Nydia Velazquez

Citizens Against Government Waste published its annual list of congressional earmarks (they actually call it the Congressional Pig Book list).

Of course, what one person calls wasteful spending, another person calls bringing home the bacon, and now that Democrats are in the majority, New York was supposed to be getting more federal money.

The state made out with a good portion, particularly in the Catskills, where Maurice Hinchey brought in $43.7 million.

Here is a list of what some members from New York, and a few from elsewhere, brought their districts, according to the list. (It's in numbers of millions):  read more »

By this fall, according to activists, the city could lose over 10 percent of the remaining 90,000 affordable housing units that exist under the federal Section 8 program if Congress doesn't plug a $2.4 billion budget shortfall at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

A pair of U.S. representatives, Nydia Velazquez of Brooklyn and Queens and Jerrold Nadler of Brooklyn and Manhattan, are holding a rally tonight to pressure Congress to approve supplemental funding so HUD can continue to guarantee owners of Section 8 buildings rents to match the market. Without such gurantees, there's a risk of apartments leaving Section 8 for the increasingly expensive open market.

“If owners can’t rely on the subsidy then they will opt out of the Section 8 program,” Patrick Coleman of the group Tenants and Neighbors, one of the rally’s organizers, said. The rally's at 6:30 at Judson Memorial Church on Washington Square South.  read more »

Hillary Clinton carried the districts represented by New York City’s two Latino members of Congress, Nydia Velazquez and Jose Serrano.

According to the unofficial voting numbers emailed to reporters by the state Democratic Party, Clinton won Velazquez's district (which includes parts of Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens) 52,954 to Barack Obama's 28,455. That would give Clinton three delegates and Obama two.

In Serrano’s Bronx district, Clinton earned 39,472 votes to Obama’s 18,086, again giving Clinton three delegates and Obama two.

Barack Obama’s campaign will hold a women’s rally at Columbus circle at noon tomorrow.

An hour later, Hillary Clinton supporters gather for a rally at Union Square.

And then there's the "Latinos for Hillary" rally tomorrow night, in Inwood, hosted by Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion and Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez.  read more »

It's worth noting that Hillary Clinton isn’t the only one trying to get squared away with Eliot Spitzer’s new license policy.

The governor’s (original) plan would have allowed illegal immigrants to obtain a driver's license, but now it's being linked to federal guidelines that will be outlined in the Real ID Act. Although Spitzer backed Real ID this week, a number of Democratic congress members from New York opposed it during a 2005 vote (which may explain why it hasn't been easy getting most of them to say anything about Spitzer's new plan).

One congressional aide was kind enough to refer me to the results of the 2005 vote on the Real ID Act.

Democrats Gary Ackerman (Queens/Nassau), Tim Bishop (Suffolk), Joe Crowley (Queens/Bronx), Eliot Engel (Bronx/Westchester), Carolyn Maloney (Manhattan/Queens), Greg Meeks (Queens), Jerry Nadler (Manhattan/Brooklyn), Charlie Rangel (Manhattan), Jose Serrano (Bronx), Ed Towns (Brooklyn), Nydia Velazquez (Manhattan/Brooklyn/Queens) and Anthony Weiner (Queens/Brooklyn) all voted against it.

UPDATE: Another congressional staffer, putting this story in context, noted that every Democratic congress member in the state voted against Real ID, except for Mike McNulty, who voted for it, and Maurice Hinchey who was absent.

Nancy Pelosi helped raise a cool $300,000 for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee last night at the Upper East Side home of Dennis and Karen Mehiel, according to one of the guests, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney.

In addition to Maloney, who I ran into at a Women for Hillary event this morning at the Hilton, the guest list of elected Democrats included representatives Steve Israel, Nydia Velazquez and Chris Van Hollen.

In response to developer Gregg Singer's removal of the terra-cotta facade on P.S. 64 on Ninth Street in the East Village, the East Village Community Coalition is holding a rally, in about a half an hour, to express its ire at the developer's actions. This has been a long, convoluted battle between the two camps. Recently in The Villager, Community Board 3 chair David McWater questioned Mr. Singer's motives for removing the facade: "Why? Just to be spiteful?" Before adding, "Just childish."

RALLY TO STOP THE DESTRUCTION OF P.S. 64! Monday, July 31, Noon, 10 St. at Ave. B (next to the school) We need YOU to tell the owner of P.S. 64 (formerly CHARAS) that he must not continue to destroy a city landmark! Please join US Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, NYC Councilmember Rosie Mendez, Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, NYS Senator Martin Connor, NYS Assemblymember Sylvia Friedman, and Community Board 3 Chair Dave McWater. Show your support!

See previous coverage here and here.

-Matthew Grace

The Hill reports today that House Republican aides and government watchdog groups are taking Rep. Nydia Velazquez to task. The topic? A press release issued by her congressional office on July 15th, which announced plans to endorse Judge Margarita Lopez Torres for the cushy seat of surrogate court judge of Brooklyn.

"We don't believe this advisory is kosher," said Celia Wexler of Common Cause. "The use of congressional staff, congressional equipment, a congressional address, is all not in keeping with the whole policy that you don't use government resources for purely political purposes."  read more »

The Hill also noted that a similiar press release, trumpteting a Torres endorsement back in 2002, was still up on Rep. Velazquez's website at press time. But it's gone now.