Was Giuliani a good mayor?

I'm having this discussion with my roommate. He insists Giuliani was a good mayor and points to his record on crime. I don't necessarily have specifics as to what he was bad on, but I point to his pre and post 9/11 approval ratings (36% and 79% respectively) and that the general vibe I got growing up in New Jersey was that Giuliani wasn't all that and rode his status as "America's Mayor" to popularity after 9/11, but wasn't anything special before.

Anyone have specifics one way or the other? Thanks

I lived in Manhattan before Giuliani was mayor, and again after. In my opinion, the city became much cleaner and safer over the time he was in office. The nostalgic stiff scent of urine no longer filled the air around port authority, and although there are still a fair amount of strip clubs in the city itself, the amount of porn shops has drastically (drastically) decreased. Some guys tried to mug me when i lived there the first time, but i didn't have any money to give them. I also had nothing to lose, and called their bluff when they said they'd take me into the alley and kill me, then take my money. In retrospect i'm glad that happened too!

I last lived there about four years ago. I will say there are just as many homeless people on the streets, and just as many crazies. But that'll happen. All in all i think Giuliani was a good mayor as far as the safety and reputation of the city goes. America could use a bit of that. Unfortunately, i think he'll encourage more and more fear like the bush administration does. I've also noticed that he has become very arrogant in this presidential race. I don't care for that.

As stated above and by your roommate his big thing was fighting crime ... however you must remember that in the 1970s and 80s NYC was a crime infested #hole with thousands of murders a year and Rudy G helped clean that up and significantly reduce crime when most mayors in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s pretty much ignored the issue and in some cases (such as Dinkins) made it even worse by refusing to allow a proactive stance on crime (ex. his refusal to allow the NYPD to suppress the Crown Heights Race Riot in 1991).

What about other areas besides crime? I see he was strong on crime, but what about economy, education, environment, etc, etc...