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Poll Shows Wide Racial Gap In Support For Mayor Bill De Blasio

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Forty-nine percent of New York City voters approve of the job Mayor Bill de Blasio is doing, while 36 percent disapprove, according to a new poll.

But there is a clear racial divide, WCBS 880's Rich Lamb reported.

Seventy-one percent of black voters said they approve of the mayor, but only 34 percent of whites gave him a thumbs-up.

Poll Shows Wide Racial Gap In Support For Mayor Bill De Blasio

"It's a tale of two cities under New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio," Maurice Carroll, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a news release. "Black voters think the mayor is terrific. White voters don't approve. And the racial gap gets wider every time we ask."

Meanwhile, the same poll, released Tuesday, shows New Yorkers are high on their city's recent decision to stop bringing criminal charges against many people accused of carrying small amounts of marijuana.

Seventy-one percent of city voters approve; twenty-six percent disapprove.

De Blasio announced the new policy last week. It pertains to people carrying up to 25 grams -- about a sandwich bag -- of pot, but not openly smoking it.

Instead of being arrested on a misdemeanor charge, many will get summonses and face noncriminal violations. The change follows complaints about the personal toll and police time taken by tens of thousands of marijuana arrests annually.

The poll surveyed 1,164 New York City voters. Its margin of error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

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(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2014 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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