POLITICS
Michael Bloomberg may be just the mayor New York needs. The man known on Wall Street as "Mike" (never "Bloomberg" or even "Mr. Bloomberg") built an empire on financial information, and with it created a personal net worth of $4 billion. Mike made it big by shoving the securities industry into the information age. His ubiquitous desktop terminal - known simply as "the Bloomberg" - turned news, data, and business intelligence into the new currency and enabled radically faster communication and trading. Now Mike's the mayor and, in the wake of September 11, his business pedigree is more relevant than ever. New York City must rebuild its ravaged downtown while preserving the financial industries that define Wall Street. Here's what Bloomberg LP tells us about how Mr. Mayor may tackle that task.
Decentralize The Street
Bloomberg terminals democratized financial data, opening the doors of Wall Street to a more diverse group of players. Now Mayor Bloomberg must figure out how to expand the physical geography of New York's financial community, while preserving the jobs and revenue that come from Wall Street. There's no way to rebuild downtown Manhattan as it was. But Bloomberg can rebuild the Street - build it across the East River in Brooklyn, where the New York Stock Exchange has a backup facility, or in midtown, where the Nasdaq might move its HQ. The new rule: Wherever New York City is, there is Wall Street.
Rethink Community
Part of the Bloomberg terminal's early allure was its ability to send and receive electronic messages. Long before most had heard the phrase "online service," the Bloomberg created a virtual neighborhood. Now the mayor must create ties that will bind a 21st-century financial community in New York. Bloomberg's idea of building housing, as well as office space, on the World Trade Center site is a good start. So is having heavyweights like NYSE chair Richard Grasso and Roland Betts, George W's college roommate, on the redevelopment board. The strongest communities, after all, have clout.
Be A Part Of It
Bloomberg understands the ineffable importance of image as a shaper of reality. Just as a Rolex, a Mercedes, or a Cohiba says who you are on Wall Street, a Bloomberg on your desk says you've arrived. Living in New York once said the same thing. If you could make it there, anywhere else was Dubuque. Rebuilding that aspirational, entrepreneurial state of mind will be the mayor's toughest, least tangible, and most important job.
MUST READ
Stop the Flu in One Breath
Return to Sender
Download Your Cell Phone!
People
They Know You're Lying
A Storybook Ending
Online at Sea
Jargon Watch
Road Test: The Scooter Showdown
An Underground Pipe Dream
Bloomberg's Virtual Wall Street
How a Copyproof CD Works
Peripherals, LiteBrite-Style
