Nearly 3 in 5 New Yorkers say quality of life is declining: Survey

Almost 3 in 5 New Yorkers say their quality of life is declining, according to a new poll.

The Marist New York State poll, released Tuesday, found 59 percent of Empire State residents believe their quality of life has dipped “in the past year or so.” Only 11 percent of respondents said it has improved.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s (D) approval ratings have also fallen in the same period, according to the survey.

Just 41 percent of respondents said they approved of the job Hochul is doing — down from 49 percent in 2021. Forty-two percent said they disapproved of her job performance, and 16 percent were undecided.

Asked about Hochul’s influence on the capital city of Albany, 56 percent of New Yorkers said she did not improve their quality of life in the state. Thirty-nine percent of respondents said she had a positive effect on the city — compared to 46 percent in 2021.

Roughly 45 percent said Hochul’s ideology was “on the mark.” Nearly 40 percent also said she is “too liberal,” and 12 percent said she is “too conservative.” 39 percent of residents, the survey found.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) fared better than Hochul in the poll. Forty-six percent of respondents said he was doing a “good” or “excellent” job in office, while 53 percent said he was doing a “fair” or “poor” job. 

Still, Schumer’s approval rating is at its highest point since September 2016, the pollsters noted.

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) fared worse than Adams and Hochul in the survey. Nearly 40 percent said she was doing a “good” or “excellent” job in office, while 57 percent said she was doing a “fair” or “poor” job. 

The survey also called out New York City Mayor Eric Adams and embattled GOP Rep. George Santos as having their share of “challenges.”

“There’s no good news for New York’s major officials,” Lee M. Miringoff, director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion said. “Governor Hochul’s standing has deteriorated in the state, Mayor Adams faces a more negative constituency, and Representative Santos has hit rock bottom.”

More than 72 percent of respondents believe Adams’ 2021 campaign did “something wrong” in its dealings with the Turkish government — which is under investigation. Of that figure, 33 percent say he did “something illegal,” and 39 percent say what he did was “unethical,” but “not illegal.”

Only 18 percent of respondents say Adams has done nothing wrong, and 10 percent were unsure.

Santos also faces rising pressure to resign from Congress in the wake of a scathing ethics report, with 75 percent of respondents in the survey saying he should step down.

The poll was conducted Nov. 13-15 among 1,780 New York State adults. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.