NEW YORK, NY November 04, 2009 —Michael Bloomberg says he has a mandate for his third term as mayor of New York City, despite a worse than expected performance on election night. WNYC's Brian Zumhagen reports:

REPORTER: The mayor says his 51 to 46 percent victory over Democrat Bill Thompson is not a narrow margin. Considering the anti-incumbent sentiment in these tough economic times he says he couldn't be happier with the result:

BLOOMBERG: The public has given me the opportunity to do what we've been talking about and what we've done for the last eight years, and that is improving the schools and bringing down crime, and working on the environment.

REPORTER: The mayor was in Bensonhurst this morning to keep a promise. During his first run in 2001 he told resident Anthony Santamaria he'd come visit after the election, win or lose. And he's done it every election since. Bloomberg made another promise today, saying he has no plans to seek a fourth term. For WNYC, I'm Brian Zumhagen.