John DeSio

Helen Foster, who is contemplating a run for Bronx Borough President, said the last two people who have held that job have divided the borough’s black and Puerto Rican communities.

A story in the Riverdale Review (still not online!) this week quoted Foster’s father, the former Councilman in the area, at a February 7 meeting saying, “The last two borough presidents we've had were not and are not sympathetic to the black community.”  read more »

A bit of news from the small world of local political blogging: New York Press writer and blogger John DeSio is out, ending what has been his tortured relationship with the alt-weekly that was recently acquired by the more mainstream Manhattan Media.

From an email he‘s sending to friends and colleagues:

“Differences with new management over just what the column should be have kept it out of the paper since mid-September, and this morning I was informed that my services as a blogger were no longer required.”

DeSio, in what may well be a new trend for departing writers from that publication, launched his own web site. (Full disclosure: I worked for that paper under different management.)

Anyway, DeSio is keeping his job as an editor for a Bronx newspaper (which still isn’t online!), but at least he’ll be operating with less red tape.

DeSio's full email is after the jump.   read more »

City council candidates answer questions about police brutality (bad), affordable housing (more, more) and Iraq (boo!).

Eliot Spitzer created the new position of Education Czar.

The Daily News' publisher is pissed off about getting calls on his cell phone about Rudy Giuliani.

Harry Siegel explores a Libertarian traffic plan. (Insert joke here).

John DeSio reflects on the bad things Efrain Gonzalez's ex-wife is saying about her former husband.

The city comptroller collected $5 million in back wages for underpaid workers.

The attorney general has a major settlement against advertisers who use adware.

African-Americans are safer in prison than in their own neighborhoods. The opposite is true for whites.

Is Barack Obama the Tiger Woods of politics?

The Independence Party is wired. Literally.

And John Edwards reveals the secrets of politician-hair.

In a conversation with NY Press scribe John DeSio:

"I don't think much is going to come of it," says Nader of the current hybrid of politics and technology. "I don't think the electronic media is very motivating for people to really act. I think person-to-person is really the only way. Marches, demonstrations, living room meetings, when people connect human-to-human, not through some screen. That tends to work throughout history. We had greater mass movements 100 years ago without any telephone, automobile, anything like we have today."

Sincerest apologies for the absence of posts over the last couple of hours. We've been having some tech issues that are, for the moment, resolved.

And now, as we were saying...

If there was any doubt how Ned Lamont might try to revitalize his campaign, this ad should answer your question.

Here's what it says: A vote for Joe Lieberman means more war.

Back to basics.

UPDATE: John DeSio, whose brother is in the military right now, has some strong opinions about the ad.

The new blog there, Follow the Leader, is up and running. The "new boss" there is the always humble John DeSio. He has been toiling away at The Bronx Press Review for years. Now, he'll be splitting his time between the two papers, which helps when people like Tom Suozzi go campaigning in The Bronx.

With all the info DeSio digs up on folks like Larry Seabrook, the site will undoubtedly be a must read. And as an added bonus, real fans can indulge in vintage NYPress blogging on the site's archive.

--Azi Paybarah

The Bronx Press's John DeSio emails to note that City Council Member Larry Seabrook of the Bronx held the first-ever meeting of the Civil Rights Committee today, about two years after it was formed.

He gets $4,000 a year for the leadership position. According to the committee's Web page, "there are no current committee matters at this time."