New York mayor takes the train to work

Michael Bloomberg is an American businessman, and the founder of Bloomberg L.P., currently serving as the Mayor of New York City.

Bloomberg entered politics as a self-made media mogul and struck a populist note early in his mayoral campaign by pledging to use mass transit. Since starting at City Hall he has invited reporters, photographers and television news anchors to ride along with him.

The mayor's spokesman said that he "walked to the subway when he first started as mayor, and he stopped doing it when cameras staked out his house every morning and walked with him." Now the mayor is driven to the subway station at 59th Street and Lexington Avenue, where he can board an express train to City Hall.

Being driven to the 59th Street station shaves the mayor's commuting time by one-third, based on a reporter's test runs. It also saves him aggravations like taking the local train and transferring to the express.

"He goes to various stops depending on where he is going and where he is coming from," said the spokesman.

He is public transportation's loudest cheerleader in New York, boasting that he takes the subway "virtually every day." He has told residents who complain about overcrowded trains to "get real," and he constantly encourages New Yorkers to follow his environmentally friendly example.