Leaders in New York City

A successful American businessman and philanthropist, Michael Rubens Bloomberg was listed as the eighth richest man in America in September 2008. Michael had been elected Mayor of New York City in 2001 and again in 2005. He was successful in having the term limit amended and enabled mayors to run for three terms instead of two. Two of his major concerns for New York City are public education and poverty.

Bloomberg opposes the death penalty but believes that criminals should be sentenced to hard labor instead of cushy sentences where they just sit in their cell and do their time. In his first term, crime was cut by 20 percent and reading and math scores rose to record levels. With his re-election in 2005, he started working on getting guns out of the hands of those using them to commit crimes. He has started programs to work against poverty and encourages work that pays.

Another well known leader in New York City was Rudolph W. Giuliani. Rudy was elected mayor of New York City in 1993 and 1997. Under his terms, the overall crime rate dropped 57 percent and murder alone fell 65 percent. The FBI named New York City one of America’s safest big cities while Rudy was in office.

Giuliani created the Administration for Children's Services and through this administration a record number of children have been adopted by loving families. More than 20,000 were adopted in 1996 and that was an increase of 65%. He also worked on programs to make sure that children could get the health and medical attention that was so badly needed.