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Astute political insiders like yourself know that not all of this week’s winners and losers were on the ballot on Tuesday. And while a host of pundits and bloggers have already offered their verdicts – Ed Koch is a winner, Joe Crowley is a loser, etc. – there are still a few less obvious winners … Read more
On paper, Marty Golden is at the top of the list of Senate Republicans that Democrats are expected to target in 2012. But the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee may have to face up to a difficult reality: You can’t beat someone with no one. Three Brooklyn Democratic sources say the DSCC has been actively approaching … Read more
As Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration probes oversized salaries for nonprofit executives whose organizations receive state funds, one group with a special relationship to the governor no longer has its highly paid chief executive – who is married to Cuomo’s cousin. Laurence Belinsky, the CEO and president of HELP USA, resigned from the homeless housing and … Read more
The first New York politician imperiled by voting for same-sex marriage isn’t an upstate Republican senator – it’s a Democratic Assemblyman from New York City scrambling to hold his support in a special election. Insiders say Assemblyman David Weprin, running in the special election for Anthony Weiner’s congressional seat, is facing a revolt among Orthodox … Read more
Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s leadership of the city’s education system has been flawed in many ways, but mayoral control of the public school system has helped the city overall, a number of education advocates said at a panel discussion yesterday. The change during Bloomberg’s first term did away with a bureaucratic quagmire and brought more attention … Read more
In the three-way race to replace Brooklyn Assembly man Darryl Towns, Rafael Espinal’s campaign has spent about a third of the amount expended by his two rivals, Jesus Gonzalez and Deidra Towns. Maybe that’s because he’s getting so much free help: the lion’s share of the people working for Espinal are getting paid by elected … Read more
In a 1994 interview with Variety, television executive Bob Turner explained the nature of his duties at Multimedia Entertainment, the country’s preeminent producer of talk shows starring Jerry Springer, Sally Jessy Raphael and Phil Donahue. Seventeen years later, Turner says his highly successful tenure at the company is a prime qualification for office, as the Republican … Read more
The race to build a top-tier science and engineering school in New York will rev up this week. Mayor Michael Bloomberg will convene a private breakfast meeting of business and civic leaders Tuesday at Google’s Manhattan headquarters to present the city’s blueprint for the future tech campus, first announced late last year. Later that day, … Read more
Since September 2010, Assemblyman Vito Lopez’s campaign committee has cut nearly $46,000 in checks to a top white-collar criminal defense attorney, Gerald Lefcourt. Both the city and federal governments are investigating the Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, which Lopez founded. Lefcourt warned the Brooklyn Paper in October he was considering a libel case, but has not pursued one. … Read more
Elizabeth Holtzman, a trailblazer for women in New York politics, has emerged as a top contender for the Democratic nomination in the special election to replace former Rep. Anthony Weiner, according to Queens Democratic Party sources. Holtzman, a former New York City comptroller who also served four terms in Congress in the 1970s and early … Read more