Diary of an Exit Poller

Dear Diary:

Like Blanche DuBois, exit pollers depend on the kindness of strangers. I’d never done an exit poll before and was winging it â€" poorly. Within one minute, a policeman had banished me across 100 feet of No Man’s Land.

The polling place was in the middle of a side street. It was Nov. 5, and I was on Broome Street in West SoHo.

My method was this: I stationed myself across the street, pacing for warmth, and waited for the exiting voter to go east or west. Once he veered, I would walk parallel to him on my side of the street, and then cross after I reached a certain spot by a few garbage bags. After dozens of iterations, the routine of pursuit felt sort of creepy. My brain instinctively looping a poorly rendered version of the theme from “Jaws” as I crossed the street seemed to confirm this.

Another voter was leaving. He went left. “Jaws” music, garbage bags â€" and then I saw a woman sitting on a stoop, smoking a cigarette, watching me. I was caught, absurd stalkerish ritual exposed. I conducted the next poll and walked back across the street. I awaited her judgment, this stranger. It had already been a rough day, for other reasons. I couldn’t help grinning stupidly â€" that happens when I’m nervous.

“You have a really nice smile,” she said.

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Bloomberg Failed to Meet 51% of Goals in His Last Fiscal Year in Office

Michael R. Bloomberg was elected mayor in 2001 in part because he promised to run the city as efficiently as he had his business. Eight years later, a federal judge let him run for a third term because, as a businessman, Mr. Bloomberg said he was best suited to steer the city through tough economic times. But by the mayor’s own measure - admittedly a high standard - his record at delivering city services by the end of his tenure seems middling.

In his last full fiscal year in office, in fact, for the first time in his mayoralty, the Bloomberg administration failed to meet most of the performance targets it had set for itself the year before. Fully 51 percent of the goals were not met.

A Bloomberg spokesman, Jake Goldman, said that the 49 percent of indicators that met their targets - down from a high of 69 percent in 2008 - was attributable to two factors. One was the lingering impact of Hurricane Sandy. The other was that the administration routinely set higher goals for itself after it met them, which, in effect, made it a victim of its own success.

“They became harder and harder to reach,” Mr. Goldman said.

In the current fiscal year, beginning last July 1, barely 50 percent of the 499 indicators were listed as improving or stable compared with targets set the year before. A majority of indicators showed improvement or were stable in only one category: citywide administration, which includes Civil Service exams and energy conservation.

Those categories in which the highest number of indicators were declining compared with the year before were education (54 percent), infrastructure (49 percent), community services (45 percent) and social services (41 percent).

New York Today: ‘Life-Threatening Wind Chill’

Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times Cover that skin.

Updated 5:34 a.m.

Good Tuesday morning to you. We awaken to find much of the city frozen in place.

It is 6 degrees, with a wind chill of minus 10.

If you must go out, here’s what you need to know:

- A single word of advice â€" layers. It will be no more than 10 degrees, with gusts up to 50 miles an hour slashing exposed skin, and wind chills as low as minus 17. Tonight it will hover around 9 degrees.

- The city’s Office of Emergency Management warns of “life-threatening wind chill.” People are “at risk for hypothermia, frostbite and other serious health problems.”

- How long will it take exposed skin to get frostbite? Around 30 to 45 minutes, the National Weather Service said. See this chart.

- Are we setting some kind of record? We have just tied the record low for Jan. 7, set in 1896.

- School is open in the city. Sorry kids, bundle up and get out there.

- Alternate-side parking is suspended. “Icy conditions will make it difficult for people to move vehicles,” a city spokesman said.

- Mass Transit: Full service, except for Amtrak, which is running a reduced schedule. L.I.R.R.’s station waiting rooms are open round the clock.

- Subways: Delays on the A, the northbound 2 and 3, the southbound Q and the outbound 7 Check latest status..

- Trains: Scattered delays on L.I.R.R. and N.J. Transit Northeast Corridor. Check L.I.R.R., Metro-North or New Jersey Transit status.

- Roads: Largely dry and clear, but watch for patches of black ice. L.I.E. delayed westbound at Jericho Turnpike. Check traffic map or radio report on the 1s or the 8s.

- Sidewalks: Same deal. Even clear-looking spots can be slippery. Please be careful.

- Air travel: Cold-related delays. JetBlue has suspended service in New York till 10 a.m.

- No heat? Call 311. Inspectors will begin the process of getting your heat restored.

- The city is not opening warming centers. “But we’re looking at other measures and doubling homeless outreach,” said Christopher Miller, spokesman for the Office of Emergency Management.

- Senior centers: Open only for lunch, starting at 11 a.m.. For homebound seniors, case-management agencies will call and check in, the city says.

- Keep dog walks brief, the A.S.P.C.A says. Use sympathetic good judgment. Don’t leave dogs outside or in the car. Consider putting a coat on them.

- Neighbors: Please check in with them, especially if they are elderly, invalid or alone.

- Other tips for staying warm outside? Wear mittens instead of gloves. Don’t wear cotton. Here are a bunch more.

- When will it warm up? Wednesday, if the mid-20s sound warm to you. It should get above freezing on Thursday. Sunday could see 50 degrees.

DE BLASIO WATCH

From Michael M. Grynbaum of the City Hall bureau of The Times:

- Mayor de Blasio will hold a news conference at City Hall at 2:30 p.m., probably to announce  appointments.

- Mr. de Blasio is hurrying to assemble his administration. On Tuesday, he picked a legislative director, a community liaison, and four other officials. [New York Times]

- Mr. de Blasio’s new senior adviser, Peter Ragone, was press secretary to another outspoken liberal mayor, Gavin Newsom of San Francisco. [San Francisco Chronicle]

- The mayor’s plan to tax the wealthy sets up a clash with Governor Cuomo. [Politicker] “Who is going to be the alpha male in deciding the economic future of the city and the state?” one political veteran wondered. [New York Times]

- Mr. De Blasio told city transportation workers that they performed “a miracle” when they helped a stricken plane land on the Deegan Expressway. [Daily News]

COMING UP TODAY

- The Brooklyn Botanic Garden opens late because of the weather. Noon. [Free, with icicles]

- A visual lecture about Ansel Adams reveals the photographer’s creative process, at the Mid-Manhattan Library. 6:30 p.m. [Free]

- Two laureled short-story writers, Ben Marcus and Sam Lipsyte, converse at McNally Jackson bookstore in SoHo. 7 p.m. [Free]

- A documentary about Indonesian death squads, “The Act of Killing,” screens at the Jewish Community Center, followed by a conversation with the director. 7 p.m. [$11]

- The novelist Gary Shteyngart discusses his memoir, “Little Failure,” with Jay McInerney at Symphony Space. 7:30 p.m. [$45]

- The 2014 Winter Jazz Fest kicks off at Le Poisson Rouge in NoHo at 8 p.m. [$10]

- Starting tonight, American dance companies take the stage at The Joyce Theater in Chelsea for several days. 7:30 p.m. [$10 and up]

- For more events, see The New York Times Arts & Entertainment guide.

IN THE NEWS

- The governor proposed $2 billion in tax cuts aimed at helping renters, property and business owners, and upstate manufacturers. [New York Times]

- More than 100 former police officers, firefighters and other city workers are to be arrested on charges of faking mental disability to collect Social Security benefits. [NBC 4 New York]

- The president of Metro-North is stepping down after a year that included a fatal crash and other accidents. [New York Times]

- Two New Jersey men pleaded guilty to running a fake 9/11 charity that sold N.Y.P.D. memorial T-shirts. [Star-Ledger]

- A city councilwoman wants to turn part of Hart Island, home to the city’s potter’s field, into a park. [Daily News]

- “Saturday Night Live” hired a black female cast member after criticism over an omission in the show’s lineup. [New York Times]

- Scoreboard: Nets top Hawks, 91-86. Blue Jackets beat Rangers, 4-3 in shootout. Islanders extinguish Stars, 7-3.

AND FINALLY…

How do you keep a giraffe’s neck warm?

Take him inside.

During the cold snap, that’s what the city’s zoos will do with “temperature sensitive animals,” including giraffes, zebras and gorillas, said Jim Breheny, the director of the Bronx Zoo.

Many species will remain outdoors, at least partially.

Cold-hardy species, like deer and antelope, also have barns, Mr. Breheny said.

Amur tigers, a.k.a. Siberian tigers, snow leopards and bison?

Mr. Breheny declared them “quite comfortable in the cold.”

Joseph Burgess contributed reporting.

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