After marching in the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, Michael Bloomberg visited a PS 241 in Brooklyn to talk about the opening of schools tomorrow. There, I got a chance to ask him about remarks Lt. Governor David Paterson made at a breakfast for parade organizers today in support of non-citizen voting.

"It's a priviledge of citizenship," Bloomberg said. "If you want to vote, you should become a citizen."

He went on to say, "If voting were given to everybody, what's the point of becoming a citizen? It is really the real difference between being a citizen and not being a citizen and I think we should preserve that difference."

Michael Bloomberg got a laugh today by suggesting to organizers of the West Indian Parade that he's the only one in his administration who can legitimately lay claim to being a West Indian, considering all the time he spends in Bermuda.

But it was David Paterson who made news by seeming to advocate non-citizen voting. He said that 22 states used to allow voting for non-citizen permanent residents, but none do now. America "used to be a land of opportunity," Paterson said, and he hoped it would be again.

When I asked him about the comments later, Paterson said, "I never spoke to anyone in the administration about it." Paterson said he brought up the fact that 22 states used to allow legal permanent residents to vote "as an historical fact." I asked whether this was something that could be changed in Albany. "I tried it fifteen years ago," he said, "and nobody was interested."

UPDATE: When asked about Paterson's remarks, Spitzer spokeswoman Christine Anderson said, "This is not something under consideration" and that it was not a policy statement.

When Charie Rangel blew out his birthday cake last year, he had two wishes: "That we win back the House and I become Chairman of the Ways and Means committee."

That's according to an early invitation obtained by The Observer to his 77th birthday gala, set for August 8 at Tavern on the Green.

His dreams having finally come true, Mr. Rangel is apparently celebrating what one New York City contributor to his campaign is calling "possibly the largest congressional fund-raiser in the history of New York."

The evening's special guest will be Rangel endorsee Hillary Clinton, but she won't be alone: the source told The Observer (and Rangel campaign finance executive director Walter Swett confirmed) that David Paterson, Sheldon Silver, Malcolm Smith and Tom DiNapoli will be joined at the event by playwright-poet-activist-actress Ruby Dee. Chevy Chase will be in attendance and Aretha Franklin is also likely, according to Swett. No word yet if Eliot Spitzer will be on board for the festivities. (And it's probably not the right time to ask.)

Chairs are asked to raise $20,000 and the lowest fund-raiser level -- patrons -- are expected to bring in $1,000. According to the invitation, proceeds will go to Rangel's National Leadership PAC to ensure the expansion of the Democratic majority in Congress.

"Most of all," Rangel writes in the invite, "we celebrate living in the greatest democracy on earth, a country where dreams can come true and a high school dropout from Lenox Avenue can get a second chance from the GI Bill and make something of himself."

In this day of stealth campaigns and non-stop politicking, it’s easy to see endorsements in just about anything.

Case in point: At a fund-raiser for Lieutenant Governor David Paterson on Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith had some very kind words for City Comptroller Bill Thompson, whose interest in running for mayor is well-known.

Smith had jokingly offered to endorse Thompson for mayor that night, according to a source, who said of Smith‘s remark‘s, “It definitely sounded like a resounding endorsement to me.”

I ran into Malcolm Smith last night outside a fund-raiser for the state Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and asked him about it.

"Somebody yelled it out," Smith told me. "They were trying to drag it out of me."

To be clear, Smith said he made no endorsement in that race, but seemed amused at being asked.

Read into that what you will.

Just because you're a lieutenant governor -- an office that Al Del Bello famously left on the grounds that it was too boring -- doesn't mean you can't get big Democrats to attend your fund-raiser, as this photo from last night proves.

A reader notes that Howard Dean, the DNC chairman, was in town doing his own fund-raising and Paterson's event just happened to fit into his schedule. Paterson has also made visits to Dean's office in Washington on more than one occasion.

So, what's the significance behind David Paterson's major fund-raiser last night at the Penn Club on West 44th Street, where the minimum contribution requested was $500?

The money raised is for his new committee, Paterson for New York.

Which tends to indicate, once again, that his energies aren't exactly being directed towards ensuring a long and prosperous future at Eliot Spitzer's side.

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The Lieutenant Governor explores ‘possibilities’ after Spitzer.  read more »

Legislation sometimes has a funny way of working its way through the system just in time to attract attention from someone's political event.

At 11:30 a.m., Hillary Clinton is going to receive the endorsement of Governor Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Lt. Governor David Paterson and a host of other Democrats.

About an hour later, the Senate Republicans will hold a press conference about their effort to re-instate the death penalty for cop killers. The bill is expected to pass that house later this afternoon. The death penalty is something Spitzer supports in "appropriate circumstances" but which Cuomo and others flatly oppose.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker will be the featured guest at an event to raise money for Lt. Governor David Paterson’s new political committee at the Penn Club on West 44th Street on May 22.

I called the contact listed on Paterson's invite to find out more about his new committee, and to see if this meant the end of the one he shared with Spitzer for last year's election. I was referred to Paterson's legislative offices where his press secretary, Maritere Arce, said she would get back to me later with more details.

Honorary hosts of the Paterson birthday party will be Governor Eliot Spitzer, Comptroller Tom DiNapoli , Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and every Democratic state senator. Notably, all the assembly members are missing.