2009 Mayor Election | The New York Observer

Thompson and Bloomberg Meet

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:30:28 -0500

Michael Bloomberg and Bill Thompson had breakfast together at Gracie Mansion, according to Bloomberg's spokesman.

A spokesman for Thompson, Jeff Simmons, said, "It was a cordial breakfast. They discussed the future of New York City."

It's their first meeting since the election. During the campaign, there were hints that Bloomberg could endorse Thompson for higher office, if the mayor's race didn't get too nasty. Currently, Thompson is considering a run for U.S. Senate or state comptroller.

But...

What Was in That Anthony Weiner Poll?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:20:14 -0500

Anthony Weiner’s comments about how he really could have beaten Michael Bloomberg have caused a little stir this morning.

Aside from how it must look from Bill Thompson's perspective, it's also gotten him into a trade of insults with people in the White House.

But since he opened the door...

A couple of readers reminded me that there was a $44,600 poll Weiner had paid for days before officially withdrawing from the race. His aides never disclosed...

Weiner Returns to City Hall

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:25:49 -0500

Anthony Weiner could have held his press conference about federal health care legislation anywhere he wanted on Sunday. He held it in front of City Hall.

There's been no shortage of finger-pointing among Democrats over who's really to blame for not helping Bill Thompson in his unexpectedly close loss to Michael Bloomberg. Weiner himself has come under fire for criticizing the White House's conspicuously insignificant role in the race. But Weiner himself is not in...

Unreleased Marist Poll Showed Thompson Closing in on Bloomberg

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:03:23 -0500

A Marist poll completed the day before the election but never made public showed “a continuation of the trend we saw in the previous week” with “Democrats and African-Americans coming home,” said pollster Lee Miringoff.

Miringoff said the poll also showed “Bloomberg’s numbers had this low-50s element.”

The methodology here was slightly different than in earlier Marist polls. Instead of calling mostly land lines and "random dialing" to expand the pool of participants, this latest poll...

Dinkins Wanted More From Obama

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:22:20 -0500

Bill Thompson supporters continue firing shots at those they say could have and should have done more to help out. The latest is from David Dinkins.

From The Post:

“The president should’ve done more. He found time to go to Virginia, he found time to go to New Jersey and he should’ve been here,” former Mayor David Dinkins, who was in office from 1990 through...

Staten Island Room

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:37:42 -0500

Michael Bloomberg has said he removed politics from government. Not so easy to do, though.

From the New York Times:

In the days after the mayor had emerged, victorious, but badly bruised, from his fight to rewrite the city’s term limits law, Mr. Bloomberg and his three top deputies, Edward Skyler, Patricia E. Harris and Kevin Sheekey, gathered in the Staten Island room in City Hall and began to plot his...

Seabrook, Very Live

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:05:24 -0500

Norman Seabrook sums up the anger among Bill Thompson supporters about non-supporters, saying on live television that people purporting to be "supporters of righteousness, strong supporters of change, strong supporters of taking the homeless off the streets are full of...

Four More Years

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:58:52 -0500

Mayor Michael Bloomberg now has the time and the mandate to create a legacy of LaGuardia-like proportions. His reelection after a catastrophic economic collapse on Wall Street, leading to the loss of tens of thousands of jobs, is a tribute to the high regard New Yorkers have for his managerial skills, economic vision and common sense. Voters clearly understand that as bad as things are in some sectors of the economy, matters could have...

Four More Years

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:58:52 -0500

Bloomberg Spends Big, Wins Small, Survives on Independence Party Votes

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:38:48 -0500

Bill Thompson beat Michael Bloomberg among New Yorkers who cast their votes on the Democratic and Republican lines, 479,521 to 414,242.

But Bloomberg’s margin of victory last night was delivered by the Independence Party line, where the mayor got 142,817 votes, compared to the 27,196 Thompson got on his major third party line, the Working Families Party, according to unofficial results from the city Board of Elections.

This can be attributed mostly to the fact that...

The Last Days of Candidate Bloomberg

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:05 -0500

Michael Bloomberg is on pace to spend more than $100 million on his reelection campaign—more than anyone has ever spent to become mayor of anything, and many, many times more than his effectively resourceless Democratic challenger, City Comptroller Bill Thompson.

But even as his campaign blanketed the airwaves with ads and clogged mailboxes with glossy literature in the run-up to Election Day, the mayor’s handling kept him on a full schedule of...

The Last Days of Candidate Bloomberg

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:00:05 -0500

But even as his campaign blanketed the airwaves with ads and clogged mailboxes with glossy literature in the run-up to Election Day, the mayor’s handling kept him on a full schedule...

Spotted: Bloomberg, Sanjaya

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:26:30 -0500

Michael Bloomberg hasn’t had an event on his public schedule since 8 a.m. this morning.

There are some theories--David Seifman said the mayor is already calling to thank supporters and practice his victory speech (no lack of confidence over there).

One person on Twitter said Bloomberg “set up a table” on 135th and Lennox.

And in slightly unrelated weird news, Sanjaya, the long-haired phenom from American idol, is over at Avenue N and 56th Street in Brooklyn,...

Bloomberg Meets a Polite Thompson Supporter

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:25:05 -0500

Among the people who stopped to shake Michael Bloomberg’s hand at 72nd Street and Broadway this morning was Richie Fife, the campaign manager for Democratic Governor David Paterson.

Fife, whose boss endorsed Bill Thompson, shook the mayor’s hand and chatted for a few moments. I didn’t hear what they said but it seemed polite.

Afterward, Fife emailed to say, “I said good to see him and wished him luck.”

That's better than what happened when Bloomberg met...

No Rest for the Trackers

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:59:28 -0500

Even though the polls open for only a few more hours, there’s still time for candidates to mess up and for a rival to make use of that negative information.

Which explains why Erica, the (friendly!) woman from the Bloomberg campaign charged with following Bill Thompson, is out in the field today.

A source on the Thompson campaign spotted her at several events. A Bloomberg source shrugged at the notion that this is anything out of...