Mark Green

NY1 News tonight is going to be one big pile-on, judging by these quotes pulled from an advance transcript the network sent over:

“What he did was awful, it needs therapy to explain.”
            -former Public Advocate and Democratic Attorney Mark Green

“There are obviously deep psychological problems. You don’t comport yourself in this way given your knowledge of the criminal justice system.”
            -former U.S. Senator Alfonse D’Amato  read more »

• 0 comments

Mark Green doesn’t think much of Fred Dicker’s reporting, especially on the topic of Eliot Spitzer.

Green was on Inside City Hall Tuesday night, where he was asked about a report that Spitzer berated Christine Quinn because she opposed his plans to sell property near the Javits center.  read more »

Here's Republican City Councilman Vinny Ignizio of Staten Island praising Rudy Giuliani and saying that “those who are having a good time dancing on his grave” don't "have the likability factor themselves.”

If these unnamed people were more likable, Ignizio says, “they’d have offices somewhere in this building."  read more »

The votes are still being counted in Florida and it's still to close to call a winner on the Republican side--John McCain and Mitt Romney are about three points apart. But for Rudy Giuliani, the verdict is clear--he's been projected to come in no better than third place.

I emailed the ever outspoken Jimmy Oddo, Republican Minority Leader in the City Council, for his thoughts on Giuliani. Here’s what he wrote:  read more »

A reader pointed out that Adolfo Carrion’s absence from the mayor's race alters the landscape for Anthony Weiner's candidacy.

In the Democratic primary, a candidate must get 40 percent of the vote to win the nomination and prevent a run-off. Without Carrion in the race, it’s more likely that Bill Thompson, the only black candidate, will earn at least that number.

Assuming that if Carrion had run, Thompson and Carrion would have split support from the black and Latino communities, Weiner then would have been in a run-off with one of them, and earned a second chance at capturing the nomination.

More after the jump.  read more »

Jackson Heights City Council candidate Danny Dromm hosted a number of influential local politicians at a fund-raiser this weekend, most notably city Comptroller Bill Thompson, who will be a special guest at a fund-raiser for Dromm’s opponent in the Democratic primary, Alfonso Quiroz [time clarified]. Quiroz's boyfriend and treasurer is Thompson's director of communications.

More after the jump.  read more »

8 a.m. Hillary Clinton strategist Ann Lewis and teachers' union president Randi Weingarten will discuss “Women's Agenda in Today's Political Life'' panel at The Puck Building, 295 Lafayette Street at Houston Street.

8:30 a.m. Comptroller William Thompson will address the Association for a Better New York at the Hilton New York, 1335 Sixth Avenue between 53rd and 54th streets.

10 a.m. Students will perform at the opening of a state-of-the-art playground that was once a barren asphalt lot at P.S. 242, 134 West 122nd Street.  read more »

Someone—Mark Twain, maybe—once said: “Never pick a fight with a man who buys ink by the barrel.” A modern corollary to the saying might be: “Never taunt a man who owns his own talk radio network.” But Ed Koch and Al D'Amato seem none too intimidated by the return of Mark Green, the new president of Air America Radio, to New York 1’s weekly “Wise Guys” roundtable segment. "I've been looking forward to this. I've been dreaming of this," Koch told me when I hung out with all three at the news network’s studios before yesterday's edition of the show. "We need a little irritant,” D’Amato added. “So, Mark provides the irritant, and that provides the zip."

“Wise Guys,” for those who are uninitiated, is a kind of cross between “Meet the Press” and a Friar’s Club roast. D’Amato, the Republican senator-turned-wily superfixer, weighs in from the right. Koch, the mayor-turned-movie-reviewer, brings perspective from Planet Koch. But the show has been missing a reliable voice from the left for the last year or so, ever since Green left his slot to run for attorney general. (Unsuccessfully.) The show’s producers replaced Green with a rotating series of guests: Carl McCall, Roberto Ramirez, Judith Hope, Bill Cunningham and Bob Kerrey. But none of them had Green’s game. So now he’s back, rested, ready and, yes indeed, tan.

"What I love about ‘Wise Guys’ is that it's an exchange of opinions, rather than a monologue of insults,” Green said. As a counterexample, he cited the New York Post editorial page—which had its share of fun with Green back in 2001, when he was running for mayor. (Unsuccessfully.) “Bob McManus doesn't want the other side. He can lecture to the flock and feel like he's convincing, without having to expose himself to someone saying 'on the other hand.'"

"Well, to be fair," D'Amato interjected, in typical “Wise Guys” fashion. "You can say the same thing about the New York Times, which runs ultra-liberal philosophy that appeals to that base." He went on to say, "most of the time, they're beating little Pinch’s drum to make up for the fact that he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth." (If you don’t know who Bob McManus and “Pinch” are, this may not be your kind of show.)

Despite what one might think, D’Amato is not Green’s primary antagonist. “I only pile on slightly,” the former senator said. “I become the referee because Edward and Mark go at it.”

Will the dynamic change now, I asked, now that Green has returned as the president of his own media outlet? "You mean we have a dispute, he takes his marbles and goes to his station and let's us have it?” Koch asked. He laughed heartily.

Green, shifting into his earnest mode, leaned forward, and assured me that he would not be ordering the likes of Thom Hartmann and Randi Rhodes Steve Earle to pursue his political adversaries. "The talent at Air America radio would kill me if I tried something like that,” he said.

Green paused for a moment.

Now," he added, "I do have a show on Air America Radio on the weekends..."

One of New York’s most powerful unions, SEIU/1199, has signed on in support of a gay marriage bill.

Mark Green interviewed Mike Bloomberg on Air America radio.

James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, says he'll sit out the election if Rudy Giuliani is the Republican nominee.  read more »

Mark Green, guest blogging on Huffington Post, said, "Rudy Giuliani is not the first politician to exaggerate and play to the cheap seats."

Scott Sala responds.

Republicans may look weak right now compared to the Democrats, but they may be stronger in the general election, according to Ben.

Representative Jerry Nadler and others will discuss Iraq at an event tonight at Columbia University.

Representative Eliot Engel criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for her trip to Syria.

Tom Elliott thinks monogamy is a better way to stop STDs than circumcision.

Mathieu Eugene may win his City Council race in Brooklyn by knocking all his opponents off the ballot.

Errol Louis and Erik Engquist discuss the race here.

DMI has more about their forum on New York's shrinking middle class.

State Senator Andrea-Stewart Cousins weighed in on the school funding and blamed Albany's secret negotiations for Westchester's shrinking share.

A former spokesperson for Ross Perot is running for office in NJ.

Ever wonder who is trying to get reporters to cover Sam Brownback, Mike Huckabee and Tommy Thompson?

Karol is looking for guest bloggers. [link fixed]

And pictured above is City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose budget proposal is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo isn’t doing interviews. (Really.)    read more »

Also in this week's paper, I look how Andrew Cuomo is winning over critics in uncharacteristic fashion: by doing his job and not letting self-promotion get in the way.

"What we're seeing is a guy who sees the value of letting the work speak for itself, as opposed to engaging in gratuitous public relations," said Democratic consultant Hank Sheinkopf, who spent the 2006 election cycle tauntingly referring to Cuomo as "Andy" on behalf of Mark Green.

Toughguy Republican consultant Rob Ryan put it this way: "Maybe the guy's better suited for the job than I thought."

-- Azi Paybarah

Ever since rumors began to swirl that Air America Radio might declare bankruptcy—a rumor that  read more »

For anyone (else) who missed the announement today, Stephen and Mark Green are now running Air America Radio.

The release is after the jump.  read more »

From the Department of Interesting Connections...

The person Andrew Cuomo tapped to help investigate Medicaid fraud is Brooklyn District Attorney Joe Hynes, who spearheaded a similar effort in Brooklyn.

Hynes, you may recall, is also the DA who revived a five-year-old probe of Cuomo's top challenger in the Democratic primary, Mark Green, looking into some allegedly illegal payments Green's campaign made during the 2001 mayoral race. The investigation led to plenty of uncomfortable questions during a crucial time in the attorney general contest, but did not result in a single indictment.

Bonus coincidence: Cuomo and Hynes went to the same high school.

-- Azi Paybarah

Now that Andrew Cuomo is moving into Eliot Spitzer's old office, he is inheriting a number of Spitzer's high-profile cases.

Today, the Post noted Cuomo is picking up where Spitzer left off in the lawsuit against Dick Grasso for his huge compensation package from the New York Stock Exchange.

"No one's backing down on this one," said one party familiar with the case.

But among the thousands of cases Cuomo inherited from Spitzer is one in which Cuomo is one of the defendants.

As Mark Green revealed during a televised debate, the AG's office filed a lawsuit against HUD for not enforcing federal pesticide restrictions. The lawsuit was filed after Cuomo left HUD but includes the years while he was there.

It wasn't much of a vote-getter for Green, but a lawsuit is still a lawsuit.

So what will happen with that case?

"Andrew is reviewing pending cases and it would be inappropriate for him to comment on ongoing cases and matters in the AGs office at this time," his spokeswoman Wendy Katz told me via email.

Update: An informed reader notes that HUD and Secretary Alphonso Jackson are the people named as defendants in the lawsuit. But it does cover the years when Cuomo led the agency, which makes his prosecution of the case so interesting. -- Azi Paybarah

A couple of interesting bits from the official results of the Democratic primary elections in Manhattan:

Eliot Spitzer was the top vote-getter, with 105,161 votes in New York County. That's slightly more than Hillary Clinton, who got 100,453.

Jonathan Tasini, got 23,608 votes in Manhattan. Compare that to Spitzer's opponent, Tom Suozzi, who got 14,503.

The real Manhattan battle during the primary was in the Attorney General's race. Andrew Cuomo, who I reported was focusing his resources on Mark Green's home turf in Manhattan, edged out Green 55,284 to 48,292. Sean Patrick Maloney picked up 13,896.

Other notable vote-getters in that race: Bill Clinton (1), Charlie King (3,748), Denise O'Donnell (1) and Joe Lieberman (1).

-- Azi Paybarah

Greg Krakower, Mark Green's policy director is now working as a policy adviser for...Andrew Cuomo.

One cornerstone of Green's policy was the state attorney general's lawsuit against HUD over federal pesticide laws. The lawsuit included the years Cuomo led the agency, which prompted Green to ask Cuomo the best question of the race. "Your website said you'd continue the lawsuit if you were attorney general. Does that mean you'd be suing yourself as plaintiff and defendant?"

I'm sure Jeanine Pirro's team must have thought about hiring the man who did opposition research, I mean policy work, against Cuomo. This would explain Cuomo's motivation in picking up another policy adviser. But lets give some credit to the person who first suggested hiring Krakower after the Green campaign ended:

"[Greg] did a great job at finding so much on Cuomo. Cuomo would be smart to offer him a job to see what more there is. It would also be smart for Pirro to offer him a job."

UPDATE: Evan Thies, who was the press guy for David Yassky's unsuccessful congressional campaign, is also a new member of Team Cuomo. Anybody they haven't hired? -- Azi Paybarah

While it was reported that Andrew Cuomo has $2 million left over from his primary (to put up against the $1.9 million Jeanine Pirro showed in her most recent filing), it's gotten somewhat less attention that the other three candidates also showed significant sums left over for whatever purpose they choose: $350,000 - Mark Green $214,000 - Charlie King $104,000 - Sean Patrick Maloney

King and Maloney have left the door open to running again for office at some point. (Can anyone say King for City Council? Or Maloney for DA?)

As for Mark Green, who said that this year's campaign was his last, his spokesman said that he has yet to decide what to do with his money. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm sure he'd be happy to hear them.

-- Azi Paybarah

A video of Bill Clinton's appearance on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart is here. In discussing Hillary, Bill said, "If she ran and won, it'd be good for America."

The Working Families Party sent word that "Like Jonathan Tasini, the Working Families Party opposes the war in Iraq...[but] The WFP also enthusiastically supports Hillary Clinton for U.S. Senate."

Liz Benjamin interviewed Jonathan Tasini, who said he is not endorsing the Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate.

Martin Sheen, the television president, will raise money for Eliot Spitzer.

Jeanine Pirro had a press conference today on, what else?, sex offenders.

Tom Robbins writes the obituary of Mark Green's career. "Of all the offices Mark Green sought during his political career, the one he lost last week was probably the one he was born to hold."

Jerry Skurnik digs up results in below-the-radar primary races.

Joe Lieberman leads Ned Lamont 45% to 43%, according to a new poll, thanks in part to a 47% to 34% edge Lieberman has with unaffiliated voters.

The Hotline notes John McCain and Mitt Romney are going after each other with less subtlety than they used to.

In the New York Times's new weekly political column, Political Action, Adam Nagourney says there's an upside to the Republican infighting over how to interrogate terrorism suspects.

It has knocked Iraq out of the news and kept the campaign story line precisely where President Bush and Karl Rove want it.

Rupert Murdoch will launch a Christian film production company called FoxFaith.

TNR covered "the first-ever press conference of the super-low-key commission on what to do in Iraq, chaired by James Baker and Lee Hamilton." News: Baker said the panel will likely meet with "a representative at a high level of the Iranian government" during this week's big UN meeting.

Panelists Errol Louis, Chris Owens, and others discussed corporate welfare at a forum hosted by the Drum Major Institute. One novel idea already underway in Minnesota is a new law that says "business that receives state or local government assistance for economic development or job growth purposes must create a net increase in jobs in Minnesota within two years..."  read more »

And pictured above is part of the New York Times 24-page supplement about their reporters.

-- Azi Paybarah

After a primary election almost entirely devoid of suspense, Eliot Spitzer crushed Nassau County Exe  read more »

Andrew Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer consummated their primary-long flirtation today with an official endorsement outside City Hall from the departing Attorney General.

After Spitzer spoke of a "Democratic gale force blowing through the State of New York," reporters asked Cuomo about Jeanine Pirro, who is considered the Republicans' best hope for preventing a Democratic sweep of statewide office. When presented with Pirro's assertion that she will essentially echo many of Mark Green's charges because they reflect on Cuomo's record, the former housing secretary stuck to his campaign strategy of studied non-engagement.

"One thing I have learned in life is you run your campaign," he said. "If you are lucky you are responsible for your own campaign and you control your own campaign."

When presented with Pirro's criticism that he lacked experience as a prosecutor, Cuomo responded, "We'll have a discussion about what the role of the Attorney General is." When asked if he would respond in kind if Ms. Pirro pushed, he joked, "Do I ever push?"

--Jason Horowitz

What better epilogue to the "new, upbeat Andrew Cuomo" story than the scene at his victory party last night:

As two jumbo screens projected Andrew Cuomo as winner on opposite sides of a Sheraton ballroom, Mario Cuomo walked around the round tables accepting hugs and kisses from former colleagues and donors. Enthusiasm built in anticipation of the victor's arrival.

Eventually, Charlie King and Christine Quinn shushed the crowd and introduced Cuomo, to furious applause. An enormous smile spread across his face and his fist pumped in the air. He introduced his family, nuclear and extended, and, being the new Andrew Cuomo, thanked Mark Green.

"I want to applaud Mark Green," said Mr. Cuomo. "He called me, he endorsed me, he was gracious. He ran a very very strong campaign, he made me a better candidate and I look forward to working with him."

He thanked his campaign workers and Jennifer Cunningham, "whose birthday is tomorrow," and who stood elated in the back of the room, putting down her tumbler to clap.

Mr. Cuomo then went on the offensive, attacking "the reign of the two Georges" referring to Bush and Pataki, and announcing that "we will not replace Eliot Spitzer with their handpicked candidate Jeanine Pirro. Period."

Mr. Cuomo's speech built to a crescendo, he called himself the "comeback candidate" and the crowd cheered some more. It was the perfect punctuation to his campaign. Except it wasn't the end. Strangely, Alan Hevesi was called to the podium. ("I was just saying to Andrew Cuomo how much Andrew sounds like Matilda," he said.) Then Bill Thompson spoke. Then Christine Quinn. Again. Cuomo's smile turned back to an old fashioned glare as excitement seeped from the room. Finally the band struck up some departing music and the smile returned to Cuomo's face as supporters rushed forward to shake his hand.

--Jason Horowitz

Hillary Clinton had landslide, yet low key victory.

Eliot Spitzer also won by a landslide. Tom Suozzi said he accomplished everything he wanted to do, except win.

Andrew Cuomo "clobbers" Mark Green in what was supposed to be the close race. Green said he's never running again.

Yvette Clarke beat David Yassky in Brooklyn's 11th congressional district.

Ed Towns held onto his seat in Brooklyn's 10th congressional district.

State senators Martin Connor in Manhattan and John Sabini in Queens held onto their seats.

A wrap up of other local races is here.

Mayor Bloomberg will help raise money for California's governor.

And Al Franken hits the campaign trail, sort of.

-- Azi Paybarah

Sometimes it's just not your day. According to a Mark Green staffer, the campaign's phones were down for about two hours this morning. (So far, there have been no Lieberman-esque claims of sabotage.)

On the bright side, though, one of Green's YouTube ads has broken into the top 100 most-viewed clips in the News and Blogs category, only a few places behind "Steve Irwins Last Moments captured on Camare."

--Jason Horowitz

Maurice Carroll, the Quinnipiac pollster, says the nearly 20-point spread separating Andrew Cuomo from Mark Green in the attorney general's race is "the only race even close to close in tomorrow's Democratic primary."

This collective yawn has been a source of some modest frustration with those of us looking for dramatic political narratives this week. But it must have been particularly galling to the few local candidates who, unnoticed by most of the news-reading public, have found themselves locked in tight races for their political lives.

A quick count shows there are at least four contests whose outcomes are too close to call -- which is my way of asking you to make the call in the comment section.

25th Senate District Martin Connor v. Ken Diamondstone Connor was ousted as the senate minority leader, has a quirky campaign finance issue that shows him in the red, and is facing a provocative and reasonably well-funded challenge from Diamondstone.

74th Assembly District Sylvia Friedman v. Brian Kavanagh Friedman won the seat as an insurgent in February, but lost the endorsement of the New York Times because she has worked too closely with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and because Kavanagh has carried the reform message more persuasively.

13th Senate District John Sabini v. Hiram Monserrate Sabini fended off a Monserrate-backed challenger two years ago, who showed surprising strength among the district's African-American and increasingly powerful Hispanic constituency. Now, Monserrate himself is the candidate, and Sabini is counting on support from the Democratic establishment (see above) to help him hold on.

22nd Assembly District Ellen Young v. Julia Harrison v. Terence Park Incumbent Jimmy Meng retired after one term and his daughter was kicked off the ballot, making Ellen Young, a staffer for Councilman John Liu, the front-runner. But Harrison, a former councilwoman there, is formidable, and Park's persistent campaign could be seen as a vote-drainer for Young.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Eliot Spitzer didn’t set out to endorse anyone at Monday’s West Indian Day Parade.  read more »

Eliot Spitzer didn’t set out to endorse anyone at Monday’s West Indian Day Parade.  read more »

A source at RNN says they'll announce at 8 p.m. their endorsements Hillary, Eliot Spitzer, Mark Green and former rocker turned-congressional candidate, John Hall. Do other TV stations make endorsements?

Green got criticized by the Working Families Party, and puts out a critical ad of, who else!, Andrew Cuomo.

Streetsblog gets a hold of a letter from Dan Doctoroff and reads into it some significant policy shifts.

This poll of mostly rich white homeowners on The Brownstowner has David Yassky and Chris Owens basically tied in the 11th, Charles Barron leading Ed Towns in the 10th and Bill Batson beating Hakeem Jeffries for Assembly.

Tom Suozzi says he's fighting the good fight like the webbed-wonder, Spiderman.

Ten journalists got paid by the federal government to undermine another government, proving that there is money in the news business.

About that ABC movie stuff: Former 9/11 Commission member Bob Kerrey said if President Clinton was distracted from dealing with terrorism, he wasn't alone. "Members of Congress who focused on impeachment bear some significant responsibility," he tells Greg Sargent.

Another well-paid newsman, Rupert Murdoch, has a $50,000 pad on Park Avenue that is paid for by his company.

The Real Estate thinks that the new plans for Ground Zero look like old plans.

My old colleague at The Sun is looking to crash some upcoming fundraisers and parties.

Follow the Leader discusses the upcoming football season.  read more »

And pictured above is a book from a former State Senator due out the day after the primary. Room 8 excerpts a review.

-- Azi Paybarah

The closer the race, the greater the temptation to campaign the day before the primary -- September 11th.

At a press conference today, I asked Yvette Clarke, whose congressional race in Brooklyn looks like a toss-up, about campaigning that day.

"I don't believe it's a day for active campaigning," she said.

It should be pointed out that, as of this morning, Clarke had a fundraiser scheduled for Monday. (Text of the invitation is after the jump.) Shortly after the press conference, I was told that she rescheduled.

Meanwhile, Chris Owens is campaigning, sort of: he'll be receiving a visit from Rep. Maxine Waters, an outspoken anti-war critic, to attend a "remembrance" event. Which is kind of a statement in and of itself.

Carl Andrews, according to a spokesman, will be "attending a couple of memorial services but will not be campaigning."

An aide to David Yassky said he'll be going to his synagogue and is not scheduled to attend any public events.

As for that other potentially competitive race, Andrew Cuomo's spokesman said he will "be attending memorial services and 9/11 related events. The campaign will not be holding any public events or doing any street campaigning."  read more »

Mark Green's campaign manager said Green will be doing "very little" that day, but added the following: "We might do a quick endorsement presser around noon."

-- Azi Paybarah

Is the only contested statewide primary basically over?

Today's Siena poll gives Andrew Cuomo a 20-point lead over Mark Green.

Ben is reporting that a WNBC-Marist poll later today from won't be much closer.

The Siena poll says that Cuomo's "lead over Green is only nine points in New York City, which will likely account for approximately 60 percent of the primary vote."

So much for the bounce from that New York Times endorsement.

-- Azi Paybarah

On the steps of City Hall this afternoon, Andrew Cuomo unveiled a hokey-but-sly flier positioning him as the heir to Eliot Spitzer without actually mentioning Spitzer's name.

His new literature features an old-fashioned shoe sizer in front of two black shoes and reads, "New York Democrats have taken measurements to fill some very big shoes." Different versions of the fliers have been published targeting Democrats in Western New York, the Capital Region and Central New York. The New York City version includes Charlie Rangel, Christine Quinn, Bill Thompson and Ed Koch -- who, for those of you who may not know, is a former shoe salesman.

At the press conference, former AG candidate Charlie King was back at Cuomo's side, intercepting tough questions and acting like a surrogate. It was King who stepped in when Cuomo was asked about Mark Green's demand, made earlier in the day, for Cuomo to return $800,000 contributed by Andrew Farkas.

"Take the microphone,' said Cuomo, who then stood by as King attacked Green as a negative campaigner and criticized contributions made by Green's brother Stephen, a real estate developer who has business with the state.

When Cuomo was finally forced to respond to the substance of the Farkas question, he said the following.

"It's a silly last minute, distortion," he said. "There was a case at HUD 10 years ago, it was a case by the Dept of Justice...So obviously there is no situation by which, imaginable that I should return the money...The US Department of Justice brought the case."  read more »

--Jason Horowitz

As the fifth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, almost a third of New Yorkers remain "very concerned" about another attack, (others say it's even higher) while the rest of the country pretty much feels that life has for the most part returned to normal. Besides the fact that New Yorkers witnessed the attacks first hand, the gap in confidence over security and the government's ability to provide it has surely been made worse by revelations about the extent of the impact of conmtaminated air on 9/11 workers.

The Post, writing off of a 2001 Health Department memo, reports the city was prematurely subjected to that foul air because Mayor Rudy Giuliani was under pressure by businesses to reopen portions of the affected downtown area.

Andrew Cuomo and Mark Green sure did mix it up at the Bar Association debate. And while Cuomo perhaps handed in the weakest performance of the morning, his one zinger, that Green would "go down in the history books for the most negative campaigns," was getting a lot of play here and here.

The debate was, of course, a Spitzer love fest. So you didn't hear any reference to the news that he has dropped some of the civil charges against former American International Group Chief Executive Maurice Greenberg. And there was not a word about his drinking problems. At a campaign event in Syracuse last week, the State Liquor Authority actually closed the thing down because "an unlimited" number of drinks were being offered, perhaps by underage servers. (Volunteer for Spitzer!) The Spitzer camp denies everything, countering that the SLA is controlled by Pataki and that this is nothing more than dirty politics.

After the Bloomberg administration made history by wrestling control of the city's schools from the Board of Ed, city lawyers are now arguing against a demand from parents and teachers that Bloomberg lower class sizes by contending that the mayor actually can't make policy decisions and fund the schools on his own.

Looking outside of New York, the Times wonders if the heated Senate race between US Senator Bob Menendez and State Senator Thomas H. Kean Jr. has soured the beautiful friendship between ex-presidents Bush and Clinton, while the News writes about Connecticut's Democratic candidate Ned Lamont (Tasini with money, a party, a campaign, and a political platform) showing some love to Hillary.

-- Jason Horowitz

Tom Suozzi has a 44th birthday party at the Crescent Beach Club (333 Bayville Avenue) in Bayville at 6.

State Senate candidate Dan Russo has a wine-filled fundraiser at the Metropolitan Republican Club at 6:30.

Mark Green is interviewed on NY1, which airs at 7 and 10:30.

The Democrats in the Brooklyn 11th congressional district debate at Temple Beth Elohim (Garfield Place & 8th Avenue) in Park Slope at 7.

State Senator John Sabini and Councilman Hiram Monserrate face off at a candidate's forum in Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church (104-11 37th Ave.) in Corona at 7.

KT McFarland has a fundariser at Henry Kissinger's home in Manhattan.

And starting at 10 p.m., C-SPAN 3 has a bunch of 9/11 related coverage, including a rerun of Rudy Giuliani and George Pataki's reaction to the attacks.

-- Azi Paybarah

This just in from Horowitz from the New York Law Journal AG debate at the city bar association offices on West 43rd Street:

After 45 minutes of mostly substantive debate between Mark Green, Andrew Cuomo and Sean Patrick Maloney, the forum devolved into a shouting match with a familiar dynamic: Green attacks Cuomo's public record, Cuomo attacks Green's attacks.

During the first part of the debate, the candidates talked about everything from the merits of MySpace to enforcement of the environmental code.

But the personal hostility between Green and Cuomo, who sat next to each other, came out during the closing remarks, which Green used as an opportunity to call into question Cuomo's record fighting housing discrimination at HUD, to bring up a lawsuit by Eliot Spitzer against HUD over the use of pesticides in federally funded housing, and to keep Cuomo under pressure over yesterday's Village Voice story on his profitable relationship with Andrew Farkas.

Cuomo asked for an extra minute to respond, during which he went after Green for being a frequent candidate and for waging damaging negative campaigns.

Green visibly flipped out, dipping repeatedly back into his chair to make eye contact with the helpless moderators to beg for time to respond to the response.

Green got his time, sort of, but it turned into a two-way argument over Green's negativity during which the candidates talked over each other and Green actually tried to shush Cuomo.

There was at least one substantive question that showed a difference between the candidates: a theoretical proposition asking whether an attorney general should prosecute cases he believes to be either unconstitutional or immoral. Cuomo and Maloney said that the AG has to do the job even when it conflicts with personally held opinion. Green effectively said that the AG had the right to refrain.

-- Josh Benson

Jason Horowitz reports on Andrew Cuomo and Mark Green's frantic efforts to attach themselves to Eliot Spitzer, who seems to want no part of what's going on between them, and to co-opt use of the AG's imagery in their ads. Said Cuomo: "He gave me a picture first."

Sheelah Kolhatkar speaks with The New Republic editor suspended for anonymously defending his work in the comments section of his own blog. "I took the blogosphere's bait..."

Steve Kornacki thinksthat if John Edwards keeps up his steady campaigning, "there simply won't be any room for Al Gore's dramatic midsummer re-emergence."

Lizzy Ratner reports on the return of silicone breast implants.

And Sara Vilkomerson writes about Fall Madness.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

One of the tragedies of the Charlie King campaign was that he raised the second most amount of money in the race and, as Andrew Cuomo said repeatedly today, King was "exactly right," on a number of issues.

So how can a candidate with money, who is "exactly right" on the issues, do so poorly? First, King was locked out of the institutional support by Cuomo. Note the endorsement by Rep. Ed Towns ("While I originally supported a different candidate in the race, I have now reevaluated the candidates' credentials...") Towns, who was having troubles with unions over his support of CAFTA, switched his support from King to Cuomo, who many unions are backing.

In policy, Mark Green had King beat. King's signature issue was access to health care. The Daily News editorial board has been on a health care crusade on behalf of 9/11 rescue workers. The two crusaders never seemed to join forces. And while King set up a phone-line for people to call and make their complaints about health care, Green was reminded people of what he's already done on that issue. (The Joe Camel lawsuit, etc.)  read more »

It seems like the only place left to go was to be the the un-Cuomo and the un-Green candidate. In came Sean Maloney, who had a more legitimate claim to the title since he never ran for office before.

-- Azi Paybarah

Andrew Cuomo, Rep. Charlie Rangel and a few other Democrats may want Mark Green to drop out of the attorney general's race -- but not Freddy Ferrer.

When Ferrer and Green stood together this afternoon in Queens to endorse Hiram Monserrate for state senate, Ferrer was asked about the attorney general's race.

"I haven't made any endorsements in that race," is all Ferrer would say.

Will Ferrer endorse in the AG race?

"Eventually."

Before the primary?

To that, Freddy smiled, and finally said, "How else would I get you to another press conference? What else do I have going for me?"

-- Azi Paybarah

Speaking of unity, Fred