November 12, 2001

Billionaire media mogul Michael R. Bloomberg who spent $50 million of his own money in his campaign to succeed term-limited Rudolph W. Giuliani will be the next mayor of New York. Bloomberg, while never holding public office, defeated Democratic candidate and the city's public advocate for two terms, Mark Green, 50 to 47 percent.

Bloomberg switched parties to run at the GOP candidate in a city with a five-to-one Democratic majority and received Mayor Giuliani's endorsement, a fact touted on a blitz of late-minute TV ads.

Green's lead in the last two weeks of the campaign evaporated, following a divisive primary campaign where he defeated Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer, a New York born Puerto Rican hoping to become the city's first Latino mayor.

As the elections were held, and following the tragic events of September 11, at least 75,000 New Yorkers have lost their jobs in the last eight weeks, and the city budget deficit is expected to run more than $1.5 million.