Reform Party has surprise primary

For the first time ever, independent voters (blanks) may vote in a party primary. The Reform Party has a line on the ballot this November, and both voters registered with the Reform Party and independent voters (registered to vote but not with any party) have the opportunity to vote in it. The ballot will look like this:

You may either choose Sal Albanese or write in a candidate of your choice.

Video Voter Guide: Democratic Mayoral Candidates

You didn't think that whole transparency thing was genuine, did you?

From an op-ed by former mayoral candidate Sal Albanese in the Daily News:

Many New Yorkers were heartened by the election of Bill de Blasio because of his stated commitment to transparency. He loved transparency so much that he gave it a section on his campaign website.

Unfortunately, de Blasio fell out of love with transparency long before taking the oath of office at an event that he tried to keep private.

Despite lofty promises to let the sunlight in, de Blasio has long controlled his image with a paranoia that went out of style with the Cold War. As public advocate, he issued “transparency report cards” for city agencies, yet regularly met in secret with dozens of lobbyists.

Everyone is entitled to personal privacy. But when de Blasio is delivering speeches as mayor, he is acting on behalf of the public. They have the right to know where you are, who are you talking to and what you are saying. That’s what real transparency looks like.

Weiner didn't stop being a perv after resigning

From WPIX:

It was just a matter of time before something surfaced, and today it did. A gossip website quotes a 22-year-old woman as claiming she had a six-month relationship with the disgraced former Congressman who is now running for Mayor. Weiner has warned that more texts and lewd pictures might surface, but the shocker is that the new action occurred after he resigned from Congress in 2011.

The website “The Dirty” contends communications between Weiner and the woman continued as recently as August of last year—well over a year after he left office.

Weiner has acknowledged the new revelations, saying that while some of the assertions are true, others are not. PIX11 will have a full report at 10. Meanwhile, two of his Democratic opponents, Bill DeBlasio and Sal Albanese have called on Weiner to withdraw from the campaign. De Blasio said simply, “Enough is enough.”

Woodside square overrun with rodents

From Fox 5 via Sunnyside Post:

It didn't take us long to find the rats scurrying around in John Vincent Daniels Jr. Square, a little park under the 7 train in Woodside, Queens. The park is infested with rats. Usually nocturnal, they even run round during the day, as we found out.

Sal Albanese, a former New York City councilman from Queens, now running for mayor, took Fox 5 on a rat excursion at the park.

We saw plenty of rats feasting on trash and even drinking water someone left, probably for the pigeons. After all, rats need to hydrate during a heat wave, too.

Weiner comes in second only to Quinn

From the NY Post:

A week after floating his name as a possible mayoral candidate, the disgraced former congressman finishes second when he’s included in the field of Democrats, a new poll reveals.

Weiner — who resigned from office in 2011 after getting caught in a sexting scandal — said he’s mulling a political comeback by running for mayor.

The Marist poll is the first to include Weiner, and shows him pulling 15 percent of the Democratic vote in a hypothetical race — trailing only Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who garners 26 percent.

Weiner outpolls two current citywide officeholders — Comptroller John Liu and Public Advocate Bill de Blasio — and former city Comptroller Bill Thompson, the 2009 Democratic nominee for mayor.

Liu receives 12 percent of the vote, and de Blasio and Thompson get 11 percent apiece.

A sizable 22 percent of the Democratic electorate is still undecided and 3 percent support goes to former City Councilman Sal Albanese or other candidates.

Quinn attacked for extending term limits

From the Daily News:

The Brooklyn crowd erupted in boos Wednesday night when frontrunner Quinn fielded a question about having helped pave the way for Mayor Bloomberg to seek and win another four years in office.

Quinn spoke calmly over the jeers: “I believed it was the right decision… I respect that many folks disagree with that.”

Democrats often use the term-limits controversy to bash Quinn as uncomfortably close to Bloomberg. It's a perception some observers say has encouraged Quinn to demonstrate her independence before the primary without alienating Hizzoner or his fans in November.

When asked Wednesday, she refused to pledge not to overturn a voter referendum if elected mayor.

The speaker's primary foes -- former Councilman Sal Albanese, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Comptroller John Liu and ex-Comptroller Bill Thompson -- all said they would not scuttle a referendum.

And the mayor thinks Christine is just peachy.

Quotes about Dan & Vince

From Facebook:


From City and State:

Amid the chaos surrounding New York City Councilman Dan Halloran’s alleged involvement in a corruption and bribery scheme with state Sen. Malcolm Smith and two city GOP operatives, Halloran has to defend his Council seat from one of a slew of Democratic opponents. Two of them, former Cuomo administration employee Austin Shafran and urban planner Paul Graziano, put out statements about Halloran’s troubles.

“These are serious and disturbing charges from the FBI which need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Shafran said in a statement. “Public service is a privilege, and violations of the public’s trust cannot be tolerated. Anyone involved in this scandal should immediately come clean because the people deserve to know the truth so justice can be done.”

Graziano released a statement noting that he had seen “a lot of things being done by Dan Halloran that I thought were inappropriate,” which led him to enter the race. Asked to elaborate, Graziano detailed his battles with Halloran over rezoning in District 19, where Halloran allegedly pushed for a zoning change to help the business of an associate with ties to the Gambino crime family.

Halloran did not respond to calls for comment about the rezoning dispute. Two other candidates challenging Halloran, attorney Paul Vallone and former Assemblyman John Duane, could not be reached for comment about Halloran’s corruption charges.

Of course, the above fails to mention that Shafran was Smith's spokesperson in Albany for quite a while...

Interesting choice of Facebook profile picture for a Republican...

The Queens Gazette carries a front page "article" on their front page this week, consisting only of a quote from Paul Vallone, who is currently vacationing in Florida, and no one else:

"The corruption charges against Dan Halloran are very troubling. If these allegations prove to be true, this conduct is an egregious violation of the public's trust and those who are found guilty in this scheme should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Vallone. “Now is the time for integrity and trust – principles which the Vallone Family have embodied for over three generations and which I will bring to the 19th City Council seat."

From the NY Times:

William C. Thompson Jr., another Democratic candidate, who said Ms. Quinn had failed to curb “a history of corruption and a broken system” of earmarks in the Council. A third Democratic candidate, Sal F. Albanese, accused Ms. Quinn of “abuse.”

From WNYC:

"Until we ban member items, it's just not been enough," argued De Blasio who said City Council should replace the member item practice with what he calls a merit-based system, or one that gives spending choices to groups of local residents, which some districts have tried on a smaller scale.

Comptroller John Liu, who's been embroiled in a fundraising scandal of his own, released a brief statement Tuesday morning calling the news, "shocking."

"When there is suspicion that taxpayers' money is being abused, investigations should be carried out quickly and thoroughly," Liu said. The trial of members of his campaign staff related to a straw donor scheme is scheduled to resume this month.

Republican mayoral candidate Joe Lhota says the arrests of local Republican leaders yesterday, including two who had endorsed his bid for mayor, demands more ethics reform in Albany and New York City.

"There needs to be a change here," Lhota said, offering a good government critique that also dings Quinn at the same time. "Transparency on all financial items. Whether it's in government or in the process of campaigning, on what agreements are made between the members of council and the organizations they're giving money to. The taxpayers of New York shouldn't be finding out about the actions of various elected officials through the prism of a US Attorney."

From Capital New York:

"I do not think this is a reason to conclude that member items should not be given," Quinn said today.

"In the case of Dan Halloran, this senior citizen group did nothing wrong," she continued. "Why should they become the victim of an alleged criminal's activities?"

Rather than call for their abolition, Quinn offered a full-throated defense of the member-item system in the Council, which has undergone substantial reform since the slush fund scandal of 2008.

"I think it is the tightest system you'll find in any legislative body in the country," said Quinn.

"When I became speaker, I largely inherited a process around member items that was an honor system," she said. "If a member said, 'Fund X group,' the assumption was...it was a good group. We no longer have that system. We have largely what is a verification system."

Quinn did, however, say the Council was reviewing all of Halloran's prior member items and stripping him of the ability to dole out new ones during the next budget cycle.

She also suggested he consider resigning.

"I think Councilmember Halloran owes the people of his district a great deal of thought about whether he is actually able to continue to serve them, conduct the defense I'm sure he believes he deserves, and do both of those at the same time," she said.

Quinn also said she disagrees with Bloomberg's argument that the allegations against Halloran and Smith present a strong argument in favor of nonpartisan elections, though she didn't explain why.

From the Daily News:

Ragusa said he first heard about the arrests on the radio this morning and "almost jumped out of bed."

He said he knew nothing about the case, including Tabone's alleged involvement, and was neither approached by anyone offering a bribe or interrogated by the feds ("Knock on wood, no. I hope they never show up either," he added.)

And to wrap up, from the NY Post: