The New York Observer » Richard Brodsky

The Scruffy Slacker Hippies Who Could

(Note: Some of this article appeared in an earlier article, titled Organizing the Occupation: Wall Street, Post Megamarch.)

What a difference a week makes. The weather was unseasonably mild on Friday afternoon, and as The New York Observer strolled around Zuccotti Park, the atmosphere still had the feel of a Ren Faire that had wandered into the wrong neighborhood. But there was definitely something different in the vibe over at Occupy Wall Street H.Q. Since the unions called out the troops last Wednesday, marching in solidarity with the protesters, the demo has skewed older—for instance, a pair of women standing in the front of the park looked as though they’d qualify for discount movie tickets. They held signs that read “Pissed off Grey Hairs say ‘Jail the Wall Street Bastards.’”

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Will Conductor Cuomo Put the M.T.A. On Track?

Transportation wonks have a habit of talking about Jay Walder, the outgoing head of the M.T.A., in messianic terms, as though he were the only man capable of fixing the agency’s myriad problems—an aging system, run by intransigent unions, with almost no political support. While many of them have greeted his resignation with shock and concern, there is a growing sense that this could actually be the best thing to happen to the M.T.A. since Mr. Walder’s arrival two years ago.

“I guess I’m partly responsible for inflating the importance of Jay,” said Gene Russianoff, head of the Straphangers Campaign and dean of transit advocate.

Indeed, there have been others—Richard Ravitch, the team of Kiley-Gunn, even Mr. Walder’s predecessor, Lee Sander—who have done a lot to resurrect mass transit from the death throes of the 1970s. Mr. Walder, though, was different. He had moved from McKinsey to run London’s transit system, introducing successful innovations, including the vaunted oyster card, which speeds up bus and Tube boardings, as well as implementing that dread scourge, congestion pricing. He was supposed to bring the same innovation and ingenuity to New York.

“You have to hope it’s a wake-up call to the people in Albany,” blogger and M.T.A. kremlinologist Benjamin Kabak said. Read More

Brodsky Lands at N.Y.U.

Richard Brodsky, a long-time Assemblyman who never hesitated to tell reporters how to cover the state capital, gets to shape the discussion at N.Y.U., as a senior fellow.

Brodsky gave up his seat to run, unsuccessfully for attorney general last year. The notably anti-Albany sentiment on the campaign trail made his bid particularly challenging. But the Read More

A Loaded Question at the AG’s Debate

The attorney general candidates (minus Kathleen Rice) gathered for (what seems like) the 87,242nd debate this primary season at the cramped studios of the public access station Manhattan News Network.

The event was sponsored by the city's ethnic and foreign language press, and there were few surprises, except when a reporter from the Chinese language daily Read More

About That Poll…

There was a lot of head-scratching in political circles this morning after a Q-Poll came out that showed that a whopping 85 percent of New Yorkers did not know who they were going to vote for in the attorney general's race.

Nassau district attorney Kathleen Rice led all comers in the poll with 4 percent. Read More

Rice Lays Out Enviro Agenda

Attorney general candidate Kathleen Rice released her "plan for environmental justice," today, which calls for expanding the attorney general's environmental protection bureau, closing the Indian Point power plant, a moratorium on hydrofracking and a naming and shaming of the state's biggest environmental polluters.

"I believe the next AG must be a 'green AG' and that he Read More

Where The Attorney General Candidates Are This Weekend

Ads are up. Sniping has started. Voters go to the polls in 24 days.

Richard Brodsky: On Saturday, local community events in Brooklyn and the Irish festival in Manhattan. On Sunday, churches in the Bronx, and local community events in Manhattan.

Sean Coffey: On Saturday, attending community Family Days in Queens Read More

NYPIRG Faults Rice’s Fundraising Math

Earlier, we posted about a release that the Rice campaign sent out touting how they had raised more money from small donors than any other campaign.

The campaign-finance gurus over at NYPIRG however have run their numbers and they say that Rice's methodology is flawed. Campaigns do not have to itemize how much they have Read More

Kathleen Rice: The Grassroots Are With Me

Nassau County district attorney Kathleen Rice has a clear lead in the amount of cash on hand for the attorney general's race, and she is out with a release that shows that all of that cash is not coming from big-pocketed donors. In fact, her campaign notes, the presumed front-runner in the attorney general's race Read More

Eric Dinallo Fundraising Filings

As the race for attorney general enters its final month, Eric Dinallo appears to be keeping pace. The one-time Insurance Superintendent and Eliot Spitzer deputy pulled in $109,000 since the last filing deadline on July 15. He now has $1.63 million on hand.

While this puts him well-behind Kathleen Rice, who raised $620,000 in the Read More

Where The AG Candidates Are This Weekend

Richard Brodsky: Street campaigning in Queens. Three churches in Queens on Sunday. India Day Parade. Street campaigning in Brooklyn with Assemblywoman Annette Robinson.

Sean Coffey: NAACP event on Saturday. On Sunday, he'll be attending church services and Harlem Day activities.

Eric Dinallo: On Saturday, the National Organization for Women - NYS candidate meeting in Albany. Afterwards, headed Read More

Where Is The Teacher’s Union In The AG’s Race?

Andrew J. Hawkins had a big scoop today that NYSUT, the New York State teacher's union, would be sitting out any endorsements in the governor's race and several Senate races.

But it is worth noting that NYSUT is not endorsing in the competitive attorney general primary as well.

According to a NYSUT official, Sean Coffey and Read More

Where The AG Candidates Are This Weekend

Richard Brodsky: Street fairs in Manhattan and the Jamaican Festival in Queens on Saturday. On Sunday, churches and the Dominican Day Parade.

Sean Coffey: Attending a festival in Binghamton and the Ulster County Fair on Saturday. Attending church services in Brooklyn on Sunday and campaigning in Long Island and Queens.

Eric Dinallo: The Dominican Day Parade on Read More

Brodsky Remains (Personally) Opposed To Ground Zero Mosque

Richard Brodsky stood by his position on the Ground Zero Mosque today, saying that if elected attorney general he would defend the legal right of the mosque's supporters to build, but also arguing that another site for the religious complex should be found.

"Equal treatment before the law is the prime and most important virtue Read More

Where They Are This Weekend

There are a just a little bit more than six weeks to go before Election Day. Here is how The Democratic contenders for attorney general are spending their weekend:

Richard Brodsky: Hitting street fairs and block parties in Brooklyn and Queens, then heading to the Yiddish Fest in Westchester County. On Sunday, he is slated Read More