And so the field narrows: The New York Times reports that Congressman Weiner (D-NY-09) is "stepping back" from the Mayoral race.

“More and more, it’s looking like this is not a fight that Weiner wants to take on,” said Scott Levenson, a Democratic political consultant who is not aligned with any campaign this year.

In a letter to about 1,300 campaign supporters, Mr. Weiner, who has already raised about $6.6 million for the race, said he would make up his mind at the end of May, three months before the primary. At that time, he wrote, he would “look at the lay of the land again and try to determine the best political course.”

If he stays out, Democrats will have - barring the entry of other contestants - a one-person primary. There are advantages and disadvantages to the absence of a competitive race: on the plus side, there won't be the usual acrimonious divisions (cf. Green versus Ferrer), on the minus, the lack of a primary means that a campaign's operations won't be tested before November.