Sean Coffey is about to announce the endorsement of three major gets from Brooklyn: Congressman Ed Towns, Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, and City Councilwoman Diana Reyna.
The three represent the first major endorsements for Coffey of the campaign, and represent a concerted push by the Coffey campaign to enter the top tier of candidates in the five-person Read More
Shortly before 10 a.m. on Monday, a large group of Brooklynites sporting uniform yellow T-shirts collected on the steps of City Hall for a rally. As a few stragglers joined it, Councilwoman Diana Reyna, standing at the base of the group, aside U.S. Representative Nydia Velazquez, gushed about the $1.2 billion housing development slated Read More
Jason Horowitz (isn't he supposed to be in Washington?) has a piece about Obama's foreign policy speech writer, Ben Rhodes, who kept himself busy with some work… in New York:
In the summer of 2001, a childhood friend, Karl Camillucci, offered Rhodes a summer gig on a New York City Council Read More
Here's councilman-elect Steve Levin of Brooklyn leading a rally for affordable housing on the City Hall steps.
The crowd is mostly from Brooklyn and here in suport of the plan for Broadway Triangle, which is supoprted by Levin's old boss, Brooklyn Democratic County Leader Vito Lopez. The plan also has support from a number Read More
For the first time ever, when the 51-member New York City Council convenes in January, a majority of its members will be either black, Latino or Asian. But despite growing clout, the Council's Black, Latino and Asian Caucus hasn't been able to get Michael Bloomberg's attention at any point since his first term.
"In the six Read More
I poked my head into the Council Chambers a few minutes ago, where Dan Garodnick was presiding over a rather well-attended Council hearing about a proposed rezoning at the Broadway Triangle.That's a 31-acre piece of property whose rezoning is supported by Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the Brooklyn County Democratic Leader.Critics like City Councilwoman Diana Reyna Read More
Here's an interesting new mailer from rogue City Council candidate Maritza Davila, who lost the Democratic primary in the 34th District to incumbent Diana Reyna, but is challenging her again in the general election from the Working Families Party ballot line.
As the mailer clearly states in bold letters—and illustrates with a photo—Ms. Davila is Read More
I ran around the City Council chambers chatting with members about the primary elections on Tuesday, the impact term limits may have had, and the upcoming mayor’s race. Here’s are some quick highlights:
Oliver Koppell, said, “I got 64 percent. Last time I got 76 percent. I think the difference was largely term limits. But Read More
The executive director of Citizens Union strongly opposed extending term limits legislatively, and hopes that those City Council members who went along with the rules change face the wrath of voters at the polls tomorrow.
But it may not work out that way. In fact, only a handful of the more than two dozen Read More
At a June 12 event outside City Hall, Vito Lopez and others endorsed a challenger to City Councilwoman Diana Reyna.
Lopez, who once worked closely with Reyna, said she was a weak link in the local political scene, and that when Reyna was first elected to the Council, “I’m not sure she knew what Read More
Here’s Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic chair Vito Lopez discussing the City Councilwoman he hopes to defeat this September, Diana Reyna. Lopez is supporting Maritza Davila against Reyna, whom he once supported and employed. At this June 12 event, Lopez mentioned a bunch of elected officials that he works well with, but said, “There is one Read More
Here’s Assemblyman and Brooklyn Democratic chair Vito Lopez discussing the City Councilwoman he hopes to defeat this September, Diana Reyna. Lopez is supporting Maritza Davila against Reyna, whom he once supported and employed.
At this June 12 event, Lopez mentioned a bunch of elected officials that he works well with, but said, “There is one Read More
Roughly 50 protesters, armed with signs and a bullhorn, chanted “Open Read More
Some more notes on the Working Families Party endorsements that were announced the other day:
It seems like the big winner there is Vito Lopez, the assemblyman and county Democratic chair from Brooklyn. The W.F.P. endorsed two candidates he’s supporting in competitive races.
The first is Stephen Levin, Lopez’s young chief of staff, Read More
A reader who attended Brooklyn Democratic leader Vito Lopez’s holiday party at Cono's last night told me that Lopez “took pains to introduce his co-leader Maritza Davila as his candidate against Diana Reyna, though he did not mention her by name.”
In a brief interview, Lopez said Davilla is "a community organizer" and "she Read More
