potent signifiers of elitism like Park Avenue and Wall Street.
It is true that Mr. Bloomberg, a former bond trader, has championed the financial industry’s contributions to the city’s tax base, and Wall Street wages skyrocketed during his tenure, although the mayor had little to do with that. (Residents of Park Avenue, for their part, have employed nannies and housekeepers since long before Mr. Bloomberg took office.) As mayor, Mr. Bloomberg opposed legislation to mandate higher wages and paid sick leave for certain working-class employees. But he also created and helped finance social programs to assist young black and Latino men, and unemployment rates have dropped in some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
Mr. de Blasio has made a tax increase a centerpiece of his campaign, proposing a surcharge on those earning $500,000 or more. Two of Mr. de Blasio’s rivals, Christine C. Quinn and William C. Thompson Jr., have said they would not rule out tax increases, although they call them a last resort. Ms. Quinn and Mr. Thompson say they want to expand prekindergarten programs but without a tax increase. John C. Liu, another Democratic candidate, has supported raising taxes.
At a debate last month, the leading Democratic candidates all took pains to say they were in favor of protecting hospitals. Mr. de Blasio has been more outspoken on the issue, suing to keep open the financially troubled Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn and being arrested at a protest.
All the leading Democratic candidates have laid out detailed plans to expand affordable housing, even if the specifics of their policy prescriptions differ. Mr. de Blasio has zeroed in on requirements for some developers to include affordable units in new buildings; his rivals are focused on more aggressive incentive programs.
Mr. de Blasio was sharply criticized over a questionable claim in his previous ad that he was the “only†candidate who would reform the city’s policing tactics. In this new ad, he argues that he “will do what the others won’t.†While he is unique among the leading Democrats in actively calling for higher taxes on the wealthy, the differences on other issues can be somewhat hazy. The broader message, though, is that Mr. de Blasio will combat inequality â€" an idea that has served him well so far and that he clearly has no plans to abandon.
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