As he moves to seek a third term, Mayor Bloomberg has his sights fixed on two priorities: retaining mayoral control of the school system and shoring up the city’s economy.
They are the two pieces of his legacy on which he is most focused, several sources said.
“Schools are a big priority, and he wants to get the city’s economy diversified and stable,” said one source who has discussed the coming years with Bloomberg.
“And I think he wants to prevent the hemorrhaging of financial services.”
The mayor can be an effective voice, the sources said, in convincing heads of companies to stick with New York City and not skip town – a role he also played when he took office after the 9/11 terror attacks.
And he will press Albany mightily to retain mayoral control of the public-school system, which was one of his first accomplishments in office and remains one of his signature issues.
That is one of the reasons he will continue trying to help the state Senate GOP retain its majority, several sources said.
Association for a Better New York head Bill Rudin said the mayor’s major focus, in addition to schools, will be “to continue dealing with economy growth and development . . . and diversification of our economic base to attract other industries to our city.”
The mayor’s major legacy projects “have to be in the economic-development realm,” said consultant George Arzt.
“This is the next four years . . . they would like those projects to be the hallmark of his administration. That’s what mayors are known for, bricks and mortar.”