By Dan Rivoli
August 11th, 2008
A lot of people have been calling on Guy Molinari since the news of Rep. Vito Fossella’s (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) scandal broke and the congressman announced he would not seek re-election. In the months since, local Republicans scrambled to find a candidate to fill the seat. That candidate, Frank Powers, died suddenly just weeks after they did. Molinari publicly ...
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By City Hall
August 11th, 2008
Reyna Picks Maltese in Senate RaceDiana Reyna (D-Brooklyn/Queens) may serve on the City Council with Joseph Addabbo (D-Queens), but she does not seem to want her colleague and fellow Democrat to win his race against State Sen. Serphin Maltese (R-Queens). Reyna’s district covers Williamsburg and Bushwick in Brooklyn, but stretches into the Ridgewood section of Queens, ...
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Breakfast Burritos And Iced Tea With Tom Duane
A Chelsea resident since 1976, Tom Duane (D) has been representing the neighborhood in some capacity for nearly 20 years, first in the City Council and, since 1998, in the State Senate. Today his district stretches as far north as the Upper West Side and includes Greenwich Village and parts of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village.Duane recently sat down for lunch at one of ...
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Which Council Member Would Make the Best Batman?
By City Hall
August 11th, 2008
Batman was the unquestioned box office champion this summer, but Council members were split on which of their own they thought could best step into the Dark Knight’s cape and cowl. “There are so many who fight for good and denounce evil,” explained Inez Dickens (D-Manhattan), “but that’s in the eye of the beholder.”But the description of a ...
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Controversial Infrastructure Tax Hike Gives State $6.6 Billion After Bridge Collapse
There are 129,007 state-controlled bridges labeled “structurally deficient” and “functionally obsolete” by the Federal Highway Administration. Of these, 5,296 are in New York, making the Empire State home to the sixth-highest number of deficient bridges in the country. Texas tops the list with 10,037.Minnesota ranked 24th. But it was Minnesota’s ...
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Hanging prominently in the New York office of Sen. Charles Schumer (D) is a large board covered in Polaroid pictures of current employees, or as they are better known, the “Schumerland Staff.” Even volunteers make the board. What Schumer himself calls “a family” has proven to be more of an elite training ground for those interested in furthering their ...
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Skurnik and Osnow celebrate two decades of polls, numbers and term limits
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called Jerry Skurnik and Stuart Osnow “part of the folklore of New York City politics.”Stuart Osnow says that he and Jerry Skurnik are the oldest living couple in New York politics. But though they have been business partners for 20 years and friends for even longer, the two had to be coaxed into staying near each other ...
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Environmental Advocates Hope for Pay-As-You-Drive Road Trip
Currently, drivers across the country are charged an insurance premium regardless of the number of miles they drive. That means that a person who drives 40,000 miles could have the same premium as a person who drives just 2,000 miles. As part of a larger effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Oregon state legislators tried to offset that disparity, creating tax incentives ...
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Driver of Last Checker Cab and Bloomberg Fan, Dies at 82
Ray Kottner first used a sign atop his taxi to promote Michael Bloomberg's presidential candidacy-and, later, his own.Ray Kottner, New York's iconic "Taxi Ray," died June 14 of a heart attack on the sidewalk beside his cab. He was 82.Born in the city in 1926, Kottner was the middle child, between two sisters. At 19, he was drafted into General Patton's Third Army in World War ...
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Floyd Flake now builds his power base through his congregants, not Congress
"There are very few people who run for an office statewide, or even federal, that don't come consult or talk to me to find out what my positions are and whether they can get my support," said Rev. Floyd Flake.When Rev. Floyd Flake looks out at his congregation at the Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral in Jamaica, Queens, he is likely to see two of the city's top politicians: Rep. ...
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The first Russian-born politician in New York, Brook-Krasny presides over a changing district
Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny is a fervent supporter of after- school programs, like the one ran by Maria McNeill in Coney Island. Driving west down Surf Avenue in his new gray Nissan SUV, Assembly Member Alec Brook-Krasny (D-Brooklyn) was doing what many politicians enjoy doing: being a tour guide. "This," he said in a James Earl Jones-by-way-of-Moscow accent, "is Coney ...
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Independent Streak
To butcher a Barbara Jordan quote, "Budget's too important to be a spectator sport." And it's places like IBO that get the spectators out of the stands and into the playing field.Ronnie Lowenstein thinks she would make an awful politician. She is not, after all, interested in toeing any line but a budget line.But she is fiercely protective of what she sees as her office's ...
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"I hope that one of the things that people are going to see in the campaign and also if I'm fortunate enough to be mayor is that I'm going to do the job with a smile on my face," Weiner said. "Sometimes it feels like Mike Bloomberg is getting a root canal when he's in the Blue Room."Anthony Weiner has been holding himself in these days. "Apparently, funny isn't in like it was ...
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Preaching policy, Yassky sets sights on corporate cash and Manhattan voters
Council Member David Yassky is trying to make himself stand out in the comptroller's race, which may prove the most crowded, competitive and expensive 2009 contest."A lot of the traditional interests in the city, a lot of the day-to-day players in city government-my guess is the bulk of those vested interests will be supporting one or another of the other candidates," said ...
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Gracie Mansion remains key venue for city government under Bloomberg
Gracie Mansion has undergone a multi-million dollar rehabilitation effort since 2002, making it a popular place for city officials to do business.Among the many books stacked decoratively within the neat mahogany bookcases of Gracie Mansion are a series of ruminations on the concept-and consequences-of power.There is The Power Broker, sitting next to The Price of Power, ...
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Aiming to change landscape of the city and political consulting, firm takes root
Each year in New York, political neophytes attempt to run for dozens of offices. Often, they fall through the cracks of the state's complicated ballot access laws.Rushing to the rescue is Grassroots Initiative, a political consulting firm which bills itself as the world’s first non-profit firm. Founded in 2005, the firm seeks to provide easy political access for ...
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Activists gather at Hunter College to debate their future, largely ignoring Nader
Nineteen-year-old Michael Acosta is not exactly sure why voters his age do not flock to the Green Party. He was a Democrat himself, but now organizes the campus Greens at Lehman College. He switched just a few months ago, but none of his friends followed suit. That did not surprise him. “The whole reason you call it a grassroots movement is because it’s down in ...
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Former Council speaker turns to art insurance, leaving politics completely behind
Gifford Miller is now the chair of Liberty Art Title.In the art world, few are safe from the headaches caused by stolen art, victimizing even people like Steven Spielberg, who bought a previously stolen Norman Rockwell painting last year. But celebrities have financial resources to soften those blows, when they come. Average art collectors do not. Stepping forward to help them ...
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Carlo Scissura discusses his recipe for success, but not his pesto sauce, and hints at mayoral plan
Managing a staff of 80, meeting with constituent groups, and, most of all, making sure that everyone in Brooklyn and New York City knows what Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is doing with and for his borough—that is what Carlo Scissura does as Markowitz's chief of staff.“It's like four or five jobs,” he said, his brown eyes opened wide. Originally ...
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With hot dog business a year old, political background feeds plans to expand brand
The New York City Hot Dog Company, founded a year ago by former Assembly Member Robert Straniere, his wife Ruth, and three sons—Ken, Bret and Jeffrey—offers 14 varieties of hot dogs and 40 possible toppings.In a city with thousands of post-political career stories, not many of them involve bison hot dogs. Former Assembly Member Robert Straniere's (R-Staten Island) ...
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A trip back to the old block with Eric Gioia
Underneath the 52nd St. stop on the elevated No. 7 train in Woodside, Queens is Nunziato's, a small outdoor flower shop surrounded by a weathered fence. The yard is filled with potted perennials, and a small building sits out back. For the past 100 years it has been run by Council Member Eric Gioia's (D-Queens) family, and sitting recently in front of his childhood home ...
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Learning Curve
Randi Weingarten keeps many little presents people have given her over the years scattered around her office, including a small statue of four posed monkeys (Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Say No Evil, and Do No Evil) and a magic wand that lights up when waved. She has built up many presents and clippings and blow-ups of articles in her office over her last 10 years as president ...
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To some, larger spotlight made her stronger at home, to others, more vulnerable
Sen. Hillary Clinton's quest to become president is over. Her quest for a third term in the Senate, however, may only just be beginning.When she returns to her regular workday on Capitol Hill, Clinton will hardly be the only senator nursing the wounds of scuttled presidential ambitions. But after two lopsided wins for a Senate seat that was largely seen as a steppingstone to a ...
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Will a New Yorker ever get into the White House again?
The last time Americans picked a New Yorker for president, they did not have much of a choice: in 1944, there were not one, but two empire state politicians at the top of their ticket. The state, apparently, had reached too far. Franklin Roosevelt won that race, but died not long after. His opponent, Thomas Dewey, ran again in 1948, but despite all the indications in his favor ...
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Queens Council member positions herself as front runner in crowded comptroller field
Melinda Katz is hoping her background in the Assembly, Council and as a mergers and acquisitions lawyer will put her over the top in the race to be the city's next top bean counter.Council Member Melinda Katz (D-Queens), the chair of the powerful Land Use Committee, has touted her ability to encourage development in the city as an asset during her comptroller run.Yet her close ...
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New York chapter takes the lead on national union movement to re-engage political process
Greg Floyd has looked to strengthen the ranks of the Teamsters as the New York local's president.Gregory Floyd, president of the Teamsters Union Local 237, has a new plan for getting elected officials to listen to the concerns of his members.In April, Floyd helped launch what he calls a groundbreaking new initiative to educate members and their families in the basics of civic ...
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Two-day seminar teaches the nuts and bolts of running for city office
“Though no man is an island, it takes one to run New York City,” said this prospective candidate, practicing his stump speech. “I am Tyrell Eiland and I'm running for mayor.” Tyrell Eiland sat down at a small conference table in the front of the classroom and clutched his notes. Up on the blackboard behind him, the words “um,” ...
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A trip back to the old bloc with Rosie Mendez
The public housing development of Williamsburg Houses sits on 23 acres not far from the Williamsburg Bridge in Brooklyn—a collection of four-story buildings sprawling out over the acres at odd angles to the surrounding neighborhood grid. Built by the New York City Housing Authority in the 1930s, Williamsburg Houses was the first public housing of its kind in Brooklyn. In ...
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Power WalkFormer Attorney General Janet Reno, who has Parkinson's Disease, and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Manhattan/Queens) joined tens of thousands in Central Park April 26 to raise awareness and funds to find a cure.Before Fosella Arrest, Recchia Considered Dropping RaceThe morning that news broke of Rep. Vito Fossella's (R-Staten Island/Brooklyn) DWI arrest in Arlington, Va., ...
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Accounts and Accountability
As chair of the Finance Committee, Council Member David Weprin (D-Queens) has overseen every budget over the last six years, watching revenues climb from the fiscal crisis which followed the September 11 attacks to the $3 billion surplus last year.Despite the current fears about the state of the economy, he insists that there is no recession. On the contrary, he has a rosy ...
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Analysts place their bets on who else will make the mayor’s race
Another poll, another prediction of a 2009 race with Undecided ahead of all three expected major Democratic candidates—by 30 points.There was some movement between the Quinnipiac poll released in March and the new one released May 7. Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) and Comptroller Bill Thompson (D) have each climbed two points. Council Speaker Christine Quinn ...
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Comptroller run is likely, public advocate might be, Queens BP and mayor are out
On one Tuesday, John Liu (D-Queens) was an emissary, standing with his fellow members of the City Council’s Black, Asian and Latino Caucus to welcome Bolivian President Evo Morales to New York. The next Tuesday, Liu was a tour guide and a civics teacher, explaining the inner workings of City Hall to a delegation from the Gyeonnggi Provincial Council of South Korea. ...
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Reauthorization ahead, Walcott prepares for final exam on mayoral control
The law that gives Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) complete control of the city's 1,100-plus public schools expires in a little less than 13 months, but Dennis Walcott, the deputy mayor of education, is barely sweating.Walcott, who also serves as one of Bloomberg's top education negotiators in Albany, is confident state legislators will reauthorize the five-year-old law. But ...
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Addressing the needs of children is of particular concern to committee and its chair
Two years ago, in the middle of Council Member Oliver Koppell’s (D-Bronx) district office holiday party, three Ringneck doves wandered through the door. They had been abandoned by a neighbor and for days were idling outside in the cold before making their move. Koppell’s staff decided to adopt the birds. They are still in the office. Soon after the adoption, one ...
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Cash incentives and homelessness reduction remain high on agenda for Gibbs
At first, Linda Gibbs, the deputy mayor of health and human services, can seem unexpectedly enthusiastic about having a job that immerses her in poverty and suffering. Despite the many problems in her portfolio, she remains upbeat: she firmly believes that she and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) have done and will be able to do a lot to change things. “I am adoring my ...
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By City Hall
April 14th, 2008
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth-Grader?Council Member Dan Garodnick played Waley Liu, a fifth-grader from P.S. 2 in Manhattan, at the Garodnick Challenge II, a chess tournament he sponsored on March 29. About 350 students from across the city competed at the event, organized by Chess in the Schools. Garodnick lost.Diaz Miscalls the RollCity Clerk Hector Diaz is still relatively ...
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By City Hall
April 14th, 2008
Avi Schick was Eliot Spitzer’s choice to head the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), and so far David Paterson has not only kept him in ...
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Preparing for another campaign, Morgenthau warns that budget cuts could boost crime and endanger New York
Robert Morgenthau is an old man. He has a hearing aid in one ear, a slow shuffle of a walk, and on mornings when his neck is ...
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Buchanan, Schoen, Shrum and Rollins sound off on how Bloomberg can inject himself into the 2008 campaign
In the February op-ed that officially called off his presidential campaign, Mayor Michael Bloomberg (Unaff.) wrote that he is ready to use his wealth and profile as both mayor of New York and a respected business leader to steer the presidential candidates toward discussing the issues he considers vital to the United States.His endorsement, he said, might be the reward for the ...
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Iconic New Yorkers Jimmy Breslin, Ed Koch, Donald Trump, Gay Talese, Howard Rubenstein and Jackie Mason ponder life without a New York presidential straight flush
What he is really hoping for, Mayor Michael Bloomberg often likes to joke, is a subway series. The enthusiasm, the civic pride, the tax revenues—so much would be generated from an all-New York World Series. In baseball, this only happened once, in 2000—the same year Rudolph Giuliani bowed out early from his Senate campaign. The Mets and the Yankees squared off in ...
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By Dan Macht
March 10th, 2008
By Daniel MachtLast month, Yvonne Graham made a decision that cost her $17,500. After six years as Marty Markowitz’s deputy, the 56-year-old decided to step down from the job. She did not go far, though: now a special assistant to the borough president, she helps in planning events and conferences. And if she gets her way, she will not be going far for years to come: ...
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Election Results
Marcus Cederqvist was barely settled into his new job as the executive director of the New York City Board of Elections before Mayor Michael Bloomberg began firing off criticisms about the selection process for the Board’s commissioners, and the city began to gear up for the Feb. 5 primary vote. But when all the votes were counted (or undercounted, according to some ...
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By City Hall
March 10th, 2008
Senior ReportersWhen only two journalists asked questions at Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s Feb. 29 press conference about a new package of bills to protect the elderly, Silver opened the floor to the seniors at St. Margaret’s House who there for the photo-op. They asked five before Silver called the event to a close.Lindsay Staffers Feel Bloomberg ...
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For commercials and connections, local electeds nurture their on-air personas
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s radio show may be in limbo, but those in the market for a wireless political fix can still tune to AM 570 every Saturday night at 11 p.m. to hear Assembly Member Dov Hikind (D), a fiery Orthodox Jew from Borough Park, talk about life, the universe and everything.Being on the air can be tough, Hikind says. “I feel very lonely very often, of ...
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Disabled Activist, Out of a Job, But Definitively Not on the Sidelines
By City Hall
March 10th, 2008
By Carl WinfieldMichael Harris is looking for a job. But he already spends his days working. Harris spent just over six months as an administrative aide to Assembly Member Micah Kellner (D-Manhattan). Since leaving in December, the disabled commuter activist has been meeting with officials across the city to discuss wheelchair accessibility throughout the city’s public ...
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Once a Candidate Himself, Now a Delegate for Obama
By City Hall
March 10th, 2008
By Matt ElzweigThe year was 1989. New York City was rampant with crime and three-term mayor Ed Koch had become a divisive figure, after several investigations for corruption, a soured relationship with the press and feuds with other public servants which showed no sign of cooling. Yet defeating Koch, an outsized personality and familiar presence who was determined to be the ...
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Who is getting the most for their money in the race for 2009 campaign cash?
By City Hall
March 10th, 2008
The candidates have limits on what they can raise, but also on what they can spend, so finding fundraisers who can rake in the most for the lowest fee is important. Based on their totals for the last filing period and the amounts they reported spending paying fundraisers, here’s how the city’s top money magnets compare. ...
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Getting Clear on Congestion Pricing
By City Hall
March 10th, 2008
With just weeks to go before the congestion pricing deadline, city Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan was the guest at the Feb. 27 On/Off the Record Breakfast held at the Commerce Bank flagship location on 42nd Street and Madison Avenue. From the changes made to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan by the Traffic Mitigation Commission to what is being done to court ...
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Anthony Cassino, David Greenfield, Brad Lander, Michael Simanowitz and Paul Vallone have never run for office before. But as they start their campaigns for Council seats which will open next year, these new kids on the block are already proving themselves formidable fundraisers. In the period that ended with the January filing, these five raised more than any other novice ...
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In advisory role to Bloomberg, Stewart presses for New York to be national leader on immigration
Like many at City Hall, Council Member Kendall Stewart (D-Brooklyn) walks with his head high, taking long, purposeful steps across the white, marble floor. He carries his long, black overcoat over his shoulder like a man used to the midwinter chill. But his necktie—a mini-revolution of lush green palm trees, ripe melons, indigo blue and deep reds—screams out: ...
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How I spent Super Tuesday...
By City Hall
February 11th, 2008
State Sen. Bill PerkinsCampaigned for: Obama “I started out very, very early with phone calling. We had opened up our operation on Malcolm X Blvd. and 130th Street, and we were flooded all day with volunteers from all over who very were excited and inspired. We sent them out to polling sites; we did phone calls; we did subways. We chanted, “Fire it up! Ready to ...
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While some see a political prodigy in Arthur Leopold, others point to spotty record
By John Celock
February 11th, 2008
Aside from the elected officials at the Sunday afternoon City Hall rally for Illinois Sen. Barack Obama (D) the week before Super Tuesday, most in the crowd were dressed casually. Not the young guy in the tie, working the crowd, spinning the press. He may have looked like he was just out of high school, but he was acting like he was preparing to run for City ...
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No candidates on their client roster, but many political relationships at Nicholas Lence
By John Celock
February 11th, 2008
When Hornblower Yachts submitted a bid to the National Park Service for the right to ferry passengers to and from the Statue of Liberty, the San Francisco-based company sought out help navigating Gotham political waters.Like many other companies, they turned to Nicholas Lence.“They needed to get ingrained in the fabric of the city,” partner George Lence said.Making ...
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in advance of citywide run, Quinn looks to keep tight grip on her base, critics aside
One step into the Queens Winter Pride Dinner and Dance, Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) is immediately mobbed. “I voted for you!” one woman shouts excitedly, rushing up to kiss Quinn on the cheek. “I love your bracelet,” another exclaims, posing with Quinn for the first of seemingly hundreds she would allow throughout the night. “Is ...
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By City Hall
February 11th, 2008
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner All four remaining lawsuits against British satirist Sacha Baron Cohen are coming to a courthouse near you. Thanks to a ruling by the State Supreme Court of Alabama, all litigation arising out of Cohen’s movie Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan must be heard in state court in New ...
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Merriman says there should be no ‘cap’ on high-performing schools
James Merriman, the new CEO of the New York City Center for Charter School Excellence, formerly served as Executive Director of the Charter Schools Institute of the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation’s second-largest university-affiliated authorizer of public charter schools. In his previous role as authorizer of charter schools, Merriman was responsible for ...
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Drinks between 7:36 and 8:12? The ins and outs of dating and elected life
The comptroller candidate is waiting on the steps of the Upper East Side brownstone for the woman he wants to date. He found out where she lives a few days earlier—as a wonkish pick-up line, he ...
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Despite his critics, Thompson continues to resist divestment efforts
Twenty years ago, New York City joined many local governments and companies in divesting half a billion dollars from apartheid South Africa. Over the last few years, several top city officials have been talking divestment again, eager to get pension money out of Sudan, Iran and North Korea. And last month, President George W. Bush gave his blessing to local efforts, signing a ...
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If BP makes Brooklyn a battleground, Weiner’s mayoral prospects may take the hit
Marty Markowitz is aware of his shortcomings as he weighs a bid for mayor next year. With just over $900,000 raised as of the January filing, the Brooklyn borough president has far less money than the three expected major candidates. He lacks the benefit of having run citywide before, as two of his prospective opponents do. And he is much further behind the other anticipated ...
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Host of Issues
On his daily WNYC radio show, Brian Lehrer presides over one of New York’s main forums of discussion of politics and culture. But though he has spent the past 20 years hosting the show, and was already a veteran of radio reporting before that, Lehrer has not restricted himself to the studio. He hosts “Brian Lehrer Live” on CUNY-TV, regularly appears as a ...
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By City Hall
January 14th, 2008
Former Mayor Ed Koch lunched alone on brisket smothered in gravy at the reopened Second Avenue Deli. Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Bloomberg hosted a lunch for new mayors from across the tri-state area in December, leading to talk of the legacy he is looking to build by promoting a new approach to the job of mayor. Schumer Says Edwards Finished, Spitzer Not ZeusThere are still ...
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A trip back to the old block with Al Vann
“My house was right about here somewhere,” Council Member Al Vann (D-Brooklyn) said recently as he stood in a parking lot in Bedford-Stuyvesant on a cold, gray morning. Motioning with his hands toward the pavement, he tried to map out what used to be 626 Herkimer St.“This is Herkimer Street,” he went on. “Or, it was Herkimer Street.”Today, ...
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The Other Presidential Candidates from New York
By Dan Rivoli
January 14th, 2008
Wonder Bread Factory Worker Aims to Add Christian Values to Democratic MixFrom: Cheektowaga, N.Y.Party: DemocraticJob experience: Data entry, maintenance at Wonder Bread factory.#1 campaign promise: Making the country independentfrom foreign energy.Aside from meeting constitutional age and birth requirements, Michael Skok admits that there is nothing about his life that ...
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Cashew Chicken and Egg Rolls with Steve Israel
Ever wonder what happened to Rick Lazio Republicans? They voted for a Democrat, Steve Israel, who won the seat Lazio vacated to try his luck in the 2000 Senate race against Hillary Clinton. Voters have returned Israel to the House three times since. Israel recently sat down with City hall over Chinese food to discuss harmful Long Island stereotypes, his post-Congressional ...
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Quinn Discusses “Changing the City Council and New York”
By City Hall
January 14th, 2008
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) was the featured speaker at the City Hall On/Off the Record Breakfast on Dec. 6, held at the Commerce Bank flagship location on 42nd Street and Madison Avenue. The topic: “Changing the City Council and New York.”An invite-only crowd heard Quinn discuss her take on the changes she has brought thus far to the Council ...
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Without Clinton as a client and with Wolfson on leave, firm stakes out new, non-political identity
Though they may not be doing much consulting anymore, the New York members of Glover Park still have politics in their blood. Glover Park opened its first office in Washington, D.C. in 2002. Clinton veterans Gigi Georges and Howard Wolfson opened the New York office a year later. Since those first hectic days, the group has picked up dozens of high-profile clients, from ...
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Alternative Transportation and the 2009 Train
By City Hall
December 10th, 2007
Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn/Queens) just missed winning the Democratic nomination to face Michael Bloomberg in the 2005 mayor’s race, and he has already begun fundraising and campaigning for the 2009 race. He was the third of the expected major 2009 mayoral candidates to be a featured guest at a City Hall On/Off the Record Breakfast, speaking at the Commerce Bank ...
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By City Hall
December 10th, 2007
With a likely New York-centric presidential race gripping the nation, the control of the State Senate majority and the fate of the governor’s attempt to recover ripping the state, and the impending watershed elections of 2009 gripping the city, 2008 is sure to be a crazy year in politics. City Hall asked the pollsters, pundits, and political professionals what to expect. ...
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By Elie Mystal
December 10th, 2007
Gene Russianoff, attorney and chief spokesman for the Straphangers campaign, says that New York City’s mass transit system is a lot better now than it was when he started at his job in the early ’80s. But he admits that New Yorkers rarely want to talk about positive developments.Sitting in his office at New York Public Interest Research Group (NYPIRG) down the ...
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State Sen. Jeffrey Klein, who won a competitive primary in 2004 to snatch Guy Velella’s old seat from the Republicans, now represents the Bronx neighborhood where he grew up, Morris Park. Klein recently sat down with City Hall at his favorite local Italian eatery, Venice Restaurant & Pizza. What follows are edited excerpts from the interview.City Hall: You’ve ...
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Humanistic Candidate Focuses on People Over Politics
By Dan Rivoli
December 10th, 2007
Lanakila WashingtonFrom: The BronxParty: Humanistic PartyJob experience: Entertainer, CEO of Malachi travel agency.#1 campaign promise: Bring those troops home and bring those jobs back to America.Ever since James Keith Washington started attending Honolulu Community College, he has been going by the name “Lanakila”--Hawaiian for “victorious.”Now he has ...
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John O’Hara renews the effort to get his vote back
John O’Hara carries no cell phone, does not own a computer, and is not reachable by email.But the political gadfly, perennial candidate and man with the distinction of being the first New Yorker since Susan B. Anthony to be convicted for voting says that he can be found Friday night at what he calls “an old-man bar” on the tattered edges of Brooklyn anytime ...
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Poetic Justice
Based in part on real episodes of police corruption in the 1970s and early 1990s, Charles Hynes’ (D) debut novel traces the fates of two fictitious whistle-blowers who dared to break the NYPD’s “Blue Wall of Silence.” Though the main characters are products of Hynes’ imagination, New York readers will recognize fictionalized versions of Rudy ...
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By City Hall
November 13th, 2007
Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión was the honorary ringmaster of
the Big Apple Circus Oct. 28, earning him his moment in top hat and
tails and a dance with Grandma the clown.
Bite of BingSchools and airports are often named after politicians, but a sizzling grilled beef patty topped with blue cheese and mushrooms? “The Bing Burger” at Jimbo’s ...
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Four Generations on Grand Concourse Avenue; After starting her professional career at NYNEX, Bronx lifer Tracy McDermott now connects people on Carrión’s staff
By Elie Mystal
November 13th, 2007
Tracy McDermott has been working for the Office of the Bronx Borough President longer than Adolfo Carrión, Jr., has been Bronx borough president. She started there in 2000, when Fernando Ferrer was still in charge.McDermott is a fourth-generation Bronx resident who can trace her family’s involvement in the community all the way back to her great-grandfather, who ...
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Ready for His Close-Up; Thompson speechwriter Nat Moss moonlights as independent film screenwriter
By Elie Mystal
November 13th, 2007
During business hours, Nat Moss is a speechwriter for City Comptroller William Thompson (D). But during nights and evenings, he devotes himself to a different sort of writing.He has authored three books and the critically acclaimed Washington Heights, a film that won the Austin Film Festival in 2002, as well as a special mention at the Tribeca Film Festival that year. His ...
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Memories of the GOP presidential front-runner before he went national
I met Rudy Giuliani in February of 1992, while living in Hell’s Kitchen, which was pretty hellish then.Tired of accepting the decaying quality of life in my neighborhood, I asked a mutual friend to introduce me to Rudy. At the time, I was a partner in a successful business consulting firm. But I decided that this was the moment for me to give something back to New York ...
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Columbia professor David Eisenbach practices what he preaches as Mike Gravel’s communications director
By Elie Mystal
November 12th, 2007
David Eisenbach did not say a word as his candidate, Mike Gravel, fielded a question from a 9/11 conspiracy theorist. He did not squirm in his seat when Gravel was asked to support a radical de-criminalization of Schedule 1 narcotics. As Gravel answered questions in an open forum at the Community Church of New York on Oct. 23, Eisenbach made no move to save his candidate from ...
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Minding the Store; Bitterness of 2006 behind him, Yassky reconnects as he gears up for 2009
Council Member David Yassky (D–Brooklyn) stands at the counter of Community Bookstore in Park Slope, waiting patiently to buy the latest issue of The New York Review of Books. “How are you?” the checkout girl asks.“I had a great day,” says Yassky, all smiles. “Yesterday was Tuesday, and I was not up for re-election.” He hands her a $5 ...
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By City Hall
October 15th, 2007
Dressing up like politicians is a time-honored Halloween tradition. With that in mind, and the senator and former mayor likely set to battle each other for the presidency next year, City Hall decided to use some masks to imagine a little pre-election bipartisan cooperation with a Big Apple backdrop. On the Brooklyn Bridge....Catching up on the news while riding the 6 ...
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Bloomberg's Political Strategist Steps Forward
By City Hall
October 15th, 2007
As the chief strategist behind Michael Bloomberg’s two campaigns for mayor and, before that, as the chief of staff for Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Deputy mayor Kevin Sheekey has become well-versed in working behind the scenes in politics. But as the featured speaker at the fourth City Hall On/Off the Record Breakfast, held Sept. 20 at the Commerce Bank flagship ...
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Mort Berkowitz decorates lapels from coast to coast and in key primary states
By Dan Rivoli
October 15th, 2007
“Mitch, I wanna design a button: ‘Happy Birthday Hillary.’ It’s her 60th birthday,” says prolific button maker Mort Berkowitz into his speakerphone.“We’ll do a 60th,” responds Mitch Kuhn, a designer from Michigan.“Thanks, man.”Soon, vendors from across the nation will decorate their tables with another button for Sen. ...
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A trip back to the old block with Marty Golden
State Sen. Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn) grew up from the age of six in apartment 1A at 6623 Ridge Blvd., a six-story brick apartment building with 60 units at the corner of 67th Street in Bay Ridge. The eldest of eight children born within 10 years to Irish immigrant parents, Golden shared two bedrooms with his seven siblings—four to a room. “And all sharing ...
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By City Hall
October 15th, 2007
Polly Want a Nomination? Former Alaska senator Mike Gravel, a Democratic candidate for president, stopped at the 19th annual Ecofest held at Lincoln Center’s Damrosch Park Sept. 30. Gravel, whose campaign is based on the theme of taking governing power away from elected officials and giving it to the general populace, told the crowd that he believes he could, if elected ...
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In the Swing of It -- Blending politics and baseball, Perfect Pitch focuses on small client roster
Dick Starkey, Mario Cuomo’s press secretary and head speechwriter, and Bob Sullivan, the former governor’s pollster of 15 years, began Perfect Pitch Communications in March 1995, in the aftermath of Cuomo’s 1994 reelection loss.The firm, whose name reflects its co-founders’ love of baseball, was first retained to promote smaller high schools in New York ...
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Henry Stern’s position as Manhattan City Council member-at-large was abolished by the courts more than two decades ago and his last day as Parks Commissioner was nearly six years ago. But he has hardly disappeared from the public eye. Between taking over as chair of the collapsed Liberal Party, penning frequent and lengthy email commentaries and occasional columns and ...
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Women’s Campaign Forum initiative aims to encourage female candidates
Florence Dwyer, a Republican who represented New Jersey in Washington between 1957-1973, famously said, “a Congresswoman must look like a girl, act like a lady, think like a man, speak on any given subject with authority and most of all work like a dog.”The Women’s Campaign Forum is asking women to embrace that challenge, and is racing to get 1,000 pro-choice ...
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On Balance -- Daley and the new New Deal he says is right for America
By Dan Rivoli
October 15th, 2007
From: New York CityParty: Balanced PartyJob experience: Author, founder of Orion Computer Systems, Inc.#1 campaign promise: To deliver. Period.If Republican presidential hopeful Rudolph Giuliani can campaign on his experience with 9/11, so can Orion Karl Daley.After the attacks, Daley, then a consultant for Smith Barney and CEO of Orion Computer Systems, Inc., was financially ...
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The only contested election in the city this year will determine the strength of the borough’s top parties.
By Dan Rivoli
October 15th, 2007
The race for Staten Island district attorney may be New York City’s sole competitive general election race this fall, but it has already had more than its fair share of accusations of lying, having insufficient experience and using false statistics.In a city where district attorneys rarely face significant primary or general election opposition, Staten Island District ...
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On Sept. 26, elected officials, staffers and others from across the political community gathered at Commerce Bank’s City Hall branch to celebrate the 2007 Rising Stars, profiled in the September issue of City Hall.
By City Hall
October 14th, 2007
1 James Van Bramer, Andres Ledesma, Paul Thomas, Christian Hylton 2 William Smith, Lisa Black, Jason Weingartner, Jessica Proud, J.C. Polanco 3 Errol Cockfield, Jennifer Maldanado, Zachary Hollander 4 State Sen. Jose Serrano 5 Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, Kate Ferranti 6 Jennifer James, City Council Member David Yassky 7 Richmond County District Attorney Dan Donovan ...
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The Next Generation of Political Leaders in New York
By City Hall
September 17th, 2007
In compiling our second annual list of political rising stars, City Hall drew on nominations from across the government and political community living and working throughout New York City and State. Scores of nominations came in for elected officials at every level of government, but scores also came in for the staffers, activists, consultants, lobbyists and many others who ...
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By John DeSio
September 17th, 2007
Virgil Griffith’s Wikiscanner, which went online in August, has ended the days of anonymously editing Wikipedia by using available data on IP addresses to track who has been making which changes to the online encyclopedia. As a quick perusal of the site shows, government types have been very busy clocking hours on the job to touch up many Wikipedia pages. Congressional ...
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By City Hall
September 17th, 2007
Perry in the Race for Brooklyn BPAssembly Member Nick Perry (D), who was briefly in last year’s heated Democratic primary to replace Rep. Major Owens (D-Brooklyn), has his sights set on a new race: the one to succeed Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (D), whom term limits will force from office in 2009. Perry, who said he quit the congressional race because he ...
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Former Carrión aide says there is power in numbers
Eldin Villafane is in the business of turning politicians into brands.His approach is “not to take away the soul of the person. But any good PR agency that is worth their weight in this game knows that it is similar to selling the hottest business product,” he said recently, sitting on a park bench in a little spot of shade in City Hall Park.Villafane’s first ...
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Carrying institutional memory with him, Thomas White considers the future
Dressed in a casual open-necked shirt, Council Member Thomas White (D-Queens) stops in the middle of a thought to greet his suit-and-tie wearing colleagues. He likes when they ask him for his “historical perspective” before proposing new policies. White represented Southeast Queens for 10 years, from 1991 to 2001, before term limits forced him out of office. ...
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The Man With Rudy’s Number
Like a left-leaning Energizer bunny, Wayne Barrett just keeps going and going. He has outlasted about 18 editors at The Village Voice, where he has been a political reporter for 28 years. Not bad for a guy who went to college on a debating scholarship and expected to follow that up with law school Instead, he wound up going to the Columbia University Graduate School of ...
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A Tuna Sandwich (with Hot Sauce) with the Staten Island Borough President
In a deviation from City Hall tradition, Staten Island Borough President James Molinaro opted to order in at his Borough Hall office. The reason? The popular elected official says he tends to get approached while eating out, making the office a more conducive setting for interviews. Food arrived from Montalbano’s Italian Food Specialties, a nearby eatery with ...
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A trip back to the old block with Scott Stringer
Playtime for Scott Stringer (D), years before he became Manhattan’s borough president, was always right down the block from his apartment at 1 Bogardus Place in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan during the ’60s and ’70s. His playground, school and the local YMCA were all within a block radius. Stringer said he remembers the yard always being ...
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Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum (D) is one of several names
often discussed for the 2009 mayoral election. One of her biggest cheerleaders:
husband and labor leader Victor Gotbaum, who told City Hall in
this past February's “Political Power Couples" issue that she would be "the
best god-damned mayor the city's ever had."
Gotbaum recently sat down at Everest Diner on ...
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By City Hall
August 14th, 2007
The long saga of the Second Avenue Subway has caught the eye of Absolut Vodka’s marketers. In its new campaign to present snapshots of an ideal world, Absolut placed an open T station on the southeast corner of 86th Street and Second Avenue. Trains are not expected to be running through a station there or anywhere else on Second Avenue until 2013. But would having trains ...
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Anthony Weiner, Seriously
Hoping the Third Run for Higher Office Will Be the Charm
The Mayor May Not Be Home, But the House is Hopping
Weighing the Odds for Clinton 2012—for Senate
Another Victim of the Dewey Curse
Relationship to Developers Dogs Katz, But She Calls Ties An Asset
The 4th Slot
On His 2009 Prospects, Liu Keeps an Uncharacteristic Silence
The Pencil Portfolio
Still Fighting
Needling the Presidential Race as a Non-Candidate
Not in the Cards
The Deputies
The Single Life
The Money Trail: Pension Tension
The Markowitz Factor
Predictions from the Policy Prophets & Political Psychics
Begging Spitzer’s Pardon
Staten Island Political Parties Bank on DA Race
Rising Stars: 40 Under 40
