New York Times/Cornell University/NY1 News New York State Poll, May 2009

This special topic poll, fielded May 29-June 3, 2009, focuses on the opinions of 1,057 residents of the state of New York, including 683 residents of New York City. Residents were asked whether things in the state of New York and New York City were going in the right direction, the condition of the state and local economy, and whether they wanted to be living in the same place in four years. Views were sought on David Patterson and his handling of the job of governor of New York, the New York State Legislature, United States Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former New York City Mayors Eliot Spitzer and Rudolph Giuliani, New York City Comptroller Bill Thompson, and Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Information was collected on the respondent's financial situation, including job loss in the household in the past 12 months, the affordability of eating out, and their ability to make major purchases and pay off debt. New York City residents were asked about Bloomberg's handling of his job as mayor, his political party affiliation, the quality of life in New York City and whether it had improved or gotten worse since Bloomberg became mayor, New York City term limit laws, the city's response to the H1N1 or swine flu outbreak, and whether respondents were a Yankee or Mets fan. Additional topics addressed same-sex marriage; proposals to fight obesity, including raising taxes on candy, chips, and soda pop; banning the advertisement of these products during children's television programming; and requiring restaurants to list nutritional information on menus. Demographic variables include sex, age, race, education level, marital status, household income, employment status, political party affiliation, political philosophy, voter registration status and participation history, religious preference, whether respondents had children under the age of 18 years living in the household, whether their child attended a public or private school, and whether anyone in the household belonged to a labor union or was employed by the city of New York.