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New Yorkers, fearing that the loss of National Broadcasting Co. would deal a devastating blow to the city's economy, want Mayor Koch to do more to prevent the network from slipping away to New Jersey.
In a poll specially commissioned by Crain's New York Business, more than 70% of New Yorkers say they favor granting NBC major tax breaks and other incentives to remain in the city. And, by a wide margin, New Yorkers think that developer Donald Trump is doing more to keep the network in the city than the mayor.
But the poll also suggests that Mr. Trump, occasionally rumored to have political ambitions, shouldn't rush out and hire a campaign manager.
Mayor Koch would trounce Mr. Trump in a head-to-head mayoral race, according to the survey, conducted for Crain's by Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a Chicago polling firm.
Nevertheless, the poll demonstrates a widespread lack of faith in the mayor on a key economic issue at a critical time in his tenure. More than a year of scandals within his administration continued last week with revelations that former commissioner of cultural affairs Bess Myerson influenced a local judge.
In the last three weeks, Mr. Trump and the mayor have waged a bitter public relations battle over NBC.
Mr. Trump is seeking a 20-year tax abatement on Television City as a way of luring NBC to his ambitious West Side project. Mr. Koch has has offered tax abatements on those segments of...