Bloomberg About to Break Own Campaign Spending Record

Mayor Bloomberg is on track to break his own $80-million-plus spending record for his re-election. But as WNYC's Bob Hennelly reports, that doesn't mean every campaign stop goes as scripted.

REPORTER: With the Law and Order Court House as backdrop Mayor Bloomberg was getting endorsed by four police unions. The mayor, who is running on the Republican line, was asked if he would endorse any of the candidates in next Tuesday's runoff elections for comptroller and public advocate. He lamented incorrectly that the Democratic candidates for those posts would have no Republican opponents come November.

BLOOMBERG: They will be running against nobody I assumes.

REPORTER: In fact, Republican Joel Mendolla is running for comptroller, and Republican Alex Zablocki for public advocate.

Then it was voter Estella Blandon's turn. Using the reporters' Q and A, she told the mayor about what she says is a wide disparity between life in her native Bronx versus Manhattan where she works for the courts.

BLANDON: Our playgrounds, we're lucky if we have one sprinkler in a thirty-block radius and our equipment is run down. We don't have the same Parks department attention that Queens and Manhattan gets. The Bronx is just kind of neglected and they keep saying "well it's better than it was burning".

REPORTER: The Mayor said macro stats indicated otherwise, but promised to have a staffer look into her concerns. Blandon says she's likely to vote for Bloomberg but still wants to hear specifics before November. For WNYC I am Bob Hennelly.