The county’s richest mayor, New York’s Michael Bloomberg, says he can’t be bought, but cozy relationships with Miss Piggy, Nathan’s, and the Rockettes suggest he has no problem bowing to “festive interests.”
Click through the slideshow above to track Bloomberg’s costumed power base.
Bloomberg’s third and final term is drawing to a close. The mayor claims that his wealth is a political asset — meaning he can’t be bought — but there are two sides to that coin.
In his last State of the City speech, Bloomberg offered up one reason to support his aggressive agenda. “Special interests and campaign donors have never had less power than they’ve had over the past 11 years, and this year we’re going to show them just how true that is,” Bloomberg said.
“There are a lot of things the mayor has been able to do because of his immense personal wealth,” Doug Muzzio, a professor at Baruch College and an expert on New York City politics, told the Marketplace Morning Report. “He doesn’t need to take campaign contributions, he doesn’t owe anybody anything.”
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