City Hall just released a memo from Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler with his suggestions for how the mayor’s side of city government can best respond to member-item requests from City Council members.

The recently revealed speaker's slush fund--not to mention the arrest of two Council staffers--has raised questions about how member items are allocated and has led to scrutiny of Christine Quinn.  read more »

There’s a new system for vetting member items this year, according to an agreement between City Comptroller Bill Thompson and Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler [clarified].

In a letter dated today, Thompson's says that going forward from now on, he will examine all member items worth at least $5,000 (previously it had to be worth $25,000). The mayor's office of contracts will review member items under $5,000.  read more »

At a conference today organized last week the Regional Planning Association, which describes itself as a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in the NY/NJ/CT metropolitan region, one topic dominated the discussion: the failure of congestion pricing.

Albany was the main focus of the conference participants' ire.

An exasperated Edward Skyler, the deputy mayor for operations, said, "The smallest things require approval from the state. For example, if we want to put traffic cameras up, we can't do that unless we get approval from Albany."  read more »

These names (and precisely 31 others) can be found on the City Hall News list of "Rising Stars." It's not clearwhat the criteria were for making it, other than that the honoree be less than 40 years old.

The full roll of the City Hall News honorees is after the jump.  read more »

Also in the building: former Fire Commissioner Thomas Van Essen. Could all add up to some strange encounters in the lobby.

One Kenmare Square.

In January, Deputy Mayor Ed Skyler--who handled press duties during Mr. Bloomberg’s first term--purchased a $925,000 one-bedroom over at André Balazs’ undulating glass-and-brick condominium development, One Kenmare Square.

The Honorable’s ex-wife, Susan Bloomberg, recently closed on two penthouse units in the same building, at a combined cost of just over $10 million, according to deed-transfer records.  read more »

Interestingly, Linda Gibbs' press guy, James Anderson (who will not be mistaken for Stu) is moving over to City Hall as communications director. It sounds like that's no longer the Bill Cunningham chief political operative job; Anderson will be dealing with editorial boards and columnists. That second move is another sign that Gibbs -- now a deputy Mayor -- is someone to reckon with.

The bottom line here is that Mike is dispensing with a layer of technocrats who ran the mechanics government while the Mayor and his people learned their way around, veterans of city government like Madonia and first Deputy Mayor Marc Shaw. The core of the new cabinet -- Deputy Mayors Harris, Sheekey, and Skyler -- is composed of people who worked for Bloomberg LP, and who will be likely to follow the Mayor back to the private sector (if not into the presidential campaign of Sheekey's dreams).

"Mayor Bloomberg has given me great opportunities to serve New York City and I am eager to take on this latest challenge," Skyler said in a statement, which was (like Skyler himself, I presume) released from his ol' stomping grounds in the Mayor's communications office this afternoon.

Robert Morgenthau's ad that showcases Leslie Snyder's stance on the death penalty apparently wasn't a direct response to the Times endorsement, although it only aired after the endorsement ran. The ad, Morgenthau's campaign spokesman Bob Liff says, was delivered to television stations Monday, in advance of the endorsement.