Results tagged “attorneygeneraleliotspitzer”

At midnight, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was sworn in as the 54th Governor of New York. The NY Times reports that during the private ceremony (the public inauguration will be today at 1PM, pushed back an hour because of the weather) that federal judge Robert W. Sweet swore in his former clerk, that guests cheered, "Go get 'em, Eliot!" after he took the oath, and that a 12-liter bottle of Veuve-Clicquot was very difficult to open.

Just because Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is set to become Governor in a few days doesn't mean he's slacking on the old job. The AG's office says that SoHo store Yellow Rat Bastard has cheated employees out of $1 million. According to the NY Times, Spitzer says that the store and its affiliates have paid less than minimum wage, failed to pay overtime, and fired or demoted employees for complaining to the AG's office. And not only were there abusive managers, there actually were rats running around the store!

Despite of a record victory, Governor-elect Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has to face a big problem: What do to with State Comptroller Alan Hevesi, who was found guilty of violating state law by the State Ethics Commission. The NY Times speaks with people involved with Spitzer's discussions (they are anonymous, of course) about the matter:

“While a personally painful decision, it’s an easy decision because the facts are clear,” said one person with knowledge of the governor’s thinking on the issue. “What would the drive for greater accountability and a higher ethical standard mean if you tolerated that level of abuse? He will move swiftly and aggressively to remove him.

To no one's surprise, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer was elected the next Governor, Senator Hillary Clinton was re-elected, and Andrew Cuomo was elected Attorney General. (Democrat Alan Hevesi was re-elected Comptroller, but more on that later.) But the dynamics are interesting: Spitzer won in a "historic landslide" and Clinton managed to take votes of 20-25% of Republican voters. After a victory speech that included a reference to Ali G, Spitzer will have to make good on his mandate for sweeping change - and he'll need to figure out how to work with Mayor Bloomberg on a number of issues, from development to school financing.

Hilarious: The NY Times' election blog, The Empire Zone, reports that Chelsea Clinton's name wasn't found in the book of registered voters at the West 20th Street polling place: "The book containing her name was apparently forwarded to the wrong district, denying her the ability to enter a polling booth." D'oh! So she - and probably the other people in that book - had to fill out an "affidavit vote," ensuring that she would be able to participate in the democratic process. The Daily Politics found out that some Manhattan voters got old 2005 affidavit ballots - one for last year's Mayoral race. There's nothing like voting day in NYC! But at least potential voters aren't being threatened with arrest.

The NY State Ethics Commission said that State Comtroller Alan Hevesi did violate state law by having a state driver chauffeur his wife. And now it seems that Hevesi is more likely to resign now with this finding. The ethics panel report also found that Hevesi underestimated how much he owed back for the driver and lied about his wife needing a driver because of security concerns - and that the state driver Hevesi hired wasn't even part of his security team.

In a little more than two weeks, the ING NYC Marathon will take place. It's a little too late to sign up to run (unless you run for a charity - more here), but there are ways to get involved. One is to volunteer at the start of the race. Since the race starts early, volunteers are needed to help out at the start of the race in Staten Island - they will "help set up the refreshment areas and help corral the runners to the staring blocks." While it's an early, early start (4AM-ish), the volunteers will get bused back to Manhattan and get passes to watch the race at the finish line. For more information on volunteering, check here.

Sweet fancy Moses, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow might leave the MTA to take a job as the head of the Real Estate Board of New York, the big real estate lobbying group! Sources tell the Daily News that Kalikow, a real estate developer in his own right (his MTA salary si $1), would only leave after securing Second Avenue Subway funding. Someone in the federal government - fund that project!

Last night, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and former State Assembly Republican minority leader John Faso had their first gubernatorial debate. Both promised not to tax New York residents, though Faso wonder how Spitzer would be able to do that, with Spitzer's ambitious plans to cut taxes, give people more health coverage, and help school financing. Faso pointed out that Spitzer uses the private plane of a developer interested in bringing a casino to NY State, so Spitzer came back with Faso' rides on a state contractor's plane while in the Assembly. Note to all politicians: Book your own air travel.

After yesterday's announcement that federal and state agencies will lease 1 million of Freedom Tower's 2.6 million square feet, the candidates for NY Governor have backed the plan as well. The NY Times reports that Democratic nominee Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Republican nominee John Faso both threw their support behind the plan, which now "signals that whoever wins the general election in November is likely to continue Gov. George E. Pataki’s plans for the skyscraper." While it was expected Faso would support the plan, Spitzer's been more vocal in criticizing the project, which is one of the biggest symbols of Pataki's failure as a leader. But now, with the NY Governor's office moving to Freedom Tower, as well as other federal agencies, it seems Spitzer is on board. When the Times asked Mayor Bloomberg's office if the city would move any of its offices to Freedom Tower, his spokesman simply said, "When we have an announcement to make, we’ll make it.” Well, it's not like Mayor Bloomberg's administration would even see the agencies move there, since the tower won't be completed (if it actually gets built) until well after his term is up.

With just 55 days left, the dance cards are set for the general election. As expected, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Senator Hillary Clinton won their respectives primaries for governor and Senate. The NY Times noted that Clinton's reosounding win showed that her support of the Iraq war did not affect voter sentiment:

“Clinton’s work ethic, her lack of enemies, and her fund-raising help for other Democrats have insulated her from party criticism, including on Iraq,” said Ken Sherrill, a political scientist at Hunter College. “I got a taped phone call from Susan Sarandon urging support for Tasini, but that’s all I really heard about him.”

If you're a registered Democrat or Republican, get your primary shoes out. Here's a list of candidates (PDF), but the shortlist of primaries is:

The NY Times doled out two big endorsements for the upcoming Democratic primaries this weekend: One for Attorney General and the other for Governor. And Mark Green, the former city Public Advocate, gets the nod, even though the editoral starts out, "If there are excellent Democratic candidates for governor this year, the race to succeed Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is a lot more contentious and a lot less promising." Green's "prickly personality" is noted, as is "when elected, he has always repaid voters by doing the job well." While Andrew Cuomo's mixed record at HUD is cited as enough to make being AG questionable.

Oh, Bloomie, Bloomie, Bloomie. Mayor Mike shot an arrow at State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer yesterday on his weekly WABC radio address. After Spitzer has moved to slow/stop/co-opt a number of his and Pataki's larger projects (read: The city's planned purchase of the West Side Rail Yards from the MTA and Moynihan Station) Bloomberg made it very clear that he thinks Spitzer needs to just let elected officials do their job:

"The tendency when you're near the end of an administration [is] to say, 'Oh, let's postpone everything for the next administration, so the next administration gets a chance to weigh in.' "

Continue reading "Bloomie to Spitzer: Let Us Do Our Jobs"

The heated fight for Major Owens' Congressional seat gets hotter as City Council member Yvette Clarke has landed three important endorsements - two from big unions and the other from Congressman Anthony Weiner. Brooklyn's 11th District covers Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Flatbush, and Park Slope, and the race has already attracted four would-be candidates (who would likely be elected to the seat in November): City Council members Clarke and David Yassky, State Senator Carl Andrews, and Owens' son, Chris Owens, with Yassky the only white among the three black politicians. Now, with these two endorsements, signs are indicating that Clarke's campaign is getting stronger. And that Weiner is thinking to the 2009 mayoral race by endorsing a black woman with Caribbean roots (her mother is Jamaican). From the NY Times:

When asked if his endorsement was made with the expectation of support in 2009, Mr. Weiner said, “My only thought about 2009 is that Yvette Clarke will be an incumbent member of Congress.”

Continue reading "Controversial Brooklyn Congressional Race Starts to Shape Up"

Gothamist was happily in the middle of watching four hours of The Dog Whisperer (Will and Jada's dog Luigi hangs out with Cesar and the dogs when the movie stars are out of town!) over the weekend when we saw this horrible ad: The 2001-2006 World Trade Center Gold and Silver Clad Commemorative Coin. Oh, yes, a coin claiming to be mined from silver "found under tons" of Ground Zero debris is being hawked yet once again. Back in 2004, National Collector's Mint marketed a Freedom Tower September 11 coin, which is probably worth something now that the Freedom Tower has been totally redesigned, only for Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to halt the company's actions. While Spitzer's suit didn't dispute the claim of whether or not the silver was from Ground Zero, he was able to fine National Collector's Mint for claiming it was pure silver - when the coin was really just silverplated. The anniversary coin is "silver clad" and features a WTC skyline that pops out - all in all, it's pretty horrifying. Let's hope Spitzer can find something to nail them on this time.

- On being President: Spitzer doesn't want to be, while Suozzi does (to which Spitzer cracked, "Good luck")There was also a supposed freak-out by Spitzer when he saw that Suozzi was going to bring notes on stage during the debate. Notes are not allowed, and Suozzi told reporters that Spitzer got "angrier and angrier and angrier" and accused him of "playing games," but let's face it, if notes weren't even allowed...

Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld, who lost the NY State Republican party's support to be the Republican nominee for the governor's race this fall, is being pressured to drop out of the race. Weld, who can still force a primary after earning more than a third of the NYS Republican party's votes, has lost support from both the current and former NY State Republican Party chairmen, who are urging him to quit, probably in order for John Faso to focus his efforts on defeating the looming favorite, Democratic nominee and current Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

Today, the Court of Appeals will be hearing from lawyers about gay marriage in NYC today. Back in February 2005, a State Supreme Court judge ruled that gay and lesbian couples have equal access to marriage, but the city appealed and an appellate court reversed the decision. Which brings the case to the Court of Appeals. And though Mayor Blooomberg supports gay marriage, he does hope the city's lawyers will win, "I would never want to hire lawyers that tried to lose - they will try to win." Mayor Bloomberg wants NY State to decide whether gay marriage is legal, because it's all about the Constitution (his premise being if NYC starts to perform gay marriages, only for them to be overturned by the state later on, what good is that?). Anyway, Bloomberg claims he will ask Albany to allow gay marriage if the city wins...and if the city doesn't win, he'll let gay marriages be performed. Oh, to be a second term mayor! Gothamist hopes that if the State of Appeals rules in the plaintiffs' favor, then NY State will start to take up the gay marriage cause. At the moment, Governor Pataki won't touch it (of course) and Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has been cagey about it (he supports it, but it's not legal in NY State, though NY State recognizes gay marriages from other states).

The NY State Democratic Convention is taking place in Buffalo today and tomorrow (the NY State Republican Convention is in Long Island on Wednesday and Thursday), and the gloves are coming off as the Democrats are looking to grab the Governor's house. Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the Democratic frontrunner for the gubernatorial nomination, called the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation "an abject failure". Well, of course he would say that - didn't recently resigned LMDC chairman John Whitehead claim Spitzer had threatened him on the phone? Spitzer didn't mince any words: He called what's happening downtown an "Enron-style debacle." The LMDC said that Spitzer was continuing his vendetta against Whitehead, and Governor Pataki's spokesperson also used the word "vendetta" when criticizing Spitzer's words about a World War II veteran on Memorial Day, no less. Whitehead might be a WWII veteran, but a better question would be, what got done at Ground Zero?

...but what does that really mean? Sure, the Mayor announced that if NY State's Court of Appeal decides that gay marriages are legal, then NYC will perform them, but the Mayor has always felt that way. Back in 2004, when the issue got hot with gay marriages being performed in San Franciso and New Paltz, NY, Mayor Bloomberg refused to go along, saying that he would follow NY State law. (Attorney General Eliot Spitzer didn't stop the New Paltz marriages, saying he had "no problem with gay marriage.") However, that was before his 2005 election, so who knows what he would have done if the issue came up during his second term; just yesterday, he said on his radio program, "The U.S. Constitution should be something that unites, rather than divides Americans. I do not believe that government should be in the business of telling people who they can and can't marry."

Once upon a time, St. Patrick's Day was a day simply full of pageantry and feasting. But those days are over, as most St. Patrick's Days seem to be full of controversy, and this year even features some really classy (or is that assy?) remarks by the parade organizer. The big hullabaloo is about how City Council Speaker Christine Quinn - an Irish City Council Speaker!! - is not marching in the parade because she was not able to reach a deal that would allow lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Irish New Yorkers to participate as well as being able to wear something like a gay pride pin or sash. And this comes as the parade organizer, John Dunleavy, told the Irish Times:

"If an Israeli group wants to march in New York, do you allow Neo-Nazis into their parade? If African-Americans are marching in Harlem, do they have to let the Ku Klux Klan into their parade? People have rights. If we let [Irish gay activists] in, is it the Irish Prostitute Association next?"

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer has found his 2006 gubernatorial running mate: Harlem's State Senator, David Patterson. While cynics might think that Spitzer was trying to solidify his base with black voters, Spitzer has actually succeeded in annoying some influential black leaders, as some, including Patterson's father, as The Politicker pointed out, have been supporting Leecia Eve, a former Hillary Clinton staffer, for Lieutenant Governor. The NY Times' story about the selection of Patterson is more interesting for what it says about Spitzer and how he might be handling his run for the Governor's House.

It's times like these when the newspapers go into a frenzy and give their opinions about the transit strike today. Here's our take on them:

about many local Democrats' support of Mayor Bloomberg, Gothamist started to think about the power of big name Democrats. Yes, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and Senator Clinton are campaigning for Fernando Ferrer, and Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson stumped for him yesterday, but they still don't seem to add up to enough. Sharpton and Jackson are probably the most effective at trying to tip the balance of black voters, who, according to many polls, seem to support Bloomberg 2-to-1, but Spitzer and Clinton's power in the city is untested - voters tend to think about their quality of life first. We'll try to look at how certain neighborhoods voted, to see if an unusually high number of local Democratic endorsements can push a Republican mayoral candidate over the edge to win, but Ferrer is just so outmatched at this point, it might not be worth it. However, The Politicker says that Ferrer's latest ad, one that criticizes the Mayor's education policies, is pretty good, so the race could be closer (15 points?) as his ad spending kicks in more.

It's official: Former Massachusetts Governor William Weld is going to run for governor of New York. We can thank Rudy Giuliani and Karl Rove for encouraging Weld to run; according to the NY Times, people have said Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the early Democratic frontrunner, is "beatable." Weld himself told the NY Times "juices are really flowing for this race." Okay, first things first, dude: No one wants to know about your juices, okay? Didn't anyone learn anything from the whole Lewinsky thing? Anyway, Weld is a native New Yorker and has been working at a city law firm, which might temper some carpetbagger criticism, but his liberal leanings - support for abortion rights and gay rights - might be unattractive to conservative New Yorkers (the ones upstate).

There are rumors that former Massachusetts Governor William Weld is considering to run for NY State Governor on the Republican ticket, since it seems like Governor George Pataki is on his way out, with bigger political ambitions in mind and a state that really hates him. Weld is an interesting Republican, as he believes drugs like marijuana should be legalized (that stance basically killed his attempt to be Ambassador to Mexico), is pro-choice and has relatively more liberal views. That could make him interesting and compelling matchup against Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. Gothamist imagines that the attack on Weld would be that he's a carpetbagger politician, just trying to shore up the Republican party's hold on governorships. Weld has been working in a NYC law firm since his resignation as Governor in 1997, so he's not a total carpetbagger, but still, Gothamist wonderes if this phenomenon will continue of well-known politicians retrenching in areas they haven't really lived before in order to help the party (think any number of Senators, such as Hillary Clinton or even Elizabeth Dole who did return to her homestate).