Melinda Katz, the slender former City Councilwoman who surprised the city one day in 2008 with a story about being "nearly eight months pregnant" just had her second child, Hunter.
"You can attribute the name to ex-football player Fred Dryer for acting in one of Ktaz's favorite TV shows - 'Hunter,' which Read More
When former councilwoman and one-time chair of the land-use committee Melinda Katz ran for comptroller, she got a lot of flack for being too close to the real estate industry.
Now she's working as an adviser to the real estate industry, as an attorney at real estate law firm Greenberg Traurig.
The Real Deal has a Read More
Kathleen Rice, the Nassau County district attorney who is running for State AG, announced she's hired a few key campaign aides (doesn't seem like they're putting much stock in the Cuomo campaign talk of a re-election campaign).New hires:Shams Tarek, spokesman. He most recently worked for the NYS Senate Democrats (and, full disclosure, is a Read More
In a City Hall News story about Anthony Weiner, this line caught my attention: "he sends a note to everyone who loses a primary in New York City."
I contacted a couple of Democrats who've lost primaries to see if they'd heard from Weiner. Turns out, not many had. (One got a present, though.)Melinda Katz: Read More
Last week, Crain's put out the names of two people from Brooklyn vying for the Finance Committee Chairmanship: Lew Fidler and Domenic Recchia.
There's apparently another name to add to the mix: Simcha Felder, who I'm told has sent word to the speaker that he's interested in the position.
The current Finance chairman is David Weprin, of Read More
Rev. Ruben Diaz Sr. said about 100 ministers met with him and Bill Thompson in the Bronx this morning, vowing to help get him elected. Afterward, they went to a senior center.
“The enthusiasm, you should have seen it,” said Diaz. “A standing ovation. Ministers chanting Bill-y! Bill-y!”
I had to rely on Diaz’s account of the Read More
Melinda Katz endorsed David Yassky for comptroller on the City Hall steps this morning, saying he "has the honesty and integrity to watch the city taxpayer dollars."Katz, who is from Queens, said the endorsement was not a dig at Yassky's opponent, John Liu, of Queens, whose claims to have worked in a sweatshop as a Read More
It’s sometimes hard to find policy differences among the comptroller candidates, but the audience at a forum in East Harlem last night saw one.
The question was whether any of the candidates would create a “paid clergy position” within their office.
Melinda Katz said she’d consider it. David Weprin said absolutely. John Liu said no Read More
The latest (from Friday night) numbers from Survey USA show John Liu jumping nine points in nine days, and leading the pack of comptroller candidates, with 34 percent. Melinda Katz, the only woman in the race, has 23 percent, slightly ahead of David Yassky, who has 19 percent. David Weprin is back with 7 Read More
Kate McGee pulls a couple of quotes from Brian Lehrer's interview with the comptroller candidates in which he asked them what the point of the office is.
John Liu: “This is the chief financial officer in the city. Not CFO in the traditional sense that works very closely with the CEO.But someone who Read More
Here's the David Weprin mailer that Maggie Haberman wrote about today, which paints two rivals, David Yassky and Melinda Katz, as having supported the death penalty at one point.
In a Democratic primary, that's an unpopular position to be associated with.
Katz voted Read More
David Weprin is out with a new radio ad blasting each of his Democratic opponents, by name. It’s in the style of an overly enthusiastic game show announcer.
The hits are pretty direct: David Yassky caved in on term limits and has ties to a non-profit which was criticized for benefiting a former Read More
Here’s Melinda Katz at Baruch’s debate for comptroller candidates last night, saying that if elected, she’d cut her salary by 10 percent.
Her opponents dismissed the proposal.
David Weprin said, “I haven’t seen Melinda Katz cutting her own salary in the City Council, so I don’t see what’s the difference,” noting there have Read More
A new WABC-TV poll is out, and Melinda Katz has moved ahead in the city comptroller race, while Mark Green slipped 9 points in the public advocate’s race.
Katz gained 5 points while John Liu, the previous leader, dropped 2 points from a similar poll last week. Katz is now 27 percent, Liu is Read More
Michael Bloomberg’s lead over Bill Thompson has grown, slightly, according to a Quinnipiac poll out today. Bloomberg leads Thompson 50 to 35 percent, up from the 47 to 37 percent lead in their July 28 poll.
Thompson’s numbers among African-Americans are lower than where they’ll probably be in November, meaning this gap will probably Read More
