Of the first enabled him to create a lot of the second

greedy. As mayor, he set his salary at $1 a year. When his office building became eligible for a major tax break, he refused it. During his 12 years in office, he poured $650 million of his money into city programs, charities and cultural groups.

It was his father talking now: Give back.

The bossy scold who railed against slobby frat brothers also reappeared. Bloomberg pushed through laws banning smoking in bars, and trans fats in foods. He lost the fight to banish supersized sodas, but raised taxes so high on cigarettes that, over his three terms, the price of a pack nearly doubled.

Over time, New Yorkers’ life expectancy inched up by three years. Critics accused him of acting like the city’s nanny. When he marched in a parade, he admitted, there were always “a lot of one-finger waves.”

He definitely could be hard to like. Bloomberg hated reporters questioning him, once threatening to move the City Hall press room to Staten Island. And he could be brutal with his staff. “What were you thinking,” was how his criticisms usually began. “Or were you thinking?”

Still, Bloomberg got things done. He revamped the 911 system and instituted a brandnew information hotline, 311, in less than a year. Bloomberg also saw that the stalled High Line was built. When construction of the 9/11 Memorial bogged down, too, he bullied those responsible into finishing it on time.

Still, some said his ends didn’t justify his means.

Yes, New York’s public school system was in crisis, but Bloomberg’s faith in numbers — in this case, test scores and hard data — alienated educators. Yes, there were too many guns on the street, but “stopand-frisk” was sending too many men of color to jail.

He easily won a second term, but by then Bloomberg was enjoying the power of the position. Once a supporter of term limits, he was now against them, and pushed through a bill that let him run once more. He won, narrowly, but was losing steam.

His achievements slowed, too. Homelessness continued to rise. The New York City Housing Authority continued to decay. Rikers Island, former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara charged, was like something out of “Lord of the Flies.” Million-dollar condos were pushing out affordable housing.

In the next mayoral election in 2013, Bill de Blasio ran as the anti-Bloomberg and won.

Bloomberg returned to his business and went all-in on his philanthropy.

He funded programs to combat gun violence, obesity and climate change. He gave nearly $2 billion to Johns Hopkins, to attract and support poor students. He contributed to Lincoln Center and the Central Park Conservancy.

Maybe happiness doesn’t buy money. But Bloomberg jokes, he thinks the way he’s spent his wealth may have bought him a heavenly pass.

“We’ve probably saved millions of lives,” he said of his many public health charities. “There aren’t many people that have done that. So, you know, when I get to heaven, I’m not sure I’m going to stand for an interview. I’m going right in.”