New York City’s mayor Michael Bloomberg is planning to seek a third term according to a report from The New York Times.

The 66-year-old businessman turned mayor is reportedly motivated to seek a third term by the seriousness of the current Wall Street financial crisis which should be a good reason for him to overcome the law that limits terms of NY officials to two.  

The report about the move that would flip over the Big Apple’s political world cited three people close to Bloomberg.

Bloomberg will reportedly announce his intention to seek another term on Tuesday. His first and most important step would be to revise New York’s 15-year-old term limits law. Under the current law, Bloomberg will be forced to leave office in 2009.  

If he gets a third term, Bloomberg will enter a very select company of NY mayors who served three terms:

Fiorello H. La Guardia (1934-1945),
Robert F. Wagner (1954-1965) and
Edward I. Koch (1978-1989).

Ronald Lauder, the business magnate behind the 1993 and 1996 referendums to limit New York City mayors to two terms, said Tuesday that he supports mayor Bloomberg in his attempt to change the current law and seek a third term. Lauder said that the city needs Bloomberg to get through the financial crisis.