Paul Newell, dressed in a beige suit, his pockets stuffed with palm cards, was standing on the steps of St. Mary's Church on Grand Street Sunday afternoon, stopping any parishioner he could get in front of to tell them that he'd been endorsed by every daily newspaper in New York City.

Two blocks away, Newell's opponent, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, had a fleet of seven vans, which volunteers were driving all over the district to distribute literature that touted endorsements from two local papers: The Villager and Downtown Express. (Both are owned by Community Media, L.L.C.)

In the three blocks between Newell and Silver's campaign headquarters, I ran into three three Assembly members (Rory Lancman, Cathy Nolan and Audrey Pheffer) and four volunteers, all handing out literature for Silver.  read more »

David Paterson is making a big deal out of the budget crisis not because the New York is in dire straights, but because he's “coming out” as governor, says Democratic Assemblyman Rory Lancman

“There’s no crisis right now," he told me in an interview this afternoon. "There’s a $600 million shortfall that the governor, through some modest, unilateral actions, has already resolved. This whole exercise is about David Paterson becoming governor. This is his coming out, so to speak. And he’s chosen to come out as the governor who cut spending and imposes discipline on a profligate legislature. And that’s not the governor we want him to be.”

He added, “The next three weeks is a fight among the different ideologies and philosophies in New York State politics, for David’s soul.”

Assemblyman Rory Lancman of Queens has plenty of advice for Barack Obama about his upcoming trip to the Middle East, where Obama has said he will meet with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Lancman, whose district includes a large Orthodox Jewish population, is in the habit of making his view on the Middle East clear. Last month, he delivered some unsolicited advice to Obama about Israel, and last fall, Lancman co-authored an op-ed with Ed Koch, endorsing Hillary Clinton's position on Iran.

At about the 3:20 mark, Lancman says what's important “for a person running for president of the United States-- because they’re not running for prime minister of Israel--is to show they have a commitment to defending the United States' interests vigorously.  read more »

Assemblyman Rory Lancman of Queens sent a letter to Barack Obama asking him to “say loudly and clearly to the world” the words “Ani Yisraeli,” meaning "I am an Israeli."

That unsolicited advice on “how to speak to my community” was sent by Lancman to Obama’s Washington office on June 29, in advance of Obama’s upcoming trip to the Middle East.

Lancman, whose Flushing Queens district includes a large Orthodox Jewish population, also suggests that Obama “challenge the Palestinians to build their nascent nation instead of building homemade missiles to launch into Israel," and to say that “Jews can live in Hebron or anywhere else, and Israel has the right to protect them if the Palestinians won’t.  read more »

Now that the State Assembly has killed Michael Bloomberg's congestion pricing plan, do its members fear any potential electoral consequences (as Kevin Sheekey suggested they should) from opposing a mayor with billions of dollars at his disposal?

They say no.

Democratic Assemblyman Jose Peralta of Queens said he thinks the mayor’s decisions on whether or not to contribute to candidates running against congestion pricing opponents would be based more on his own political plans than anything else.

“I think he starts funding insurgents if he is going to be running for governor,” Peralta told me just now. “If not, then he worries about his business and his philanthropy.”

There would, Peralta, be no retribution. “He’s a big boy. He’s beyond that.”

It's not unimaginable that the mayor might back candidates at least in part on their stances on the congestion issue. This is, after all, the the same mayor who donated $500,000 to Senate Republicans, whose leader then supported congestion pricing.  read more »

A press release from the offices of New York State Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) offers some hope to New York journalists committed to "fearlessly expos[ing] the truth about terrorism and its enablers."  read more »

Here are a couple of events that got left off our list yesterday.

A new political club in Assemblyman Rory Lancman’s district - which used to be represented by Brian McLaughlin before he was implicated in a contract-rigging scandal - is having its first meeting tonight in Fresh Meadows, featuring as guest speaker Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.

Another event happening tonight, unrelated, is the first in a series of planned New York City fund-raisers for Democratic Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, who defeated incumbent John Sweeney in a Republican-leaning district upstate and has been the target of Republican challenges ever since.

If you've got any others, feel free send them in or plug them in the comments section. Details for the Gillibrand fund-raiser are after the jump.  read more »

The city’s Independence Party, which is currently rallying around Lenora Fulani’s 2009 citywide race, is looking for fund-raisers. A reader passed on this help wanted ad from Craigslist, which says, “The New York City Independence Party is seeking energetic callers for 6 week fundraising drive, with possibility of long-term work.”

Other jobs on that zany electronic message board:

Policy analyst for Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Communications Coordinator for Rory Lancman.

Communications Director for the Working Families Party.

Constituent liasion for Diana Reyna.

Part-time legislative director for Darlene Mealy.

A “Press/Community Relations/Legislative Intern” for Darlene Mealy.

And campaign staff for the Working Families Party.  read more »

Shortly before Christine Quinn announced her appointment of congestion pricing supporters to a government panel reviewing the issue, one critic warned that any perception of stacking the panel would undermine the panel's credibility.

Assemblyman Rory Lancman, of Queens, said “This is already a plan the public is not happy with. The legislature is not happy with. If there is an impression that the commission is stacked, it will not help the mayor’s efforts to get a congestion pricing scheme."

He added: “If the panel is perceived to be stacked, it doesn’t matter what they recommend."

If you don't have time to read the 186-page indictment [pdf] against former Assemblyman and labor leader Brian McLaughlin, here are some highlights from the press release from the U.S. Attorney's office in the Southern District of New York:

He also had union members do personal work around the house like "changing light bulbs; hanging picture frames; shoveling snow; hanging Christmas lights...removing garbage...searching for and capturing rodents in McLAUGHLIN's basement..."

And to round it off, he allegedly used "$19,000 from the Clinton Club for his own personal expenses, including rent at his residence in Albany, and the purchase and installation of a wide-screen plasma television at the home of a person with whom he maintained a personal relationship."  read more »