NEW YORK - Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg said yesterday that he would create a large, open office in the heart of City Hall - modeled after the one that he used to manage his private company, Bloomberg LP - from where he and his top deputies would run the city. Bloomberg said he would relegate the mayor's formal corner office to mainly ceremonial purposes.
The decision by Bloomberg, which he disclosed at a news conference yesterday called to announce the appointment of the United Nations Development Corp. president, suggests a major shift in the way City Hall is going to be run after Bloomberg takes over next Tuesday from his fellow Republican, Rudolph Giuliani.
And it marks the clearest example to date of the extent to which Bloomberg intends to apply practices that he employed in the private sector to his first job in government.
"I will be working surrounded by the deputy mayors and main advisers," Bloomberg said. He added: "I mean, keep in mind there are physical constraints on what you can do at City Hall. But to the extent that that is possible - all my life I've worked in the middle, and I plan to do exactly that."
The Park Avenue headquarters of Bloomberg's company is a large sprawling floor of desks and computer monitors, without walls or dividers. His desk is set in a corner, visible and easily accessible to employees.
Bloomberg said that the design of that office was intended to encourage employees, regardless of rank or stature, to approach him with ideas and questions. The open configuration has become a symbol of Bloomberg's management style in the corporate world.