Bloomberg Tells Bayside, City: Hes Pitching For Them

On a refreshing, sun-kissed, picture-postcard perfect day for a baseball game, Mayor Michael Bloomberg connected with the Bayside community the way Mike Piazza connects with major league fastballs. Mayor Bloomberg stopped in Bayside Saturday for a neighborly visit, threw out the ceremonial first pitch and greeted all at the Bayside Little League game in Crocheron Park, before attending an environmental picnic and meeting in Udalls Cove.
Pitcher Mike
"Hows your pitching form, Mr. Mayor?" asked one parent.
"Im ready,"Mayor Bloomberg said, as he adjusted his baseball cap and trotted on to the pitchers mound, to the applause of the 350 adults and children in attendance for the Bayside Little League game between Meric Underweiser and Seder Law.
Mayor Bloomberg then rubbed the baseball for a few moments, wound up deliberately and threw a high strike that would have made ex-Yankee Roger Clemens proud, as the happy, impressed and enthusiastic crowd of parents, children and others roared and clapped in approval.
"Hows that?" asked Mayor Bloomberg, while holding up his glove, ready to receive the ball.
"Way to go, Mayor," Seth Wenger, a parent from Bayside, said. "Nice pitch!"
Victoria Schneps, publisher of The Queens Courier, then stepped up to the mound to throw the ceremonial "second pitch." Schneps delivery was solidshe gave the pitch "the old college try"but the pitch was slightly low.
"Not bad: one strike, one slightly low pitch," said Mary Levitz, a Bayside parent.
Community Connection
"You know, people talk about New York as this city with 8 million people, this large urban area. But really, New York is a collection of 400 neighborhoods, 400 small communities," Bloomberg said. "Thats the New York of everyday life, the New York I know and its the lifeblood of the city." The mayor added that its the job of every mayor and elected official "to get to know each community, its needs, and address each communitys concerns" so that "each can participate fully in society, in our democratic way of life."
Even so, when an elected public official visits a community event as bipartisan and traditional as a Little League game, the official is always vulnerable to the charge of taking advantage of the event for a "photo opportunity"i.e. for self-interested, electoral considerations. Moreover, American politics is replete with local and national officials who make a quick, perfunctory appearance at a local event, then instantaneously depart. However, Saturdays visit by Mayor Bloomberg certainly was not in that category, with one attendee calling the mayors visit and chat, "a real visit to meet the kids and to learn the concerns of the neighborhood."
"This was about a mayor who is connecting with and who is deeply concerned about the concerns of the community," said Robert Reid, commissioner of the Bayside Little League. "This visit by Mayor Bloomberg demonstrates his conscientious, careful attention to Baysides concerns." Indeed, Mayor Bloombergs visit to the Little League game did not end with the traditional first pitch activity:
Playing Catch
"Alright team, lets do some warm up tosses," Mayor Bloomberg said, as he motioned to start the players warm-up.
"Wow! Playing catch with the mayor! I never played catch with a mayor before," shortstop Brett Lawler said. "This is cool."
Cool, and indicative of the mayors community concern, Reid said.
"This was not just your typical photo opportunity," Reid said. "Mayor Bloomberg understands that Little League is not only about baseball, its about developing our next generation of citizens our young people and teaching values."
And that interaction extended to both diamonds of Crocheron Park. With the warm-up complete, the mayor then greeted the other team that was preparing to bat with high fives just before the games start. The mayor then walked to the baseball diamond at the west end of Crocheron Park, and greeted the two teams preparing to play their game. "Mayor Bloomberg signed every baseball, every cap, and he conversed at length with many adults and kids," Reid said. "And he had his staff note citizens concerns."
Poll trending Up
And if the voters of Bayside remember Bloombergs visit through election day 2005, the mayor would no doubt appreciate it. According to the most recent CBS/New York Times poll, the mayors job approval rating has risen to 38 percent, up from a low of 25 percent earlier this year. The percentage again is impressive, but it is still below the threshold 53-55 percent line that most political analysts say is sufficient to produce an election victory.
"Mayor Bloombergs early, low approval ratings largely reflected that reality," said Rich Clark, a survey research specialist and political analyst based in Connecticut. "He didnt create the economic recession that the city faced, nor the budget deficit, and he had to propose a tax increase to balance the citys budget, and his poll numbers suffered from it, unfairly so, most political watchers would agree. Now, voters are beginning to recognize the difficult decisions Bloomberg had to make to get the citys fiscal house in order, and they know he can effectively manage the most demanding city in the world. Those positive attributes, combined with the neighborhood conscientiousness hes showing through visits to neighborhoods like Bayside, bode well for him, and the poll numbers are beginning to reflect that. His approval rating is trending in the right direction."
 
Election 2005
To be sure, Clark added that Bloomberg will face "strong competition from the Democratic Partys nominee, from Fernando Ferrer, Mark Green, or Alan Hevesi" but given "Bloombergs momentum and the fact that more people are recognizing that the mayor is concerned about neighborhood issues, and is working to solve those problems, 2005 could be a very good year for him."
"The election for mayor is a long way off, but if Bloomberg continues to solve the citys problems, I like his chances in the 2005 mayoral election," Clark said.
One Bayside resident noted that "it has been many seasons since a mayor visited Bayside." Mayor Bloomberg commented on that fact: "Its been 17 years? That long since the last time a mayor visited Bayside?" Mayor Bloomberg asked. "It cant be that long. Seventeen years?"
"Well, Mike, its actually been longer," Publisher Schneps noted.
"Well, Ill tell you what," Bloomberg said, putting his arm around Publisher Schneps. "Ill come back a lot sooner than that, if Im invited."