Pay (Passing A Council Bill) to Pay (Endorsement by Hotel Trades Council)
Only Jimmy Breslin Could Cover the 2017 Mayor's Race "Can't Anyone Here Play This Game" "The Gang That Could Not Shoot Straight"
Sal Albanese @SalAlbaneseNYC Ex of outright skullduggery by political consultants: Retained & paid by @michelfaulkner & then pens a column minimizing his candidacy
We are Having A Mayoral Election and Our Pols and Media Are Not Talking About the City's Hospitals Debt
Our flatlining hospitals require emergency care by deBlasio (NYDN Ed) The red-raw math of keeping the city’s public hospitals open comes down to this: The money brought in by patients and their insurance, if they have it, amounts to hundreds of millions of dollars less than their care costs each year — a gap yawning toward $1.8 billion in 2020. If you prefer metaphors of the medical variety, this patient — 11 public hospitals and network of clinics — is on the table in the ER, hemorrhaging red ink. And only now, after hours of all-too-timid interventions by Mayor de Blasio, is a physician in the room prepared to operate. He is interim Health + Hospitals president and private hospital veteran Stanley Brezenoff, and he is scrambling to make up for precious time squandered through half-measure mayoral reforms. Having already pink-slipped 73 of the 46,000-employee workforce, he anticipates downsizing now by hundreds more.
Catsimatidis Not Running for Mayor
Ex-Jet Republican Michael Faulkner drops out of NYC mayorrace to challenge Controller Scott Stringer (NYDN)
Catsimatidis is not running for mayor, paving way forMalliotakis candidacy (PoliticoNY) John Catsimatidis, the billionaire Republican who has has donated lavishly to Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as a Republicans, will not run for mayor of New York City this year. “It was a tough decision to make because I truly love this city and its people. My decision was based in part on the fact that the power of an incumbency is extremely hard to defeat,” Catsimatidis said in a statement. “Even though I won't be a candidate, I will continue to speak out on the issues of the day on my weekly radio show, giving my honest opinion on what's right and what's wrong in our city, our state and our nation.”* John Catsimatidis rules out mayoral bid (NYP) * Saying it will be difficult to unseat de Blasio, billionaire business mogul John Catsimatidis announced he won’t run for New York City mayor after he ran in the Republican primary four years ago, the Post reports. * John Catsimatidis won’t run for mayor, says de Blasiowill be tough to beat (NYDN) * Republican Party leaders decided that Bo Dietl, the former NYPD detective and Fox News contributor, will not be allowed to run as a Republican in the New York City mayoral race, The New York Times reports. *Bo Dietl Won’t Be Running as a Republican on Mayoral Ballot (NYT) City GOP leadersshow 'no support' to choose Bo Dietl as Republican mayoral candidate: 'Helooked accident prone' (NYDN) * Massey, arguing he's 'effectively' been mayor fordecades, won't elaborate on policy differences with other candidate(PoliticoNY) * Tony Avella Dropping Out of Mayoral Race (NY1) * Mayor De Blasio Is Still Running to theRight of Candidate DeBlasio (Village Voice) * Elio Forcina I just saw the video of John Catsimiditis announcing he is not running for Mayor!! By saying a person can't beat an incumbent he is giving his friend and supporter of his construction projects Bill DeBlasio an assist. He is helping to scare the donor class away from contributing to anyone running against DeBlasio. A Billionaire Benedict Arnold sell out!!! (Facebook) * Bo Dietl defends spying tactics for Fox News, maintainshe was not ‘doing work for Roger Ailes’ (NYDN)
@SalAlbaneseNYC "Public apathy makes politics vulnerable to capture" An excellent column by Ganeh in @FinancialTimes with 100% accurate title
de Blasio Starts A Week of Campaign Commercials on Staten Island Uses Stand-Ins As Residences
Why the SIBP Oddo Love Socialist de Blasio?
Mayor de Blasio visits Staten Island, praises BoroughPresident James Oddo, a Republican (NYDN) * In a borough that dislikes him, deBlasio still has Jimmy Oddo (PoliticoNY)
Jim Callaghan - Bill gave Oddo's wife a judgeship. Oddo is the biggest cheerleader for the Wheel, now a year late with costs doubling from $300 to $600 million..they were friendly in the Council. Oddo quarterbacks all of the mayor's real estate deals. Did I mention patronage
Sal Albanese @SalAlbaneseNYC Staten Islanders should take a pix of DEB bc if gets reelected they'll never see him again!
The Times Continues Their Mission of Re-Electing the Mayor
For Mayor de Blasio, ‘Listening Tour’ on Staten Island Yields Action (NYT) Bill de Blasio wrapped a week spent in a borough that did not vote for him in 2013, deeming the sojourn a success in terms of what he had learned
Both the Daily News and NYP Ask Dietl to Get Out of A Very Weak Field of Mayoral Candidates
GOP Candidates for Mayor Blast de Blasio
Mayoral candidates trash de Blasio at Republican forum (NYP) “I’m running for mayor because Bill de Blasio is an Olympic-level failure,” Massey said in his opening remarks. “We’ve got record homelessness, failing schools, a housing crisis and we’re creating no jobs.” While the organizers asked for unity among the candidates, Faulkner took a number of shots at his Republican opponents — jabbing Massey for donating $4,950 to de Blasio’s 2013 mayoral campaign. “You knock Bill de Blasio but you maxed out for him the last election cycle,” Faulkner said to Massey. All four ripped de Blasio’s nearly $85 billion fiscal 2018 executive budget as bloated and they universally disagreed with his plan to shut down the Rikers Island jail house over 10 years. Faulkner called for a city-residency requirement to be housed in the shelter system to reduce abuse by out-of-towners, and said he’d even house the homeless at City Hall until the issue gets resolved. Massey offered the idea of building “a bridge, a tunnel and a subway” from Manhattan to Long Island City, Queens in order to spark economic development.* Video of the GOP Mayoral Debate
Malliotakis Moves to Run for Mayor
Staten Island Assemblywoman Plans to Run for Mayor (WSJ) Republican Nicole Malliotakis is a vocal critic of Bill de Blasio * (NYP) Staten Island lawmaker Nicole Malliotakis filed papers Tuesday with the New York State Board of Elections to launch a bid for mayor.*
Daily News Looks At Malliotakis Voting Record
Daily News Looks At Malliotakis Voting Record
NOW A CANDIDATE, A LOOK AT MALLIOTAKIS' VOTING RECORD - Daily News "Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis, a Staten Island Republican, is running for mayor. 'I think to date there's been little excitement in this race. I think that no one is really holding the mayor accountable for his policies,' Malliotakis said. 'The taxpayer in our city needs a spokesperson, and I believe I can be that person.' ... Malliotakis, meanwhile, has made waves on immigration, filing a lawsuit ... to stop Mayor de Blasio from destroying records of those who applied for the city's municipal ID card - something he sought to do to shield undocumented immigrants from deportation under President Trump. ... Unlike [Paul] Massey, [Bo] Dietl and [Michel] Faulkner, Malliotakis' candidacy will come with a voting record - including votes against policies popular citywide, like gay marriage or minimum wage hikes. She said there are many reasons she might oppose legislation beyond just policies. 'I don't think I should be judged on just my legislative record without being given the opportunity to explain why I voted a certain way,' she said. Read more here.
New Name for Mayor Pops As Massey Poor Voting Record Exposed
de Blasio Cuts Out His 2013 Camapign and Campagin for One NY Team in His 2017 Re-Election
De Blasio taps Rick Fromberg, Amelia Adams, Luis A.Miranda, Jr. for re-election campaign (NYDN) Mayor de Blasio is staffing up for his re-election bid — starting with naming Rick Fromberg, the operative he previously tapped to create City Hall's Public Engagement Unit, as campaign manager. Along with Fromberg, the campaign will announce its hiring Amelia Adams, a top aide to Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, as its political director. They're also bringing on Luis A. Miranda, Jr., the managing partner of MirRam group — and dad to “Hamilton” star Lin-Manuel Miranda — as a consultant. Fromberg most recently worked for Hillary Clinton's presidential bid, serving as her regional director for Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia. He's the latest de Blasio aide to return to the fold after a stint with Clinton — Monica Klein, a former deputy press secretary at City Hall, recently joined de Blasio's campaign as communications director after working for Clinton in Ohio. Adams, meanwhile, will be poached from Mark-Viverito's office, where she's a senior advisor. Adams has worked for Mark-Viverito, who is term-limited this year, going back to the speaker's race — when Adams was a paid consultant and de Blasio was Mark-Viverito's highest-profile booster. Prior to working for the speaker, Adams served as deputy director of New York Communities for Change, the organizing group that's a successor to ACORN. As the re-election bid's political director, she'll be tasked with "coalition-building" and citywide political outreach, according to the campaign. Miranda, who will serve as a consultant, has previously worked on Senate campaigns for Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, and assisted on de Blasio's 2009 run for public advocate. In 2016 he founded the Hamilton Campaign Network — a sister company of MirRam that consults on state and city campaigns and, of course, is named for his son's smash-hit musical. The new company separated campaign work from lobbying and communications work done by MirRam, amid scrutiny on connections between lobbying and consulting work in Albany and New York City. De Blasio's successful 2013 campaign was managed by Bill Hyers – who has continued to fiercely defend the mayor, penning op-eds blasting leaks surrounding criminal investigations into de Blasio's fundraising and mixing it up on Twitter with aides to Hizzoner's frequent foe, Gov. Cuomo. Hyers – one of the so-called "agents of the city" with whom de Blasio has refused to release his email communication under the state freedom of information law, promoting a lawsuit – also chaired the Campaign for One New York. The nonprofit could collect unlimited donations from people with business before the city and spurred most of the investigations into de Blasio and his inner circle, which led to no criminal charges.
Why is the Daily News Not Asking Why the Mayoral and All Elections in NYC are on Life Support? As They Pile on Tax Dodger Bo?
NYC mayoral candidate Bo Dietl has history of failure to pay state taxes, owes nearly $500,000 (NYDN)
In 2009 the Daily News Only Worked to Get Rid of Term Limits Now They Say Nothing When NYC's Elections System Has Become Like the Soviet Union Undemocratic Fake Elections
Mayoral Campaign Election, Democracy RIP
- POLITICO: Lack of indictments leaves little-known Democrats to battle De Blasio..
- The Mayor Is Free And Clear (To Win Reelection)
- Cloud Lifts OverNew York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Re-Election Bid (WSJ) The mayor has a clearer path to re-election after prosecutors announced they wouldn’t file charges in fundraising probes
- Biggest NYPDUnion Funding Longshot Challenger to NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio (NYO) * Dan Garodnick ‘seriously considering’ mayoral run (NYP) *
- NYC Infidel @NYC_Infidel Was the plug pulled on the twin corruption probes into Mayor de Blasio, due to the horrifying prospect of Hillary Clinton running for mayor? * BoDietl hopes to clean up NYC with showers for the homeless, vows tobeat ‘Big Bird’ mayor in election (NYDN) * Bo Dietl, former NYPD detective, officially challenges deBlasio in 2017 mayoral race (NYDN)
Third Party Gives the Mayoral Candidates A Moment But You Cannot Run for Mayor As A Group
de Blasio campaign 2017 and His National Campaign
With Over 1 Million NYC Voters Not Registered as Dem or GOP By Being A None Crony Third Pary Leader Sliwa's Reform Party Could Become Real in the General
Editorial: Cronies with benefits (TU Ed) No politician in his right mind would come out and say, "You help me get elected, and I'll give you a nice taxpayer-funded job." It not only reeks of slimy politics, but it could well get an elected official indicted. Yet this quid pro quo goes on under New Yorkers' noses every day, corruption so routine you'd almost think this must be how government is supposed to work. It isn't. New York can change it: By ending the ability of political parties to cross-endorse candidates. The practice, called fusion, allows candidates to appear on multiple ballot lines. New York is one of only eight states that allow this in all races. California allows it in presidential elections only. So we see candidates running, for example, on the Democratic and Working Families party lines, or the Republican and Conservative lines. The pairings (or triplings, quadruplings or what have you, depending on how many ballot lines a candidate can snag) don't always seem to make ideological sense; Democrats in the city of Albany sometimes appear on the Conservative line; Republicans in Rensselaer County might have a Working Families endorsement. We've seen major parties turn third parties into little more than endorsement proxies, and third parties created by major party candidates just to attract voters on a particular issue, such as the Women's Equality Party that Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo invented for the 2014 election. Defenders of this system say it can serve a publicly beneficial role. Third parties can leverage their potential votes to persuade major party candidates to adopt more liberal or conservative positions than mainstream politicians might normally include in their platforms. The problem is that this too often boils down to a less high-minded result: political favors. As the Times Union's Chris Bragg found, for example, the state Senate Republican majority's payroll is amply stocked with Independence Party officials, notably from swing districts where the Independence line — which many people mistake for a party of independents — was likely helpful to a GOP candidate. The positions include part-time jobs that come with full health benefits and few enough hours to allow those folks to hold down private sector jobs, too. And here's no surprise: New York has the largest legislative payroll in the nation, bigger even that California, which has twice New York's population. If this really is about ideology, why can't the people in these third parties field their own candidates, or fight their battles within the major parties? If it's about patronage, why should hard-working New Yorkers have to pay for it? There's a simple solution here: Change the state constitution to end this practice. Either the Legislature should do this willingly, or New Yorkers could try to make it happen through the Constitutional Convention that they'll have an opportunity to vote for in November, a chance they get to improve their government once every 20 years. We wouldn't stand for politicians who openly trade favors for votes. Why, then, do we continue to accept a system that encourages them do just that?
The WFP and Berlin Rosen Has Played Fast and Lose With the Election Law, Data and Field ArrestsMore About WFP Data and Field
With Over 1 Million NYC Voters Not Registered as Dem or GOP By Being A None Crony Third Pary Leader Sliwa's Reform Party Could Become Real in the General
NYC Mayoral Candidate Albanese Has to Go to National Radio to Present His Reform Platform
The Lobbyists and Incumbents Have Gamed Public Financing Albanese Wants to Return Public Funding Back to the Public
“Drain the Swamp?” Let’s Start at Home: Non-PartisanElections and Democracy Vouchers are the Way Forward (Rita Cosby, National Radio Blogger) In unusually coordinated and near-simultaneous announcements, federal and state prosecutors recently announced that Mayor Bill De Blasio would not face criminal corruption charges. But as every Law and Order watching New Yorker knows, that hardly means the Mayor and his cronies are innocent. In fact, the prosecutors concluded that De Blasio and others acting on his behalf solicited donations from individuals who sought official favors from the city after which the Mayor made or directed inquiries to city agencies on their behalf. Enough evidence to convict under present law? Maybe not. But hardly a vote of confidence for our Mayor -- or for our present political system. The latest De Blasio Debacle is but one symptom of New York’s sclerotic political system. This system allows entrenched politicians and political operatives to run wild and rob us of democracy through corruption. The path forward involves change – change we can count on to get us to a true democracy we can believe in.
Over A Million Voters Will Not Vote In NYC Primaries Only Half A Million Can Vote in the GOP Primaries Time for Non-Partisan Elections?
Non-Partisan Elections. New York should follow the example of other cities – yes, even we can learn something from cities like Boston, San Francisco and Seattle -- and should hold open, non-partisan elections. The New York City Charter should be amended to allow candidates for city office of any party affiliation to run in a general primary, with the top two finishers to run in a general election. The number of independent voters is growing nationally as well as in New York City. Unfortunately, the current electoral rules are designed to disenfranchise them. We need to open up elections to attract the best candidates and to enable voters to elect them.
*Democracy Vouchers. We should adopt “Democracy Vouchers” as they are called in Seattle, for example, for all city elections. These are vouchers provided by the city to each voter for $100 with $25 coupons that can be sent to the municipal candidate of their choice for participating candidates. This will stop the nonsensical fund-raising apparatus that enables the entrenched political class to control the electoral process and invites corruption. Large donors expect favors and, as has just been seen with Mayor De Blasio, they get them. It is time for this vicious cycle to end.
Catsimatidis Runs Again for Mayor? Or Will the GOP United With One Candidate? The Age of Trump Will Make It Harder for A Republican to Win
John Catsimatidis may be ready for another run at mayor (NYP) Business mogul John Catsimatidis is ramping up his team ahead of another possible run for mayor next year. The billionaire was spotted meeting with strategists and potential advisers, including longtime Gov.George Pataki adviser Rob Cole, over lunch atEmpire Steak House on Tuesday. Catsimatidis ran for New York City mayor in 2013 but lost in the Republican primary to Joe Lhota.
One Way G.O.P. Hopes to Beat de Blasio: Avoid a Primary (NYT)
GOP Mayoral Candidate Calls Press Conference on de Blasio Corrupt Daily News Goes After Him on Social Policies
Is the Press Protecting de Blasio?
"How can de Blasio think it's OK to go into debt with a law firm that frequently does business with the city?" Massey said. "No ordinary person can get legal services with no plan to pay for them."
de Blasio Like Trump Attacks the Press As Partof His 2017 Reelection
Catsimatidis Runs Again for Mayor? Or Will the GOP United With One Candidate? The Age of Trump Will Make It Harder for A Republican to Win
NYP's Goodwin Reports the Corruption Charges Made by Massey and That Dems Heavy Weights Hide From the Corrupion Investigation
De Blasio will likely win a second term — unless he faces charges (NYP) But if de Blasio skates free, those timid Dems, especially Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Letitia James, are likely to duck the race and hold onto their safe seats for four more years. In which case, de Blasio would be a heavy favorite to win a second term. That distasteful scenario reveals how bankrupt city politics are, with a mayoral indictment the only red line. It’s based on the cynical belief that voters don’t really care about ethics and that, among Dems, anything short of alleged criminal wrongdoing is good enough for New York. Thankfully, at least one candidate doesn’t agree, and has the guts to say so. Paul Massey, a Republican running with the backing of the Independence Party, believes the scandals swirling around City Hall are important enough to be part of a winning argument. He is making corruption a key plank in his case against de Blasio, and plans to run whether or not the mayor is indicted.
Massey: Mayor Works Half Days Spending Time With His Lawyers Has No Time to Fix Problems ACS Homelessness
Massey was on the steps of City Hall yesterday, raising corruption for the second time in two weeks. He calls de Blasio “part-time mayor” and says he is so busy fighting to stay out of jail that he is neglecting his day job, which explains why he can’t get a handle on homelessness, child abuse and other issues. “He’s working half-days, campaigning and spending time with his criminal-defense lawyers,” Massey told me. “We see poor kids getting killed, but no one should be surprised and it will continue until the end of year. He’s corrupt and incompetent.”
Massey: de Blasio Not Paying His Lawyers is Potentially Illegal
Catsimatidis Runs Again for Mayor? Or Will the GOP United With One Candidate? The Age of Trump Will Make It Harder for A Republican to Win
John Catsimatidis may be ready for another run at mayor (NYP) Business mogul John Catsimatidis is ramping up his team ahead of another possible run for mayor next year. The billionaire was spotted meeting with strategists and potential advisers, including longtime Gov.George Pataki adviser Rob Cole, over lunch atEmpire Steak House on Tuesday. Catsimatidis ran for New York City mayor in 2013 but lost in the Republican primary to Joe Lhota.
NYP's Goodwin Reports the Corruption Charges Made by Massey and That Dems Heavy Weights Hide From the Corrupion Investigation
Massey: Mayor Works Half Days Spending Time With His Lawyers Has No Time to Fix Problems ACS Homelessness
Massey was on the steps of City Hall yesterday, raising corruption for the second time in two weeks. He calls de Blasio “part-time mayor” and says he is so busy fighting to stay out of jail that he is neglecting his day job, which explains why he can’t get a handle on homelessness, child abuse and other issues. “He’s working half-days, campaigning and spending time with his criminal-defense lawyers,” Massey told me. “We see poor kids getting killed, but no one should be surprised and it will continue until the end of year. He’s corrupt and incompetent.”
Massey: de Blasio Not Paying His Lawyers is Potentially Illegal
Last week, Massey wrote to the state and federal prosecutors investigating the mayor to urge them to also look at de Blasio’s plan to solicit donors to pay his legal bills. The mayor concedes he has not paid a penny to his lawyers at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, despite the fact they have been sending bills for months. “No ordinary person can get legal services with no actual plan to pay for them,” Massey wrote. “This involves millions of dollars in credit extended to Bill de Blasio personally, which is potentially illegal.”
Massey: Is de Blasio Sell Favors to the Very Lawyers Who He Hired to Protect Him From Pay to Play?
He also noted that the city already is spending $11 million of taxpayer cash to pay for legal representation of mayoral aides caught up in the probes, and has said it may need $6 million more. If cases go to trial, the cost would soar into the stratosphere. Another suspicious wrinkle, as Massey noted in his letter to prosecutors, is that Kramer Levin has lobbying clients, mostly in real estate, who depend on City Hall actions. That arrangement echoes the very issue that led to the criminal investigations in the first place, that the mayor sold government favors to big donors.
Mayor's Race Whose In, Who is A Maybe
Bo Dietl to de Blasio: ‘I’m running right against you head-to-head!’ (NYP)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's middling poll numbers have provided a theoretical opening for a Democratic challenger, but it's unclear how well state Sen. Tony Avella – a Queens moderate who has caucused with Republicans – fits that bill, Politico New York reports.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's middling poll numbers have provided a theoretical opening for a Democratic challenger, but it's unclear how well state Sen. Tony Avella – a Queens moderate who has caucused with Republicans – fits that bill, Politico New York reports.
Former City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who lost the 2013 mayoral race to de Blasio, has re-emerged as an advocate for the homeless and put herself in a position, whether by accident or design, to mount a mayoral challenge next year, The New York Times writes.
Cory Booker’s protégé taking on Bill de Blasio for mayor (NYP) Josh Thompson, a 31-year-old Newark native who’s had stints promoting school choice in his hometown and in Washington, D.C. and Bridgeport, Conn, has views on the school voucher issue that are more in line with members of the Trump administration than with members of his own party.
Seven New York City Council members endorsed de Blasio for re-election on Sunday, the Daily News reports.
Cuomo did not indulge a question about whether he plans to run for president in four years, saying only he is running for re-election in 2018, the Times Union writes.
State Sen. Tony Avella launched his campaign for New York City mayor, choosing the site of a Maspeth hotel used to house the homeless to kick off his challenge to de Blasio, the Daily News reports.
Here's Who Might Run Against Bill de Blasio in 2017 — AndWho Already Is (DNAINFO)
Councilmembers "who rallied to de Blasio's side thisweekend did so with some prodding, receiving calls from...32BJ" *Politico)
Though Republicans won the White House and scored victories across the country in November, strategists in both parties say the tide is unlikely to translate into winning the New York City mayor’s race, the Journal reports.
Though Republicans won the White House and scored victories across the country in November, strategists in both parties say the tide is unlikely to translate into winning the New York City mayor’s race, the Journal reports.
What is Staten Island's role in the 2017 race for mayor?
Trump Ally Poised to Bring Populist Note to New YorkMayoral Race (WSJ) Bo Dietl is seeking to run in the Democratic primary in the 2017 campaign
* New York City Councilman Eric Ulrich, a Queens Republican who is considering running for mayor, began filming for a possible reality show on his decision-making process, The Wall Street Journal reports
Clinton vs. de Blasio for New York Mayor? Unlikely Idea Has People Talking (NYT) From political circles in New York City to cocktail parties on Capitol Hill, two of the biggest untethered threads in New York politics are being drawn together around a single question.
Aideto John Catsimatidis Doing Polling for 2017 NYC Mayoral Race (NYO)
Former NYPDdetective Bo Dietl calls de Blasio ‘corrupt,’ says cops ‘hate this mayor’ (NYDN)
Aideto John Catsimatidis Doing Polling for 2017 NYC Mayoral Race (NYO)
Former NYPDdetective Bo Dietl calls de Blasio ‘corrupt,’ says cops ‘hate this mayor’ (NYDN)
Republicans, eager to defeat de Blasio, have their ownprimary battle looming (PoliticoNY)
“If Hillary runs, I won’t”: Catsimatidis on potentialmayoral bid (Real Deal) The billionaire is still considering a run, and thinks Clinton is "50-50" on entering race
de Blasio Running Reelection Against Trump
Bill de Blasio is making 2017 about one man: Donald Trump, the Republican president who is is deeply unpopular with voters here and is an easy foil for progressive Democrats. Unfortunately for de Blasio, Trump is also the leader of the free world, and has a lot of influence on policies that impact the city de Blasio is trying to govern. Yesterday, the Trump administration released new policies aimed at deporting undocumented residents, which will directly impact cities like New York, with its large numbers of undocumented residents.
Though the NYPD said it will not cooperate with Trump's latest efforts, the truth is, federal officials can, and have, been deporting NYC residents for quite some time. As our Gloria Pazmino reported, Councilman Rory Lancman and others say the mayor can help shield residents from deportations by downgrading penalties for certain criminal offenses. Lancman says that will prevent people from getting pulled into the criminal justice apparatus to begin with, and keep them further away from deportation officials. So far, de Blasio - whose re-election also hinges on his ability to keep street crime and disorder at record lows - is resisting Lancman's call. And that tension is helping reshape de Blasio's 2017 equation. The mayor is positioning himself as someone who can not only fight Trump - from a position of strength -- but stop him. So, the question for 2017 (and beyond) is ... how?
AS WE WAIT Stringer Takes Campaign Shot at deB Says Fix Homelessness for MLK, de Blasio Says Rally Against Trump
Scott Stringer takes swing at de Blasio’s homelessness policies (NYP) Comptroller Scott Stringer, who’s mulling a run for mayor, took a sharp swipe at Mayor de Blasio Monday by telling a Harlem audience that the best way of dealing with Donald Trump is to fix the city’s numerous problems “The way you beat Trump is you solve the homeless crisis here in New York,” Stringer said during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration at Al Sharpton’s National Action Network. Stringer called for reforms to the city’s homeless policies, the removal of homeless kids from hotels that offer no social services and an increase in the number of procurement contracts going to minority firms. At one point, the comptroller led the crowd in a chant of “no procurement no peace.” Later in the program, Sharpton joked about all the politicians talking like preachers and suggested that he might make another run if the right job was open “What do you got for office this year?” Sharpton asked. For his part, de Blasio urged the crowd to join a Thursday night protest against Trump at Columbia Circle. “It’ll be our last chance to be together under the leadership of President Obama,” said the mayor.*
IF DE BLASIO IS INDICTED, STRINGER IS IN
If Bronx BP Decides to Run for Mayor He Will Be Hit On Kingsbridge Mess
Ruben Diaz cost the Bronx 1,200 jobs — and it shouldn’t ‘feel good’ (NYP) The Bronx is now entering its eighth year since Borough President Ruben Diaz killed plans for a mall at the Kingsbridge Armory that would have brought 1,200 new jobs.
Private investigator Bo Dietl’s attorney said a judge would rule against his attempt to run in the Democratic mayoral primary, and he will now run as an independent instead, the Journal reports.
de Blasio to Washington to Collect $$$ From UFT
UFT endorses de Blasio's re-election bid (PoliticsNY)
Will de Blasio buy cops’ support with an overly generous contract? (NYP Ed) Political Buzz says celebrity PI & wannabe mayor @BoDietl isn't an enrolled Democrat or Independen(ce)t due to a registration error. Woops!
Mark-Viverito doesn’t rule out running for mayor in 2017 (NYP)
New York City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito raised eyebrows when she said she plans to support de Blasio if he decides to seek re-election next year, even though de Blasio has already been running for months, the Post reports.
During a recent cocktail party a boisterous anti-de Blasio labor leader growled that Comptroller Scott Stringer (and fellow Democrats: Diaz, Adams, James) should “grow a pair [of balls]” instead of waiting for indictments to drop before declaring their intentions. One partygoer offered the scenario of Public Advocate Tish James entering the fray if Stringer runs against Mayor de Blasio. The thinking is James could capitalize on a voter split between the two men. Meanwhile, former Kings County GOP leader Craig Eaton says he’s trying to recruit food and oil magnate John Catsimatidis to run again.
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In 2013 de Blasio Went Around the Election Law With the NYCLASS PAC to Win In 2017 the Media is Covering It Own Death as de Blasio Games It, With His Own Press Operation
NYP Appeals to de Blasio's Ethics Not to Set Up His Own Press Operation, He Has None SAD, BEYOND FAKE NEWS
Shameless de Blasio’s new videos push the ethical limits (NYP Ed) You might think a guy facing as many official investigations as Mayor de Blasio would show a little, uh, humility — or maybe, at least, caution. Ha! Hizzoner is instead now busy at work stepping up efforts to promote himself as he gets set for his bid for re-election next year — and all at the expense of taxpayers. Tuesday, just hours before sending out requests for campaign donations, City Hall posted a 3 ¹/₂-minute video on Twitter featuring Broadway actors crooning about pre-K, low crime rates and affordable housing on de Blasio’s watch. That comes after he boosted his digital-production team, adding three videographers to churn out high-quality videos bragging of his accomplishments. And just in case anyone missed the mini-flick, the NYPD chimed in with a tweet, claiming: “The part about the Safest Big City in America sounded pretty good” — and offering a link to the video. Heck, even the Department of Transportation is getting its own videography unit — no doubt to promote the mayor’s flagging “Vision Zero” campaign. Let’s be honest: These are blatant campaign ads dressed up as “official” city-business communications that qualify for public funding. Who needs the mayor’s disgraced — and now shuttered — Campaign for One New York to promote the mayor and his agenda when he can get helpless taxpayers to foot the bill? Nor does de Blasio seem to care much about how his scheme looks given that CONY — the political nonprofit group he created funded by campaign donors, unions, developers and favor-seekers — is now under investigation by the FBI and US Attorney Preet Bharara. Indeed, on Wednesday, in response to criticism of the musical video, Team de Blasio doubled down: “Great voices, catchy tune, and substantive content. What’s controversial about that?” Will de Blasio ever buy a clue? Those campaign ads — er, informational media — may or may not be legal. But by pushing the ethical bounds and using taxpayer funds for self-promotion, he’s only inviting more well-justified criticism. Sure, we understand he’s worried about his re-election. But the right way to address that would have been to do a better job at running the city — not pitching himself.
More on Dark Pool Corrupt Consultant Who Will Have to Register As Lobbyists
How de Blasio and the Media Used the Sanctuary City Story to Bury the Breaking News That
de Blasio Has Been Interviewed By Manhattan DA In Connection With City Hall's Largest Corruption Investigation
Sanctuary City’ Mayors Vow to Defy Trump’s Immigration Order (NYT)City officials, from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, New Haven, Syracuse and Austin, Tex., said they were prepared for a protracted fight.
DC 37 Endorses de Blasio On the Day It Was Announced That the Mayor Was Interviews in A Criminal Investigation
de Blasio wins reelection endorsement from largest NYCworkers' union (NYDN) The largest city workers’ union is endorsing Mayor de Blasio for reelection on Thursday. DC 37, which represents 125,000 employees and another 50,000 retirees, will give the mayor its backing at an event at its Manhattan headquarters.
Beyond Spin: de Blasio's Campaign Embeds A Media Network Inside City Hall
Tax Payer Funded Campaign Ads Where is the CFB
Slick City Hallvideos touting Mayor de Blasio’s agenda strike some as taxpayer-funded campaignads (NYDN) After struggling with bad headlines all year, Mayor de Blasio is cutting out the middleman in an effort to get his message out. De Blasio, who has over the past year limited the number of times he takes questions from the press corps, has amassed an in-house communications team whose job involves pushing the mayor’s agenda on social media — often through highly produced, soft focus videos that in many cases resemble campaign ads. The number of people working on his digital crew — part of a newly formed team known as “creative communications” — now numbers at 15. That’s more than the 10 traditional press shop flacks, who deal with print, radio, and TV journalists. That office also has two graphic designers, a videographer, and photographers. One video produced earlier this month — a one-minute, 18-second clip set to music that features de Blasio lauding a Muslim cop who was allegedly harassed by bigots — was viewed more one million times.* De Blasio releases video touting 2016"accomplishments"
How Team de Blasio Plans to Bypass A Weak Press Who Mostly Support Him, to Win Re-Election
City Hall spokeswoman Andrea Hagelgans said the videos touting the mayor’s accomplishments are a “more modern way of getting the message out." John Kaehny, the executive director of the good government group Reinvent Albany, took particular issue with two videos released last month by City Hall that show the mayor denouncing President-elect Donald Trump. Both videos feature de Blasio speaking over instrumental music, shots of audience members clapping for him, and closeups of cute kids — all hallmarks of campaign commercials. “They really look like campaign ads for the mayor that are produced by city agencies,” said Kaehny. The Campaign Finance Board prohibits elected officials from appearing in any “advertisement or commercial” funded by the taxpayers in an election year, which for de Blasio starts in 2017. But City Hall said they have no plans to stop. Prior mayors had press briefings several times a week. De Blasio tends to host open press conferences once a week in which reporters can ask any question they like, although he does appear on WNYC and NY1 once a week for in-depth questioning. City Hall, however, insists that they are building up an apparatus that will be used by future mayors to talk directly to the people** De Blasio, who limits how often he takes questions from the press, has hired a team to promote his agenda on social media with videos that, in many cases, resemble campaign ads, the Daily News reports.
4 Years Later the Media is Weaker and Social Media Stronger
4 Years Later the Media is Weaker and Social Media Stronger
"My Video Was Not A Campaign Ad Because It Was Released for Free on the Internet" de Blasio Does de Blasio Believe That Trump's Free Twitter and Facebook Posts Were Not Campaign Ads?
Group demands investigation into de Blasio’s taxpayer-funded ad (NYP) A group dedicated to ousting Mayor de Blasio is demanding a city watchdog investigate a “propaganda” video produced by City Hall for possible campaign-finance violations. In a letter dated Dec. 30, NYC Deserves Better founder Bradley Tusk asked the Campaign Finance Board to examine whether the taxpayer-funded video is lawful since it looks suspiciously like a campaign ad. * Mayor de Blasio sayscriticism of the video his taxpayer-funded team created is ‘ludicrous’ (NYDN) A visibly annoyed Mayor de Blasio defended the taxpayer- funded video his team created to literally sing his praises, insisting Thursday that it wasn’t a campaign ad because he released it for free. “In any branch of government, people put out reports of all kinds,” he said. Criticism that the video is like a campaign ad, he said, is “outrageous and ludicrous.” “Ads have to be broadcast. You have to pay to get time for an ad. No one’s doing anything like that,” he said. Whether the video — which features Jenna Ushkowitz, of “Glee” fame and Broadway vet James Iglehart singing about de Blasio administration projects — is an ad or not matters because the city charter prohibits elected officials from releasing taxpayer-funded ads during an election year. De Blasio is up for reelection in 2017. De Blasio on Thursday got testy when asked why the latest video features him so prominently. “Every leader ... puts out materials talking about what they’ve done. They usually have glossy pictures of their leaders,” he said. “C’mon. This is no different.”
UFT Illegal PAC United for the Future
True News Reported 3 Weeks Ago What the NYP Wrote Today That de Blasio Brushes Off the Media Like Trump
De Blasio tries brushing off similarities to Trump in handling the media (NYP) de Blasio insisted Tuesday that his refusal to answer questions from certain reporters is completely different than Donald Trump’s boycott of selected members of the media. De Blasio claimed that when he ignores questions at press conferences, it’s for good reason. “It’s apples and oranges,” he told a Post reporter who asked how his practice differs from Trump’s. “I was very explicit that when I thought a particular outlet was running a particular strategic play that I was going to call it out — that being your outlet,” the mayor said during an unrelated press conference on school issues in Queens. De Blasio criticized Trump’s media tactics, but argued that his own refusal to answer certain questions was different. “I just can see an act that’s partisan when I see it. That being said, to say to outlets wholesale that they can’t be in the room or they can’t ask questions is ridiculous,” he said. “I’ve never practicedthat and it’s absolutely unacceptable.” De Blasio tried to lighten the mood when a New York Times reporter asked him to draw a distinction between his “propaganda” insults directed at The Post and Trump’s “fake news” claims. De Blasio declined to answer and sarcastically chided the Times reporter for interrupting.“I know the Times thinks it’s important, but I find that disrespectful,” he said. A Post reporter then asked de Blasio if singling out outlets set a dangerous precedent.De Blasio countered that it was a “personal” decision to counter what he claimed was a “vast ideological agenda.”
Cuomo Tells Trump Loss of U.S. Funds Would Hurt New York (NYT) Gov. Andrew Cuomo said after meeting with Donald Trump that his main message was that their home state relies on federal support in key areas.
Does Hillary Want to Get Involved in the Sale of NYC Public Housing, Closing of Public Hospitals, Disappearing Affordable Housing?
Contracts Given to Unions to Help Pols Get Reelected Can Cause NYC to Go Broke
Increasing Pension Costs Equal Union Support for de Blasio Re-Election
City pensions will cost taxpayers $722M over next 3 years (NYP) Meanwhile, the updated plan increases spending in the current city budget, which was introduced in June, by a whopping $1.3 billion, to $83.5 billion. De Blasio nabs key endorsement from service workers union (NYP) Mayor de Blasio won an endorsement from one of the city’s most powerful unions Thursday — a development that’s sure to give fellow Democrats pause when considering a primary challenge. The nod from 32BJ SEIU, the service workers union which boasts a membership of 75,000 in the city, comes on the heels of endorsements from the sanitation and retail workers’ unions. “He’s rolling out really early to scare off political rivals,” said College of Staten Island Prof. Richard Flanagan. “Yeah — lock [endorsements] up early and hope the scandals dry up.” * In a head-to-head match-up, 34 percent of registered voters in New York City said they would vote to re-elect Mayor Bill de Blasio, more than twice the amount of his nearest rival, City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Politico New York reports.
b
Mayor de Blasio Vows to Shield New Yorkers From Trump’s Policies (NYT)
How the NY Times Protects de Blasio
Nobody Ever Lost An Election In NYC by Underestimating How Dumb and Easy Distracted the City Voters Are
New Yorkers Tell de Blasio Fix NYC's Problems Stay Away From National Politics
Nobody Ever Lost An Election In NYC by Underestimating How Dumb and Easy Distracted the City Voters Are
How de Blasio’s quest for the spotlight may end up backfiring (NYP) Mayor de Blasio wants to become America’s leading leftist voice by using a Trump administration as a foil, but the effort could hurt his bid to return to City Hall next year. Hizzoner sent a fundraising email to supporters Sunday promising to “stand up” to attempts to deport people or take away their health insurance and wrote in a defiant Facebook post Wednesday that “the federal government can’t tell us how to police our streets.” Hours later he met with President-elect Trump and afterward held a press conference where he said New Yorkers are “fearful” of a Trump presidency. “He got an hour with Trump and told him, ‘Don’t do this’ and I think all this helps his re-election and takes the thunder out of opponents,” one Democratic consultant close to the mayor said. “He’s smart about looking like he’s going to seize anti-Trump sentiment.” On Friday de Blasio compared himself to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and vowed to “draw a line in the sand” whenever he disagreed with Trump’s policies. “Anything we see as divisive, anything we see as bigotry, undermining core, American, Constitutional values, we have to fight intensely,” de Blasio told WNYC’s Brian Lehrer. His forays into national politics didn’t go smoothly during the presidential campaign, when the mayor refused to endorse Hillary Clinton for months even though he worked on her 2000 Senate campaign. He was ridiculed by the Clinton camp in leaked emails, and relegated to a minor role in the presidential campaign. The mayor has an enormous opportunity to stand up on behalf of New Yorkers and our values. Lots of New Yorkers are afraid of Trump and the mayor can be their voice,” said political consultant Howard Wolfson, who advised Mayor Bloomberg and served on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign team. De Blasio’s approval ratings inched upward to 47 percent in November from 42 percent in August in a Quinnipiac University poll out Wednesday.* Melissa Mark-Viverito leads 500 protesters to Trump Tower (NYP) * Gay Queens pol marches with hundreds to Trump Tower toshow their borough doesn't align with the President-elect's hateful speak (NYDN) Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) joined about 500 Queens residents to march across the Queensboro Bridge to let President-elect Donald Trump know his hateful rhetoric isn’t indicative of his native borough’s values.* Ex-Mayor DavidDinkins, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to endorse de Blasio forreelection (NYDN) * Cuomo creating statewide anti-hate crime force (NYP) * Cuomo announces a host of initiatives to combat hatecrimes and protect civil rights (NYDN) * Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced plans to create a new hate-crimes unit in the state police and legal assistance for immigrants targeted for deportation or discrimination in response to reported racial incidents since the election, the Journal writes.
New Yorkers Tell de Blasio Fix NYC's Problems Stay Away From National Politics
Critics: De Blasio Focuses Too Much On Trump, Not Enough On City (WCBS) As CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, some constituents said de Blasio
de Blasio Using Trump Fear to Distract From His Criminal Investigations Like He Used the Prop Arresting Protesting LICH Closing in 2013
Mayor de Blasio’sPolitical Standing Improves After Trump Win, but Perils Remain (NYT) In Mayor Bill de Blasio’s view, the election of Donald J. Trump was an almost apocalyptic upset: worrisome for immigrants, demoralizing for advocates of the poor and disastrous for just about all of New York — but not necessarily so for Mr. de Blasio. As he seeks re-election in 2017, the mayor is trying to emerge from the chaos of the postelection period as the strongest messenger of Democratic Party resistance, a crowded field of left-of-center leaders that includes Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont as well as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, the mayor’s chief Democratic rival in New York. At union halls, in front of Trump Tower and in City Hall, Mr. de Blasio has forcefully presented himself as a defender of the city’s working people and minorities, who he has said are “fearful” of a Trump presidency. He is expected to give what aides described as a major speech on Monday about the election’s impact on the city. “Trump gives de Blasio something positive to talk about in the sense of being an oppositional force,” said Bradley Tusk, a former adviser to Michael R. Bloomberg who has been seeking challengers to the mayor. “But at the end of the day, re-elections, especially municipal elections, are referendums on the incumbent. Do we think he was a good mayor, or do we not think he was a good mayor?”
Tuesday de Blasio Still Boycotting Press, Hiring Campaign Workers, Clinton
De Blasio still avoiding most media outlets after tantrum (NYP) — skipping the usual press gaggles before ending the march by granting exclusive interviews to just two media outlets. There, he met reporters from NBC and NY1. It was later revealed that de Blasio also spoke to two Italian media outlets during the parade — but no one else. A spokesman said the mayor decided against giving all reporters access to avoid a “crazy scrum.” WORKERS Now Hiring: Under de Blasio, New York’s Government Grows to Record Level (NYT) The growth in full-time staffing has worried some budget experts, who fear a lack of fiscal discipline at City Hall, and greater pension obligations down the road.* De Blasio Says16,000 New City Employees Is ‘Best Money Spent’ (NYO)
de Blasio on Clinton Leaked email shows de Blasio criticized Clinton during debate (NYP) * Latest Podesta Emails Reveal a Servile de Blasio Eager to Please Clinton Campaign (NYO)* WikiLeaks Emails Show Mayor de Blasio Venting at and Appealing to Clinton Campaign (NYT) The release of a second batch of John D. Podesta’s emails shows Bill de Blasio urging the campaign to engage left-wing Democrats.* The second leak of Hillary Clinton Campaign Chair John Podesta’s emails shows New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was determined to offer himself as a Clinton cheerleader pushing the campaign to engage the Democratic Party’s left wing, The New York Times reports. * Leaked Emails Between de Blasio and Clinton Campaign Show a Complicated Relationship of Candidate and Former Confidante (NY1) For days, hacked emails to and from Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, John Podesta, have been dripping out on the Wikileaks website — among other things, the emails are giving us some insight into the relationship between the Clinton campaign and Mayor de Blasio, who publicly played coy about endorsing her for six months * Two @HillaryClinton campaign aides referred mockingly to @BilldeBlasio in internal emails as a "terrorist" * WikiLeaks Emails Show Mayor de Blasio Venting at and Appealing to Clinton Campaign (NYT) * .@HillaryClinton aides mocked'terrorist' @BilldeBlasio's public flirtation with @BernieSanders * Mayor says "heat of battle"caused Clinton camp to call him a "terrorist" for delayingendorsement: (DNAINFO)
Sal Albanese @SalAlbaneseNYC Wiki emails show HRC campaign treating DEB like a nuisance 2 humor & his silly "forum" as an event they had no intention of participating in
de Blasio Raises Money Off of Trump Win Has Anyone Seen the Mayor Marching Against?
De Blasio asks shocked New Yorkers for money after Trump’s victory (NYP) Mayor de Blasio plans on riding Donald Trump’s suprise presidential victory — all the way to the bank. De Blasio sent an email to supporters Sunday morning playing up New Yorkers’ fears of a Trump presidency and vowing to “stand up to any attempt to deport people in our city, take away health insurance from the poorest among us, or undermine the reproductive rights of women” — all while asking for a donation to his re-election campaign next year. “While [Trump] only received small pockets of support in New York City, much of it came from people who are prepared to spend a lot of money to defeat us next year,” De Blasio wrote in his email. “And if this election taught us anything, it’s that we must be prepared for everything.” “So that’s why I need to ask,” he continued. “Make a $3 contribution to our re-election campaign as a way of saying you are more committed than ever to fight to protect the values we share.” The email was sent from the mayor’s campaign account and includes a link to make contributions as high as $1,000 directly to his 2017 re-election campaign. Gov. Cuomo made a similar fundraising appeal to stand up for New Yorkers against Trump Saturday morning in an email to supporters, but disabled a link to the state Democratic Party’s campaign account hours later after Post inquiries. But he already promised to protect undocumented immigrants who could face deportation under a Trump presidency. On Wednesday he pledged he would not fork over data to the feds from the city’s IDNYC program, a free identification card immigrants can receive regardless of status.
Trump has ridiculed the mayor as “one of the most incompetent men” and the “single worst mayor in the history of New York City,” in a July sit-down with The Post.
Long Political Operatives Who Want to Run for Mayor
Ex-Bloombergstrategist weighs mayoral run against de Blasio (NYP) A top political strategist for former Mayor Mike Bloomberg is considering challenging Mayor de Blasio in next November’s election, according to sources briefed on the matter. Kevin Sheekey, who heads global communications at financial news giant Bloomberg LP, has yet to begin any campaign fundraising. But the Manhattan Democrat has confided to allies that he’s interested in becoming mayor and potentially challenging de Blasio in the 2017 Democratic primary. Sheekey stirred speculation Friday after posting a “Kevin Sheekey for Mayor” button on his Twitter account, thus causing some followers to question whether the former deputy mayor was joking or being serious. He could not be reached for * John Catsimatidis is considering running for mayor again Business mogul John Catsimatidis is considering another run for mayor next year — or even challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2018. “I have one more race left in me,” Catsimatidis, 68,...
More on Campaign 2017
Anti de Blasio Uber Lobbyists Tusk Forms New Group to Runs Attack Ads Against the Mayor
Anti-de Blasio group to run attack ads over his $5M in legal fees (NYP) An anti-Mayor de Blasio group will launch a new ad campaign Monday targeting Hizzoner for spending $5.4 million in legal fees defending himself in a corruption inquiry. The Internet ads, created by former Mayor Bloomberg aide Bradley Tusk, say the mayor has spent millions in taxpayer money to “defend himself against corruption investigations” while proposing alternatives for the expenditure, including 120 child welfare workers, 126 new cops, and 104 new teachers. The ads will run for several weeks on New York news websites, said Patrick Muncie, a consultant for Tusk Strategies, the consultant who helped the ex-Bloomberg staffer create them. Tusk’s firm hopes to throw its weight behind a 2017 challenger for mayor. De Blasio had been fighting as many as eight active corruption investigations this year from at least five different governmental authorities. Federal investigators are focusing on whether donors received favorable city decisions or contracts in exchange for giving money to de Blasio’s mayoral campaign and nonprofit, Campaign for One New York. The mayor has raised $2.2 million and spent $565,000 on his re-election campaign through July according to city campaign finance records.
Will de Blasio Make Corruption History by Being the First Mayor Indicted?
And so it goes. Covering the de Blasio administration is like throwing darts at a wall covered with party balloons: Just about every toss, something’s going to pop. There’s the police-corruption scandal; the campaign-donation probe; the not-for-profit solicitation outrage; and just now The Post reports that de Blasio has stocked his personal staff with 264 taxpayer-funded “special advisers” — that is, operatives who shortly will peel off and kick-start his 2017 re-election campaign. Your cost: $18.7 million a year. (How many child-welfare case workers might that buy?) Now, The Post didn’t discover all of this. But it did its share — and it didn’t stint on the drama along the way. This is very much in a New York newspaper tradition that stretches back to the 1734 criminal libel trial of John Peter Zenger and his New York Weekly Journal — another “rag” that delighted in vexing pompous, sometimes duplicitous politicians. Zenger beat the rap, of course, establishing the basis for the First Amendment to the US Constitution and setting a precedent that most New York politicians have respected ever since: Newspapers have a right to publish just about anything they damned well please. Even when they are, in Bill de Blasio’s view, an “ideological apparatus” that constitutes “a very negative presence in our city.”
de Blasio Running the City Out of His Lawyers Office
de Blasio Running the City Out of His Lawyers Office
Mr. de Blasio has spent considerable time lately at the Midtown law offices of Barry Berke, who is representing the mayor in the investigations. He has sometimes even done other business from there. The campaign’s fundraising strategy—to solicit low-dollar contributions—was created, in part, because of the investigations. The campaign is trying to show it has deep, community support and wants to be careful not to be seen as too close to lobbyists.
Bo Going After de at Least in A Newspaper Story
Bo Dietl will run against de Blasio for mayor in 2017(NYP) His platform; to clear the streets of homeless people who have turned the city into a “giant toilet bowl,” to personally drive a bulldozer to take out bike lanes, and free cops so they can go after even petty crooks who openly sell and shoot up drugs in Washington Square Park and elsewhere. He says he declared his intention directly to the mayor last Saturday while riding on a friend’s boat in Sag Harbor. * 'YOU’RE DESTORYING THIS CITY': Bo Deitl mulls challenge against 'Big Bird' Mayor de Blasio (NYDN) * The Coalition for the Homeless found a shortage of supportive housing has helped drive homelessness for single adults to record highs and blames Cuomo for his failure to follow through on a pledge to create 20,000 such units, the Daily News writes.
Stringer Stuck In Status Quo Time Warp
Punches That Don't Land
Will Need An Assist From Bharara to Become Mayor
* A new poll from the Journal, NBC 4 New York and Marist shows that de Blasio’s positive job-performance rating inched up to 40 percent, and he holds a substantial lead in a crowded field of potential Democratic rivals, the Journal reports.
Bo Does Not Understand That It Is the UnDemocratic NYS Election Law That Is Preventing Him From Running for Mayor No BOE or deB
Bo Does Not Understand That It Is the UnDemocratic NYS Election Law That Is Preventing Him From Running for Mayor No BOE or deB
Bo Dietl claims de Blasio sabotaged his mayoral bid (NYP) Former NYPD detective Bo Dietl is threatening to sue the city Board of Elections for thwarting his attempt to register as a Democrat in time for a mayoral primary — and blames Mayor de Blasio for the ballot-busting move. Dietl announced in August he would challenge de Blasio but can’t run in the Democratic primary because he made a mistake on his voter forms, checking boxes for both the Democratic and Independence parties. Dietl sent his form to the board in August when he switched his voter registration from Nassau County to Manhattan. The error canceled out his party registration and invalidated his form, making it impossible for him to run in the Democratic primary. Dietl said he marked both boxes because he had conversations with Independence Party leaders and wanted their endorsement. “I’m a Democrat in my heart but I wanted the Independence party line so I checked the Democratic and Independence lines,” he explained. “I didn’t know it was wrong.” Dietl’s lawyers noticed the blunder and called the Board of Elections, which sent him a blank affidavit on Nov. 30 in order to sort out his party affiliation. But election commissioners told Dietl Wednesday that state law prohibited them from changing his voter forms because he had registered for a different political party within the past five years. “He signed that the was enrolled in the Republican Party in Nassau County for all five years,” Board of Elections spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez said. “Based on that alone the correction of enrollment was denied.” Dietl and his attorneys are filing a challenge with the state Supreme Court this month to fix the mistake. He called the board’s decision “mysterious” and said de Blasio was “interfering” with his registration. “There’s something going on behind the scenes,” he said. “Somebody is afraid of me getting on the ballot.” A Board of Elections spokeswoman said no one from City Hall inquired about Dietl’s case. A de Blasio spokesman called Dietl’s accusation “absurd.”
de Blasio 2014 to 2017 Vs More de Blasio State of the City Campaign Promises Real Problem Cover-Up
Mayor de Blasio touts the good, pledges job creation, andignores his problems in State of the City address (NYDN) In his fourth State of the City address, de Blasio stood on the stage of the historic Apollo Theater, touting three years of accomplishments but saying little about several perplexing issues that have left him vulnerable to attack from both the left and right. Little was said, for instance, about the city’s rising homeless shelter census or the bureaucratic bungling at his child welfare agency. Nor did he mention the $11.6 million taxpayers have shelled out for lawyers representing city workers in the ongoing probes. Instead, he admitted that his push for more affordable housing was not enough unless New Yorkers were making enough to pay the rent. With that in mind, he made a bold new promise to create 100,000 “good-paying” jobs by 2027, including 40,000 within the next four years. What wasn’t said seemed to overshadow what was. The mayor was elected complaining about his predecessor’s inability to provide permanent housing for the homeless, but he has found himself struggling in vain to reverse the steady rise in the city’s homeless shelter population. When he arrived at City Hall, the shelter population hovered around 53,000. As of Sunday, it had reached a record 60,111. Meanwhile, de Blasio has been stuck placing families in fleabag hotels and decrepit apartments known as “cluster housing,” where two tots were recently scalded to death by a busted radiator. The mayor said absolutely nothing on another major headache — a series of revelations about his dysfunctional child welfare agency, the Administration for Children’s Services. ACS’s involvement with families of children who were seriously injured or killed exposed serious shortcomings in this agency’s ability to protect children, with more bad news expected in the coming weeks from an ongoing city Department of Investigation probe. ACS Commissioner Gladys Carrion resigned in the middle of heightened criticism after stating, “We can’t protect all of them.” Since she left Feb. 3, the agency has been run by an acting commissioner while de Blasio searches for a permanent replacement.
de Blasio 2014 to 2017 Vs More de Blasio State of the City Campaign Promises Real Problem Cover-Up
What Happens to the 2013 Campaign Promise to Keep A Hospital Open, Solve Homelessness, Child Abuse and Solve the Affordable Housing Crisis?
Corruption Mayoral Politics Stringer Talks to Consultants Too Much Needs to Too Do What He Things is Right
“Stringer…prvtly told consultants...whether anyone is indicted has significant sway over whether heruns” (WSJ) “It goes without saying that if de Blasio gets indicted, everyone is going to run. The real political question is what if only staff gets indicted, and then what staff?” said Bradley Tusk, a political consultant and Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s 2009 campaign manager, who is trying to find an opponent to unseat Mr. de Blasio. He said opponents would be much harder to attract without indictments. City Comptroller Scott Stringer, a Democrat, has privately told consultants and others that whether anyone is indicted has significant sway over whether he runs, people familiar with those discussions said. Mr. Stringer has said he wants to be ready to announce by the end of the year, but isn’t committed and is less likely to run if no one is charged, they said. Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., another Democrat, also has expressed an interest in running but remains unsure if Mr. de Blasio is beatable, a person familiar with the matter said, and believes his chance at being competitive hinges in part on the investigations.
Post's McManus Reports That de Blasio Lost With Less Than 20% of New Yorkers Voting But Does Not Explain Why Voting Numbers Shrinking
Or maybe not so bewildering. Bill de Blasio esteems himself to a degree not remotely commensurate with his accomplishments. He viewed his election as a personal affirmation, and as a rocketship ride to national prominence. But in fact it merely reflected the non-participation ethic that informs New York politics these days. That is, winning 70 percent of the vote in an election where scarcely 20 percent of the electorate turns out is not a mandate, it is a starting point. A wiser mayor would have understood this, and set about building a base.
What Do You Do When Facing 7 Federal Investigations Leave Town
de Blasio Runs A Political City Hall
Allies of Bronx Borough President Wonder if Politics Played Role in Lack of Funding for Orchard Beach Pavilion Repairs(NY1) *Mayor de Blasio fast-tracks renovation of Orchard Beach’s landmark bath house, thanks in part to Daily Newser(NYDN) * Let Orchard Beach bloom with a big investment by Mayor de Blasio(NYDN Ed) * PAY FOR MAY(OR): Cuomo is doling out big bucks in the Bronx, perhaps signaling he wants borough prez Ruben Diaz to start mayoral run (NYDN)
Allies of Bronx Borough President Wonder if Politics Played Role in Lack of Funding for Orchard Beach Pavilion Repairs(NY1) *Mayor de Blasio fast-tracks renovation of Orchard Beach’s landmark bath house, thanks in part to Daily Newser(NYDN) * Let Orchard Beach bloom with a big investment by Mayor de Blasio(NYDN Ed) * PAY FOR MAY(OR): Cuomo is doling out big bucks in the Bronx, perhaps signaling he wants borough prez Ruben Diaz to start mayoral run (NYDN)
The CFB Should Deny de Blasio’s 2017 Matching Funds Just Like They Did In 2013 for John Liu Mayoral Campaign
The
Campaign Finance Board must rule that the mayor’s Campaign for One NY
PAC was set up to re-elect the mayor in 2017. Once they rule that the
PAC was a de Blasio illegal campaign tool and must deny the mayor CFB
matching funds like they did in 2013 to John Liu for Illegal Campaign
Activity. Be Confident that All the Candidates Running Against the Mayor
Will Demand the CFB Does Not Give Any Matching Funds to de Blasio
John Liu Gets 'DeathPenalty' From Campaign Finance Board (DNAIFO Aug 5th
2013) The New York City Campaign Finance Board unanimously decided not
to award Comptroller John Liu’s mayoral campaign millions in public
funding on Monday, over what it said were pervasive questions about the
campaign’s fundraising practices. The board’s decision dealt a
significant blow to a mayoral campaign that has struggled to overcome a
federal investigation and trial over its fundraising practices, even as
the candidate has maintained his innocence and no charges have been
filed against him. “[T]here is reason to believe that violations of the
[campaign finance laws] and Board rules have been committed by his
campaign,” Rev. Joseph Parkes, the board’s chair, said, reading from a
statement. “The evidence suggests that the potential violations are
serious and pervasive across the campaign’s fundraising.” In May, two
Liu campaign staffers were convicted in Manhattan Federal Court of
attempted wire fraud after an undercover FBI operation caught them
trying to skirt campaign finance laws. Connor testified to the board
that the Liu campaign had returned 35 donations and maintained that Liu
and his campaign knew nothing of the violations.
de Blasio Approval Poll Numbers Fall 10% Since Feburary Approval Down to 35%
Diaz for Mayor Move? Endorses Wright for Congress
Laying
the groundwork for a possible mayoral run in 2017, Bronx Borough
President Ruben Diaz Jr. plans to endorse Assemblyman Keith Wright, who
is also the Manhattan Democratic Party chairman, to succeed Rep. Charles
Rangel, the Post reports:
Sharpton Crashes Mayoral Hopefuls Power Breakfast
Al Sharpton crashes mayoral hopefuls’ power breakfast (NYP) Real estate developer Don Peebles and city Comptroller Scott Stringer had a power breakfast at the Regency on Monday, which piqued the interest of fellow diner the Rev. Al Sharpton at a nearby table. When he spotted the pair, who are both considered potential challengers to Mayor de Blasio in his re-election bid, “Sharpton walked over to their table to say hello, and joked that some might view their ‘secret meeting’ as a plot to take down de Blasio,” a spy said. Peebles, who’s reportedly worth $700 million, told The Post in August he’s giving serious thought to a run, saying, “I was a political supporter of [de Blasio] . . . I’ve lost confidence in him. It would be irresponsible of me to do nothing.” * De Blasio's affordable housing plan for East N.Y. is not affordable, according to report by Scott Stringer (NYDN)
de Blasio Approval Poll Numbers Fall 10% Since Feburary
De Blasio's Approval Numbers Drop 10 Points from February, According to NY1/Baruch College Poll
(NY1)Mayor Bill de Blasio's approval rating is taking a nosedive in the
city as a growing scandal threatens to engulf his administration and
the NYPD, according to our exclusive NY1/Baruch College poll, which also
shows Governor Andrew Cuomo faring much better statewide Mayor Bill de
Blasio's poll numbers are suffering. His approval rating dropped 10
points from February to 48 percent. 31 percent of city voters say they
disapprove of the job he's doing, and 19 percent say they are not sure.* De Blasio's poll numbers
are suffering, according to an NY1/Baruch College poll, with his
approval rating dropping 10 points from February to 48 percent and 31
percent of city voters disapproving of the job he's doing:* De Blasio’s
approval rating dropped 10 percentage points from February to 48
percent, with 31 percent of city voters saying they disapprove of the
job he’s doing, and 19 percent say they are not sure, according to a NY1/Baruch College poll.
Diaz Teases Mayor Race While Trying to Keep His Kingbridge Plan Alive
In his annual state of the borough address, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz hinted at a possible run for mayor. * As deadline nears, fate of Kingsbridge development unclear (PoliticoNY)
On Wednesday True News Said de Blasio Increase in the Polls Was Because of the Weakness of His Opponents
Wednesday's True News
de Blasio's Poll Numbers 5 Point Increase Represent the Weakness of His Opponents Than His Strengths
In the Era of Trump and Sanders Where is NYC's Real Populist
A Quinnipiac poll found Mayor Bill de Blasio’s approval rating ticked up amid his concerted effort to convey a more forceful public image, and he now receives positive marks from half of New York City voters, The New York Timesreports: New Yorkers Fed Up With Mayor's Handling of Homeless New Yorkers are fed up with De Blasio’s handling of homeless (NYP) New Yorkers aren’t convinced Mayor de Blasio is doing enough to tackle homelessness, with 73 percent saying the city should do more, according to a poll released Wednesday. * De Blasio is doing better than Cuomo handling homeless: poll(NYP)
Thirty-three percent sided with de Blasio on the issue, while 28 percent favored Cuomo. When the voters were asked whose views were closer to their own, 30 percent picked de Blasio and 25 percent selected Cuomo. That was a turnaround from the last time Quinnipiacasked the question in September, when Cuomo got 28 percent and de Blasio 15.
Cox Pushes Ulrick for Mayor - No Word from Catsimtidis
New York City Councilman Eric Ulrich, a Republican from Queens , is considering challenging de Blasio next year, according to at least three GOP leaders, including state chairman Ed Cox, the Post reports: * 2017 CHATTER -- 30-year-old Eric Ulrich as the Republicanchallenger? -- Post "A young Republican lawmaker from Queens is considering challenging Mayor de Blasio next year, The Post has learned. City Councilman Erich Ulrich, 30, is being encouraged to enter the race by GOP leaders, including state chairman Ed Cox, Queens leader Bob Turner and Joe Lhota, the 2013 party standard bearer who lost to de Blasio. All three said Ulrich is interested. The councilman was first elected in 2009 ... Turner said Ulrich can invigorate the GOP while also connecting with outer-borough Democrats turned off by de Blasio's left-leaning policies. 'We need a dramatic, different direction and Eric provides that,' Turney said. Ulrich, who turns 31 on Feb. 13, declined to comment."* State Republican Chairman Ed Cox announced this year’s State Republican Convention to select its candidate to challenge U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer and discuss the April presidential primary will be held in Buffalo, the Times Union reports:
de Blasio Gets $$$ Ready Include Slush Fund for 2017 From Special Interests
DE BLASIO COMMITTEE RAISES $485K FROM FOUR DONORS - POLITICO New York The Campaign For One New York, the political advocacy group Mayor Bill de Blasio created in December 2013 to advance his political agenda, has raised $485,009 from just four donors since July of 2015, according to disclosures voluntarily released to reporters. The single largest donor to the group over the last six months was the Fund For Policy Reform, Inc., a nonprofit founded by Democratic mega-donor George Soros. The Fund gave $250,000 in mid-November this year, after contributing the same amount during the previous six-month filing period. The Campaign for One New York also took in $200,000 from UNITE HERE, a national labor union representing hotel workers and textile industry employees, which made its donation on November 23 of 2015. -- DE BLASIO CAMPAIGN RAISED $1.06 MILLION IN SIX MONTHS - POLITICO New York's Laura Nahmias: Mayor Bill de Blasio's 2017 re-election campaign raised $1,065,908 over the last six months, campaign finance disclosures released Friday afternoon show- The mayor's campaign, whichspent $218,422 during the six-month period, reported $847,486 in cash on hand.The 2017 campaign cycle has yet to begin in earnest, and no challengers have formally declared their intention to run against de Blasio in either the Democratic primary or the general election, According to the filing, $1.03 million of de Blasio's donations came from 460 individual donors, including some familiar names from the worlds of real estate, lobbying and business - DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Forest City Ratner chairman BruceRatner and the company's CEO MaryAnne Gilmartin, and New York Yankees president Randy Levine. \ -- "De Blasio Flush With 'Campaign' Cash" -- WNYC'
Cuomo's Alliance for Mayor Attacks de Blasio from the Left
Alliance of 2 de Blasio Critics Fosters Speculation About MayoralChallenge (NYT) They stood side by side, two Democratic leaders deploring the plague of gun violence. But the event, a news conference on the steps of City Hall, was notable for more than its subject matter. With their joint appearance on Monday, Representative Hakeem Jeffries of Brooklyn and Scott M. Stringer, the New York City comptroller, gave vivid proof of an alliance that has helped make them the most fearsome potential Democratic rivals for Mayor Bill de Blasio’s re-election in 2017. The two Democrats have publicly disavowed any active plans to run against Mr. de Blasio in a primary election, even as they have emerged as two of his most consequential critics on the left. In separate interviews, Mr. Stringer and Mr. Jeffries said they were focused on their current jobs. But in private, they have acknowledged to each other the speculation that has enveloped them during the rocky first half of Mr. de Blasio’s term.* Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, of Brooklyn, and NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer have publicly disavowed any active plans to run against de Blasio in a 2017 primary election, even as they have emerged as two of his most consequential critics on the left.
Ex-con using Eric Adams ties to push youth program’s bogus claims (NYP) An ex-con is using his close ties to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams to reinvent himself as a bishop overseeing youth mentorship programs — but he hasn’t left all his troubling behavior behind, according to records and associates. Lamor Whitehead, founder of Leaders of Tomorrow Brooklyn, has appeared at more than a dozen high-profile events with Adams since his five-year stint at Sing Sing, where he served time on multiple counts of identity fraud and grand larceny before his release in July 2013. Whitehead has used the public spotlight with Adams to tout his group’s mentorship programs and raise funds, including before he registered it as a for-profit business in March 2014. But a number of Whitehead’s public claims about the group have been refuted, including by law-enforcement agencies. The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office sent Whitehead a cease-and-desist letter in November 2014 after he promoted a collaborative justice initiative with the DA’s office that didn’t exist. The NYPD and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce also countered claims by Whitehead that they were partnering with his group on specific initiatives.
NYP's Boss Lobbyists Arzt Fixing Election, Trying to Free Up PA for Bronx BP, If James Winds Up As Brooklyn DA
Stringer and Jeffries Gun Fight With de Blasio
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is slated to unveil today plans for a court in Brooklyn dedicated to handling gun crimes as well as a 200-officer police division to focus on firearm violence, The New York Times reports: * New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer and U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries urged de Blasio to use the city’s purchasing power to push manufacturers into making safer “smart guns” by putting them on the NYPD’s approved firearm list, the Daily News reports: * Seeking to quell stubbornly persistent gun-related violence in New York City, de Blasiotoday will unveil a new system for handling such cases, creating a dedicated gun court in Brooklyn and a 200-officer police division focused on gun crime.
How de Blasio Buys Union Support With Trick Health Care Goal Givebacks Numbers Games
Campaign 2017 Reward Your Union Supporters With New School Guard Members
The politically potent Orthodox Jewish community has lobbied and won on a number of issues with the de Blasio administration, and leaders are satisfied with compromises despite their social conservatism
Union with de Blasio ties cashing in on school guard requirement (NYP) Private school students won’t be the only ones who benefit when the city starts posting security guards in their buildings — so will a powerful union with ties to Mayor de Blasio and City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. Records show that Local 32BJ SEIU, the 145,000-strong building service workers union, played a key role in lobbying for legislation requiring that the city provide guards at private and parochial schools, at an estimated cost of $20 million a year. According to insiders, the union intends to sign up the new guards as members, muscling in on the territory of Teamsters Local
De Blasio has given much to NYC's powerful Orthodox Jews,but critics say he's only pandering for votes. (WSJ) Last summer, Mr. de Blasio added funding to a voucher program largely used by Orthodox parents for after-school child care. Earlier in 2015, his administration oversaw changes to city rules on a circumcision policy that many Orthodox opposed. In 2014, he made it easier for parents with special-needs children to enroll them in private schools at city expense, a change eagerly sought by the Orthodox. Rabbi David Niederman, director of the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and North Brooklyn , said his community received more attention from the de Blasio administration than from Mayor Michael Bloomberg. “We were basically ignored then,” said Mr. Niederman, an influential Orthodox Jewish leader who broke with the Bloomberg administration over the circumcision policy. Mr. Niederman, who said he had a relationship with Mr. de Blasio dating to the mayor’s years as a City Council member and as the city’s Public Advocate, said his community of about 100,000 in Williamsburg would largely vote for the mayor’s re-election. * 32BJ SEIU played a key role in lobbying for legislation requiring that New York City provide guards at private and parochial schools as the union intends to sign up the new guards as members, the Post reports:
NYP Which Has Been Pushing Jeffries for Mayor Now Says He Is Not Running
Cuomo’s pick for mayor has doubts running against De Blasio (NYP) U S REP. Hakeem Jeffries, Gov. Cuomo’s choice to oust Mayor de Blasio, is having doubts about entering the race, as Democratic unhappiness over Cuomo’s “belittling’’ of the mayor grows, senior Democrats have told The Post. Jeffries, whom Cuomo has encouraged directly and through intermediaries to challenge de Blasio in the 2017 primary, “is having second thoughts about running, and has begun resisting Cuomo,’’ a prominent Democratic activist with strong party ties told Dicker at The Post.* Astorino Joins de Blasio-Cuomo Feud (YNN)
NYP Led the Campaign for Jeffries for Mayor
Cuomo to appear at fundraiser for potential de Blasio challenger (Oct 14, 2015, NYP)
Possible challenger blasts de Blasio’s out-of-town travels (Oct 13, 2015 NYP)
Possible de Blasio challenger endorses Hillary for president (Oct 13, 2015 NYP)
De Blasio in panic mode over potential 2017 opponent (Oct 6, 2015, NYP
Democratic mayoral candidates unify to support tougher gun laws (Oct 27, 2015 NYP)
Nobody Asked Me But
The mayor said it was “downright crazy” to ask whether he would be endorsing Cuomo’s re-election campaign in 2018 because there were several election cycles before 2018, but said that he was a “loyal Democrat,” the Post reports:
Better Question to the Mayor: Are You Happy and Proud of Your 2014 Endorsement of Cuomo?
The Real Tale of Two City's: Poll Whites Hate de Blasio Black and Hispanic Still Hanging In
Cuomo To Premature to Endorse Mayor
de Blasio Poll Sinking, But No Strong Opponent Disapprove Handing of City
Where are the NYCHA Protesters? The Protesters Against Gentrification? Closing Hospitals? High Crime Neighbors?
Anti horse carriage protesters also here outside @deBlasioNYC 's fundraiser
Protesters blast de Blasio at $1M Midtown fund-raiser (NYP)* OPPOSING FORCES: Black Lives Matter, animal rights activists picket de Blasio’s first 2017 re-election fund-raiser at Midtown hotel (NYDN) * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio held his first fundraiser for his 2017 re-election bid at the Sheraton Times Square, where he raised $1 million, while protesters gathered on the sidewalk outside the hotel,the Daily News reports: * Critics clamored for attention and clashed with security last night as campaign donors kicked off de Blasio’s first fund-raiser for his 2017 re-election bid at a swanky midtownManhattan hotel. The mayor raised $1 million at the event.
Anti horse carriage protesters also here outside @deBlasioNYC 's fundraiser
Protesters blast de Blasio at $1M Midtown fund-raiser (NYP)* OPPOSING FORCES: Black Lives Matter, animal rights activists picket de Blasio’s first 2017 re-election fund-raiser at Midtown hotel (NYDN) * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio held his first fundraiser for his 2017 re-election bid at the Sheraton Times Square, where he raised $1 million, while protesters gathered on the sidewalk outside the hotel,the Daily News reports: * Critics clamored for attention and clashed with security last night as campaign donors kicked off de Blasio’s first fund-raiser for his 2017 re-election bid at a swanky midtown
de Blasio Poll #s
Bill de Blasio’s Job Approval Rating Keeps Going Down (NYO) More voters disapprove of the job Mayor Bill de Blasio is doing than ever before, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll released this afternoon. The poll found that 45 percent of voters give Mr. de Blasio, a Democrat, a thumbs up, while 46 percent disapprove of him. This compares to a 44-44 percent job approval in an August poll, when Mr. de Blasio was being hammered over the airwaves by Uber, the e-hail giant. A startling racial divide for Mr. de Blasio persists. 71 percent of black voters approve of him, which is up from previous surveys, as do 51 percent of Hispanics. But 65 percent of white voters disapprove of his performance.* A majority of New York City voters disapprove of how de Blasio is handling crime, police-community relations and homelessness, though NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton’s approval rating is rising, a Quinnipiac University
de Blasio 2017: Lying Eyes Campaign to Be Directed by Focus Groups and Polls and Lobbyists
Mayor de Blasio’s huge ‘quality’ problem (NYP Ed) “I’ve believed in ‘Broken Windows’ all along,” he said, “and I believe in quality-of-life policing, and I actually think it is a progressive position to believe in it.” Get ready for two years of the mayor trying to convince you not to believe your lying eyes. To be clear, support for “Broken Windows” policing should be progressive — but none of the mayor’s “progressive” pals on the City Council seem to think so; they keep looking for ways to limit it. Especially Melissa Mark-Viverito, who the mayor worked hard to install as speaker. A full 53 percent of New Yorkers say the city’s quality of life is headed down; just 14 percent think it’s improving. By 61 percent to 28 percent, voters dislike how he’s handling poverty and homelessness. Sixty percent say they’re seeing more homeless. Then there are the cops. De Blasio’s handling of the police gets 57 percent disapproval, 35 percent thumbs up. This, when New Yorkers approve of Police Commissioner Bill Bratton’s performance by 58 to 29 — and of how officers are doing in their community by 68 to 27, including 57-37 approval among blacks.
Cuomo 2017 Mayoral Fundraising?
Round ? in @nygovcuomo vs. @BilldeBlasio battle: Gov headlines fundraiser for @RepJeffries, possible '17 challenger. * De Blasio to kick off 2017 campaign with Midtown fundraiser (PoliticoNY) * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio will kick off his re-election campaign at the Sheraton Times Square with a fundraiser in Midtown on Oct. 29.* Gov. Cuomo headlining a Nov. 12 fundraiser for Rep.Hakeem Jeffries, potential de Blasio challenger in '17 * Cuomo to appear at fund-raiser for potential de Blasio challenger (NYP) * With donors paying up to $25,000 per ticket, campaign contributors to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s 2018 campaign committee were treated to an exclusive performance of the hit musical “Hamilton” last night. It was the second fundraiser the governor has held this week.* Before the show started, Cuomo took the stage. Clearly enraged by the current anti-immigration sentiment sweeping the country, he gave an impassioned speech denouncing it and reminded his supporters that America is a country of immigrants, asking: “What would the founding fathers say?” * Cuomo is listed as “honorary guest” for Rep. Hakeem Jeffries’ Nov. 12 fundraising event at the Harvard Club, which was announced a day after the congressman, mentioned as a potential mayoral contender in 2017, took a jab at de Blasio for his time away from the Big Apple. * De Blasio received a low grade from another possible 2017 challenger, NYC Comptroller Scott Stringer, for his poor record of hiring women-and minority-owned businesses.
Moskowitz Not Running
De Blasio Shrugs After Moskowitz Says She Won’t Challenge Him (YNN) * New York City .”* Eva Moskowitz's decision not to run in 2017 leaves financialelites who oppose de Blasio w/out an obvious candidate (NYT) * In announcing she won’t run for mayor of New York City in 2017 — a race few thought she could win — Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz can now turn her attention to education campaigns at home and across the country that are more easily attainable.
Peebles: Duane Reade manager could run city budget better than de Blasio (NYP) *A manager at Duane Reade is better prepared to run a big city budget than de Blasio — a “spin doctor” who divided the city to get elected, says Don Peebles, the millionaire real-estate mogul who once backed the mayor but is now considering a run against him in the next election.
de Blasio and 2017
As Controls the Housing Message to Target the Seniors in Rent Regulated Apts Who Make Up A Large % of the City Voters
As Controls the Housing Message to Target the Seniors in Rent Regulated Apts Who Make Up A Large % of the City Voters
Blasio Uses Tax Payer $ To Campaign For Re-Election
The Post writes that the $1 million advertising campaign from de Blasio’s administration “alerting” citizens to the rent freeze passed in June is really just a taxpayer-funded campaign tool for the mayor
De Blasio’s $1M ad blitz part of re-election campaign: landlords (NYP) A de Blasio administration plan to spend $1 million in taxpayer dollars on ads touting the Rent Guidelines Board’s June decision to freeze regulated rents is merely an ad campaign for his expected 2017 re-election bid, the city’s largest landlords’ group charged Friday. “Once again, de Blasio is choosing self-serving politics over sound policies. By promoting and owning the rent freeze, the mayor has stripped away any pretense that the RGB is an independent board that bases its decisions on actual data and analysis,” said Joseph Strasburg, president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords. Both he and Frank Ricci, the group’s director of government affairs, also said the $1 million could be put to better use, such as housing the homeless and providing rent subsidies to those who need it most. Bill de Blasio'scity-funded happy talk (NYDN) Such information is generally the stuff of public service ads that, for example, advise people to stop smoking, engage in safe sex and eat their vegetables. De Blasio’s ads are in another realm. Although the mayor’s name appears only in tiny type, the PR campaign has the character of spending public money to echo de Blasio’s political message. He ought to think twice before doing it again and to avoid going over the top with an experience-defying whopper on the order of telling New Yorkers that they are snug in their nabes.* Rent Freeze Awareness Ads Being Rolled Out Across City (NY1) * $1 million in taxpayer money for de Blasio’s re-election bid (NYP Ed) Bad enough that Mayor de Blasio wields a nonprofit slush fund, the Campaign for One New York, to tout his achievements using millions raised from folks trying to win political favors from him. Now he’s spending $1 million in taxpayer funds to promote himself as the tenants’ champion. And the ad campaign happens to coincide with another unprecedented event: de Blasio’s first-ever town-hall forum — devoted to “rent security and tenant protection.” This is no public service; it’s an early ad campaign for the mayor’s re-election — and an effort to rig a town-hall meeting that makes him look good. If the mayor insists on packing one board to freeze rents, depriving landlords of the revenue they need to pay rising costs, can’t it at least do the same with the boards that assess those costs — like water rates and property taxes — and freeze them, too? He could — but there’s no votes in helping landlords. To get action, they probably need to give to his slush fund. * The Daily News also knocked de Blasio for the “warm and fuzzy” publicity campaign touting the rent freeze, noting that he promised to deliver for tenants despite the rent board supposedly being an independent entity: Charter Attack Ads Against de Blasio Add to the Local TV Take Charter school advocacy group Families for Excellent Schools is attacking de Blasio in a television ad for the second time in just a few weeks, this time by targeting his K-12 education agenda.* City to Spend $1 Million on Ads Promoting Rent Freeze on Stabilized Units (NYT) The advertising campaign is timed to coincide with the first town hall-style meeting that Mayor Bill de Blasio has held since being elected.
Lobbyists Win By Using Campaign Tools to Threaten Weak PAC $$$ Elected Councilmember With Primaries to Win for Uber
Power in Money: Whenis lobbying in NY not lobbying? (democratandchronicle) When gay-rights groups in 2011 wanted to press the state Legislature to legalize same-sex marriage, they didn’t turn just to a team of lobbyists.They hired a high-powered public relations firm with close ties to public officials to lead the charge. The firm, SKDKnickerbocker, received a whopping $1.8 million for the campaign. he full-court press of ads, mailings and social media worked. New York became the largest state in the nation to make same-sex marriage legal. The spending also made clear something else at the state Capitol: No longer was the key to success solely hiring a lobbying firm to stroll the hallways trying to drum up votes for a special interest. It requires a broad media strategy to win over lawmakers in their districts and in Albany . As spending for lobbying in New York state increased 56 percent over the past decade — from $144 million in 2005 to $226 million in 2015 — so too has the sophistication of the campaigns. A review of records by Gannett’s Albany Bureau showed that the public-relations firms have raked in more than $3 million since 2010 from political campaigns and then worked on efforts to promote key issues before the Legislature through coordinated lobbying efforts. Public-relations firms that can offer a cache of services to public officials and private companies are the new frontier — and state laws have yet to keep up.“The public-relations firms are where it’s heading, especially those that provide political consulting of candidates,” said David Grandeau, the former executive director of the state Lobbying Commission. He said the firms that help state officials get elected can then reap the benefits of their close ties with the lawmakers. “If I’m a consultant and I help you get elected as a state senator, and then I turn around and work for a private-sector, multinational corporation that wants to lobby that public official who I helped get elected, I’m in a pretty good spot to do that, aren’t I?” said Grandeau, a state ethics consultant.* A Manhattan federal judge ruled the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission violated the constitutional rights of thousands of drivers by illegally seizing their cars if they suspected them of illegal activity, the Post reports: * Uber biggest in Manhattan and gentrified Brooklyn and Queens (PoliticoNY)
Uber Shadow Govt Team of Lobbyist Was An Orgy With Ton of Money
Uber Used Target Mailing, Robo Calls and Ads to Threaten Councilmembers
Justin Kintz, Nicole Benincasa, David Plouffe, Rachel Holt, Josh Mohrer, Colin Tooze, Michael Allegretti, James F. Capalino & Associates, Inc., Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates, Kasirer Consulting LLC, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP, FrancisJ. Sanzillo & Associates, Inc., Stu Loeser, Bradly Tusk, Jeff Pollock, Jimmy s Siegel political ads, Neil Quattro * Was David Plouffe the Key to Uber’s Deal With New York City?(NY Mag) * Uber Consultant Rudy Giuliani Gives Uber A Big Thumbs UpOn Background Checks (TPM) * Was David Plouffe the key to Uber's deal with
TAXI, Owners, Lobbyists, Campaign Contributions and the App Uber Revolution
The 2017 Ferry de Blasio Campaign
To de Blasio's Progressivism for the Poor Ends Not As Important As His 2017 Re-Election
Rev. Butts Who Has Attacked the Mayor for Disrespecting the Black and Brown Communities Has His Social Service Programs Cut By City Hall
The new revelations come only weeks after Butts issued a stinging public rebuke of de Blasio. “I’m not going to call him a racist just yet,” Butts told Vanity Fair magazine. “I just think that his posture shows great disrespect for the black and brown communities. Great disrespect.” Well, it turns out there was a lot more going on behind the scenes between Butts and the city than we knew about at the time. Butts believes his statements prompted a reaction from City Hall. “I’ve accused him (de Blasio) of divide and conquer, and I’m sure he’s not happy,” Butts said. “I consider it (the suspension of funds) rather cold-blooded when you consider the good we have done in Harlem and our history.” Social service arm of Harlem church cut off from $3.1M in city contracts — faces 'imminent' shut down of programs for homeless, senior citizens (NYDN) Abyssinian Development Corp., the sprawling housing and social service arm of Harlem’s most influential black church, was cut off from $3.1 million in city contracts two weeks ago after it failed to submit three years of overdue tax filings and independent audits to the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services, the Daily News has learned. The Rev. Calvin Butts, founder and board chairman of the development group and longtime pastor of its parent organization, Abyssinian Baptist Church, acknowledged to The News that his group hasn’t filed required financial reports since 2011 and conceded the de Blasio administration was justified in requesting those reports. Flashback Calvin Butts: De Blasio Handling of Police, Race Relations ... * Bill de Blasio: The Vanity Fair Interview | Vanity Fair
“De Blasio, in the words of the Stevie Wonder song, ‘you ain’t done nothing,’Rev. Butts
Eva Moskowitz Says She’s Not Running for Mayor (YNN) Success Academy
Eva Moskowitz's City Hall Steps Announcement * ALL ABOUT EVA? Charter school boss and de Blasio foe Moskowitz to make announcement on 'her political plans' (NYDN) * Parents, Students Rally for Charter School Expansion (NY1) * Eva Moskowitz, the outspoken charter school leader who galvanized critics of the de Blasio administration, has signaled to close allies that she is leaning against a bid for mayor of New York in 2017. She’s planning an announcement about her political futurethis morning.
The Daily After the Charter Rally
De Blasio has reason to worry about a challenge in 2017 from U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jefferies and desperately needs African-Americans to see him looking out for their interests – so they’ll be less likely to abandon him in two years’ time, Bob McManus writes in the Post: * Charter School Leader Has Indicated She’s Leaning Against a ’17 Campaign (NYT) Eva S. Moskowitz, the outspoken operator of the Success Academy
Ticket Pandering for Votes
Hasidic drivers get less tickets so they vote for de Blasio (NYP) Cops doled out fewer tickets to bad drivers in Williamsburg ’s Hasidic neighborhoods because the de Blasio administration covets their votes and needs to keep them happy, a source said. “They pander and he gives them a lot of what they want,” a former mayoral liaison said. “De Blasio is known to have tight ties to the Hasidic community.” Moving violations in the 90th Precinct, which includes an enclave of 70,000 ultra-religious Orthodox Jews, plummeted 32 percent since de Blasio took office, NYPD records show. Cops handed out 7,077 moving-violation tickets in the first nine months of the year and 8,242 in the same period last year. But in 2013, under Mayor Bloomberg, the area was blitzed with 10,365 summonses in the first nine months, records show. Religious leaders “get in with the Police Department and do their thing,” the former official said. “I’ll tell you one thing, they didn’t all take driver’s ed and change their driving habits.”
NYP's Dicker Says What Everyone Knows Cuomo Will Work to Defeat de Blasio
Cuomo Reach to the UFT Undercutting the Mayor as Part of his War on de Blasio
As de Blasio Hit On Minority Hiring by 2017 Challenger
Possible de Blasio challenger seeks probe on minority hiring (NYP) Real-estate executive Don Peebles, who is considering running against Mayor de Blasio in 2017, has asked Public Advocate Letitia James to investigate the administration for “economic discrimination” by failing to hire more minority contractors. Peebles accuses the city of violating Local Law 1, which says city agencies and contractors must make a “good faith effort” to hire minority-and women-owned firms, by failing to hire more minority contractors,
Will de Blasio End the Bubble to Get Re-elected?
Gonzalez: De Blasioprepares appeal for 2nd term in office by 'talking to real New Yorkers' (NYDN) In the coming months, de Blasio is planning a series of public events, town hall meetings and media interviews to tell his story, he said. On Wednesday night, he held a virtual town hall by telephone with thousands of public school parents, answering more than 20 questions. “I’m going to be doing a lot of that, talking to real New Yorkers and answering their concerns,” he said.\
Re-election 2017 and the Unions
The Same Business Leaders Who Backed Quinn Now Target de Blasio
Business bosses have early talks on targeting Bill de Blasio’s reelection bid (NYP)
2017 Bring It On de Blasio: Many Interesting in Bring It to Him
Dan Janison: “(T)ry this one on for size: Cuomo for New York City mayor in 2017.” * Bill de Blasio’s Message to His PotentialPrimary Foes: Bring It On (NYO) * De Blasio doesn’t think much of his former 2013 campaign donor and supposed pal Don Peebles, who is mulling a run against him in 2017. “Interesting way to be a friend,” the mayor said of the wealthy black business leader.* One of Bill de Blasio's allies may try to take him down Business Insider Australia * Bratton pocketed at least $48,000 last year from a company with a $3 million contract to help cops detect gunfire in high-crime areas of Brooklyn and The Bronx.
Hakeem Jeffries for Mayor? (YNN) * Moskowitz Won’t Rule Out Run For Mayor(YNN) * Success Academy
Will GOP Back A Democrat for Mayor
GOP so desperate to get rid of de Blasio it will back a Democrat (NYP) GOP leaders searching for a challenger to topple Mayor de Blasio in 2017 are so excited that Democratic charter-school champion Eva Moskowitz is weighing a run that they’re open to letting her enter the race as a Republican. “I would be very excited about Eva running for mayor. Education is a top priority for the next mayor and Eva is eminently qualified to do that. She’s outstanding,” Adele Malpass, chair of the Manhattan Republican Party, said Monday. Malpass said wealthy backers of charters are prepared to bankroll a Moskowitz campaign.* NYC GOP leaders searching for a challenger to topple de Blasio in 2017 are so excitedthat Democratic charter-school champion Eva Moskowitz is weighing a run that they’re open to letting her enter the race as a Republican.* Although some New York City and state Republican leaderswere open to Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz, a Democrat, running on their line against Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2017, other top Republicans were more hesitant, * Although de Blasio says he wants to influence the 2016 U.S. presidential race, he may actually be hurting Democrats as more and more Republican candidates focus on him as a symbol of inept liberalism, Bloomberg Politics writes: * * Although de Blasio carried the South Bronx in 2013, some residents now have mixed feelings on the mayor and believe the borough is headed in the wrong direction, despite some indicators to the contrary, TheWall Street Journal reports
Louis's Rube Goldberg de Blasio's Re-Election Route to Victory
Errol Louis writes in the Daily News that murmurs about deBlasio being a one-term mayor are wishful thinking, and that the mayor will face more serious problems if he doesn’t decrease income inequality: A more serious problem will emerge if de Blasio doesn’t move the needle on income inequality. In recent history, only three sitting New York mayors have been voted out of office — Abe Beame, Ed Koch and David Dinkins — and each man’s fate was sealed when he failed to keep his central promise to voters. Beame, who served as city budget director and two terms as controller before being elected mayor, campaigned on the slogan, “He Knows the Buck” — and therefore could not escape the wrath of voters when, on his watch, years of reckless borrowing, unchecked spending and bad accounting practices caused a near-bankruptcy of the government in 1975. A crowded field of challengers came after Beame, including Ed Koch, the eventual winner. That simplified thumbnail sketch of recent history is known to de Blasio, which is why he stays focused on his main promises from the 2013 campaign: providing universal pre-K, ending the widespread use of stop-and-frisk policing, building or saving 200,000 units of affordable housing — and, above all, helping to close the income gap between rich and poor.* New York Republican Committee Chairman Ed Cox mocked Cuomo and de Blasio for their squabble over topless performers in Times Square, saying the two are “like two scorpions in a bottle,” State of Politics reports
Dick Grasso kinda announces he's running for NYC mayor against comrade @BilldeBlasio
Louis's Rube Goldberg de Blasio's Re-Election Route to Victory
Daily News' Gonzalez: Elites Trying to Dump Mayor
Elites could be crying out 'chaos' in NYC to get de Blasioout of office: @juangon68 http://nydn.us/1US9J71 Is this city descending into chaos, or are Mayor de Blasio’s critics using small spikes in crime to whip up the public against him? If you believe the blaring headlines, shootings are climbing, the homeless are taking over, drug use has suddenly escalated, and Times Square is hurtling back to its X-rated past. Even Curtis Sliwa has returned with his Guardian Angels show.This is all part of a storyline concocted by powerful people in this town who are bent on turning de Blasio into a one-term mayor.
Former Backer Turns On Mayor
Wall Street Turns Against de Blasio
“He’s anti-business, he’s anti-wealth, he’s anti-accomplishment. His performance has not been up to par. He’s failed.”
Top de Blasio backer considers 2017 run against ‘anti-business, anti-cop socialist’ (NYP) One of the nation’s wealthiest black business leaders is considering mounting a self-financed campaign to topple Mayor de Blasio in 2017 — saying he has lost faith in the candidate he once supported. “I’m giving serious thought to running for mayor of New York City . . . I was a political supporter of Bill de Blasio,” real estate mogul Don Peebles told The Post on Tuesday. Peebles and wife Katrina contributed $9,675 to de Blasio’s 2013 campaign and inaugural committees, records show. But during an extensive interview, the lifelong Democrat — who is reportedly worth $700 million — delivered a withering attack on the mayor’s handling of taxes, charter schools, stewardship of the NYPD and chilly relations with Gov. Cuomo. He slammed de Blasio on numerous fronts, from his management skills to his chat with his son, Dante, about how to act if approached by cops. While he resides in Boca Raton, Fla., Peebles owns homes in downtown Manhattan and is buying a place on the Upper West Side. He also has company offices in Midtown and owns a home in Bridgehampton, LI.Peebles is well-known in New York’s political and business circles. He served on President Obama’s national finance committee and has raised money for Bill Clinton and other politicians. * The narrative that the New York City media is portraying of violence and vagrancy returning to the high levels of the 1980s and 1990s ignores inconvenient facts and basic history, the Daily News’ Juan Gonzalez writes: * Gonzalez: Elites may be crying 'chaos' to get de Blasio out (NYDN) Thursday People beg Peebles: Please run against de Blasio! (NYP)* An ex-supporter calls out Mayor de Blasio’s failures (NYP Ed) * A “local Democratic insider” tells Business Insider that Public Advocate Letitia James is considering challenging New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in the 2017 Democratic mayoral primary:* * The list of Democrats mulling a challenge against de Blasio in 2017 has grown in the wake of criticism, but the mayor in a rare move had a message for all of them during a press conference—bring it on, theObserver writes: Friday Peebles and de Blasio definitely aren’t friends anymore (NYP) “Interesting way to be a friend,” de Blasio said Thursday of the wealthy black business leader, during an unrelated press conference in Beach Channel, Queens . Asked how he would respond to Peebles’ claims that he is anti-business and anti-wealth, he replied tersely, ‘He’s wrong.”
Wilhelm Lies Panders in Harlem on A Name Change He Did to Run in A Jewish District
A LICH Hospital Connection LICH ER stays open as deal with Peebles a ‘whisper away’ (Brooklyn Daily Eagle) Attorneys from community groups, SUNY and developer Peebles Corp., the frontrunner to buy Long Island College Hospital (LICH), asked state Supreme Court Justice Johnny Lee Baynes on Wednesday for one more day to resolve a snag in a deal that would keep an free-standing emergency department open on the Cobble Hill site, along with primary and urgent care. Developer Peebles plans a mixed use development on the LICH campus, and has partnered with Maimonides Medical Center Brooklyn Daily Eagle)
Wilhelm Lies Panders in Harlem on A Name Change He Did to Run in A Jewish District
Bill de Blasio's Slave Name (CityWatch) The mayor reached a new low in sanctimonious, pandering bullshit this weekend in Harlem. Speaking about why he changed his name, de Blasio cited “The Autobiography of Malcolm X” as an inspiration. Malcolm X rejected his birth name as “not really his name,” and similarly de Blasio decided that his slave name “Warren Wilhelm, Jr.” wasn’t right for him either. His new name “was [his] true self.” The fact that he changed his name 25 years after he first read “The Autobiography of Malcolm X,” while in the middle of his first run for elected office, shouldn’t make you think that there were any political implications to his choice. Incidentally, why does the mayor constantly throw his father under the proverbial streetcar wheels? “I honor my father for all he did for his country and all the good in him, but I only unfortunately got to see the bad,” he said at the First Corinthian Baptist Church. A few years ago he told the Times that from his father, "I learned what not to do." Obviously de Blasio must resent his father for killing himself, but he should save it for his therapist’s office, just for the sake of manners. The guy fought in World War Two and lost a leg, and his son grows up and just constantly heaps scorn on his memory. With that kind of gratitude, it isn’t surprising that de Blasio hemmed and hawed about endorsing his former boss Hillary Clinton.* While at a church in Harlem, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the “Autobiography of Malcolm X” helped inspire him to adopt his mother’s maiden name, and described it as the most influential book in his education, the Post reports: De Blasio, who was born Warren Wilhelm Jr., retained his father’s surname until 2001 — the same year he ran for and won a City Council seat in Park Slope. His dad fought in World War II but became an alcoholic and took his own life in 1979 while suffering through inoperable lung cancer. Wilhelm left his family when de Blasio was only 7 years old. “I was affected by seeing my family fall apart,” the mayor told Walrond and about 200 Sunday worshippers. “I honor my father for all he did for his country, and all the good in him, but I only unfortunately got to see the bad.” Malcolm X, whose father died when he was 6, explained in his autobiography that he replaced his last name with an X to protest the “white slavemaster name … imposed upon my paternal forebears.”
This Time the Mayor Caters to The Teamsters (Re-Election Resource) Over NYCHA Tenants Needs
The Daily News writes that de Blasio secured no “meaningful reforms” in a deal with Teamsters Local 237, but NYCHA Chairwoman Shola Olatoye is still fighting “the good fight” to be able to schedule workers after 4:30 p.m. without paying overtime:
The NYCHA fixesshould be in: Olatoye steps up after de Blasio drops housing ball (NYDN Ed) Confronted by mammoth backlogs in repair requests, the New York City Housing Authority’s chief executive called more than a year ago for greater flexibility in assigning maintenance workers. Shola Olatoye noted that, unlike major private landlords, she was barred from putting plumbers, painters and others on shifts that ended after 4:30 p.m. on weekdays. Unless she paid overtime. Thanks to NYCHA’s contract with Teamsters Local 237, 400,000 public housing residents often had to take off from work to get repairs done or fixes were left hanging for long periods. Garbage isn’t collected after 4:30 or on weekends. The consequences on the quality of life have been corrosive. In 2014, the toll proved disastrous when the lighting failed — and went unrepaired — in the Brooklyn stairwell where former NYPD Officer Peter Liang fatally shot Akai Gurley. Despite Olatoye’s plea, Mayor de Blasio secured no meaningful reforms in a deal that afforded Local 237 the wage hikes accepted by other city unions. Teamsters boss Greg Floyd said he’d be happy to expand work hours — provided his members got overtime for each minute past 4:30 p.m. She’s fighting the good fight. Too bad de Blasio failed to win the war by successfully negotiating contract language certifying that Olatoye in fact has the legal authority to get the job done.
A Tale of Two Cities: The de Blasio Poll Show and Increasing Racial Divide
It’s official: New Yorkers are growing sick of Bill de Blasio (NYP) New Yorkers flunked Mayor de Blasio in a devastating poll released Wednesday — giving him his lowest approval rating yet amid revelations in The Post about a growing grade-fixing scandal in city schools. The Quinnipiac University
NYP's End of de Blasio's Term Countdown Clock
They disapproved of his handling of the latest city budget by 38-43 percent, and the city’s rising homeless population by 36-53 percent. Carroll also said it’s obvious that de Blasio had failed to bridge the divide between rich and poor New Yorkers and the racial divide between blacks and whites. “The mayor has yet to close the book on the ‘tale of two cities’ written on Election Day 2013. Black voters still approve of de Blasio by a lot; white voters don’t,” Carroll said. Howard Wolfson, a former deputy mayor in the Bloomberg administration, agreed. Following the release of the poll, Wolfson tweeted, “Amazing. Guy who ran on ending ‘two cities’ has a bigger gap btwn white and AA [African-American] approval (32 points in new Q poll) than Bloomberg ever did.” * Quality of life in NYC is at its worst in years: New Yorkers (NYP) * The NY Post has launched a countdown clock to keep track of how much time remains in de Blasio’s “disastrous” first term.
A Tale Of Two de Blasio Conflicting Pitches Putting Re-election Ahead of Progressive ideology
His Progressive Cult Following and the 2017 Voters He Needs to Get Re-elected
Police Department to Redefine Chokehold to Match City Council Bill (NYT) The department has not dropped its opposition to the legislation, which would criminalize police use of the maneuver. * The NYPD is poised to narrow its definition of a chokehold, adopting language from a City Council bill aimed at criminalizing police use of the maneuver.
De Blasio’s surprise Monday night announcement to add almost 1,300 new cops to the NYPD came just two weeks after a 1 Police Plaza
The Fact That de Blasio Get 1300 More Cops for His 2017 Election Is Over the Head of the Daily News With No Progressive Fingerprints
Cuomo and legislative leaders announced a framework proposal for concluding the legislative session, both houses promised to return to the Capitol today, the Times Union reports: * * New York City ’s plan to hire 1,300 police officers and use many for neighborhood policing is part of a larger “plan of action” or blueprint the department expects to unveil later this week, The New York Times reports: * The Post writes that de Blasio’s reversal on citylawmakers’ request to hire more cops shows he is at least tacitly admitting there’s a problem with a recent rise in homicides and shootings: * The Daily News credits NYPD Commissioner William Bratton’s“canny leadership” for plans to hire 1,300 more cops because the mayor’s decision-making was a “confidence-sapping mess” * @BilldeBlasio Hired More Police To Head Off Political Fallout; Even From His "Base" Sources Say via @Dnainfo * “He was caught between a rock and a hard place,” de Blasioally Bertha Lewis says of mayor & police. (NYT) * "top CityHall official said BDB never wavered from hisposition that the city didnt need more cops 2 keep [NYC] safe” (NYDN) * De Blasio’s decision to add 1,300 new cops, which makes it look like he is responding to criticism, also ties him tighter to NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton, New York magazine’s Chris Smith writes: * Mayor, Police Commissioner Introduce Community Policing Initiative (NY1) * The Story of New York’s First Black Police Officer, Told With the Help of Langston Hughes (NYT) The story of Samuel J. Battle, the first black officer in the New York Police Department, is being told in a new book by Arthur Browne, a veteran newspaper reporter and editor. * SILENT HATRED: Newser's book describes how first African-American to join NYPD suffered at the hands of his fellow officers (NYDN) * A machete attack recalls NYC’s bad old, pre-Giuliani days (NYP Ed)
NYC Shootings Map
In addition to the1,300 new police officers that will be hired, a new focus of officers will becommunity policing: * How Bill de Blasio earned this week’s epic flogging (NYP Ed) * BILL BRATTON BESTS DE BLASIO: New Yorkers will be protected by almost 1,300 new cops, no thanks to the mayor (NYDN Ed) * NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton has a long way to go to comply with Mayor Bill de Blasio’s demands that the police force reflects the overall racial makeup of the city, the New York Post writes: * * De Blasio’s reversal in hiring more police officers should allow NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton to reshape and re-focus the police force and also have it reflect the communities it serves, the Times writes: * The New York Police Department will suspend exams taken by prospective recruits for three months beginning in July as part of an overhaul of an unwieldy hiring program, the Wall Street Journal reports: * Mayor, Police Commissioner Introduce Community Policing Initiative(NY1) * MAP: Breaking down six months of shootings in NYC (DNAINFO) * BRATTON'S BIG PLAN: Police commissioner preps to transform the city a second time (NYDN Ed)
de Blasio Strongest Support Comes From the Black Community NYP Floats Paterson
David Paterson for mayor? (Page 6 NYP) David Paterson, the former governor and current head of the New York State Democratic Committee, is being urged to run for mayor. “He hasn’t said ‘no’ to anyone,” a friend of his told me. “He would beat the pants off [Bill] de Blasio.” Paterson confirmed “a number of people have mentioned it to me out of nowhere,” but he told me he isn’t interested. “I tell them, ‘Listen, I wake up in the morning and everything is not my fault, and I have a good day even before I get out of bed.’” If This Is The Best Cuomo Can Do...: In the battle between Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo, I f...
de Blasio Whose Team Blocks Charters While Their Voting Base Supports Them
Mayor de Blasio strongholds also big charter supporters, advocates say (NYDN) Some of the Assembly districts in the city where Mayor de Blasio performed best in his 2013 election has seen the greatest strides in charter school enrollment, pro-charter forces say. Charter school enrollment in the 19 Assembly districts where de Blasio received at least 90% of the vote has increased by 41% since the mayoral campaign season two years ago, they say, citing city Board of Elections and education department statistics. The percentage of students attending charters in those 19 districts increased to 20% of all public K-8 public school students, up from 15%. The numbers come as Gov. Cuomo and Senate Republicans have pushed to increase by 100 the current 460 charter school cap. "The Mayor is politically incentivized to oppose the charter cap because continued growth provides further opening for an edu reform-minded candidate (Hakeem Jeffries, Karim Camara, etc.) to cut into the Mayor's electoral base in 2017," said one pro-charter advocate. "The Mayor is hoping that with only two dozen schools left under the cap in the entire city, that charter school enrollment in his base will not grow much past the 41% we have already seen.
After Rev Butts Attacks de Blasio Organizes Black Churches
de Blasio: Pushing School Control, Building His 2017 Election Team By Organizing Against Rev. Butts
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and his aides will visit churches across the city today and discuss why de Blasio seeks to keep control of New York City schools and tighten rent regulations, the Daily News reports: * The Rev. Al Sharpton defended de Blasio, saying those who are criticizing his administration over a spike in shootings and homicides are those who didn’t want him to be mayor, the Daily News reports: Rev. Butts Says de Blasio Losing Support in Black Community Leading clergyman to de Blasio: Fix NYPD or lose our support (NYP) A leading black clergyman on Tuesday warned Mayor de Blasio his re-election hinges on making sweeping changes to the NYPD — including firing cleared chokehold cop Daniel Pantaleo. Rev. Calvin Butts III issued the threat outside City Hall, where he called for the elimination of “Broken Windows” policing and stop-and-frisk — policies de Blasio has criticized but still supports. The Rev. Calvin Butts III warned NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio his 2017 re-election hinges on making sweeping changes to the NYPD — including firing cleared chokehold cop Daniel Pantaleo. Butts backed Bill Thompson over de Blasio in the 2013 Democratic mayoral primary. Grieving family members of New Yorkers killed by cops are set to meet with Cuomo this Friday at his Manhattan office to push him to appoint a special prosecutor to handle such cases, they told the Daily News.
De Blasio names Sharpton ally to head new clergy panel (NYP) The city’s new Clergy Advisory Council will be spearheaded by a top ally of the Rev. Al Sharpton, Mayor de Blasio announced Sunday. Rev. Michael Walrond Jr., who serves as Ministers Division director for Sharpton’s National Action Network, will be responsible for maintaining “a direct line of communication between religious leaders and City Hall,” according to the Mayor’s Office. De Blasio’s announcement comes less than two weeks after black church leaders slammed him for ignoring their concerns and began mounting efforts to draft Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries to challenge him for mayor in 2017.
Can Increase Shooting Beat de Blasio in 2017 330 Cops Put on the Streets
With shootings on the rise in NYC, is de Blasio vulnerable? (AP) NEW YORK (AP) — The screaming tabloid headlines harken a darker, scarier time in New York history. "Four more murders in one night," the New York Post wrote under the grieving loved ones of a...Fordham University
More About Campaign 2017
The de Blasio Election Machine
John Wilhelm was his cousin, which was what got me tracking de Blasio’s family history in the first place. Wilhelm was then the national president of the hotel workers union, a cornerstone funder of de Blasio’s early career. Its New York local, the Hotel Trades Council, was pushing at that time for a de Blasio-sponsored bill to allow labor unions to gut the city’s prized campaign finance system. The bill would have made it legal for a union to max out contributions to any single candidate again and again through a variety of different affiliated organizations even if, as in HTC’s case, union president Peter Ward was the only one who could write the checks for each group. The only other union caught in this controversy, which provoked probes and fines by the campaign board, was SEIU 1199, the hospital workers union that had employed both de Blasio and his wife Chirlane when he ran in 2001 for city Council the first time — possibly the biggest and most questionable in-kind donation anyone’s ever made to a Council campaign. . . . Manhattan . In fact, Democrats are so blind to their incestuous ties to the UFT that they ran their statewide Senate campaign out of its headquarters in 2012. The state and city union gave $7.5 million to Democratic Assembly and Senate committees in 2014, setting records. . . .
Many Black Church Leaders Upset With de Blasio . . . Where is Sharpton?
Black church leaders lead revolt against de Blasio’s re-election (NYP) There’s a revolt brewing in Mayor de Blasio’s political base. Black church leaders are so furious at some of de Blasio’s policies that they’re actively looking for a candidate to run against him in 2017 — and leading their list is popular Brooklyn Rep. Hakeem Jeffries. Pastors told The Post on Thursday they’re steamed over de Blasio’s handling of the NYPD, for not providing enough city contracts to minority-run businesses and for tilting affordable-housing policies towards developers. “There’s a lot of displeasure with de Blasio,” said Rev. Johnnie Green of Mount Neboh Baptist Church in Harlem . “In all of the political circles in the black community, there is a constant discussion about the failures of the de Blasio administration.” A May 12 Quinnipiac University poll found 44 percent of voters citywide thought de Blasio was doing a good job. But among black voters the figure was 68 percent — precisely double that of white voters.
Brooklyn Black Activists See Things Different
Tony Herbert This is by far the most ludicrous news reporting to date, Hakeem Jeffries isn't the premier Black candidate and truly not as popular as this reporter eludes to in our community, We have to be careful when listening to people who tell us who our leaders are......I andva host of others are not onboard with this candidacy, dude has been absent on the issues of violence in our community and truly is a political pawn for the special interest!!!! Tish James and I have had our ups and downs but she is a very viable candidate, Eric Adams and Ruben Diaz are just as appealing, but Jeffries is a non start in my book.......#imjs
Black Leaders Make Demands of de Blasio as His Wife Plays the Victim to Shore Up the Black Vote for 2017
DOES HE LOOK WORRIED? Unfazed de Blasio says he can stomach poll that finds his support among blacks plummeting (NYDN) *Black Leaders Showing Signs of Frustration With Mayor de Blasio (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio remains popular with black constituents, but some community ministers and activists have complained that he has been slow to address their concerns.* Some of de Blasio’s support in the black community has atrophied due to the perception that he has eased up on his commitment to reform * Dozens of black ministers, justice reform advocates and civil rights activists and four black members of Congress gathered last Monday at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem to discuss a delicate matter: What to do about de Blasio. The meeting was part gripe session, part strategic huddle, revealing the first hints of frustration with a mayor who won 96 percent of the black vote in 2013.* Chirlane McCray: I felt ‘sadness,’ ‘disrespect’ when NYPDcops turned backs on Mayor de Blasio at funeral of slain officer (NYDN) Over the course of the morning meeting, attendees voiced a series of concerns:
Mr. de Blasio, some complained, seems to have lost his appetite for criminal justice reform. The mayor, they said, has been too slow to take action against the police officer whose use of a chokehold on Eric Garner, an unarmed black man on Staten Island , led to Mr. Garner’s death. Other participants grumbled that Mr. de Blasio and his staff have simply not done enough to communicate with black community leaders on issues like affordable housing. The unusual congregation of community influencers, convened by the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, was part gripe session, part strategic huddle, revealing the first hints of frustration with a mayor who won 96 percent of the black vote when he was elected in 2013. -- Rep. Hakeem Jeffries: There is “growing disenchantment with the administration in the black community. The disenchantment relates to policing issues, the mayor’s support of broken windows, his lack of support for banning chokeholds and his willingness to support making resisting arrest a felony.”- Tamika Mallory: “The police turned their backs on him and all of the sudden he is beginning to concede … Is it already to the point that we have to turn our backs on the mayor?”
De Blasio Administration Wants High-Sodium Warnings on Menus (NYT) The proposal, which is scheduled to be presented on Wednesday, was denounced by restaurant representatives as overregulation.Under a plan to be presented by the de Blasio administration today, many chain restaurants would have to post a warning label on the menu beside any dish that has more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium. It is the first foray by the mayor into the kind of high-profile public health policies championed by his predecessor, Mike Bloomberg.* Opponents of de Blasio’s proposal to require chainrestaurants to post a warning label on salt-heavy foods said the plan is based on shaky science and will hurt already struggling businesses, the Journal writes: * The New York City Board of Health voted to move forward with a plan to require salt-shaker icons next to menu items with more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium at chain restaurants, the Daily News reports: *City’s chain restaurants fail to provide sodium info on menus (NYP)
The New York City Board of Health voted to consider waiving a requirement that parents sign a consent form for an Orthodox circumcision ritual that can lead herpes in children, the Times reports: * At the de Blasio administration’s urging, the NYC Board of Health voted to considerwaiving a requirement that parents sign a consent form for metzitzah b’peh, an Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. A public hearing will be held in July, and the board is expected to make a final decision in September.
De Blasio has appointed allies to the New York City Board of Health ahead of its planned vote today on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections. The mayor has installed numerous allies on the New York City Board of Health as his administration prepares to present a controversial plan that would ease the rules on a circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. * Now We Know the Reason for the Delay The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports * De Blasio has placed allies & donors on the Board ofHealth as he seeks to ease rules on a controversial ritual.
Nanny Mayor's Back With Salt Warning On the Day the Mayor Stacks the Board of the Health Department
To Pass Controversial Ultra-Orthodox Circumcision Ritual
To Pass Controversial Ultra-Orthodox Circumcision Ritual
de Blasio Stacks the Health Department to Win the 2017 Campaign
De Blasio has appointed allies to the New York City Board of Health ahead of its planned vote today on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections. The mayor has installed numerous allies on the New York City Board of Health as his administration prepares to present a controversial plan that would ease the rules on a circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. * Now We Know the Reason for the Delay The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports * De Blasio has placed allies & donors on the Board ofHealth as he seeks to ease rules on a controversial ritual.
McCray Victim of NYPD
* New York City First Lady Chirlane McCray said she felt “tremendous sadness” and “disrespect” when officers turned their backs to her and the mayor at a slain colleague’s funeral this winter, the Daily Newsreports: * McCray: I felt 'sadness,' 'disrespect' when cops turned away(NYDN) -- On the police officers who turned their backs: “It was horrible. I don’t know why the officers turned their backs,” McCray said in a wide-ranging interview on WABC-TV’s “Up Close With Diana Williams” that aired Sunday. “I believe in protest. I think there’s a time and a place for it, and that wasn’t the time,” McCray said, referring to the January funeral for Officer Wenjian Liu, where hundreds of city cops turned their backs on de Blasio and McCray as the mayor delivered his eulogy for the fallen officer. “That was a terribly sad day for the city and for those families. Those families are still grieving and it will take a long time for them to get back to whatever could be called normal,” she added. Daily News’ AdamEdelman
-- WATCH the video
Stringer vs Moskowitz 2017
And you thought the 2016 presidential race got off to an early start. Demonstrating how fast candidates are getting off the fundraising blocks for the next citywide cycle, city ControllerScott Stringer is pushing a June 9 Manhattan fundraiser -- the first of his 2017 campaign. Renee Cafaro, treasurer of Manhattan Community Board 5 and a longtime Stringer ally, will host the gathering at her home at The Plaza. Top-tier tickets go for $4,950 a pop. Stringer has capitalized on his role as the city's top money man to act as a foil to Mayor de Blasio, his fellow Democrat, but has insisted he's not interested in anything but another term as controller right now. As of the most recent Campaign Finance Board records, Stringer, who defeated former Gov. Eliot Spitzer in a Democratic primary before winning the 2013 general election, had less than $42,000 in the bank.
Moskowitz taunts de Blasio at Manhattan Institute dinner (Capital) "I realize Mayor de Blasio sometimes gets picked on unfairly," she said, as the audience started laughing. "For example, he's been criticized for traveling to Iowa and the like, but I don't think his traveling to those places causes any harm. Coming back to New York , well, that's a different story," she concluded, to laughter, whistling and cheers from the friendly audience, whose members donated anywhere from $1,000 to $75,000 to the conservative think tank for its annual awards dinner, according to an invite. "Some of you may recall that the mayor said to a cheering audience of teachers' union members that it was, quote, 'time for Eva Moskowitz to stop being tolerated, enabled, and supported,'" she said, referencing a now-oft repeated line of de Blasio's from the mayoral race. "Getting this award makes me feel better," she said. "It's nice to know that someone is willing to tolerate me and to celebrate, I may take a victory lap around Central Park in a horse-drawn carriage," she finished with a grin, to thunderous laughter from the audience, mocking de Blasio's unfulfilled pledge to ban carriage horses. * Success Academy
Mayor's National Tour Does Not Include NYC Town Hall Meetings
de Blasio Attacks New Yorkers In San Francisco . . . Does He Respect the Voters Who Made Him Mayor?
De Blasio traveling farther and farther away from New York (NYP) * America ’s transportation funding woes lies in taxing the rich. “If you ask me where I think we should get revenue that could have a transcendent impact on our country, no one here will be shocked if I say there’s several ways I think we should be taxing those who have done very well,” he said. At the mayor moves to court Silicon Valley , Internet titans including Facebook, Google and Twitter this week have issued a public rebuke of the de Blasio administration on an ostensibly obscure subject: municipal taxi policy.* Big Apple mayors never go beyond the confines of City Hall. (Wash Post) .@BilldeBlasio will take listener calls on a California radio station this morning; he does not regularly do that in NYC.* De Blasio takes calls in ‘a wonderful, progressive town’ “To string together a policy disagreement with innuendo and false rumors for a second ridiculous and dopey ‘think piece’ on this topic in a week is a stretch—even for Capital New York.” * De Blasio caps off cross-country tour praising liberal San Fran Mayor de Blasio gushed about the “wonderful” liberal City by the Bay in a radio interview there Friday, as he wound up a four-day trip to promote his progressive agenda * De Blasio gushes over liberal San Francisco in cross-country frolic(NYP) * Welcome back from your trip, de Blasio! We missed you, butapparently the feeling isn’t mutual (NYP) * De Blasio took questions from Cali residents on a radio show during histrip there -something he's never done at home (NY1)
Cuomo takes aim at de Blasio, again (Capital) The latest was Cuomo’s statement to the Associated Press that he stands with the police and firefighter unions in their fight with the de Blasio administration over pension costs. * The mayor gave two speeches in California yesterday — one at his daughter Chiara’s private university and another at the University of California-Berkeley — after making a similar stop to push his progressive agenda for income equality in Washington. He has also appeared recently in Nebraska and Iowa .* De Blasio responded to the criticism by saying his agenda would be updated in collaboration with partners and noting he was “optimistic” he would endorse Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, Salon reports: * Mayor de Blasio takes jab at predecessor Michael Bloombergwith Eric Garner comment during Californiatrip (NYDN) * While de Blasio is calling for paid sick leave throughout the nation, he isn’t providing the benefit to city workers after a child is born or when relatives get sick though he could do so unilaterally for non-union employees, the Post writes: * * New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio capped off his tour of the U.S. in San Francisco where he praised the city for its progressive policies, the Post writes
de Blasio 2017
How de Blasio's 13 Points Politically Loses the House
What the Mayor Missed While Traveling
While he was gone — everything de Blasio missed in New York(NYP) 13 shootings 5 murders 1 police officer attacked by a hammer-wielding madman State New York and San Francisco , where he visited Friday, but won’t sway swing voters where the party hopes to regain seats. “That stuff is not going to help us win back the House,” said one Democrat. Members also argued the mayor lacks ideas for moving the proposals past congressional Republicans. “Finding common ground with Republicans is hard work. I don’t see that work getting done,” said a senior congressional aide.* De Blasio’s rollout of a 13-point progressive agenda last week in the nation’s capital drew more eye-rolling than enthusiasm from some lawmakers in his party.* De Blasio " 'has more has more actors than members ofthe NY delegation' on board, said one Hill staffer." (NYDN) * The chaos of a de Blasio presidency (NYP) * De Blasio road trip missed chance to learn truth of NYC’s success (NYP) * De Blasio " 'has more has more actors than members ofthe NY delegation' on board, said one Hill staffer." (NYP) * STAYING IN NYC IS 'MALPRACTICE': De Blasio defends latest out-of-town trip, says he's right to promote city's interests in D.C. *
Last Week True News Has de Blasio Running for the WH in 2020 Today NYP's Dicker Moves Up Date to 2016
Is Our Mayor Thinking of Joining the Token Opponents Running Against Clinton?
Mayor Does Nothing for Vets as As He Runs for President in 2020
The vets say the mayor hasn’t put forth any policies to help them and hasn’t even met once with his Veterans Committee. Some in Veterans Community Say Mayor Hasn't Done Enough to Prioritize Their Needs (NY1) It was supposed to be a step toward better addressing the concerns of veterans, but in naming six new appointees to the city's Veterans' Advisory Board this week, Mayor Bill de Blasio came under heavy criticism from some in the veterans community, who say he hasn't done enough to prioritize their needs.* Veterans groups say de Blasio has ignored their needs (NYP) * Mayor de Blasio has shown a “tone-deaf disregard” for veterans since taking office, they charged at City Hall on Thursday. Representatives from more than two dozen veterans organizations said Hizzoner has done nothing to address — nor formulated any plans to tackle — high rates of suicide, unemployment and other struggles among vets.* Sources say the report in the Post on Monday that alleged de Blasio is eyeing a 2016 presidential run against Hillary Clinton is“fantasyland,” the Daily News reports:* Despite repeated denials by his aides, “de Blasio 2016″ rumors continue to persist. * * Mayor Bill de Blasio’s trips across the country to promote his agenda are being financed through a nonprofit funded by groups with business before the city, the Post reports:
Representatives from more than two dozen veterans’ organizations rallied outside the New York City Hall Chicago , and he couldn’t beat Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the issues that matter.* The governor said he’s “not commenting” on New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s trips to the Midwest and inaccurately claimed the mayor did not comment on his trip to Cuba , Capital New York reports
Iowa On the heels of snubbing Clinton , NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio appeared in Iowa (right as she was leaving the early presidential voting state) to preach his tax-the-rich message.* Mayor Bill de Blasio often sounded like the national player he aspires to be on his Midwest visit, delivering a fiery speech on income inequality and calling for a revival of progressive-era politics, The New York Times reports * Mayor de Blasio, in Iowa, Cites ‘Rampant Inequality’ in U.S. (NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio sounded a lot like the national player he aspires to be, delivering a fiery speech about the dangers of income inequality and calling for a revival of progressive-era politics.* Bill de Blasio fudges frisk facts while speaking in Iowa (NYDN) * Hillary Clinton 'loves' Bill de Blasio (NYDN)* Though his focus was national during his brief Midwest trip, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio could not entirely escape local issues, as a Nebraska rancher and radio host showed up to question the mayor’s proposal to take horse carriages out of Central Park. Also, de Blasio brushed off questions about whether he wants to run for president.* De Blasio slams Walker: He’s dismantling middle class life (NYP)
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How de Blasio is Trying to Help Clinton By Sucking the Air Out of Warren's Message While Setting Himself Up for 2020 WH Run
NYC Mayor Decries Wealth Gap (WSJ)* Mayor Talks Income Inequality, Progressive Politics in Iowa (NY1) de Blasio Dis Obama Also “President Obama isnext in line for Bill de Knife. … de Blasio charged Thursday that the president hasn’t moved fast enough to address income inequality, an issue Hizzoner described as ‘the crisis of our time.’ ‘My critique would be I wish the president had early and often talked about income inequality and rallied the American people to address the issue,’ the mayor said on the second day of his swing to the Midwest to promote his progressive agenda. ‘I wish that had happened earlier on in his administration.’”* State Republican Chairman Ed Cox said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio should end his “Magical Mystery Tour” in the Midwest, stop focusing on national matters and return to the boroughs, the Observer reports: * In a Q&A with de Blasio in the Midwest , the mayor said he was not concerned Democrats view him as disloyal by not endorsing Hillary Clinton’s presidency, the Wall Street Journal reports:
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How de Blasio is Trying to Help Clinton By Sucking the Air Out of Warren's Message While Setting Himself Up for 2020 WH Run
I was a @NYCCouncil member 4 15yrs with front seat view of 3 mayors, Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani All paid more attention 2 running City than DEB
The de Blasio Clinton Dis Causing A Trust Problem That Could Defeat Him in 2017
Hillary Team: Benedict Bill - Is He Positioning Himself to Run in 4 8 Years?
Last time mayor of ny kept a dem dangling in prez race was Koch 1980. Result: 8 yrs 4 Reagan 4 Bush
De Blasio’s Hillary diss leaves Democrats, Clintons fuming (NYP) He’s Benedict Bill. Democratic leaders are fuming after Mayor de Blasio turned his back on mentor and megasupporter Hillary Rodham Clinton by not endorsing her presidential bid. A party source told The Post on Monday that Hizzoner has rankled the top echelon so much that donors may pull support for him when he’s up for re-election. “Some of Hillary’s biggest bundlers are like, ‘WTF?’ ” the source said. * The Clinton-de Blasio political marriage (NYP, 2013) * De Blasio’s decision to not immediately endorse Clinton ’s presidential candidacy sparkedplenty of debate in political circles, with some calling the move a slap in the face to his former boss and others describing it as a reflection of his commitment to liberal issues. * Former Rep. Anthony Weiner, who is married to Clinton’s top aide, Huma Abedin,chastised de Blasio for refusing to back his former boss right off the bat, saying she was “working on a progressive vision of health care when (the mayor) was still smoking pot at NYU or wherever he went.” * Former NYC Public Advocate and Democratic mayoral candidate Mark Green questioned why de Blasio was holding Clinton to a higher standard than Cuomo, who got the mayor’s endorsement last year despite their clashes on taxes and other issues.* De Blasio was met by a chorus of boos by Mets fans at the team’s home opener yesterday. Jeers broke out as soon as the mayor, who is open about his allegiance to the Boston Red Sox, was announced during pre-game festivities at Citi Field. * .@BilldeBlasio will "keep manufacturing ways to try to insert himself...into the prescampaign"(NY Mag) * Congressman: Sean Patrick Maloney Bill de Blasio ‘Should Have HisHead Examined’ After Snubbing Hillary (NYO) * Public Advocate Not As Ready for Hillary As SheUsed to Be (NYO) * This is what Anthony Weiner says about Mayor de Blasio notendorsing Hillary Clinton (WNBC) Anthony Weiner Among Critics Who Slam Mayor de Blasio for Not Endorsing Hillary Clinton * Mayor Bill de Blasio doubles down on Hillary snub (CrainsNY)
De Blasio St Patrick's Gay Marriage Double Standard Is All About the Votes for 2017
De Blasio’s absence from the St Patrick’s Day Parade will “smack of a double standard” after he accepted honors from Jewish groups that lobbied against same-sex marriage, the Daily News writes: *The St. Patrick’s Day Parade — which marks its 253rd year — kicks off on Fifth Ave. around 11 a.m. with Timothy Cardinal Dolan as its grand marshal. More than 2 million people are expected to attend. For the first time, an openly gay group will be able to march under a banner. But NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio said the inclusion of NBC Universal’s contingent is not enough to persuade him to participate.
LATE AS USUAL: Mayor de Blasio weighs in on McDonald’s brawl in Brooklyn, calling girls’ actions ‘deeply disturbing,’ saying city needs to address ‘mental health’ issues
The Church and State Re-Election Dance
The Church and State Re-Election Dance
* In finding new ways to commingle church and state, Mayor Bill de Blasio has carved himself a niche as a liberal who is willing to embrace religious groups rather than treat them as adversaries, the Timeswrites: * For someone unaffiliated with any church, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has become an unlikely advocate for the religious, from supporting the right of Orthodox Jews to use oral suction during circumcision to closing schools on Muslim holidays.*Mayor de Blasio Emerges as an Unexpected Champion of Religion (NYT) In finding new ways to commingle church and state, Bill de Blasio has carved himself a niche as a liberal who is willing to embrace religious groups rather than treat them as adversaries.
de Blaiso Takes the Public for A Fool
Buys Votes With Staking the Board of Health
Waters Down Living Wage Wage Reporting
Health Board Politics: Campaign 2017
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to name new members to the Board of Health—which must approve a change to a controversial circumcision ritual—that would give him a majority City Politics Buffet Circumcision Rite (WSJ)
NYT Notices de Blasio Reaching Out to Jewish Vote
de Blasio Campaign 2017: I Do Anything For the Religious Jewish Vote . . . But No Koch Leadership On Israel
de Blasio Campaign 2017: I Do Anything For the Religious Jewish Vote . . . But No Koch Leadership On Israel
The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports
Mayor de Blasio Seeks Stronger Ties With Jewish Voters (NYT) Bill de Blasio has reached out to both liberal and conservative factions of the community to create a role for himself as a spokesman for Jewish concerns both in New York and abroad. * Israel * @BilldeBlasio heads to Israel thissummer: (NYT)
De Blasio Set to Waive Rule Requiring Consent Form for Circumcision Ritual (NYT) New York City could ease a requirement on a Jewish ritual that has been linked to herpes infections in infant * NYC repealing Jewish circumcision law requiring consent (NYP) de Blasio’s administration seeks to waive a rule requiring parents to sign a consent form before an Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes in infants * The de Blasio administration, under pressure from ultra-Orthodox rabbis, is set to easeNew York City ’s regulations on a controversial Orthodox Jewish oral circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections in infants.*Amid rising anti-Semitic violence abroad and his own political travails at home, NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has embarked on a furious campaign to define himself as an international spokesman for Jewish concerns, and to deepen his relationship with New York’s often fractious Jewish community. This summer, he’ll make his first trip as mayor to Israel .A Bad Call on Risky Circumcisions (NYT) The New York City Health Department, American Academy New York City is backing off of two questionable bids—one from an employment services company that failed to disclose an executive was accused of murder, and another with a firm headed by a friend of the NYPD commissioner, the Post reports:
As de Blasio Makes Backroom Deals With Jewish Leaders, Koch Was A Public Leader Protecting Israel
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- Ed Koch Despised Jimmy Carter - Business Insider Ed Koch Said He Despised Jimmy Carter More Than Any Other Living ... with Carter in 1980 because he felt he was hostile toward
De Blasio circumcision deal puts health officials in a tough spot (Capital) * Mohel de Blasio (NYP Ed) *NY Times ed board, usually friendlier to @billdeblasio, comes out hard against his metzitzah b’peh policy* Mayor "has simply decided to let Mohels do their thinguntil a baby gets sick": Bad Call on Circumcisions @nytopinion * NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration, which came into power a year ago with a promise to reconsider an existing regulation on the Orthodox Jewish ritual of oral suction circumcision, is now negotiating with a group of rabbis over how to protect children’s health while still preserving religious freedom.* * De Blasio is taking steps to define himself as an international spokesman for Jewish concerns and strengthen his relationship with New York ’s often fractious Jewish community, The New York Times reports
Who Can Beat de Blasio in 2017
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WSJ takes a look at the quest to find a candidate to challenge NYCMayor Bill de Blasio in 2017. New York City Republicans have quietly begun laying the groundwork to recruit a candidate to challenge Mayor Bill de Blasioin 2017, with some promoting charter-school executive Eva Moskowitz.
de Blasio 2017: A Tale of Two Daily Press Opposing Spins - All Things to Voting Blocks
de Blasio the Campaign Manager Mayor has a habit of including at least two opposing voting interests groups that he is courting for his 2017 re-election, in his daily press spins. Wednesday de Blasio announced that the NYC public school would observe two Muslim holidays. On the same day the mayor announced that he would be going to Israel in the summer as a healer. Friday the NY Times drops a story how the mayor and his developer buddy Speyer would develop luxury housing in queens without the 20% affordable housing he promised. Also on Friday the mayor is reported on telling the 1% that they must pay $13 dollars an hour. Mayor Bill de Blasio Urges New York City Businesses to Raise Wages to More Than $13 an Hour (NYT) Lacking lawmakers’ support for the increase, the mayor appealed directly to employers, addressing the Association for a Better New York in Manhattan. “ I need you — we all need you — to take responsibility,” the mayor said.* New York Mayor Calls on Businesses to Raise Wages (WSJ) * The business group Partnership for New York City said it supports Cuomo’s plan to raise the state’s minimum wage from $10.50 to $11.50 an hour in New York City , State of Politicsreports:
Campaign Manager Mayor Ignores Court Separation of Church and State Decision . . . All About the Votes
De Blasio says school worship use will continue, despite ruling (Capital) The mayor’s office said the use will continue despite the U.S. Supreme Court upholding a lower court backing of a ban. Wiley Norvell said the administration “remains committed to ensuring that religious organizations are able to use space in City schools on the same terms provided to other groups.” “Now that litigation has concluded, the City will develop ‘rules of the road’ that respect the rights of both religious groups and non-participants,” Norvell said. The United State Supreme Court declined on Monday to review a Second Circuit decision that upheld a standing ban by the city Board of Education on the use of public schools for religious services, even as the practice has been allowed in the face of previous legal pressure since 2002.* Supreme Court Leaves Intact New York’s Ban on Religious Services in Schools (NYT) The court declined to review a case involving the Education Department’s longstanding policy barring religious organizations from using public school facilities.* The U.S. Supreme Court opted not to take up a case challenging New York City ’s ban on religious groups using public schools for services, but Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would like to accommodate such groups, The New York Timesreports: * Editorial: Bill’s big bargain on faith (NYDN Ed) * The best of de Blasio (NYP Ed)* Now, de Blasio Creating His Own“Religious Liberty” Problem ( Gay City News)
NYT Covers-Up Lobbyists Berlin Rosen and Shadow Government Out of Mayor's Slush Fund 1NY Story
A video touting de Blasio’s pre-k program was sent from a City Hall address, under the city seal, to a list of de Blasio’s campaign supporters, among others, raising questions among legal experts and good-government groups about whether it was an appropriate form of official communication, The New York Times writes
PBA Creates The Yes Mayor de Blasio, Just Re-Elect Me in 2017
The lurch toward reconciliation between NYPD union officials and NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio has come quietly, aided by coincidences of timing, an evolving strategy from some union leaders and a series of well-placed nudges — both on and off camera — from the mayor. And so, a sort of détente has set in, at least temporarily.* The union representing NYPD lieutenants ratified its seven-year labor contract with the de Blasio administration.*
Hikind Praises de Blasio for Addressing Orthodox UPK Concerns Yeshiva World News ... high praise for NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio this evening following word that Universal Pre-K requirements will now accommodate New York City 's Jewish Orthodox families.* New York City may have school on Christmas and Thanksgiving. And their school day may be interrupted by a period for religious prayers.
As Europe Hunts Down Muslim Terror Sleeper Cells de Blasio Visits
de Blasio Who Also Needs the Jewish Vote for 2017 Heads to Paris
2017 Battle: Moskowitz Takes to City Hall Steps
Eva Moskowitz to take steps of City Hall over charters schools(NYDN)* Eva Moskowitz Accuses City Success Academy
de Blasio 2017
de Blasio's Permanent Campaign Government Political Campaign
Familiar Consultants Hired by de Blasio’s Pre-K Drive(NYT) Mayor Bill de Blasio’s privately financed campaign to offer prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds in New York City paid consultants in his election run much of the money it spent in recent months. Those consultants, who were paid not by the city but by a new nonprofit, the Campaign for One New York, included BerlinRosen, a public affairs firm that took in $43,950 in fees and expenses, and an affiliate of Hilltop Public Solutions, which was paid a $16,500 “management fee,” according to a filing with the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics. Hilltop hired Bill Hyers, the manager of Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral campaign, in December, the same month Mr. Hyers established the Campaign for One New York, which quickly branded itself as UPKNYC. Genova Burns Giantomasi Webster, a law firm that worked on Mr. de Blasio’s mayoral run, was paid $23,467 in fees.
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Adam 2017
Brooklyn borough prez puts out feelers for mayoral run(NYP) *The next NYC mayoral election isn’t until 2017, but one of de Blasio’s supposed allies – former state Senator-turned-Brooklyn BP Eric Adams is already quietly making moves for a possible challenge. Publicly speaking, Adams has insisted he won’t run against the mayor.
More About de Blasio 2017
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Catsimatidis: Radio Host, Politician, Developer, Lobbyist -Many Hats
Catsimatidis Wants to Buy the Daily News
Billionaire John Catsimatidis is mystery man behind Daily News sale(NYP) * From the Cats 2013archive: When John Catsimatidis ran for mayor, he published his own newspaper (NYT)Catsimatidis trying to slip pricey biofuels mandate into budget (NYP Ed) With a bitter-cold winter and skyrocketing heating-oil use, the GOP’s timing couldn’t be worse. Senate Republicans, under pressure from maverick supermarket billionaire John Catsimatidis, are trying to slip a “green biofuels” mandate into Gov. Cuomo’s new budget that could add $150 million a year to heating costs in New York , business sources have told * Rupert Murdoch's FOXreceives $52 million in tax subsidies from NY * Billionaire supermarket mogul, political donor and sometime candidate John Catsimatidisdid not deny his interest in potentially buying the Daily News, but said he’s under a confidentiality agreement and can’t discuss its possible sale.* No fewer than four very rich men are reportedly interested in buying the money-losing Daily News.
From the Cats 2013 archive: When John Catsimatidis ran for mayor, he published his own newspaper
The Post. Catsimatidis, a Republican mayoral hopeful in 2013 and a heavy campaign contributor to Senate Republicans as well as Cuomo, is well known in the city for owning the Gristedes supermarket chain. But he’s also the owner of United Metro Energy Corp., a large company that is putting the finishing touches on a massive Brooklyn biofuel-processing plant that will be the largest in the northeast when it opens this fall. Catsimatidis told The Post that his lobbyists, including the well-connected firm Connelly McLaughlin & Woloz, “are trying to get it done’’ and that he’s “hopeful’’ the biofuel mandate — forcing homeowners and businesses to use a mix of traditional petroleum heating oil with soybean- and other vegetable-based oils — will be approved this year.Senate Republicans, under pressure from supermarket billionaire and mega-donor John Catsimatidis, are trying to slip a “green biofuels” mandate into Cuomo’s new budget that could add $150 million a year to heating costs in New York .* "New York’s GOP polsconsider helping a billionaire’s biofuels." Republican Crony Capitalism (WSJ)
de Blasio and WFP Black Ops Triangularization Taking the Heart Out of Cuomo
De Blasio Endorses Hochul, Cuomo’s Pick for Lieutenant Governor(NYT)
Blacks Stand Behind de Blasio
Here's Why De Blasio Still Has 'Overwhelming' Support FromBlack Community(DNAINFO)The mayor has seen his approval rating among blacks remain steady at 65 percent, according to a Quinnipiac University Quinnipiac University
Campaign 2017 is A Tale of Two School Systems
NYT: Small Donations Fuled Mayor's Race
But Leaves Out Small Donor PACs Like NYCLASS, United for the Future and 7 Million Jobs for New York
Mayoral candidates received $14 million in matching funds, according to a report by the New York City Campaign Finance Board to be released Tuesday.
.ORTHODOX CLOUT IN VOUCHER DISTRIBUTION: School vouchers for low-income families have disproportionately gone to Orthodox Brooklyn neighborhoods thanks in part to the mayor’s support, City & State’s Nick Powell writes: http://goo.gl/zIVTvb
POLITICO deemed de Blasio “the new icon of the left.”
Shocking Campaign Manager Mayor Opens 2017 Re-Election Campaign Account
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Mayor Moskowitz 2017
Eva Moskowitz, the founder of Success Academy Charter Schools and a former city councilwoman, said she would not rule out a future primary bid against New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, the Observer writes:
de Blaiso Education Triangulations of His 2017 Re-Election Using Government $$$
Buying 2017 Votes
Help the deserving(NYDN Ed) Lower hurdles to special ed programs — but beware a stampede out of public schools. Mayor de Blasio has promised to remove hurdles for families seeking taxpayer funds for special education tuition at private schools — warding off mandates threatened by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The mayor and Chancellor Carmen Fariña must now proceed with caution to avoid creating a hugely expensive stampede of students out of public school programs. Under federal law, the Department of Education must pay for private school for a disabled child if parents can show DOE is not equipped to meet the student’s needs. Such schooling isn’t cheap: It runs an average of $60,000 a year for private special ed, in contrast to $45,000 for services in public schools. To discourage parents from simply opting out of public school, particularly for common learning disabilities, the Bloomberg team systematically challenged families seeking city funding. Silver felt the Department of Education was too tough on families seeking better for their kids (an interesting stance by a man who has fought efforts to give the parents of general education students even the choice of charter schools). De Blasio responded by committing to decide eligibility within 15 days and to refrain from year-to-year legal challenges. That should ease the way — perhaps so much that private education will become a primary option for many more students. This isn’t to argue that any child should be trapped in lousy schooling. But it is to state that the mayor and chancellor must give tickets out of the system only to the most deserving children who really have no other choice* * Now that New York City is offering to pay for a full day of pre-K, some religious schools have opted out because adding spiritual teachings to mandatory secular studies would make the school day too long, the Journal reports: * Nearly 80% // During his mayoral campaign, de Blasiopromised Jewish leaders that he would bring back full funding. (NYDN)
de Blasio Builds His Reelection Machine for 2017
Help the deserving(NYDN Ed) Lower hurdles to special ed programs — but beware a stampede out of public schools. Mayor de Blasio has promised to remove hurdles for families seeking taxpayer funds for special education tuition at private schools — warding off mandates threatened by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The mayor and Chancellor Carmen Fariña must now proceed with caution to avoid creating a hugely expensive stampede of students out of public school programs. Under federal law, the Department of Education must pay for private school for a disabled child if parents can show DOE is not equipped to meet the student’s needs. Such schooling isn’t cheap: It runs an average of $60,000 a year for private special ed, in contrast to $45,000 for services in public schools. To discourage parents from simply opting out of public school, particularly for common learning disabilities, the Bloomberg team systematically challenged families seeking city funding. Silver felt the Department of Education was too tough on families seeking better for their kids (an interesting stance by a man who has fought efforts to give the parents of general education students even the choice of charter schools). De Blasio responded by committing to decide eligibility within 15 days and to refrain from year-to-year legal challenges. That should ease the way — perhaps so much that private education will become a primary option for many more students. This isn’t to argue that any child should be trapped in lousy schooling. But it is to state that the mayor and chancellor must give tickets out of the system only to the most deserving children who really have no other choice* * Now that New York City is offering to pay for a full day of pre-K, some religious schools have opted out because adding spiritual teachings to mandatory secular studies would make the school day too long, the Journal reports: * Nearly 80% // During his mayoral campaign, de Blasiopromised Jewish leaders that he would bring back full funding. (NYDN)
Another Re-Election Pot of Money for the Mayor Gets Fancied Up
De Blasio names big givers to advisory board(NYP)The
committee advising the not-for-profit arm for City Hall initiatives has
been stacked with big mayoral campaign donors. Besides actress Cynthia
Nixon, nearly two dozen of 58 Mayor’s Fund to
Advance New York City appointees (or their relatives) gave Mayor de
Blasio’s campaign the maximum allowed, or raised above $4,950 as
intermediaries, including Gina Argento, Jay Eisenhofer and Anthony
Bonomo.* New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s
supporters and political observers said he deserves credit for his
progress on pre-K, but now hope he will turn his attention to other
issues as he begins the second half of his first year as mayor, The Wall Street Journal reports:
de Blasio Puts Together His 2017 Campaign . . . Irish Vote Way Down
Dis the Irish Irish New Yorkers are furious after the city made the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast atGracie Mansion
Lhota
de Blasio Puts Together His 2017 Campaign . . . Irish Vote Way Down
@BilldeBlasio plan to add Eid al-Adha & Eid al-Fitr to @NYCSchoolsholiday schedule. NYC must be inclusive * De Blasio: NYC Public Schools To Close On 2 Muslim Holidays *City Adds Two Muslim Holidays to Public School Calendar (NY1)
de Blasio is at his “wit’s end” and seeking advice from people who are close to him and Cuomo about how he can improve their relationship, the Daily News’ *New York City will become the nation’s first major metropolis to close its public schools in observance of the two most sacred Muslim holy days, de Blasio announced – a watershed moment for a group that has endured suspicion and hostility since the Sept. 11 attacks. Now that he’s closing schools on two Muslim holidays, de Blasio is being pressured to keep his word and add the Lunar New Year to the list. * Two months after de Blasio took heat for calling Sheldon Silver a “man of integrity,” the indicted former Assembly speaker joined a rally to pressure the mayor to make good on a campaign promise to close public schools for Lunar New Year.
Dis the Irish Irish New Yorkers are furious after the city made the annual St. Patrick’s Day breakfast at
Hillary
So @BilldeBlasio defended Hillary Clinton's e-mail/FOIA avoidance tactics. I wonder what AndrewCuomo thinks? Will Clinton's Email Problems Rub Off on Cuomo? Cuomo administration begins large-scale email purges (Capital)
Lhota
De Blasio’s 2013 GOP opponent Joe Lhota criticized the Democratic mayor, saying he lacks perspective because he “has surrounded himself with people who think like him and act like him.” Nevertheless, Lhota said he won’t challenge de Blasio again in 2017 because he doesn’t see a path to victory.* In a speech to some of NYC’s most powerful business leaders, Mayor Bill de Blasio called on the private sector to voluntarily hike the minimum wage to $13 an hour. Unlike many of his more wary real estate brethren, Rob Speyer moved quickly to build a strong relationship with de Blasio, but the two aren’t on the same page on affordable housing.
Staten Island
Staten Island
De Blasio vowed to eradicate the “forgotten borough” moniker and even disgruntled Staten Island residents might concede that the borough is not that forgotten by the mayor, The Staten Island Advance reports
de Blasio Builds His Reelection Machine for 2017
Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled a series of changes to make it easier for special-needs students in New York to receive private schooling at public expense.* De Blasio announces plan to smooth path for special-needs kids(NYP) * Mayor To Ease Reimbursement Process For Special Needs StudentsBringing a final settlement to an issue that has for decades vexed Orthodox parents of New York City’s special needs children, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that beginning in September the city will remove much of the bureaucratic red tape that was described by parents as a recurring nightmare.
Campaign 2017 The Jewish Vote: Ticket Pandering In Williamsberg for 2017 Votes
Hasidic drivers get less tickets so they vote for de Blasio (NYP) Cops doled out fewer tickets to bad drivers in Williamsburg ’s Hasidic neighborhoods because the de Blasio administration covets their votes and needs to keep them happy, a source said. “They pander and he gives them a lot of what they want,” a former mayoral liaison said. “De Blasio is known to have tight ties to the Hasidic community.” Moving violations in the 90th Precinct, which includes an enclave of 70,000 ultra-religious Orthodox Jews, plummeted 32 percent since de Blasio took office, NYPD records show. Cops handed out 7,077 moving-violation tickets in the first nine months of the year and 8,242 in the same period last year. But in 2013, under Mayor Bloomberg, the area was blitzed with 10,365 summonses in the first nine months, records show. Religious leaders “get in with the Police Department and do their thing,” the former official said. “I’ll tell you one thing, they didn’t all take driver’s ed and change their driving habits.” Orthodox leaders have nagged City Hall for years to lay off. They even brought up the issue when Mayor Bloomberg was running for re-election in 2009, the former city official said. De Blasio — whose support from the Orthodox voting bloc helped him trounce Republican Joe Lhota in the 2013 election — has since placed religious liaisons in key administrative positions and eased city regulations on rabbis who perform circumcisions.
@MikeBloomberg health commissioner: City wrong to repeal circumcision forms Former city health commissioner Tom Farley thinks it was a mistake for the current board of health to repeal consent forms that had been required before metzitzah b’peh, the controversial circumcision ritual that requires a mohel to put his mouth on a baby's wounded penis. “I thought the consent forms were the right thing to do and the right balance and so I’m disappointed they rolled that back,” Farley told POLITICO New York . “There are some parents who are not themselves ultra-Orthodox who may hire a mohel who is and they may be completely unaware of this [practice]. Those parents deserve to be informed before they take that risk. Under the current schema I don’t think that’s guaranteed.”
De Blasio has appointed allies to the New York City Board of Health ahead of its planned vote today on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections. The mayor has installed numerous allies on the New York City Board of Health as his administration prepares to present a controversial plan that would ease the rules on a circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. * Now We Know the Reason for the Delay The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports * De Blasio has placed allies & donors on the Board ofHealth as he seeks to ease rules on a controversial ritual.
de Blasio Meet His Campaign New York PAC Donors in Israel
de Blasio Friend Sarsour Traps the Mayor in the Middle East Conflict
de Blasio's Owes His Victory to 3% of New Yorkers, 80,000 Black Voters and 1 Sharpton
Governing to 282,344
New Yorkers
282,344 votes were cast for de Blasio in the 2013 Democratic Primary, about 3% of New Yorkers (8.500.000). de Blasio tied Bill Thompson, the only African-American in the race, overall at 42 percent of the vote. Sharpton did not back Thompson in the primary. In the general election virtually every vote cast by black New Yorkers — 96 percent — went de Blasio way. Of those we have flagged as likely Black (which would exclude Whoopi Goldberg, Spike Lee & David Dinkins), we have 178,843 Dems who voted in 2013 Primary. That is certainly too low.
Many Black New Yorkers Are Seeing de Blasio’s Victory asTheir Own(NYT)In New York the Democratic Primary is the real election, for most elective officers.. In the primary runoff Comptroller John Liu received 127,173 or just 4% of the registered Democrats in the city (3,177,740) in the runoff. De Blasio did a little better with 138, 736, he got 4.4% of the city's democratic voters. John Liu was elected with just 2.7% of all the city's registered voters casting their vote for him.* "This isn’t thecampaign"-Ray Kelly to Bill de Blasio * Bill de Blasio’s Circle of Power(NYT)
2017 The Last Hurrah Before 2021 Creative vs Service Class Politics
Yes the Creative Class vs Service Class Will Be the Battle
According to a certain theorist, the new class struggle in NYC pits the creative class vs. the service class (City Lab) The Uber lobbyists team won not the hands of the voters but by scaring weak council members and their speaker
Campaign 2017 The Jewish Vote: Ticket Pandering In Williamsberg for 2017 Votes
”de Blasio's Jewish Polls Down Jewish voters comprised 19 percent of Democratic primaryvoters in New York City, and de Blasio’s approval rating among Jews fell 37 percent in a recent poll, which may explain why he is in Israel , Greg David writes in Crain’s:
Bloomberg's Health Commissioner de Blasio Made Wrong Decision to Repeal Circumcision Forms
de Blasio Stacks the Health Department to Win the 2017 Campaign
The New York City Board of Health voted to consider waiving a requirement that parents sign a consent form for an Orthodox circumcision ritual that can lead herpes in children, the Times reports: * At the de Blasio administration’s urging, the NYC Board of Health voted to considerwaiving a requirement that parents sign a consent form for metzitzah b’peh, an Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. A public hearing will be held in July, and the board is expected to make a final decision in September.
De Blasio has appointed allies to the New York City Board of Health ahead of its planned vote today on an ultra-Orthodox circumcision ritual that has been linked to herpes infections. The mayor has installed numerous allies on the New York City Board of Health as his administration prepares to present a controversial plan that would ease the rules on a circumcision ritual linked to herpes infections in infants. * Now We Know the Reason for the Delay The de Blasio administration has delayed presenting to the board a proposal that would no longer require parents to sign a consent form before a controversial Orthodox circumcision practice, the Journal reports * De Blasio has placed allies & donors on the Board ofHealth as he seeks to ease rules on a controversial ritual.
Monday Update While New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio emphasized his trip to Israel’s core purpose was attending an international conference of mayors, where he gave a speech on anti-Semitism, he said renewed violence in the region cast the visit in a new light, The Wall Street Journal reports: *
Mayor de Blasio, Visiting Jerusalem, Hears From All Sides of Region's Conflict (NYT) * De Blasio preaches peace while meeting with Arab, Jewish, Palestinian students and terror victims in Israel: 'It's a tough ... New York Daily News On his first visit to Israel as mayor amid heightened tension in the country, Mayor de Blasio stressed the need for peace while meeting Jewish and Arab families whose kids go to school side by side. The message of hope later took a somber turn Saturday night as de Blasio stopped at a Jerusalem hospital to visit victims of recent terror attacks.* New York Mayor Bill de Blasio stands in solidarity with Jerusalem ... International-Jerusalem Post Israel News * NYC Mayor De Blasio in Israel for 'Solidarity Mission' Amid Tensions Haaretz * Jerusalem - NYC Mayor De Blasio In Yad Vashem: Attacks By Palestinians Against Israelis'Must End' * On his visit to Israel , @BilldeBlasio takes a carefulapproach with his every word: * De Blasio: Palestinian knife attacks against Israelis ‘must end’ (NYP)
De Blasio’s Israel trip timed with donors’ event (NYP) Mayor de Blasio’s weekend trip to Israel was timed to coincide with a conference in Jerusalem sponsored by two of his biggest financial backers, The Post has learned. Alexander Levin, president of the World Forum on Soviet Jewry, funneled $100,000 in the last 18 months to the Campaign for One New York, which has been called a political slush fund for the mayor. Levin’s group is co-sponsoring the International Mayors Conference, where de Blasio was keynote speaker Sunday, alongside the American Jewish Congress and the American Council for World Jewry, which are both chaired by influential Democratic donor Jack Rosen. Rosen has been a guest of the White House, flown the Clintons in his private jet, and owns the $3.3 million Park Ave. pad where Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin moved in 2012. Records show Rosen has also shelled out $25,000 to de Blasio’s nonprofit, which has raised $3.8 million to tout pre-K and his progressive agenda. The mayor’s office also coordinated his Israel itinerary to align with Jewish donors who have given generously to de Blasio’s campaigns for public office. Getting face time were the likes of Martin Kleinman, president of Americare, whose family has contributed more than $28,000. His firm has been the target of federal lawsuits and at least two multimillion-dollar state fines over questionable Medicaid billing. Leon Goldenberg, of Goldmont Realty, whose family has donated more than $14,000, and Ari Noe, CEO of OTR Media Group, whose family and firm donated more than $12,000, also joined the mayor.
Taxpayers should not be funding this anti-American hate-spewer (NYP) Put aside for a moment that the ills about which Sarsour complains do not exist in the United States today, but plague parts of the Muslim world. Sarsour contends that Israel and American supporters of the Jewish state are responsible for slaughter in the Mideast . Among other successes, she was credited with working with City Hall officials to close public schools for the observance of two Islamic holy days. Last year, she traveled to Ferguson , Missouri
De Blasio deems $25K Israel visit ‘very important, absolutely legal’ (NYP) *Israel this weekend funded by a Jewish businessman. The $20,000-to-$25,000 three-day trip includes his and four aides’ expenses.* As I report on @BilldeBlasio trip to Israel @bobhardt wonders why a little knownbusinessman foots Hizzoners bill
De Blasio pal at odds with Jewish legislator over Palestinian ‘courage’ tweet(NYP) A prominent Arab-American activist with close ties to the de Blasio administration got into a fierce Twitter war with a Jewish legislator when she posted a photo of a young Palestinian boy clutching rock in front of Israeli soldiers and labeled it “the definition of courage.” Queens City Councilman Rory Lancman responded to the Sunday tweet by Linda Sarsour, executive director of the Arab-American Association of New York, by writing: “No, the definition of barbarism.” Sarsour — whose group received $164,050 in City Council funding since 2012 and campaigned for Mayor de Blasio — fired back “city elected official attacking a constituent on foreign policy issue when they weren’t asked. Welcome to the NYC Council.” The social media brouhaha went back and forth for two days, with Sarsour at one point tweeting: “The Zionist trolls are out to play. Bring it. You will never silence me.” “What you have is a tale of two Linda’s,” said one city political operative. “In one breath, she says she’s trying to bring people together and then she says some of the most divisive things I’ve ever seen on Twitter.”
De Blasio to meet with Palestinians during Israel visit (NYP) * Israeli students not target of Molotov cocktail toss: cops (NYP) A maniac who hurled a Molotov cocktail in the vicinity of two Israeli rabbinical students was actually targeting a shopkeeper who had just kicked him off a nearby bench, police said Wednesday. * Court ruling on ‘Muslim mapping’ insults Muslims, Jews and the NYPD (NYP) * Unlike his predecessors who visited Israel , New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to meet with Palestinians by attending a bilingual school gathering, but will not meet with Palestinian government officials, The New York Times reports: * The Center for Constitutional Rights wrote an open letter calling it “troubling” that de Blasio’s trip to Israel is being financed through a “private gift to the city” from an Israeli entrepreneur, Politico New Yorkreports: * Bill de blasio to visit Israeli school hit with arson attack (NYDN) * Brooklyn assemblyman traveling to Israel to showsupport after attacks (NYDN) Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is Orthodox Jewish, and several others from Brooklyn left for Israel on Wednesday to show solidarity in the aftermath of the latest terror attacks.* In an open letter to de Blasio, the Center for Constitutional Rights criticized how his three-day trip to Israel this week is being financed. The visit – the mayor’s first since his election – is being paid for through “private gift to the city” by Israeli entrepreneur Baruch Eliezer Gross, and has been approved by the NYC Conflicts of Interest Board. * In a break from his predecessors, de Blasio is intent on meeting with Palestinians during his Israel trip.* A prominent Arab-American activist with close ties to the de Blasio administration got intoa fierce Twitter war with a Jewish legislator, Queens Councilman Rory Lancman, when she posted a photo of a young Palestinian boy clutching rock in front of Israeli soldiers and labeled it “the definition of courage.
de Blasio Has Made History by Supporting the Iran Deal and Becoming the First Mayor to Oppose Israel's Leaders
de Blasio is making history by being the first mayor to oppose the leader of the state of Israel. Since an Irish Mayor in the 40's William O'Dwyer worked with the Pre- Westies Gang of Hell’s Kitchen to deliver guns to Jews fighting to establish the state of Israel. To Mayor Koch who hand a letter to Carter criticizing the the presidents foreign policy towards Israel, which contributed to the re-election defeat to Ronald Reagan. While no NYC newspaper has reported the mayor's reaction to the deal with Iran an newspaper in Israel did N.Y.C. mayor praises Iran deal, applauds Obama's commitment to diplomatic solution (Haaretz) While Mayor Bill de Blasio expresses strong support for historic nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers, New York Senator Chuck Schumer sounds more cautious note. By supporting the agreement de Blasio not only is the first mayor not to support Israel, he has turned his back on the people of Israel in their time of need. When comparing de Blasio to Koch the changes are breathtaking. In a 2008 op-ed in Real Clear Politics, Koch detailed that he refused to campaign with Carter in 1980 because he felt he was hostile toward Israel . Koch wrote:
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