So New York Daily News - Ideas & Opinions - Dawn Eden's Blog On: Left cuts Bloomy slack was published this past Sunday:

After Mayor Bloomberg warned of a terror threat on the day he skipped the Apollo debate with Fernando Ferrer, Republican blogger Scott Sala of Slant Point (slantpoint.com) had a question for Democrats: Where's the outrage?

"What I want to know," he wrote, "is where are the people on the left blaming Mayor Bloomberg for hyping the terror threat on the very night and weekend he underwent his worst campaign error to date?"

"Had it been Bush," Sala continued, "I'm sure I'd be reading about manufactured threats for political distraction/gain."

It does seem that, save for notable exceptions like the Ferrer boosters at Daily Gotham (dailygotham.com), the city's left-leaning blogs generally go easy on Bloomberg - or, more often, they simply ignore the race.

Ben Smith of The New York Observer's Politicker (observer.com/thepoliticker) - hardly a GOP bastion - has noted this as well.

Since Sala didn't answer his own question, I E-mailed him to ask why liberal bloggers were playing softball with Bloomberg. He answered simply, "Maybe it's due to the sheer lack of hatred for the guy."

Now, let's clarify a few things here:

(1) You do not have to have hatred for Michael Bloomberg to be against him. What you need is to have facts; and there are facts aplenty for not re-electing Bush's pet fundraiser. We all have been working hard of presenting the facts but I want to particularly highlight the work of Mole333. He has been doing a spanking job at publishing here post after post about Bloomberg's record. We will be doing so in vast quantities more than ever, so keep on reading us.

(2) The NYC progressive blogosphere really is still forming. The Daily Gotham opened it's doors in April of this year. OnNYTurf appeared almost at the same time (Will, correct me if I am wrong). Not before this site could you say there was a community blog dedicated exclusively to NYC progressive politics.

There are actually quite a number of the top national progressive bloggers here in NYC. Steve Gilliard, Lindsay Beyerstein, Bob Fertik, and me at the mother blog of this site, culturekitchen --and that is just off the top of my head. I know there are more people I am missing. We do concentrate on those blogs on national politics but more than once in a while we've blogged about NYC politics. Again, there was really not a progressive political blogging scene in NYC until this year.

The blogging scene, a la Gawker, Gothamist, and all the bloggeratti that revolve around them are people that come out of the media and publishing industries. The Gawker/Gothamist blog community is really 'mature' as far as blogging is concerned. They've been around the block more than a couple of times. A lot of them are really good at what they do like some of my all time favorties, The Corsair and Overheard in New York which have a mix of ephemera and social commentary. Some may even wax political once in a while, like Gothamist, but more often than not these bloggers fall into the category of entertainment / gossip / media bloggers. They're blogging has nothing to do with activism.

NYC political bloggers have not just a lot of work to do, but also legitimacy. Look at the advertising on NYC media blogs. Then look at us or OnNYTurf and tell me, who has the advantage when it comes to having resources for expansion, promotion and outreach? Yeah, I thought so. And you know what, the activism has a lot to do with. As opposed to national blogs, NY advertisers are actually weary of placing ads in blogs like this one.

(3) Speaking of conservative and outdated : The political operatives in New York City are still in the last century and those who do understand the nature of blogs and the netroots have kept us at arms lenght because deep down inside New York City is an extremely conservative little town ... there, I said it.

New York City is not just the petty clubs and monter party machineries. The infrastructure for reaching New Yorkers in this city is outdated and completely out of touch with how people communicate and connect with other people in the city.

These are the last years of politics and elections as usual in not just this city but the country. Digital media and netroots activism are changing the landscape of who gets to say what on a national forum and how influence is wielded from a local to national level. The best example of this is Paul Hackett's campaing in Ohio. We will see more Paul Hacketts in elections all over the country and that will be the doing of online activist communities like the one we are growing here on The Daily Gotham.

Which leads me to a last point :

(4) I purposefully opened this site not just for blogging but for political activism as well. For me it was clear from the start why I needed to do this : I believe New Yorkers have lost their sense of community. In New York City we have few places left where we can not only discuss politics in a public setting but also find ways to jump into action. I believe the internet is the new plazas and public squares, the new centers of town. I envision The Daily Gotham not just as a publication but as a civic center.

Think about it : Where are the civic centers of yore? Real estate moghulism and greed have but made them a thing of the past. Which is why New Yorker need to organize and network digitally and not just in the brick-and-mortar world. We need new ways to connect with their neighbors and communities. We need to learn new ways to express our commitment to our city. This is the only way we can fight the culture of corruption and cronyism that have taken hold of our city and turned it into a free-for-all the rich and megarich. This is the only way we can save NYC from becoming the trophy win of the Republican party.

My promise and my commitment is to offer my fellow Gotham dwellers a way to organize, discuss and act freely.

The Daily Gotham has over 100 registered users and still, about 4 of us publish on a regular basis. The Daily Gotham has grown by sheer word of mouth and because I unabashedly promote my sites EVERYWHERE. It means that I have to make do with no budget at all whatsoever, just word-of-mouth, good writing and, luckily, people in the media like who have noticed our work and praised it.

I thank you for praising our work.

Now, tell me, what did you want to know about blogs and the lefties in New York City?