Marty Golden

Last night I had the chance to chat with Marty Golden, a Republican state Senator from Brooklyn, who was attending a Republican fund-raiser on 14th Street.  read more »

Here's Republican state Senator Marty Golden talking about Eliot Spitzer’s dad being a member of the Harmonie Club, a private social organization that MTA Chairman Dale Hemmerdinger just quit, as Michael Bloomberg did earlier.

Two of the state Senate’s most articulate members, Marty Golden and Eric Schneiderman, debated Eliot Spitzer’s driver’s license plan today on NBC’s News Forum where host “Jay DeDapper was forced to play referee as the two men battled it out.”

Before the outbursts (sort of minor, but still), Schneiderman said there is no safety issue at stake: “In fact, our undocumented immigrants are the safest population we have, committing crimes at one-fifth the rate of native Americans.”

You can watch the debate here.

Here's an announcement of a fund-raiser for state Senator Marty Golden that just went out. It implies strongly, at least to me, that Michael Bloomberg will be in attendance.

Brooklyn- Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with more than six hundred supporters, will join together in support of State Senator Marty Golden for a fundraiser hosted by the Friends of Marty Golden, on Wednesday, October 17, 2007 beginning at 6:00 p.m. to be held at Gargiulo's, 2911 West 15th Street in Brooklyn. Members of the media are welcome.

 

The headline reads as follows: "MAYOR BLOOMBERG TO JOIN SENATOR GOLDEN FOR LARGE BROOKLYN FUNDRAISING EVENT."

Big deal, right? There had been speculation that this would be Golden's chance to announce he's running for mayor.

I emailed Bloomberg spokesman Stu Loeser to ask if the email was accurate, and whether Bloomberg was actually going to attend. The answer:

"Yes the email is accurate. No, he is not attending this event tonight."

 

UPDATE: Seems like I asked about the wrong night. The mayor won't be attending tonight because the fund-raiser is on Wednesday. And he'll be there.  read more »

In case you missed it, here are state Senators Jose Serrano, Jr. and Marty Golden debating Eliot Spitzer's driver's license proposal on CNN the other day.

Watch what happens at the three-minute mark, when Serrano makes the case that “what we need to do is go after those that wish to do harm to this nation, not just have a blanket approach to all immigrants.” The line seems to outrage Lou Dobbs, whose glasses seem perilously close to falling off his face.

Serrano, to his credit, seemed very much to be debating two people at once.

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The Republicans in the State Senate are down to a three-seat majority, and most indications are that  read more »

The Republicans in the State Senate are down to a three-seat majority, and most indications are that  read more »

Here's Senator Marty Golden with some family members of people killed on September 11th at a press conference urging Governor Spitzer not to ease requirements for getting a driver license. The issue flared up briefly during the gubernatorial campaign, with Spitzer's spokesperson telling the AP that restricting access to licenses "does nothing to improve security." Critics said that the changes would help illegal immigrants and terrorists.

With Spitzer settling into office, immigrant advocates are now wondering not if but when he'll get around to making those changes.

When one speaker was asked during the press conference today what Spitzer said that he found objectionable, he was handed a piece of paper and read a quote Spitzer made to reporters from Asian media outlets back in June:

"Change the policy. It's that simple. DMV's policies could change and they should change. I don't believe and never believed that limiting access to a drivers license which as you rightly point out is necessary to; you need a license to move to go to a job to earn an income and saying to people that we will limit the opportunity seems to me to be the worst way, a backwards way to accomplish anything."

The guy who handed him the paper, incidentally, was Bill O'Reilly (pictured above in the fedora), a consultant hired to work on this issue by the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License. O'Reilly works for the firm that consulted for John Faso in the governor's race, and seems to be making good use here of the fruits of Faso's oppo tracking.

UPDATE: Spitzer's office just issued the following statement to the Times-Union:

"This is a complex issue which we are reviewing carefully. Before moving forward with any proposal we would do an exhaustive review all security related maters."

-- Azi Paybarah

Happy Rosh Hashanah!

On Saturday, a march for Puerto Rican independence will begin in Times Square and end with a rally at 47th Street and First Avenue.

Marty Golden hosts an ice cream eating contest at 1195 McDonald Avenue in Brooklyn.

On Monday, Claire McCaskill, Missouri State Auditor and Candidate for U.S. Senate, will stump for Brooke Ellison, candidate for state senate in Suffolk County, at Katra (Bowery and Rivington).

The NY Democratic Senate Campaign Committee holds a fundraiser - dubbed a 'lawyers event' - featuring Denise O'Donnell, Mario Cuomo, David Paterson, Liz Krueger and Eric Schneiderman, at the National Arts Club.

Carolyn Maloney announces new legislation to combat sex trafficking - by using the tax code to put traffickers in prison - at City Hall.

—Nicole Brydson

Marty Golden and NYC Department of Design and Construction officials will tour the Fort Hamilton Roadway reconstruction project.

John Faso will campaign at Penn Station.

Board of Elections Executive Director John Ravits will announce a poll worker outreach effort during screening of the documentary By The People at the Manhattan BOE headquarters.

NY1 hosts a debate between Tom Suozzi and Eliot Spitzer. Azi has the debate party details.

—Nicole Brydson