Vos Iz Neias (What's News)

The NY Times is reporting that the most reliable Bloomberg constituency, New York's Hasidim, deserted him in droves this past election-and the reasons should be familiar to our readers: "Without question, Mr. Bloomberg was eager to woo the city’s Hasidic Jewish voters. He met behind closed doors with influential rabbis, courted their congregations, and gave an eight-page interview to an Orthodox magazine, describing the challenge of growing up Jewish in an Irish and Italian neighborhood. Still, his share of the vote fell sharply in Brooklyn’s largest Hasidic enclaves on Nov. 3, and the decline was one of the sharpest among any group of voters. “We didn’t vote as Hasidim. We voted as New Yorkers,” said Mendy Hecht, 36, a Lubavitcher in Crown Heights, who pulled the lever for the mayor’s Democratic opponent, Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. “My vote was a vote of protest against Bloomberg.”

Another sharp reminder to the mayor that there is a growing disenchantment with his anti-neighborhood policies: "Higher property taxes, an increase in water rates and other fees, a perceived parking-ticket blitz and a nagging feeling that money can truly buy anything, including a third term, made many Hasidic voters angry at Mr. Bloomberg."

All of this should be-but really we would be surprised if it did-a warning to Bloomberg that a course correction is in order. Unfortunately-and the stark fact that Mike stood alone on stage at his election victory symbolizes the problem-Bloomberg is who he is, and has no one in particular who can strongly advise him to alter his policies.

Change, if it is to come, will only do so when the people's anger at his callous disregard for their welfare becomes too much to bear. That time may soon be upon us-and the ticket blitzing is just the tip of the outrage that's coming.