Over the final months of the campaign, Mayor Bloomberg outlined a series of policy proposals to convince New Yorkers he deserves four more years. But even before his second term actually begins, Mr. Bloomberg’s to-do list is piling up in ways he didn’t emphasize to voters.

The top priority has been playing out since the morning after the election, as Mr. Bloomberg travels tirelessly around the city to prove he won’t slack off the second time around. More than a week after Mr. Bloomberg trounced Fernando Ferrer, he’s still in campaign mode, making public appearances from dawn until dusk.

As the second term approaches, Mr. Bloomberg isn’t talking extensively about schools, housing and public safety – the central tenets of his campaign. Instead, taking control of the World Trade Center site is emerging as the first priority.

By appointing staff members to the board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the mayor has sent a clear signal that he’s no longer content letting Governor Pataki take the lead downtown. In fact, Governor Pataki announced he was “perplexed” when Mr. Bloomberg made clear he’d rather build apartment buildings and a hotel than the office buildings now planned.

Despite that public rift, however, the fellow Republicans aren’t as far apart as they appear. The governor cares primarily about the memorial, the Freedom Tower and the transit center – the iconic structures that will define the site. And the mayor does support the governor’s trifecta of priorities. The developer who leases the site from the Port Authority, Larry Silverstein, is the only player pushing for the office buildings, with influential support from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.

In terms of Mr. Silverstein, the mayor and the governor share frustration. Governor Pataki began exploring ways to oust Mr. Silverstein from the site earlier this year, and Mr. Bloomberg has ramped up the pressure by saying another developer could buy the land Mr. Silverstein leases if the city’s priorities don’t jibe with what Mr. Silverstein wants.

Mr. Bloomberg views the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site as part of a much larger redevelopment plan for Lower Manhattan, and access to the waterfront is a key part of his vision to connect the area river-to-river.

The mayor has more waterfront plans across the city – including Coney Island, a huge swath of Manhattan’s East Side, West Harlem, and Greenpoint to name a few highlights – than he can reasonably expect to accomplish in a single term. Aides say Mr. Bloomberg views the waterfront as part of his legacy, and that he will devote significant time making his dreams come true.

There are many small issues tucked away in the mayor’s agenda, including some ideas he chose not to emphasize during the campaign. Revamping the city’s noise code stands out among them.

Mr. Bloomberg also fundamentally stopped talking about the West Side Railyards after his plan for a Jets stadium fell through in June. But Mr. Bloomberg is expected to renew his push for development on the largest undeveloped tract in Manhattan, especially because the rail yards are virtually on top of the Hudson River. Cablevision spent millions of dollars to block the Jets plan, because of concerns the stadium would hurt Cablevision’s own arena, Madison Square Garden. The irony now is that Cablevision could wind up owning a new sports venue on the Far West Side, because Mr. Bloomberg doesn’t seem inclined to block efforts to move Madison Square Garden into the rear of the Farley Post Office across the street.

During the campaign season, Democrats claimed Mr. Bloomberg wasn’t working hard enough to fight Albany. Aides say that will change. The first salvo in the fight is the mayor’s demand to reinstate a commuter tax the State Legislature abolished in 1999.

Mr. Bloomberg tried making that happen in 2003, eager for the $500 million a year generated by the tax. But with Republicans fighting to hold on to the State Senate and Democrats hoping to win that body for the first time in decades, Mr. Bloomberg would be better off putting his energies behind more sensible scenarios. Even his aides acknowledge the commuter tax is more akin to a talking point about how the state shortchanges the city than an actual goal.

Just as the past is repeating itself with Mr. Bloomberg’s doomed call for Albany to give him a commuter tax, the past is repeating itself in the city with a looming budget deficit in the range of $4 billion. The last budget crisis led to increases in the property and income taxes. That won’t be an option this year, especially with Mr. Bloomberg promising to continue offering homeowners $400 tax rebates.

The mayor’s budget plans are due in January, making the city’s finances his immediate priority of Mr. Bloomberg’s second term. His challenge is repeating past success at prodding city agencies to spend less and do more – without sacrificing crucial services in the city.

At some point between now and the budget Mr. Bloomberg will take some time off. But for now he wants New Yorkers to see him making his list and checking it twice.

Mr. Goldin is a host of NY1’s “Road to City Hall,” which airs weeknights at 7 and 10:30 p.m.