'I have my own army in the NYPD - the seventh largest army in the world': Bloomberg's bizarre boast about city's police force

Being the mayor of New York City has its perks - and apparently one is having an army at your disposal.



Mayor Michael Bloomberg, speaking at MIT on Wednesday about the city's workforce, overreached with his description of the police force which has been lambasted for pepper spraying protesters lining Wall Street in recent weeks.



'I have my own army in the NYPD, which is the seventh largest army in the world,' he said.



Address: Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaking at MIT on Wednesday referred to the NYPD as his personal army

As the Village Voice pointed out, however, the force of about 33,000 is nowhere close to earning that distinction - a title that belongs to Vietnam's 321,000-strong army, according to a July report on Economist.com.



The mayor, who dismissed reports earlier this year of plans to run for President of the United States, also said he prefers City Hall to the White House.

Referring to the U.S. Department of State, located in the Foggy Bottom neighbourhood of Washington, DC, he added: 'I have my own state department, to Foggy Bottom's annoyance. We have the UN in New York, so we have entrée into the diplomatic world that Washington does not have.'



'I don't listen to Washington very much, which is something they're not thrilled about.'

Army? A member of the New York City Police Department arrests an Occupy Wall Street demonstrator in New York on November 17

Fighting back: New York Police Department officers push back demonstrators marking the two month anniversary of the Occupy movement

But with no plans to run for Commander in Chief, he continued to list reasons why mayors might be well-suited to federal office.



'We have every kind of people from every part of the world and every kind of problem,' he said.



'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 continued.



'At the state or federal level, that’s where the real problems are. You see it particularly in American government at the moment where they are just unable to do anything, and yet, the mayors of this country still have to deal with the real world.'



Mayor Bloomberg closed by pushing for change in Washington, from someone with a well-rounded background, rather than a career politician.

