Mayor Bloomberg is the rare billionaire who can preach penny-pinching without putting his foot in his mouth.
He's been wearing the same shoes for 10 years.
Bloomberg: Two Pairs of Work Shoes in 10 Years
Mayor Bloomberg is the rare billionaire who can preach penny-pinching without putting his foot in his mouth.
He’s been wearing the same shoes for 10 years.
“The mayor owns only two pairs of work shoes,” his spokesman, Stu Loeser, told The Post. “One day he’ll wear one, the next the other — and when they get worn down, he has them resoled.”
The two pairs of classic black loafers — one tasseled, the other penny loafers — predate his tenure as mayor and both are so well worn, with labels so long gone, that even Hizzoner himself can’t remember what brand they are.
“He could buy any shoes he wanted, but he likes these,” Loeser said. “They are comfortable, and they work, so he says there’s no need for a new pair.”
The mayor wears a 9EE, said exclusive shoe outfitter Allen Edmonds, which has sold Bloomberg several other pairs.
At least one of the pairs is likely a Cole Haan, shoe experts said.
The penny loafer looks like the “Dennehy,” an “old-school Italian leather [model] we specialized in for decades but discontinued” this year, said a longtime Cole Haan salesman at the chain’s Rockefeller Center branch. The shoe retails for $328.
Still, the term limits of shoes can be extended only so long, said cobbler Jim Rocco, 80, owner of Jim’s Shoe Repair on East 59th Street.
“A pair of shoes like that could go 18 to 20 years if you put cream on them, shine them up, resole them every eight to nine months, and depending on how much you perspire, use cedar trees on the inside,” he said.
“It also depends how he walks,” Rocco said, noting that with shoes, as well as politics, longevity is helped by walking with a moderate stance to keep the heels from wearing too much on the left or right side.
Quipped Rocco’s son, Joseph, “In fairness to the mayor, he does only get paid $1 a year.”
According to Loeser, the mayor’s footwear frugality is in keeping with his approach to personal and governmental finance.
“When he buys a cup of coffee, he makes a point of choosing the smallest size,” Loeser said. “He buys only what he wants to drink, only what he needs.”
Shmuli
Maybe he can start penny pinching on parking tickets as well
Looking for Tzedakah?
Looking to him for Tzedakah? I think you have the wrong guy.
anon
good for him……and we care why exactly?
Mennzz
He probably thinks that he’ll get more voters if he poses himself as trying to be economical. I think thats just being plain cheap… :)
chani
it is very interesting to see how wealthy ppl handle money.
my father was like this and was able to save
enough to then invest, he had this mentality.
it is actually healthy, very very healthy.
a good lesson for us in this dumb consumerist
society.
Aaron
Yes I like him!
miriam
that’s a yiddishe cop
we really don-t care
the votes got him the job working for $1 won’t win him any brownie points
he doesnt want to relax on a beach with an umbrella
he is stupid
give the jobs to young guys that will ask for his opinion
because really we don’t care anymore so stick it your pie hole new york
take my shoes off fool and bless my clouds for rain
most likely cheap because he listens to stupid people
it-s funny!!
hysterical, because my husband and i just talked last night about how he’s probably the only person in the world to have bought just 2 new pairs of shoes in the past ten years!!
roth michael
he should see the Rebbes shoe