Bill De Blasio

Yesterday, Councilman Bill de Blasio and his team set up a tent and a ring of multi-colored folding chairs next to the Gowanus Canal in Carroll Gardens for a forum intended to start a conversation between the community and city planners.

It began against the backdrop of several suited elected officials paddling canoes in the waterway.  read more »

Last night, City Councilman and candidate for Brooklyn borough president, Bill de Blasio, called for a moratorium on demolition at the Atlantic Yards footprint until developer Bruce Ratner outlines “what will be built when and confirms affordability,” Brownstoner and Gowanus Lounge reported this morning.

Mr. de Blasio told a meeting of Brooklyn bloggers that he was “livid” about Mr. Ratner’s recent admission in The New York Times that the Miss Brooklyn office tower and residential buildings Mr. Ratner planned to build at Atlantic Yards were stalled due to trouble finding financing, and said he cannot support an “arena-only plan.”  read more »

A congestion pricing measure before the Council just passed, 30 to 20.

Domenic Recchia, who is planning to run for Congress, took a pass on voting the first time around, but eventually voted yes. Eric Gioia, who had told the New York Times on March 8 that he was voting no, also voted for it. Comptroller candidate Melinda Katz voted no, but her likely rival David Yassky voted yes. The two candidates for Brooklyn brough president, Bill De Blasio and Charles Barron, both voted against.  read more »

 

At a press conference just now in City Hall, a reporter asked Christine Quinn if the M.T.A.‘s postponement of promised service improvements impacts the chances of getting City Council members to vote for congestion pricing.

Quinn, a major supporter of the mayor's plan for traffic reduction, said, “I think it is outrageous that a fair increase which I opposed was put in place with a commitment for program enhancements, that a speech was given where program enhancements were touted, and then seemingly, weeks later, that all vanished.”  read more »

The 16 members of the Brooklyn City Council delegation - the Council's largest - are now accepting nominations for the position of delegation leader. The term is up for the current leader, Eric Dilan, although he is not prevented from running for the mostly ceremonial position again.

The position had previously been held simultaneously by Bill de Blasio and Al Vann, back when Brooklyn Democrats were somewhat less cohesive than they are now.

Suggestions?

Before Marty Markowitz gave his State of the Borough last night in Brooklyn, his deputy borough president, Yvonne Graham, gave her own address, which sounds a lot like a kick-off stump speech for her much-discussed, but undeclared, bid to succeed Markowitz.
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Freelancer Caitlin Johnson, who went primary-watch-party-hopping last night, sends in this fun dispatch:

Tom Leger opened up his spacious Tribeca loft last night for gay Clinton supporters to watch the returns. By 9 p.m., only a handful of his friends showed up, but that didn't stop Leger, an English teacher at Hunter, from jumping off his couch each time the preliminary results showed Clinton ahead.

Leger said, "It's a pretty sorry election for queer people – it's a pretty sorry election for the country." He said Clinton rarely discusses gay rights, but he still feels she's the best person for the job. "I wanted Hillary because I love Bill Clinton, and when I went out canvassing for Clinton – when I saw her, it became about Hillary Clinton."

His guests, however, were not so sure. One was torn between Obama and Clinton; another confessed that deep down, he supported fellow vegan Dennis Kucinich.

Almost everyone at a Barack Obama party I went to, by contrast, was drunk off the Kool-Aid. The party, which took place at the Irish Rogue pub in Times Square, was organized by ObamaNYC. It drew a crowd of good-looking young professionals. Organizer Nina Arawal, sporting an "I got a crush on Obama" pin, said more than 200 people attended.

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In a phone interview last night, Council member and Clinton supporter Bill de Blasio gave me his quick take on Hillary Clinton's third-place Iowa finish.

“The real story is Edwards didn’t get his breakthrough,” said de Blasio, who managed Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign in 2000 and campaigned for Edwards in 2004. “It’s questionable whether he can continue. Hillary has the advantage over the long haul.”

As for Hillary, he said that tonight’s results were “fine for what we need to do going forward,” and that it was a “perfectly sufficient result.”

Bill de Blasio is prepared for anything on caucus day.

“I am in our meeting room at the Clinton headquarters, on Fifth Avenue South, in Clinton County, with my hand on our group of six shovels,” said the manager of Hillary Clinton’s 2000 Senate campaign, who is currently campaigning with her in Iowa.

"The race is going to be close," he added, “and it’s been snowy. And you can’t afford to have your car get stuck.”

I asked de Blasio (even though he is, of course, a bit biased right now) what he thought of the idea of Michael Bloomberg jumping into the presidential race.

“I think the argument for an independent candidate is weakened when there are strong alternatives in the major parties,” he told me. “I think this is a year when it is harder to argue than an independent has space to cover that is unspoken for.”

Council member and Hillary Clinton volunteer Bill de Blasio will be joined in Iowa by Jonathan Bing, an Upper East Side Assemblyman who will is heading to Davenport on Jan. 1 to do his part.

"They asked me to do some driving of supporters," said Bing, speaking from from North Carolina, where he’s visiting in-laws.

More after the jump.  read more »

City Councilman Bill de Blasio of Brooklyn spent late 2003 and early 2004 traveling to Iowa as a volunteer to help his candidate at the time, John Edwards, engineer a surprisingly strong showing in the caucuses there.

Now he's back in the Hawkeye state, helping fellow New Yorker Hillary Clinton compete in what has become a tough contest. "I think folks from Iowa, like people in New Hampshire, they're used to people coming in from the outside, probably more so than any other place in the country," de Blasio told me earlier this week from the city of Clinton (seriously), just north of Davenport.

"The outsiders are facilitators," he said.  read more »

Former Stonewall Democratic Club President and City Council candidate Bob Zuckerman thinks the current City Council has spent a little too much time passing unneeded legislation.

“I may introduce one resolution if I’m in the City Council, and that is to ban resolutions,” Zuckerman says in this clip, taken outside a holiday party last week. The Council, Zuckerman says, “really needs to focus on important issues that affect people’s lives, not things like street renaming, and banning words, which is impossible to do, and banning aluminum bats, and controlling how much work kids do.”

(Also, a warning: This video is a graphic illustration of the perils of shooting with a semi-functional viewfinder.)

The campaign committee for City Councilman Domenic Recchia just got fined $375 for receiving “over-the-limit contributions” during the 2005 election cycle, according to a public statement by the city’s Campaign Finance Board.

It's not all that much money, but Recchia is now hoping to unseat Congressman Vito Fossella, and his challenger for the Democratic nomination, lawyer Steve Harrison, will likely bring it up as the campaign gets going.

More after the jump.  read more »

In preparing for my reporters' roundtable, which will air on Friday, I spoke to former Black Panther and City Councilman Charles Barron, who is one of the major candidates for Brooklyn Borough President.

He gave me a good rant, not about police brutality (that came later), but about affordable housing and development.
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“Right now, developers are fat cats who are getting over tremendously, particularly with not having to do affordable housing, and using eminent domain and using other state and city powers to gain access [to] subsidies. They call it subsidies, but it’s really corporate welfare,” Barron told me.

He went on to say he “would scrap the 421a housing program.”

Any other insights or things to keep in mind about this race, let me know.

 

Buried inside this recent Courier Life article about Michael Nelson, the Councilman from Brooklyn who spent an unusually high amount of city money on local advertisements, is this interesting factoid:

“Nelson is now a candidate to succeed Marty Markowitz as Brooklyn borough president.”

If that's true (Nelson's office didn't return a call for additional information), that would make three candidates for the seat so far. The other two are Bill de Blasio and Charles Barron.

Anybody else making a stealth announcement?

UPDATE: Nick Perry is in the race. 

Here’s Bill Alatriste's shot of a press conference on the steps of City Hall earlier today where City Council members Bill de Blasio, Vincent Gentile and Mike McMahon rallied in support of a bill that would require “e waste,” like old computers and cell phones, to be collected by the dealers who sell them.

The bill was introduced last year and is still being negotiated, but a spokesman for de Blasio wasn’t quite ready to say City Hall or the Speaker’s office has been stalling on the issue.

“We’re happy with negotiations moving forward. But it never hurts having more people know about the bill and why electronic waste is a growing problem,” de Blasio spokeswoman Jean Weinberg told me.

When asked for a comment, Bloomberg spokesman Jason Post emailed say he was “surprised by the press conference.”

“The Mayor's office supports an electronic waste recycling program, and we have worked with the Council closely on their proposed e-waste legislation. Since recent negotiations have been productive and have brought us close to workable bill, we were surprised by today's press conference. This Administration will continue to work with Council Member de Blasio, Sanitation & Waste Management Committee Chair McMahon and advocates on a realistic e-waste bill."

As Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz considers a run for mayor in 2009, an interesting undercard race is shaping up for the office he is vacating. It’s well known that city councilmen Bill de Blasio and Charles Barron have an eye on the beep’s office. A third contender could be Deputy Borough President Yvonne Graham.

Graham, who is originally from Jamaica, is participating in a Caribbean Heritage celebration in Brooklyn today, one of several similar appearances that seem designed to raise her profile around the borough.

Of course, Graham has a long way to go before she matches the ribbon-cutting prowess of Markowitz. In an interview, she said no one should read too much into her heightened visibility. “Actually I’ve worked with diverse cultures ever since I landed in this country in 1979,” she said. When asked directly whether she was planning to run for the borough presidency, she replied: "Well, I haven’t ruled out anything.”

“I have not yet made a decision,” she added, “and that’s all the information I have at this time.”  read more »

Here's an invitation to a June 17 fund-raiser for Council member Bill de Blasio's 2009 run for... something.

The maximum contribution organizers are seeking is $3950, if that's a clue. (The contribution limit for borough-wide candidates is $3850, and for citywide candidates, it’s $4950.)

I emailed the organizer of the event, Phil Jones, and am waiting to hear whether there's any more detail to be had on the Councilman's ongoing efforts.

The invitation is after the jump.  read more »

Here’s an invitation to a fund-raiser later this week for Council member Bill de Blasio at the Manhattan home of investment banker Jeffrey Sachs.

De Blasio, along with the majority of the Council, will be term-limited out of office in 2009. He was a key figure in Hillary Clinton's first Senate campaign, has White House experience and has strong ties to labor. Though he’s been talked about as candidate for Brooklyn borough president, he still hasn’t made it clear, officially, what he’ll be running for.

Extra credit for the name given to de Blasio’s top fund-raisers: "Super Good Friends."

For the record, here’s the exact breakdown of who voted for, against, abstained or was absent for a proposal yesterday to reinsert the name of black activist Sonny Carson into an omnibus street renaming bill.

Affirmative: 15
Negative: 25
Abstentions: 7
Absent 4:

Notably, John Liu, the only Asian-American in the Council, voted to honor Carson, as did Tony Avella. Bill De Blasio, who worked on the David Dinkins mayoral campaign around the time Carson was registering voters to help elect Dinkins, voted no.

A complete list is after the jump.  read more »

The City Council has voted down a proposal to co-name four blocks of a street in Brooklyn after black nationalist Sonny Carson. The vote was 15 for and 25 against, with seven abstentions. Notable votes: Bill De Blasio, who worked on David Dinkins' mayoral campaign with Carson, voted no. Oliver Koppell, who voted no, said "we are not voting on the civil rights movement." Mathieu Eugene, in one of his first votes, abstained. Mike Nelson of Brooklyn voted no, and retold a story of how Carson came into the classroom where she was teaching and said he didn't want a white Jew teaching his children.

One of the odder bits of fallout to come out of the, um, change of membership at Community Board 6 is that a critic of Atlantic Yards is replacing one of the opponents who got axed this week.

Brad Lander, the director of the Pratt Center for Community Development, was nominated for a spot on the 50-member advisory board by City Council Member Bill de Blasio and appointed by Borough President Marty Markowitz, according to the board's new list (PDF).  read more »

Nine members of Brooklyn’s Community Board 6 have not been reappointed to another two-year term after the board took several votes opposing the Atlantic Yards project.  read more »

A number of community board members in Brooklyn’s Brownstone Belt who voted against Atlantic Yards will not be reappointed next week, according to officials involved with the process.

Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, an early and ardent supporter of the housing-and-arena complex at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues, is expected to replace several Community Board 6 members when he makes appointments next week. Community Board 6 includes Park Slope, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Red Hook and last year issued a strongly worded rejection of the project proposed by private developer Forest City Ratner.

“We would like to remain optimistic that we can contribute to changes in the current plan which would accomplish the laudable goals of the project concepts. But in its current form we cannot support this project,” wrote then-board Chairman Jerry Armer in a Sept. 29, 2006, letter (PDF) to the Empire State Development Corporation, the government sponsor of the project. “We cannot possibly support the current project with the knowledge that we would be causing irreparable harm to our own communities.”  read more »

When I spoke with Bill de Blasio the other day about the mayor's plan to end "play to play" and tweak campaign finance laws, I quoted him saying this:

"I'd like to remind people, and Dick Dadey will confirm this, the toughest campaign finance law in the country was passed by the New York City Council. It was not started by a mayor. It was not started by an independent commission. It was created by the City Council."

I didn't ask Dadey for his own take at the time. But the mere mention of his name in conjunction with de Blasio's criticism of the mayor's proposal brought him in for some sharp criticism in our comments section.

Here, via email, is Dadey's response:

"In regards to Citizens Union position on pay-to-play contributions, I would like to set the record straight since many of the comments in the posts are factually incorrect.

"Citizens Union supports the adoption of strong legislation that would 'restrict' political contributions from those who do business with the city and has advocated for such reforms consistently over the past several years. It is our hope that the Council will soon propose and pass such legislation that the Mayor would then sign into law. We believe this is a preferable and more effective way to achieve the goal of addressing the issue of 'pay to play" contributors than if the Campaign Finance Board were to pass on its own a rule implementing such. The City Council has played an important and necessary role in creating and strengthening the city's campaign finance program. We feel that the Council has missed past opportunities to strengthen it even further, but one of the reasons that New York has a model national program is because of the City Council's long commitment to it. The other reason is because of the way in which the law has been strongly enforced and the program properly administered by the Campaign Finance Board.

"CU supports "pay to play" legislation that would be enforceable and not onerous, but would limit the influence peddling that goes on in the form of contributors who feel that in order for favorable consideration to be given to their interests - like government contracts - they need to make a contribution in order to their interests to be in play, aka "pay to play." We also believe that any legislation should not "ban" a contributor's constitutional right to participate in the political process by denying them a chance to make a contribution to a candidate of his or her choice; instead we favor setting a low limit at which a contributor could give without being subjected to a "pay to play" restriction should they have business with the city. We look forward to continued thoughtful dialogue on this critical issue."

-- Azi Paybarah

So it seems like for whatever reason (Concern over process? Personal inconvenience? Wonderment at the irony of a self-funded billionaire attempting to regulate campaign finance?), one the most controversial proposals from the mayor's State of the City speech among other city officials was his proposal to ban political contributions from people who do business with the city.

After the mayor's state of city speech, I caught up with Bill de Blasio, who, like Bill Thompson, had some reservations about the mayor's idea.

"I don't think it was wise or necessary for the mayor to suggest that he would go around the City Council, the legislative branch," de Blasio said. "Policies on campaign finance law have to be determined with the council. And I think we have provided some important balance in the process.

"I'd like to remind people, and Dick Dadey will confirm this," de Blasio continued, with Dadey looking on, "the toughest campaign finance law in the country was passed by the New York City Council. It was not started by a mayor. It was not started by an independent commission. It was created by the City Council."

He went on to say, "The only way to do this right is with the City Council. It should not be done as a unilateral action by the CFB."

-- Azi Paybarah

At 9:30 a.m., on the City Hall steps, Bill de Blasio marks the anniversary of the Nixmary Brown's death by announcing recommendations for improving child welfare.

At 10 a.m., the Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committee discusses the EPA's cleanup at Ground Zero.

At 11 a.m., the Queens West Development Corporation meets at 633 Third Ave.

At noon, Hiram Monserrate and veterans groups call for the mayor to spend $5 million to create Veterans Resource Centers.

Also at noon, anti-war and human rights groups protest Iraq troop escalation and Guantanamo Bay detentions at both Thomas Paine Park and Lafayette and Centre streets.

At 12:30 p.m.Gloria Steinem, John Liu and others ask the state to pass anti-human trafficking laws, at state Supreme Court.

At 4 p.m., there will be a demonstration of proposed voting systems, at Fordham University.

At 5:30 p.m., the City Council hosts a Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King celebration in the Council Chambers

At 6 p.m., the December 12th Movement and Black Men's Movement discuss police brutality at the Calvary Baptist Church in Queens.

Also at 6 p.m. the Staten Island peace marks the fifth anniversary of people held at at Guantanamo Bay with a protest at the Staten Island Borough Hall

And at 6 p.m., there will be a reception for the exhibition of Eliot Spizter's campaign photos, called "Making of a Governor," at Grand Central Terminal.

-- Azi Paybarah

Tonight, Chuck Schumer and Rep. Anthony Weiner hold a fundraiser for Stephen Harrison, the Democrat challenging the city's only Republican congressman, Vito Fossella of the 13th congressional district.

But despite the visit from his better-known colleagues -- and despite the prospect of big Democratic victories elsewhere in New York this year -- Harrison's challenge to Fossella hasn't commanded much attention.

The only time the race has made much of a stir, at least outside of Staten Island, has been when Fossella was fined $59,000 last week for misusing Elmo pictures that originally appeared in congressional mail, or when he used campaign money for a family ski trip.

So what about Harrison?

He told me in a recent interview that he's optimistic that the seat "can be won by Democrats strictly on a 'get out the vote' situation," pointing out that the Republicans are actually at a considerable registration disadvantage in the district.

But, he said, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is "certainly not helping," between their "cookie-cutter formulas" for winning races and their unsuccessful attempt to lure Bill de Blasio into making the contest.

For anyone interested in knowing more about Harrison, a fuller transcript of the Q&A is after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah

One day after Mayor Bloomberg unveiled his anti-poverty plan, that would give tax credits to the city's working poor, members of the City Council announced plans to go into their districts and register people for food stamps.

The Council's plan was presented as an immediate and tangible supplement to Bloomberg's plan, which needs City Council approval and corporate funding.

Councilman Bill de Blasio, who will chair the City Council hearing on Thursday, sounded less than overwhelmed by the mayor's plan. "You start with an idea, but you need to implement it. You need oversight and pressure to make it come to fruition." (You can listen to de Blasio here.)

The council plan will go into effect almost immediately: this weekend, 10 Council members in four boroughs will hit the streets to register people for food stamps, and Speaker Christine Quinn said that Council members will be out every weekend signing more people up for the program.

-- Azi Paybarah

Things are looking up for Bill de Blasio.

Not only did he win a valuable chit by helping put Yvette Clarke over the top in that suspenseful congressional primary in Brooklyn, but 1199/SEIU has just given a strong vote of confidence to his future political ambitions.

The powerful health care union workers donated $4,950 to De Blasio's 2009 political committee. (The committee isn't formed to support a run for any specific office.)

The only other people who got that kind of money from 1199 are citywide incumbents Bill Thompson and Betsy Gotbaum.

Update: Here is a statement from Jennifer Cunningham, executive vice president of politics & legislation for 1199 SEIU:

"Bill DeBlasio and 1199 SEIU have a long and special friendship that dates back many years. Bill is a person of great integrity, passion and commitment, and all New Yorkers would benefit from his remaining in public service at the expiration of his City Council term."

-- Azi Paybarah

Newsday has a helpful summary today about citywide candidates who have filed to raise funds for 2009.

The list is led by City Comptroller William Thompson Jr., who has so far raised $519,000 as an undeclared candidate.

Others who have raised money but have not declared the office they're seeking are Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz (about $83,800) and City Councilmen John Liu ($350,000), Peter Vallone Jr. ($232,000), Domenic Recchia Jr. ($84,500), Michael McMahon ($108,000) and Bill de Blasio ($32,000).

So who's missing?

Left off of the list is Brooklyn Assemblyman James Brennan, who has raised close to $11,000 from 49 donors for a campaign to succeed Bill Thompson as comptroller.

Just to round things off.  read more »

—Nicole Brydson CORRECTION: We missed the latest information on James Brennan's disclosure filing with the Campaign Finance Board. Brennan reports total contributions of $154,515 from 800 donors, considerably more than the approximate $11,000 from 49 donors that we originally reported. He has one opponent so far, David Weprin, who has raised $362,413 from 477 donors.

The Daily News reports that Bill de Blasio has been given an ultimatum by Staten Island Democrats; and Bill Weld is interested in seeking the Libertarian line in his run for governor.

The Post reports that Mark Green and his wife were working the crowd at the Women for Spitzer breakfast yesterday.

The Times reports that Rudy Giuliani could be laying the groundwork for 2008.

And the Albany Times Union rounds up Ada Smith's appearance in court yesterday.

—Nicole Brydson

UPDATE: Bill de Blasio was not on Staten Island yesterday, the Politicker regrets the error.

People around City Hall have said for a while that Mike would prefer Chris Quinn as Speaker to Bill de Blasio.

And here's a tidbit in support of that thesis: Quinn retained as a consultant on her run Josh Isay, the same ex-Schumer aide who was a consultant to Bloomberg's reelection campaign. (It was a very good year for Isay and partner Micah Lasher, who also ran Scott Stringer's campaign for Borough President.)

But why would Mike like Chris? She's genuinely combative, and played a key role in foiling the stadium project.

Still, she's by her roots a local pol, not -- like de Blasio -- a Democratic operative who might have set himself up as an ideological or partisan challenger to the Mayor.

What's more, de Blasio might have fit more easily into the role of rallying constituencies outside the Mayor's liberal Manhattan base. He's an outer-borough guy with an Italian name. His roots in the black community go back to his years with Dinkins. He has ties to Democratic activists around Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

Chris's personal style is much more combative than Bill's or Gifford Miller's, but her base is a subset of Mike's own. So the threat she poses to Mike seems, like Giff's, limited.  read more »

NOTE: One other indicator I neglected to mention: Borough Park's Simcha Felder came out for Chris in a fashion particularly damaging to de Blasio, something one thinks he might have at least run past the folks in Bloomberg's political operation after working so hard for Mike's reelection.

Last night, the seven City Council members running for Speaker participated in a public debate at Baruch college, an odd forum for an election that will ultimately be decided through the deal making and power bartering of their colleagues in the chamber. Nevertheless, the debate for "who will hold the second most powerful job in city government" (according to its organizers) was not entirely bereft of entertainment, which was supplied mostly by the zingers of Lewis Fidler from Brooklyn.

Mr. Fidler sat on one end of the panel, as far away as possible from Bill de Blasio, who last year led a coup against Fidler to gain control of the council's Brooklyn contingent. But de Blasio proved to be Fidler's greatest fan, commenting to panel neighbors David Weprin and Christine Quinn "Oh, now that's good!" every time Fiddler delivered a lively line. When Fidler compared elections to polo as increasingly reserved for the rich, the rather wonkish de Blasio exclaimed "He's fabulous!"  read more »

But not all of the target audience got to see Fidler's crowd pleasers. According to some of the organizers, the fire marshal stopped letting people into the packed hall and forced some tardy council members back out into the cold.

ALSO: Over at New York Press's blog, Azi has a wrap-up, along with the evening's most memorable line: "I did a colonoscopy to show people it could be done."

The New Brooklyn leader, Vito Lopez, is trying to make his traditionally disunited borough a player in the race for City Council Speaker.

He's calling a meeting of the borough's Council delegation at his Bushwick club later this month, in hopes of convincing the two Brooklyn candidates -- Bill de Blasio and Lew Fidler -- to hash out their differences before the full Council votes.

"We haven't had a speaker from Brooklyn since Tom Cuite," Lopez told The Politicker. "I want to come up with a rule and a manner how we can unite and come out and have the majority."

Brooklyn, he pointed out, is the largest of the boroughs.  read more »

"If we can get 12 or 14 votes, it makes us a principal player. It puts us in a situation where it's almost hard for us to not be a player."

Brooklyn sources tell us that Vito Lopez has locked up the county leader's job in Brooklyn.

A couple of quick pieces of analysis: On one level, this has some meaning for the speaker's race. It's a win for Lew Fidler, a Lopez ally, and a loss for Bill de Blasio.  read more »

On a broader level, the ascendency yet of another part of the borough's machine is a sign of just how weak Brooklyn's reform movement remains inside party circles, their consolation being that the party regularly loses at the polls.

UPDATE: Joe Bova calls in to warn The Politicker not to count chickens. "Far from a done deal," he says.

Around City Hall, there continues to be quite a lot of chatter about who the next Speaker of the City Council will be.

But it's beginning to appear that this one isn't going to shake out in any real way until after the November election.  read more »

A reader points out an two items The Politicker missed in Crain's Insider last week: First was a claim that Bill de Blasio had a dozen votes in the bag. Then two of the four names on his list, David Yassky and Simcha Felder, appear to have asked for retractions, and another item pulled them off the list.

So it does seem a bit early to be counting votes.

At first glance, rolling back term limits in the City Council seems like an incredibly impolitic act: it would contervene a referendum, and draw down the unceasing wrath of various editorial boards and other sages.

So why is it now seen as all but guaranteed that the City Council will act to extend, if not de-limit, its members terms next year? The answer is the race for speaker.

One candidate, David Weprin of Queens, has already assured potential supporters that he's open to revising term limits. Another, Chris Quinn of Manhattan, is on the record as opposing term limits outright. I wasn't able immediately to determine the positions of Bill de Blasio and Lew Fidler of Brooklyn on the issue.

The point is that candidates for speaker have to promise something, and little is as valuable to people as their jobs. So look for the candidates to compete in offering strong anti-term limits proposals, ranging from the weakest, extending them another term by referendum; through doing the same thing legislatively; through a referendum on abolishing them entirely.  read more »

"It's an issue that's on the minds of a lot of members," Weprin told The Politicker, adding that he expected it to wait until a new Council takes office in January. "It's a major part of the agenda."

Not long ago, Bill de Blasio was one of the state's top Democratic operatives, managing Hillary Clin  read more »

It was only recently that Bill De Blasio would spend his Saturdays in the Map Room of the White Hous  read more »

"No voters ever talk to me about soft money," said Hillary Rodham Clinton on the sodden afternoon of  read more »

No doubt about it, the Hillary Express appears to be running smoothly at last.  read more »