If You Can’t Beat Him . . .

. . . you can at least make him earn it, and spend every last cent of that $100 million in the process:

Despite generally broad approval for the job Michael R. Bloomberg has done as mayor, a majority of New Yorkers say that he does not deserve another term in office and that they would like to give someone else a chance, according to a poll conducted by The New York Times, Cornell University and NY1 News.

With anxiety rising over a difficult economy, few surveyed have a lot of confidence in Mr. Bloomberg’s ability to lead the city out of the recession, a troubling sign for a mayor who cited his financial acumen as the rationale for his undoing of the term limits law that otherwise would have forced him from office.

In addition, some 51 percent say that the city is on the wrong track, while 40 percent say it is going in the right direction.

And though Mr. Bloomberg has sought to elevate his image nationally and internationally as a bold-thinking mayor with a record of innovation and results, New Yorkers in the survey struggle when asked to identify any particular achievement of his tenure. More than a third of those polled could not offer any answer when asked what was the best thing Mr. Bloomberg has done since he became mayor almost eight years ago.

I Used To Root For The Yankees Before They Destroyed My Community

Give Council Member Bill de Blasio props for continuing to root for the Red Sox. I think most people would have pulled a Hillary Clinton and expediently changed his or her allegiances:

Beneath the civility and protocol that dictate life at City Hall lies a patchwork of baseball passions, resentments and rivalries that the public seldom sees. Forget fault lines of party or borough: The true divide is whether your team wears pinstripes, orange and blue, or even (horrors!) the dreaded crimson stockings.

And as is common with the Council, idiosyncrasies and oddities abound: Among all New Yorkers, for example, Yankees fans outnumber Met loyalists by nearly two to one, according to polls. But among the council members it is a different story: The number of Mets partisans exceeds Yankee supporters, 18 to 13, according to a survey of members by The New York Times.

. . .

Mr. de Blasio and Erik Martin Dilan of Bushwick, Brooklyn, have had a running bet for six years. If the Red Sox win the American League East division, Mr. Dilan buys Mr. de Blasio a steak at Peter Luger Steak-house. If the Yankees win, Mr. de Blasio buys the steak.

In 2004, when the Red Sox overcame a three-game deficit to the Yankees to earn a spot in the World Series, Mr. de Blasio took matters a step further: He required Mr. Dilan to wear a Red Sox cap at a Council meeting, rise and make a speech praising the Boston club.

Then there are those for whom support is contingent:

Councilwoman Helen D. Foster of the Bronx said that she used to root for the Yankees “before they destroyed my community,” referring to the construction of the team’s new $1.5 billion stadium, which replaced public tennis and basketball courts, baseball and soccer fields, and a running track with smaller parks.

And don’t trust anyone who doesn’t root for someone because people who don’t like baseball are scary:

Councilman Mathieu Eugene said that although he is not a fan, he respects anyone who plays sports “because it’s a healthy habit.”

And Councilman Simcha Felder of Brooklyn, the impish former tax auditor who heads the Council’s Committee for Government Operations, explained his lack of affinity for either team this way: “Do I look like a person who watches people play?”

Nate Silver Adjusts Regression Analysis By Adding Rodent Aggression Factor

A new X factor in political polling emerges in the wake of the Groundhog Day Uprising:

Staten Island Chuck was merely defending his turf when he chomped on Mayor Bloomberg’s finger, according to a poll out Wednesday.

A Quinnipiac poll shows that 61% of New Yorkers believe Chuck was protecting his home, while 15% say the feisty groundhog was making a political statement.

They Keep Trying To Anthropomorphize The Subway And Riders Just Can’t “C” It

Probably as long as you keep asking, people will continue to have a difficult time seeing the subway as some sort of brownnosing “A” student:

Eight subway lines have gotten their report cards from riders — and they all scored in the C range.

The lines — the 2, 4, 5, 7, B, L, M and J/Z — were rated on a variety of criteria, including lack of graffiti and availability of seats. When all the categories were averaged out, the trains were rated “average.”

Odin, Dva, Tri, Chetyre . . .

It sounds like a nonsequitur but I swear it’s not:

Chances are, if you have been counted as part of a moving crowd in Grand Central Terminal, the Time Warner Center or Times Square, the person who clicked the counter to note your presence was a Jewish, retirement-age refugee from Russia or Ukraine who lives in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and may or may not speak English. Before they worked as counters, many worked as accountants, computer programmers or engineers in their home countries.

Location Scout: Times Square.