He invented the industry-shattering “Bloomberg Box,” but young Mike Bloomberg was a flop when it came to putting up a single bookshelf.
The billionaire mayor, one of the wealthiest men in the US, got to reminiscing about his about his early days in New York in the ’60s when the discussion on his weekly WOR radio show turned to the 55 “micro” apartments of 250 to 370 square feet that are planned near Bellevue Hospital.
“It’s bigger than the apartment I lived in for 10 years, or roughly the same size,” Bloomberg recalled, referring to a 325-square-foot fitted-out model at the Museum of the City of New York, where the micros were debuted.
“I used to sleep on a couch sometimes, where you’d open the couch up and it was a pain to take the pillows off and everything and then open it up and make the bed.”
The mayor said all his furniture came from the Door Store or Alexander’s — the East Side department store that closed in 1992 — and when he tried his hand at self-made furnishings the results were laughable.
“I made my own shelves and then I stained them and then the shelves warped,” Bloomberg said. “For 10 years, my books rocked back and forth. I was so annoyed with myself. I should have thought of that.”
Records show Bloomberg, who made a king’s fortune from Bloomberg terminals that provide financial data, now holds title to 11 homes around the world.
On another housing issue, the mayor said he sympathizes with homeowners in Sandy-damaged districts who have no heat and won’t re-locate.
“If it were me, I might very well stay at home,” he said. “Cold showers are not fun and living with lots of clothing is not fun. But, you know, it’s your home. I don’t know what I would do. I certainly would not rule out staying at home.”