Well, What Do You Know?

You mean to tell me it took nearly four years for folks to figure out that Hizzoner’s phone number is listed? What perfect timing:

Got a beef with the city? Want the boss’ attention? Just call Mayor Mike – at home.

“I called at 10:15 and somebody said, ‘Hi. Hello.’ And I said, ‘That sounds like Mayor Bloomberg,'” said Sheila Powsner, recounting her Monday night call to Bloomberg’s upper East Side townhouse.

“I said, ‘Mayor Bloomberg, I’m sorry to be calling you at such a late hour, but I have a problem with my aunt,'” said Powsner, a Brooklyn teacher.

Bloomberg, who is seeking reelection this fall, mentioned the call at a news conference yesterday. “I appreciate if you don’t call me late at night – I can’t really do anything then. But in an emergency, I work for the people, and that’s part of the job,” the mayor said.

Of course, this amazing bit of pre-election fluff wouldn’t have been possible without the Daily News:

Powsner called the mayor on behalf of her 94-year-old aunt, Dottie Wollner, whose housing plight was chronicled in the Daily News last week.

Wollner, who has lived in Williams Plaza in Williamsburg since 1963, switched apartments several years ago to tend to her sister, Minnie. Although Minnie died, Wollner – who also has health problems – wants to stay in Minnie’s apartment.

The Housing Authority asked Wollner to vacate her sister’s apartment by July 16. Now the mayor has asked housing officials to let Wollner stay. The vacate order has been suspended while the agency looks into the matter.

“I’m very grateful that The News was the first to help us,” Wollner said, adding that it was “amazing to have a mayor that you can get through to. He has a lot of … compassion.”

Reporters could not immediately ascertain whether the heartening story would be used in the Mayor’s upcoming campaign.

In fairness, the Times notes that the Mayor has periodically revealed that he’s “in the book”:

For Mr. Bloomberg, whose immense wealth and status have left him open to accusations that he is out of touch with average New Yorkers, doing things like maintaining a listed phone number and taking the subway to City Hall most mornings provides a patina of common-man appeal. And he does not hesitate to draw attention to them.