Diana Reyna

A couple of developments to watch as City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gets closer to her likely mayoral bid, potentially affecting her relationships with the mayor and her members.  read more »

City Clerk nominee Hector Diaz is testifying right now in the City Council Rules Committee hearing, and this is easily the most well-attended committee meeting I recall (although I've missed a few).

Among the onlookers in the house is Bronx Democratic Leader Jose Rivera, who got himself a front-row seat by sitting next to Liz in the reporter's section.  read more »

That’s Bronx Democratic County Leader Jose Rivera talking to one of Christine Quinn’s top aides, Chuck Meara, by the side staircase in City Hall a few minutes ago.

Rivera is here, primarily, to oversee the vote on city clerk nominee Hector Diaz. The nomination is being considered by the Rules Committee, whose chairwoman, Diana Reyna, is part of the Brooklyn delegation that wants the position to continue to be held by someone from its borough.  read more »

The city’s Independence Party, which is currently rallying around Lenora Fulani’s 2009 citywide race, is looking for fund-raisers. A reader passed on this help wanted ad from Craigslist, which says, “The New York City Independence Party is seeking energetic callers for 6 week fundraising drive, with possibility of long-term work.”

Other jobs on that zany electronic message board:

Policy analyst for Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Communications Coordinator for Rory Lancman.

Communications Director for the Working Families Party.

Constituent liasion for Diana Reyna.

Part-time legislative director for Darlene Mealy.

A “Press/Community Relations/Legislative Intern” for Darlene Mealy.

And campaign staff for the Working Families Party.

Here's panelist and City Council member Diana Reyna pondering the rectitude of voting for Hillary Clinton based the fact that she's female:

"And then we would feel guilty because then, maybe, we want to vote for her because she is a woman," she said. "I mean, how do you explain that? And do we want to accept being guilty, because she is a woman--and we go vote because we have partisan loyalties. Do we have female loyalty?

[skip]

"At the end of the day, is it so bad to say we have gender loyalty? At the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, 'Is she the best person for the job?'"

The green outline shows Speaker Christine Quinn's proposed 421-a exclusion zone in northern Brooklyn--the area within which developers would need to include on-site affordable housing in order to qualify for tax breaks.

Currently, the exclusion zone covers only well-established neighborhoods (West Village, the Upper East and West Sides), where an automatic 421-a tax abatement for new multifamily housing (which is what the rest of the city currently enjoys) would seem too much of a giveaway. Adding in Billyburg makes sense (as well as Park Slope-Fort Greene-Downtown Brooklyn, of which you can see a greenish corner at the bottom).

But that two-block strip along Broadway, which goes through the southern part of Bushwick all the way to Eastern Parkway? Has that become a condo corrider? Or is anti-developer sentiment so strong in those parts that City Council members Diana Reyna and Eric Martin Dilan wanted a little piece of that green to cut into their districts?