Sullen Wednesday at Bloomberg's Bayside field office
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Michael Bloomberg’s Bell Boulevard field office, a half hour after he announced he was dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary. Eagle photo by David Brand
By David Brand
Super Tuesday turned into sullen Wednesday at a field office in Bayside, where Michael Bloomberg’s Queens campaign team sat in the dark, behind a locked door, and listened in on a conference call describing the end of the billionaire ex-mayor’s presidential bid.
A half hour earlier, Bloomberg announced that he was dropping out of the Democratic primary. Two morose staffers cracked open the front door at the office on Bell Boulevard — the former site of a tattoo parlor, catty corner from a Beach Bum Tanning — to say they could not discuss their disappointment, or let anyone enter the room.
Two staffers refused to identify themselves and directed questions to the campaign press team — even though the campaign had officially ended. They locked the door and returned to their seats in the center of the long office. They kept the lights off.
A half hour after Bloomberg ended his campaign. Eagle photo by David Brand
Outside, a man cleaned the windows of the neighboring Italian restaurant. A woman in a white puffy coat shouted a string of swear words in English and Spanish as she struggled to get her tiny dog back on the leash while it wandered further into the street.
The sun shone brightly on the mild March morning, but there was darkness in the hearts of some passersby.
“I was going to vote for him. I’m a little disappointed,” said Osceola Perez as she walked from her parked car. “I didn’t agree with all his policies, but I thought he was a good mayor. I thought he could stand up to Trump.”
Bayside resident Rosa Alba was in denial.
“I’m still going to vote for him even though he dropped out,” Alba said in Spanish. “He cleaned up the subway. He cleaned the filth from the streets.”
“He was a very good mayor,” she added.
Rosa Alba said she still plans to vote for Bloomberg, “un buen alcalde.” Eagle photo by David Brand
The Bayside field office opened in the salad days of early-February, when Bloomberg started surging in the polls, his campaign fueled by an unprecedented TV and radio ad blitz, unimpeded by any televised debate performances. Mr. Met attended the grand opening, along with some local elected officials who backed the former three-term mayor.
Bob Berger, another Bayside resident, stopped by the field office Wednesday morning after he heard the news. He wanted a souvenir t-shirt, he said, pointing to the stacks of navy tees on the other side of the storefront window.
“It’s disappointing, but predictable,” Berger said. “I liked his policies. The only thing I didn’t like was when he extended term limits.”
Berger said he will now vote for Joe Biden. The campaign staffers refused to give him a t-shirt.
Bloomberg thanked supporters like Perez, Alba and Berger in a late-morning email, explaining that after analyzing the data, he determined that he could not win the nomination. The more moderate wing of the Democratic party seems to have rallied around Joe Biden, who won nine primaries on Super Tuesday. Bernie Sanders, who has galvanized the left-wing of the party, won four others.
“After yesterday's results, the delegate math has become virtually impossible — and a viable path to the nomination no longer exists,” Bloomberg wrote. “But I remain clear-eyed about my overriding objective: victory in November.”
Bob Berger stands before Bloomberg’s campaign office less than an hour after Bloomberg ended his campaign. Eagle photo by David Brand.
John V., a Bayside resident who declined to give his last name because he worked in politics, said that a Democratic victory was essential — no matter who the candidate is.
“I’ll vote for any Democrat, even Sanders,” John V. said, though he too prefers Biden.
“I just want Trump out. I don’t care.”
