His Ratings Might Drop So Low That He’ll Just Stop Paying Attention To What Anyone Thinks

But now that I think about it, that was the problem in the first place:

Hizzoner’s approval rating tanked since last month, dropping from 44% in February to 40% this week, according to a new poll from the Marist College polling institute — and it hasn’t even snowed since then.

So the question is which is worse — a mayor who does what he wants because he believes he has a mandate or a mayor who thinks he should still be doing what he wants in the face of a very low approval rating.

Soon he might start sounding like 2006-Era Bush:

No, listen, you know, I know people make a big deal out of these things. If I worried about polls, I would be — I wouldn’t be doing my job. And, look, I fully understand that when you do hard things, it creates consternation at times. And, you know, I’ve been up in the polls, and I’ve been down in the polls. You know, it’s just part of life in the modern era.

I think the American people — I know the American people want somebody to stand on principle, decide, make decisions and stand by them, and to lead this world toward a more peaceful tomorrow. And I strongly believe we are doing that, and I’m — I got to tell you, I’m enjoying it. It’s a fantastic opportunity.

Snake Found . . .

. . . @BronxZoosCobra likely to be disabled soon:

The fanged fugitive was spotted coiled in a corner around 9 a.m., during one of three daily sweeps by a half-dozen zoo workers.

Using special tongs and hooks, they easily apprehended the deadly Egyptian cobra, which is now under observation.

Earlier: As If Those Reptile Exhibits Could Get Any Freakier . . .

About Those Ballfields They Promised . . .

The Times’ Corey Kilgannon notes that the ballfields that were to have replaced the ones that were razed to make way for the New Yankee Stadium are still unfinished, five years after the fact:

On Thursday, the New York Yankees begin their regular season at Yankee Stadium, a gleaming $1.5 billion behemoth that opened in the Bronx in 2009 as the new home of one of the richest franchises in sports.

But next to the stadium is a lingering eyesore — a protracted construction project that was supposed to have been transformed into three public ball fields months ahead of opening day. Instead, some coaches and neighborhood residents say, it remains a joyless Mudville.

Location Scout: Yankee Stadium.

And Let’s Face It, “78” Looks Basically Like “80” On The Speedometer . . .

The Times reports that it turns out those buses are going as fast as you think they’re going:

The casino bus that crashed in the Bronx this month, killing 15 of its passengers, was exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 miles an hour before it drifted off the highway, rolled over and skidded into a sturdy signpost, a federal official told a United States Senate panel on Wednesday.

Deborah A.P. Hersman, the chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, said at a hearing in Washington that federal investigators had not yet determined the cause of the crash, but noted that the bus was traveling “at up to 78 miles per hour.” The speed limit is 55 m.p.h.

Earlier: Trains May Suck In A Lot Of Ways But At Least They Don’t Flip Over On The Thruway.

Didn’t We Think That We Are What We Thought We Were?

Or maybe New York City is not as wonderful as everyone there believes it is:

For many New Yorkers, what seems to be at stake is nothing less than the city’s supersize reputation. In a place that likes to dream big, an increase of about 167,000 people over 10 years feels anemic and, to some, embarrassing.

. . .

Still, there are signs that after growing by 9 percent from 1990 to 2000, New York’s population boom might have begun to ease.

To that last point, we’re still waiting . . .

Earlier: But It Just Can’t Be, Not In A Decade That Produced Such An Infectiously Inspiring Jay-Z/Alicia Keys Song!