I Personally Like The Idea Of Soda Pop In Every Water Fountain

A poll is out indicating that New Yorkers are supportive of the NYPD’s program that collects intelligence on area Muslims: “A majority of city voters believe the New York Police Department has acted appropriately in anti-terrorism efforts that have focused on Muslims, according to a new poll.”

But people think a lot of things, and just because someone thinks something — or even a majority of them think something — doesn’t necessarily make those things good ideas. For example, at one time a large number of people thought it was OK to torture terrorists if they had information about a ticking time bomb (45 percent), or even use a nuclear weapon against a terrorist camp (34 percent). No really!

Then there’s consistent public support for an amendment to make flag burning illegal.

And people still seem to have an issue with gay people adopting children.

You can go on and on finding polls that uncover all manner of ideas. Basically, we think a lot of things; that doesn’t always mean we’re right. Especially when it comes to what we think it’s OK to let the cops do.

Records Broken!

Snopes needs to qualify its Super Bowl legends page because there’s new data:

In the moments after New England’s dreams of Super Bowl glory went down the drain with Tom Brady’s failed last-second Hail Mary toss, toilet use spiked a staggering 13 percent in the city, according to Department of Environmental Protection.

It was sweet relief for millions of fans — in more ways than one.

The toilet-bowl shuffle — which came after tense hours of holding it in — was so strong that the 30-foot-deep water level in the Hillview Reservoir in Yonkers actually decreased by 2 inches after the contest.

“This was certainly a significant jump — especially for around 10 p.m. on Sunday night. It’s only going to happen on the Super Bowl,” said a stunned Jim Roberts, deputy commissioner for the city’s DEP.

And Now You Have The Basis For A Delightful Little Rom-Com

OK, first of all, the EDC has a Tumblr, but the Tumblr post is pretty interesting — basically it’s the stats department crunching numbers to see if there really are more single ladies than single men in NYC. You’ve probably heard people talk about the ratio of singles, etc. but here’s the hard data:

New York City’s population is 53% female and 47% male. This is a widely cited statistic that often supports an argument that the gender imbalance makes it more difficult for some women to find a partner. Using Census data, we analyzed only the population who are never married singles between the ages of 20 and 34. In this subgroup, men outnumber women — 742,400 to 729,500.

That said, although there are more single men than women overall, certain neighborhoods have more single women than men, specifically the UES (think all those shared apartments near York Ave.) and Murray Hill (well, duh). So where do all the single men come from? Jackson Heights — its sex ratio makes it look like the Dubai of NYC. Because if my impressions of the 7 train are correct, that’s where all the immigrant guys far from home are living while they bust their humps serving all the single Manhattan ladies dining out. Now if we could only get the two together, we’d be set. (Via.)

Message: I Could Not Care Less

A strange thing starts to happen when you lose focus and start to slow down in advance of leaving office — more people approve of your job performance — less “limited government” than “limiting your government.” Or perhaps it just proves that “the less you do . . .”:

While Mr. Bloomberg has had an uneven 2011, dragged down in polls by last winter’s blizzard and Cathleen P. Black’s brief stint as schools chancellor, he has ended the year on an upswing, with 49 percent of those polled saying that they approved of his job performance, and 42 percent saying they did not. Voters liked his policies, by a margin of 52 percent to 43 percent. And they held him in even higher regard personally; 64 percent said they liked the mayor, while 24 percent said they did not.

Third Term Meltdown Watch: Staten Island Job Approval Ratings Lowest In City

And Staten Island is usually his wheelhouse:

Citywide, Bloomberg had a 54 to 35 percent job approval rating, up from 45 to 43 on July 27, and his best showing since the Christmas blizzard, according to a poll from Quinnipiac University.

But on the Island, Bloomberg has only a 39 percent approval rating, with 56 percent of borough voters disapproving of his performance.

It was Bloomberg’s worst showing in the city.

It’s not the kind of reception Bloomberg is used to here. The borough put Bloomberg in office in 2001 and helped him stay there in 2009.

The Island result baffled Quinnipiac pollster Maurice Carroll.

“I don’t understand why Staten Island’s number is so low,” he told the Advance. “People like him out there.”