Why don’t people like the mayor of America’s largest city? There’s no single explanation.

Policy-wise, a lot of de Blasio’s record is strong, and he’s essentially delivered on what he set out to do when campaigning for mayor: He delivered universal pre-K and expanded paid sick leave, reduced stop-and-frisk policing, and oversaw the city’s $15 minimum wage hike. New York’s economy is strong and crime rates are low, though homelessness remains a problem. De Blasio has steadily progressed up New York City’s political ranks over 30 years and was reelected mayor in 2017 with 67 percent of the vote. As FiveThirtyEight’s Chadwick Matlin notes, de Blasio “was progressive before it was cool.”

Rather, de Blasio’s issue largely seems to be one of style. De Blasio can come off as sanctimonious, arrogant, stubborn, and preachy about the gravity and scope of what he’s doing. He can be perceived as caring more about big-picture symbolism than the day-to-day grind of city policy, and he’s not particularly charismatic. To make matters worse, he has a fractious relationship with the New York press — which tends to drip out into national media, since so many media companies are based in New York — and neither he nor they seem particularly inclined to try to fix it. And to some extent, New Yorkers are always going to hate the mayor they have, whoever it is.

“The issue is people don’t like him, and he doesn’t care,” said Rebecca Katz, a former longtime de Blasio adviser and founder of consulting firm New Deal Strategies. She added, “In terms of New York City being a beacon of progressive leadership, he’s made some really strong strides, but his personality has left some to be desired.”