5/31
As he prepares to formally announce his candidacy
for mayor today, Council Speaker Peter Vallone
cast is portraying himself as a healer unafraid
to speak out on racial issues. Until now,
the Queens Democrat, who is trailing badly
in the polls, has focused largely on his long
experience in city government. (Daily
News)
Most of the Queens congressional
delegation is backing City Comptroller, and
Queens native, Alan Hevesi's bid for mayor.
(Newsday)
Bronx County Republican leader
Guy Velella, a key backer of Herman Badillo,
yesterday said the CUNY chairman is "reassessing"
his campaign for mayor. Badillo has been under
pressure from Governor George Pataki to drop
out of the race in favor of media mogul Michael
Bloomberg. Velella refused to say whether
he will still help Badillo get on the ballot.
(New
York Post)
5/30
Alan Hevesi's mayoral campaign commercials
boast that as city comptroller he has tripled
the number of audits and saved taxpayers millions.
But a review of Hevesi's official filings
shows his office's audit process may have
cost the city more than it saved. (Newsday)
Governor George Pataki to declined
to weigh in officially on the New York mayoral
race, but aides reportedly say he is working
behind the scenes with Michael Bloomberg.
(NY
Times)
Republican mayoral candidate
Herman Badillo confirmed that an aide to Governor
Pataki asked him to drop out of the race.
But Badillo said he will run. (Daily
News)
Reverend Floyd Flake endorsed
mayoral hopeful Alan Hevesi yesterday and
said the comptroller had received a "bad rap"
in the black community. (NY
Post)
The race for Bronx Borough President
now has five candidates. Ronald Law, an administrator
for the federal General Services Administration
and former aide to Deputy Mayor Rudy Washington
and former U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan,
said he will run. Some are speculating that
Law is the African-American candidate that
Rev. Al Sharpton alluded to two weeks ago.
(Daily
News)
Will Chinatown ever elect an
Asian American? The Village Voice looks at
the race for City Council District 1. (Village
Voice)
5/29
Though still not formally announced, Michael
Bloomberg walked and talked like a candidate
this weekend, marching in three Memorial Day
parades with Mayor Giuliani, and taking questions
from reporters, who asked, for example, how
much he would spend on his campaign. "If I
were to run, I don't know how much I'm prepared
to spend," he replied, but he made it clear
he would not be part of the Campaign Finance
Program. "I wouldn't say it's a trial run,"
he said of his public appearances. "But I
will say that I don't think I've had a better
Memorial Day weekend in my life." (NY
Post)
5/28
Giuliani marched front and center with Michael
Bloomberg in a Memorial Day parade yesterday,
and heaped praise on him. "None of these things
are signals that I've made a decision," he
said, "but I do think that Michael Bloomberg
has an advantage in that he has not spent
his entire life in politics." (NY
Post)
Badillo scoffed at the idea that the governor
could make him drop out of the race for mayor:
"I am trying to show that the Republican Party
has room for everyone," he said. "I can make
New York City into a two-party town not just
for this election, but for the benefit of
the governor next year and for Republican
candidates in future years." (Daily
News)
5/27
New York has seen no elected Asian officials
other than judges, and Queens has no Latino
members of the City Council, state Assembly
or state Senate. But with the Queens machine
now behind them, John Liu in Flushing (Asian)
and Hiram Monserrate in East Elmhurst (Latino)
have become the instant front-runners in their
districts. (Daily
News)
5/26
Liberal Party leader Ray Harding will announce
his pick in the mayoral race next Saturday,
and most insiders bet it will be city Comptroller
Alan Hevesi. That would be mighty distressing
news for media titan Michael Bloomberg. (NY
Post)
Governor Pataki is trying to nudge fellow
Republican Herman Badillo out of the city
mayoral race to allow media mogul Michael
Bloomberg to win the GOP nomination without
a primary. (Daily
News)
5/25
Mayoral candidates Alan Hevesi and Peter Vallone
attacked one another over the budget, and who
has been more accurate in projecting city revenues.
(Daily
News) (NY
Times)
Mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer yesterday
proposed putting the city's schools special
commissioner of investigations under the direct
control of the mayor, citing recent slip-ups
in probing teacher misconduct and the need
for greater accountability. (Daily
News)
The Queens Democratic Organization endorsed
two more candidates for City Council: Elizabeth
Crowley in District 30, and ex-cop Hiram Monserrate,
the first Latino candidate the Queens machine
has ever endorsed for City Council, in District
21. (Daily
News)
The only Queens council race in which the
machine has now not made an endorsement is
District 32, Ozone Park. Likely Republican
mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg plans
to donate $25,000 to the Queens County GOP
- which endorsed him just last week (NY
Post)
Likely Republican mayoral candidate Michael
Bloomberg plans to donate $25,000 to the Queens
County GOP - which endorsed him just last
week (NY
Post)
5/24
Term limits and the city's campaign finance
law have combined to encourage candidates
to hold more, and more eclectic, political
fund raisers than ever before. Term limits
mean more candidates, and the campaign finance
law, which enables some contributions to be
matched by four times the amount in public
money, means no contribution is too small.
Candidates say also that fund-raising events
allow them to meet people and build a volunteer
base. (New
York Times)
Conventional wisdom had been
that Herman Badillo would end his bid for
mayor if and when media billionaire Michael
Bloomberg entered the race. But now the Badillo
camp is indicating the former congressman
is in the fray to stay, raising the prospect
of a battle for the Republican mayoral nomination.
Badillo could formally announce a $3 million
campaign for the Republican mayoral nomination
as soon as next week and is finalizing a lease
on office space for his campaign. (Daily
News)
Hank Morris may not need to
earn big fees from his political consulting
business money because, according to the Post
but unbeknownst to almost everyone apparently,
the chief political advisor to Alan Hevesi
has been quietly serving as chairman and secretary
of a Long Island-based company that writes
annual reports and creates Web sites for companies
across the country. The firm's clients includes
the city's Housing Development Corp. (New
York Post)
Former parks commission Betsy
Gotbaum formally kicked off her campaign for
public advocate yesterday, joining City Council
members Stephen DiBrienza and Kathryn Freed,
Assemblyman Scott Stringer and former New
York Civil Liberties Union Executive Director
Norman Siegel in the race for the office.
(Daily
News)
This year's endorsements by
the Queens Democratic machine indicate the
increasing clout of minorities in the borough
and its status as America's most ethnically
diverse county. (Newsday)
5/23
Hank Morris, the chief political advisor to
City Comptroller Alan Hevesi, has told associates
that he will not charge Hevesi the customary
10 to 15 percent commission on television
commercials purchased on the comptroller's
behalf. Under the city's campaign finance
law, candidates must pay fair-market value
for services they buy. Morris' apparent waiver
of the fee raises new questions about the
financial relationship between Hevesi and
Morris. (New
York Observer)
Mayoral candidates Mark Green,
Fernando Ferrer, and Alan Hevesi are calling
for the MTA to save the G subway line. (Newsday)
City Comptroller and mayoral
hopeful Alan Hevesi warned yesterday that
the sputtering economy may force cuts in city
services. (Daily
News)
A weekly paper for civil service
employees reported that Alan Hevesi supports
revamping the state law that bars government
employees from striking. "If a private bakers
union can go out on strike, why can't clerks
go out on strike? Because they work for the
government?" Hevesi reportedly said at a recent
meeting. Hevesi spokeswoman Cathie Levine
later said he didn't mean that service providers
such as teachers, cops, firefighters and transit
workers should be allowed to strike. (NY
Post)
June Eisland, a City Councilwoman
from the Bronx, announced yesterday that she
would run for Bronx borough president. Eisland
becomes the fourth person to formally enter
the race by joining City Councilman Adolfo
Carrión, State Senator Pedro Espada
Jr., and salsa singer Willie Colón. (NY
Times)
A month ago, Queens Democratic
leader Thomas Manton pledged his endorsement
to City Council candidate Elizabeth Crowley.
Now it looks like it will change as the historic
election year complicates the usual endorsement
process. (Daily
News)
5/22
The Queens Democratic Organization formally
endorsed City Councilmember Helen Marshall
for Queens borough president yesterday. Three
candidates have dropped out and the field
for the Democratic nomination has been reduced
to Marshall, Councilman Sheldon S. Leffler
and Carol A. Gresser, a former Board of Education
president. Other Queens machine endorsements:
For City Council: Peter Vallone, Jr. (District
22), Melinda Katz (District 29), John Liu
(District 20). For Public Advocate: Scott
Stringer. For Comptroller: William Thompson
Jr. (NY Times) The Queens machine made endorsements
in 11 out of the 14 races for City Council:
In addition to Vallone, Katz and Liu, they
were: David Weprin in Hollis/Queens Village
(District 23); Helen Sears in Jackson Heights/Corona
(District 25); Barry Grodenchik I Kew Gardens
(District 24); Tony Avella in Bayside (District
19); Matt Farrell in Woodside (District 26);
Leroy Comrie in St. Albans (District 27);
Tony Andrews in Jamaica (District 28); and
Charlotte Jefferson in Laurelton (District
31). The organization also went a bit beyond
endorsing to assure their chosen candidates
win in September. Bernice Siegal gave up a
challenge to David Weprin for the Hollis Council
seat after the party offered to support her
for a Civil Court judgeship. And when Jeff
Gottlieb dropped out of the race in District
24, Queens boss Thomas Manton said "Your withdrawing
for the interest of the unity of the party
is noted and we owe you one." (Daily
News)
City Councilmember June Eisland
says she is joining the race to succeed Fernando
Ferrer as Bronx borough president. She joins
state Senator Pedro Espada Jr., singer and
former congressional candidate Willie Colon
and City Councilmember Adolfo Carrion as contenders
in September's Democratic primary. (Daily
News)
5/21
The Reverend Al Sharpton says he will run
for the Democratic nomination for president
of the United States in 2004. (Time
Magazine)
More on the Queens Democratic
Organization's likely endorsement today of
Helen Marshall for Queens borough president,
the first time they will have endorsed a black
candidate for the office (NY
Times)
5/20
The Bronx Democratic Organization endorsed
Adolfo Carrion Jr. for Bronx borough president,
though this by no means assures his election.
His opponents include State Senator Pedro
Espada Jr. and Willie Colón, the salsa
performer and onetime candidate for Congress.
Other candidates the organization endorsed:
Ruben Diaz Sr. (district 18), Michael Benjamin
(district 16), Jose Marco Serrano (district
17), Larry Seabrook (district 12) (NY
Times)
The meeting of the Queens Democratic
Organization tomorrow night will ratify Democratic
boss Thomas Manton's endorsement of Alan Hevesi
for mayor and Helen Marshall for Queens borough
president. Among the 14 candidates the machine
is likely to choose to endorse for City Council
seats (all seats in Queens have no incumbents)
include: Tony Avella in Bayside (district
19), John Liu in Flushing (district 20), Peter
Vallone Jr. in Astoria (district 22) David
Weprin in Queens Village (district 21), Melinda
Katz in Forest Hills (district 29). (Daily
News)
Seeking to become the city's
first Latino mayor, Fernando Ferrer is trying
to awaken what his adviser Roberto Ramirez
calls "the sleeping giant" - the Latino vote.
But a May 2 Quinnipiac University poll showed
him receiving just 38 percent of that vote.
(Daily
News)
At 71, Herman Badillo certainly
could rest on his laurels as the nation's
first Puerto Rican congressman and the city's
first Puerto Rican borough president and Puerto
Rican deputy mayor. But he'd rather be remembered
as the first Latino mayor of New York. Many
Latinos do not support him, though, because
of his switch to the Republican Party. (NY
Post)
5/19
Michael Bloomberg got his first official GOP
endorsement yesterday, from the New York County
Republican organization (headed by State Senator
Roy Goodman) but, in an unusual move, he did
not even show up for the public announcement.
(NY
Post)
The New York City Central Labor
Council, a labor group with 1.5 million members
in some 450 local unions, gave its backing
to 10 of 16 incumbents, skipping an endorsement
in six races where the incumbent can run again,
but not backing any insurgents against a sitting
council member. Among its endorsements in
races in which there are no incumbents: John
Liu in Flushing (district 20), Bernice Siegal
in Hollis (district 23), Melinda Katz in Forest
Hills (district 29), Leroy Comrie in St. Albans
(district 27) and Arthur Cheliotes in Bayside
(district 19). The choice of Cheliotes is
not very surprising since he is president
of Local 1180 of the Communications Workers
of America. (Newsday)
Two of Peter Vallone's longest-serving
allies on the City Council, Archie Spigner
and Morton Povman, are reassessing their support
of his mayoral candidacy in light of the Queens
Democratic organization's decision to back
city Comptroller Alan Hevesi for mayor. "I'm
with Peter 100 percent," Povman said, "but
I just can't let my club get hurt." (NY
Post)
5/18
Councilwoman Helen Marshall will get the backing
of the Queens Democratic Organization in her
run for Queens borough president. (Daily
News)
Peter Vallone is going ahead
with his campaign for mayor, yesterday putting
on a "brave face" at a gathering of Democratic
Party faithful. But Queens Democratic boss
Thomas Manton's decision to throw the weight
of the county's political machine behind Alan
Hevesi is seen as a blow to the campaign of
Vallone, a mainstream Democrat who has long
enjoyed the backing of party bosses. (Daily
News)
5/17
Several Hispanic politicians condemned
former Mayor David Dinkins' endorsement yesterday
of Public Advocate Mark Green for mayor. The
endorsement was seen as a blow to Bronx Borough
President Fernando Ferrer's efforts to build
a black-Latino coalition. "I think this is
a very, very nasty situation," said Assemblywoman
Carmen Arroyo (D-Bronx). (Daily
News)
The mayor's race seems to be
boiling down to a contest between Public Advocate
Mark Green and City Comptroller Alan Hevesi.
(Daily
News)
The Reverend Al Sharpton's efforts
to elect an African-American as Bronx borough
president seem to be faltering. Only one black
person - Councilman Lawrence Warden - has
entered the race so far. Warden has said he
would expect Sharpton's endorsement, but Sharpton
has expressed reservations about Warden, citing
the councilman's endorsement of Mayor Rudy
Giuliani's 1997 re-election bid. (NY
Times)
5/16
Former Mayor David Dinkins is expected to
endorse Mark Green for Mayor. And Thomas Manton,
the Queens Democratic leader, has decided
to back Alan Hevesi over the other candidate
from Queens, Peter Vallone. (NY
Times)
Mayoral candidate Mark Green
is making enemies with the United Federation
of Teachers. (Daily
News)
Michael Bloomberg will definitely
run for Mayor, according to Liz Smith. (NY
Post and Newsday)
The four Democratic mayoral
hopefuls are backing a little-noticed bill
that would force companies to provide benefits
to domestic partners as a condition for doing
business with the city - drawing outrage from
some groups. (NY
Post)
Two City Councilmembers, Larry
Warden and June Eisland, are considering running
for Bronx borough president. (Daily
News)
City Councilwoman Helen Marshall
may be the favorite for the Queens Democratic
party's pick for borough president. (Daily
News)
Governor Pataki endorsed Conservative
Jim Molinaro over Republican Assemblyman Robert
Straniere to succeed Guy Molinari as Staten
Island Borough President.(Daily
News)
5/15
Ferrer and Sharpton meet to try to work out
endorsement. (NY
Times)
Kenneth Fisher formally announces
for Brooklyn borough president. (Daily
News)
The Lesbian and Gay Democratic
Club of Queens endorsed Carol Gresser for
Queens borough president, narrowly choosing
her over Helen Marshall. (Daily
News)
5/14
With growing signs that the Queens Democratic
organization is going to back city Comptroller
Alan Hevesi for mayor, City Council Speaker
Peter Vallone is gearing up to circulate petitions
with his own volunteers next month to make
sure he appears on the Sept. 11 primary ballot.
(Crain's NY)
The Rev. Al Sharpton's insistence
that Fernando Ferrer support a black candidate
for Bronx borough president has brought attention
to a race in which, at the moment, there are
no black candidates. So far, the only two
candidates who have officially entered the
race are State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. and
Willie Colón, the salsa performer and
onetime candidate for United States Congress.
(NY
Times)
5/13
At a mayoral forum sponsored by the United
Federation of Teachers at their convention,
all four major Democratic candidates attacked
the current mayor' s educational policies
and said that the teachers deserve a raise.
(NY
Times)
But Mark Green was reportedly
booed when he said that part of the increase
should be in the form of incentives for teachers
who choose to work in tough schools, have
extra credentials or mentor less-experienced
colleagues. Green also said he would make
the reduction of the number of students in
a class his number one priority in office
(Daily
News)
With about a week to go before
the Queens Democratic organization makes its
endorsements, the race to succeed Claire Shulman
as Queens borough president is turning nasty.
Councilmember Sheldon Leffler associated one
of his rivals, former Board of Education President
Carol Gresser with Donald Manes, Shulman's
predecessor, who killed himself in 1986 as
his administration was mired in scandal. Gresser's
husband Larry was Manes' deputy. (Daily
News)
5/12
Workers at the Department of Youth and Community
Development are grumbling that top-level aides
to Commissioner Jerry Cammarata are doing
political work on city time. (NY
Post)
In the second official debate
among the four major Democratic candidates
for mayor of New York -- what is calculated
to be their 65th joint appearance - Alan Hevesi
and Peter Vallone did most of the battling,
over taxes. Hevesi supports looking into an
income tax surcharge to subsidize improvements
in education; Vallone is opposed. (NY Times)
Michael Bloomberg has bought
up a slew of domain names like www.IhateBloomberg.com
so that his critics cannot create anti-Bloomberg
Web sites using those sites. (NY Times)
Comptroller Alan Hevesi says
the New York State Legislature killed the
commuter tax, costing the city $360 million
a year in lost taxes, in part as a way of
"sticking it in Rudy Giuliani's eye," because
they do not like him. This would not have
happened, Hevesi said, if he had been mayor.
(NY
Post)
5/11
The risks of a campaign based on ethnic politics
are different from what they were 20 years
ago, as Fernando Ferrer has discovered in
the wake of the fiasco over the Rev. Al Sharpton's
statement that he would endorse Ferrer only
if Ferrer promised to endorse only blacks
for two other political offices. Ferrer was
forced to reject this demand. Now Sharpton
is talking to his opponents. (NY
Times)
5/10
The presumed alliance between Fernando
Ferrer and Rev. Al Sharpton appears to be
fraying before it jelled. At issue is Sharpton's
reported requirement that mayoral candidate
Ferrer endorse two black candidates for city
posts in return for Sharpton's support. Sharpton
said he was justified in making such demands
of Ferrer because the Bronx borough president
has said he wants to build a black-Latino
coalition in New York. (New
York Times)
Fernando Ferrer said he would
make any endorsement on the merits of the
candidates involved and not on race. But when
asked by the Daily News editorial board if
he would accept Rev. Al Sharpton's endorsement
of his mayoral bid in return for Ferrer's
endorsement of two black candidates for other
posts, the Bronx borough president said, "I
don't answer 'what if' questions." (Daily
News)
Bronx Borough President Fernando
Ferrer has picked up some impressive supporters
in his campaign for mayor, including State
Controller Carl McCall and onetime vice presidential
candidate Geraldine Ferraro. But he's not
doing as well in the Bronx where a number
of prominent politicians have endorsed other
candidates. (Daily
News)
5/09
The Rev. Al Sharpton said that he would
support Fernando Ferrer only if he publicly
pledged to endorse black candidates running
for Bronx borough president and city comptroller.
(NYTimes)
Herman Badillo, the first Puerto
Rican congressman, borough president and city
commissioner, has been part of at least the
buzz of every New York City mayoral campaign
for 30 years. (NYTimes)
Fernando Ferrer reported called
former Mayor David Dinkins to explain why
he dodged a question during Sunday's mayoral
debate: How would he vote in a race among
Dinkins, Ed Koch and Rudy Giuliani? (Daily
News)
5/08
Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, a prominent clergyman
and former chief of staff to the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr., said he was backing Fernando
Ferrer for Mayor. Walker is a close ally of
the Rev. Al Sharpton, who several Mayoral
candidates have been courting. (Daily
News)
5/07
In their first televised debate, the four
Democratic mayoral candidates gave a fairly
uniform view of where the city should go in
the next few years, although differences,
over funding for stadiums and disciplining
the four police officers who killed Amadou
Diallo, did emerge. (New
York Times)
Excerpts from the debate. (Daily
News)
The mayoral debate may not
have been great television, but it showed
the four Democratic contenders as they really
are. (New
York Times)
During the debate, each of
the four Democratic candidates used some of
his favorite sound bites and cited how his
current office prepared him for Gracie Mansion.
(Newsday)
Peter Vallone went on the offensive
in the first televised Democratic mayoral
debate, touting his experience as City Council
speaker. (Daily
News)
The Daily News' Michael Kramer,
one of the debate's moderators, writes that
Council Speaker Peter Vallone, who, he says,
seemed knowledgeable and uncharacteristically
articulate, won on points. (Daily
News)
Likening the mayoral debate
to "watching a train going backward," Mayor
Rudolph Giuliani said that after about four
minutes he turned the Democrats off to watch
ESPN. (New
York Post)
If elected mayor, Alan Hevesi
says his police commissioner could be former
commissioner Bill Bratton, who has endorsed
Mark Green; Philadelphia police commissioner
John Timoney; current commissioner Bernard
Kerik; former commissioner Ray Kelly; or current
first deputy Joe Dunne. (Newsday)
Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat
(D-Manhattan), a popular Dominican politician,
announced his support for Fernando Ferrer,
boosting the Bronx borough president's effort
to unite the Hispanic community behind his
mayoral bid. After Puerto Ricans, Dominicans
are the second largest Hispanic group in the
city. (Daily
News)
5/06
Alan Hevesi, Peter Vallone, Michael Bloomberg
and Herman Badillo all appeared before Liberal
Party leaders in a bid to get the group's
mayoral endorsement. The three others attacked
Bloomberg, who, although not a declared candidate,
is thought likely to enter the race as a Republican.
Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer are not seeking
the Liberal Party nod. (Daily
News)
Bronx Borough President Fernando
Ferrer is counting on Hispanic support in
his bid to become the first Hispanic mayor
of New York. But while most Hispanics would
prefer Ferrer, who is Puerto Rican, to the
other candidate, there is a question of how
many Hispanics will turn out to vote and just
how enthusiastic Hispanics from places other
than Puerto Rico will be about the Bronx borough
president. (New
York Times)
Alan Hevesi may not be as staid
as generally thought, but he's happy to exploit
his boring image. He says, "The public wants
somebody who's very serious. These are serious
times, and they want a serious mayor." (New
York Post)
5/05
Controller Alan Hevesi returned approximately
$63,000 in contributions to his mayoral campaign
from Interstate Industrial Corp., a New Jersey
construction company under investigation for
having ties to organized crime. Last year,
the city suspended $85 million in contracts
with the corporation. (Daily
News)
5/04
Mayor Giuliani's $39.5 budget has robbed the
other mayoral candidates from making the kind
of freewheeling campaign spending promises
of past political campaigns. (NY
Times)
City Comptroller Alan Hevesi
said the city needs a long-term energy policy
to curb high electricity prices and to prevent
energy shortages from happening in New York.
(Daily
News)
Public Advocate Mark Green
urged the city yesterday to establish educational
programs for firefighting at two high schools
and two community colleges to increase the
number of minority group members in the FDNY.
(Daily
News)
Michael Bloomberg beat out
Libertarian Party candidate Kenny Kramer (the
West Sider whose claim to fame is that he
is model for a character on the television
show "Seinfeld") for the endorsement of the
Independece Party. (Daily
News)
5/03
The latest Quinnipiac University poll
shows Mark Green leading the pack of Democratic
mayoral contenders with 33 percent of likely
voters saying they would vote for the public
advocate. Comptroller Alan Hevesi and Bronx
Borough President Fernando Ferrer each get
the nod from 17 percent of those polled, while
Council Speaker Peter Vallone trails with
13 percent. The poll found Hevesi had moved
up 8 percent in the last month, perhaps owing
to his television ad campaign. (NY
Post)
City funds will finance Bronx
Borough President Fernando Ferrer's trip to
Vieques to protest the U.S. Navy's bombing
of the Puerto Rican island. The cost of the
trip is unknown but aides say the money for
it will come from city moneys allotted to
borough presidents. (Newsday)
Former Mayor Ed Koch endorsed
Speaker Peter Vallone for mayor saying that
the council speaker was the candidate most
likely to "build on my record and the record
of Mayor Giuliani." (Daily
News)
At least four candidates are
vying to replace Noach Dear in the 44th City
Council District, which includes Borough Park
and parts of Bensonhurst, Midwood and Flatbush.
(Daily
News)
5/02
Mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg has $4
billion on paper, but according to a new poll
New Yorkers do not seem impressed by the media
mogul's chances as Mayor. According to a Daily
News/New York 1 News poll 59 percent of those
surveyed said they had no opinion of Bloomberg.
The poll was not necessarily good news for
Democratic candidates either. A third of those
polled said the Democratic candidates are
so similar, it doesn't matter who wins the
primary. (Daily
News)
Today, Former Mayor Ed Koch
is expected to endorse City Council Speaker
Peter Vallone for mayor.
Mayoral candidate Fernando
Ferrer reportedly returned $14,250 in donations
from questionable sources. (NY
Post)
5/1
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's latest strategy
in his newest, most favorite sport - making
mischief in the race for his successor - seems
to be to bolster the fortunes of one Democratic
candidate, City Council Speaker Peter F. Vallone,
and to continue to harm another, City Comptroller
Alan G. Hevesi. (NY
Times)
With the Rev. Al Sharpton at
his side, Fernando Ferrer said yesterday that
he would go to Puerto Rico later this week
to protest the United States Navy bombings
on the island of Vieques. But Mr. Ferrer,
a Democratic candidate for mayor, said he
would not join other protesters in attempts
to be arrested. (NY
Times)
Media mogul and possible mayoral
candidate Michael Bloomberg said yesterday
he would support privatizing failing public
schools - marking his first stand on a controversial
issue since he started toying with running
for office. (Daily
News)
Former Board of Education President
Carol Gresser announced her candidacy for
borough president of Queens yesterday. (Daily
News)
Public Advocate Mark Green
plans to release a report at a press conference
in his office this morning at 11 a.m. assessing
the Administration for Children's Services
after five years, which reveals continuing
dangers to children from abuse, neglect and
poor supervision. Accompanying him will be
a father whose child died in foster care.
At the same time, Bronx Borough
President Fernando Ferrer will hold another
press conference on the steps of City Hall
concerning the bombing in Vieques.
At a press conference on the
steps of City Hall at 11:30, New York City
Comptroller Alan G. Hevesi will receive the
endorsement of the Haitian Evangelical Clergy
Association, which represents 150 Haitian
churches in the city.
City Council Speaker Peter
Vallone will hold a press conference with
the mayor at 2:15 p.m. in the Blue Room of
City Hall, to highlight the plight of abducted
Israelis.
April
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