The New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has called the New York Police Department (NYPD) his own army, saying he is a mini-president of his very own mini-country."I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh biggest army in the world. I have my own State Department, much to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the United Nations in New York, and so we have an entree into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have," The New York Observer quoted Bloomberg as saying during a speech at MIT university.
However, Bloomberg also raised the possibility that he might seek the presidency. He claimed the executive duties performed by mayors have prepared him for the White House better than other political positions.
"The difference between my level of government and other levels of government is that action takes place at the city level," Mayor Bloomberg said.
"The cities and mayors are where you deal with crime, you deal with real immigration problems, you deal with health problems, you deal with picking up the garbage," he added.
Recently, Bloomberg has been under heavy criticism for the NYPD's actions in Zuccotti Park, when police moved to evict Occupy Wall Street protesters from their camp site using pepper spray, tear gas and excessive force.
The city also closed airspace in lower Manhattan to prevent news helicopters from taking aerial footage of the police crackdown, while reporters were prevented from witnessing the scene and some were even arrested.
The Occupy movement emerged after a group of demonstrators gathered in New York's financial district on September 17 to protest the unjust distribution of wealth in the country and the excessive influence of big corporations on US policies.