January 4
Bloomberg catches a $27,000-a-year city worker, who has a wife and 3-year-old, playing solitaire on his computer screen and has him fired. Mayor Mike’s take: “You have to do the job that you’re getting paid for.”
Rud-ometer: 5 Rudys
April 5
Bloomberg instructs the city’s wealthy political donors to refuse to give politicians money if they don’t support his political agenda. “If they give you the wrong answer or engage in political double-talk, tell them, ‘If you want to change the subject, no more checks.’ ”
Rud-ometer: 2 Rudys
April 21
Bloomberg bullies developer Larry Silverstein out of the way on ground zero, declaring that leaving it a “hole” would be better than letting Silverstein get his way.
Rud-ometer: 4 Rudys
April 24
Bloomberg unloads on another worker who was disciplined by the city Department of Education for surfing the Internet. “The taxpayers are paying you to work,” he says. “Why on earth do you think you are hired?” DOE subsequently fires him.
Rud-ometer: 3 Rudys
May 5
After schools boss Joel Klein hints that the city would back off its new cell-phone ban, Bloomberg declares the decision not up for discussion, and slams the teachers union for opposing the plan: “You sometimes wonder whether they’re stopping to think.”
Rud-ometer: 4 Rudys Next: How a Kid Is Like an IPO