Poll: Most disapprove of Bloomberg

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's approval ratings have fallen to their lowest level in eight years.

A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday says 51 percent of voters interviewed disapprove of the job Bloomberg is doing and 39 percent approve.

The poll results were the mayor's worst since a 37 percent approval rating in November 2003.

"Is it the snow, the third-term blahs, the weekends away, the presidential chatter?" asked Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Whatever the explanation," he said, Bloomberg's approval numbers have "gone south."

The poll found 69 percent of voters said they were unhappy with the administration's handling of the winter's snow removal.

Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser says his boss "is making tough choices in a difficult time."

The mayor has the lowest score of any citywide elected official. Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, for example, received a 67 percent approval rating, including 57 percent among black voters. The new schools chancellor, Cathleen Black, received a 49 percent disapproval rating, with 34 percent undecided. She was appointed by Bloomberg.

But New York City voters approve of the way the president of the United States is handling his job. The president earned a 70 percent approval rating.

"President Barack Obama's job approval is inching up in a lot of places," Carroll said. "In New York City, it's zooming. Starting with the lame-duck congressional session, he's looking better."

Pollsters interviewed 1,115 registered voters by phone from March 8 to 14. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.