Entertainment

Alec Baldwin going back to school to study politics

Laura Donovan Contributor
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Rather than run for mayor of New York City in 2013 as some have speculated, “30 Rock” star Alec Baldwin will be hitting the books.

According to The New York Times, the comedian plans to enroll in a master’s degree program for politics and government so he can familiarize himself with the topics before running for office in coming years. A 2013 run would be unlikely, Baldwin said.

The 53-year-old Huffington Post blogger told the Times that he’s been in communication with top universities about their programs, “to help me better understand what the fiscal imperatives of that job are … What’s the reality of the city unions, of contracts, agreements, teachers, infrastructure, decentralizing, everything? And utilities, Con Ed, the M.T.A. — how does it all work?”

At the start of the summer, Baldwin debuted his Twitter account and began tweeting heavily about politics, fueling rumors that he would seek office. (RELATED: Baldwin ‘very, very interested’ in political seat)

Before the New York University graduate returns to student life, he will finish up his work on “30 Rock.” And when Baldwin wraps everything up with the sitcom, he’ll focus on his long-term political ambitions, which seem to include ousting current New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“All the Bloomberg supporters look at me and say, ‘What do you got against Bloomberg?’” Baldwin told the Times. “Well, I don’t have anything against Bloomberg, but there are term limits. The whole point is, whether you liked him or didn’t like him, he’s got to go.”

Baldwin explained that he’s unhappy about Bloomberg’s rewriting of the term-limits law, a step which enabled the politician to serve four more years.

The “It’s Complicated” funnyman, who intends to establish a permanent NYC resident before running for office, said he preferred his Upper West Side apartment over a wealthy neighborhood.

“It is more real,” Baldwin told the Times. “There’s old people, it’s ethnic and it’s economically mixed. It’s not a little kind of jewel-box, privileged pocket of the city like some neighborhoods are … I am more comfortable living where it seems more middle class, and I have lived there deliberately.”

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