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New York鈥檚 controversial stop-and-frisk police tactic is up and running again after a federal appeals court put a halt Thursday to earlier court-ordered reforms.

Speaking on his weekly radio show Friday, Mayor Michael Bloomberg expressed deep satisfaction with Thursday鈥檚 ruling, which booted US District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin from the case and ordered a stay of her decision to appoint an independent monitor to oversee changes to the New York Police Department鈥檚 signature crime-fighting tactic.

鈥淲e were very satisfied with the ruling,鈥� Mayor Bloomberg said. 鈥淚t speaks for itself. It says that, basically, Commissioner Kelly can run the department the way he has been running it with my approval and support for the last 12 years.鈥�

Bloomberg also expressed confidence that the federal appeals panel would eventually overturn Judge Scheindlin鈥檚 finding that the NYPD鈥檚 stop-and-frisk practices violated the Constitution.

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 important to say that judges grant stays if they think there鈥檚 a high probability that an appeal would be successful,鈥� he said, saying, too, that the decision to remove a judge from a case was 鈥渧ery, very鈥� rare.

It may not get that far, however. The Bloomberg administration鈥檚 appeal of Scheindlin鈥檚 landmark ruling this summer 鈥� which found that the NYPD鈥檚 tactics constituted illegal searches and unfairly target minorities 鈥� will certainly be dropped if Public Advocate Bill de Blasio wins the mayor鈥檚 office on Tuesday. This appears very likely, since he has consistent 40-point leads in .

And since arguments for the city鈥檚 appeal of Scheindlin鈥檚 ruling won鈥檛 begin until next year 鈥� after the new mayor takes office 鈥� the federal courts may have little to say about the future of New York policing 鈥� and even Scheindlin鈥檚 remedies.

鈥淭he judge鈥檚 rulings, they have not been overturned,鈥� says Alexis Karteron, senior staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e still on the books, they鈥檙e still 鈥榞ood law.鈥� They鈥檙e just not being implemented currently, so it鈥檚 hard to predict right now what will happen.

鈥淏ut certainly the change in administration is something that we鈥檙e hoping will mean a change in lots of things at the NYPD in the new year,鈥� Ms. Karteron adds.

But the decision to remove Scheindlin has re-ignited the deep-seated rancor the stop-and-frisk case has brought to the city over the past few years. The police tactic 鈥� in which more than a half million people, most of them black and Hispanic men, have been stopped and frisked every year since 2006 鈥� has created a political cauldron and been the most heated issue in this year鈥檚 mayoral election.

Along with Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, Bloomberg has been particularly angry and aggressive in denouncing Scheindlin all year, saying she ignored the real-world realities of crime and was biased against the police.

鈥淛udge Scheindlin was way off base in her decision,鈥� Sgt. Ed Mullins, president of the Sergeant鈥檚 Benevolent Association. 鈥淚 believe she has an anti-animus toward cops. It comes out pretty obviously.鈥�

The SBA, too, has recently joined the Bloomberg administration in a lawsuit challenging parts of the New York City Council鈥檚 Community Safety Act, a bill in which city lawmakers overrode Bloomberg鈥檚 veto, establishing an inspector general for the NYPD and allowing citizens to bring discrimination lawsuits against the department.

Critics of stop-and-frisk were stunned by the 鈥渦nprecedented鈥� removal of Scheindlin, who the appeals court said 鈥渞an afoul鈥� of judicial codes of conduct.

鈥淚 mean, for the court to issue a stay of the remedy, that鈥檚 one thing,鈥� says Randolph McLaughlin, co-chair of the civil rights practice group at Newman Ferrara LLP in New York. 鈥淏ut for the court to, without being asked, to remove a sitting federal judge from a landmark case like this, which she has spent so many years shepherding, I think it, well, certainly it鈥檚 unprecedented, and I think what鈥檚 most troubling here is that no one asked for that relief.鈥�

Indeed, the Bloomberg administration has often argued that judges be removed from cases 鈥� and has been successful at least once this year in getting a judge they didn鈥檛 like off a case.

鈥淚t was completely shocking, because the city had not asked for Judge Scheindlin to be removed. There had been no discussion of that at all, there was no briefing on that issue,鈥� says Karteron. 鈥淪o the fact that the city 鈥� which again, is not shy about asking for judges to be removed 鈥� the fact that they did not even do that, and the panel decided to do it, was really quite surprising.鈥�

Despite Thursday鈥檚 judicial setback, the political tides in New York suggest the ruling will not sweep away the changes in store for the NYPD.

In fact, Bloomberg suggested on his radio show that the next mayor should want to direct police policy without an independent monitor looking over his shoulder.

鈥淔rom Bill de Blasio鈥檚 standpoint 鈥� and we all believe he鈥檒l be the next mayor, unless something extraordinary happens between now and election day 鈥� he鈥檚 screaming that this isn鈥檛 right,鈥� says Sgt. Mullins. 鈥淥K, I expect that. But in the end, this may be a blessing for Bill de Blasio.鈥�