De Blasio ratings dip in new poll

Mayor Bill de Blasio has seen a notable dip in his job-approval ratings over the past year while Police Commissioner William Bratton enjoys improved marks, according to a New York Times/Siena College poll released last night.

Almost halfway into his term, 44 percent of city residents say de Blasio is performing well at City Hall, down from 52 percent last December after a grand-jury decision not to indict a police officer in Eric Garner's death. Bratton, by contrast, has a 52 percent job approval rating versus 43 percent in December.

The mayor has strong support from his base of black and Latino residents and dwindling backing from white New Yorkers, according to the poll.

"Black and Latino New Yorkers approve of the way de Blasio is handling his job better than two-to-one, and white New Yorkers disapprove by a better than two-to-one margin," Siena pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement.

The poll found 59 percent of white residents disapprove of de Blasio, 10 percentage points more than December.

The new poll was conducted via telephone between Oct. 29 and Nov. 11. It surveyed 1,961 city residents and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.

Senior adviser Phil Walzak in a statement of response to the poll focused on the mayor's addition of 1,300 cops, his affordable-housing plan and education reforms. The Democratic mayor is running for re-election in 2017.

"Building on this progress is the mayor's focus, and that progress is what the people of New York City, from every background, will ultimately respond to," Walzak said.

New Yorkers disapprove by two-to-one margins of how de Blasio is tackling homelessness and affordable housing, the poll also found.