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Gang of Three?
November 10th, 2008

The speculation over whether some Democratic state senators might bolt their conference to back Republican State Sen. Dean Skelos as majority leader got new life this morning. The mini-revolt could mean that even though Democrats have a majority of seats in the Senate, Republicans could control the body.

The buzz over the so-called Gang of Four subsided a bit late last week when one of them — Hiram Monserrate of Queens — said he would support Smith. But this morning another of the group — Ruben Diaz Sr. of the Bronx — issued a statement saying nothing had been determined.

“There is a commitment — a handshake commitment — between Senator-elect [Pedro] Espada, Senator [Carl] Kruger, Senator-elect Monserrate, and myself that we will not do anything until we meet Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2008.” While saying Monserrate may have made up his mind, Diaz continued, “I have not made a decision yet and hope the others have not either. I have not committed myself to anybody, and my position as an ordained minister and a pastor will not allow me to support any would be leader that will bring gay marriage to the Senate floor.”

“I have always been a Democrat … and I will continue to be a Democrat,” Diaz concluded, “a Democrat who rejects gay marriage and abortion based upon my beliefs.”

Earlier this morning Running Scared, citing a report in the Examiner, said Diaz had pledged to support Smith and wondered whether the Smith had “cut a deal on gay marriage” to win Diaz’s support. Although gay groups supported the Democrats’ effort to win the State Senate and Smith has said he supports same-sex marriage, the Queens Democrat said last week that his party will focus on the fiscal crisis during the next session.

For a look at what happens if the Democrats clear this hurdle and control the State Senate, read our roundup of views from the experts — The Other Power Shift.

By Gail Robinson on November 10, 2008, 11:11 am
In category: Albany, Electoral Politics, Gotham City | 2 Comments »

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This Week on the Web
November 7th, 2008

  • State ranks 47th in online learning policy survey.
    (Center for Digital Education)
  • Madison Square Park tree huts on exhibit.
    (Inhabitat)
  • Could the Bronx lose 13 bank branches?
    (West Bronx Blog)
  • Video of City Council’s webcasting hearing.
    (Internet Society, New York chapter)
  • Rush Limbaugh is considering moving out of New York City.
    (Rush Limbaugh via Room Eight)
  • State launches new Web site to explain budget issues.
    (ReduceNYSpending.gov via Capitol Confidential)
  • Video of Roger Stone discussing new media and politics.
    (Reason TV)
  • Will Silicon Alley float above the economic flood?
    (The Deal via NYConvergence)
  • A map of Brooklyn’s presidential campaign contributions.
    (The Columbia Journalist via Brownstoner)
  • Robert Moses wanted to stop dumping sewage into the water.
    (S.W.I.M.)
  • Administrative costs account for a minute total of state education spending.
    (NY Fiscal Watch)
  • Did the Daily News kill this story on the Education Department?
    (NYC Public School Parents)
  • What does downstate control do to upstate money?
    (NY Observer)
  • Were poll workers trained to explain write-in votes?
    (The Albany Project)
  • By Mike Muller on November 7, 2008, 4:47 pm
    In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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    Essay Contest Insights
    November 6th, 2008

    We’ve closed voting on Gotham Gazette’s first ever writing contest, but we’d still love to know what you think of the entries. Read the five finalists that we think best answered the question, “How will the 2008 elections affect you?” and let us know who you think ought to win.

    Beyond the Rhetoric of Change

    Educating Children with Special Needs

    The Fading of the American Dream

    Sad Times Call for a Bit of Optimism

    What the Candidates Can’t Do

    By Amanda Hickman on November 6, 2008, 5:44 pm
    In category: Gotham City, Governing | 1 Comment »

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    Obamania
    November 6th, 2008

    Throughout the city impromptu block parties broke out Tuesday after it was announced the Barack Obama would be our next president. But the wildest event had to have been in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

    Dramatic photos of the event were captured by Brooklyn Vegan. The series of images begins with an elated crowd of people in the streets, and then the presence of riot police begins to intrude. At first the officers are also smiling (some of them got a kick out of the crowd’s chants of “NYPD” and “We love you!”) Then the arrests begin and things become a little less pleasant.

    CityRoom reported that three people were arrested, five were issued summonses, and three officers suffered minor injuries. But eyewitnesses are claiming that the police were abusive. For all the cameras and camcorders present, however, no clear evidence was available. (The closest imagery is a video posted by the Village Voice showing an officer knocking such devices away from him.)

    Gowanus Lounge was not happy with the treatment of revelers by the police. “Screw you, NYPD for trying to hurt people on Bedford Avenue on Tuesday night. You shame us all,” he wrote.

    Streetsblog was also displeased, but for different reasons. They thought a party in a major intersection in Park Slope was more important than the small late night traffic that needed to wait a bit to get through. Apparently the police disagreed.

    As always, more happened in Brooklyn than what occurred in Park Slope or Williamsburg.
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Mike Muller on November 6, 2008, 5:00 pm
    In category: Crime & Safety, Governing | 1 Comment »

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    A NYC Cabinet?
    November 6th, 2008

    President-elect Barack Obama may be pondering a pick from the Big Apple for his cabinet.

    According to Huffington Post and The Hill, several big city names have been floated for stints in D.C., including Ray Kelly and Joel Klein.

    Kelly has potential, according to The Hill, in Homeland Security. Klein has been placed on Huff Post’s list for Education.

    Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s name has seemed to have fallen off the short lists, though. At one point his name was whispered for Treasury secretary.

    While Bloomberg’s gone missing, New York’s neighbor has made a showing: Jon Corzine, governor of New Jersey, is a potential pick for the Treasury.

    At one point, the state seemed destined to have a New Yorker in the White House. But what about the Supreme Court? Huff Post also put Sen. Hillary Clinton’s name out as a potential Supreme Court nominee. Imagine, Justice Clinton.

    By Courtney Gross on November 6, 2008, 12:56 pm
    In category: Crime & Safety, Economy, Gotham City, Governing, Law, nextNY | 2 Comments »

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    All the Results
    November 5th, 2008

    We all know Barack Obama is the next president but who won the other McMahon-Strainere contest on Staten Island? Or the Stavisky-Koo race in Queens? Our results grid includes the unofficial winners for the “down ballot” contests — except one: The Padavan-Gennaro race still seems too close to call.

    By Gail Robinson on November 5, 2008, 9:24 pm
    In category: Albany, Electoral Politics, Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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    More Taxes and Layoffs to Come
    November 5th, 2008

    Two months before his regularly scheduled budget modification, Mayor Michael Bloomberg gave an update on the city’s fiscal situation this afternoon.

    The gist: things aren’t looking so great.

    Our deficit for fiscal year 2010 is so large the city will not issue a $400 property tax rebate it pledged to send to households when the budget was approved in June. The mayor also said the city would rescind the 7 percent property tax break in January. (To see how the budget process works, play our game: The Budget Maze.)

    “We’re not going to walk away from our obligations,” said Bloomberg. “We’re just not going to return to the dark days of the ’70s.”

    Bloomberg said the city needed a balance of increasing revenues through taxes and cutting services.

    Those two plans, according to one councilmember, are disgraceful. Councilmember Simcha Felder, who was hanging out in City Hall’s rotunda as the mayor’s press briefing broke this afternoon, said rescinding property tax relief for New York City residents goes against the mayor’s promise. Just last week, Felder said, residents were calling 311 asking where their checks were. He said they received responses that they were in the mail.

    Hmmmm. Apparently not.
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Courtney Gross on November 5, 2008, 2:29 pm
    In category: Economy, Gotham City, Public Finance | 3 Comments »

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    Pondering the State Senate
    November 5th, 2008

    You didn’t think something as simple as an election could actually change the way things work in Albany did you?

    By all accounts it seems the Democrats — boosted by the victories of City Councilmember Joe Addabbo in Queens and Brian Foley in Suffolk County should take control of the State Senate, with a 32-30 edge. (This assumes Queens Republican Frank Padavan can hang on to his seat.) But four state senators from New York City — incumbents Ruben Diaz Sr. of the Bronx and Carl Kruger of Brooklyn and newcomers Hiram Monserrate of Queens and Pedro Espada of the Bronx could throw a wrench in the works. The four will not attend a meeting of Senate Democrats in Albany today and could decide to support Republican Dean Skelos for majority leader over the Democrat, Malcolm Smith of Queens.

    As the Times explained it, the four “have so far refused to rule out crossing party lines to support Senator Dean G. Skelos … [and] have said they might not back Mr. Smith.”
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Gail Robinson on November 5, 2008, 12:15 pm
    In category: Albany, Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

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    Celebrating a Change
    November 5th, 2008

    What more can we say?

    “This,” the Times said this morning, “is one of those moments in history when it is worth pausing to reflect on the basic facts:
    An American with the name Barack Hussein Obama, the son of a white woman and a black man he barely knew, raised by his grandparents far outside the stream of American power and wealth, has been elected the 44th president of the United States. … His triumph was decisive and sweeping, because he saw what is wrong with this country: the utter failure of government to protect its citizens.”

    It is, Errol Louis wrote in today’s Daily News, “a very big deal.”

    “The startling, triumphant rise of Obama … stands as a rebuke to cynics unwilling to recognize progress in race relations,” Louis said. “An electorate hell-bent on voting against every vestige of the disastrous presidency of George Bush did exactly that, and race took a backseat. … Given few opportunities to break with the past, the people did it themselves.”

    Almost every New Yorkers saw something yesterday that testified to the enormity of what was about to happen. Friends taking the day off to go to Pennsylvania. People bringing their children to crowded polling places, telling even the youngest of the significance of the moment. An unusual patience among New Yorkers dealing with lines and snafus. The sense of anticipation. The compulsive checking of the web in search of some early clues. And when all doubt about the result vanished at 11 p.m., firecrackers popped throughout the city and people went into the streets to celebrate. New Yorkers enjoyed being on the winning side — and for being part of an historic event so many thought they would never live to see.

    The Gothamist offers a gallery of photos of excited New Yorkers, along with a video of Union Square. And for those of us who weren’t there, the Times has a slideshow of the elation in Harlem

    By Gail Robinson on November 5, 2008, 9:27 am
    In category: Electoral Politics, Gotham City | No Comments »

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    Switching Places
    November 4th, 2008

    If you haven’t voted yet, a word of advice. You might want to double check your polling place by going to the Board of Election’s poll site locator first — no matter how many times you’ve gone to cast ballots at your local elementary school in the past.

    Some sites haves switched, as many of us who showed up to vote at P.S. 139 on Rugby Road in Brooklyn this morning discovered. The Board of Elections moved some six machines that have traditionally been at P.S. 139 were moved, a pollworker said, many to 700 Cortelyou Road.

    While the move may have made sense given anticipated turnout — the configuration of P.S.139 doesn’t lend itself to accommodating crowds — many of us were caught unaware by the change. Neither my husband nor I — nor the woman standing in front of me on line — remembered receiving notification, though a man in the crowd said he had. And while poll workers could tell us the new address, at least one had no idea where 700 Cortelyou is. It turns out to be Ditmas Junior High — eight blocks away, across busy Coney Island Avenue and not in what many of us consider the same neighborhood.

    Crowds snaked around the Ditmas Junior High gym as people waited to vote. But at 10 a.m., District 75 had no lines. Did some people decide not to make the trek? Had they run out of time? Would they come back after work?

    By Gail Robinson on November 4, 2008, 11:51 am
    In category: Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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    It's Election Day!
    November 4th, 2008

    Today is Election Day. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Board of Elections website can help you find your polling place and Gotham Gazette’s thorough coverage of state and local races includes information for first time voters and tips on handling problems at the polls.

    In addition to the president, New Yorkers are choosing members of Congress, state legislators, one City Council member and a handful of judges. The contest between State Sen. Serphim Maltese and challenger Joe Addabbo in Queens could be key in determining whether Republicans keep control of the State Senate.

    Gotham Gazette will begin posting results in all local races when the polls close tonight.

    By Amanda Hickman on November 4, 2008, 7:24 am
    In category: Eye Opener, Gotham City, Governing | No Comments »

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    Bloomberg Signs Term Limits Bill
    November 3rd, 2008

    After four and half hours of testimony, Mayor Michael Bloomberg made an extension of term limits official this afternoon by signing a bill that extends the city’s two-term cap to three.

    The bill takes effect immediately.

    Bloomberg said he had thought “long and hard” about the term limit extension and determined three terms just make “more sense.” He reiterated his pledge to form a City Charter Revision Commission after the 2009 citywide race (that is, if he is reelected), which would be charged with looking into the term limits issue, potentially sending it back to voters.

    “There is no easy answer and no one is irreplaceable,” said Bloomberg. “I just think three terms makes more sense than two.”

    Out of 137 speakers, according to a spokesman for the administration, 68 were against the bill, 65 were for it and four had unclear positions. Speakers, both members of the public and officeholders, were filed into the mayor’s press briefing room (otherwise known as the Blue Room) in groups of five. They were led out after speaking.
    Read the rest of this entry »

    By Courtney Gross on November 3, 2008, 4:48 pm
    In category: Gotham City | No Comments »

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