As the returns came in tonight, my wife cheered the trouncing David Yassky received in the race for Comptroller. This is the second time Yassky came in second in a major race. Both times Yassky's own inability to hold to his own values or to the interests of his constituents doomed his chances. This young man had so much potential when he first ran for City Council. Many of us thought he'd go far...as he himself thought. But he started to feel entitled to higher office and gave in to his ambitions. Yassky sacrificed all his idealism in his ambition to reach the highest offices possible. Now for most politicians this is no hindrance to success. But Yassky still tried to maintain the facade of an idealistic young man and the discrepancy between his facade of idealism and honesty and the reality of his complete amorality when it came to ambition was too obvious for voters to ignore. So he lost in 2006 when he ran for Congress. And he lost tonight in his bid for Comptroller. I was convinced in 2006 he had set his sights on the highest possible offices with Congress a mere stepping stone. This year his ambition, I suspect, was set on mayor of NYC.  read more »

A reminder to all: today, Tuesday, Sept. 29th is the runoff elections for Comptroller and Public Advocate. Please vote! It is expected to be a VERY low turnout election (predicted 3%...I suspect less!) so your vote will count.

I strongly urge a vote for John Liu for Comptroller. Most of you who I have talked to agree on this and many agree strongly. Please get out and vote for him today. He has the endorsements of many unions, including the Uniformed Firefighters Union and Teamsters. He has the endorsements of Lambda Independent Democrats, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats, Stonewall Democrats, Out People of Color Political Action Club, Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan, East Harlem United Democrats, West Harlem Independent Democrats, Village Independent Democrats, and Village Reform Democratic Club. He has the endorsements of the Jewish Press, Amsterdam News and Gay City News...among MANY others. And, perhaps most importantly, when I have seen him campaigning and when I talk to people about him, particularly people of color, people respond with an enthusiasm that amazes me. I just talked to one of the people who take care of the glassware for the labs on our floor, an extremely nice Philippino gentleman. He saw my John Liu sticker and got very excited. He says he is very impressed with John Liu and feels he understands "simple people like me." I might argue that this kind Philippino is necessarily "simple" (his tastes in music are quite eclectic, for example), but what he means is that most politicians talk down to people. John Liu talks with people. Does he also listen? From my own personal interactions with him I think he does. But the fact that he can inspire working class people, immigrants and people of color as much as he does means I consider him an important person within the Democratic Party (too often a dull seeming party).

I also urge a vote for Mark Green for Public Advocate. I wish I could say there is the same enthusiasm for Green as there is for Liu, but there isn't. This is a more difficult choice and I know some of my friends and political allies disagree with me on this one. But most progressive and reform Democrats I know who actually have had experience with Bill de Blasio feel they can't support him. Talking with others I have realizes it boils down to this: would you rather an arrogant asshole (Mark Green) as Public Advocate, or a personable developer-controlled sleaze (Bill de Blasio). Bill de Blasio has more union support and often is pro-labor, but he is predominantly pro-developer and pro-de Blasio and has consistently been willing to compromise ideals for naked ambition. Mark Green is...well Mark Green. Few people like him, but most people agree he did a good job as Public Advocate, so I see little problem voting for him for Public Advocate. Another friend put it this way: which do you think would give Bloomberg, assuming he wins a third term, the bigger headache (arguably the job of the Public Advocate). She believes the clear answer is Mark Green, not Bill de Blasio. Mark Green has been endorsed by Bobby Kennedy, Gloria Steinem, the National Organization for Women – New York City Chapter, National Latino Officers Association, Local 2507: Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics, and Fire Inspectors FDNY and
Local 3621: Uniformed EMS Officers Union, 504 Democratic Club (disabled rights group), Barack Obama Democratic Club of East Harlem, East Harlem/El Barrio Democratic Club, Sojourner Truth Democratic Club, and Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, among others.

Agree or disagree with my picks, please vote!

In the recent David v. Goliath political story, the David is real (Governor Paterson); the Goliath (President Obama and his White House staffers) however, are nothing but symbols of so many things wrong with our present democracy. The problem is that so many of our electeds are too compromised to do anything about fixing some of the structural defects within political parties. In both of the major political parties (Democrats and Republicans alike) party-politics tend to suck: simple as that.

One of pains that come with challenging incumbents is that you are quickly black-balled and politically ostracized: no matter how talented you are; no matter how qualified or experienced you are. Incumbents view their positions from a prism of entitlement. They seem to think that they own the seat once they get elected to it. And how dare some silly insurgent rise up to challenge them? How dare some insurgent be so audacious as to give the people a choice during elections? This is one of the reasons why I am so set on having term-limits at all levels of government.  read more »

There is some chatter that Christine Quinn might not be able to remain as Speaker of the City Council next year. A NY Post article lends fuel to that chatter.

There are several reasons for the Council to consider replacing her: The arm-twisting Quinn did for term-limits extension; the residual effects of the so-called "slush fund scandal" (which, rumor has it, will take out a few more Council members in the months ahead); her close relationship with Mayor Bloomberg (she has yet to endorse Bill Thompson, and may not ever endorse him); and the feeling around the Council that despite her attempt to be seen as a reformer she has been a classic strong-arm despot. In addition, she barely got a majority of votes in her three-way race; that is a sure sign of weakness.

Until now, the big question being asked is who would step up and challenge her. Before answering that, I'd like to look at it from a different viewpoint -- how could it happen?  read more »

I posted a shorter version of this earlier, but let me add an updated version.

The September 29th runoff for NYC Comptroller pits John Liu, with a degree in mathematical physics and extensive financial experience, against David Yassky, a lawyer and career politician with no financial experience, whose financial abilities are so challenged that in 2006 he threw $15,000 of taxpayer money to a fake non-profit that did nothing but pay salaries to a former City Councilman's family...after that former City Councilman endorsed Yassky, of course. Yassky also made the same kind of corrupt deal with a Ratner front organization, exchanging an endorsement for taxpayer funding. And, of course, there is the fact that Yassky endorsed Sampson for Brooklyn DA four years ago even though Sampson's primary reason for running was to get machine boss Clarence Norman off the hook (Clarenace Norman is now in prison, of course, despite Sampson and Yassky's efforts). And remember that Yassky also voted to overturn term limits that the voters had approved TWICE, while John Liu voted to support the will of the voters.

But let's turn to a more pleasant subject: John Liu. Although, like Yassky, Liu is an ambitious politician and hence not always known for perfectly upfront speaking, my personal discussions with him and Yassky have shown that Liu is much more upfront and honest than Yassky. And I think this comes through in the endorsement competition since Liu is overwhelmingly getting the top endorsements (NY Times aside). Here is a sampling of people and organizations who have endorsed John Liu for Comptroller, with quotes where available. I should note I may have been the first person in the city to endorse Liu for Comptroller! Since then he has gathered a broad coalition of people supporting him, from firefighters to teachers to most of the LGBT organizations in the city to the UAW and Teansters, etc. etc. etc. He is also largely uniting the Asian, Hispanic and black votes. Here's just a sampling of endorsements:

Queens City Councilman David Weprin:

“I have decided to put my support behind John Liu’s candidacy, because we are similar in many ways. We both fought to protect the rights of New York City voters during the fight to extend term limits without a referendum; we felt that any change to term limits had to be done via referendum, as it had been the case in two prior referendums. More importantly, John and I both have comprehensive finance experience. We are in tough economic times, and this City needs someone managing and auditing the City’s finances with an understanding of both public and private sector finance. We need a Comptroller who is ready to hit the ground running – there is no room for a learning curve,” Councilman Weprin said.

Noting that John Liu has had a distinguished career in the City Council, Councilman Weprin continued that Liu’s “finance experience and innovative ideas combined will pave the road to a prosperous City as we move on to economic recovery.”

(Note: David Weprin was the only other Comptroller candidate other than John Liu who had financial experiencea)

Uniformed Firefighters Association

Steve Cassidy, UFA President said, “John Liu has demonstrated his leadership as a member of the City Council, supporting firefighter and public safety issues and has a background in finance as an actuary. He fought to halt the efforts in 2003 and 2009 to close our community firehouses and reduce fire company staffing to unsafe levels. John Liu fully understands that while budgetary priorities must be made in the city, public safety must be at the forefront.”

“We are here today because we believe that John Liu is the candidate that fills the duties of Comptroller of the City of New York and can be an advocate for all New Yorkers,” concluded Mr. Cassidy.

Gay City News

We are impressed by the commitment of one candidate to go further. “I don’t see the comptroller as a bureaucratic position,” Liu said in a recent Gay City News interview. “It absolutely can be and should be an office as agent of change." That posture is what leads us to endorse John Liu, who has amply demonstrated his follow-through in his eight years on the City Council. Last year, as the Council acquiesced to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s request to extend term limits, Liu took a principled stand in opposition. In a body where bucking the powerful office of speaker carries political risks, he bit the bullet, and says, “I haven’t felt any changes in my role in the budget process.”

“It would be fair to say that my background is one of being excluded, whether blatantly or de facto,” he said of his childhood in Flushing as an immigrant from Taiwan. The first Asian American elected to any legislative position in New York City, Liu has been a stalwart friend and highly visible ally of the LGBT community. That record lends substantial credibility to his pledge to “shatter all the records” in using New York City’s substantial pension investments as a tool to nudge corporate America toward fair workplace and marketplace practices for the LGBT community.  read more »

I recently warned people about a visitation from right wing, anti-gay, anti-Jewish, anti-Catholic fanatics from Kansas (that I dubbed the Kansan Dickheads) threatening to sweep through NYC on a three day protest tour targeting schools, synagogues and St. Patrick's Cathedral. The scope of the protests was impressive, targeting multiple places per day. The nastiness of their rhetoric was also impressive, basically calling for the rape and destruction of Israel, the destruction of Jews, and the destruction of gays.

These folks arrived today and their first day of protests was, to put it mildly, unimpressive. They seem to be rather impotent when it comes to being Dickheads. Here is the description from the Brooklyn Paper (itself owned by right wing fanatic and hatemonger Rupert Murdoch who inspires people like the Kansan Limp Dickheads) of the first day of Dickhead protests:  read more »

This comes from Democracy for NYC:

Keep Stella D'oro in the Bronx!
Rally & March, Tomorrow, Friday, September 25

What: Protest & March with Stella D'oro Workers and Supporters
When: Friday, September 25th, 5:00 p.m rally
Where: Protest at Goldman Sachs, 85 Broad Street (4 or 5 train to Bowling Green)
March, immediately following, to City Hall (rally 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.)

Two months after returning to their jobs after an 11-month strike against deep concession demands, the courageous workers at the Bronx-based Stella D'oro Biscuit Co. are still fighting.

A stunning decision by the National Labor Relations Board, which found that Stella D'oro had bargained in bad faith, returned the strikers to work, with back pay and no concessions, in early July. The strikers had offered to return to their jobs under the terms of their old contract in May, but management, intent on breaking the union, had refused.

On Wednesday, September 23, the company's union-busting owner, the private equity firm Brynwood Partners, said it had reached a deal to sell Stella D'oro, and that production will be relocated to Ohio by early October.  read more »

"Democratic" State Senator Hiram Monserrate (and one illustration of what is wrong with Democrats in NYC) is on trial for domestic violence. Basically he slashed his girlfriend's face. He claims it was an accident. Abusive people usually either claim it was an accident or blame the victim.

Here is video of Monserrate dragging his girlfriend outside after the slashing he claims was accidental. Is this how you would treat YOUR loved one after accidentally slashing her? From Albany Project:

I have argued for some time that the right wing use of hate speech to stir up its base into a frothy tizzy has led to an increase in intolerance and hate crimes in America. Almost the entire Bush Administration saw a constant rise in hate crimes, most particularly anti-Semitic, homophobic and anti-immigrant hate crimes. There have been attacks at a Holocaust museum and at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. In Indiana, a prominent Republican told a group of Jews that their opinion on the recitation of Christian prayers at legislative sessions didn't matter because they only made up 2% of the population. There have even occastionally been what can only be described as pogroms here and there. There have even been hate crimes right in our subways, even as violent crime has overall been declining in NYC. I believe the blame for this increase in hate crimes is not just the continuing effects of Bush's Republican economic collapse. It is also thanks to the violent, intolerant rhetoric of people like Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and Rush Limbaugh. [UPDATED AT BOTTOM]

This week we have two examples of American right wing intolerance coming to Brooklyn. One has already happened and one is scheduled for this weekend.  read more »

So people who don't like my message tend to critcize me for quoting anonymous sources and rumors. I have always made it clear that I only do so when the rumors and sources are either confirmed by other sources or are reliable. And I also make clear when it is rumor. The New York Times is reporting anonymous sources and rumors that Governor Paterson has been asked by the Obama Administration, through Queens Democrat Gregory Meeks, to step aside in next year's Governor's race.  read more »

“He’s one of the most incredible people I’ve ever met, unbelievable,” he said. “Vito Lopez has brought so much dignity and political acumen and respect to the borough of Brooklyn.”

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election_2009/2009/09/15/2009-09-15_coun...

--Steve Levin, newly elected City Councilman from Park Slope, praising his mentor, corrupt Party Boss Vito Lopez

On Tuesday Vito Lopez reasserted his power with a big win in Park Slope. Vito Lopez's own aide, Steve Levin, won a hotly contested race for City Council, reversing a losing streak for Vito that led some of us to write extensively about his losing his grip on power.

Here is what I wrote one year ago, noting Vito's loss of power but also his ongoing corruption:

Clarence Norman, the former head of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, is currently in jail for grand larceny and coercion of judicial candidates.  read more »

Please don’t think for a minute that I am angry about losing my race last Tuesday, because I am not. My mind is at ease. I am at peace with myself. I am back to walking around the apartment in the nude. And I am writing poetry again. I am glad I ran. I wouldn’t trade the strange experience of this campaign for anything. It was rather informative and revealing. It’s just that I have to get a few things off my mind and that’s why I am writing this particular two-part column: that’s all. And by now some of you must know that I hate to keep hot things on my chest unless it is a female human; so here goes.

Early in my campaign for the 40th city council seat, I came upon a personally defining moment. It was just around the beginning of spring. I was talking to a small group of residents and answering questions, when one asked what I would do if I were to lose the race -since the perception was that the incumbent Mathieu Eugene was unbeatable (given the overwhelming Haitian-American presence in the neighborhood). My response drew ire from a few of my supporters. I said: “my life doesn’t begin or end with me winning or losing this race”. It may not have been the smartest answer but it was an honest one. Therein lies my biggest problem with one of my two opponents (Leithland “Rickie” Tulloch): he needs to get a life. It should never be about winning at all costs.

In his apparent desperation to win this race, Tulloch was willing to denigrate the contributions and accomplishments of his two opponents. He was also willing to openly lie about both of us. He knew better. He should be ashamed of himself.  read more »

In the hurried runoff between John Liu and David Yassky for Comptroller, the Teamsters have joined the already long list of Liu endorsements.

“It is my pleasure to announce on behalf of the more than 120,000 working men and women in the Teamsters Joint Council 16, our endorsement of Councilman John Liu for New York City Comptroller," said Teamsters President George Miranda. “Over the past eight years, as a Councilman and Chair of the Transportation Committee, he has consistently backed the interests of working people. John’s financial experience will make him a fine Comptroller, but his passion for public service will make him the people’s watchdog in an era of economic uncertainty. We look forward to doing all we can to make sure that John becomes New York’s next Comptroller."

The Teamsters join an already formidable coalition of supporters including most of the LGBT organizations in the city (including Lambda Independent Democrats, Stonewall Democrats and Gay City News), labor unions including the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Uniformed Firefighters Association and Unite Auto Workers), the Amsterdam News, most of the Democratic Clubs in Queens (of course), and Manhattan (including Village Reform Democratic Club, Village Independent Democrats, West Harlem Independent Democrats, East Harlem United Democrats, El Nuevo Caribe Democratic Club of El Barrio/East Harlem, Barack Obama Democratic Club of Upper Manhattan, and Gramercy Stuyvesant Independent Democrats), Staten Island (including Staten Island Democratic Association and Democratic Organization of Richmond County) and even some in Brooklyn (including Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats and the American Heritage Democratic Club) among many others.

WFP and six local candidates, including Bill de Blasio (candidate for Public Advocate, ironically enough), Brad Lander, Daniel Dromm, et. al. broke campaign finance laws. That is a simple fact. WFP, and SOME (by no means all...John Liu for example did not participate) of their endorsed candidates played a little money scheme that allowed them to escape campaign finance laws that are designed to keep elections a tad cleaner and more transparent. They violated these laws, in effect using opaque and shady schemes to boost their effectiveness illegally.

Those are the facts and I personally think WFP needs to be held accountable for their violations...as do the candidates that participated.

Now some right wing nut cases (who I won't do the dignity of linking to) are picking up on this legitimate scandal and using it to show their attacks on ACORN (which WFP grew out of and is still connected with) were legit.  read more »

A wise man once said that success usually comes after moving from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm. Another one said that the best way to succeed at something is by increasing your failure rate. Either way, both sages lauded tenacity and persistence. I concur; and that's one of many reasons why I am formally announcing today that I will be running again next year, despite my defeat at the polls last Tuesday 15th September, in the 40th city council district democrat's primary.

Next September (2010) I intend to run for two positions in the Democratic primary election. Firstly, I will run for the 42nd Assembly seat in the state legislature, against the incumbent Ms. Rhoda Jacobs. The incumbent is presently getting a salary for the position, and a pension for the same position: at the same time. I believe that what she is doing is wrong. This is double-dipping. She filed her resignation papers last year but has stayed in the post while collecting two checks.  read more »

The September 29th runoff for NYC Comptroller pits John Liu (with a degree in mathematical physics and extensive financial experience) against David Yassky (a lawyer and career politician with no financial experience, whose financial abilities are so challeneged he threw $15,000 of taxpayer money to a fake non-profit that did nothing but pay salaries to a former City Councilman's family). Here is a sampling of people and organizations who have endorsed John Liu for Comptroller, with quotes where available. I should note I may have been the first person in the city to endorse Liu for Comptroller! Since then he has a broad coalition of people supporting him, from firefighters to teachers to most of the LGBT organizations in the city to the UAW, etc. etc. etc. Here's just a sampling:

Uniformed Firefighters Association  read more »

Here is a sampling of people who have endorsed Mark Green for Public Advocate of NYC with statements:

Bobby Kennedy
Environmental Law Attorney

"My Uncle Teddy finally felt that, after the death of his brothers, the election of Barack Obama was the fulfillment of his life. That he had fought. That America had ultimately come around. And there is one other guy who has been there that long, with him, and that's Mark Green.

The post that he running for is the conscience of the City. It is the post that is supposed to remind all of us how democracy is supposed to function, how the little guy should have as much power as the big powerful wealthy voices. There is nobody who understands it better than Mark. "

Gloria Steinem
Feminist Icon and Activist

“Mark Green’s record of real progressive reform and his successful fights for women in particular – helping domestic violence victims in the workplace, changing divorce laws, stopping discriminatory pricing based on gender – show the kind of outspoken Public Advocate he was and should be again.”

National Organization for Women – New York City Chapter

"NOW-NYC is proud to endorse Mark Green, who clearly stands out as the candidate with the most skills, accomplishments and vision. New York City needs a Public Advocate who understands the struggles women in our city face on a daily basis. Mark Green is that person.”

National Latino Officers Association

"We've know Mark well for years and know his record on security and policing issues," said Miranda. "His courage in taking on Mayor Giuliani over the urgent issue of police misconduct and racial profiling is a perfect example of the type of leadership Mark has provided this City. His lawsuits and investigations led to better discipline and better police-community relations, which is essential to successful law enforcement."

"Especially during difficult times for our City, Mark's unequaled experience as Public Advocate is just what struggling families need to get effective city services and just the kind of watchdog a mayor must have."

Local 2507: Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics, and Fire Inspectors FDNY &
Local 3621: Uniformed EMS Officers Union

"There was a traumatic and tragic event eight years ago this week that deeply affected our City, our emergency medical service personnel members and Mark Green. He was running in a mayoral primary September 11 and our members recall his courage and grace that day and the difficult days that followed. He showed a real knowledge of what the City was going through and a real empathy about what our members were going through.”

"Like so many New Yorkers, Mark's a fighter and a survivor who doesn't quit when the chips are down. So we're endorsing him now because of his years of proven accomplishment and potential to do even more.”

"Our jobs involve the health of New Yorkers under stress. Mark in his way has been a champion of consumer health issues his entire public life. Look at how he exposed how HMOs were violating the state's HMO Bill of Rights by shunning patients when they needed care, how he exposed how major hospitals were ignoring the ‘Libby Zion Law’ to avoid overworking doctors and interns, how hospitals weren't disclosing adverse incident reports.”

504 Democratic Club (disabled rights group)

"We don't have to guess what Mark will do for our community because we saw what he did do -- especially his federal petition that forced Access-a-Ride to reduce its automatic 'denial rate' in picking up the frail elderly and disabled. Mark's an aggressive progressive who's always on our side."

Election Results from last night's primary. Most of my commentary will come when I have a chance to relax.

Mayor: Nothing to see here. Thompson trounces Avella. We all knew that would be the result.

Public Advocate: News Flash: CRIME DOES PAY! One of the few mild surprises was how well crime pays in NYC. Bill de Blasio, caught red handed violating campaign finance laws and one of the top slush fund culprits, not only makes it to the runoff but actually pushes Mark Green into second place. NYC does love its corrupt politicians! All it takes is a thousand mailings and some pretty ads and the voters (the ones who bother to vote, of course) forget the corruption. Mark Green will have a hard time here. Most of the developer and corporate money will be behind de Blasio because they want a Developer Advocate as Public Advocate, so they will push hard for de Blasio. Meanwhile, Mark Green, development friendly enough, will have to run on the strength of his personality and dedication to the public. Uh oh...Notice that the two who made it to the runoff are the two Atlantic Yards supporters. No coincidence that, I suspect. I endorse Mark Green of course, as the one who is basically pro-public and willing to go up against corruption on Wall Street while de Blasio will make Gotbaum seem good (at least she did nothing...I fear what Bill will do for his corporate cronies!).

Comptroller: Katz falls flatz. I had thought Katz would beat Yassky to the runoff with Liu. Her ads were good and she had even more developer money than Yassky or Liu. But being too obviously a shill for developers didn't do it for Katz. Yassky's weaseling, where he eagerly takes developer money, votes developers 90% of what they want, then presents the remaining 10% of concessions as some big victory to the voters, won over Katz's blatant shilling. Liu should be able to trounce Yassky. Liu is smarter, actually has financial experience (Yassky and Katz don't), is a much better campaigner an organizer, and isn't as blatantly corrupt as Yassky, whose slush fund participation rivals even Bill de Blasio's and included the infamous Steve DiBrienza pay-to-play scandal and an alliance with a Bruce Ratner front group. Now Liu has done his share of slush funding, but nothing as blatantly corrupt as Yassky's pay-to-play schemes. So Liu SHOULD be able to trounce Yassky. But Yassky will have Wall Street behind him (they want a Comptroller who recognizes the investment value of pay-to-play) and possibly most of the developer money. Both Yassky and Liu are developer funded, but Yassky more so. Since crime pays in NYC (see above) Yassky may have the edge. Liu needs better TV spots. The one I saw was boring and Liu is ANYTHING but boring. John Liu needs to connect directly to the public. Yassky needs to hide his basic sleaziness from the public.

Council District 1: Hey, I won one! Margaret Chin wins. I liked Chin on first glance, but never really got a second glance at the race. One thing I liked about Chin was some people were calling her "too liberal" and even, gasp, "socialist." These days I kind of like the idea of "too liberal" and "socialist" winning after so many years of America worshipping corporate corruption. But I have to say, I don't know enough about Margaret to really say if this was the best result.

Council District 3: Tsarina Quinn wins. See! Voters LOVE it when you screw them. Quinn has shown she cares nothing for voters, overturning term limits and making excuses for slush find corruption. And voters re-elect her. No surprise there. Yetta Kurland did well for an insurgent running against an incumbent. Yetta should be proud and should stay in politics. And voters? Well, maybe Quinn is just being hard to get. Keep re-electing her and maybe, just MAYBE, she will care about you.

Council District 4: I hadn't heard anything about this race before. Yesterday was the first time I saw a sign for Ashok Chandra (outside Curry in a Hurry). Guess something was going on here because Ashok won handily. This is one of the few Republican party primaries.

Council District 12: Another case of sleaze who cares nothing about voters wins big. Larry Seabrook won.

Council District 19: Well, although the most progressive candidate lost (Steve Behar...sorry, but not a surprise), the very worst candidates lost this one! Vallone running with Republican and conservative support and family name lost. Nasty Iannece lost. Kevin Kim won. I don't think either Gatemouth or I (both of whom do not want another DINO Vallone and thought Behar best position to block Vallone) saw that coming.

Council District 20: This also surprised me. I didn't follow this race closely, but I had thought Choe would do better. Chou won.

Council District 23: Mark Weprin won. The Vallone name failed, but the Weprin name still carries weight in Weprin's district...even if it meant nothing citywide. I suspect this is a reasonably good result.

Council District 25: Crime Pays Again...but that may be the best in this case. Daniel Dromm wins! I have mixed feelings about this one. I endorsed Daniel Dromm pretty much before anyone else...and I pushed him as one of my top choices. Until it turned out he was one of the six people involved in the WFP campaign finance law violations. I felt I had to back off from Dromm at that point. But I still felt he was a good guy. So crime paid off, but the crime was done by someone who otherwise is good.

Council District 26: Crime Pays Again...getting tedious, isn't it? James Van Bramer won. Seriously folks. This election makes a mockery of our campaign finance laws. The clearest message is you can break the law and still win. Well, Marrion Barry won after being convicted of drug charges, so what's a little election law crime among friends? In this race I am not sure who was the best, criminal conspiracy with WFP aside.

Council District 29: Karen Koslowitz won. The candidate I picked came in last. By the end I expected that. Gargarin didn't pick up many endorsements or support at all, so though he was a good candidate, he had little chance. Koslowitz picked up some good endorsements and seemed to have momentum, so I am not surprised. But I AM surprised that crime did NOT pay in this race. Lynn Schulman, another key figure in the WFP campaign finance scandal lost.

Council District 31: James Sanders wins...of course. Again, screwing voters is not a liability in NYC elections. I expected more of Marq Claxton. He was picking up some good endorsements. But he came in fourth in the race.

Council District 33: WAKE UP PARK SLOPE! VITO LOPEZ HAS CONQUERED YOU. You know, for all that this district loves to say they hate Vito Lopez, they sure seemed willing to vote for Vito Lopez's aide, Steve Levin. Had Levin lost, it would have been a considerable blow to Vito Lopez, particularly after his loss of both Surrogate judge races. Instead, Park Slope gives Vito's reign of corruption new life. This is about the best thing that has happened to Vito in years. Stupid bickering and vote splitting among the reformers combined with voter apathy and this year's Vito Lopez/WFP axis of corruption wound up making this an easy win for Levin. I had expected Jo Anne Simon to pull it off. With the endorsement of all reform clubs AND the NYT (the only race I know of where the NYT didn't endorse the most scandal ridden candidate) should have done it. But the fact that rival reformers spent most of their time attacking Jo Anne rather than Levin helped hand it to Levin. THANK YOU Ken Baer, Ken Diamondstone and Doug Whoever. Vito Lopez now loves you. Oh, and so does Bruce Ratner because now Ratner has a solidly pro-Atlantic Yards City Councilman in Park Slope (despite some slight lip service otherwise from Levin (lying???), the Lopez machine is so pro-Ratner that even Mayor Bloomberg balked at their giveaways to Ratner). That will make things easier for Ratner. And none of Jo Anne's reform rivals even came in third. That was left to conservative Isaac Abraham. Pathetic. I'll have more to say about this race in another post when I get around to it. Until then, this race is actually the biggest news of the day because it really does give the Vito Lopez machine a huge lift. Park Slope Saves the Vito Lopez Machine. THAT is news.

Council District 34: This one is one more example of the ONLY way reformers seem able to beat the Vito Lopez machine these days: when Vito and one of his minions have a falling out, we can back the minion. Vito Lopez has a history of betraying followers who don't toe the line enough. He then runs someone against them. Reformers then are stuck siding with a former machine politician over a current machine politician. And that is when we usually win. Diana Reyna, formerly a Vito Lopez favorite, became too independent. So Vito ran someone against her...and lost. Some reformers, myself included, sided with Reyna. Other reformers went for Gerald Esposito...who came in third. Thankfully, splitting the reform vote didn't hand the race to Vito Lopez the way it did in the 33rd, but the fact remains reformers can ONLY beat Lopez when they side with a former machine politician who has gone independent.

Council District 35: Easy win for Tish James. No surprise. So Bruce Ratner wasn't able to flip this district in his favor the way he helped flip the 33rd district. So now Park Slope, whether they want it or not, is pro-Ratner in the City Council and Prospect Heights is anti-Ratner.

Council District 38: I am shocked at how well Iglesias did. I only met him once and he seemed very earnest, but not very effective. He did still lose, but honestly did pretty well.

Council District 39: So South Slope now has a largely pro-Ratner, anti-Israel politician who like to make deals with homophobic reactionaries. And again, crime pays. Brad Lander, another participant in the WFP campaign finance scandal, won. Again, reform progressives split the vote and lost. But in this case I have to say that the reform progressives, though they split the vote, did not lose it by in-fighting the way they did in the 33rd. The reform progressives were the gentlemen in the race. The conservative (Heyer) and sleazy developer (Lander) candidates were the nasty ones in the end, their campaigns (supposedly without knowledge from the candidates) running virulently anti-gay ads in Boro Park. Heyer handily won the Boro Park competition, but Lander, in the end, didn't need it. So many liberal Park Slope voters seem to have forgiven him his anti-Israel beliefs (strongly held) and his anti-gay flirtations (contrary to his real beliefs but still something he will bargain with when it comes to votes). Had all the reformers united behind one candidate they may still have lost this one it seems. Corruption and sleaze beat out honest progressives in Park Slope even if the progressives aren't forming a circular firing squad as they did in the 33rd.

Council District 40: Another example of how honesty is NOT the best policy in NYC politics. The incumbent is a do nothing liar, but wins easily. Not surprisingly Rock Hackshaw, running on a campaign of pure, raw honesty, lost big. Voters want politicians to tell them sweet, sweet lies. Pity honesty is worth nothing in Brooklyn (and probably NYC as a whole). Still, we have not seen the last of Rock Hackshaw. He will run again and I hope he will win.

Council District 49: One of the few good results. Debi Rose kicked butt. And well she should have. I kept out of this simply because I was overwhelmed with other races. But Debi Rose is one of the good people in NYC politics and North Shore recognizes that! To all those who put down Staten Island, I have to say SI did better in this race than most of the other boroughs did in their key races. Kudos to Staten Island!

This is updated from a previous post, adding some endorsements from other bloggers and a few other newspapers and organizations.

I have spent some time tracking down the endorsements of various groups and papers that represent a broad cross section of NYC...or as broad as I could. I generally selected groups I have respect for or contact with for other reasons or that I consider of some importance to New Yorkers in general. This is not comprehensive and I am not sure I even tracked down all the endorsements from some of the groups. I should also note that I am not covering the mayoral primary largely because I am fine with either Thompson or Avella. I am also only covering a sub set of City Council races that I consider most important. It would be impossible for me to cover them all. I include my own endorsements first, though of course you are free to consider my opinion as useless and skip to the real endorsements. I hope this is helpful to all New Yorkers still undecided about who to vote for in Tuesday's primary. Some polling info and predictions can be found at the end.  read more »

While Joy and I were out in Park Slope (between escourting our son to his first day of after shool and picking up palm cards from the Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats to inflict on voters tomorrow) we ran into our friend and candidate Josh Skaller. As we chatted, we noticed someone knocking on doors and wondered which candidate they were canvassing for. We figured out it wasn't a candidate's campaign but Planned Parenthood canvassing for recurring donors.

We realized their timing was way off since, with primary day tomorrow, they would be facing neighborhoods already saturated by canvassers. We decided to go talk with them and let them know not to feel too put off by the reception they had gotten. Sure enough, they told us that the guy they had talked to had already had 5 campaigns knock on his door and was NOT in the mood for talking. As we chatted with the Planned Parenthood canvassers, I noticed the guy they had just talked to coming back to the door...on which he hung the following sign:

(picture by Joy Romanski)

I think these poor people have been saturated by canvassers! One more day people and it will all be over...except for the runoffs for Public Advocate and Comptroller!

The hardest race for most people in Comptroller. Although this is possibly one of the most important positions in the city, few people seem to care about it. If we want our money spent right in this city, we need a good Comptroller.  read more »

I expect to win my race for the 40th council district. I expect to get the votes of more than half of those who show up to vote in this race. I will say no more on this right now. I also expect that the turnout in my race will be higher than usual. I will say more on that at another time. Expect the highest raw number for a Dem primary winner in this district since the lines were cut in 1991.

Right here and now, let me formally endorse Billy Thompson for mayor. After the primary we democrats have to throw down big time to make Billy the next mayor of this city. Believe me when I say that Billy Thompson has a tremendous chance of being our next mayor. No matter how much money Mike Bloomberg spends it won’t help him escape the wrath of voters from his overturning of the term limits referendum. The vulgarity of his money splurge for more power will be his downfall this time around. New Yorkers will show Mike B that they won’t be bought. Watch!  read more »

Tomorrow NYC votes in a primary election that will determine, in many ways, the political landscape for NYC for the next 4 years. Sadly, it will be a low voter turnout primary which means it is desperately hard to predict.

Public Advocate is one of the positions up for grabs tomorrow. It is one race that could go into a runoff if the few polls I have seen are any indication.

There are four candidates running: civil rights attorney and former head of the New York Civil Liberties Union Norman Siegel, former Public Advocate and mayoral candidate Mark Green, and City Council candidates Eric Gioia and Bill de Blasio. All polls show Mark Green in the lead but without the necessary votes to avoid a runoff. So it is likely to come down to Mark Green vs. one of the other candidates.  read more »

I have spent some time tracking down the endorsements of various groups and papers that represent a broad cross section of NYC...or as broad as I could. I generally selected groups I have respect for or contact with for other reasons or that I consider of some importance to New Yorkers in general. This is not comprehensive and I am not sure I even tracked down all the endorsements from some of the groups. And I don't agree with all of these endorsements. I should also note that I am not covering the mayoral primary largely because I am fine with either Thompson or Avella. I am also only covering a sub set of City Council races that I consider most important. It would be impossible for me to cover them all. I include my own endorsements first, though of course you are free to consider my opinion as useless and skip to the real endorsements. I hope this is helpful to all New Yorkers still undecided about who to vote for in Tuesday's primary. Some polling info and predictions can be found at the end.

ENDORSEMENTS FOR SEPTEMBER 15 PRIMARY ELECTION (Covering Public Advocate, Comptroller and selected City Council races only.)  read more »

There is a great new video on NBC from the Brent O'Leary campaign for the 26th City Council seat in Queens. Can't embed it, so have to direct you through a link.

Brent O'Leary has run an excellent grassroots campaign that has knocked on more than 10,000 doors in the district. You can read more about Brent here (including links to his bio in Italian, Chinese, Korean and Arabic).