The Race for Mayor
GOTHAM GAZETTE: SEARCHLIGHT ON CAMPAIGN 2001: MAYOR

Learn About
Your District

Click on the pull-down menu and select your district




Archives

Recent Feature Stories:
Still Up For Grabs... The Right Hand Side of the Ballot... Campaign 2001: The Promise and the Problems... Q and A About the Election... Guide for the Last Minute Voter... Campaign Dropouts... Pseudo-Incumbents and the Power of Incumbency... Baby Candidates... The Latest Third Party In NYC... The Nod of the Bosses... The Speech that Saved Term Limits... Runoffs... Dynasties... How They Stack up on Term Limit...Basic Training for Council Recruits... Scramble for the City Council...

 


What is Searchlight on Campaign 2001?
Searchlight on Campaign 2001 is a guide to the political races in what many are calling New York City's most significant campaign season in modern history.

What is so significant about it?
For the first time in memory, most political offices in the city will be wide open to people who have neither money nor connections.

Why will the races be so open?
There are two reasons. This year, a new law goes into effect that limits the terms of New York City elected officials, forcing the mass retirement of most incumbents in the city - including the mayor, the comptroller, the public advocate, four of the five borough presidents, and 36 of the 51 members of the City Council. At the same time, a new campaign finance law kicks in, which allows any candidate who agrees to certain restrictions to collect four dollars of matching funds for every dollar they raise.

What does this have to do with this site?
As a public service, Searchlight on Campaign 2001 has a separate page for each race, including all the races for City Council, that not only sorts out the candidates -- many of them new and unfamiliar -- but also offers an opportunity to learn about the issues, and the districts themselves.

Who is behind Searchlight on Campaign 2001?
Searchlight on Campaign 2001 is a project of Gotham Gazette, a non-profit, non-partisan, non-ideological (but non-boring) web site about New York City news, policy and politics published by Citizens Union Foundation, part of the oldest and largest good-government group in the city (founded in 1897).

What's wrong with the way the regular press covers the races?
That is for you to decide. And one of our regular features, Campaign Trail, helps you to decide. Campaign Trail provides succinct summaries and links to campaign articles in the commercial press.

Who are we?
Masthead

 

General Election Results

x-Michael R. Bloomberg, Rep 719,819 - 50 percent
Mark Green, Dem 676,560 - 47 percent
Alan G. Hevesi, Lib 11,409 - 1 percent
Others 19,609 - 1 percent

Democratic Runoff Election Results
Fernando Ferrer 384,136
Mark Green 402,706

Primary Election Results

Democratic
Fernando Ferrer 279,396
Mark Green 243,175
Peter F. Vallone 155,188
Alan G. Hevesi 94,764
George N. Spitz 8,517

Republican
Michael R. Bloomberg 45,656
Herman Badillo 17,531
(Official Vote Count from the Board of Elections)

The Candidates:


The Last Debate

Excerpts from the November 1st mayoral debate between Democrat Mark Green and Republican Michael Bloomberg


Numbers of Contributors to Mayoral Candidates
(according to the Campaign Finance Board)

Contributors to Fernando Ferrer
Contributors to Mark Green
Contributors to Alan Hevesi
Contributors to Peter Vallone


Run-Off Debate

Excerpts from the October 7 televised debate between Fernando Ferrer and Mark Green


Issue Statements

Mayoral candidates' statements on the issues, at Savvyvoter.org


Campaign Features:

Post Mortem on the Mayoral Campaign
Still Looking Green
Campaign Update: At the first turn . . .
Introducing The Four Tops


The Second Debate

A transcript of the second televised debate among the five Democratic candidates for mayor, August 28. This one was the first sponsored by the Campaign Finance Board.


The First Debate

A partial transcript of the first televised debate among the four major Democratic candidates for mayor, August 21.


Fiscal Issues

The six major mayoral candidates answered three questions about the city's economy: What would you do to close the city's budget gaps? How would you negotiate new labor contracts? And how would you make the city's economy more competitive? Their answers delivered in August to the Citizens Budget Commission are available online (in PDF format only)


Ethics In Government

Leading Democratic and Republican candidates for mayor want to re-open the steps of City Hall, modernize city elections, continue funding the city's Independent Budget Office and strengthen laws protecting whistleblowers in city government, according to the results of a 15-question mayoral survey on government ethics and open government. The survey was conducted by six civic groups. But the candidates disagreed on whether to make some city ethics rules stricter or to make the city Investigations Commissioner more independent of City Hall.

Michael Bloomberg
Fernando Ferrer
Mark Green
Alan Hevesi
George Spitz
Peter Vallone


Tenants Issues

New York Tenants and Neighbors, a 26-year-old state-wide coalition that advocates for tenants' rights, invited the six major candidates for mayor to talk about housing and tenant issues, and to answer nine (sometimes very specific, very technical) questions posed by tenant leaders. Of those invited, only Alan Hevesi and Fernando Ferrer showed up at the forum on July 18. (Five other mayoral candidates were allowed to make impromptu speeches)

Alan Hevesi
Fernando Ferrer
George Spitz
Mitchel Cohen
Christopher Brodeur
Anthony Gronowicz
Julia Willebrand


Latino Issues

Latinos now make up about a quarter of New York City's voting-age population, and are seen as pivotal in the race for mayor. Following are transcripts of the question and answer sessions with all the candidates who appeared at a forum on Latino issues June 20.

Herman Badillo
Fernando Ferrer
Mark Green
Alan Hevesi
Julia Willebrand


Speeches On Urban Planning

To encourage the mayoral candidates to focus on planning, the city's four urban planning schools on May 4 sponsored a forum for six of them. Each was given 15 minutes to discuss the role he anticipated planning would play in his administration, his views on the role of planning as a government function and whether he would support providing planning staffs to Community Planning Boards. Perhaps most provocatively, the six were asked what type of person he would choose to head his planning department. Would he seek out a cross between Robert Moses, builder of mega projects, and Jane Jacobs, champion of mixed-use livable neighborhoods?

Herman Badillo
Fernando Ferrer
Mark Green
Alan Hevesi
Henry Hewes
Peter Vallone


The Stump Speeches

In the first forum of the Democratic candidates for mayor, held January 25, five men gave a preview of what their stump speeches are going to be, and how they are going to answer questions. The following is an edited transcript of a "mayoral forum" held at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village and sponsored by the Village Independent Democrats, or VID, on January 25. The five Democratic candidates for mayor of New York City spoke one by one and then were asked questions that members of the audience had written on index cards.

In order of presentation:

George Spitz, retired public auditor
Fernando Ferrer, Bronx borough president
Peter Vallone, City Council speaker
Mark Green, New York City public advocate
Alan Hevesi, New York City comptroller


Mayoral Campaign Trail

11/7
Michael Rubens Bloomberg, a self- made billionaire who set out at the age of 59 to finance a new career in politics, was elected the 108th mayor of New York City yesterday, as voters turned to him to lead a city apprehensive about the loss of a popular mayor and anxious about a future clouded by threats of terrorism and economic turmoil. (New York Times)

Millionaire. Helicopter pilot. Dad. Philanthropist. Movie producer. Bachelor about town. Media mogul. Now, Mayor Bloomberg. (Daily News)

There were not enough hands in the Democratic Party last night for all the finger-pointing that surrounded Mark Green's loss to Mike Bloomberg - the media mogul who was supposed to be a GOP pushover. But high on many lists of who to blame for Green's failure to deliver - after Green himself - were the Rev. Al Sharpton, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer and Bronx Democratic Party chief Roberto Ramirez. (Daily News)

Crises either lionize mayors or devour them. And there's been no crisis more threatening to the city's vitality and future than the aftermath of the attacks that brought down the World Trade Center. In just two months, the staggering job of stabilizing New York's economy and rebuilding lower Manhattan will fall to the mayor-elect, Michael Bloomberg. (Daily News)

Bloomberg made enough inroads with Latino voters and parlayed a strong showing among whites to pull off a stunning upset, an exit poll showed. Eight weeks after the terror of Sept. 11, Bloomberg rode a wave of New Yorkers' concern over jobs and the economy, issues that weighed more heavily on voters' decisions than crime, terrorism and even education. In the Edison Media Research exit poll the queried 2,036 voters, Green, the Democratic public advocate, garnered 71 percent of the black vote to the Republican Bloomberg's 25 percent. (Newsday)

Columnist Joyce Purnick: How do you beat a man who can overwhelmingly outspend you with his own money and has the backing of a politician as universally admired as Franklin Delano Roosevelt was in his day? How do you overcome ethnic and racial tensions, a reputation for being less than lovable, the advantage that the tragedy of Sept. 11 gave to a first-time candidate claiming his business background as his strength? As Mark Green learned yesterday, you don't. (New York Times)

Columnist Michael Kramer: Everyone said it would be close, and this time everyone was right."It's one thing to dodge a single bullet from a Winchester," an aide to Mark Green said last night. "It's another to dodge a stream from an Uzi - and we almost did." Well, in politics, "almost" equals second place and second place equals retirement - which is where Green is heading now that Mike Bloomberg has been elected mayor. (Daily News)

Mayor Giuliani's endorsement definitely gave Mike Bloomberg a boost. (New York Post)

Mike Bloomberg capitalized on Mayor Giuliani's enormous popularity, simmering Democratic discontent, his business credentials - and more than $50 million to get his message out. The attack on the World Trade Center significantly shifted voter sentiment toward the billionaire Republican media mogul, who made his entrepreneurial experience a major selling point in an extremely well-financed campaign. (New York Post)

The trail of harshly negative TV and radio ads launched by Mark Green and Michael Bloomberg will be remembered as some of the most down-and-dirty the city has ever seen. (New York Post)

A surprisingly big chunk of Mark Green's supporters in last month's runoff dumped him yesterday for rival Mike Bloomberg, joined by an even stronger wave of Hispanics who had backed Fernando Ferrer in the Democratic race. (New York Post)

The next mayor faces such daunting budget problems that some people in government openly wonder - only half jokingly - why anyone wants the job. "Why do you want to put yourself through this?" asked one city councilman, referring to the grave decisions facing the new mayor. (New York Post)

Coming soon to a mayor near you: huge deficits, a private-sector slowdown and a power struggle with the governor. And that's just for starters. To keep parks tidy, streets clean and libraries open, while meeting costly new obligations to protect public health and security, the 108th mayor will be forced to scrimp and save, painfully so. He'll also face resistance from unions forced to do without large raises, a retirement outflow by police officers, a shortage of experienced teachers, growing poverty, and heightened pressures to raise taxes. As for reducing class sizes, building affordable housing, and subsidizing new baseball and football stadiums, forget about it. (Newsday)

11/6
The New York Times repeats its endorsements: Mark Green for mayor, and on the six ballot proposals: 1. Yes to making the State Constitution gender-neutral. 2 to 6. No to these five proposals, which are unnecessary changes to the City Charter. (New York Times)

The Daily News endorsements: Michael Bloomberg for mayor, yes on all the city charter proposals except the third one, about the Human Rights Commission. (Daily News)

The New York Post endorses neither candidate for mayor. "Neither man comes close to filling Rudy Giuliani's shoes - and Giuliani-esque leadership is precisely what New York needs just now." (New York Post)

Newsday endorses Mark Green for mayor, yes to making the State Constitution gender-neutral, yes on charter revision proposal 1 (Children's Services) and 5 (Public Safety), no on the rest. (Newsday)

Crains New York Business endorsed Mark Green for mayor.

Mark Green and Michael R. Bloomberg yesterday completed the final day of a contest for mayor that both sides said had turned unexpectedly whisker-close. Mr. Bloomberg campaigned at the side of Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, whose support has proved critical to his candidacy, while Mr. Green campaigned with Kennedys and former President Clinton, and released a harsh advertisement that recounted charges made against Mr. Bloomberg in a sexual harassment suit. (New York Times)

Infuriated by "despicable and racist" campaign literature, the Rev. Al Sharpton refused late last night to endorse Democratic mayoral candidate Mark Green - but backed off his threat to call for a black boycott of today's election. (Daily News)

11/5
The contest between Mark Green and Michael R. Bloomberg hurtled through a brutal and expensive final weekend yesterday. Mr. Green took to the pulpits of black churches in Brooklyn to accuse Mr. Bloomberg of insensitivity toward black and female New Yorkers. Mr. Bloomberg filled the airwaves with television advertisements warning that Mr. Green would "tear apart City Hall" if elected. With the campaign down to its final hours - and a series of polls showing the two men essentially tied, with a huge number of voters still undecided - the candidates and their aides moved through the day to diminish their opponent. (New York Times)

11/4
Bloomberg and Green on education, labor, taxes and budgeting, security and policing. (New York Times)

The Daily News endorses Michael Bloomberg for mayor: "Bloomberg is tough and independent, just as a New York mayor must be. He is smart. He is accomplished. And he will bring to City Hall the kind of fresh ideas and perspective that this moment of devastating crisis demands. Bloomberg's opponent, Mark Green, has many attractive attributes. He has shown himself to be a serious candidate with serious ideas. Perhaps, in ordinary times, he would be an acceptable choice. But in this extraordinary time, Bloomberg is the candidate with the right skills." (Daily News)

Newsday endorses Mark Green for mayor. "Green seems to have learned plenty and to be more ready for the task than Bloomberg. He ran his campaign not as a paleo-liberal this time, but as a reformer and a moderate. He brought William Bratton, the former police commissioner who helped revolutionize the NYPD's crime-fighting tactics, into his fold. So now, Green not only has a long record as a police critic, he also has the support of most city police unions. At the same time - to our relief - he has preached during the campaign that the United Federation of Teachers must trade work-rule flexibility for pay increases. As a result, the teachers didn't support him during the primaries. Neither did city workers in District Council 37 or the hospital workers in Local 1199.

These are good signs. They mean that Green, if elected, would owe these groups little. While Green's past life as a noisy liberal gadfly has hardly inspired our confidence, we think he has matured as a politician. As for Bloomberg, while he is intellectually agile and astonishingly savvy about local issues, he's still not ready to turn pro. Not in this league. Not at this time. If New Yorkers were to elect him next week, they would have to give him maybe a year to hit his stride as a politician. The city cannot afford to wait." (Newsday)

Already conducting the priciest campaign in New York State history, Bloomberg looks certain to spend more than $50 million of his own money in the race for City Hall. The billionaire businessman has spent more than $24 million for advertising, $4.6 million for polls and $1.5 million for 15 different campaign consultant. Put another way, Bloomberg will pay out enough of his own money to build two new elementary schools in Queens or to match the city's median family income of $50,600 for nearly 9,000 families. (Newsday)

11/3
Republican Michael Bloomberg and Democrat Mark Green bounded yesterday into the final weekend of the mayoral race on an avalanche of blistering new attack ads and mailings. One of Bloomberg's new ads, targeting white voters, paints New York as a safer, more prosperous city, adding, "Every step of the way Mark Green attacked and criticized the changes ... He'll tear apart Mayor Giuliani's City Hall, turn our city back." Green's harsh new ad paints his billionaire rival as out of step with New Yorkers. It asks, "Does Bloomberg care about equal rights?" and seizes on remarks by Bloomberg that public school kids "have personal hygiene problems," and that sanitation workers have more dangerous jobs than cops and firefighters. (Daily News)

According to the latest New York Times poll, Mark Green, a Democrat, is supported by 42 percent of those most likely to vote and Michael Bloomberg, a Republican, by 37 percent. The difference is not statistically significant. About 20 percent are undecided - an unusually high figure for this late in the contest. (New York Times)

A "Unity Dinner" for Mark Green's mayoral campaign did not quite live up to its billing last night. Leading Hispanic officials, including Fernando Ferrer, boycotted the event to show their continuing anger and suspicion over tactics used in the runoff election between Mr. Green and Mr. Ferrer, the Bronx borough president. (New York Times)

11/2
Mark Green and Michael Bloomberg debated last night for the last time in the mayoral race, clashing repeatedly over their qualifications and battling over campaign tactics, education policy and even their personalities. For much of the 60 minutes, they fought over whether Green's record of public service or Bloomberg's resume building a global business are what the city needs to recover from the economic damage caused by the World Trade Center collapse. "My opponent has not had any experience in managing a large organization, in leading a large number of people, in setting large budgets, in actually doing things," said Bloomberg, a billionaire Republican making his first run for office. "My rival hasn't spent one minute in public life," Green, the city's public advocate, said. He added, "You don't understand the city by spending a lot of private dollars in an election year." (Daily News) (New York Times)

Mayoral hopeful Mark Green began rolling out the big guns yesterday, stumping with former President Bill Clinton in Harlem as part of a massive end-of-campaign push to rally Democrats to his candidacy. As part of the strategy, the Democratic National Committee will showcase Green tomorrow by having him deliver the party's nationally broadcast response to President Bush's weekly Saturday radio address. (Daily News)

Michael Bloomberg was endorsed by both former Governor Hugh Carey and former Mayor Ed Koch. The Democrats said they endorsed Bloomberg, a Republican, partly because of their distaste for the media mogul's Democratic rival, Mark Green. (Daily News)

Four aides to Mark Green met with top Brooklyn Democrats and discussed strategies for highlighting Fernando Ferrer's link to the Rev. Al Sharpton, a week before the Green-Ferrer mayoral runoff. Several participants said the meeting focused on how to galvanize Jewish voters for Green by highlighting Ferrer's relationship to Sharpton, who is reviled by many Jews. (Daily News)

11/1
In an interview with the New York Times, Republican mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg said that the financial crisis facing the city is serious but can be managed and that private business, not government aid, is key to how well New York weathers it. The Republican mayoral hopeful stressed his experience as an entrepreneur. He said he was surprised that he had been so harshly criticized for spending millions of his own money to win the election and for some of his verbal missteps. (New York Times)

Attacks and endorsements continued to mark the mayoral campaign yesterday. Michael Bloomberg attacked rival Mark Green for not disclosing who is working for his campaign and reacted angrily to charges surfacing about his response to an allegation of a rape at his company a few years ago. Green, meanwhile, won the support of Bronx Democratic leader Roberto Ramirez, who had been key to the unsuccessful mayoral bid by Fernando Ferrer, and announced he was borrowing $1 million to finance a last minute television ad blitz. (New York Times)

Michael Bloomberg has asked Bernard Kerik to remain on as police commissioner if Bloomberg is elected mayor. Kerik had previously said he would leave office when Mayor Rudolph Giuliani does, but sources told the Post that he is "seriously leaning toward" accepting the offer from Bloomberg. (New York Post)

The Detectives' Endowment Association and two unions representing Port Authority police yesterday announced their support for Mark Green, giving the Democratic mayoral candidate the support of virtually all the major uniformed law enforcement unions except the one representing corrections officers. (Daily News)

Michael Bloomberg has sent thousands of Hispanic voters a glossy mailing featuring a picture of Bronx Borough President and unsuccessful mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer. The leaflets have reportedly angered aides to Ferrer, who fought a bitter runoff campaign with Democratic mayoral candidate Mark Green but is now supporting Green. (New York Post)

Billionaire Michael Bloomberg strongly defended his decision not to release to his complete tax returns, saying his opponents had released their returns because "they don't make anything." Bloomberg previously said that disclosing the exact dollar figures in his tax return would jeopardize his privately held financial communications firm. (Daily News)

Michael Bloomberg has spent $41 million for his mayoral bid so far, buying television advertising but also giving money and loaning office space to political organizations that back his candidacy. The outpouring of funds has alarmed some Democrats who say the Democratic National Committee has been slow to spend money to support Mark Green. But now, with a week to go before Election Day, Green may finally be getting some help. (New York Observer)

10/29
Michael Bloomberg and Mark Green participated in what was called an "undebate," back-to-back half-hour television interviews, because Green refused to debate Bloomberg directly. While Green attacked Bloomberg for not having government experience, Bloomberg portrayed that as a plus and defended his decision to spend more than $40 million of his own money on his mayoral campaign. (New York Times)

Whoever is elected mayor will have to decide in his first few months in office how to close a multibillion dollar deficit projected for the city next year. Neither Mark Green nor Michael Bloomberg has offered many specifics, but both candidates support hiring freezes for city agencies and talk about trying to increase the productivity of city employees. While saying he would seek ways to preserve essential services, Green has outlined some proposed savings, including consolidating criminal justice agencies, reducing the capital budget for jails and various contracting improvements. Bloomberg has ruled out raising taxes, but said he would consider having the city borrow more money. (Newsday)

Michael Bloomberg announced a plan for fighting bioterrorism, saying poor communication between the federal government and New York police department slowed the response to the anthrax scare in the city. The Republican mayoral candidate called for creation of a task force linking city, state and federal agencies and health care providers, for testing to be available at all times and for an increase in laboratory capacity to reduce the time it takes to get results of those tests. (Daily News)

The New York Times endorsed Mark Green for mayor saying his opponent, Michael Bloomberg, is "is ill matched to the job he covets." The editorial concludes that Green "has not been the most lovable candidate in New York City history, but he has demonstrated a deep understanding of the issues, a sensible approach to public policy, and the soul of a fighter. That may be the quality he will find most useful if he becomes the city's next mayor." (New York Times)

10/28
Mayor Giuliani finally endorsed Michael Bloomberg, praising the Republican candidate as someone who "has the background, varied experience, the kind of experiences" that could make him a great leader. Despite the mayor's popularity, observers question how much his endorsement would help Bloomberg, who is trailing in the polls. But Bloomberg aides were happy to receive the support and will use it in upcoming television commercials. (Daily News)

Mayor Giuliani's endorsement of Michael Bloomberg gives Bloomberg a boost in what many have characterized as his troubled campaign. But a big question is how much effort Giuliani can or will expend on the mayoral race. Bloomberg needs the mayor to make personal and television appearances stressing that Bloomberg is the person best suited to carry on his work and attacking opponent Mark Green. But Giuliani has limited time and is eager to avoid being perceived as too partisan at a time when he is so popular because of his role since the attacks on September 11. (New York Times)

Mark Green focused on his support from Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem), Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens) and state Controller Carl McCall as well as Crain's New York Business and the Empire State Pride Agenda gay-rights group. Green's appearance with black elected officials may indicate that the rift between Green and people who had supported the mayoral bid of Fernando Ferrer has at least partly healed. (Daily News)

Despite all the campaign rhetoric, neither Mark Green nor Michael Bloomberg has provided precise details of how he would address a city budget deficit that could reach at least $4 billion next year. (Daily News)

The Green campaign has canceled plans for a fundraiser at the home of Abraham Biderman, a former city commissioner and prominent activist in the Brooklyn Orthodox Jewish community. Biderman was one of the signers of a letter, published in the Jewish Press immediately before the October 11 Democratic runoff election, that accused Green's then opponent, Fernando Ferrer, of "dividing the city racially." It also accused Sharpton, who endorsed Ferrer, of inciting a mob against Hasidic Jews during the 1991 Crown Heights riots. (Daily News)

10/27
Republican Michael Bloomberg has already spent more than $40 million of his own money on his mayoral campaign, almost four times the amount spent by Democratic rival Mark Green. Bloomberg is financing his own campaign while Green is participating in the city campaign finance system. Last year, Hillary Clinton and Rick Lazio together spent $69 million for their Senate race, making it the mostly costly Senate campaign ever. Bloomberg now seems on the road to spending $50 million, far more than either Clinton or Lazio. (Daily News)

10/26
Mark Green refunded $13,500 in contributions yesterday from three contractors whose firm oversaw the renovation project in which five workmen died in a scaffolding collapse. Stephen Green, a real estate titan who is the public advocate's older brother, had solicited the donations from the firm, Nesa Roofing and Restoration. A company Stephen Green controls, SL Green Leasing, had hired Nesa for the renovation at 215 Park Ave. South, where the scaffolding collapsed Wednesday. SL Green Leasing manages the building. The Green campaign said it was returning the cash because of the "likelihood of an extensive investigation." (Daily News)

The United Federation of Teachers endorsed Mark Green for mayor yesterday after passing him over twice for the primary and runoff elections, causing renewed disagreements over education with his Republican opponent, Michael R. Bloomberg. (New York Times)

The three largest municipal unions -- United Federation of Teachers, District Council 37, and Local 1199 hospital workers -- are beginning to rally behind Mark Green, bringing their large memberships and celebrated get-out-the-vote operations to his candidacy. (Daily News)

Michael Bloomberg accepted the endorsement of the Amsterdam News yesterday. (Daily News)

Michael Bloomberg wants Mayor Giuliani's endorsement, but also is trying to distinguish himself from his fellow Republican. At a forum in the South Bronx, Bloomberg suggested his administration would be more inclusive than Giuliani's. "I was talking to a City Council person," said Bloomberg. "And they were complaining about something, and I said, 'Well, the last time you talked to the mayor, why didn't you say something?' And they said they've never met the mayor." During the same meeting, Bloomberg also criticized Giuliani's proposed 15 percent budget cut to CUNY as "penny wise, pound foolish." (Daily News)

10/25
Although aides to Mark Green are reluctant to say who might hold top positions in a Green administration, senior posts could go to some familiar faces,including people who have worked for previous mayors. These include former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton and former Emergency Management official Jerry Hauer, who both worked under Mayor Rudy Giuliani but have supported the Green candidacy. The inner circle in a Green administration could also include aides from his years as public advocate and from the campaign, such as campaign manager Richard Schrader, chief of staff David Eichenthal, senior policy adviser Barry Ford, chief spokesman Joe DePlasco and general counsel Laurel Eisner. Former Mayor David Dinkins and Assemblyman Herman (Denny) Farrell, the Manhattan Democratic leader, could also have clout in a Green city hall. Dinkins says he does not want a government job but "would want to be helpful." (Daily News)

Two weeks before Election Day, the Quinnipiac University poll shows Mark Green leading Republican mayoral rival Michael Bloomberg by 16 points. Green has 51 percent to 35 percent for Bloomberg, with 13 percent of voters still undecided. Green gets particularly strong backing from Democrats and blacks, while the two candidates are statistically tied with Hispanic voters. (New York Post)

Governor George Pataki yesterday endorsed Michael Bloomberg for mayor, citing the Republican candidate's leadership abilities and business background. Mayor Giuliani, though, has still not made a similar move. "When I'm ready to do that, then I'll make a decision," Giuliani said. (New York Post)

With Michael Bloomberg encountering difficulties in his campaign for mayor, a number of Republicans have expressed concern over the way the campaign is proceeding and note how tough it is for a first-time candidate to succeed in New York politics. The task facing Bloomberg is especially daunting because he is running as a Republican in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans five to one. Further, the campaign is short because of the postponement of the primary election, and voters are preoccupied with world events, the World Trade Center attacks--and the Yankee. (New York Times)

Mark Green and Michael Bloomberg seem to have switched roles. Green, who has spent a career as an outsider, is now the confident front-runner, refusing to debate, appearing with law-and-order supporters and avoiding his opponent. Bloomberg, a billionaire Republican, is the challenger and protest candidate, offering himself as the choice for disaffected minority voters and allying himself with Independence Party followers of Lenora Fulani, the former presidential candidate who once criticized fellow black activists for their willingness to "pander to Jews."

As part of this, Green advisers are reportedly trying to keep Mayor Giuliani from endorsing Bloomberg. Meanwhile, Bloomberg has won the Independence Party line on the ballot, so Democrats who like Bloomberg but do not like voting for Republicans can cast ballots for him. But the support could hinder his efforts to win over moderate Democrats and Jews who dislike Fulani. (New York Observer)

10/24
The Bloomberg campaign yesterday quoted from a book rival Mark Green wrote 20 years ago to try portray Green as a defender of Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin. The charges is seen as part of an attempt by the Republican mayoral candidate to question the move by Green to the political center. "Mark is a very liberal, leftist kind of guy," Bloomberg said yesterday. A Green aide called the attack "complete crap and they know it."

Meanwhile, Mayor Giuliani has said he will not endorse Bloomberg "right now." (Daily News)

Citizens Union, a nonpartisan civic group, has announced its support for Michael Bloomberg for mayor, citing his business background and managerial skills. At least one member of the board of the organization, Stanley Brezenoff, resigned in protest of the decision, partly because Bloomberg is using his own fortune to finance his campaign. (New York Times)

The accord between Mark Green and supporters of Fernando Ferrer is shaky at best. (Village Voice)

10/23
With Mark Green looking on in approval, several of his top law enforcement advisers asserted yesterday that Michael R. Bloomberg was not qualified to assure the safety of New Yorkers in the face of the threat of more terrorist attacks. They recited statements that Mr. Bloomberg had made in the past that they said demonstrated his lack of understanding of policing and of city government. One adviser, William J. Bratton, the former police commissioner, went so far as to invoke the image of Times Square packed at midnight on Dec. 31 as a potential target for terrorism at the very moment that Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's term will be ending. Asked if it was appropriate to raise fears about New Year's Eve, Mr. Green said: "When a lot of people congregate and there are terrorist threats, we have to make sure that we elect a mayor of New York City who has experience in public safety, has worked with the leading experts on public safety, and has spoken to cops on the street and in private meetings over eight years. That's not scaring people, it's just being realistic." (New York Times)

Republican mayoral nominee Michael Bloomberg portrayed Democratic rival Mark Green yesterday as an enemy of the NYPD, while Green assailed Bloomberg as unprepared to lead the nation's largest police force. Bloomberg also said he would extend his proposed citywide hiring freeze to teachers - a plan that brought swift criticism from Green and the teachers union. The vitriolic exchange, just 15 days before the Nov. 6 general election, focused attention on two major issues facing New Yorkers - public safety in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the crisis in the city's public schools. On public safety, Bloomberg, a billionaire media mogul, blasted Green, the city public advocate, as a politician who reinvents himself each time he runs for office. (Daily News)

Republican mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg said Monday that if elected, he'd stop hiring new teachers because of the city's economic woes and his desire to raise teacher salaries. Bloomberg's idea was criticized by Democratic nominee Mark Green as "defeatism," and the teachers union president warned that not replacing older teachers could balloon classes, which are already larger in city schools than in the suburbs. A hiring freeze would severely crimp Schools Chancellor Harold Levy's aggressive recruitment efforts at a time when two-thirds of the city's 80,000 teacher corps could retire in the next five years. The school system hired 8,500 new teachers this year and may lose another 10,000 teachers by next summer. (Newsday)

Mike Bloomberg enters the last two weeks of an uphill campaign without Mayor Giuliani at his side. (NY Post)

10/22
John S. McCain, the Arizona senator and champion of strict government regulation of campaign spending, campaigned yesterday on behalf of Michael R. Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman who has declined to participate in New York's campaign finance system and has already spent more on his mayoral campaign than any candidate in the history of city elections. (New York Times)

Democrat Mark Green evidently liked a lot of the people he met during his past 12 years in city government. He's relying on them, most of them veteran government officials, to help craft his policies in his run for mayor. By contrast, Republican Michael Bloomberg, a businessman making his first run for public office, is relying on a small group of academics-most with past political experience-to develop policy positions. The irony is that while Mr. Green is one of New York's staunchest liberals and Mr. Bloomberg hails from the conservative world of Wall Street, many of Mr. Bloomberg's advisers are more liberal than those advising Mr. Green. (Crain's New York Business)

10/21
Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer, who lost the Democratic mayoral nomination to Mr. Green in the runoff, moved yesterday to quash any doubts about their public reconciliation and to appear united in their opposition to Michael R. Bloomberg, the Republican candidate. Campaigning yesterday in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Mr. Green was joined for the first time on the mayoral stump by Mr. Ferrer, who shook hands with voters and said he was backing Mr. Green in the spirit of unity created after the Sept. 11 terror attack. "I support Mark Green wholeheartedly," Mr. Ferrer said. (New York Times)

His primary contest behind him, Mark Green has emerged, unexpectedly and not by the design of his campaign, as the first Democratic mayoral nominee in memory who appears to owe no obvious debt to the major constituencies that traditionally stake a claim on New York mayors. With a few notable exceptions, New York's most influential unions, elected officials and party leaders "opposed Mr. Green almost through the end". Whatever the reason, the result may well turn out to be a welcome turn of events for Mr. Green in the final weeks of this mayoral campaign and, should he win, in a Green mayoralty.(New York Times)

Mayoral hopeful Michael Bloomberg has increased his spending on TV and radio advertising to at least $2.5 million a week. The pre-Election Day ad blitz puts the Republican on a pace to burn through nearly $40 million of his own money by the time his campaign ends. No candidate for any office has ever spent so much on commercials on a weekly basis in the New York market - not even Jon Corzine, who shelled out $60 million last year in winning a Senate seat from New Jersey. (Daily News)

The Rev. Al Sharpton is now the target of a tough new TV ad for the Conservative Party's mayoral candidate. "Thinking of voting for one of these guys?" Terry Gray says in the ad, as pictures of Democrat Mark Green and Republican Michael Bloomberg are shown. "Then you're also voting for this guy," he adds, as the commercial cuts to a shot of Sharpton. "Both Mark Green and Michael Bloomberg say they'd welcome Al Sharpton's support. I won't. I'm Terry Gray, Conservative for mayor." (Daily News)

10/20
Eight days after the last vote was cast in the Democratic mayoral contest Fernando Ferrer formally conceded to Mark Green yesterday, and joined a packed platform of elected Democrats, party leaders and union executives in an elaborate, if uneasy, display of unity. (New York Times)

Republican mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg unleashed his first attack ad yesterday, a 30-second spot that quotes New Yorkers as saying Democratic rival Mark Green is racially divisive. The media mogul launched the TV ad less than a week after stating unequivocally that he would not use race in his campaign. (Daily News)

No rebuilding plan can succeed without the enthusiastic participation of the next mayor, and the two main candidates in the Nov. 6 election have offered very different proposals.Mark Green, the Democratic nominee, has proposed a city-state "superagency," accountable to the mayor and governor with input from other voices around the city.Michael Bloomberg, the Republican nominee, sees no need for an additional authority and says the next mayor should be the point person on the city's downtown's recovery. (New York Times)

10/19
For the first time since their bitter runoff contest, the Democratic candidates for mayor, Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer, met last night in an apparent effort to keep their differences from continuing to spill over into the compressed general election season. They met alone and neither would comment afterwards to the press. Then, Mr. Green met with Mr. Ferrer's supporters, including the Rev. Al Sharpton. The friction between Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Green has provided fodder for the Republican candidate, Michael R. Bloomberg, who has criticized Mr. Green several times this week for the tenor of his runoff campaign. In addition, Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate majority leader, announced that the Senate's Elections Committee would hold a hearing in New York City on Wednesday to look into the runoff. A news release issued by Mr. Bruno's office said that the hearing would look into "miscounts, and allegations of vote fraud, racism and questionable campaign tactics." (New York Times) (Daily News)

With the mayor's race shaping up as a fierce battle over qualifications rather than issues, Michael Bloomberg decided yesterday to boost his resume a notch by boasting he has more government experience than anyone worldwide. "We deal with 100 national governments. We deal with 50 state governments," said Bloomberg, the billionaire founder of a financial communications company. "I have more experience in dealing with governments than probably anybody in the whole world." Democratic rival Mark Green, the city's public advocate, responded tersely: "He's funny." (Daily News)

10/18
It is official, or at least sort of official. With all machine votes counted, Mark Green leads Fernando Ferrer by 18,000 votes, virtually assuring that the public advocate is the Democratic nominee for mayor. Some 30,000 paper ballots must still be counted, making it mathematically possible but highly unlikely that Ferrer could still pull out a victory. The machine count gave Green 393,385 votes, or 51.2 percent of the total, while Ferrer received 375,356 votes or 48.8 percent. Paper ballots typically mirror the percentages recorded by machines

The count did not, however, end the controversy over the runoff voting and tallying. The Rev. Al Sharpton plans to file a formal complaint with the Justice Department, questioning why some election districts were consolidated for the vote last week and alleging a disproportionate number of minorities may have been required to fill out paper ballots. And lawyers working with Ferrer say they have documented cases in which machines malfunctioned or security might have been compromised. (Daily News)

Republican mayoral candidate Michael Bloomberg yesterday released his plan for economic development. He called for reducing the city's workforce by attrition, moving some city agencies from Manhattan to the other boroughs, and bringing industries other than finance to lower Manhattan, as well as a reduced state role in city affairs, including redevelopment after September 11. At the same time, Bloomberg proposed turning Governor Island, which is federally owned, into a center for new high school and college facilities. This, he said, would free up existing high schools for use as elementary schools and would overcome opposition to high schools from people who do not want them in their neighborhoods.

Mark Green, who is running against Bloomberg, dismissed the proposals from the Republican nominee as "displaying the naivete of a novice." (New York Times)

Michael Bloomberg and Mark Green clashed yesterday over what role, if any, the state should play in decisions over how to rebuild lower Manhattan. Bloomberg wants the city to control money and redevelopment, while Green has called for a joint city-state authority to rebuild. Whatever the two say, however, Albany is considered unlikely to surrender its role in the reconstruction efforts. (Newsday)

Mark Green participated in a mayoral debate yesterday, but it is safe to say he was the only one there with much of a chance to be mayor. Green, the Democratic candidate, shared the stage with Kenny Kramer of "Seinfeld" and candidates from the Marijuana Reform, American Dream and Green parties. Green was required to take part in the debate because he is participating in the public campaign finance program. Republican candidate Michael Bloomberg did not have to attend because he is not participating in the campaign finance program. (Daily News)

10/17
Republican Michael R. Bloomberg, inserting himself into a racially charged dispute among the Democrats, yesterday characterized the final days of Mark Green's runoff campaign against Fernando Ferrer as racially hued and said Mr. Green owed the voters an explanation. (NY Times)

Republican Michael Bloomberg tried to reap gains yesterday from a controversy roiling local Democrats by accusing Mark Green of conducting a divisive runoff campaign. (Daily News)

Mark Green's lead in the Democratic mayoral runoff swung to 19,000 votes in unofficial tallies yesterday as election officials tossed thousands of uncounted paper ballots. The slim hopes of Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer now hang on 34,000 paper ballots yet to be counted. Bronx Democratic Party chief Roberto Ramirez, a top Ferrer adviser, said the campaign "has as its utmost priority that every one of the paper ballots that are bona fide votes gets counted." (Daily News)

Mark Green has two big guns waiting in the wings for him - Bill and Hillary Clinton - as he waits to be officially declared the winner of last week's primary runoff. (NY Post)

Republican mayoral candidate Mike Bloomberg made a long-shot pitch yesterday for the endorsement of one of the city's most powerful and liberal-leaning unions - health-care workers Local 1199. But all Bloomberg came away with was a photo op and some kind words from union president Dennis Rivera, who had backed Fernando Ferrer for City Hall. (NY Post)

Mark Green takes the heat for hate flyers passed out by supporters. (Village Voice)

10/16

As predicted, errors in the numbers reported last week have cast a shadow over the Democratic mayoral nomination, with several Fernando Ferrer supporters calling for a Justice Department investigation of the election. Mark Green's 24,031 lead is 5,775 fewer votes than was announced last Thursday, Associated Press said Monday as it continued to analyze the numbers. Total voter turnout was also inflated in the initial election reports and has been reduced to 763,065, AP said. Those numbers, however, are still unofficial. The official vote count will begin Wednesday at 10 a.m. and is expected to be finished by Sunday. (Newsday)

"It is premature to state with certainty what the outcome of this election is," board Deputy Director Joseph Gentili said in statement yesterday.But in a later interview, he repeated assertions that Green's victory was expected to stand after the ballots were counted. "There's nothing here that makes me believe the proportions will change," he said. (Daily News)

The results of the Democratic mayoral nomination remained in limbo yesterday, with no official vote count from the Board of Elections, and thus no certified winner.The leaders of the state and national Democratic parties both worked to reconcile Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer and their supporters yesterday, trying to head off any lasting rift between the two campaigns that could damage the party's chances of recapturing City Hall in November. (New York Times)

Four days after the polls closed for the final time on the extended Democratic mayoral primary in New York, relations between Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer were more antagonistic yesterday than during the campaign itself, in a lingering and perhaps, for Mr. Green, debilitating dispute over racial politics in the city. Mr. Ferrer's chief adviser, Roberto Ramirez, yesterday lodged a complaint with the Democratic national chairman, Terry McAuliffe, about his contention that Mr. Green had run a racially charged and unfairly harsh campaign. Another Ferrer adviser, Representative Charles Rangel, met conspicuously with the Republican mayoral candidate, Michael R. Bloomberg, and then held a news conference to offer warm words for Mr. Bloomberg, while lamenting the "the racist calls that were made, the racist cartoons that were sent." As of yesterday evening, Mr. Ferrer had still not returned the call Mr. Green had placed to him the day after last Thursday's vote. By Sunday, Mr. Ferrer had withdrawn the concession he had made on Thursday, releasing a statement that criticized Mr. Green's campaign tactics and took note of confusion about the vote tally. (New York Times)

If the fallout from the hotly fought runoff and the ensuing vote-count controversy was meant to make Green sweat about securing a strong turnout by black and Latino voters in the Nov. 6 general election, he didn't show it. During a stop in a senior center, Green went down a long list of prominent blacks who have endorsed him, from state Comptroller Carl McCall to rap impresario Russell Simmons, and later collected the endorsement of City Council Speaker Peter Vallone in front of City Hall. Vallone had backed Ferrer in the runoff. Green predicted Ferrer and Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) - who met with Republican nominee Michael Bloomberg - would come around to him as the party designee. And Green added he's certain the city Board of Elections will certify his victory when it finishes its official count. "Democrats are uniting behind me," he said. (Newsday)

Mark Green yesterday picked up the endorsement of Peter Vallone - a onetime supporter of Fernando Ferrer who urged the Bronx borough president to "throw the towel in" on becoming mayor. Vallone warned that by not backing Green, Ferrer is helping Republican nominee Michael Bloomberg's chances in next month's general election. (New York Post)

10/15
Mayor Giuliani yesterday ripped the city Board of Elections for its bungled vote count in the Democratic mayoral runoff and renewed his call to do away with the board. (New York Post)

Fernando Ferrer seized on reports that some votes were counted more than once in the Oct. 11 Democratic mayoral runoff to essentially rescind the concession he made to his opponent, Mark Green, declaring yesterday that "we don't know who" won the nomination and calling for a "fair, complete and accurate final count." Mr. Ferrer's statement came after the Board of Elections announced that unofficial returns reported on election night included roughly 42,000 votes that had been counted twice. A new unofficial tally by the board showed that Mr. Green still won the election, but that his margin of victory had narrowed by roughly 9,000 votes to 21,056 votes. Mr. Ferrer suggested the election's outcome was far from certain. (New York Times)

10/14
The unofficial vote totals in the Democratic mayoral runoff Thursday night, narrowly won by Mark Green, were overcounted by perhaps 200,000 votes or more, according to the city's Board of Elections. Joseph Gentili, the deputy director of the Elections Board, stopped short of saying that the final count - still under way - would change the outcome. Mr. Green received about 52 percent of the vote, according to the early unofficial returns, while Fernando Ferrer had about 48 percent. Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for Mr. Green, said yesterday that election officials had assured the campaign that the overcount would not affect the outcome. And, he added, Mr. Green appeared to have won by nearly 30,000 votes, and he did not expect that margin to change considerably. Elections officials said the overcount was the result of votes' having been recorded more than once in dozens, and perhaps hundreds, of instances. (New York Times)

As Mark Green tried to build support among black voters yesterday in Brooklyn, the Rev. Al Sharpton called Mr. Green's campaign tactics racially divisive and hinted that he might not endorse either Mr. Green or his Republican opponent, Michael R. Bloomberg. (New York Times)

The challenge Mark Green now faces in winning over minority voters was underscored yesterday by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who angrily accused Green of having "played the race card" in his bid to beat Fernando Ferrer. "You all think you forced us out of the game?" Sharpton asked, referring to Green's camp. "Good. Then we'll stay home and watch." (Daily News)

For six months, Michael R. Bloomberg presented himself as the independent businessman whose lack of experience in politics made him the ideal next mayor of New York. But running now in a general election campaign against Mark Green that will last only three weeks, that same scant electoral experience is stirring concern among Republicans about his prospects. (New York Times)

10/13
Democratic mayoral candidate Mark Green and Republican rival Michael Bloomberg fired away at each other yesterday in the first day of campaigning following the Democratic runoff. The candidates began exchanging barbs before the sun rose in a series of TV and radio interviews. Each argued passionately that his experience is what New York City needs following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. "I'm a professional manager. He's a rookie. We want Joe Torres or Bobby Valentine. This is not the time to have a Little League manager in there," said Bloomberg, the billionaire media mogul who is running his first campaign for elected office. Green, who has served as the city's public advocate for the past eight years, said he's "going to fight" to become the city's 108th mayor. "If the public wants the person who has created and has made billions selling a gizmo on a desk, he's your guy," Green said of Bloomberg. "I have experience in government, an experience money can't buy." (Daily News)

Many of Fernando Ferrer's strongest supporters say they were outraged by what they considered heavy-handed and racially charged tactics of the Green campaign in the final days before Thursday's runoff election. And many of these supporters have insisted that, while Mr. Green prepares for his contest with the Republican nominee, Michael R. Bloomberg, he has significant repair work to do within the ranks of his own party. Congressman Charles Rangel, a Ferrer supporter, and Bill Lynch, one of Mr. Ferrer's main campaign advisers, plan to meet with Mr. Bloomberg on Monday. (New York Times)

Now that the Democratic mayoral primary runoff is over, Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is making it clear that he meant what he said about wanting to stay. "Mike [Bloomberg] and Mark Green both agreed to the idea of a three-month additional transition," the mayor said during a guest appearance on Howard Stern's morning radio show. "And maybe we can still convince the Democratic State Legislature to go along with it now that the two candidates agree to it." Charles Carrier, a spokesman for Sheldon Silver, speaker of the State Assembly, said: "The Assembly Democratic majority's position on extension of the mayor's term has not changed. It will not be considered." (New York Times)

10/12
Public Advocate Mark Green won the Democratic runoff to be mayor by 52 percent against 48 percent for his rival, Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer. Out of a total votes cast of 804, 852, Green had 417,329 votes to Ferrer's 387,523, a difference of 30,000. Green's percentage in each borough is as follows: Manhattan, 61.3 percent; Brooklyn, 51.4 percent; Queens, 55 percent, The Bronx, 29.1 percent, Staten Island, 74.2 percent. (Daily News)

Against a backdrop of civic trauma and deep anxiety about the future of New York City, Mark Green won the Democratic nomination for mayor last night. He defeated Fernando Ferrer in a racially divided contest in which voters embraced Mr. Green's declaration that recovering from the World Trade Center attack should be the central focus of New York's next mayor. The victory by Mr. Green, the city's public advocate, derailed the second attempt in four years by Mr. Ferrer, the Bronx borough president, to become New York's first Puerto Rican mayor. But Mr. Ferrer came close to assembling a winning coalition of Hispanic and black voters, in a way that suggested that this election marked a new chapter in the continuing ethnic and political realignment in New York. One-quarter of the primary electorate was Hispanic, and the turnout of more than 800,000 was even higher than it was in the first round of Democratic voting on Sept. 25. (New York Times)

Mark Green gobbled up the lion's share of votes from people who cast ballots for Peter Vallone and Alan Hevesi in the Sept. 25 Democratic primary, exit polls showed yesterday. Even though Vallone endorsed Fernando Ferrer the day after he lost in the primary, some 80 percent of Vallone's backers went for Green, according to the survey by Edison Media Research of New Jersey. Green fared almost as well with people who originally backed Hevesi - snaring 74 percent to Ferrer's 26 percent. Hevesi endorsed Green in the runoff. (New York Post)

Ferrer got just 16 percent of whites' votes on Tuesday, while Green got just 16 percent of Latinos' votes. But whites outnumbered Latinos at the polls, and Ferrer, to win, needed about twice as many white votes than he received. Among black voters, Green picked up 29 percent compared with Ferrer's 71 percent, another lopsided result.Green's anemic support from minority Democratic voters wasn't the only discouraging news for him in the exit survey of 1,380 voters last night. The survey showed that 60 percent of voters who pulled the lever for him on Tuesday voiced reservations about him, compared with 40 percent with reservations about him on Sept. 25. One in seven voters said they wouldn't return to the polling sites for a Nov. 6 showdown between Green and Republican mayoral nominee Mike Bloomberg. (Newsday)

Green's victory over Fernando Ferrer in the Democratic runoff was propelled by voting patterns surprisingly similar to those that installed City Hall's current occupant, Republican Mayor Giuliani. Green snatched 84% of the white vote and 29% of the black vote against the Hispanic Ferrer, with some of his strongest margins coming from the Giuliani strongholds of Staten Island and Queens, where the city's white ethnic population is anchored. In the clearest sign of the irony for a frequent Giuliani critic, Green picked up nearly half his winning margin in Staten Island, a bastion of the city's conservative white middle class. (Daily News)

If the past is prologue - and the Democrats' 5-to-1 edge in registration shapes this election - the mayoral contest is Mark Green's to lose. But this year's vote for mayor, shaped by term limits and conducted in the shadow of the city's worst calamity, is already different than any other. Now, because the primaries were delayed two weeks by the World Trade Center disaster, the general-election campaign is unexpectedly short. So watch for the rhetoric to heat up quickly. Republican mayors tend to be a once-in-a-generation quirk. And the contest between Green and billionaire businessman Mike Bloomberg poses a man long steeped in public issues against a self-made success from the private sector. (Newsday)

Ferrer's staff tried to find solace - even in defeat. If nothing else, they said, there was satisfaction in having proved that black and Latino voters - the devoted core of Ferrer's support - had arrived as a dominant force in city elections."I think history will write that this election changed the political landscape," said Roberto Ramirez, the powerful leader of the Bronx Democratic Party and a key Ferrer ally. Added Ferrer, "You opened a door that will never be closed." (Daily News)

Elections officials and monitors reported generally smooth going at the polls yesterday, the third time in a month Democrats have been asked to cast ballots. (Daily News)

10/11
The New York Times has reiterated its support for Mark Green for mayor. While noting that neither Green nor his opponent, Fernando Ferrer, is "an ideal mayoral candidate," its editorial states, "But the differences between the two men, which were noticeable before, have stretched to formidable over the last few weeks. Mr. Ferrer is the product of the Bronx Democratic machine, and his career has hewed closely to the party organization's political rulebook. Mr. Green has always been a political outsider who had to fight for what he wanted, an idea man who specialized in problem-solving. In a time of quiet prosperity, perhaps either man could have handled the job. But now the city needs Mr. Green, who knows how to operate in uncharted waters." (New York Times)

The Daily News urges anyone who cares about New York to vote today, and to vote for Mark Green. "A Green victory is crucial to the city," the paper says, noting that he is opposed to raising taxes, "best equipped to deal with the economic downturn," and "committed to the city he loves." Previously, the paper had endorsed Betsy Gotbaum for public advocate. (Daily News)

The New York Post endorses Mark Green, commenting, "It speaks volumes about the choice facing voters in [the] Democratic mayoral primary runoff that The Post today endorses the candidacy of Mark Green." The editorial adds, "We don't agree with Mark Green about much." (New York Post)

In early September, the Village Voice endorsed Mark Green for mayor and Norman Siegel for public advocate. (Village Voice)

There has been a lot of grumbling about Mark Green in the days since he said he would agree to allow Mayor Giuliani remain in office for an extra 90 days. The Voice explains why it still supports the public advocate in his race for mayor. (Village Voice)

In early September, writes The Observer in an editorial, "we were adjusting ourselves to a world in which Public Advocate Mark Green, the perpetual outsider, would become New York's 108th mayor on January 1." But now after the terrorist attacks and the bid by Mayor Giuliani to extend his time in office, Fernando Ferrer has become the favorite. The weekly says, "In battling his way back from the dismal polls of summer, Mr. Ferrer has shown political smarts and no inconsiderable amount of guts. These days, such qualities are in high demand." (New York Observer)

Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer spent the day before the runoff election for the Democratic mayoral election trying to shore up support and make sure that their voters go to the polls. Green campaigned among black voters in Harlem and white voters on the Upper West Side, in Queens and Brooklyn, while Ferrer urged his union supporters to deliver a victory. Green picked up the endorsement of the union representing New York firefighters, the Uniformed Firefighters Association. (New York Times)

Unions are making a major effort to get out their voters for today's runoff election. The big unions, Service Employees International Union, the United Federation of Teachers and District Council 37, support Fernando Ferrer, but a number of smaller unions are backing rival Mark Green. Many are operating phone banks urging their members to come to the polls. (Newsday)

With the Democratic mayoral nominee finally about to be chosen, Republican candidate Michael Bloomberg is hoping to regain some of the spotlight. He has resumed his television ad campaign and hopes to announce his plans for economic development in the next few days. (New York Post)

10/10
The New York mayoral campaign is certainly one of the most critical elections in the city's history. Yet it may also prove to be among the least noticed - time and again overshadowed by events both global and local. As the campaigning for the Democratic primary runoff tomorrow moves into its final hours, the pull of these somewhat contradictory forces are consuming and confounding Fernando Ferrer and Mark Green. Over the past week, they have seemed to trade political personalities. The once cautious Mr. Green is suddenly running a forceful, hard-hitting campaign, unleashing an uncharacteristically harsh advertisement attacking Mr. Ferrer. The Bronx borough president seems intent on coming across as the confident favorite, much the way Mr. Green was acting only two weeks ago. (New York Times)

The Democratic mayoral runoff election grew nastier yesterday on its next-to-last day, with an exchange of attack ads on the airwaves, sharp words between the candidates and even a circuslike confrontation, complete with an acrobat, between supporters of Fernando Ferrer and Mark Green on a Midtown street. It began when supporters of Mr. Ferrer, including former Representative Geraldine A. Ferraro and Ruth W. Messinger, the former Manhattan borough president, assembled outside Mr. Green's campaign headquarters on Lexington Avenue near Grand Central Terminal for a news conference to denounce a Green campaign ad that calls Mr. Ferrer "borderline irresponsible" and asks, "Can New York afford to take a chance?" But chaos broke out as the news conference ended when young Green campaign aides poured out of the building with a street-theater counteroffensive. To draw attention to Mr. Ferrer's shifting positions on the death penalty and late-term abortions, Mr. Green's supporters chanted "flip-flop! flip-flop!" and gave out flip-flop sandals picturing Mr. Ferrer along with the words "Death Penalty" and "Choice." An acrobat, wearing a shirt that said "Death Penalty" on one side and "Choice" on the other, then began performing flips in the air. (New York Times) (Daily News) (NY Post) (Newsday)

It is all about turnout. With the contest virtually deadlocked, tomorrow's runoff likely will hinge on which side does a better job getting its supporters to the polls. And it appears Fernando Ferrer's camp has the advantage in getting out the vote, most political strategists agree. (Daily News)

A top Board of Elections official warned yesterday that there is not enough time to prepare the city's thousands of voting machines for next month's election. As a precaution, the board is printing thousands of extra paper ballots in case the machines break down during the Nov. 6 general election. (Daily News)

While the Rev. Al Sharpton, one of Fernando Ferrer's biggest backers, has been battled over by the Democratic mayoral hopefuls in the past week, the reverend has kept a fairly low profile. (NY Post)

Strategists for Mark Green and Fernando Ferrer say privately that they've taken a special interest in the L.A. race for its parallels and its differences. (Newsday)

10/9
Former Governor Mario M. Cuomo endorsed Mark Green for mayor yesterday. (New York Times) (Daily News)

The campaign of the Democratic mayoral candidate Mark Green unleashed the first negative ad of the runoff election last night, labeling his opponent, Fernando Ferrer, "borderline irresponsible" and a proponent of "higher taxes" and a "divided city." (New York Times)

An umbrella Muslim group is backing Fernando Ferrer - two months after it pulled back its endorsement of Mark Green. But Ferrer said he's "not interested." (New York Post)

Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer has squeezed out a small lead over Public Advocate Mark Green as they barrel toward Thursday's Democratic mayoral runoff, a Daily News/New York 1 poll shows, Ferrer at 46 percent, Green at 44 percent. This is a statistical tie, given the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 4.5 percentage points. An additional 10 percent are undecided. Voters who backed also-rans Alan Hevesi and Peter Vallone in the primary balloting are supporting Green over Ferrer more than 2-to-1, the poll found. But Green's gains have been offset by some erosion, especially among blacks. A key reason appears to be his support of - and Ferrer's opposition to - Mayor Giuliani's now-dead push for a 90-day extension of his term. The poll found 13 percent of Green's voters in the primary planned to switch to Ferrer. (Daily News)

10/8
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver slammed the door shut yesterday on Mayor Giuliani's request for a 90-day extension of his term, saying the mayor's gambit was finished. "I've heard from enough of my members to know the Rudy extension won't happen," Silver (D-Manhattan) said in a telephone interview. "It's finished." The decision means that, barring unforeseen events, Giuliani's term will expire Dec. 31 and a new mayor will succeed him New Year's Day. (Daily News)

The candidates in the mayoral race in New York once again shifted to a more somber tone last night, this time with the commencement of retaliatory attacks by the United States military on targets in Afghanistan.The Republican nominee, Michael R. Bloomberg, and a Democratic candidate, Mark Green, continued to seek out voters in public appearances in Staten Island and Manhattan, respectively. But Fernando Ferrer, who faces Mr. Green in the runoff Thursday for the Democratic nomination, canceled a series of afternoon campaign stops in the Bronx as the military action continued. (New York Times)

In two back-to-back caustic and testy debates, Fernando Ferrer and Mark Green challenged each other's credibility yesterday, as Mr. Green said Mr. Ferrer had flip-flopped on abortion and the death penalty, and Mr. Ferrer disparaged Mr. Green for aligning himself with Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's attempt to extend his term. With four days left before the Democratic mayoral primary runoff on Thursday, and polls showing those two Democrats in a dead heat, Mr. Green and Mr. Ferrer clashed with an intensity that had not before been seen in this campaign for mayor. (New York Times)

10/7
The terrorist attack on the World Trade Center has created sharp stylistic and policy differences between the two Democratic candidates for mayor, with Mark Green seizing on it as the central focus of his campaign, and Fernando Ferrer arguing that it should not overshadow existing problems confronting the city. The responses by Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Green expose the divergent views of the crisis by two public officials with very different political and personal backgrounds. Each is trying to measure the impact of the bombing on the city he is seeking to lead, and on his campaign for mayor, in the heat of a tight contest. The divergent reactions are the latest evidence, aides to both men said, that New Yorkers' response to Sept. 11 may vary based on where they live and their economic situation. Both campaigns are regularly polling voters to prepare for the primary runoff on Thursday. The central point of contention between Mr. Ferrer and Mr. Green is over where the rebuilding should occur. Mr. Green, the public advocate, who lives in Manhattan, argued that the city should swiftly replace the office space lost in Lower Manhattan. Mr. Ferrer, who has been the Bronx borough president for almost 14 years, said that some of the construction should be spread out across New York, and that the attack was "an opportunity to pursue much- needed redevelopment opportunities" in boroughs that have resented Manhattan's economic dominance. But the differences go beyond what or where to rebuild. (New York Times)

With polls showing the Democratic race for mayor a tossup, the two contenders have launched 11th-hour TV commercials targeting undecided voters. Public Advocate Mark Green's new spot, called "A Decade of Experience," pushes his years of public service and his "specific plan" to rebuild lower Manhattan, and bills him as the "Democrat who can lead in times of crisis." Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's spot, called "Unity," features five prominent current or former elected officials, including ex-mayor Ed Koch, who passionately extols Ferrer's "intelligence and courage." (Daily News)

The Democratic campaign for Thursday's mayoral runoff took on a more personal tone yesterday, as Mark Green sought to portray himself as someone who would not change his opinions on issues like abortion and the death penalty for political gain - implying, none too subtly, that Fernando Ferrer is someone who would. While Mr. Green made his attack, there was a political spectacle of sorts in Brooklyn as Mr. Ferrer campaigned with former Mayor Edward I. Koch and the Rev. Al Sharpton - two former adversaries whose sudden jovial camaraderie marked another twist in a campaign that now seems to have had a lot of them. (New York Times)

The Rev. Al Sharpton says he doesn't want a job from Democratic mayoral candidate Fernando Ferrer - or any other candidate. "I have never engaged in patronage," he told applauding supporters in Harlem yesterday."All I ask is that whoever is in, that they do what is right for the people of this city. That's all I've ever asked," he said. (Daily News)

Roberto Ramirez, the Bronx Democratic leader, is wielding a great deal of behind the scenes influence in the mayoral campaign of Fernando Ferrer. (New York Times)

10/6
Mark Green charged yesterday that Fernando Ferrer was not prepared to rebuild the city's economy in the wake of the attack on the World Trade Center, saying his plans did "not measure up to the crisis" and warning that his call to decentralize office space could break up the financial district. "Anybody who understands how integral financial services is to New York, anyone who understands the way markets operate, should know that you don't break up Wall Street," said Mr. Green, the public advocate and a Democratic candidate for mayor. "You don't break up Broadway, Detroit doesn't break up the auto industry, and New York doesn't break up downtown Manhattan and financial services." His remarks were the latest in a series aimed at raising doubts in the minds of voters about whether his opponent for the Democratic mayoral nomination, Mr. Ferrer, the Bronx borough president, was prepared to guide the city through the current crisis. (New York Times)

Mayoral hopeful Fernando Ferrer said yesterday that the Rev. Al Sharpton "wants nothing from me" and "will get nothing from me" in a Ferrer administration. "He won't be recommending or picking any commissioners," Ferrer said. Seeking to refute critics who wonder whether Ferrer's election would give Sharpton a large voice at City Hall, Ferrer added, "I owe him