Mark Peters

Eliot Spitzer's administration is bringing aboard Mark Peters, one of the unsuccessful Brooklyn District Attorney candidates who challenged incumbent Charles Hynes in a primary two years ago.

Peters will be the Special Deputy Superintendent in charge of the New York Liquidation Bureau. Previously, Peters worked in Spitzer's AG office as chief of the Public Integrity Unit.

The official statement on Mark Peters is here.

-- Azi Paybarah

IND Brooklyn's endorsement meeting date-change has created a messy situation over at the club, leaving many new members feeling like they've been barred from casting a ballot in the May vote because incumbent Senator Marty Connor could lose the endorsement of his own club to rival Ken Diamondstone.

The On NY Turf blog has written about the move as well, quoting an Erik Enquist article from Crain's on an issue the club had last year when Mark Peters was running for Brooklyn DA.

"The months leading up to the Independent Neighborhood Democrats endorsement for Brooklyn district attorney featured a steady stream of whispers that candidate Mark Peters was stacking the club with his supporters...."

"There was even debate over whether it's uncouth to pack a club. When some IND members stood up at the meeting and complained, Peters supporter and former club president Greg Atkins (now chief of staff for Borough President Marty Markowitz) declared, I'm shocked that people are saying that. This is a political club you pack it. That's what you do."

On the flipside, others are in favor of the date change because it gives the club the reformer reputation that it seems to desire, not that of a cog in the Democratic machine. However, it was made clear prior to the membership deadline that new members could sign up and vote at the endorsement meeting.

—Nicole Brydson

Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes, something of a stickler on residency issues, seems to have established that the time he spends in Breezy Point doesn't endanger his legal residency in Brooklyn.

But that doesn't mean it's not a political liability, which challenger Mark Peters probes pretty directly in this spot.  read more »

The letters on the screen read: "District Attorney Charles Hynes doesn't see all the corruption in Brooklyn...Maybe that's because he lives in a gated community...in Breezy Point, Queens."

It's been widely noted that Eliot Spitzer hasn't applied the same energy to government reform as he has to Wall Street. That's not necessarily a serious criticism -- his Wall Street investigations are unprecedented and have changed the way crucial American industries operate. And a Republican opponent will have a hard time making the case that Spitzer hasn't spent enough time investigating...Republicans.

Nonetheless, a mailing from Spitzer aide Mark Peters, now running for Brooklyn District Attorney, inadvertently makes Spitzer's critics' point:

"As Eliot Spitzer's Chief of Public Integrity, Mark Peters:

"Fought political corruption by indicting leaders of a New York City political organization that stole funds intended for women, children, and people with AIDS.

"Investigated and overhauled a New York police force that was harassing female drivers and engaging in illegal strip searches.

"Won a case against an unethical corporation that was overcharging our schools for milk for school lunch programs."  read more »

They're all serious prosecutions.

But they're not the kind of sweeping reform program that Spitzer applied to Wall Street. In particular, nothing on that list of highlights reached up to touch the people running the state.

We've always admired Giff's political dexterity. And we don't claim fully to have untangled what's going on in Brooklyn at the moment, where the candidates are scrapping it out for the affection of members of the Independent Neighborhood Democrats, one of the Brownstone reform clubs.

But we're hearing grumbling from across the bridge that Gifford has managed to align himself both with Brooklyn District Attorney candidate Mark Peters, the challenger, and with the incumbent, Joe Hynes.  read more »

We hope you'll sort this out for us down below.