Joseph Crowley

Wednesday night, the Queens County Republican Party endorsed Anthony Como for the City Council seat being vacated by Dennis Gallagher.

The endorsement was made during a meeting of district leaders at the county headquarters in Middle Village, and comes amid talk that the former Republican County leader and city councilman in that area, Tom Ognibene, may enter the race also.  read more »

The jostling for New York's official Democratic convention delegate spots has been quietly playing out in political circles here for some time. And since a Hillary Clinton win in New York is kind of a foregone conclusion, it's really a contest to be named by her campaign.

Officially, delegates have to run and win the spot in party elections, so anyone can still grab a slot. But the campaign has its own list, which is pretty determinative.

Here’s a list of a few of those delegates, this one coming from the 14th congressional district, based on information from two Democratic sources:  read more »

Congressman Joe Crowley of Queens and the Bronx yesterday became the latest official to endorse Michael Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan. It was announced at a press conference in Grand Central Terminal, where I asked the mayor about another politician whose support he really needs: Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who attended a fund-raiser while Bloomberg was testifying on the subject at an Assembly hearing.

For the record, Bloomberg said he didn't see anything significant in the timing, noting that, unlike him, most politicians have to raise money all the time.

7:20 a.m. Congressman Joseph Crowley will speak on C-Span's Washington Journal about the Iraq Accountability Act.

10 a.m. The city's Standards and Ethics Committee will meet at City Hall.  read more »

10:30 a.m. Queens Borough President Helen Marshall will hold a public hearing on land use at the Borough President's Conference Room, 120-55 Queens Boulevard.

The location was a cavernous conference room in a Washington hotel.  read more »

Saturday

7 a.m. Congressman Joseph Crowley will host a political breakfast before the St. Patrick's Day Parade at TGIFriday's, 47 East 42nd Street.

9 a.m. Bill Perkins will host a forum on the New York State health budget to disseminate the facts about the Governor's Executive Budget for Health Care at the Amalgamated Bank, 564 West 125th Street.

9:30 a.m. Mayor Michael Bloomberg will speak at the funeral service for Auxiliary Police Officer Nicholas Pekearo at Redden's Funeral Home, 325 West 14th Street between 8th and 9th avenues.  read more »

Later today, Representative Joe Crowley of Queens will be reappointed as chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's Business Council, the fund-raising arm that reaches into the deep pockets of business leaders nationwide.

Crowley's fund-raising prowess was cited in the recent past by Charlie Rangel earlier as a reason to give him a seat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee.

It seems he still has the touch.

UPDATE: Crowley will also perform with his Bruce Springsteen tribute band in DC tonight. Details after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

Tomorrow, expect a minor earthquake in Queens. Around noonish.

That's when longtime Democratic insurgent Hiram Monserrate and Democratic County Leader Joe Crowley will attend what I think is their first public event together, announcing funding for local organizations serving immigrants.

Monserrate ran and supported numerous candidates against the county organizations in the past and has reveled in his independence from the machine. Crowley took over the organization earlier this year and has been dogged by speculation that he'd one day have to defend his seat against a candidate who appeals to his district's "changing demographic."

But all that's in the past now, apparently. The advisory for the event is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

So the etiquette inside Hillaryland is not to discuss 2008 until sometime in January. But what about people, like Rep. Joe Crowley, who seem eager to announce her candidacy: any complaints from Hillary Clinton's people?

That's basically what New York magazine's Chris Smith asked Crowley:

Recently the Post ran a front-page story where you essentially announced Hillary Clinton's candidacy for president. Get any static from the senator's staff?

No. When Hillary called to talk about her thinking for 2008, I wasn't instructed by anyone not to speak about it. The Post asked my personal opinion, and my sense is she's gonna run. I would have been lying if I'd said anything else. I think she'd make a great president.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rep. Joe Crowley just got a seat on the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, and is contemplating getting a waiver to keep his seat on the Internationals Relations Committee.

Quick, inside-baseball read: Crowley's good relationship with Steny Hoyer is helping him more than his lousy relationship with Nancy Pelosi is hurting him.

-- Azi Paybarah

UPDATE: Crowley just called to contest my characterization of his relationship with the incoming house speaker. "If it wasn't for Charlie Rangel and Nancy Pelosi, I wouldn't be on this committee: no if, ands or butts about it," he said.

As for the recent Democratic leadership race that essentially pitted his team against Pelosi's, Crowley said, "That's behind us."

Office space in the Rayburn Building is given to congress members based on a mix of seniority and a lottery system.

A DC reader notes that first member of the 1998 class of Congress members to get a nice new office in the Rayburn building is Joseph Crowley. Lucky, huh?

Not sure if this increased his odds, but Crowley was on the winning side of the Steny Hoyer-Jack Murtha leadership race, had Charlie Rangel vouch for his fund-raising prowess, and also happens to be Democratic County Chairman in Queens.

-- Azi Paybarah

A small group of New Yorkers are congratulating themselves on helping to make history this month.  read more »

A small group of New Yorkers are congratulating themselves on helping to make history this month.  read more »

The city's most powerful Democratic county leader, Joseph Crowley of Queens, is having a fund-raiser tonight at Connolly's Corner on Grand Avenue, from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

What other county leader these days has fund-raisers at pubs?

-- Azi Paybarah

I was at the New School last night to listen to SEIU President Andy Stern, who talked about the union's potentially landscape-altering plan to form a PAC to target... Congressional Democrats.

SEIU's PAC, called They Work For US, is modeled on The Club for Growth -- an anti-tax lobby that keeps Congressional Republicans on a tight leash, Stern told me. The idea of the new PAC from SEIU -- the largest and most politically powerful health care union in America -- would be to go after Democrats who vote against their interests on economic issues.

Some Congressional Democrats -- including New Yorkers Greg Meeks, Joseph Crowley and Ed Towns -- have already sparked the union's ire by voting for free trade agreements and Republican-sponsored bankruptcy bills.

I asked him if his union's focus on Democrats was in conflict with the party's effort to take back the Congress this year.

"I don't want to take back the Congress, I want to elect people that make work pay," he said [full quote]. "Our union was the largest contributor to the Republican Governor's Association and the Democratic Governor's Association in 2004."

You can hear more from Stern here.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rep. Joseph Crowley was unanamously elected the new Democratic county leader of Queens at 8:30 this morning, even securing a vote from City Councilman Hiram Monserrate, Crowley called to say.

As I noted before, the real story here isn't the continuation of the city's most effective political machine, which was built under Crowley's predecessor and mentor Tom Manton. It's the fact that the position went to Crowley, a federal official who has to operate under strict federal fundraising guidelines known as the McCain-Feingold law.

The law prohibits federal office holders from raising and spending soft money, which comes from sources not regulated by federal guidelines. Money from local clubs, which are a major source of county fundraising, is soft. Meaning that Queens is going to have to draw its influence in future from patronage, not money.

Also worth noting are the political deals and problems Crowley inherrited from his mentor. Nearly the entire Queens City Council delegation is term-limited in 2009, leaving many of them to run for a handful of offices. Who the county backs or gets kicked off the ballot could determine which officials in Queens has under the new Queens regime.

-- Azi Paybarah

Rep. Joe Crowley is set to be elected the new Democratic county chairman of Queens at a meeting of district leaders on Friday, September 15th.

The obvious narrative will be about Crowley picking up the reigns reins from his mentor, Thomas Manton, who hand-chose Crowley to replace him in congress. But the real story is what Crowley's election means to the city's oldest, and most formidable, political machine:It runs on patronage, not pay-offs.

Crowley is barred from raising or spending soft money thanks to McCain-Feingold campaign finance legislation (which Crowley voted for). The legislation created a firewall between federal office holders money raised outside federal regulations -- i.e. soft money.

What does a county chairman do for his organization if not raise tons of money? In Brooklyn, that seemed to be former County Leader Clarence Norman's main objective (and downfall).

In the latest financial filing, the Queens organization spent about $200,000.

"I think if he can raise $6 million for the DCCC, he could probably raise the $200,000 it takes to run this thing every year," a Crowley loyalist was quoted as saying earlier in this article in The Hill [subscription only].

The low overhead is one sign that the machine in Queens has found a viable way to operate outside of direct fundraising: work with the surrogates court and old-fashioned job placements.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

After the jump are a few more pictures from last night's DL21C party at Coda.

And if you're wondering why Chris Owens is smiling, just take a listen to Rep. Joseph Crowley, who got up on stage and sang a few tunes, including Johnny Be Good.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

One day before blowing out her birthday candles, Hillary will be the guest of honor at the Queens county Democratic Party's annual pre-election cocktail party.

The party takes place on Wednesday, Oct. 25 at Antun's, Queens Village at 6 PM.

Prediction: Soon-to-be county chair, Rep. Joe Crowley, grabs the mic for a birthday cheer and somehow finds a way to slip in references to some obscure race she's never heard of. -- Azi Paybarah

Jackson Heights has been the front lines in the fight between the Queens Democratic Party and ethnic-driven insurgent candidates. So when it comes time to campaign, there's a mix of styles, which made this latest campaign filing between state Senator John Sabini and his challenger, Councilman Hiram Monserrate, so interesting.

Sabini, along with Councilwoman Helen Sears and Rep. Joseph Crowley represent growing immigrant communities in that part of Queens. For the last few years, several candidates have emerged from those communities to run for office, with a little help from Monserrate. Now, it's his turn.

The campaign filings show an interesting, if not counter-intuitive trend.

Sabini spent $3,300 on a sound truck and banner and Monserrate spent $10,000 printing campaign literature.

Go figure.

-- Azi Paybarah

Tom Manton came to political prominence representing a conservative white Congressional district in  read more »

To the surprise of virtually everyone who follows these things, Rep. Joe Crowley apparently told a local paper that he doesn't want to be the next Queens County leader. If not him, who?  read more »

Introducing the latest entry on the roster of endangeredspecies: the white, male, Democratic member  read more »

Some left-wing lunatic Hillary Rodham Clinton is turning out to be.  read more »